Emanuel Adebayor: He is not your perfect striker, but he does such an important job for us. I can’t imagine what would have happened if he had left over the summer.

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR VISION ARTICLES ARE SENT IN BY READERS AND ARE NOT WRITTEN BY ARSENAL VISION WRITERS.

Here’s an (subjective) analysis of our squad this year, looking at each position in turn. I have tried to be fair, and in some cases even more than fair. I am not going to play people out of position – so no Denilson on the wings – and I am not going to have one player cover more than one position – so no Toure for right-back. I am going to look at the entire squad – yes, even Rosicky – and hopefully that will demonstrate that we need to make precision buys this January.
Note: The grades for back up players (e.g. Gibbs as left-back) are as back-up players who can come in for a few games and not let the team down.

Goalkeepers

Manuel Almunia: Honestly, I don’t think he is good enough. He is a great shot stopper, but sometimes his positioning and initiative leave me doubtful. We could definitely do better. [B+]

Lukasz Fabianski: As second choice GK, he is perfect. He is only 23, has loads of time to learn his trade and isn’t actually worse than Almunia. But he isn’t ready to be first choice yet. [A-]

Left Backs

Gael Clichy: He hasn’t been as consistent lately, but that might be because the whole team is suffering for confidence. On his day, and he has many days, is a great left-back and I believe has a great future with us. [A]

Kieran Gibbs: I think he is the perfect backup for Clichy. He isn’t the full package yet – he is only 19 and switched to LB this year, but he has pace and strength and has shown desire when playing for us. I think he should play if Clichy is injured or rested – it’s not like he could do much worse than Silvestre did against Porto [A-]

Central Defenders

Johan Djourou: He has been one of the few bright spots in our campaign this year. I actually think we can get by without buying a defender, because Johan has all the qualities we need – height, strength, pace, ability, and he is 21 and free! [A]

William Gallas: He is a class defender, and I am a great fan of his. He is passionate for the team, and sometimes against the team, but in this current atmosphere I am placing a huge price on passion. [A-]

Kolo Toure: I am not sure what they did to him at the ANC, but he has been showing a few signs on recovery. He is Arsenal through and through and gives his all whenever he plays for us. He is experienced and only 27. [A-]

Mikael Silvestre: As a fourth-choice central defender, I think he is ok. He has not looked comfortable playing for us, and I am not sure he was that good of a buy, but he has experience. We also know that he is pretty useless as cover for left-back. [B]

Right Backs

Bacary Sagna: One of our truly world class players. Oh, what I would give for a team full of Sagnas. He is a tank on the field, full of pace and strength, and gives it his all. Off the field he is humble and seems like an amazing guy to have a drink with. [A+]

Gavin Hoyte: I think he is still to young, but I also think that he will develop into a very good defender. His only problem (and this is the same for Gibbs) is that he doesn’t actually compete with Sagna – and a lack of competiton isn’t always healthy. [B+]

Left Wingers

Tomas Rosicky: WHEN fit, he brings an extra dimension to the team. One of our few proven world-class midfelders, Tomas won’t be back until March at the earliest. One hopes that his injury worries will be behind him, but can we bank on that? I am grading him on his ability alone, but it’s no use having a private jet that doesn’t have wheels. [A]

Samir Nasri: He has almost single-handedly won us matches. He is a special player, but to expect a 21-year old, playing his first season of Premier League football, to be the answer to our left wing questions would have been fine if he didn’t look like Rosicky the Second, as far as injuries are concerned. [A-]

AND THAT’S IT. We have only two left wingers – truthfully, they are actually “wide players” and not wingers. One of them is out till March and the other for a few weeks. We have no left wing.

Central Midfielders

Cesc Fabregas: What can I say? [A+]

Denilson: Say what you want about this guy, but he tries. He doesn’t have much pace, but he was learning beside Cesc and I think they were starting to come to an understanding. He is extremely tenacious and has scored goals from midfield. He has undoubted technical ability, he looks to have gained some muscle and I think it was one of Arsene’s worst decision to move him to the right wing. Don’t forget he is only 20, and he will become a great midfield player. [A-/B+]

Alex Song: I am tempted to criticise Song out of this world, but an equal amount of that must go to Arsene Wenger. I rewatched some games from last year and Flamini popped up, defending in our penalty box times without number. I am yet to see Song make a meaningful defensive move in our area. Flamini would actually take the ball off of Cesc, and start moves – Song gives the ball to our opponents. Most of all though, he doesn’t seem to be trying. He is only 20, and he should never have had to be in the central defense of Arenal FC. [C]

Abou Diaby: I don’t know what to think about Diaby. He looks like he should be the kind of player who can control the midfield with his height and strength, and yet he does just the opposite. He is wasted on the left wing – and if he can’t hold a central midfield place ahead of Alex Song, what in the name of heaven is he doing in our squad? [B-]

Aaron Ramsey: He is 17. He is Cesc’s understudy. He looks hungry when he plays and he shouldn’t have to play more often. I feel for him because there is no one other than Cesc to learn anything from. [A-]

This is where our problems lie. We have one world class central midfielder, when you need a minimum of three. Denilson isn’t ready yet, but he will be, and I am not sure if I am being unfair to Song, but he needs to pull his socks up and sweat for us, or he needs to move on. The same goes for Diaby, I mean how can you be “lazy” in a match? Probably because there is no competition.

Right Wingers

Theo Walcott: Now that we don’t have him, we are seeing what we are missing. Speed and trickery and goals and a little shielding of his right back (it’s improving slowly). But he is out for a long time and is actually a converted striker [A-]

Emanuel Eboue: HE is a converted right-back. He should be a good winger – he has pace, strength and according to Wenger, “technical ability”, whatever that means, but let’sbe honest here, he is NOT a good winder. In a team with Hleb on one wing, he might have provided “defensive stability”, but with Diaby/Denilson on the other wing, he is like a tank in a F1 race. [B-/C+]

Jack Wilshere: Our only true RW is a 16 year old. I haven’t seen enough of him, but what I have seen bodes well for our future. But again, he has no one to learn from – and that is sad. [A-]

Here is another problem – we have no right wingers. Theo is the only one who can play match after match and if he is injured we are in deep danger. I would try Jack before Eboue though, but that might be asking too much of the young lad.

Strikers

Emanuel Adebayor: He is not your perfect striker, but he does such an important job for us. I can’t imagine what would have happened if he had left over the summer. He looks set for a +20 goals season again, and is starting what could be a devastating partnership with RvP. [A]

Robin van Persie: The Dutchman with the chocolate leg has been having a pretty good season. On his day he can win matches for us, and he has been working harder for the team recently. That said he does have off days. [A-]

Eduardo: Just come back to us!

Nicklas Bendtner: As a fourth/fifth choice striker he is in his proper place. He isn’t ready yet but very few people are ready at 20. A common criticism is that he doesn’t seem to be trying in match situations and I don’t know how to answer that, but I think he will come back and have a future at Arsenal [B/B-]

Carlos Vela: He has pace, and he has skill. He is young and he will learn to play in the Premier League. Importantly he has people ahead of him to talk to and learn some things from. I love that he plays with a huge smile on his face [A-]

Jay Simpson: I would play him ahead of Bendtner at the moment, but maybe he doesn’t try hard enough in training. He seems to be a kind of centre-forward that we are lacking at Arsenal and he is only 19. He would be the perfect fourth/fifth choice striker for us, but something tells me that Arsene will not keep him here, which is sad. [A-]

So there you have it. We seem to have good people in the striking department, possibly enough cover at the defensive positions, and absolutely nobody in midfield. It hurts so much to see Pires-Viera-Gilberto-Ljunberg become Diaby-Cesc-Song-Denilson, but I could live with Nasri-Cesc-NEW PLAYER-Walcott, or even Denilson in there.