Arsenal's defensive horror show was a wake-up call, says Charlie Nicholas
Friday 14 August 2015 20:30, UK
Charlie Nicholas insists Arsenal must improve defensively if they are to be considered genuine title contenders this season.
The Gunners suffered a major upset when they were beaten 2-0 by West Ham in their opening league match of the season.
New goalkeeper Petr Cech was involved in both goals as Arsenal's defensive frailties were cruelly exposed.
Club legend Nicholas admitted the defence has all too often left them down in recent years.
The Soccer Saturday pundit said: "They we're too cocky and paid the price. I'll take nothing away from West Ham who were excellent but it has been an Achilles heel of theirs for a long time.
“It was one heck of a reminder to say that you can have all the good ingredients going forward but if you don't sort your defence out you won't win anything.
"It was an eye opener, a wake-up call, but I'm glad, if anything, it happened on the first weekend of the season rather than well into the season."
While boss Arsene Wenger refused to single out Cech for criticism, Nicholas admitted confusion between the former Chelsea goalkeeper and Laurent Koscielny was to blame for the opening goal.
"It's not a pleasant feeling on the first game of the season when your major signing of the summer is a goalkeeper, who has got us all excited, and he's involved in mishaps with his defence straight away," added Nicholas.
"It just proves it takes time to bed in but I genuinely feel that Arsenal will always be associated with having weaker defenders because so much effort is about attacking play."
Despite last week's defeat, Nicholas does feel Arsenal are improving defensively and will only get better as they form a stronger understanding with Cech.
He said: "(Per) Mertesacker did look better in pre-season but I think he'll come under pressure from Gabriel Paulista. Calum Chambers is being groomed as an out and out centre-half, so they do have cover in that department."
The former striker also expects the Gunners to respond with victory over Crystal Palace on Super Sunday and is tipping them to do so with a 3-1 in his Sky Bet prediction.
He also feels Wenger will only look to strengthen his squad before the end of the transfer window if the right players become available.
Nicholas added: "He'll only go into the market if he knows he can get better players than he's already got. He's not a man who buys for the sake of buying and I've always believed that philosophy is correct.
"Over the last few years he's spent a fortune on Ozil and Sanchez. He brought in the experience of Mertasacker and now he's brought in Cech so he's been more adaptable than he maybe was in the past.
"If Benzema was to become available for say £40m and he felt he was going to make the side better he'd sign him and you sell Giroud or one or two other players.
"I do think he'll actively be searching the market and if nothing comes up he won't buy for the sake of buying."
