Arsenal’s midfield problems show they are not top-four quality.
The Gunners have had to fire Unai Emery because of poor form this season but things haven’t necessarily turned around under Freddie Ljungberg.
Much of the blame has been put on the club’s defence as they struggle to keep clean sheets, however, I want to make a case for them and ask more of the midfield.
While defenders are paid to stop opposing teams from scoring their team, a team’s midfield also plays an important role in how little the number of goals they concede would be.
The Manchester City teams who have won the last two Premier League has had the pleasure of Fernandinho protecting their back four while the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva open teams up.
Liverpool has also had Fabinho covering their defence and allowing the likes of Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum create the chances for the forwards.
Arsenal doesn’t have anyone that they can trust to either cover their defence or create as many chances as the team would want.
We all know that the best form of defending is attacking, Arsenal’s midfielders have to either step up to the plate and begin to dictate the games or the club has to invest in new midfielders.
If I was making that decision I’d sell Granit Xhaka who has been abysmal recently and Lucas Torreira who is unsettled, I would buy a new defensive midfielder and a central midfielder that can help protect the defence and turn over possession to Mesut Ozil who hopefully can be trusted to create openings for our forwards. If not, then he has to go as well.