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Arsenal: Virgil van Dijk opening should not even be considered
With Liverpool’s attempts to sign Virgil van Dijk dead in the water, there is opening for Arsenal to swoop in for the centre-half. Here’s why that shouldn’t even be considered.
For many, many years under Arsene Wenger, Arsenal have been plagued by subpar centre-halves. Not since the days of Sol Campbell, Kolo Toure, Tony Adams et al. have they boasted a stifling, dominating defence that Premier League winning sides are so often anchored upon.
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However, while that has traditionally been as a result of underwhelming personnel options, last season, that was far from the case. With Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi seen as the starting pair, Wenger could turn to the likes of Gabriel Paulista and Per Mertesacker as extremely experienced and accomplished back-ups.
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But still, Arsenal were defensively poor throughout the season. That has led to many calling for Wenger to find improvements in the transfer market, with Virgil van Dijk, Southampton’s towering defender who has impressed immensely in his first season in the Premier League, heralded as the perfect option to pursue. There were, though, other clubs interested in van Dijk, with Liverpool the most forceful of the possible suitors.
A bit too forceful, perhaps. With a deal seemingly progressing well and expected to be completed with relative ease, Southampton reported the Merseyside club to the Premier League for apparently ‘tapping up’ their star defender. It was uncertain, initially, what would come of this given a murky and vague history. But soon, it was announced that Liverpool would rescind their interest, apologising to Southampton for their behaviour.
That has again opened the door for Arsenal to potentially swoop in and recruit van Dijk. But, while van Dijk is an excellent player with the strength and the physicality to add a little steel and bite to the Gunners’ defence that has been missing in recent years, the struggles that have plagued the North London side are not because of personnel, but, rather, because of Wenger himself.
His very approach is detrimental to building a reliable, solid defence; that is why it was such a surprise to see him adapt to a 3-4-3 system during the closing stages of last season in search of a little resilience and regimentation. If Wenger reverts back to his more comfortable and characteristic 4-2-3-1 formation, then changing one individual at centre-half will not make a significant difference.
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The van Dijk opening, as a result of Liverpool’s tapping up, should not even be considered by Wenger. Adding more players to an already accomplished group will not solve a problem that is a consequence of a far deeper and more innate weakness: Wenger himself.