Do Denilson and Diaby have a future at Arsenal?

The two central midfielders have been threatening to break through at the Arsenal for a number of seasons now, but neither has become a regular player for the side. Denilson joined Arsenal in the Summer of 2006 and is now 23, whilst Abou Diaby joined at the beginning of 2006 and is now 24. Denilson has captained Brazil up to the under 19 level but is still to make his debut for the national side despite being called up to the squad back in March 2007. Diaby is a regular for the French national side and has made 12 appearances since 2007. Despite the duo making many appearances for the Arsenal they have never been in Arsene's first choice XI and have mainly played due to injuries to key players. Jack Wilshere has also leaped above them in the pecking order this season and Denilson especially has struggled to get a game due to the emergence of Wilshere.

 Denilson has been at the club for a while now and has started 120 games in all competitions. He has never been out for long periods due to injury and made his most appearances in the 2008-2009 season when Flamini and Gilberto Silva had both left the Arsenal midfield. He impressed throughout the season and started 36 out of 38 Premier League games. However the season after Arsene switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation and Denilson has suffered as a result. Denilson works best in a two man midfield and doesn't have the physical side to his game that Alex Song has which is required to play the defensive role. As a result he only started 19 games in the league last season and has only started 6 this season. Denilson is clearly a talented player but sometimes appears to lack the effort that is needed at the top level. He doesn't appear to have a role in the side apart from a back-up midfielder and has been strongly criticised by the fans for his recent poor performances. Many fans would say Aaron Ramsey is also a better player than Denilson and when we have no injuries I believe Denilson would struggle to make the Arsenal bench regularly. I can see the Brazilian moving on in the Summer due to the lack of a regular place in the side and there are players coming through such as Lansbury who will need to play in the future. A player like Denilson is more suited to a Spanish or Italian style of football and I believe he will continue to have a successful career in one of these two countries. We should be able to get around £8 Million for the Brazilian which would represent a huge profit, which would obviously please Mr.Wenger.

 Abou Diaby has also been at the club for a number of seasons now and has started 117 games in all competitions since arriving. He is a different type of player to Denilson and contributes to the side both in defence and attack. However he is in a similar position to Denilson in that he hasn't tied down a starting place in the side but this is mainly down to the terrible luck Abou has had with injuries over the last couple of seasons. The most starts he has made in the league was 26 last season and he has only made 9 so far this season. To me Abou appears to be a better player than Denilson and I'm sure if it wasn't for bad luck with injuries Abou would be a regular starter for the Gunners. He does fit into Arsenal's 4-2-3-1 system and can play in any of the central midfield roles to good effect. I am a big fan of Diaby being played as the attacking midfielder and he adds a real physical presence to the Arsenal side. He links up well with the main striker but we have a certain Cesc Fabregas who also likes to play in this position. Diaby is clearly never going to play ahead of Fabregas but I do see a future for him at the Arsenal. He is a very versatile player who always looks to be putting in his best for the side unlike Denilson. I can't ever see Abou Diaby becoming a first choice player but he adds a valuable option to the side and Arsene Wenger should hang on to the talented Frenchman. Many Arsenal fans regularly criticise Diaby but I believe he really adds something to the side and  I don't think he receives enough praise for some of his performances in an Arsenal shirt and I'm sure Diaby well develop into the player we all thought he would become when he first played for the Arsenal.

Why Arsenal should sign Scott Parker in the Summer

The future for Arsenal?

 Scott Parker has been brilliant this season for West Ham and has been an inspirational leader for the Hammers. Scott Parker also featured at the weekend for England and put in an impressive performance. He was playing alongside a certain Jack Wilshere and the duo appeared to be made to play with each other and I feel the two of them could compliment each others games for the Arsenal in the future.

 There are many qualities that Scott Parker would bring to the Arsenal side. He is a complete midfielder with huge experience and would be the natural leader the team appears to lack at times. He works hard all the time and when you have the likes of Arshavin in your side you need players like Scott Parker. He is also quite defensively minded whereas the majority of Arsenal's midfielders aren't which would be another valuable aspect of his play for Arsenal.

I can see maybe both Denilson and Diaby leaving Arsenal in the Summer and they will need replacing. Henry Lansbury will be returning from Norwich where he has been outstanding this summer and Aaron Ramsey will also be back to his best by next season. If Arsenal signed Parker we would have maybe the best midfield in the league, Song,Wilshere,Fabregas,Parker,Nasri,Ramsey and Lansbury. This would also be a good mix of experience and youth and if Fabregas did go home in the Summer things wouldn't be so bad after all.

Is Scott Parker the leader Arsenal lack?

 I believe there is a strong chance of Wenger signing the Englishman in the summer. After all West Ham are well and truly in a relegation battle and however much Parker loves West Ham I'm sure he'd rather play in the Premiership. Parker would also be available for under £10 million, which could also tempt Wenger into a deal for the midfield player. Signing Parker would also add to the English players at Arsenal, of which there are now more and more each season. Walcott and Wilshere are both regulars, and Kieran Gibbs and Henry Lansbury are both future England players. Throw into the mix Scott Parker and nobody could complain that Arsenal don't have English players anymore.

Should Jack Wilshere play for the England Under 21's in the Summer?

England are playing in the Under-21 European Championships in the Summer and The FA looks set to be on a collision course with Arsene Wenger over whether young Jack Wilshere should feature in the tournament. Both the FA and Jack Wilshere are keen on the idea however in contrast Wenger believes Jack should rest for the Summer due to his young age and that he shouldn't play for the under 21's when he is now a regular in the full England side.  

 Wilshere is only 19 and has only just become a regular in the Arsenal side this season. He will therefore be completing his first season and he is going to need a rest in the summer to be ready for the next season. He has done amazingly well so far this season to stay injury free and Arsenal need more players like the young Englishman. It is clear as to why Stuart Pearce wants the Arsenal star in his team. This is because Jack is far far above the under 21 level and would be a potential tournament winning player for England.

 Jack himself also wants to play at the tournament, as would any youngster who has the chance of winning an international tournament for his country. However it would after all only be an under 21 competition and surely Jack should wait and help lead the full side to glory in Euro 2012 instead. He is already a regular in the full England side and will be a very important player by next Summer.

 Therefore I believe it is in Arsenal's and Jack's best interests for him not to play at the Under-21 tournament this Summer. After all he is only 19 and can't play football constantly from August 2010 to August 2012. He needs a break this Summer to prolong his career and to avoid picking up injuries due to playing too much football. He has the footballing world at his feet and he should wait until Euro 2012 before trying to lead his country to glory. 

Why Marouane Chamakh will be a very important player for the rest of the season

Can he return to his best?

 Marouane Chamakh came over from the French league in the summer and made an instant impact at the Arsenal. Due to injuries he had to lead the line for pretty much the first half of the season and did brilliantly in Robin Van Persie's absence. He appeared to be the missing link for Arsenal, and was in many fans opinions a good version of Nicklas Bendtner. He was scoring and making goals for fun but since the turn of the year his form has dropped dramatically and due to Van Persie being fully fit he has been on the bench for most of our vital games. I do however believe that he will be an important player for the rest of the season. In some games Wenger is likely to adopt a 4-4-2 formation where he would play alongside Van Persie and there is also no chance of Van Persie playing every single game, therefore leaving Chamakh to lead the attack.

 There are many qualities Marouane brings to the Arsenal side but the main one has to be his physical presence. This is something Van Persie doesn't have and Chamakh would be the perfect player to play at places like Stoke where we will need to play a more physical style of football. He is a great header of the ball, and in all honesty the only one in our side that can score good headed goals regularly.

 It is clear he isn't in great form at the moment but he has been starting to show signs of improvement in recent weeks. If we are going to win the league we need to him to play like he did at the start of the season and I'm sure he is capable of getting back to his best in the coming weeks. If he does it gives Arsene another valuable asset in attack and one that is very different from our other attackers which could be crucial at this stage of the season.

Will Johan Djourou and Wojciech Szczesny return in time to save Arsenal's season?

The Duo could save our season.

Johan Djourou and Wojciech Szczesny have been in great form this season and had both been very important up until they recentely got injured.  They are both very confident players who bring some much needed 'steel' to our 'shaky' defence. Wojciech Szczesny picked up his injury against Barcelona at the Nou Camp and it was originally feared he would miss the rest of the season. He injured his finger but he is now in contention to play again this season around the time of the crucial visit of United to the Emirates. Johan Djourou picked up a shoulder injury during the defeat at Old Trafford and he was also supposedly out for the season. However he also looks set to be back in training within a month which would be another huge boost to our title chances.

 Firstly there are many qualities that the young Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny brings to the Arsenal side. He is an extremely confident player. He isn't however like Bendtner who Wojciech described as 'arrogant' whilst describing himself as 'confident'. He believes in his own ability and has reason to do so unlike Bendtner. He is also a commanding goalkeeper and the Arsenal defence clearly have more confidence in him than Manuel Almunia... Throughout this season he has established himself firmly as Arsenal's number one and until he was injured the goalkeeping problem had been solved. Recentely Almunia has taken over and it is clear to everyone how that has had a terrible impact on our season. If Szczesny returns soon I'm sure he would take over the gloves from either Almunia or Lehmann and he would help the side to win the Premier League.

Johan Djourou is another player who no one would have expected to have been as important as he is at the beginning of the season. Along with Szczesny he wasn't a first team regular but over the course of the season they've both become first choice players for the Arsenal. He has formed a great partnership with the Frenchman Laurent Koscielny and the side looks far better with Djourou playing instead of Sebastien Squillaci. He is a strong and imposing defender who has great aerial ability. He is great defending from set pieces and we clearly needed him at the weekend when West Brom scored easily from a corner. I'm sure Djourou and Szczesny would of dealt with the West Brom corner and if they had been playing we would have won the match.

 Therefore if the duo do return in time it will be a huge boost for the side's title chances and I believe we need them back as soon as possible. Cesc,Theo and Alex are also all expected to be fit for the side's next match against Blackburn and this will also be a huge boost for the squad. If we have all five of these players fit and firing for the final part of the season I'm sure we will be able to win the Premier League and end the trophy drought at the Arsenal.

Can Arsenal afford to let Gael Clichy leave in the summer?

In recent months Gael Clichy has been persistently linked with a move away from the Emirates Stadium. He has been our first choice left back since Cashley Cole signed for Chelski and has been a consistent performer. However last season wasn't his best and he hasn't been excellent this season. There are many rumors that he isn't going to extend his contract and that Wenger is willing to let him go in the summer rather than leaving for free at the end of next season. I believe Wenger should do everything he can to keep the Frenchman at the club. He is reliable and after all he is still only 25. You would therefore expect his best years to be ahead of him and I'm not sure if Kieran Gibbs is ready to be a first team regular just yet.

 Gael has made 224 starts for the Arsenal and is the only member of the Invincibles who has stayed at the club since the magnificent achievement. Therefore he is Arsenal through and through and is an important member of the squad. Even though he hasn't been excellent recentely there aren't many better left backs in Europe than Clichy. I'm sure Wenger will try to extend Clichy's contract but the Frenchman may decide to stay for next season and then leave on a free. There is nothing Wenger could do about this apart from a huge wage rise, but this isn't Wenger's policy and I'm sure Gael won't be offered any more than the likes of Vermaelen and Sagna. If Gael did decide to leave he would most likely go to an Italian or Spanish side and I simply can't see him signing for Tottenham as some newspapers have been suggesting recentely. He has been at the club too long to go to our arch rivals and there is no way Wenger would sell him to Spurs.

 Therefore if he does leave young Kieran Gibbs would probably be promoted by Wenger to be our first choice left back. At the moment I'm not sure if he is good enough but by the start of the 2012/13 season I'm confident he would be at the required level to start regularly for the Arsenal. The start of next season would be too soon, and that's why I believe we shouldn't sell Clichy, just for the sake of not getting anything for him the season after if he left on a free. Realistically we wouldn't get more than £7 Million for Clichy at the moment and therefore we should try and keep hold of him so Gibbs isn't promoted too early in his career. There also aren't many players we could sign to replace Clichy that would be significantly better than Gibbs. Hopefully Clichy will agree a contract extension but if not we have a ready made replacement in Kieran Gibbs.

West Brom 2-2 Arsenal Player Ratings

 Arsenal grabbed a vital point at the Hawthorns after being two goals down. We nearly clinched all three points at the end but it wasn't to be and as a result we dropped two points in the title race.

 Manuel Almunia 2/10
This pathetic excuse of a footballer has cost us around 9 points this season and was truly terrible on Saturday. Made an awful decision to race off his goal line and hopefully Jens Lehmann will take over for the remaining 9 games of our season. If Almunia plays even a couple of these games we will not win the league.

Bacary Sagna 6.5/10
A fairly average performance from the right back. Didn't make any mistakes but didn't create enough going forward for the Arsenal.

Sebastien Squillaci 6/10
Better than expected but should of dealt with the corner from which West Brom scored their first goal. Isn't at all at blame for the second goal as he had dealt with it but then Almunia appeared and ruined Arsenal's day.

Laurent Koscielny 6/10
 An ok performance from the Frenchman, should have dealt with the corner better as well as Squillaci.

Gael Clichy 7.5/10
A good game for the left back,defended well and also contributed well going forward.

Denilson 4/10
Very poor from the Brazilian, couldn't do anything more than the 2 yard passes we see so often from him. In all honesty he isn't suited to the holding role but should be playing better than he has been recentely.

Jack Wilshere 7.5/10
A good game for the young Englishman. Ran the midfield and also played well when in a midfield two with Nasri.

Aaron Ramsey 6/10
Was never going to be easy for the Welshman but should of marked his man better on the corner. Also missed an easy chance to score.

Samir Nasri 7/10
 An energetic display from the winger,would of been better in the central position though.

Robin Van Persie 7.5/10
 Worked hard throughout the match and was rewarded with the equaliser.

Andrey Arshavin 8/10
 Started off the comeback with a superbly taken goal.

Substitutes
Marouane Chamakh 7.5/10
Came on for Denilson and made the difference. Also looked promising when paired with Robin Van Persie.

Nicklas Bendtner 7/10
Wasn't on for long but set up Van Persie's equaliser.

Man Of The Match: Andrey Arshavin
Played well throughout but gets the award just for his superb goal which fired up the rest of the side to level the match.