Although the season is not even a week old, confidence is sky-high at the Emirates Stadium. Two impressive road victories have quickly made people forget about the losses of Adebayor and Kolo Toure and have established Arsenal as a team not to be taken lightly, unlike many of the preseason pundits would have suggested.
New center back Thomas Vermaelen has been fantastic, whether scoring goals at Goodison or sprinting full field to prevent them at Celtic Park, Wenger's lone summer signing has been just what Arsenal needed: a quality center back with pace and aerial ability. Alex Song, who improved massively towards the end of last year, has built on his game even more, and has proven himself to be a more than capable holding midfielder. And arguably what's most impressive about the success of this Arsenal team is the fact that the three starting attackers--van Persie, Arshavin, and Bendtner--have yet to score a goal.
Arsenal has started the season on fire, but a week ago Arsenal fans weren't so optimistic. After all, Wenger had not done anything to address the team's needs: a proven holding midfielder, a tall center back that could win headers, and a striker to replace Adebayor. Now, after impressive performances in the first two games of the season, the cries for Wenger to add to the squad aren't so loud.
On August 6, Wenger said "We can still make do with one or two players more. One could be in the defensive areas, and one in the attacking areas." He later hinted that these acquisitions would likely take place later in the summer transfer window, when prices drop and when a Champions League birth, and the money that results from it, is secured. He bid for a striker, Chamakh, but Bordeaux rejected the bid. Now the rumor is that he has turned his sights to PSV left winger Balazs Dzsudzsak, who has said as much on Hungarian radio. The 22-year-old left winger seems to be a quality player, but does Arsenal need another pacy winger? Arshavin currently plays on the left, and Nasri, Walcott, Rosicky, Vela, Wilshere, and even Gibbs and Traore can provide adequate cover. Dzsudzsak seems like another skilled, pacy, left-footed player, of which we have plenty.
A defensive addition, however, is something we do need. At center back, Gallas and Vermaelen have been outstanding thus far, but Arsenal lack cover behind the two. Djourou is injured often, Silvestre lacks the quality a top 4 defender should have (thats why Sir Alex let him go) and Senderos clearly does not have a place in the manager's plans, as he has been permitted to move to Everton. In general, the Arsenal center-backs lack height, but the failures of Senderos and Cygan have shown that it is difficult to find defenders with the height and aerial ability we need combined with the pace and passing ability to play in a high line. Fulham's Brede Hangeland has been mentioned, but according to him there has not been any formal approach. The problem with Hangeland is that he would merit a first team place, and therefore take one away from Vermaelen or Gallas.
The area of most concern, arguably, is defensive midfield. Alex Song has improved massively in the last two years and he looks to be a real quality player, but there is no cover for him really, which is a problem because he heads to the African Cup of Nations in January. Denilson is a solid player, but not big and strong and not a good enough ball-winner to play in the Song role. Therefore what Arsenal need is a holding mid, moreso than Chamakh, Dzsudzsak, or Hangeland, preferably a holding mid who can cover at center back as well. The unveiling of this holding midfielder, however, is just over a week away.
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