Where I’d like to see Arsenal strengthen

By @15yearoldgooner

Well, where to start?



Actually, I don’t really think we need too many more additions, especially now we have Gervinho. I wanted a winger, so that’s taken care of.

I still think we’re a little light in a few areas. These will be dependent on departures, but we may need an experienced back-up goalkeeper in place of Almunia, who seems to be surely out of the door. Brad Friedel was a smart signing by Sp*rs, and I’d like someone a little like him. Craig Gordon was suggested as a possibility but I’m not sure he’s in the mould of the goalkeeper I’d like. A first-choice goalkeeper at a lower club, preferably Premier League would be ideal. In fact, Jussi Jaaskelainen would be perfect.

As everyone knows, we still need to strengthen a lot defensively. That was where a big problem lied for us last season, and we have to improve on that. I think Koscielny and Vermaelen are a top class partnership, and they’ll do well for us. But we can’t be relying on Djourou and Squillaci. Djourou had a good season overall last year, but Squillaci just doesn’t seem capable of playing too well for us.

I think his performances are somewhat exaggerated through what seems to be our need for a scapegoat. Bendtner and Denilson have suffered from this too – none of them are actually bad players. They’re just easy to pick on, and because of our lack of success we seem to want to be able to blame individuals. But all of that’s for another article.

So I certainly think we need another centre half, somebody young; in the mould of Smalling or Jones would do very nicely. It’s a pity United snatched both of them from under our noses, because they would have fit the gap quite well. Raphael Varane would have also been good, but of course Real Madrid have snapped him up. So it seems like our expansive scouting network would come in handy here, because nobody jumps to mind for me.

I’m sceptical about going into the season with Kieran Gibbs and Armand Traore as our only left backs. I’m willing to give Gibbs a chance, because he’s shown signs of the potential a top left back needs. But in case things go wrong in any way, we surely can’t rely on Traore. However, he may turn out to be a decent back-up – that still remains to be seen. We’ve not seen much of him since he left for Juventus, so he might have improved over in Turin.

I think we may need a defensive midfielder to give Song some competition, and step in when needed. Ramsey could fill the gap this season though, because he can play deep or in the playmaking role. Someone like Arturo Vidal would have been perfect, but it looks like he’s headed to Juventus. Perhaps Emmanuel Frimpong could step into the breach, although it’s not quite clear if he’s ready.

In the creative department I think we’re fine – we have Fabregas, Nasri, Ramsey, Gervinho, Wilshere, Arshavin and van Persie to create magic when we need it so that’s pretty much sorted. At points last season, especially near the end, we looked out of ideas against teams like Stoke, but hopefully Gervinho will help us breach defences like those, and with improved seasons from Arshavin and Ramsey, we’ll be better equipped.

And finally, up front. It looks likely that Nicklas Bendtner is off, and I think we need to replace him. Perhaps Walcott could share some of the striking burden, but having thought about it, for me, he’s more of an inside forward. He wouldn’t work too well as a lone striker, and 4-4-2 seems out of the question, so I’d like to see him playing on the left wing and cutting in. He seems a little lost sometimes, because at times he has nowhere to go on the right, so maybe putting him on the left could solve that problem.

That would also solve the Samir Nasri conundrum, assuming he stays. Many argue that he needs to be in the ‘Cesc role’, but I completely disagree. His performances have been surely from the right hand side, and he seems a little out of place on the left too, so if we have Walcott on the left, Nasri could take on his seemingly preferred role on the right.

I’m not sure who would fill the void up front – perhaps the young Joel Campbell could play a part if we do sign him. It remains to be seen if he’s ready for the Premier League, but Hernandez did so well in his first season, and Campbell seems to have a similar amount of potential.