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Arsenal Face Defensive Crisis
Arsenal have travelled to Dortmund for their opening Champions League Group stage fixture against the popular German side. However they do so with only three fully fit defenders and a serious problem on their hands.
Mathieu Debuchy is out for the next two months at least after landing heavily on his ankle in the 2-2 draw with Manchester City and with defensive cover already very thin it was not a good start to the week. Since then his potential replacement Calum Chambers has been diagnosed with tonsillitis, and will almost definitely not play the full 90 minutes if he appears at all, leaving no obvious player to fill in at right back.
Now obviously we’re not going to play some crazy new formation just because of this, so who can we get to fill in at right back?
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First choice for me has to be Flamini. He is an experienced player and very solid defensively, despite not that much experience at playing Right Back over the years. Flamini is a proper professional who will play exactly where Wenger wants, and do the best he possible can, no questions asked. This is exactly what we need in a Champions League match which we seriously do not want to lose.
Another choice would be Hector Bellerin, the 19 year old right back who will make only his second professional appearance in Arsenal colours. This was a League Cup match, so an away match in the UCL to Dortmund would be a huge step up and not one that I would be comfortable in offering the youngster. Give youth a chance, but throwing them in at the deep end like this is not a tactic I am too happy with.
Obviously I am not in charge and I can’t make the decisions, but who would you put in the position if you could? Maybe get Carl ‘Banter’ Jenkinson back from West Ham for a day?
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