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Amid suggestions that Arsenal may make a renewed effort to prise Lars Bender away from Bayer Leverkusen, according to the Daily Mail, there is an emerging suspicion that Mikel Arteta’s first-team status is under serious threat.
It was apparent even as early as the opening stages of Arsenal’s humbling at the hands of Chelsea that Mikel Arteta’s days as an auxiliary defensive midfielder, especially in matches against top-tier opposition, are numbered.
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Arteta has come to embody Arsenal’s financial prudence ever since the move to the Emirates Stadium.
It is often overlooked that the Spaniard arrived, at the time, as a replacement for the outgoing Cesc Fabregas and while the former Everton midfielder has performed admirably in a more reserved role than he perhaps first envisaged, he has never quite hit the heights of his fellow countryman.
The trophyless malaise which has engulfed those at the club since any last tangible success is summed up by signings such as Arteta, with Olivier Giroud – another symbol of thrift, having been brought in, primarily, as the heir to Robin van Persie.
Arteta and Giroud should not be entirely castigated. They have not been helped this term by the poor form of others around them, no less Santi Cazorla, who has failed to replicate the exemplary form shown during his debut season in England.
But equally, with Chelsea’s emphatic win having brutally exposed Arsenal’s frailties, the Gunners will need better if they are to overturn their title rivals, having been humiliated on three occasions away from home this term in the crucial matches.
It would appear Wenger’s three main priorities this summer are at right-back, in the event of Bacary Sagna’s likely departure, in defensive-midfield and up front.
This means Arteta and Giroud’s places in the Frenchman’s starting XI are most at risk and with Bender’s name already being talked up, the Spaniard will have to prove in the remaining games this season that he deserves a spot in the side for more than solely his immaculate penalty-taking ability.
Arteta’s struggles have largely stemmed from his defensive duties and, when you consider his role in this side is to provide cover for a forever vulnerable defensive line, it is a flaw in his game which has been highlighted markedly with every scintillating counter-attacking display carried out by the top sides.
He has committed four defensive errors so far this season, a tally which is the joint-second worst in the Gunners’ squad, with Wojciech Szczesny on five and Jack Wilshere, who has been caught out in possession on countless occasions, also having made four blunders.
He has also suffered in his duels, having completed just 48%. With regards to central midfielders and defenders, only Aaron Ramsey (46%) and Kieran Gibbs fare worse (45%) while Mathieu Flamini – the only other recognised defensive-minded midfielder – has 53% by comparison.
His headed duels have been of slight concern, having completed just 46%. But it is his success in the tackle which will be most alarming from Arsenal fans’ perspectives, where he has completed just 51 from 122 attempted challenges.
Flamini excels in the air with a 68% success rate and while his 45% tackling success hardly seems an upgrade on Arteta, he has only taken on 49 tackles, winning 22.
Bender, meanwhile, is equally as efficient in his defensive duties. The German has made just one defensive error this season, posts the same number of defensive actions averaged per game (4) as the current defensive midfield duo at the Emirates, and matches Flamini’s 53% of average duels won, encompassing a superior tackling and headed duel percentage to Arteta.
Interestingly, Bender falls between the two in his work in the final third of the field. Arteta’s shooting accuracy comes in at 60%, with Flamini on 50% while the chances created records a similar gulf, with the Spaniard having mustered 15 to Flamini’s seven.
Bender seems an ideal fit in that he appears neither as cavalier as Arteta at the base of the midfield, nor entirely defensive-minded like Flamini when you consider his shooting accuracy (58%) and 11 chances created, exactly the midpoint between the Gunners duo’s numbers.
If there is to be a criticism levelled at Bender, it would be whether or not he fits the Wenger blueprint of pass-and-move football as well as Arteta has done since his arrival.
Arteta and Flamini (both 92%) are accomplished on the ball and use possession wisely, something it could be argued Bender has not entirely achieved this season, particularly when assessing his 78% passing accuracy.
If the evidence of the Stamford Bridge debacle was anything to go off, however, Arsenal require a more combative, physical edge to their midfield if they are to scale loftier heights once again.
