Arsenal Analysis: Five Areas of Concern for the Gunners

Arsenal are on a high after cementing their second place position and keeping pace with title leaders Chelsea. Their 4-1 win over Bolton Wanderers, a mid-table team, made the manager over hype the Gunners a little by saying that now they are equipped to win the Champions League this season.

Arsenal have started strongly by being the only other team apart from Chelsea to touch double figures in only four games. Already, there is a gap between teams vying for the Champions League slot and the title challengers. Even though the Gunners are placed high on the table, they should not get complacent by their recent exploits.

They have won against two tough teams, Bolton and Blackburn, but they have to win the big games against Chelsea, Manchester United, and Manchester City to really establish themselves as genuine contenders for the title, or else they might be languishing behind Chelsea and Manchester United and only competing for a Champions League spot.

Even though Arsenal beat Bolton by a three-goal difference, the victory was not as straightforward as the scoreline suggests. They do have some flaws in their arsenal and they have to give it importance if they are to have a successful tilt at the title. This is a time for Gunners to remain optimistic but they must not be ignorant of their areas which need to be looked into and improved upon.

It may be a bit premature to say this, but there is a possibility that this season could again see a number of goals due to defensive lapses. This year's defence is a lot stronger than last year's but Arsenal could still concede a number of easy goals like the one they conceded against Bolton.

The biggest problem facing the defence is that it has a very new look about it, with the only centre back from the last season being the impressive Thomas Vermaelen. The former Ajax player is Arsenal's most important player at the heart of defence but his partners, who are new signings or like a new signing (like Johan Djourou), could struggle over the course of the season.

Sebastien Squillaci, a four million acquisition from Sevilla, is an experienced defender and could provide an ideal foil to Vermaelen's attacking nature. But he lacks the pace of a top quality defender and could be found wanting against some of the best forwards in the Premiership. Also, he is coming on the back of a season in which he was injured for long periods, and he might be affected by similar injury problems in this season again.

Laurent Koscielny was signed for around eight million from Lorient and though he has shown glimpses of his talent, his inexperience has also been shown on more than one occasion. He was cruelly exposed for his lack of physicality by Diouf, and was careless in heading back to the keeper against Bolton. He needs to avoid making such silly errors, if Arsenal are to be strong in defence.

The defence has their work cut out in this season and how they perform could well determine Arsenal's season.

Robin van Persie trudging off the field in a lot of pain is not something that is new anymore. Arsenal supporters expect that to happen on more than a couple of occasions during the course of every season. Just four matches into the season, they have a long list of injury troubles, which also includes the ever sidelined Van Persie.

Arsenal have a lot of petite, fragile players who are injury prone and tend to be injured over the course of the season. Most of these injuries are caused by late, mistimed tackles or rash tackles from the opponents. These injuries could derail Arsenal's title challenge and one fears that it could prolong their quest for breaking this frustrating title drought.

Already, it seems like physio Colin Lewell is working overtime to get the injured Gunners back on track. The list of injured players consist of Abou Diaby, Nicklas Bendtner, Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott, and of course Robin van Persie. There seems to be a minimum of at least five players on the injury list at any time of the season.

Andrei Arshavin is among Arsenal's most important players and does have a lot of unfulfilled potential. He is a joy to watch when he is on song, but he is far too inconsistent for a player of his calibre and this has left a large section of Arsenal supporters dissatisfied with his efforts.

Arshavin is one of the relatively fit players and it is imperative that he hits top form more often than not. But four games into this season, he has cut a frustrated figure very often and has looked out of place at times. For instance, he was completely anonymous for the entire match in the game against Liverpool at Anfield.

He has scored some very important goals against big oppositions, notably Manchester United and Liverpool in the last season, and can wreak havoc with his pace, vision, and creativity. The diminutive playmaker has to step up and be counted for Arsenal to succeed in the big games against Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester United.

In the absence of Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner, Marouane Chamakh has been doing a great job, and is stepping up to the plate. However, he has to play all the games including mid-week fixtures, because of acute injury problem to Arsenal's strikers. Arsenal will hope he remains fit or else they will be left desperately short of strikers.

It is the similar case with Alex Song, because he does not have any proper backup in the squad. If he does get injured, then Arsenal will have a tough task on their hands, as there will be no one to put in those hard tackles and win their share of 50-50 tackles. He is presently irreplaceable and is Arsenal's most valuable player.

Chamakh and Song are two invaluable players for whom Arsenal do not have enough cover. An injury to any one of them will affect Arsenal in a big manner.

Cesc Fabregas only returned to form in the fourth match of the season against Bolton and before that Arsenal did okay, collecting seven points from three games with minimal impact from Fabregas. It may be a bit premature to state this, but Fabregas is the brain of this team, and bad form/injuries to him could spell doom to dreams of success in this season.

With Robin van Persie not expected to play more than a handful of matches this season due to his fragility, it will be Fabregas upon who the Gunners' hopes rest. He has to also score a number of goals from midfield for the team to mount a successful challenge, because Chamakh is not a prolific goal scorer and the other two strikers are too injury prone.

The Gunners are over-reliant on Fabregas and expects him to come up with something special when the chips are down. In the game against Liverpool, for all the possession that the Gunners had, they could produce that one defence-splitting pass that could have given them the lead. Fabregas would surely have created chances for forwards and maybe helped them earn three points at Anfield.

Last season, he, almost single handedly, lead Arsenal to the brink of the title, having the highest number of goals and assists, but injury to him derailed Arsenal's challenge to a great extent. His performance against Aston Villa at the Emirates is a clear example of what he brings to the side.

Captain Cesc can step up to the task and have a sensational season, but should he have a bad patch of form or should the injury bug hit him, Arsenal will have a daunting task ahead of them, because they are over-reliant on their talismanic captain.