Arsenal Need Quality Defender To Keep Champions League and EPL Hopes Alive

Braga 2, Arsenal 0: Match Report

If Liverpool going down to Blackpool earlier in the season was compared to a disaster, then Arsenal's defeat at the hands of Sporting Braga in the Champions League is nothing short of a disaster. Boasting of one of the most talented array of players in their squad, Arsenal ranks among the elite clubs in the world despite the fact that they have not won the Champions League yet.

Arsenal rested Andrei Arshavin and Robin van Persie and were without the injured Gael Clichy for the Braga encounter, but they had a strong squad to Portugal to face a team currently 10th in the Portuguese league. As expected, the Gunners had all the possession in the world, but chances came at a premium, and there were no clear-cut chances in the first half.

The forward line consisting of Tomas Rosicky, Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner were largely unimpressive and they failed to create anything substantial. Cesc Fabregas, who was surprisingly included in the starting 11, and Jack Wilshere were both below par in the first half, and most of Arsenal's attacks were due to Kieran Gibbs' enterprising forward runs.

In the second half, the Gunners were toothless (again!) and could not split the defence to create chances for Bendtner and Walcott. Fabregas incurred another recurrence of his hamstring worries when he stretched to control a long ball from Wilshere, and he immediately called for a substitution. The substitute who came on also took the armband from the shoulder of Fabregas, and is currently Arsenal's second-best goal scorer of the season. 

With the games having produced no goals till the 65th minute, Wenger introduced Marouane Chamakh and Carlos Vela for the ineffective Bendtner and Walcott. A knockdown from Chamakh provided a clear chance for Vela, who was quite obviously brought down by the Braga defender. The referee had his eyes closed (at least, that is what I guess), and presented Vela with a yellow card for diving. With the introduction of Chamakh and Nasri, Arsenal played at a relatively high tempo compared to the first half.

But all it took to split the Arsenal defence was a simple long ball over the defenders, who were caught out of position and allowed Matheus to get behind the static defence and slot it past the hapless Fabianski. In a game that was completely dominated possession-wise by Arsenal, a goal by Matheus was all that was needed to break Arsenal's resilience.

When Arsenal looked to equalise in the closing minutes of the game, a counterattack led by Matheus, who finished brilliantly, sealed the game in the home side's favour. It was a superb finish by Matheus, but as Arsene Wenger will admit it was shambolic defending from his team which led to the goal.

Arsene Wenger's Errors in the Summer Transfer Window

A number of fingers were pointed at Laurent Koscielny, who was terrible against Tottenham after their Derby defeat but he was demoted against Braga and it was Sebastien Squillaci and Johan Djourou who played in this encounter. Both of them were not bad for most of the match, but they both contributed to the errors in a large way.

Arsenal supporters will have to pay the highest ticket prices in England to watch the Gunners in action at the Emirates, and if this is all that Arsenal and Wenger can muster, we can expect the crowds to dwindle in the future. This unpredictable team has the capability to beat the best in the business when they are on song, but their undermining has been the lack of quality experience at the back.

One of Wenger's best acquisitions in recent years was the signing of the passionate Thomas Vermaelen, who has been immense for Arsenal at the back, but the manager has not provided good defenders to partner him at the heart of the defence. To make matters worse, Vermaelen was injured on international duty in August and has still not recovered from his worrying injury.

Wenger did not renew the contracts of William Gallas and Sol Campbell (the rest is not worth mentioning!) and brought in Sebastien Squillaci and Laurent Koscielny to replace the experienced duo. It was obvious that Arsenal lost the title last year due to their poor defence and Wenger vowed to make the defence stronger in the summer.

But his signings have been questionable and the defence looks weaker this time than the last season. William Gallas, for all his mistakes and attitude problems, has the experience to deal with pressure and provided a good foil for Vermaelen, but Koscielny and Squillaci have been unimpressive and it is hard to see why Wenger spent a large part of the £10 million to acquire Koscielny's services.

Squillaci was a bargain buy from Sevilla for around £3.2 million who was initially brought in to be the third-choice defender. It was an astute buy from Wenger considering the French international brings with him a lot of experience of playing at the highest level. But Squillaci does not have the pace and skill to be a top-notch defender for Arsenal, and can only be an effective backup. Wenger realised it when he wanted to spend less than £5 million on a defender, whom he bought "to make up the numbers."

Koscielny was tracked by Arsenal, early in the summer and Wenger wanted to get his man immediately after the World Cup. He was not available at a bargain but the £10 million price tag did not deter the Frenchman from securing the services of the defender. Koscielny is too lean and not physical enough at present to be the first-choice defender of a top EPL team like Arsenal. He does not have great pace or physicality, and it was an incorrect decision by Wenger to sign him as a first-choice defender.

Ever since Arsenal moved to the Emirates, Wenger has refrained from spending much and Wenger had spent more than £10 million only thrice on a single player. The three players (before the transfer of Koscielny) were Andrei Arshavin, Samir Nasri and Thomas Vermaelen.

All three are hugely talented, and have not endured too much criticism about their ability. Vermaelen impressed in the last season and though Nasri was not as impressive as he is now, he was always considered to be of huge potential.

Koscielny cannot be blamed too much for his lack of consistent performances because he has endured development at a rapid rate, and it is tough for anyone to adjust in these circumstances.

But the blame must be shouldered by Wenger. The Arsenal tactician knew that he needed a world-class defender at the back to partner Thomas Vermaelen, but his parsimonious attitude and belief in French players led him to sign the inexperienced defender.

Koscielny has shown occasionally that he has good ability, but it is too soon for him to make an impact and this season will go awry if Arsenal continue to rely on him to be the first-choice defender. Besides, Koscielny has also thrown away Arsenal's place at the top of the fair play table as well, picking up two red cards already in this season. So, he needs time to adjust and showcase his potential but one thing is for sure; he cannot be the regular first-choice defender for Arsenal this season.

Will Wenger be Bold and Sign a Quality Defender?

It is not very often that Arsene Wenger makes mistakes with such big-money transfers, but he has got to accept his error and not make ridiculous statements like the one he made after the Spurs game when he said, "Our defenders played well but we were unfortunate." If your defenders played well, and you have a two-goal lead, you are expected to coast to victory, which was not the case.

Wenger has a great opportunity to rectify his error in the January transfer window and if he fails to be active on the market, Arsenal are going to fight a losing battle for sure. Good defenders do not come cheap in this era, and Wenger must be bold to spend what it takes to bring a quality defender to the Emirates.

Gary Cahill would be a good choice considering he is experienced in the Premiership and will move from Bolton if the offer is right. Besides, Arsenal are the only "Top Four" club, where he can expect to play in the first team on a regular basis. Phil Jagielka is another good option who was tracked by Wenger in the summer but it is unlikely that he will move from the blue half of Merseyside.

Arsenal were also linked to a number of other defenders in the summer like Per Mertesacker and Mamadou Sakho but nothing materialised regarding the transfer of these players.

Arsene Wenger was satisfied with his two summer dealings and strongly believed that this year's defence was much better than the last season's, but it has not been the case till now, and Wenger will have to address the concerns in January.

The problem that Arsenal will face when it comes to signing defenders in the summer is that Chelsea will also be on the market for a defender after their injury worries regarding John Terry and Alex and it will be difficult to enter bidding with the Blues, who are backed by the Russian Billionaire, Roman Abrahomovic.

But Arsenal can provide first-team football to a good defender, which is not the case with Chelsea because Terry and Alex are surely the first-choice defensive pairing for Chelsea. Wenger had a decent relationship with Owen Coyle before the Bolton match, and should try to tempt the Trotters with a good offer for Cahill. The Gunners had some of the strongest defenders in the EPL for a long time but are now left with average defenders who have shown a tendency to surrender meekly to an onslaught.

Things will undoubtedly improve when the impressive Thomas Vermaelen returns to the fold, but after suffering numerous setbacks in his return to fitness, it is difficult to set a time frame by which he should be back in Arsenal colours. Wenger should not wait for Vermaelen to achieve full match fitness to improve the defence, and should purchase a quality centre back who will steady the sinking ship and form a formidable partnership with Vermaelen when the Belgian returns. 

Can an Arsenal Supporter Remain Optimistic Ahead of Villa Encounter after Such Abject Performances?

Arsenal have had two abysmal performances in the week, raising numerous questions on their ability to break their frustrating title drought. In times like this, it is difficult for supporters to remain optimistic considering that there were hardly any positives to take from the defeat to Braga. Arsenal's defenders looked poor, the midfield uninspiring and the forward line out of sorts, and add to that an injury to the best player in the team.

Arsenal have shown a tendency to lose two consecutive games, as was the case against West Bromwich and Chelsea, Shakthar Donetsk and Newcastle United and Tottenham and Braga. There was also a pattern like this in the last season as well when they lost to Manchester United and City, Sunderland and Chelsea, Manchester United and Chelsea and Tottenham and Wigan. Arsenal need a proper strategy to bounce back strongly from defeats.

But they have not lost three on the trot, which is why supporters should believe that Arsenal can earn three points against Aston Villa, which will be an extremely difficult encounter for the Gunners. Besides, Robin van Persie is expected to start the encounter after Wenger indicated that he would work his way to full fitness during the week. Also, Cesc Fabregas' injury means that Samir Nasri will play in the central attacking midfield role in which he has excelled.

Arsenal have a great chance to qualify from the group stage because they will be playing at the Emirates against whipping boys Partizan Belgrade, and even if they do not post a win, Shakhtar will field a strong team against Braga at home in order to win the group. A victory for Shakhtar will be enough to guarantee qualification for the Gunners on the basis of goal difference.

Last but not least, this was a quote from Sebastien Squillaci after Arsenal lost consecutive games against Shakhtar Donetsk and Newcastle United: "When you play for a team like Arsenal, after two defeats you need to respond. A great team doesn’t concede three consecutive defeats. So the next game will be really important, we need to show that Arsenal are a great team."

Any logical supporter would ask, "If you are a great team, then why the hell did you lose two games in a row, so many times?!"