Arsenal FC: Why Joey Barton Would Have Been a Welcome Addition

Three months ago, Joey Barton tweeted multiple disparaging remarks aimed at Newcastle United's owner, Mike Ashley. Barton criticized Ashley's perceived lack of ambition after selling key players Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan. As a result, Newcastle made Barton available for a free transfer. 

In September, Barton had this to say in an interview with the BBC after signing for newly-promoted QPR:

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"If I hadn't played against Arsenal on the first day, I may have signed for them.

"There were a couple of conversations [with Wenger] but that's different to actually signing. The Gervinho incident happened and there's nothing I can do about it now.

"If it happened again, I'd like to think I'd deal with it differently. Things happen for a reason and there's a lesson to be learned from it. Right now, we sit above Arsenal in the table—hopefully that's the case in May."

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Barton's suggestion that Arsenal were in for him before the Gervinho incident was swiftly refuted by Arsenal Chairman Peter Hill-Wood, leading Barton to suggest in a recent interview that Arsenal suffered from a lack of communication between the board and the coaching staff. 

Whether or not Barton is correct about his perceived lack of communication, the argument can be made that Arsenal missed a great chance by failing to bring in Barton before the season opener at Newcastle in mid-August. Barton would have added a lot to the team.

First of all, Barton plays best as a defensive-minded deep-lying central midfielder, a position where Arsenal has little cover. Alex Song is our only proven player in this position, and Arsenal have struggled mightily when Emmanuel Frimpong or Francis Coquelin have been forced to play in Song's stead. At the very least, Barton would have provided much-needed cover and competition at his position. 

Barton also would have added Premier League experience, something our young team needs as well. 

Barton is a strong, gritty, tough-tackling player. Arsenal have no players like him. One of the reasons the Arsenal attack has sputtered this season is our lack of tackling in the midfield. The further up the field we win the ball, the quicker we can counter, and the easier it is to score goals. We need a good tackler in the midfield to give our attack more chances.

Barton is also an excellent long passer. At Newcastle, he played many matches as a deep-lying right midfielder in a 4-4-2, where his role was to find long diagonal passes to his forwards whenever he could. Barton fulfilled this role magnificently. Barton's ability to play the long pass would do wonders for our forwards as well.

Theo Walcott and Gervinho are much more effective playing in behind the defense than in front of them. Our attack is currently too slow and Walcott and Gervnho frequently receive the ball too late, after the opposing defense has had the chance to organize and solidify themselves.

Walcott and Gervinho's biggest strength is their speed, but this attribute is nullified when they are forced to play in front of defenders. Barton's ability to pick a long ball would give Walcott and Gervinho more chances in behind the defense, and would lead to more goals.  

Barton also is tremendously motivated to succeed, as he desperately wants a chance to play for England at the European Championships next summer. Barton is playing with a sense of urgency, as his career is nearing its end and he has yet to represent his country in a major tournament.

Arsenal desperately needs this sense of urgency. Barton's additional motivation would also be a welcome addition for an Arsenal side that has looked lackadaisical in the early stages of the season. 

And perhaps most importantly, Barton is a big personality. Arsenal lacks big personalities. Arsenal lacks players who won't accept defeat, that play with their heart on their sleeve. Barton is certainly that type of player. Too many Arsenal players don't seem to care. The loss at Old Trafford made that plain to see. 

Barton is certainly a player who ignites tempers and divides opinion, but it is hard to look at the Arsenal team at the moment and say we would not benefit by adding Joey Barton to our ranks.