Arsenal: Peter Crouch, Steven N’Zonzi, and the new regime progress

Peter Crouch slammed Arsenal for not signing former Stoke City teammate Steven N’Zonzi. His criticism is valid and it helps illuminate the progress the club has made under the new regime.

You would be forgiven for believing that Arsene Wenger never watched his Arsenal team. His ‘did not see its’ in post-match interviews must have extended beyond the controversial moments that may have swung his team’s way and cover more than just egregious refeering decisions. You see, from the equally outrageous decision-making that was done every summer transfer window, Wenger ostensibly had no earthly clue as to what was wrong with his team.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — Unai Emery out?

For the best part of a decade, it was the same shortcomings that hampered the Gunners: a goalkeeper, a centre-back and a defensive midfielder, especially the latter. And yet, every year, Wenger would sign a winger, a creative midfielder and an 18-year-old. Those same weaknesses were never addressed.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

This week, Peter Crouch has slammed Wenger and his running of the club for how they addressed their vulnerabilities:

"“I have wanted Arsenal to address the defensive balance of their side for years and never understood why they didn’t buy Steven N’Zonzi. Steven played with me at Stoke and he would have been perfect to provide protection in midfield. He ended up going to Sevilla for £7million and it was madness Arsenal allowed that to happen.”"

His specific point pertains to former Stoke City teammate Steven N’Zonzi, who was linked with a north London move on several different occasions, even after he moved to Sevilla. A rangy Frenchman with excellent tackling ability and the size-speed combination to shield the back four in an increasingly fast-paced modern game, as Crouch explains, he would have been perfect for Wenger’s team. And yet, no move was ever made.

In fact, no move for any defensive midfielder was ever really made. It was as if Wenger could not see that it was a problem in the first place. He might have quite liked N’Zonzi, but he felt his team did not need the Stoke midfielder regardless of how the impact the signing could have had.

But recently, that has very much not been the case. Arsenal needed a goalkeeper who could play out from the back. So they signed Bernd Leno. They needed a mobile, tough-tackling defensive midfielder. So they signed Lucas Torreira. They needed a left-back, so they signed Kieran Tierney. They needed a direct, dynamic dribbler out wide. So they signed Nicolas Pepe. They needed an affordable Aaron Ramsey replacement to release pressure in central midfield. So they signed Dani Ceballos. I think you get the picture…

Not all of these individual transfers will work out well. Some of these players will not be worth the money and wages invested in them. But the very fact that the club is accurately recognising their needs and then investing resources in an attempt to solve those needs is very much a step in the right direction. This is the real progress the new regime has made post-Wenger.

Crouch ends his analysis with the most crucial line of all: ‘The best sides spot their deficiencies and address them to progress.’ That is what Arsenal never did, but now, things have changed.