Arsenal: Quality, not quantity, is now required

As Unai Emery begins his second summer at the helm of Arsenal, a major rebuild is on the cards. There is one adage that I would love him to stick to: quality, not quantity.

During the many Arsene Wenger years, Arsenal would toil not because of a lack of upper-tier quality, but thanks to a depleted squad that was unable to deal with the extended rigours of a strenuous, turbulent season.

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A few key injuries to certain players, a lack of versatility and range at particular positions, and the club would often fall short, especially in league campaigns where consistency is far more important than the one-off high-flying performances. From around 2006-2015 or so, what Arsenal needed was a strong second XI. When all of their starters were fit, they were an excellent team, but the depth was exceptionally detrimental.

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This year, however, the make-up of the squad has changed dramatically. The top-end talent has subsided and been replaced with more rounded depth. You could argue that the current team boasts just two elite players, and they both play the same position. A quick glance at the usual starting XI and you will see a whole raft of good but ultimately flawed players; Granit Xhaka, Sokratis, Sead Kolasinac, Mesut Ozil, they all have their uses but they are not elite footballers.

There is, however, a lot more depth throughout the squad. Alex Iwobi, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Matteo Guendouzi, Shkodran Mustafi, Petr Cech would all be considered as ‘reserve’ players when everyone is fit. And that does include the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Danny Welbeck, all of which are currently injured or have been injured for large periods this season.

You can add to that a whole slew of excellent young talents. Joe Willock looked superb in his late Europa League final cameo, Reiss Nelson, Emile Smith and Calum Chambers will all return from their respective loan deals, while Eddie Nketiah and Dinos Mavropanos will also be pushing for more game time.

Depth is not Arsenal’s problem. The lack of elite difference-makers is. And so, when it comes to the re-shaping of the squad this summer, it is crucial that Unai Emery does not spread his limited resources too thin and try to address every single position with marginal improvements. Yes, there are plenty of positions that could do with sprucing up, but that does not mean that they all have to be addressed this summer.

Why not, for instance, not spend £20 million on a marginally improving centre-half and instead use that money to sign a £60 million game-changing winger who can be built around for years to come? Instead of making steady adjustments at several different positions, with the range of young talent that is already at the club, Arsenal would be much wiser in focusing their attention on two or three specific positions and chasing after two or three specific players.

The squad will not be fixed in one summer, so trying to spend at every position is futile. It is better to significantly improve less than slightly improve more. The squad needs quality, not quantity. Unai Emery, hopefully, will keep such an adage in mind.