da 888casino： Despite all the negative press Arsenal have received in the past few weeks, I don’t think they need a massive overhaul. Unlike what I have heard recently, I don’t think Arsenal need to buy a new player or need to change their formation or philosophy. They do not need to do anything too drastic. I think they need to fine tune the roles of their midfielders and they will not be far off the best sides in the world.
da apostaganha： My point is in regards to the role of Alex Song in the middle. He should be playing as a defensive midfielder. That means looking after the defence, breaking up play and giving the ball to one of the other players who will concentrate more an attacking. As I see it at the moment, Song does not play this role.
He plays too offensively for my liking. Countless times this season, I have seen him pass a ball then move forward into the space and look for a return. It is ok for the other midfielders to do this, but the defensive midfielder has to stay back. He needs to pass and move but stay behind the ball. At the moment, the unrestrained attacking instincts of Song, or whoever plays the defensive midfield role, exposes the back four.
The comparisons between Arsenal and Barcelona are obvious. Both sides try to retain possession at all times, keep the ball on the floor and pass to feet. But even Barcelona, the best team in the world, rely on a defensive midfielder who does not bomb forward, to help defend their defensive line.
Barcelona understand the importance of this role in a 4-3-3, in the summer they bought Javier Mascherano to do just this. Mascherano has not been prevalent in the Barcelona first eleven this season, but that is because of the impressive from of Sergio Busquets. Busquets passes the ball neatly but rarely advances deep into the opposing half, his duty is to retain possession and protect the back four, but not to surge forward and join in on attacking moves. Before this season they had Yaya Toure who took on this role, they always have someone to do it. The same cannot be said of the Arsenal ‘defensive’ midfielders.
[ad_pod id=’fox-mpu’ align=’right’]
The best sides in the Premiership also rely on this role. Chelsea built their team around Claude Makelele and now have Mikel, Essien and Ramires who can do this job. On Sunday I was very impressed with Nigel de Jong who looked after Manchester City’s back four exceptionally well. Manchester United play Scholes or Carrick from deep and have Fletcher who is a ball winner, as well as the unfit Owen Hargreaves.
My issue is with Song because if Wilshere were to play this role Arsenal would lose out on his attacking creativity. When playing a 4-3-3, one midfielder must sit and the other two can move up the pitch. But in Arsenal’s 4-3-3, all three midfielders play from the same depth, they move up and down the pitch together. While this makes for some very attractive football, it is not conducive to good defending.
Asking Song to play more defensively will not have a dramatic effect on Arsenal’s style of football. They will still have three attacking forwards. Wilshere and Fabregas can still play in midfield and look to build attacks. But at 6ft, Song is big enough to play the role that Gilberto Silva did so effectively in the invincible season. Song is technically good enough, both defensively and offensively, to play this role and still fit in with the Arsenal philosophy. He could be the key to Arsenal’s future.
This importance of defensive players might seem laboured, but I am not calling for new signings or a change in formation or philosophy, I am just calling for Alex Song to curb his attacking nature and play a more disciplined defensive role, like Busquets, his Barcelona equivalent.
You can follow Joe on twitter @joeaustin8
Check out Arsenal’s representative in the Top TEN solo goals of all time…
[ffcvideo file=’topten_sologoals’]