How bad is it at Arsenal?

[slimbimjim]

Hleb's agent has just confirmed he is leaving this summer...

So that's two key midfielders gone this summer, are they a bit ****ed or do they have enough to make up for their absense (assuming they don't buy any replacements)...?

[dww]

They need to buy people in and it is a big challenge. No one would have expected the improvement in Flamini last year and I can see either Diaby or Denilson stepping up but he is now a big loss. I think that they will slip back to be in the position we were this season of aiming for 3rd or 4th for most of the season (I expect us to finish above them).

They have a lot of players such as Bendtner, Walcott and those already mentioned that could improve though and make them challenge. I do think they need another leader in the squad though, Gallas showed this season he might not be the man when the chips are down.

[Exiled_red]

They need to buy people in and it is a big challenge. No one would have expected the improvement in Flamini last year and I can see either Diaby or Denilson stepping up but he is now a big loss. I think that they will slip back to be in the position we were this season of aiming for 3rd or 4th for most of the season (I expect us to finish above them).

They have a lot of players such as Bendtner, Walcott and those already mentioned that could improve though and make them challenge. I do think they need another leader in the squad though, Gallas showed this season he might not be the man when the chips are down.

Yeah I think they're playing for 4th next year, Flamini was vital for the last year and will be very difficult to replace, he was key to Fabragas having such a good season. Hleb was a good player but I think he can be replaced

[wiw]

I still think they'll be there or there abouts next season. Inconsistency (like us this season) of the new players/players coming through/the team will (hopefully) cost them though.

[redlancer]

Yeah I think they're playing for 4th next year, Flamini was vital for the last year and will be very difficult to replace, he was key to Fabragas having such a good season. Hleb was a good player but I think he can be replaced

I think Hleb is a superb player.

But all the leavers and 1st teamers too has to be a worry for them.

Imagine Alonso asking to leave, followed by Stevie - imagine the rummours on here and the Rafa has to go posts.

[-V-]

Flamini only left because he couldnt turn down the £4m signing fee plus 70k pw wages deal.

Hleb is leaving because he has few friends in the dressing room and feels a bit isolated. Thats to be expected when their are so many different nationality's and cultures

[dww]

I thought Hleb was one of the top players in the division for 3/4 of last season. He like much of their team tailed off towards the end. He will be a big loss too and will not be easy to replace - however I do think there is more hope of the likes of Walcott stepping in for him or finding a different player to fill the role than there is with Flamini. Wenger has a splendid eye for attacking players and I would expect him to find someone to replace Hleb. The problem I see is that with Rosicky's injury he may have to find two similar types of player in a market in which I would expect ourselves and Chelsea to also be seeking them. I would expect at least one of these to have to be a long term prospect.

In terms of the CM berth he has struggled to find an adequate partner for Fabregas though and Flamini's progress last year seemed to surprise everyone ( there was even talk of him being loaned out and he wasn't offered another year's contract at the start of the season). Diarra and Gilberto have both struggled to play the role with the correct balance of defensive assertiveness and good enough ball transfer to the more attacking players. The last player Wenger seemed to look at for the role other than those is Reo-Coker and I think the fact he went for such a surprising player shows the difficulty in finding ones with the right combination of abilities.

Alternatively Wenger could do something he has been loathed to do at Arsenal - change his tactics/formation.

[Joe Le Toff]

They have Nasri coming in and also Zarate so i have heard.

There is absolutely no way they will be playing for 4th next year, they have another years experience under their belts and they will be challenging for the league again this year.

They need a leader for sure and more than anything to score ugly rather than trying to walk it into the net.
Im sorry to say but the way it looks right now itll be us challenging for 4th probably with Spurs.

[Exiled_red]

I think Hleb is a superb player.

But all the leavers and 1st teamers too has to be a worry for them.

Imagine Alonso asking to leave, followed by Stevie - imagine the rummours on here and the Rafa has to go posts.

I wasn't having a go at Hleb but I think it's easier to replace an attacking player like him as there are players like Nasri, who could replace him. I can't think of that many good holding players that could play the Flamini role as well as he did for them last year

[Red Chilli]

I worte off Arsenal this time last year and for two thirds of the season they made me eat my words.

I'm not going to write off Wenger again, they'll be up there challenging

[fah-q]

They've also been granted a work permit for that Mexican Wunderkid who's name escapes me at the moment.

[-V-]

Vela. He will be a star

[Skillz]

They have Nasri coming in and also Zarate so i have heard.

There is absolutely no way they will be playing for 4th next year, they have another years experience under their belts and they will be challenging for the league again this year.

They need a leader for sure and more than anything to score ugly rather than trying to walk it into the net.
Im sorry to say but the way it looks right now itll be us challenging for 4th probably with Spurs.

Didn't know that. Hope it isn't true because I like what I have seen of Zarate, not a lot but enough. He will do very well for Arsenal IMO (if true) and it is no surprise they are after him.

[Parm]

I worte off Arsenal this time last year and for two thirds of the season they made me eat my words.

I'm not going to write off Wenger again, they'll be up there challenging

same here! but it dies get difficult every season to replace these guys, even if they get Nasri, there is no guarantee that he will settle and they still have to replace flamini.

[bigfooty]

I think Hleb is over-rated, one of these players who makes lots of nice little movements and passes but who ultimately doesn't have quite enough end product to go with his technical skills.

He scored 4 goals all season and failed to score from the 12th November until the end of the campaign in any competition. Even the much derided Voronin scored more goals than him. In his 3 years at Arsenal he's scored 10 goals and, domestically, they've come against Boro, Charlton, West Brom, Blackburn, Reading and Fulham. Hardly what you would could big games. Hleb, who many consider to be a top-quality player, has scored fewer goals in his three seasons at Arsenal than Yossi, a squad player for us, recorded this season alone.

Not only this but each of his goals cost over £1M considering he came to the Arse for £11.2M. One could argue that as a "midfielder / winger" his job is to create, not to score, but in Arsenal's formation the players behind the strikers have to contribute with goals or the team struggles. When they have been at their best under Wenger it is when the midfielders have popped up to score - Pires and Freddy for example. This season they had that early on due to Rosicky and Fabregas but the former got injured and the latter tailed off in terms of scoring. It then all came down to Adebayor and Eduardo and their season collapsed pretty much when the poor lad got his leg snapped as it left them without enough goal-scoring players.

Arsenal will be a better side if they get a bigger goal threat in place of Hleb. Nasri might be that.