Arsenal: A Half-Term Report on Arsene Wenger's Side

Arsenal's last game against Southampton was their 20th in the Premier League this season. In other words, the Gunners have now gone through more than half of the EPL campaign.

That means it's a good time to take stock of how the team have done thus far, what problems the club need to address going forward and where they have flourished.

This has certainly been an up-and-down season for the team, as they endured their worst ever start under Arsene Wenger and cannot seem to string together more than a few positive results.

So there's much to talk about, but not everything is doom and gloom. Let's thoroughly evaluate every position and objectively discuss how Arsene Wenger's side have performed.

Goalkeeper

Wojciech Szczesny has played the vast majority of Arsenal's games this season, while new signing David Ospina has barely gotten any minutes.

That has nothing to do with the quality of the respective goalkeepers, though. Ospina was out for several weeks at the beginning of the campaign due to an injury sustained in the World Cup and promptly reinjured himself in a substitute appearance against Galatasaray in the Champions League.

Michael Steele/Getty Images

Then, when Szczesny got hurt, Ospina was still out and Wenger had to put young Emi Martinez in goal. The Argentine flourished, though, and should give fans confidence in the Gunners' goalkeeping depth.

Szczesny's terrible performance against Southampton should not cause supporters to turn against him, despite his questionable decision-making throughout his career. His natural talent and command of his penalty area wins Arsenal more games than it loses.

But if Ospina plays well in the FA Cup tie with Hull City this weekend, Wenger should think about swapping goalkeepers.

Defense

Oh boy, where to start?

Arsenal's defense has been by far the weakest part of the entire team this season, and its inexplicable mistakes in numerous games have contributed to the team's many collapses and cost loads of points.

Much of its putridity can be traced to Wenger's as-yet-unexplained decision to not buy a central defender after selling Thomas Vermaelen during the summer. Any armchair analyst can tell that entering a season with two central defenders is as insane as Stoke City playing tiki-taka.

Yet Wenger evidently did not find anyone worthy of his funds and Arsenal's defense has crumbled in every area.

Mathieu Debuchy's injury forced the manager to overplay Calum Chambers at right back, where he was often outclassed by speedy wingers. Hector Bellerin got a couple chances and impressed, but he is clearly very raw.

Michael Steele/Getty Images

Laurent Koscielny's Achilles gave way and he was forced to sit on the sidelines for weeks, resulting in Nacho Monreal and Debuchy playing in the middle. The former was terrible and the latter relatively impressive.

But perhaps the biggest disappointment of the lot is Per Mertesacker, who was a rock at the back last season and has nosedived into mediocrity.

Perhaps even that is a generous characterization of his performances this season. The giant German looks too slow to even keep pace anymore, and is amazingly unable to win aerial duels with his 6'6" frame. Even his ability to read the game and anticipate opponents' movement looks compromised.

This is the area Arsenal will have to work on the most if they want to play Champions League football next season.

Midfield 

There has not been a single period this season in which Arsenal's entire midfield has been fit. Consequently, Wenger has fielded a number of different combinations with varying success.

At the beginning of the season, he employed a disastrous 4-1-4-1 formation, which failed largely because he stuck Mesut Ozil on the left wing and effectively robbed the team of a player competent in that position.

Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Wenger has tried to fit Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere into the same team, but the two Brits have failed to mesh thus far and, in any case, have not been simultaneously fit for very long. The former spent a couple weeks out earlier in the season and is now serving a longer period on the sidelines, while the latter has months to go before his ankle is healthy enough for him to come back.

Meanwhile, Santi Cazorla is flourishing again following a year of indifferent form and Tomas Rosicky is begging for some playing time.

At the back, Mikel Arteta has unfortunately been injured for quite some time this season, always aggravating the same calf strain over and over again. His absence has been particularly painful, as Mathieu Flamini is clearly not good enough to be a consistent starter in a Champions League side.

In brighter news, though, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looks to be growing into a dynamic central midfielder.

Attack

After a year of fans begging Wenger to sign a striker, he finally splashed the cash on Danny Welbeck on deadline day.

Paul Gilham/Getty Images

The Englishman has been mediocre since arriving from Manchester United. He has played most of his games to this point in his preferred position of striker, but Wenger seems to favor the now-fit Olivier Giroud up front—and he is absolutely justified in doing so.

Giroud gives the Gunners a more conventional outlet up top; one who can both hold the ball up and slither in behind the defense.

Welbeck simply needs to score more, although he will no doubt find it more difficult to do so now that he is once again being deployed on the left wing.

Arsenal's biggest story has, of course, been that of Alexis Sanchez. The man seems superhuman, playing virtually every minute of virtually every game, and outclassing everyone on the pitch with a dizzying array of tricks and shots, combined with a laudable will to win.

The Gunners would no doubt be several places lower in the table without Alexis, and are extremely lucky that, despite the heroic amount of minutes he's played, he has not caught the injury bug.

While Arsenal fans might wonder why they have not seen more of Lukas Podolski or Joel Campbell, the prospect of Alexis and the fit-again Theo Walcott on the wings is enough to make one's mouth water.

Follow @charliemelman