Former Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell says Arsène Wenger still hasn’t addressed key weaknesses in the current squad, and it’s showing on the pitch.
Campbell never played under Arsène Wenger, making 166 appearances for the Gunners between 1988 and 1995 before the French manager arrived a year later. But he says that watching on from the outside, it’s clear what the team used to have, and doesn’t anymore.
“I think there’s bigger issues in this team. Full backs playing centre-half for this team. I don’t believe Arsenal have replaced a Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit or even a Gilberto. In all those years they haven’t addressed it,” he said, reports the Mirror.
“If you don’t address your centre-half and you don’t address your centre midfield, which is the spine of your team, where are you going? Arsenal have not addressed the problems in a dozen years and it’s telling on the pitch.”
Supporters were calling all summer for a top centre-back or central midfielder, after Sead Kolašinac and Alexandre Lacazette were signed early on. It seemed all the more likely after Gabriel left for Valencia and Shkodran Mustafi was linked with an exit, while Jean Seri seemed to be on his way out of Nice. However, nothing else happened and the window closed.
Granit Xhaka has had a difficult start to the season in central midfield, but the summer inactivity meant there’s been no good alternatives. Jack Wilshere still isn’t trusted to start league games again yet, Cazorla is still injured, and Mohamed Elneny and Francis Coquelin have apparently become centre-backs, which leads onto the next problem.
Although central midfield has been a bit of an issue, at least the players playing there have always been midfielders. At centre-back, we’ve seen left-backs, right-backs and midfielders operating in the role.
The Gunners have been unlucky with injuries, but with Per Mertesacker set to retire at the end of the season, Laurent Koscielny’s recurring injuries and Mustafi’s apparent desire to leave, Arsenal must invest in a defender over the next window or two.