As Arsenal’s season limps towards a close, it seems a good time to look forward to what the club needs in order to challenge Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool next season. First, let's assume Julio Baptista will return to Real Madrid and Jose Antonio Reyes will not come back, thus fetching about £10m in spending power in addition to what the Board has promised.

Secondly, Arsene Wenger will revert to his favoured style of playing 4-4-2. Thus, assuming no summer additions, his starting line up will be Jens Lehmann; Emmanuel Eboue, Gael Clichy, Kolo Toure, William Gallas; Cesc Fabregas, Gilberto, Thomas Rosicky, Aleksandre Hleb; Robin Van Persie and Thierry Henry. Likely substitutes if he needs to change to a 4-5-1 or 4-4-3 formation will be Manuel Almunia, Phillipe Senderos, Matthieu Flamini, Theo Walcott and Emmaneul Adebayor.

Given those assumptions, two things appear clear. The first is that compared to the probable line-ups of Manchester United (which will include Owen Hargreves and a striker of note like Fernando Torres), or Chelsea or even Liverpool, the Arsenal line-up does not strike fear into the hearts of many opponents. Arsenal lack the flair and fear factor of a Cristiano Ronaldo or Joe Cole, and the drive of a Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard.

Furthermore, so long as the Arsenal side continues to follow Arsene Wenger’s philosophy of playing pretty patterns, teams will know they can contain the strike force with strength and intimidation tactics in the way they cannot against Dider Drogba or Dirk Kuyt or the new United forward (whoever he may be).

In addition, the performance of Lehmann has not inspired. He is prone to mistakes and despite having Gallas as the experienced defender, the  back four still fails to impose itself the way the Chelsea or Liverpool defence does.

Given the assessment, and given a perfect world where money is no object, what Arsenal need for next season will be (1) a goalkeeper - Gianluigi Buffon; (2) a centre-half – Ledley King; (3) a midfielder - Gennaro Gattuso; and (4) a striker - Dimitar Berbatov. But this being the real world and the kind of cash needed to pry the aforementioned players away would make even Roman Abramovich wince.

With the cash raised from the Reyes deal and the moody Gallas following him, and more coming when Arsene finally decides that Senderos, Freddy Ljunberg, Hleb and Aliadiere must all go, the Arsenal targets should be (1) goalkeeper – Craig Gordon, a true world-class performer and a better option than either Scott Carson (who has proven fallible of late) or Ben Foster, both of whom are actually on the roster of rival clubs who would never let them go to Arsenal; (2) defender – Joleon Lescott, a capable left-footed defender who can provide cover for Gael Clichy; (3) midfielder - Carlos Tevez, a powerful and direct runner with an eye for a great pass and who has single-handedly terrified all of West Ham’s opponents in the second half of this season;  (4) striker – Kevin Davies who is the opposite of everything Arsene Wenger has ever stood for, but anyone who can terrorise Chelsea has to be in the reckoning. Davies is no fox-in-the-box. He is a sledge-hammer that will convert most of Arsenal’s pretty patterns into goals.

I would also like to see Wenger take in more experienced players. Henrik Larsson proved the value of such an approach at Manchester United. I’d like to see Lillian Thuram, who was the best defender in the world and whose experience would prove invaluable in bridging the gap between the generations of Arsenal defenders.

Given the above, and the realities of life without money, I would like to see Arsenal’s line up for next season being: Gordon; Eboue, Toure, Lescott, Clichy; Tevez, Gilberto, Fabregas, van Persie; Davis and Henry. Subs: Lehman, Thuram, Flamini, Rosicky, Adebayor. At least such a team will have an aura; the unpredictability of the van Persie, Henry and Tevez combination, the emotions two Englishman and a Scotsman will add to the Emirates' atmosphere. Also, Davis up front will confuse just about everyone who thinks they have a handle on how to deal with Arsenal.

Now a word about Franck Ribery. In all honesty, I never liked him and I don’t see what Wenger sees in him other than the fact that he has the kind of silky smooth skill that he admires so much. But the purchase of Hleb has proved that silky skill isn’t good enough in English football.


What you need are strong battling qualities, an absolute rock of an attitude that will break down walls and a ruthless streak to murder any opponent in your path (even if he is Gary Neville). Tevez and Davies are in my line-up because they embody all that. Ribery isn’t such a player, and chances are that if Arsenal got him, he may prove to be flighty, lightweight and ineffectual, words that neatly describe Wenger's forward line this season.

Who would you like to see heading for N5 next season? Send your views to Sportingo.