Arsenal: Why no centre-back doesn’t worry me, kind of

It looks as though Arsenal will not sign a centre-back to help them for the season ahead. Despite the evidence, here is why it doesn’t worry me… kind of.

Like clockwork, yet another calamitous defensive mistake cost Arsenal a goal. In fact, in Sunday night’s 2-1 defeat to Barcelona, there were two calamitous defensive mistakes that led directly to goals. It is as if no money has been spent on the defence this summer. Oh wait…

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Yes, Arsenal splashed almost £30 million on a new centre-half, but William Saliba will not join up with his new team for another season, returning to Saint-Etienne on a year-long loan to ensure that he plays regular football as his development continues. For the year to come, there is no new defender in north London.

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It is at the centre-back position that this is most concerning. Laurent Koscielny has gone AWOL, Shkodran Mustafi is playing as poorly as he ever has, and that really is saying something, while Sokratis, Rob Holding, Dinos Mavropanos and Calum Chambers are all either injured, unproven, or nothing more than solid. It is not exactly a who’s who of world-class central defenders. But actually, I am not all that worried by the centre-back position, at least not in the normal way.

Now, please do not misunderstand me, for this upcoming season, I am absolutely terrified. Anyone who has watched just a minute of Arsenal trying to defend this pre-season that, if anything, they have actually regressed from a season in which they conceded 51 Premier League goals and were pulverised in the biggest game of the campaign. But I am happy that they have not attempted to stick a plaster over a broken leg.

Such were the wide-ranging and deep-rooted shortcomings of the squad, given their measly transfer budget of around £45 million, the club was never going to be able to properly address every position of need. There were too many financial limitations and too many areas in need of serious investment.

Arsenal could very easily have tried to spread the cost, buying sub-standard players that are marginally better than what they have for over-inflated prices simply because they have to. It would be an attempt to solve everything at once, when in reality, they would not be solving anything.

Instead, they took the opposite approach, focusing almost all of their resources into one or two key areas, specifically, the wing positions with the £72 million acquisition of Nicolas Pepe and likely left-back, should Kieran Tierney arrive in the coming days in a £25 million transfer. The club chose to roll with the punches at centre-back, knowing that they would be leaving themselves bare, such that they could actually solve other positions. And next summer, when more funds are available, they will return to the centre-back position ready to splash the cash.

Obviously, this is not ideal and it could leave the team lurching in the depths of despair as they once again see their top-four hopes flounder because of defensive incompetence. But if you are going to do a job, you should do it properly, and sometimes, that comes at the neglect of other jobs. You cannot solve everything at once. And for Arsenal and the centre-back position, that is quite alright with me.