What Is Arsenal's Strongest Midfield Right Now?

This weekend, Arsenal achieved a vital result in the Premier League. By beating Leicester City 2-1, they kept themselves within touching distance of the league leaders and reasserted their title credentials.

The dramatic nature of the winner and Danny Welbeck’s return only increased the feelgood factor around the club. However, this was also an important game for another reason: It saw the Gunners solve their midfield conundrum.

For most of 2015, Arsenal’s midfield picked itself. Arsene Wenger tends to line up with two deeper midfielders operating behind an attacking playmaker. For almost a year from November 2014, that trio was comprised of Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil.

However, the loss of both Cazorla and Coquelin to injury saw Wenger forced into a dramatic rethink. Although Ozil remained available, the Emirates Stadium manager had to reimagine the supporting platform behind him.

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For much of the winter, Arsenal muddled through with Mathieu Flamini and Aaron Ramsey as their first-choice midfield pairing.

There was a certain logic there: Ramsey had been stationed on the right, but central midfield is the position he will surely hold in the longer term. From there, he is free to make the lung-bursting box-to-box runs that have become his trademark.

Alongside him, Flamini was simply the most analogous player to Coquelin. Mikel Arteta had injury problems of his own to contend with, but he also lacks the feistiness of the French pair. Flamini may not be the most technically gifted player in the Arsenal squad, but he shares some of Coquelin’s combative spirit.

Unfortunately, the partnership never clicked. That seemed largely due to the pair’s combined lack of positional discipline. Ramsey likes to drift all over the field, pursuing the ball and looking to affect the play. That’s not in itself a problem, if the man alongside him is prepared to sit in a holding role.

However, Flamini is not such a player. Like Ramsey, he can easily get pulled out of position, leaving the back four behind him exposed.

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Arsenal’s midfield problem saw Wenger dip into the January market to sign Egyptian Mohamed Elneny from Basel. However, the new boy has yet to make a significant impact on the midfield setup. Perhaps that’s simply because he’s still undergoing a period of adaptation to the English game.

When he first signed, Wenger told Arsenal.com he believed Elneny could work in the defensive midfield spot:

"

He can be box to box and be a holding midfielder so that is for us very promising. We wanted a versatile player and I wanted a player who can play defensive but can as well play to box to box.

His strengths are his technical level, his vision, his intelligence, his disciplined attitude and his physical attitude to compete at a high level. I think he has the physical qualities to play at the top level.

"

However, we’ve yet to see evidence of that in an Arsenal shirt. Elneny’s one start to date came as a box-to-box player with licence to break forward.

Fortunately, Coquelin is now back to assuage that particular problem. When fit, he is a guaranteed starter for Arsenal. There is seemingly no-one in the squad able to match his clutch of invaluable attributes. He is an able distributor but primarily a superb ball-winner.

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Alongside him, Ramsey is the obvious choice—for now. It’s undoubtedly true that the Gunners still miss Cazorla. The Spaniard has a remarkable gift for weaving his way through the crowded midfield, dribbling out of defence before instigating counter-attacks with perfectly weighted passes. The former Villarreal man is a conductor in football form, dictating the tempo of every game in which he plays.

Ramsey doesn’t yet possess that ability to control a game. His passing, though good, is more erratic, and he generally adopts a more direct style.

Cazorla’s instinct will be to look for the pass the retains possession; Ramsey’s is invariably to find the quickest possible route to goal. There are both advantages and disadvantages to that forthright approach, but for the moment the Wales international is the best possible alternative to the skilful Spaniard.

It’s a little early to make a call on the effectiveness of a Ramsey-Coquelin partnership—the two have played only a handful of games together—but there were indications against Leicester that it will jell more effectively than the pairing of Ramsey and Flamini.

When Jack Wilshere and Cazorla return in a few weeks' time, Wenger may have cause to reconsider his options once again. Both men are arguably better ball-players than Ramsey, so it’s possible the Welshman will again be pushed out to the right wing to accommodate a more natural deep-lying playmaker.

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The No. 10 role is in no doubt at all. Ozil has been in inspired form throughout the season, and the main function of the midfield is to provide him with a platform on which to operate.

The Germany international effectively plays in a free role, so the demands on the two players behind him are significant. However, his creative capability makes it worthwhile—17 assists in 24 Premier League appearances is a remarkable record.

What’s more, he also provides the team with shape. Ozil is a highly intelligent player, constantly roaming around the field to provide options or to alternate with other attacking players. He adds an invaluable dynamism to Arsenal’s midfield play and is an automatic pick for Wenger. 

With Arsenal still competing on three fronts, Wenger will have to rotate between now and the end of May. There are options available to him: Cazorla and Wilshere are on the way back, Elneny is continuing his adaptation to life in the Premier League, and youngsters like Alex Iwobi continue to impress in their limited cameos.

However, for the time being, the trio of Coquelin, Ramsey and Ozil is the strongest at the manager’s disposal. Wenger will need that threesome to retain form and fitness over the coming weeks if Arsenal are to sustain their revived title challenge.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2015/16. Follow him on Twitter here.