Midfield balance

Arsenal's U18's have certainly come leaps and bounds this season. There perfect balance in their midfield is provided through Coquelin's holding play, Jay-Emannuel Thomas's driving force and Jack Wilsheres skill and creativity in the midfield. Good midfield balance is vital in todays modern game. Wenger has been very aware of this. This has been shown on numerous occasions. Big games have seen combinations of Diaby, Denilson, Song and Fabregas. All aimed to provide balance as none are seen as major attacking forces. For me Denilson and Fabregas are naturally gifted with their positional play as they are pure central midfielders. Song started the season as a central defender which means that naturally when put in a makeshift midfielder role he will hold. In this position he has improved grately. For me Diaby is the poorest positionaly but this may not entirely be his own fault. When first siged he was seen as the next Patrick Vieira, so therefore Arsenal's new holding midfielder. But at many times this season (Fenerbache stands out in my mind) he has been played in the role behind the striker, during this game he had one of his best in an Arsenal shirt, but i believe its safe to say he is not the next massiah of the ''Bergkamp role''. Even on occasions he has even been put on the left, but this has had its positives as it has helped with his ball manipulation but at the cost of his positional play. Last season Arsenal has what Wenger described as his ''best central midfield pairing'' since he had been in charge. Balance-wise this was very true. Fabregas and Flamini complemented each other so well. Flamini was the workhorse, winning countless tackles and offloading the ball to Fabregas to playmake and create chances.

The centre is not the only area of midfield that needs balance and Wenger certainly knows this. This is why he has consistantly signed attacking central midfielders and but them on the wings and right footed players on the left handside. Many examples such as; Pires, Ljungberg, Hleb, Rosicky and even Overmars to an extent. This has its positives and negatives. Playing central players wide can certainly help with keeping possession and also helps to create more goals (Pires was excellent at cutting it in from the left and curling it into the far corner). The downside of this is that it encourages less crosses and prevents the advantages of a good attacking headerer of the ball such as Adebayor and Bendtner.

Wengers tactics may have come into disripute in recent seasons but tactically he is one of the greatest managers to grace the premier league. How can we forget Thierry Henry's transition from the wing to become one of the greatest strikers in history. The fans must get behind the team and manager more than ever if they want any kind of success. Just leave it to Arsene and sooner rather than later this team will begin to reap the rewards.

Top 10 summer targets

I’ve definitely not been on the sack Wenger bandwagon and I can certainly see that his project will work especially with all the young English talent currently coming through such as Jack Wilshere, Jay-Emmanuel Thomas and Kieran Gibbs. Despite this I can see that the current first XI does lack a little bit of a physical presence. Technically we are superb and with Robin Van Persie having his best goal scoring season, Eduardo coming back to full fitness next season, Arshavin providing excellent creativity, Theo Walcott hopefully improving to become the explosive attacking force we know he can become, Adebayor (if he doesn’t leave) re-discovering his fine form of the 07-08 season and maybe even Vela and Bendtner fulfilling there potential. We have no need for improvement in the attacking area of the pitch.
I believe we should be aiming to add some physical strength in the defensive area. There’s no doubting we need a new centre back, maybe even two. Individually Gallas and Toure when on form are superb defenders. But they do lack height and are more ball playing centre halfs rather than solid no nonsense defenders (especially Gallas). I do believe we proberly need a new holding midfield player despite songs brilliant end of season form. I would preferably bring in an experienced one so that the young midfielders such as Song, Denilson and possibly even Nasri and Diaby can learn from. I do not believe this is likely though as Wenger will not like to bring in a player without a decent re-sale price.

My top 10 targets for this summer would be:

Naldo (Age-26/ Position-CB) : beast of a central defender stands at 6ft 5 and could hold the key to sorting Arsenals defensive problem. He is only 26 years of age. This means he could well have at least 5 years of performing at the highest level. He is a good goal scoring defender that has a wicked free-kick on him. Which could add another dimension to our set pieces as Robin Van Persie seems to be our only specialist. He wouldn't be overpriced and could be the bargain of the season. I would love him in the heart of Arsenals defence and I really hope Wenger can see this.

Giorgio Chiellini (Age-24/position-CB): He's still relatively young at the age of 24 and is developing into a brilliant centre back, as Italy are re-known for. He's played for Italy 18 times. At 6ft 1 he is taller than Toure and Gallas so he could be a very good option.

Breno Hangeland (Age-27/Position-CB): I giant centre half at 6ft 5 who has impressed everyone with his performances last season. Arsenal fans have called for his signing but I don't believe he would currently leave Fulham.

Micah Richards (Age-20/Position-RB,CB): Might shock some. He is an Arsenal supporter and i'm sure he would relish playing for Arsenal. He might have had bad recent form but he had all the attributes to be a fantastic defender. A great engine, great pace, great strength and relatively decent in the air. Why would he not be an option?

Palombo (Age-27/ Position-DM): An excellent holding midfielder and i can't believe he hasn't been discused on other blogs. He is regarded as in inspirational character on the pitch, very much in the same mould as Gennaro Gattuso. Palombo is fierce in the tackle and never gives up a lost cause.

Lorik Cana (Age-25/Position-DM): An unbelievably tenacious holding midfielder that could be exactly what Arsenal need to strengthen there midfield. He is influencial and can provide Arsenal the captain figure.

Xabi Alonso (Age-27/Position-DM): May not be the physical midfielder us Arsenal fans are calling out for but could fit perfectly alongside Fabregas. His passing ability is second to none and his positional play is better than any holding midfielder we currently have.

Robert Green (Age-29/Position-GK): A goalkeeper may not be our number one priority especially with the young talented Faianski but I believe Robert Green should be Englands number one if they refuse to choose Almunia. Robert Green could be a very smart buy.

Edin Dzeko (Age-23/Position-CF): A striker may not be a priority either but if Adebayor leaves Wenger may want to add numbers and Dzeko has had a fantastic season for Wolfsberg. He has become quite unrealistic now though because he is hot property and will be wanted by many other clubs.

Yaya Toure (Age-26/Position-DM): Everythig points to Yaya. He is the brother of Kolo and is exactly what we are looking for. A holding midfielder with physical quailities. Also he is used to playing in a attacking possesio side so knows how to keep the ball and how to provide decent balance. But i am pretty sure he wants to stay at Barca and right now who can blame him.

This is my first blog and any feedback on my targets would be appreciated ;)