Striker or defensive midfielder for Arsenal?

With the transfer window coming into the home stretch Arsene Wenger refuses to rule out some more signings for Arsenal. The two signings most fans have been crying out for though haven’t arrived. While it’s been a fairly positive transfer window some would argue the main weakness from last season haven’t been addressed.

Alexis could be seen as the striker signing and maybe that situation will become more clear when the likes of Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott are back in contention, but he isn’t the typical number nine that some may have expected. The other area Gooners have shouted long and loud about is defensive midfield. With Aaron Ramsey securing one central midfield spot in a box-to-box role it leaves one spot where the midfielder needs to sit a little more and help protect the back four. Mikel Arteta, the new club captain, has played the role for the most part but at times it appeared his legs had got the better of him.

The media have linked Arsenal with plenty of names in various positions but given Wenger’s comments that there may be one arrival, two if Vermaelen left, it would appear that after Vermaelen’s replacement is brought in that will leave one more signing at most. Which raises the question – striker or defensive midfielder?

There are arguments for both and it would seem from Arsenal fans in general that there is a split on what is needed. Arsenal did concede quite a few goals last season to the bigger teams and some fans saw a strong defensive unit as the answer to this. Others would argue when Olivier Giroud was through on goal in the Chelsea match at Stamford Bridge had he finished his chance the scoreline would have been a lot different. Again the debate of defensive midfielder or striker. Should Arsenal be in this position? Should players that have left not already have been replaced with equal or better quality? This is probably one of the major gripes fans have with Arsene Wenger. While most would praise his managerial skills he does do things his own way and it would seem with Yaya Sanogo leading the line for the Community Shield match and the opening game of the Premiership that he is again “doing things his way”. Mikel Arteta as captain and seemingly a starter in the defensive midfield role, another example.

The thing with Arsene Wenger though is, he is unpredictable. Who would have thought that in two transfer windows he would bring Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez to the club? The main apparently afraid to spend money. Or that he would buy Calum Chambers when everyone expected him to buy an experienced centre-back? It is this unpredictability that gives Arsenal fans hope that there will be one more big signing and potentially one that addresses one of the positions they have been crying out for.

Arsenal’s rivals certainly have firepower to rely on – Costa, Torres, Drogba; Aguero, Dzeko, Negredo; Van Persie, Rooney, Hernandez; - when compared to Giroud, Sanogo as the only recognized strikers it would appear they could certainly do with that extra firepower. Against Crystal Palace it looked like a situation played out many times before for the Emirates crowd – lots of possession but nobody putting away the chances. Sanogo had some opportunities but didn’t take the most of it and is still very raw as a player.

Defensively though Arsenal can still be vulnerable. The corner, which Crystal Palace scored from, as an example. Would a defensive midfield player have helped? Would they have helped in the heavy defeats of last season? Most fans would hope that if there was such a player in the centre of midfield that either it wouldn’t happen in the first place or they would tighten up the midfield so that it didn’t get out of hand.

There is still plenty of time for Arsenal to do business and it will be very interesting to see what way Arsene Wenger will complete his squad.