Andy Cav - Comments

I wouldn't be terribly against it, but the fact is that if he goes he won't be adequately replaced, If the money is right, let the man walk.

Ryan Shawcross...Will never be welcomed at Arsenal, but from a commitment point of view (not to mention a mobile English central defender) he'd be my number 1 English buy.

No clue. The post-match interview was just awful. When you want to see fight from your manager all he could do was praise how much they tested the goalkeeper and made chances. Did you lack quality? No. Well what was it? We were beaten on penalties. But, it was to a League 2 side? It was on penalties, Bradford did well.

Essentially he said they tried their hardest, lacked no quality and lost on penalties so it's fine.

I've never, ever been on the anti-Wenger bandwagon, but he's taken this club as far as he can. His philosophy's were to be admired, but the football isn't even that good anymore.

I didn't say De Gea specifically, but the position. Are there any goalkeepers so willingly dropped and swapped other than De Gea and Lindegaard? Neither are "United standard". The United sides against City, Chelsea and Arsenal have been the same this season, all with success. I'd count that as a spine...or at least a reliable starting line-up.

I do agree that the main area to strengthen would be the central midfield, but United definately don't get over-run Arsenal style.

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Glad to see Wenger sticking with Gervinho in a striker's role and sticking Podolski on the wing. Fool him once...and so on.

Out of Saha, Campbell, Wickham and Ji, would you have any of them now? Campbell just isn't right at the moment and Saha has been less than impressive.

As I say, I think Cissé is wasted on the wing. Santon's main strength is on the offense so maybe bringing Ben Arfa infield and going with a 4-3-1-2 would be a shout.

Sunderland need a new striker if they're going for 2 up top.

Eh, not according to Harry Redknapp or Martin O'Neill. Both see him developing more at left-back than the original left-wing. I can see him being another Keiran Gibbs and to me that's not a good thing.

So my biggest issue as an Arsenal fan is that we actually now have a markedly lower calibre of player than Chelsea, United and City. In seasons past I've always thought we were just a couple of players short, but now it's not just the balance of the team, but the players themselves. The question I've got is are we using the players we have to the best of their abilities and I don't think we're doing that either. I could cope with a season of mediocrity if there was a sign the tactics were in place.

All of the sides I've mentioned have noticeable shortcomings so all isn't lost, but the 2 strengths that they all have is a flexibility of systems, either due to the flexibility of the players themselves (Chelsea, Man City) or just due to squad options (Man United). The second strength is all have a solid spine to the team, the one exception to the rule being the United GK position.

So, what's the point of all this? For me it's a chance to look at how Arsenal stack up as a team and where the consistent thread is. I'll start with the formation, like all of the above Arsenal tend to favour the 4-5-1 formation, but unlike the earlier Wenger reign this system just isn't fluid anymore, it's rigid and predictable. Where the others all have the options to either change the formation or the approach, Arsenal lack the players or willingness to do this. The front 3 consist of a main striker and 2 winger forwards, Gervinho and Podolski tend to fill the wider roles and whilst both have their upside, the main downsides are unlike all of the above, neither player has the composure to play the final ball.
Giroud has potential and offers Arsenal a man they can hit, something they've lacked since Adebayor, but with no Mata, No Silva and no Young you have nobody to hit him. Gervinho has the pace and the raw skill to cause problems, but he suffers from a complete lack of a footballing brain, Podolski on the other hand is adept at playing as a wide forward as is the criminally underused Theo Walcott, but what bugs me is that both men (Podolski and Walcott) lack the winger mentality of driving for the line and going for the cross or the attacking midfield mentality of floating inside and looking for the through ball. Both to me look more comfortable centrally, Podolski has the ability to be the 2nd striker and float out into the channels as does Walcott, but in my mind playing one of them off of Giroud would be far more dangerous than the 3 man wide attack.

Most of Arsenals critics look at the defence and how shaky it gets and that's true, but when I look back on that individual basis, I don't get concerned. Mertesacker and Vermaelen are good defenders and one offers power and height whilst the other offers the pace and footballing quality, they're not perfect, but I don't see this area as a massive issue and despite struggling a bit for form Szczesny is a good goalkeeper with a great career in front of him. Sagna is a very good right back, though at left-back Arsenal look weak. Typically an area where Wenger moulds an attacking pacy winger into a full-back, he's getting progressively worse at it, from the world-class Ashley Cole to perennial France understudy Clichy to Keiran Gibbs. To me he's just not first-team material, but when faced with the prospect of André Santos what can you do?

Finally what I consider to be Arsenal's biggest downfall, midfield. This is not an area Arsenal lack quality and indeed it's probably the strongest area individually that Arsenal have, but as a unit this is where it all goes wrong. First it was Nasri and Cesc, although I don't see this as a concern at the moment as I think Cazorla is more than a match for Nasri and a fit again Jack Wilshere whilst not of the same quality as Cesc, is still a potentially world class midfielder and between them, that is where the creativity of the Arsenal team lies, but who's the third man in the middle? With Chelsea and Man City there's balance, both teams play with 2 more rounded midfielders usually, something Arsenal just don't have. Arteta is a capable and determined player, but despite his awful positional sense, Alex Song was simply better for the job of providing a physical, energetic presence and he added a range of passing to his play that had been missing since Cesc, to me he's the biggest loss we've suffered. Aaron Ramsay is not the player he promised to be, a quality player on his day, but that's been too few and far between since his injury and it's time to cut the cord and Rosicky as much as I love him is just not a worker, if anything he can back-up Cazorla, but suicidal if partnered with him.

My conclusion, I think Wenger should go 4-3-1-2 and try out Podolski or Walcott off of Giroud. The best delivery in the team comes from Sagna from wide, but both Wilshere and Cazorla can thread passes, there's just no pace with Giroud to break the line, something Podolski or Walcott can add. As far as priority buys, it has to be a midfielder or 2. Suggestions would be Moussa Sissoko, Mohamed Diamé, Marouane Fellaini and Yann M'Villa.

My suggestions aren't revolutionary, but surely Wenger has to see it soon. I'm sorry, but as much as I believe in Diaby's potential, it will never be fulfilled and Gervinho is an impact sub at best, never, never a striker.

I don't think Sunderland have bad players so much as they're just too predictable and have no pace, though I really don't know what O'Neill sees in Danny Rose...although he does have pace

On the subject of Newcastle, Marveaux confuses me, in the match against Wigan I was expecting to see him favoured to Jonas on the wing due to him actually being a winger. Jonas has got the engine to cover the left side as he does when Ben Arfa is ahead of him, but I think if Wigan hadn't have had Figueroa sent off, Marveaux could have been exposed in the center. I'd also prefer to see Pardew go with both strikers up top, Cisse is wasted on the wing.

That comeback was epic and showed the best of Walcott, Giroud & Chamakh...On the flip side, that has got to be the nail in Djourou's Arsenal coffin. I don't think Arsenal could do any worse at the back with him and Laurent "own goal" Koscielny. Abysmal performance by both of them, Kos is nowhere near the player he was last season and is deservedly behind Metesacker in the pecking order.

I would love to see Arsenal try out Walcott and Giroud up top in the league, I think they could be a good partnership with Poldi and Chamakh backing them up. Chamakh with a partner is a much, much better player.