Welcome to the third and final part of my season review. In Part 1, I analysed our season as a whole, what went right and what went wrong. In Part 2, I gave ratings to all our players. Today, I will explain how I see the Arsenal squad next season, who I would sell and who I would buy to replace them. Actually, I don’t have specific players in mind in terms of buying, so I will just call them “new signing”.

The Regulars

The Backups (order in brackets)

Almunia: Fabianski(1), Mannone(2)
Sagna: Eboue(1), Silvestre(2)
Gallas and New Signing at the back: Song(1), Toure(2), Djourou(3), Silvestre(4)
Clichy: Gibbs(1), Silvestre(2), Eboue(3)
New Signing in midfield: Song(1), Denilson(2), Toure(3)
Arshavin: Walcott(1), Nasri(2), Rosicky(3)
Fabregas:
Nasri: Arshavin(1), Vela(2), Ramsey(3), Wilshere(4), Rosicky(5)
Eduardo, Van Persie: Vela(1), Bendtner(2), New Signing(3), Arshavin(4)

The Why: Goalkeepers

Goalkeepers-wise, we’re in safe hands(pun intended). Almunia may have that occassional bad game but he was very solid this year. As for Fabianski, he’s still young and will surely learn from the mistakes he made this season, so he’s the perfect backup.

The Why: Back Four

Now this is why in my previous article I said Silvestre should not be sold. He’s no good, I understand that, but as a third backup to all the positions at the back, I consider him a perfect choice. Toure and Song, in this formation, are no regulars, but believe me, that means nothing. They will be immediately taken in consideation in the case someone in either central defence or central midfield is injured or banned so they will see plenty of first-team action. Kolo has to change his mentality and understand he can be a good back-up in central midfield as well.

The Why: Midfield

The new signing in midfield, someone like Alonso or Barry(not necessary them of course, but this will help you understand the characteristics of the player I hope we sign) would of course provide the support Fabregas needs. He has to be a true holding midfielder, nothing fancy, but someone who can hit it from range. If he’s not available, again, Song can cover for that. Denilson can be the second backup, after Alex. The Brasilian played so much this season but never actually demonstrated he deserves to be a regular. Statistics say he was the 16th best player in the league, the same stats who think Berbatov has performed better than Torres so I think we should be realistic enough to admit it when a player is not good enough for the regular side.

On the wings there’s plenty of choice: Nasri, Walcott, Rosicky, Vela, Wilshere, Ramsey, you name it. I’m not really considering Tomas as strong favourite to start as nobody knows about his fitness level it seems.

If Cesc is injured, we’re screwed though, I can’t think of anyone who can provide back-up for him, he’s unique. I read comments that he wouldn’t make it in the first eleven with Barcelona. How rubbish is that? Did people forget how influential he was in the European Cup victory for Spain?

The Why: Strikers

Up front, this formation sees Robin teaming up with Eduardo, with Robin maybe sitting a little bit deeper. This of course means that we cannot play with a long-ball solution as there would be no Adebayor or Bendtner raising up in the air, but a very technical side requires no hit and hope solutions.

Having said that, if Robin is not available, Bendtner can be the one to provide support to the other striker. Nicklas is poor in front of goal but as a support to the first striker, he’s very good and if he plays, then yes, we may also opt for the occasional long ball for Nick to shield. If Eduardo is not available, Vela can be one who could play in that role as he’s excellent in finding the net but also – why not? – Arshavin. There’s so much choice on the wings in midfield that Andrei could be moved to a more offensive position.

This would see us have in Van Persie, Eduardo and Vela strikers who are good in finding the net and the only Bendtner as strong and dominant in the air. Am I promoting Nicklas to take over from the most-likely-to-leave Adebayor? Yes. But that would mean we would have to sign a new striker who is good in the air. Someone like Crouch maybe, if he’s ready to be a bench warmer.

Farewell to who?

I would sell Diaby and Adebayor. Unfortunately Diaby has been very poor this season and in midfield there’s plenty of choice. And Adebayor, well, I firmly believe this will be the summer he will leave. When Wenger spoke about Henry last week, he said he let him go because he was at Arsenal for a very long time and that otherwise he wouldn’t have let him go, reason why I believe Emmanuel asked for a transfer last summer but Wenger rejected. But things are different now.

Rumours are saying Eboue may leave but that would be a huge mistake as it would leave us with no proper back-up when Sagna is to be rested. And he can play in midfield as well.

Conclusion

So friends, we only need two signings, three if Adebayor leaves. One in central defense, one in central midfield. And full-stop. In a way or another, Denilson, Ramsey, Wilshere and Vela all have shown they can be the perfect reserves. Now when I say reserves, I’m noy saying seeing very little of action, I’m also talking abour rotation here, something Wenger, with the exception of the cups, rarely opts for. It would be nice, with the squad we may have, to see rotation also in the Premiership.

As for who are the players to sign, I don’t know. Transfer rumours linked more than 50 players with a “possible” move to Arsenal. I can tell you who it will not be: Yaya Toure. It’s hilarious how Arsenal fans could believe this player, who is on top of the world, playing with the best team in Europe could leave Spain and if he does, to join us. We need to be realistic.

Of course there are many other scenarios we could discuss, such as what if Emmanuel stays and/or Gallas leaves? Well above I provided what I predict – or better hope – the Arsenal side to be next season. As always, be my guest and provide your views in the comments section, but keep it nice, don’t let the moderation plugin block your comments

So here we are. This concludes part 3 of my season review, which is also the last part. Many will be glad to see me vanish for a month or so but I’ll be back, starting from pre-season friendlies where I may also provide a report or two if the game is on telly.

Until next time, take care.