Arsenal: 6 Ways Arsene Wenger Can Make Them Winners Again

4. Where Is The Midfield Destroyer?

Petit, Vieira, Gilberto Silva, Flamini, Song. All players who got stuck in. Not afraid to do the dirty stuff. Win the ball. Shield the defence. Carry the water. However you want to put it, it€™s clear that Mikel Arteta, for all his ability, is no ball winner and certainly not a physical presence. Jack Wilshere will get stuck in once he has a few more games under his belt, but the rest of the midfield looks flimsy, and undoubtedly adds extra pressure on to a fallible defence. As mentioned before, Wenger was once well known for not seeing the various indiscretions of his players on the pitch and Arsenal racked up 68 red cards between September 1996 and March 2007 €“ over 6 a year on average. Over the next 3 years they picked up 12 (4 a year), including six in the Premiership in 2010/11, three last season, and one this season and in 2009/10 (Premier League only). This despite more challenges being deemed worthy of a red card over the last five years, with one footed lunges joining the two footed variety in earning a straight red. Arsenal need more bite across their team, they need to press more, put more tackles in, and generally have more physical presence on the pitch. Opposition teams feel they can bully Arsenal off the pitch, not with fouls and kicks (although that does happen) but just by being stronger.