Van Persie has gone to Man U – can the Arsenal expect to push past them this season? « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. 800,000 visits last month
By Phil Gregory
Following on from my other assessments of our likely rivals at the top of the table this year (Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham), I thought I’d turn my attention to Manchester United before looking at City and making some “top of the table” predictions before the season kicks off this weekend.
Until the Van Persie announcement, it hadn’t really been a great summer for United from a transfer point of view. They have signed up youngster Powell from Crewe who by all rights is supposed to be a talent, while the unveiling of Kagawa is of more relevance to the here and now.
According to those who watch far more Bundesliga than I, the Japanese international had an impressive season last year and plays off the striker. That last piece of information is certainly interesting, given how United arguably have two “spare” strikers they want rid of already in Berbatov and Macheda: Kagawa will bring quality to their attack but also add to the congestion in this department. Needless to say the addition of Van Persie makes this all the more confusing: on quality he starts ahead of Rooney, if Fergie wants Kagawa buzzing around off a front man.
My initial suspicion was that Fergie might mould Kagawa into a midfield playmaker, but given United’s penchant for a two man central midfield that doesn’t seem likely… you don’t want a lightweight attacking midfielder in a two man midfield as it places too much defensive onus on their partner. And yet United seem overstocked up front and underweight in quality in the midfield, so this signing is certainly slightly puzzling, to me at least.
Perhaps the intention is to use a 4231 system more overtly. On paper, United line up with an old fashioned 442, but really the centre of midfield is usually fairly deep and the wingers are pretty advanced, so 4231 seems a more appropriate framework if you have a creative “Number 10″ operating off a striker.
Once you think of United in that structure, the lack of midfield creativity isn’t too much of a big deal: the midfield is solid to provide a base for the penetration to come from the flanks, with the addition of Kagawa buzzing around off a front man designed to lessen the burden on the flanks to create openings. So while the central midfield hasn’t actually been improved, the overall problem of creativity may have been, depending on what Fergie has in mind. I’m a Gooner, perhaps I’m barking up the wrong tree.
This is important as, if you speak to any United fan, they only ever bemoan their midfield. They have done for about four years, and with Anderson not fulfilling the early potential that was seen in him, the midfield seems a little lacking. With the aforementioned Brazilian lacklustre, Darren Fletcher out with a nasty sounding condition (though making the bench in a testimonial alongside Dwight Yorke recently), Paul Scholes aged 103 and already once retired, there is an overreliance on a 31 year old Michael Carrick – who cannot do it all himself – or the virtually untested Cleverley.
Much seems to rest on the shoulders of youngster Cleverley, who seems to be seized upon as the next big thing by United fans desperate for a midfield saviour. Yet by most accounts the youngster was outshone at the Olympics by our very own Aaron Ramsey who incidentally came in for a lot of criticism from Arsenal fans last year for his performances. While Cleverley impressed at Wigan on loan, that alone does not convince that he is the man on which United’s hopes will be built. For me, the youngster will certainly be an option but whether he can function in a deep, two man midfield is debatable, and I suspect they will rely on their new #10 and the flanks for creativity this year.
All that bodes well for Arsenal, then. Overall the United squad is pretty solid bar central midfield. They are arguably a little light at full back, but compared to last season will be able to count on the presence of Vidic in defence which is a welcome boost.
Their successful pursuit of Van Persie of course has a huge bearing on this debate. Having secured him, Arsenal are weaker and the onus is on Podolski and Giroud to hit the ground running in attack for us, and the likes of Chamakh to rediscover his début few months’ form as he’d surely be a bench option, if Podolski starts on the left.
If uninjured Van Persie will greatly improve the United attack – they finally have a world class striker – but the risk is unsettling the squad, as they now have far too many options up front going into the season. The likes of Macheda and Berbatov will surely be out the door, but if Van Persie and Kagawa compete for the deeper role, Rooney, Van Persie, Hernandez and Welbeck are all competing for the advanced role… it’s a little cosy in there.
In terms of overhauling United, Arsenal have to really improve compared to last season. We finished 19 points adrift, which is an absolutely mammoth distance to overhaul, especially amongst top of the table sides. Part of that deficit will be made up by Arsenal being prepared for the start of this season and not opening the campaign in car-crash style with the losses racking up in the first seven or so games.
Secondly I’m much more confident of us being much better defensively this season: Mertesacker wasn’t great at the start of his Arsenal career due to a lack of familiarity with the team, but he quickly grew into a solid member of the defence. Koscielny has matured into in my view the best defender we have, and Thomas Vermaelen is fully fit at last, after getting over a long term injury but putting in some shaky performances last year while carrying an injury.
A fundamental problem last year was the way the defence was chopping and changing constantly. Mertesacker got thrown in at the deep end, struggled and then improved only to miss the crucial run-in with an injury. Vermaelen missed much of the season and carried an injury for the end of it, and Koscielny held things together until he too got injured. The partnerships were constantly changing, there was little familiarity between the centrebacks for much of the season and that all got compounded by the plague striking down every fullback we had at one stage last season.
For me, the defence could well be substantially improved this year given the much greater familiarity between the defence, and centrebacks particularly. Indeed I’d venture to say we have three quality centrebacks, as good a fourth choice as there is in Djourou and two youngsters capable of fringe appearances in Miquel and Bartley.
Finally, I feel that Arsenal have genuinely made some excellent signings this summer. Podolski offers depth up front and on the flank, Giroud offers a credible replacement to RvP as well as offering an aerial threat all game, while our new Spaniard offers us creativity in the middle of the park, an area where it was lacking at times last season. Rosicky is a solid squad option, and Ramsey is certainly capable of raising his game to compete for the berth too. While new signings always have an element of the unknown about them, I’d actually argue that despite RvP’s departure, our squad is stronger than it was twelve months ago. If Wilshere returns from his injury nightmare and Diaby proves he can remain fit, that argument becomes ever stronger.
Without a car crash start, with a settled defence and with greater depth up front and creativity in abundance now, I genuinely feel Arsenal have no excuse if they aren’t part of the title hunt this coming season. That doesn’t mean we’ll come home with that much-vaunted silverware, but Arsenal will be there or thereabouts, and Manchester United should be watching their backs, particularly if their midfield remains underwhelming.