Arsenal have been linked with a never-ending supply of players this transfer window, many of whom have been defensive midfielders. The two most high-profile of Francis Coquelin’s rumoured successors, Morgan Schneiderlin and Arturo Vidal, both went to other clubs seemingly without much interest from Arsène Wenger.
The last of the three big names most consistently linked with Arsenal in the early part of the summer, Grzegorz Krychowiak, remains at Sevilla. It is not worth discussing the rumours about whether or not he will join Arsenal, but were the Polish international to make the move, he would become a vital cog in Wenger’s title-challenging machine.
Francis Coquelin’s remarkable emergence as the solution to Arsenal’s holding midfield problem has not yet been proven to be a long-term one. He put in plenty of top-class performances, some in big games, but this may well have been a burst of form. Wenger would much rather have someone whom he signed as a youngster than a £20million man as his first-choice option, but this would leave Arsenal with just two defensive midfielders: Coquelin and Mikel Arteta.
Though these two have shown in the past that they are up to the task in the majority of matches, there is always the risk that both could get injured or start to regress. Signing Krychowiak would negate that risk. As well as adding to the depth in the Arsenal midfield, he would be an upgrade on Coquelin and would fit perfectly into the side.
Grzegorz Krychowiak could be a Perfect fit for Arsenal
Krychowiak is a defensive-minded midfielder who does the overriding majority of his work in the middle third of the pitch. He rarely strays into the final third — he did so about 10% of the time last season — and when he does, he usually gets a goal, assist or chance created out of it. This positioning will greatly help Arsenal. Though Coquelin is one of the best tacklers around, he has been found out of position too many times compared to the truly world-class players in his role. This weak positioning has forced him to make more tackles than he has needed to.
Both are great at interceptions but the biggest difference between the two is that the Pole is far stronger in the air. He is three inches taller than Coquelin, meaning he will be much more useful when defending and trying to score from set pieces — something Arsenal have struggled with for years. Furthermore, having a holding midfielder who is strong in the air is very useful when defending flick-ons from strikers coming deep. The protection Krychowiak will give Arsenal’s defence in these two regards is arguably his most important attribute.
One area in which he will be a slight improvement on Coquelin is his passing. Arsenal’s current midfield marshal showed signs in pre-season of being able to string attacks together but, when he played competitively last season, it was clear that defensive work is what he does best. Krychowiak, whilst not on the level of Mikel Arteta, is a superior passer to Coquelin.
Interestingly, Coquelin completed more of his passes (85.8%) in the Premier League than Krychowiak (80.8%) did in La Liga. However, this is a case where the stats may lie. Krychowiak tried more passes per game (47.1) than the Frenchman (45.5) and, more importantly, he completed far more through balls (3.7 per game, compared to Coquelin’s 1.5). This shows that he tries to complete killer passes much more regularly and with more success. This added attacking strength will make Arsenal much stronger against teams “parking the bus” — they will be able to penetrate the opposition defence without running the risk of conceding a counter-attack.
This passing aptitude would increase the number of tactical options Arsenal would be able to employ. Wenger may well revert to using a 4-1-4-1 formation with Mesut Özil out wide to accommodate both Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey. However, were he to continue to use the 4-2-3-1 formation that was most commonly used towards the end of the season just gone by, it is likely that he would choose Aaron Ramsey as the partner to the holding midfielder. The trouble with a Ramsey-Coquelin partnership is that neither of the two specialise in passing to the extent that, for example, Santi Cazorla and Mikel Arteta do. Krychowiak’s superior passing would make it easier for Wenger to play Aaron Ramsey without Mikel Arteta.
Moreover, there are a few occasions per season where using two holding midfielders could change Arsenal’s performance in “big” games for the better. In the past, when equally matched, Arsenal have conceded too many goals on the counter-attack. Were they to play Coquelin and Krychowiak together, they would be very strong at the back and unlikely to concede, whilst still giving the attacking players the freedom to attack to their heart’s content.
This would transform Arsenal’s success not only domestically, but abroad too. It is well-known that Arsenal have failed to get past the Last 16 of the Champions League for five years. With the exception of the 2011-12 season, this has been due to conceding foolish goals at the Emirates. If they were to play top-class teams at home with Krychowiak and Coquelin, they would be able to grind out clean sheets, even if these were just 0-0 draws. If a team doesn’t concede at home in the Champions League, it takes a very poor performance away for them not to progress to the next round. This midfield pairing could be the way to European glory for Arsenal.
The Francis Coquelin of last season was good enough to play in a title-challenging side. If he were to keep up and build on the level of performance he produced last season, there would not be much need to spend large amounts of money on another midfielder. However, there is a chance that he could be “found out” or pick up a long-term injury next season. Not only would Krychowiak cover the latter of those problems, he would be an extra upgrade on Coquelin which could possibly be the last piece in Arsenal’s jigsaw.
