Our biggest problems in midfield that I can see are we lack penetration going forward and then have tended to be very vulnerable to any counters once possession inevitably breaks down.
Therefore anyone who can reinforce and also release players shouldn’t be the worst idea in the world?
He did well alongside Kanté when he had runners to aim at. We have Gana and pace on the wings; admittedly it’s uncertain how things would work otherwise with Iceland and Tosun to aim at ahead of him in the centre.
I think the vulnerability on the counter has tended to be caused by a lack of creativity going forward, meaning we push more players forward in order to force an opening. The likes of Gana, McCarthy, Besic etc are well capable of stopping attacks if that's the job you give them, but last year we were asking them to get forward aswell, meaning we had no cover. Increasing our attacking threat will solve both problems in my opinion.
I know it's not fashionable to say it because we're all supposed to hate him, but if he's fit and got his head on it, Schneiderlin is actually a very good player. Drinkwater is a similar player to him I think, and if they're both at their best I'd take Schneiderlin every time. Obviously his attitude can be questioned, but if he's playing like he was in his first 6 months he's a much better player than Drinkwater.
For me, we need someone in midfield who can carry the ball forward, creating space and getting people backing away. That can either be in the style of a Barkley motoring forward quickly and slaloming or in the style of an Arteta, neither quick nor powerful but an excellent dribbler and with the ability to get out of tight spaces. Drinkwater is neither.
