Arsenal Reaction: It's Time for Arsene Wenger to Hire a Defensive Coach

It would seem the perfect time for Arsenal to make a hiring in their coaching department.

With Pat Rice, the long-serving assistant manager to Arsene Wenger, set to retire at the end of the season—meaning that television shots of the Arsenal bench will suddenly become much more mellow without the former Gunners' well-known antics and gesticulations at the players on the pitch—there is an opening that must be filled.

It's likely that Wenger will promote from within, with reserves coach Neil Banfield emerging as a popular choice to assume Rice's vacancy, but the coaching search should not stop after Wenger finds a new second in command.

Arsenal, who, for most of March and the first half of April, looked for all the world like they'd earn direct passage to next season's Champions League by way of a third-place finish in the league standings, have now managed a paltry three points from their last possible nine—with two of those games coming at home.

One was against a second-choice Chelsea side with one eye on their Champions League return leg at the Camp Nou in three days' time. The other was against a plucky but decidedly less talented Norwich City outfit on Saturday. Both were massive disappointments, and indicative of the Gunners' inability to finish seasons on high notes.

The question, other than whether Arsenal will qualify for next season's Champions League (answer: it's out of their control now), becomes where Wenger decides to go from here?

It is a road that is becoming rockier by the match.

The three goals conceded against the Canaries marks the 15th time Arsenal have conceded at least two goals in a game this season, and the seventh time they've conceded three.

That's hardly the type of defensive production one would hope for, and it is the latest indication that, for all Arsenal's considerable individual talent at the defensive positions (Bacary Sagna, Laurent Koscielny, Thomas Vermaelen and Kieran Gibbs have all played for their national sides), they have never been able to form the type of formidable unit that defines Manchester United and Manchester City, who unsurprisingly find themselves occupying the top two positions in the league at the moment.

The idea of a defensive coach for the Gunners is not a new one, and it began gathering steam in the early portions of this season, when Arsenal's defense was more porous than a sponge. (Eight goals conceded away to Old Trafford, and four away to Blackburn tends to draw the wrath of fans.)

Speaking of ire, the question of hiring a defensive coach frequently draws Wenger's wrath. Asked back in September whether he would consider hiring a defensive coach, Wenger fired back with: "I've just completed 32 years of coaching. I don't want to answer this kind of question."

In his column for Mirror Football, John Cross noted that Wenger's approach to defensive instruction (or lack thereof) is a far cry from the days of predecessor George Graham, who would run exhaustive defensive drills during practice.

Cross makes the point that Wenger's incredible turn as Arsenal coach (taking the team to the Emirates, never finishing outside of fourth place in 15 seasons) allows him to expect some immunity from questioning.

But ask any Arsenal fan, or any pundit for that matter, about Arsenal's form since 2005—their last trophy-filled year—and they'll tell you that the Gunners on display today are a far cry from the ones that dominated the early portions of the past decade.

While the Arsenal defense were not responsible for Wojciech Szczesny's dastardly error that gifted Norwich their first goal on the day, Wes Hoolahan should never have found himself with that much space in the penalty area—a gift he made sure he did not waste.

Thomas Vermaelen and Alex Song simply fell asleep and neglected to mark him on that sequence. That's an unacceptable mental lapse given the importance this Norwich game held for Arsenal's season.

The aforementioned individual ability of the defenders is unquestioned: Both Koscielny and Francis Coquelin, who came on in the 33rd minute for the injured Bacary Sagna, proved that sentiment true when they executed inch-perfect saving tackles that prevented what easily could have been two more Norwich goals.

But there is no set system within which that talent can flourish on a consistent basis. Arsenal bandy about some ideas in defense—the noted "high line," which fosters offside traps, for example—but they frequently find themselves at the mercy of pacy teams with attacking players who can mount solid counterattacks.

And few teams seem to unravel with such alarming frequency as Arsenal when subjected to a well-worked counter.

We've seen it happen this season, as early as the games against Liverpool and Udinese in August (the Italians had talented technicians in Emmanuel Agyemang and Kwadwo Asamoah, who had Gunners fans biting their finger nails with their speed in attack, particularly in that first leg at the Emirates), and we've certainly seen it in previous campaigns against the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United.

It often seems as if the defenders are left to make their own decisions out on the field, making improvised judgments the norm.

Thomas Vermaelen recently hailed his understanding with defensive midfielder Alex Song, who often deputizes as a central defender when the Belgian launches forward in attack.

While professionals should be expected to make those sorts of quick-fire appraisals—they should be able to read the game after playing it for so long—a defensive coach who could instill a match-by-match game plan and help in the marking department (Arsenal are susceptible as ever to free kicks, as we saw against Stoke last weekend), would not seem too terrible a thing to have.

Wenger is noted for his stubbornness, but he has shown an ability to adapt his methods when the situation calls for it.

Never one to splurge decadently in the transfer market, Wenger brought in three players last summer before binging on five in the final week of August.

Public pressure (Arsenal had just been throttled by Manchester United 8-2 and had taken just one point from their first three league matches) had forced his hand in that matter.

But to his credit, and Arsenal's, he acquiesced. One look at the impact signings such as Mikel Arteta and loanee Yossi Benayoun have had for the Gunners tells you all you need to know about how crucial that decision was. (If you haven't seen Benayoun's goal today, look it up. It was one of Arsenal's best this season.)

It's time for him to go against his, well, morals (if you could call them that) once again. A defensive coach is of the essence, given Arsenal's turbulent end to a season that had once looked to have finally become stable.

With Wenger pushing for a title next season, he will need a strong defense. Not a porous one that hides behind the glossy sheen of talented individuals.