Two areas Arsenal must strengthen to secure a top-four finish
Arsenal, under new manager Unai Emery, must sign reinforcements in the January transfer window to further improve their squad. The Spaniard’s job right now is to assess the quality of assets he has and judge them by deploying them in a certain amount of games.
He has a different style of play, which is a new thing for many of Arsenal’s current players. So, they must either adapt to the new philosophies or get replaced sooner rather than later.
Emery has already proved that he will be hard on players who are not showing the adequate amount of work rate on the pitch. He subbed Mesut Ozil off in a big game against Chelsea, even where there was a huge chunk of minutes remaining. It signalled as to how things will be run at the Emirates from now on.
Here are the two obvious areas the Gunners should improve in January.
Defence
Since the days of Martin Keown and Kolo Toure, Arsenal have had to fix their defensive issues every season. Although the Gunners have purchased new defenders over the course of the last 5-6 years, they haven’t been good enough to help them challenge for the league title.
Hence, for Emery, he must work towards rectifying the club’s defensive woes. The Spaniard plays a high-pressing game with a high defensive, and perhaps the likes of Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi are not adept in this system?
Thus, Arsenal need to address this issue to suit the playing style of the new manager.
The wing
Arsenal are in dire need of a proper winger – someone who can hug the touchline effortlessly. Perusing the squad currently, the Gunners don’t have pace in wide attacking areas.
The likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil are technical players who seldom make runs in behind, or cover for the full-backs while tracking back. The former has been deployed at right-wing this season, however, he has failed to provide Hector Bellerin the protection he needs as a right-back.
Going forward, the pace from wide areas helps orchestrate quick counter-attacks and provide options for midfielders against deep-defending teams. Therefore, Arsenal must get a winger across the line soon.
