Part II - What is stopping Arsenal from winning?

In our last edition of What is stopping Arsenal from winning?, we had discussed on the issues with our backline and defensive midfield. Let's see more on the attacking midfield options of Arsenal.

Attacking Midfield
Arsenal boasts of one of the best attacking midfield any football club can dream about. The likes of Fabregas, Nasri, Rosicky, Arshavin and Walcott raises few eyebrows in amusement. These are all world class players who can break any defensive traps in style. But why we are not still a formidable team? Guys its actually funny to remind you that most of the time most of our players would be injured. It had been very tough for Arsenal to find all our players fit and competing for the starting XI. Not sure whether this is a curse from some team we had defeated sometime back.

A special mentione needs to be made on Denilson and Diaby for holding on the attacking responsibilities and breaking the defenses for fun. In this season we haven't seen Nasri, Rosicky and Walcott yet. We Arsenalites always believes when all are there we will rock. But often forgets the fact that there is no state like that for us. I am not at all aware of what kind of training for fitness our team holds so don't want to comment on that. I saw how Nasri got injured and to me it was ridiculous. Its mere ill-luck that broke his leg. Poor Diaby how much he might be feeling sad for that.

Francesc Fabregas
Cesc is at his best when he is lying low with long balls and starting the movement from Arsenal end and later he is feary when he grabs the last pass to strike it in the back of the net for the same pass which he started back in his own half. He had been instrumental in counter attacks with his great vision and long passes. Early was deadly with Adebayor who is history in Arsenal now. Will look forward to see similar or more tougher bond with Bendtner in future.

Tomas Rosicky
Infact Arsenal had not seen much of him yet. He is very dangerous anywhere outside the box. If this guy is given space outside the box he don't care to pass the ball or enter the box. One of the best long range shots I have seen in Arsenal ranks. In recent past he had been highly prone to injuries and fighting hard to be fit. This guy is a very hard working player and hope to see more from him this season to enable Wenger to make a perfect squad.

Andrei Arshavin
Joined Arsenal ranks this year January but he had jelled with the team as if he had been playing for years. He is deadly inside the box, outside the box and has killer shots which no goalkeeper can even imagine. No wonder Almunia had been doing better now. Arshavin can single handedly break into defences with his speed and tricks. He is a very good dribbler of the ball and can be the next Bergkamp with the kind of tricks he has in his bag now. The only problem I found is that he is not at all good with Robin Van Persie. But very good with Bendtner and ok with Eduardo. Hope Arsene had noticed the samething.

Samir Nasri
Arsenal is yet to see his best. He is one of the best attacking midfielders in the world and at his age he is still growing. This guy has exceptionally good dribbling skills and very good at dead balls too. Arsenal should be able to utilize him for freekicks and corners going forward. Currently he is out for couple of weeks more due to a injury during pre-season training. One thing we noticed about Nasri is his skill to avoid tackles. That is commendable and tough to break down. He has good pace and growing every game.

Theo Walcott
No more a winger for Arsenal. This year Theo is hoping to play the central striker role which we feel is foolishness from him. There was one guy Wenger told to play as striker after his tenure as a left winger in 20yrs of age and his name was Thiery Henry. Not sure about Walcott yet. But he has good pace and dribbling skills. Needs to improve on his passing and finishing. He can run miles with the ball beating all but that is not football. He needs to work on his football skills along with the dribbling and runs. Once he improves his passing and finishing which is expected by the end of this year, you know what a deadly weapon Arsene will have in his Arsenal.

Denilson and Diaby
The two D's has been the revelation of the season with their extra-ordinary passing and marking. They had been able to fill the boots of Cesc when he was not playing in last couple of matches. What we need to look for is the consistency which Diaby had never shown. Hope he doesn't get injured this season again to spoil his chances in Arsenal. Denilson had been Wenger's favourite from last season and had been playing almost all the matches. He cannot be treated as a holding midfielder due to his tendency to go forward too often. Since he started the goal scoring for Arsenal this season, lets hope its a great season for him and Arsenal.

The kids to watch out for this season is Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Fran Merida.
Arsene Wenger will be looking for growing these kids for the future of Arsenal without Fabregas and Arshavin.

Will continue on this topic with attacking options later.