by Christopher Weeks

Arsene Wenger is not known as a defensive-minded coach, especially as of late.

Arsenal have allowed 46 goals in the Premier League this season, good for 8^th place defensively.

Last season Arsenal allowed 44, 7^th place.

With Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker ageing out of their prime years, Arsenal have struggled to find a strong defensive partnership (or trio, at times).

Shkodran Mustafi, particularly has been a bit of a comedy of errors this season.

Cech and Ospina’s struggles behind them have not helped the situation.

Many are calling for a defensive overhaul through the transfer market this summer, but with a new manager, Arsenal may improve defensively without changing anyone.

Lessons from Debuchy

Since leaving Arsenal for Saint-Etienne in January, Mathieu Debuchy has been on fire.

He already has four goals to his name in Ligue 1.

Since joining, they have given up only 8 goals in 11 games, including dragging out a 1-1 draw against French super club Paris Saint Germain.

The fact that Arsenal had a right back that was capable of this on the books and failed to utilise it shows that Arsene Wenger and his coaching staff have lost their touch when it comes to the defensive side of the game.

Being fit and healthy has also played a role in his improvement.

If Mathieu Debuchy can benefit so much from being used in a different way, how many other Arsenal defenders could flourish under a new manager?

With better instruction, Mustafi could turn into the promising World Cup winning defender that Arsenal thought they were buying two seasons ago.

The same goes for Chambers, Bellerin, Holding, and the rest.

All of them have promise, and under the right guiding hand, perhaps they could all do a Debuchy.

Next, the defensive record of 22 potential managers and how they can get the best out of the players Arsenal already have…