Take a look at the Arsenal team of 2011 and their record over the last 6 years. Not too bad for an average Premier League club – pretty good in fact, yet for a team who were dubbed the ‘unbeatables’ in their 2004-2005 campaign, failure to win a trophy in the last six seasons is quite simply not good enough.
Whilst Arsenal can point to a lack of funds in comparison with Chelsea, United and now Manchester City, along with a completely different ethos and transfer policy, the time for excuses about being in ‘transition’ have to stop. Wenger, at Arsenals AGM, called for more time, and passionately declared that despite the summer departures, the current team at Arsenal can fulfil their potential, if given the time to do so.
The problem however is that Wenger has been asking for more ‘time’ for several trophyless years now, and it must be asked if that question will soon become too familiar with fans who have ardently believed in Wenger and his team for so long, placing playing attractive football with flair above winning games 1 – 0 and a scrappy result. Obviously this has cost them multiple games in the past and although at times they are memorising to watch, the tag of a poor man’s Barcelona is not an unfair one.
Yes Arsenal can attack and play with style, but they have been lacking in grit and determination – a backbone to their team has been missing and although Fabregas cannot be called anything less than a brilliant player, a captain he is not. A major lack of leadership on the field has been something that has blighted Arsenal for several seasons now and whether Robin Van Persie is the man to fill this void remains to be seen.
Anyone with a footballing brain can make the statement that should Van Persie have been fit for the majority of his time at Arsenal things could have been very different for the Gunners. This season Van Persie has been their talisman and nothing short of world class, rescuing the team on numerous occasions and having a phenomenal goal to game ration of 2.38. However should Arsenal fail to make it into the top four and thus the Champions League this season, they may well have to add the Dutchman to their list of high profile departures.
Another point Arsenal supporters will make when looking back at last season in particular is that if they had beaten Birmingham in the Carling Cup final, their season could have turned out vastly different. Again whilst a valid point, much like pointing to departures, injuries and suspensions, football cannot be a game of what if’s. Arsenal’s main issue is that they have not got a good enough defence and Song does not look to be a massively convincing holding midfielder.
It cannot be ignored that losing Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy was a huge blow, as is the fact Van Persie and Vermaelen struggle to stay fit for an entire season. Players such as Jenkinson who got mauled at Old Trafford do display some quality, but to throw them in at the deep end and expose them so harshly is not what Wenger would ideally like to do.
Arsenal clearly have quality within the ranks, not just in experienced players like Van Persie but also the young guns such as Ramsey and Wilshire. The supporters are right in sticking by both the manager and the club, with Wenger bringing through some serious talent during his lengthy tenure at the helm, and is right in saying that the team have masses of potential to fulfil.
Yet Arsenal sit third in the goals conceded chart with 18 goals shipped in from 9 games, and for a team that feels they belong in the top four, this is simply not good enough. Yes they have scored 15 goals in the same amount of games, but Arsenal’s problem has never been failure to attack. Wenger needs to stop with the excuses and finally instil some defensive stability into the team – otherwise a top four finish may well be beyond them and ‘in Arsene we trust’ may well not be the case anymore.
Written by Rebecca Knight for FootballfanCast.com
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Fail. The Invincibles season was 2003-2004.
The rest of your “argument” is nothing more than the usual Le Grove anti-Wenger tosh.
Goo d article. The problem with Wenger is he wants to win with flair. 1-0 won’t do.
He has to build up the defence oterwise for all the attack Arsenal show,they could still lose.
Wenger better win something or finish third. No more time should be given.
In fact he would have been gone at any other team three years ago.
Wow another new report spouting the same old gibberish Arsenal 6 years blah blah. Write something new or don;t write something at all.
For your info, Nasri had a habit of disappearing in big games like he is doing for City and Glichy was just awful, coudlnt cross or stand in the right place.
We have overhauled our defence, we had a shocking game and conceded 8 goals in one game, do you think its possible that that one game may be a reason why we have a high goals conceded.
Also for your information it was the 2003/2004 season we were invincible, we won the FA cup in 2005. Please stop writing about things you clearly have no idea about.
Complete and utter garbage. Both the author and jeremy are deluded individuals who need to get a life. Arsenal have just demolished Chelsea on their own turf in a way no other club has ever done in premiership history and you still have a pop at Wenger. I fear there is another agenda here and you should just stick your article and comments where the sun don’t shine you contemptible, uneducated stirrers.
The two fellows obviously missed the Chelsea match! OH NO! How else can anyone explain such nonsensical views?
Agree with you, Mike. They obviously did not see the match at Stamford Bridge. While it was true that Arsenal’s defence in the first half was atrocious, they tighten up and improved by 200% in the second half and they only conceded to Juan Mata’s wonder goal. I’d rather support an Arsenal team that attacks and wins with flair, passion and class then a team that grinds out a workmanlike 1-0. Besides when Arsenal does this, the win is almost always described as an unconvincing win. But when Man Utd or Liverpool does it, it is described as a gritty win, a pragmatic win. The pundits and the media seem to treat Arsenal less favourably. I believe Wenger and Arsenal will surprise a lot of the pundits come the end of this season.
This writer is a total freak,we just demolished chelski and you still have the guts to slack Arsene,thats quite stupid of you
I have always kown that the press and the so called pundits have it for Arsenal for along time now. Maybe its because of Wenger not buying enough English player or somthing else. It saddens me even more that some Arsenal fans get sucked in it and join Wenger bashing brigade.
The weekend we lost 8-2 with the most depleted squad ever, Spurs where humiliated 5-0 AT HOME and it never made any headlines. Even 6-1 defeat at home by Man u didn’t make a half the headline our defeat at old traford made.
We went to Stamford Bridge and completely humiliated Chelsea and soemone is still having a pop at Wenger and the team. Shameful!
The Author is a typical Fair Weather Fan!! Its easy to support the invincibles and then call for the same managers head when he doesnt wina trophy but Lets see how Liverpool have faired? The other 3 big clubs have huge resources so it is not a great comparison to make but we have still stayed competitive through Wenger’s genius.
I think it’s high time pundits, media and writers like you be told that your bias reporting on Arsenal just do not work anymore. Most Arsenal fans and neutrals all over the world are already not taking your articles on Arsenal seriously. Your article is so not informative and educational and sounds more like coming from a total moron.
Most of us are getting sick of this stupid bias writings. I was shock having to listen to the commentary of the game at Stanford Bridge. Arsenal was very bad defensively for probably the first 10 minutes of the game but tightened up very well after that and went on to register their best win of the season. But the commentator sounded as if Arsenal was atrocious for the whole game. If anyone would care to watch the game again, you’ll now what i mean with regard to the idiotic commentary.
Arsenal is certainly improving game by game and even received the admiration of AVB on how the team responded to the bad start they had. A top four finished, i can bet my last dollar on it!! Go gunners..