Can there be a defence for our lack of depth in defence?

Hello Gooners! Today, we have another guest piece by Paul on our defensive issues. Over to you Paul!

Thanks Sir Gunner.

With a long-term injury to new boy Debuchy now confirmed at 3 months and a short-term injury to Monreal, our defensive options are getting weaker & weaker.

Even before the Debuchy injury, many if not all Arsenal fans were bemoaning the lack of an additional centre back signing to replace the now departed ex skipper Thomas Vermaelen, so what is going on when it comes to our defensive options (or rather the lack of)?

I recall in a press conference during the summer when Wenger all but confirmed Vermaelen’s departure during pre-season, he stated categorically that he would be replaced. Having already taken steps to replace the departed Sagna with Debuchy & Chambers (whilst allowing Jenkinson to leave on loan to West Ham) there was no reason to doubt Wenger’s intentions in the centre back department. So why did he not do what he promised?

Perhaps when he signed Chambers, presumably seen as a backup right back, at least initially, he realised just what a competent centre back he is and it persuaded him that maybe he’d inadvertently already signed his replacement centre back, albeit we now know that young Chambers can’t possibly cover both centre back and right back positions regularly, especially when there’s a long-term injury as we now have with Debuchy,

Was the problem in signing a centre back, as some have suggested, that players looked at the Koscielny/Mertesacker partnership which is now so embedded and thought they’ll always be 3rd choice and rarely play so opted to go elsewhere? I find this hard to believe. Good players have egos and they’d believe they were good enough to get into the first team & break up that partnership. After all, we didn’t have trouble persuading Ospina to sign even though Szczesny is clearly our no 1 keeper.

Perhaps Wenger felt our young players provided the required cover? I write this just after we went out to Southampton in the Capital One Cup with a line-up that featured the likes of Hayden & Chambers as well as Coquelin in defence. Could these players offer the backup we need in the Premiership and Champions League too?

Until they get that chance it’s hard to know if they’re all up to the task although in Coquelin’s case he isn’t really a defender, yes a defensive midfield player but not someone you’d naturally choose in your back four. Also, he’s been knocking around the first team for a while and failed to make the breakthrough.  As for Hayden & indeed even to some extent Chambers too, they’re young & raw and will inevitably make mistakes whilst learning on the job. Is that really the best we should expect as our defensive back up?

Maybe the real crux of the issue was that Wenger simply wouldn’t play what was needed to land the players we were interested in & who were available? It’s hard to imagine that he wasn’t at least looking to bring in another defender. That he’s opted to go in to the season with only two experienced centre backs is astonishing, Last season I felt we just about got away with having only 3 centre backs plus Sagna as back up so to have even fewer options this season is impossible to defend. With the Debuchy injury, it is already coming back to haunt us. Just think what might happen if Mertesacker or Koscielny picked up a suspension or worse still got injured between now and Christmas, the consequences are unthinkable yet were completely avoidable.

There has been some suggestion that we night now look at free agents as a potential solution. I doubt this will happen. If they’re a free agent, my question is why? Good quality players are snapped up by someone during the transfer window. I think it’s highly unlikely we’ll go down that route but Wenger must act in January to strengthen our centre back options because the bottom line is there is no defence for our lack of depth in defence.