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[新聞] 5 reason why Arsenal must sign a full back in January

本帖最後由 go2david 於 2012-1-21 12:34 PM 編輯


In recent seasons, Arsenal Football Club has been haunted by bad  luck, squad indiscipline, poor officiating decisions and, of course,  mysterious injuries.

This season, Arsenal has had its fair share of bad luck and one can’t  look further than the surprising 4-3 defeat at the hands of Blackburn  Rovers at Ewood Park.

Gervinho opened the scoring after receiving a  delightful through ball from Alex Song. Yakubu Aiyegbeni scored two  goals (one offside) and that was where the scoring stopped for the home  side.

Despite leading at halftime thanks to an emphatic Mikel Arteta  finish, Arsenal somewhat connived to concede two own goals and Marouane  Chamakh’s late header wasn’t enough to give Arsene Wenger’s men a point.

Regarding squad indiscipline, the regular culprit Song has done  time after receiving bans from the FA and youngsters like Carl Jenkinson  and Emmanuel Frimpong have already been brandished red cards in their  short Arsenal careers.

I can open up a blog to write about the amount of officiating  decisions that have gone for and against the Gunners this season alone  and games like Liverpool (Luis Suarez’ offside), Tottenham (Rafael van der Vaart’s  handball), Blackburn (Yakubu’s offside) and many more will come to  light.

Injuries have become an essential part of football because of its  unpredictability and the way teams handle them goes a long way in  reshaping the destiny of the club for that season at least. Manchester  United for instance, have lost their inspirational captain Nemanja  Vidic to a knee injury that will sideline him for the rest of the  campaign, but they have the likes of Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling and Phil  Jones to provide support for the aging Rio Ferdinand.

Arsenal is a team that’s renowned for having a formidable squad that  challenges for honors every season but Wenger’s team has been  hit very hard by the demons of injury as all four recognized fullbacks  are currently on the sidelines nursing injuries.

Bacary Sagna suffered a leg fracture in October when Arsenal visited  White Hart Lane to play rivals Tottenham, Jenkinson has back issues,  Andre Santos went for a surgery to solve an ankle problem and Kieran  Gibbs recently suffered a set back in his groin injury.

Wenger has been forced to use his center backs as make-shift  full backs and they haven’t been half bad in those positions. He’s still  waiting on the return to fitness of these players but the fans are  calling for emergency full backs to hold the fort at least.

Here are five reasons why Arsenal needs to sign a full back in January:

1) Injury Worries


This is the principal reason why a full back has to be signed in  January because Arsenal is lacking personnel in those positions.  Arsenal’s primary left fullback Andre Santos, is sidelined till spring  and Kieran Gibbs is a player that has become consistent in getting  injured so Arsenal is in dire need of a new left back.

Bacary Sagna on the other hand is a player that’s renowned for his  stamina and natural fitness but he fractured his leg in October and his  replacement Carl Jenkinson is also out of action.

A new full back needs to be signed to provide adequate cover for these injured players till they return.

2) Thomas Vermaelen Needs to Return to his favored position


In Thomas Vermaelen’s first full season at Arsenal, he scored eight  goals and won a place in the PFA Team of the Year for 2009 thanks to his  valiant and commanding stellar performances all season long.  Unfortunately, he couldn’t build on his blistering form in his second  season as he suffered an Achilles tendon injury that sidelined him for  seven months.

Injuries to the full backs have forced Wenger to deploy the  Verm as a left back and I’m pretty sure he’s not happy with it but he  picks the team above self. If a new full back is signed, Vermaelen will  go back to his favored center back position.

3) Johan Djourou Offers Little or No Attacking Threat


His assist to Aaron Ramsey in the match against Olympique Marseille was a peach  of a cross, but it’s fair to say that Johan Djourou has been the weakest  link of the make-shift full backs deployed by Wenger. Defensively, he has been solid in some games and very shaky in  others but upfront hasn’t really done that well to provide adequate  support to the right winger.

When Arsenal hosted Everton in the game that marked the club’s 125th  anniversary, I can’t recall any time Djourou sent in a cross from the  right hand side. Theo Walcott was more than a match for Leighton Baines  but the game will be forever remembered for Robin van Persie’s  “Van-tastic” finish that was more than enough to seal the points for  Arsenal.

A new right back has to be signed to relieve Djourou of his services to say the least.

4) Lack of Service from the Flanks

                                                                                                                                                         
Arsenal has played three matches (Manchester City, Aston Villa and  Wolves) with its make-shift full backs and it’s obvious that no clear  cut goalscoring chances have been provided from the full back positions.  However, they’ve added solidity to Arsenal’s defensive play though.

Bacary Sagna and Andre Santos are full backs that maraud the flanks  and they contribute immensely to Arsenal’s attacking play. Arsenal has  to search for a new full back that will pick up were Sagna and Santos  left off with quality crosses into the box as well as proper support for  the wingers.

5) Healthy Competition


At this point in time, Andre Santos and Bacary Sagna are sure of  their first team berths and it has led to a bit of complacency from  Andre Santos at least. When Arsenal played Chelsea in that enthralling  encounter that saw Robin van Persie smash in an impressive hattrick, Chelsea scored their third goal after a bit of sloppy play from Andre  Santos.

The Brazilian full back dallied on Wojciech Szczesny’s simple throw  and the buildup led to a brilliant Juan Mata shot that went past  Szczesny to level the tie at 3-3. If Andre Santos played as if every  game was his last, I’m sure that Arsenal wouldn’t have conceded such a cheap goal.

Arsenal needs to sign a left full back that will give Santos a  run for his money because I’m sure that Kieran Gibbs will still spend  more time in the physio room as the season progresses.

I can’t recall many right backs presently better than Sagna in  world football with the exception of probably Dani Alves, Maicon and  Sergi Ramos but Wenger needs to sign a right back that can  deputize in Sagna’s stead when he needs a breather.

That’s supposed to be Carl Jenkinson’s job but…he’s out injured.

Feel free to share your comments on these reasons because it's quite a debatable topic.
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  • go2david

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