Arsenal FC Need to Reinforce Elsewhere Before Replacing Samir Nasri

The brouhaha surrounding the loss of the creative Samir Nasri should not gloss over the fact that Arsenal need to strengthen other key areas before replacing the Frenchman.

It was never going to be Nasri's departure to Manchester City that would threaten to derail Arsenal's season. The exit of Cesc Fabregas had already done much to that end.

But even before the Fabregas saga ended with him finally joining Barcelona, Arsenal's greatest needs had again been woefully neglected during another impotent summer in the transfer market.

As talk now turns to the identity of possible replacements in midfield—the usual suspects, Modric, Gourcuff, Sneijder, none of whom Arsenal will buy—the Gunners would be far better off finally addressing the problem that has been at the root of their barren period in recent times: their shambolic back line.

Losing Fabregas was a huge blow to Arsenal. Far less serious is the loss of Nasri, even though his influence at Arsenal has been so hyped you'd think they were losing Maradona.

But the truth is that Arsenal have never recovered from another loss: the breakup of what was once the meanest defence in the land, the invincible 2003-04 vintage. And that is the area that most urgently needs addressing.

That is not news, yet Arsene Wenger has largely failed to bring in the kind of quality, experienced goalkeepers and defenders required to compete at the highest level and emulate anything near the achievements of that classic side. That is why their trophy-less run since 2005 comes as no surprise.

Laurent Koscielny and Sebastien Squillaci were not the answers. Thomas Vermaelen looked like an excellent signing but has been hampered by injury. Carl Jenkinson is certainly the not the answer.

And in between the sticks, the problems that surfaced over the past couple of years are, miraculously as a quartet, all still at the Emirates: Manuel Almunia, Wojciech Szczesny, Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Manone.

With Jenkinson the only addition to a back line that has lost Gael Clichy and Emmanuel Eboue, the same old failings the Gunners have suffered from in recent years are still glaringly obvious.

And unless the money earned from the sales of Nasri and Fabregas is put towards strengthening the base of the side's spine, it matters little who replaces that duo further upfield.