Andrey
Arshavin believes that
Arsenal are
suffering from a lack of physical presence in their team and
believes that Arsene
Wenger must remedy the situation in the
January transfer market.
A youthful Gunners line-up looked very frail in losing at
Manchester City in the League Cup quarter-final in midweek, and
Arshavin is clearly worried that the Gunners could be a little too
fragile for success.
"The fact that we have lost against our direct rivals this season
signifies that we are not very good," he told Sky Sports. "We are not good on
set-pieces because we don't have many tall players - every other
team has an advantage over us in this area.
"They were much stronger than us when it came to physical power.
Had we possessed a tall player then things would have been better
for us. "We had nobody capable of holding on to the ball. We played
good football against all these top teams but that is not
enough.
"What we can change, only Arsene Wenger knows. He has been at the
club for 13 years and knows the problems better than anyone."
And Arshavin feels that the loss of Robin van Persie for five
months with an ankle injury is another major cause for
concern.
He insists that the Gunners' squad still back Wenger, but the
Russian is keen to see some action in the January transfer
market.
"All the Arsenal players believe in him [Wenger] - and if he leaves
they will all leave," he added. "It would be good if the club could
sign some great players.
"It is up to the manager to decide whether he will sign a new
striker in January. I have my own ideas but I won't say what they
are.
"Since Robin got injured we have scored just two goals - it is a
big problem."