My Right Back Solution

The right full back position is one which has been discussed ahead of the summer, even more so than perhaps forward and 'DM' targets. This perhaps reflects the paucity of genuine top class, ready made forward options to come into the club, but for me actually reflects the tradition of the full back position at the club.

In terms of full backs at Arsenal, we have a tradition of great full backs. A great full back being one which CAN provide support for attacks, but first and foremost puts their DEFENSIVE duties first. If you look at the AFC websites 'Greatest 50 Players', the list is littered with full backs. For me, this is the position where Arsenal have always been the strongest. The teams of the 90s had Dixon and Winterburn, succeeded Cole and Lauren, succeeded by Sagna and Clichy/Gibbs. Going before that, we have had other quality full backs like Anderson, Rice, Ball and Sansom. It is a much welcomed tradition in the day when the art of being a great full back is under-appreciated.

Therefore, the departure of Sagna is something which we have come to see as particularly scary. Sagna for me is replaceable, but there a certain nuances we will miss. Will our next right back be as strong aerially? I am not even talking about just defensively; how many attacks have we seen develop on our right flank from a Sagna flick on from a goalkick? This sort of manouvre is what will be particularly missing from our play next season, unless we literally sign a clone of Bac.

Serge Aurier by all accounts seems to have much a similar story to Sagna. Both powerful and athletic, yet lacking in height, the difference between the two is that Aurier is much more of the attacking full back, even playing as a wing back this year. Considering Toulouse play a back 3/5, it is difficult to say whether this relative abandon of defensive duties is due to the formation or his natural game. Either way, his potential arrival would leave questions in that regard. But for sure the guy would produce more going forward- I believe last season alone he had more goals and assists in the league than Bac has provided in 3/4 years of football.

Yet the main issue with Aurier is that he would be away at the African Cup of Nations. Now, this would be less of an issue with the desire, I believe, to move the tournament to the summer months in the near future. But for the here and now, this would mean that Aurier would not be available in January. In normal circumstances, missing a first choice player would be a disaster. Yet this would be a recoverable for us.

Currently, our two right backs are Jenkinson and Bellerin, the latter not really having played at all for us. But both are ready to fight for their places at the club, and both would be willing to sit out if they felt that they could force their way in. Any right back we sign should be of a high quality, but not to the standard that neither Jenkinson or Bellerin would feel that they couldn't force themselves into the side.

I myself rate Carl, and think he will become an Arsenal stalwart, whether a first teamer or not, and will pick up caps for England. I would advocate, that whichever right back we sign in the summer, that he and Carl should be rotated in the early season, and allow one and the other to stake a true claim. Considering our recent injury struggles, and our Champions League qualifiers, such rotation would be benefical. But crucially, this would mean that if it was Aurier, come January, Carl would most likely be ready to step up to the first team.

In such a scenario, Bellerin could go until the Christmas period of games, and pick up such much needed experience, ideally in the Championship. And then come January, he could come in and provide a good back up option for Carl and potentially even come in if injury strikes AGAIN.

In sum, my solution to our right back problem would be to have 3 right backs for the course of the season, which would allow all to get adequate game time, whilst hopefully remaining fresh. Such squad management could be applied to other positions to prevent injury, but I won't hold my breath.