The Enforcer XI: midfield hardmen who would suit Arsenal

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OK, so you're Arsene Wenger and you've noticed a big, gaping hole in the middle of the park. Denilson is a gifted player, but he's no enforcer. You like Abou Diaby's size and strength, but he breaks down far too often and, for some reason, you're too often tempted to play him wide. Alex Song was supposed to make the grade, but you can only wait for so long. You know full well that your past success was as much built on bruisers who could also play - guys like Manu Petit, Patrick Vieira, Mathieu Flamini and Gilberto Silva - as it was on silky skills and pacy attackers. The fact is, you need help. But what do you do?

Option one: Open the coffers

Before Euro 2008, you could have had Marcos Senna for a song. Now that he's a European champion and has a deal through 2011, he won't come cheap. But if you want to win now and believe he's the missing link, you may be tempted because, both tactically and technically, he's a perfect fit. That said, with Villarreal flying in La Liga and the Champions League, it will be difficult and expensive to bring him on board.

Anatoliy Tymoschuk is the strapping, blonde Norse god look-alike who propelled Zenit St Petersburg to the Uefa Cup last year.  At 28, he has plenty of experience and he's a natural leader who loves his crunching tackles as much as he enjoys hitting those 30-yard pinpoint passes people like to drool over.  Zenit have plenty of money, so he'll cost a mint. Then again, they probably won't get Champions League football next year and, at this stage of his career, he may be looking for a change.

You could have had Christian Poulsen on a free transfer last summer. The Danish hard man chose Juventus instead, but he's been slowed by niggly injuries and the club's fans didn't really warm to him.  When Juve's injured players return, the central midfield will be rather crowded, they may listen to offers. At 28, Poulsen has a lot of experience with Seville and Schalke and is a classic no-frills workaholic who sometimes crosses the line into nastiness. He won't be cheap, but he's the kind of guy who can have an immediate impact, if he's fit.

Option Two: A long-term solution

Miguel Veloso provides workrate, leadership, charisma and the odd bone-rattling tackle. He's had a slow start this year at Sporting Lisbon and he won't come cheap (he's only 22, after all). But you only need to see him move around the pitch, barking orders and closing down gaps to know that he's basically a can't-miss prospect.

Stephane M'Bia is, simply put, a monster who gobbles up the pitch and opponents like an oversized version of Michael Essien (well, almost). You're probably already very familiar with him and the fact that Rennes have put an out-sized price-tag on his head. Fair enough. But if you really do have all that money burning a hole in your pocket (as Arsenal's top brass suggest) he might be worth a punt. Not always the most elegant player to watch, but undeniably effective.

Option three: Cheap and cheerful instant impact

So you think that Diaby and Song will come around (or perhaps that Denilson will bulk up and develop a mean streak)? Fine. You still need somebody in the here and now. How about a veteran who is a great influence on the dressing room and will work his rear end off for a year or two?  How about Timmy Simons, from PSV Eindhoven? He turns 32 in December and has never tasted life in a top-league, so he may be tempted by the move. He's big, strong, experienced, skilful and, if you look up the word "captain" in the dictionary, you'll see his smiling mug. PSV are always looking to do a deal and, if they get knocked out of the Champions League, they may be happy to do a deal for their highest paid player.

He's French, he's got bags of experience, he has played in the Premier League, his club will let him go on loan and will probably pick up a fair chunk of his wages ... why not roll the dice? I'm talking about Olivier Dacourt. Yes, he suffered a very bad injury last year, but he's now fit again. Yes, some badmouthers say he's a bit mad, but then they said the same about Jens Lehmann and he worked out OK for you, didn't he?  Inter's squad is teeming with central midfielders, Jose Mourinho wants to trim the numbers. Why not take a wee gamble on him? What's the downside? At worst he'll teach some of the kids how to tackle (and how to dress) and will be gone at the end of the season.

Option four: Go domestic

It wasn't that long ago that Scott Parker was hailed as the next big thing. OK, so it didn't really work out, but that doesn't mean he can't contribute. He's a londoner, he's a very intelligent guy, he doesn't cause problems in the dressing room and he's humble to boot. Plus, he'll give you 100 per cent every time he steps on the pitch. Remember, you're not looking for another star, you're looking for a workhorse who can do the heavy lifting for those around him. West Ham are always looking to do deals. At 28 he's in the prime of his career, surely he can do a job for you?  Plus, he'll be a good influence on Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere.

OK, so you didn't like Fabrice Muamba the first time around. Fair enough. He won't be mistaken for Glenn Hoddle anytime soon. But the guy works extremely hard, puts in a tackle and has a genuine physical presence. Plus, of course, he knows the Arsenal inside and out. He's only 20. Might he be worth a rethink?

Option five: We know you can't help yourself, so...

OK, you need a guy who can have an immediate impact, but we also know you love seeking out relative unknowns and turning them into viable top-flight players. You just can't help it. So, with that in mind, why not take a look at Anthony Annan?  He's at Rosenborg, having played exceptionally well at the African Nations Cup last year. Nobody questions his workrate, fitness or ability to retain the ball. The knock on him is that he's too small. Fine. But it's not as if Claude Makelele was a giant either and he did OK through his career, didn't he? Annan is 22, he won't cost too much money and has a considerable upside.

Alternatively, you may want to look to the East. Marek Suchy has been a start for Slavia Prage since he was 17. No frills here, just a lot of hard graft, coupled with solid technique. He's only 20, but he's a good kid with lots of potential. If you've got nothing else on tonight, you can catch him on the telly against Aston Villa. Judge for yourself.

Big spender
Marcos Senna
Anatoliy Tymoschuk
Christian Poulsen
Anatoliy Tymoschuk

Short-term solution
Timmy Simons

Domestic options
Scott Parker
Fabrice Muamba

Speculate to accumulate
Miguel Veloso
Stephane M'Bia

Into the unknown
Antony Annan
Marek Suchy

Gabriele Marcotti

Comments

[Ian]

Lorik Cana

Marseille

Hard as nails.

[Ola]

It does, as Robert Thomas has already stated, depend on the style of defensive midfielder you want. There is the ballwinning screener ala Mascherano/Makelele, the box to box workhorse ala Flamini/Hargreaves/Gattuso and the deeplying playmaker ala Alonso/Carrick. At the moment Arsenal have two young defensive midfielders, Denilson, who is of the last category but is currently work in progress and Song who is of the first but also incomplete.

My choice for the Makelele/Macherano type would be Nigel de Jong who was one of the top performers at Euro 2008 and would be available at around £10 million. Scott Parker would be a good fit for the second category as he is probably the most similar player to Flamini in England at the moment. Alonso would be my choice for the third category, and probably Fabregas's, but Liverpool are unlikely to sell anymore.

Ideally, the player that best combines all three categories in his game is Roma's Daniele de Rossi but as a dedicated romanista it will be rather hard to acquire him so all in all I would probably plump for de Jong.

[AkbarCheski]

good post, think you may have missed a trick.... Appiah; strong talented and free?! price and quality match. Considered comparble to Essien in the Ghana squad, high praise indeed.

[Marc]

Arsene knows ... that he shouldn't of sold Diarra

[chisox]

Bayern's Mark van Bommel? Throws his weight around and can pass reasonably well.

[Chris]

muamba is a great shout but I think arsenal have some policy about not buying players they have previously sold - ashame i think.

[fred]

so why not play Kolo Toure as the holding midfielder? And then buy at least one real centre half.

[Paul Newman]

Simple buys for next season, Mexes for a c/d, Veloso or Inler as a d/m, Afellay as an a/m. For me thats all we need to add to this talented squad. Alot will depend on whether Cesc stays or go??? We need to replace him with a top playmaker if he decides to join Barca or AC Milan......possible names, Diego (Werder Bremen), Gourcuff(AC Milan), Diarra(Portsmouth). We have Ramsey cominh through and with Diaby and Denilson just getting stronger and more experienced each season Arsenal will be strong. Toure, Mexes, Djourou, Senderos, Song as central defenders, Clichy, Sagna, Traore, Eboue, Gibbs and Hoyte as full backs. Ramsey, Diaby, Denilson, Nasri, Walcott, Bischoff, and then new midfielders...Veloso, Afellay, Schneiderlin

[KevL]

Arsenal 2 Man U 1 Arsene knows.

[William Costigan Jr.]

hahaha De Rossi? You see him pulling off Zidane twists while running Chelsea ragged the other night? You couldn't touch De Rossi for 50 million euros. As for United not playing a CDM, funnily enough, Man United played 3 in midfield with Hargreaves behind Scholes and Carrick in Moscow. Who would you rather: Fab, Denilson and Eboue ... or United's 3?

[Carlos]

Phil 'Brazil' Neville. Pure Steel.

[oscar]

What about the goalkeeper, he wouldn't even be my number 2, timo hilderbrand is leaving valencia!!! Regarding midfielders, i think it's between poulsen, yaya toure, diarra and what about Noble and Frings?? even in attack i'm worried, sylvain wiltord is a free agent, he can do a job for 6 months.

[christian]

great article gabriele! interesting you mentioned Annan, as a norwegian I have seen a lot of him this past year and he is definitly a prospect. he is indeed a young and quick makelele, plus he's got both brains and good advisors, unlike a certain obi mikel. he was the outstanding player for Stabæk until he went to Rosenborg, even stealing the headlines from our two strikers who combined for 45 goals in 26 matches.

[Salif Diao]

ME.

[Michael]

You have to really question why Wenger allowed Gilberto to leave Arsenal. I am sure Gilberto wasn't pining for a move to Turkey, just the guarentee that he would play in at least 30% of the games this season. He would play in a higher percentage of games this season than 30% looking at Arsenal's current midfield weakness. If he is still good enough for the Brazil squad, he can't be that past it can he?

[juan luis sanchez(peru)]

articulo excelente

please save arsenal i am suffering since my country i am arsenal fan
tomorrow i dont know what happeng we dont have team to face manchester.
i prefer not watch the game

thank

juan luis

[Anderson]

I think Diaby will prove to be the answer. Such a talented and versatile player... but like many, my concern is if he really is hard enough for this position. He rarely get's crunched and bounces up. But, the potential is there and I think he and Fabregas would prove a great partnership in the middle of the park.

[Jad]

How about looking north of the border? - I know its not the greatest league but that shouldn't detract from the following two players. Scott Brown from Celtic has all the right attributes. Good engine, will tackle a brick wall, good going forward and can play a fair bit also.
Kevin Thomson of Rangers is another who can play along the centre line and do the same job but probably not as dynamic as Brown.

[Steve Mitchell]

D'Agostino has had a fantastic start to the season for Udinese he looks a class act in midfield.
My personal choice would be Nocerino from Palermo, he has everything you need from a midfield player he reminds me very much of a young Roy Keane.

[Tristan Walton-Foster]

For years and years I've been of the opinion that Appiah would be the perfect fit for our team.

Seeing as Arsene now regards the club as a personal vehicle for his own misplaced dreams of confounding everyone by winning the league with a bunch of kids, he's not going to sign someone in this age bracket (bar Silvestre on grounds that (i) he has the desired attributes of a malcoordinated has-been defender (ii) if successful will constitute a potential annoyance to Fergie).

[Mike]

I agree with Rezwan re Jean Makoun...I think he'd be a great fit. Simons would be a backward step as would Dacourt (even if they were short term deals).

Now is the time to address the situation in a big way and a marquee name like Makoun would be perfect. While Arsenal are at it how about buying Frey as goalie too?

[iandel]

Senna? Good player, but it wouldn't make much sense spending big money to get a 32 year old Brazilian born holding midfielder, when they had a 32 year old Brazilian born holding midfielder last year & let him go for a nominal fee.

[rich]

I say Diaby is ideal but as someone said his fitness is questionable.

He has pace, likes to get stuck in and can take the ball forward. Cant remember which game this season but he skinned 3 players and lay up a goal (think it was bolton).

If he played in that role regularly i reckon he would be fantastic!

[Will Page]

diaby is not going to do the dirty work, he is an attack minded player.

alex song is the only solution within the club, but he will need more time. his displays for the cameroon are always strong but i think the premier league is too fast for him at this stage.

song seems to dwell on the ball which slows the rest of the team, and strutting on the the pitch with that grin on his face has done him no favours with wenger i'd imagine.

daniele di rossi is the answer to arsenals problems.

he has the means streak we need, together with a great shot from distance (two things we dont have in our midfield), and he never goes on to the park without giving 100%

at 25 he could steer the ship (and bark the orders) for another 6 years allowing the promising talent already at the club to grow with confidence and be the perfect foil for fabregas.

he is surely the next captain of roma, but fingers crossed, it would be a steal at any price. (i would throw the whole supposed 30 mil at him... if we even have it)!

a move for shay given wouldn't go astray in january either, and he deserves a crack at some top level football after such a stellar career.

[Arun]

Marcotti:

Do Arsenal really need an enforcer? Didnt United win 2 league titles and the champions league in the last two years with a first choice midfield of Carrick and Scholes, both of whom are exquisite passers, and have got no Gattuso-instinct in them?