Hit by defensive crisis, Arsenal just need to focus on automatic Champions League qualification

New Gunners arrival Calum Chambers started Arsenal’s resounding 3-0 win over Aston Villa at right-back in Birmingham on Saturday evening. Because Arsenal’s back-up centre back was stationed on the right, the Londoners went into the game with no defenders to provide cover from the bench.

Villa attacked with impunity, buoyed by their recent scalp of Liverpool, and tested the visitors early on. Arsenal were required to soak up pressure before scoring a quick-fire treble.

This win will provide confidence to Arsenal ahead of Southampton’s visit to the capital tonight, but questions will be raised over the lack of cover for Arsenal defensively and whether the current group of defenders will be enough for them to challenge for the title this season.

While Arsenal may have demonstrated a new-found resilience this season, there was also that sense of déjà vu when their defensive failings allowed Manchester City to equalise. While Mathieu Debuchy’s injury did unsettle the back four shortly before that corner, a defence worthy of winning a championship would not have switched off to allow Martin Demichelis to head home a messy equaliser.

That this new-found resilience is still in its infancy is quite evident, since Arsenal were nervous following the Argentine’s equaliser. City hit both posts and had three more attempts directed at goal, with only new signing Danny Welbeck’s curling effort that narrowly missed Joe Hart’s far post mustered in response.

What’s worse is the manner in which Arsenal capitulated against Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League opener. The Gunners lacked a box-to box midfielder who could lead on the pitch and should’ve signed someone in that mould this summer.

This could’ve been avoided if Arsenal had finished third last season. Arsenal’s abject performance in Germany saw them concede two goals, but it could’ve been a lot higher. The Germans fashioned 23 scoring chances on the night, with Arsenal responding with a paltry three.

While Arsenal did finish most of their transfer business early, but their qualification for the Champions League via their playoff against Besiktas meant they were forced to leave some of their most important transfer activity until they were assured of a place in the competition proper.

The Gunners’ second leg against the Turks was on the 27th of August, and with the transfer window closing on the first of September, left Arsenal with just five days to open negotiations and sign players to bolster their squad.

Inflation, already common in football transfers, tends to rise dramatically during the last few days of the window as players’ importance increase proportionally to the clubs that are desperate to sign them. This season, a report published by the Swiss-based CIES Football Observatory in The Guardian newspaper showed an inflation of 16% on player prices this summer, with some players commanding even higher fees.

David Luiz, for example, was purchased for a very handsome £50 million, but is actually believed to be only worth £23 million, or more than double the amount that Paris Saint-Germain handed Chelsea. Arsene Wenger is a man who is loath to spend more than it is actually necessary in order to purchase players.

While he does not mind reaching deep into his pockets when required to bring in marquee players such as Mesut Ozil (£40 million) and Alexis Sanchez (£34 million), or roughly 20% more than what they were actually worth, most of his signings are brought for prices relatively close to market value.

For instance, Mathieu Debuchy was valued at £13.2 million when he went to Newcastle United from Lille in 2013, despite the Magpies signing him for a cut-price £5.5 million. Arsenal bought him for £12 million, with another £1.2 million provided in the form of bonuses and add-ons, or exactly the amount he was worth when he initially left France.

Wenger knows he’ll have to spend more in order to get players as the market winds down, and he is also acutely aware of the attraction of Champions League football provides to potential incoming signings. He therefore knows the importance of sealing Champions League qualification holds.

Although he was diplomatic when asked about the readiness of his defenders when facing the media during his pre-match conference ahead of his team’s Champions League opener against Borussia Dortmund at the Westfalenstadion on Tuesday night, he did admit to another injury causing Arsenal problems.

While Hector Bellerin is making his European debut in Arsenal colours for that game,there is a very good chance Chambers will be asked to play in that position while Debuchy begins his convalescence, which leaves only academy graduate, 19-year-old Isaac Hayden to cover in the centre.

Had Arsenal qualified for Europe’s top-flight in May, they would’ve had plenty of time to draft in another centre-back and would’ve been able to negotiate a better deal for whoever they were looking at.

By the time the end of the transfer window comes around, most managers have a more-or-less fixed picture of what their team is going to look like come the new season and a late bid from Arsenal would also put the selling club in the same position that Arsenal were in during the window as they will want to sign a replacement given the type and caliber of player the Gunners will be after, and that is a problem that few managers will want.

Another position Arsenal have long sought to adequately cover is that of a deep-lying playmaker as they search for a long-term successor to Mikel Arteta. Arsenal had been linked with several midfielders over the summer, but again, had to wait until they’d secured Champions League football before opening formal negotiations.

While Arsenal fans were criticising Wenger for travelling to Rome to officiate in a charity match on transfer deadline day, his sojourn to the Eternal City proved to be a blessing in disguise as waking up early in order to travel was what alerted him to Danny Welbeck’s availability so early in the day, before other clubs began the day’s business.

Had Wenger not travelled, as he explained during his pre-match presser against City, he wouldn’t have known about Welbeck’s situation until mid-day, by which time it would’ve been too late to complete the transfer process.

Arsenal need a squad that is better than the one they currently have before they attempt a successful title charge. Sealing qualification for the Champions League early would help them go a long way in doing just that.