Arsenal: Wingbacks have finally become a problem

Arsenal have been blessed with tremendous wingbacks all year long, but just when we need them most, they have become a problem.

At the start of this year, no one had any question what the strength of this Arsenal team was – it was that creative center, with Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Aaron Ramsey and even Alex Iwobi, not to mention the two strikers up front.

But while the strikers have been just about as good as they can be, the creative engine hasn’t been. It’s been pretty awful, with Ozil, Mkhitaryan and Iwobi combining for a wimpy 10 assists and superhero Ramsey adding another six.

With injuries, inconsistencies, and narrow-minded attacking play, the Gunners have found some semblance of consistency in their wingbacks. It started with Sead Kolasinac and then, when Ainsley Maitland-Niles joined up alongside, it became a dream. Both were chance machines, athletic in the attack, tracking back on defense, and they just couldn’t be stopped.

It spoiled us, because now, the back three doesn’t fill me with the same enthusiasm as it once did. Before, it was all about the wingbacks. Now, it’s all about waiting for them to come back into form.

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Which is the problem with relying on position that only has one guy to fill each.

Kolasinac had been out most consistent player all year long until about a month ago, when he started to fall into a rut that was exacerbated by Ainsley Maitland-Niles fantastic form. I had assumed that we would never reach a point where both were in a rut, but that is exactly where we currently are. Both are in a rut.

Kolasinac is still stuck in his funk and Maitland-Niles capped off his own funk with a red card against Leicester City. Questionable though it was, it was still a red card, nonetheless, and he was despondent at its issuing.

You’d think that it’s just a matter of time, and however I look at it, Valencia looks like a prime contender to help our wingbacks to get back into form, but it’s not easy. I just hate the feeling now, of not being able to count on them, but rather hoping that they can get back to the point that I can count on them.

I especially don’t like how it may be contributing to the extended use of a back four, because it’s so painfully obvious that the back four is just not a good idea.