Another heartbreaking loss away to Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium just as the Arsenal fans were beginning to believe that the corner has been turned after the three consecutive wins on the bounce. It is back to the drawing board for Arsenal as once again it is looking as if there is a real danger of Arsenal actually missing out on a Top 4 spot. However knowing Arsene Wenger’s track record that will probably not happen but things surely needs to change and fast. Buying a new defender and a defensive midfielder is something which is obvious and which will probably (should be) be rectified in the January transfer window. However here at Soccersouls, we take a look at what Arsene Wenger needs to do right now in order to ensure that Arsenal do not fall behind in the race for the Top 4.
Laurent Koscielny needs to be kept fit under any circumstances:
3 matches in a row that Arsenal won without conceding a goal had one common denominator and that is the Frenchman Laurent Koscielny. Consider the 8 matches he was out and the match against Stoke where he was again absent and you will see a pattern emerging. There cannot be any doubt that Laurent Koscielny is Arsenal’s best defender at the moment and Arsenal has to make sure that he is fit and playing almost all the matches from now till January to make sure that Arsenal is in touch with the current Top 4. Time for Shad to work up some of his magic perhaps.
Time to ditch the 4-1-4-1 formation once and for all:
It is time to face some facts. 4-1-4-1 does not work. Fair enough Arsene Wenger tried something new this season to counter all the thrashings that Arsenal received at the hands of the bigger teams last season but Arsenal have looked effectively toothless in this formation with Flamini (or Arteta) being horribly exposed on the counter by almost any team which has faced them this season. While the thrashings were indeed heartbreaking for the Arsenal fans, there was one thing that Arsenal did right last season and that was to beat the mid table and the bottom half sides. Time for Arsenal to be the flat track bullies once again.
Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck needs to be rotated:
With Olivier Giroud coming back from a serious injury and Danny Welbeck playing all those matches consecutively due to Giroud’s absense means that both are not in the perfect condition right now. With matches every 3 days until January, there is a definite need for both of them to be rotated so that they are fresh and firing for the matches they are picked for. Although this might not happen but given Arsenal’s depth in the attacking half of things this is something Arsene Wenger can seriously consider.