DownSwinging.com

This article was originally published on Soccerlens and was reproduced here.

Ever since Patrick Vieira left Arsenal for Juventus, in the summer of 2005, there has been a void in Arsenal’s midfield enforcer role.

Sure, Gilberto Silva helped clean things up for a few years, and the 2007-08 form of Matthieu Flamini was a revelation for Arsenal supporters. However, seeing both of those players depart in the same offseason, was a little too much for Arsenal to handle, and the results showed that.

Denilson isn’t strong enough, and Abou Diaby looks to get forward often, something that the role does not call for. While Diaby was hailed as the ‘next Vieira’, it’s quite clear that he his a different type of player altogether; with all of his best performances coming when he plays on the wing. The second-half form of Alex Song was quite an uplift to the very small midfield pairing of Cesc Fabregas and Denilson. However, anyone who watches Arsenal knows that this won’t prove to be enough…