5 problems Unai Emery needs to solve as Arsenal manager
By James Dudko
3. Adding a defensive presence to midfield
One reason Arsenal fans should be ecstatic Emery got the job is his history of relying on destructive holding midfielders in his teams. By contrast, the Gunners have lacked physical ball-winners since the days of Emmanuel Petit, Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva.
Wenger struggled to solve this problem. Granit Xhaka was his last attempt, but the Switzerland international is typically more comfortable in possession than breaking up play.
Emery is a good bet to bring some brute force back to the base of midfield. His Almeria side leaned on the combative tendencies of Felipe Melo. In Sevilla, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Grzegorz Krychowiak and Steven Nzonzi all acted as destroyers in the middle.
Adding a natural ball-winner to this Arsenal midfield would have a two-fold effect. First, it would afford forward-thinking types Ozil, Ramsey and Mkhitaryan more freedom to create.
Second and perhaps most important, a true holding player would offer a vital extra layer of protection for a suspect defense.
Emery’s track record of building from power in the middle can quickly make the Gunners more competitive on all fronts.