Arsenal Need to Make a Controlling Midfielder a Summer Priority

So much of football is about trying to get the right balance in a team. Finding a range of players who offer different attributes to help combine to make a team without sufficient weaknesses. For Arsenal this season that issue has predominantly been in midfield, an area where they are generally considered strong, but have usually had at least one issue throughout the season.

In the first half of the season, for the most part, the lack of a true ball winner was seen as the major issue. With Mikel Arteta ageing and suffering regular injuries, Aaron Ramsey having a poor run of form and injuries, and Mathieu Flamini seemingly getting worse by the minute, the defensive core of Arsenal’s midfield from the previous two seasons was failing them. Such worries have been emphatically squashed by Francis Coquelin, who has more than excelled in that regard since his reintroduction to the side late last year. However, this has in part created new problems. Coquelin is a sufficiently poorer passer, and is less intelligent in possession than Flamini and particularly Arteta. As a result, Arsenal’s control of games in possession has suffered, and their build up play has changed, so far not in a good way.

As Arsenal’s deepest midfielder, Arteta used to be the man who would control the tempo of possession, and act as the first line of build up play in the midfield. However, as Coquelin is not as strong on the ball, his interpretation of the role is different, and he plays less of a role in controlling the game and building play. This puts added onus on his partner in the 4-2-3-1 in build up. This would not be a major issue, if not for the fact that Arsenal don’t really have an option at central midfield who excels at it.

Santi Cazorla has been the man performing the role recently, often coming deep and beginning attacks. But for all his fantastic footballing quality, it’s not a role that particularly suits him. Cazorla has been at his best this season acting as a number 10 or 4-3-3 interior; using his fantastic close control in tight spaces and link up play to help Arsenal retain possession in the final third and create chances. While theoretically having a very cultured and technically proficient player such as him deep in midfield would work wonders, in reality he’s struggled to really build with passing and has instead relied on dribbles to get beyond the first line of opposition defence.

Aaron Ramsey has been the most regular partner for Arteta in the last couple of years. Their partnership worked well, Ramsey as an assistant in build up play and added legs and energy. But in the current side those are the qualities of Coquelin and Wenger is seemingly untrusting of Ramsey to be the dominated builder, instead playing him on the right in recent weeks.

As a result, Mesut Özil is often having to drop a lot deeper to collect the ball, and almost become the instigator himself from the midfield. One of Özil’s best assets is his positioning and receiving of the ball in advanced positions. As such, having him coming deeper to collect and build means Arsenal are devoid of that quality in the final third.

This has combined to mean that Arsenal have often been frustratingly sterile in possession in front of a low block. Sunday against Chelsea is the most obvious example, where they often had to look to the flanks and crosses as a means of trying to break through, but it was also true against Monaco and at times Reading and Burnley. In a similar vein, Arsenal have also sometimes been unable to regain control of a game and slow things down when finding their backs against the wall, such as at Newcastle last month.