Arsenal FC: A Mid-Season Analysis

The 2011/2012 season so far has been quite an interesting one for Arsenal, and on the whole, quite a poor one.

The season started off with Arsenal losing two of their biggest stars, Francesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, as well as a long-time servant in Gael Clichy.

A humiliating 8-2 loss against old rivals Manchester United set off a last-minute transfer spree as Arsene Wenger added Per Mertesacker, Andre Santos, Yossi Benayoun and Mikel Arteta to the Gunners ranks to accompany the signings already made in Gervinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

We’ll start from the back. Arsenal’s defence has been far from watertight this season, whilst it’s not as bad as some, there have been a lot of mistakes that quite frankly a side like Arsenal just shouldn’t be making.

They have three very solid defenders in Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny, and Bacary Sanga, however, Andre Santos and Per Mertesacker have not been convincing.

Santos has only made 12 appearances this season; he’s shown that his attacking abilities are by far a lot better than his defensive. He’s simply just not that good of a defender, with his tackling ability, and his tendency to push forward and leave his wing exposed being the main concerns for the Brazilian.

For Mertesacker, it’s his positioning and lack of pace. I can’t comment on how Werder Bremen played, but after watching him this season, you would assume that they don’t play as much of a high line as Arsenal do.

The German has over 80 caps for his country, so is by no means a poor defender, but it will take longer than half a season for him to adapt his game to Arsenal’s philosophy, and whilst he does that, Arsenal’s defence won’t look as strong as it could be.

Now here is the most telling stat: since the 4-0 win away at the DW Stadium in early December, Arsenal have failed to score more than 2 goals in all 10 games prior to yesterday’s 3-2 win over Aston Villa.

Now what does this coincide with? The injury to Andre Santos that is expected to keep him out until February at the earliest.

Now, Andre Santos isn’t the most important player in the Arsenal team, nor is he the most talented, but what he has done, as did Bacary Sanga before his injury, is offer the team width from a defensive outlet.

Robin van Persie has been since then the team's main, and most of the time, only outlet for goals.

Some would have you believe it’s because Theo Walcott and Gervinho aren’t up to the job, or that young Chamberlain is too inexperienced to offer any sort of creativity up-front, however the truth is much more obvious.

In the absence of Bacary Sanga and Andre Santos, for the past two months, have been a combination of Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny, Johan Djourou, Francis Coquelin and Nicholas Yennaris.

The only player natural to the position being replaced is the young Yennaris, with only one and a half appearances under his belt. Whilst Thomas Vermaelen is versatile enough to cover the defensive needs of the team, he lacks one vital need of a wing back, and that is the ability to dribble at speed.

Koscielny and Djourou both lack the same, as well as the crossing skills needed to put the width created to good use. As good as they maybe able to put in some balls, they are not naturally expected to do so, therefore the quality will not be as great. /

This natural lack of width has forced Walcott and either Gervinho, Arshavin or Chamberlain to not only have to attack the goal, but create that width and whip in balls for Robin van Persie to get onto.

Naturally, the lack of bodies in the box will lead to a lack of goals, the lack of time that the newly appointed wide-men can spend in the box will put tough restrictions on their ability to score.

If you were to swap van Persie for Walcott, you’d notice a swift change in their importance to the team, for both creating and scoring goals, Walcott may not score more, but he’d score a lot more than he currently does, or doesn’t.

You’d think that a replacement for both Sanga and Santos would be necessary, considering the large restraint their absences have put on the team, but for whatever reason, Arsene Wenger has decided not to add depth to that area of his team.

You’ll notice I’ve not mentioned the midfield, and for a good reason, there simply isn’t much wrong with it. They’re currently lacking their Luka Modric, their Paul Scholes, their Juan Mata, in Jack Wilshere.

I don’t think anyone expected Mikel Arteta or Thomas Rosicky to have to play as much as they have done this season, so when people do criticise this area of the squad, it’s worth remembering that.

Aaron Ramsey seems to be struggling, and I think his form will improve once Jack Wilshere returns. Ramsey is not a deep-lying play-maker, he is not a defensive midfielder, his primary role is to play-off the striker, score goals and support the forwards in a much more advanced role.

The fact that he’s not had the Wilshere/Song combination behind him, as Arsenal had last season, has made him play a lot deeper at times, a position that whilst he’s not bad in, he’s just simply not effective enough there.

It’s not often your key midfielder spends half a season injured, so preparing for this to happen again would be a waste of resources.

All Arsenal fans can hope for is that he, along with Bacary Sanga and Andre Santos, can make a quick and full recovery, as they are the key to Arsenal’s fourth place aspirations and silverware hopes.