Arsenal: Lackluster midfielders the most worrying for fans?
By Rory Picton
Arsenal’s midfield put on a horror show for many of the spectators at Wembley. With the usual suspects being singled out and some new ones now too.
Sunday’s game highlighted many faults in the Arsenal midfield. With players seemingly not good enough and some just not quite all there.
It was a lackluster performance against Manchester City all around. I don’t think I need to remind you. Between Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey, there should have been plenty of service going forward. Instead, no balls got through to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. When a striker gets no service, he cannot score and that’s exactly what happened on the weekend. How can Arsene Wenger fix this problem?
Jack Wilshere for all his quality and determination going forward, just couldn’t muster anything. He is usually the bright spot in the Arsenal side usually the player you look to, to start attacks. But on Sunday he looked out of ideas and out of patience with the rest of his teammates.
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Wilshere’s complaints and excuses on social media have no business in the modern game, the game is over let’s move on. Wilshere is still a fantastic player for Arsenal and it would be a shame if he were to leave in the summer.
Granit Xhaka, oh where to begin. He has been the poster-boy for midfield negligence. He is either too slow or switches off regularly. Fans are calling for him to be sold come the summer and many can see why. His performances as of late are pitiful.
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There may be a great player inside Xhaka but he has yet to showcase that. Mohamed Elneny should get the start next game. The Gunners will have a tough decision on their hands come the summer, as he is still young, but his performances mirror that of a Sunday league player.
Aaron Ramsey has been a cult figure at Arsenal for some time now. Unfortunately, he has been far too inconsistent some seasons. Ramsey has had some serious injury problems over the years which has limited him to scattered starts over the past few seasons.
His performance on Sunday was less than spectacular, his driving runs and late runs into the box heeded no goals. He is still a fine midfielder and they should look to keep him at all costs.
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Arsenal failed to address the problems they have at the back and the ones they have in midfield and it cost them dearly on the weekend. They were outclassed and outplayed right from the off. Come the summertime, this club will have to make some changes, or the fans will continue to become more and more upset.