What’s next for Arsenal?

I usually try and avoid writing about topics that I know many others will write about. However, having watched Arsenal lose to Bradford last night in the Capital One Cup, I’ve decided that I have to write about my beloved London club.

The 2003/4 Premier League for Arsenal football club was monumental. The London team went the whole season undefeated, and managed to retain the title- the second team in history to achieve this feat, after Preston North End in 1889. Wenger had stated in 2002 that his club had the potential to go a whole season undefeated, and it was great to see it happen. The greatest Premier League team of all time in my opinion, it is fair to say that the Arsenal team of 2003/04 is now all but a distant memory, as our current club of 2012/13 simply doesn’t compare.

With 26 wins in the 2003/04 and 12 draws, the Arsenal team looked unbeatable, and indeed they were, in every position on the pitch we had a player which I feel could get into every other team in England. Now however, we’re playing the likes of Gervinho, Chamakh, and Ramsey to name a few, which are in all honesty, average players at best. It might seem a bit harsh on Ramsey but unfortunately, I feel that need players who are just better, players who have the quality to match our club targets, winning silverware. This is where this current Arsenal team fails; games against Norwich, Aston Villa and Swansea which a team with our ambitions should be beating, finding ourselves struggling time and time again. Credit to other teams that can come to the Emirates and put up a fight against Arsenal, but it’s frustrating to not see consistent results. Saying that however, if we win out next game against Reading on Monday, we will see ourselves back in the top 4 in the Premier League.

So where does the problem lie? Many Arsenal fans saying they want Arsène Wenger out, which to me is the worst thing we could do. For me, recent results, like against Bradford FC, are down to the players on the pitch. We put out a strong team, and indeed we should have done, with playing next on Monday, but a 1-1 draw at 90 minutes against a League 2 is simply not good enough.

Blaming the manager for me is cheap excuse, after all these years he’s been at Arsenal. Some might argue we have to spend spend spend, but people said that when we lost Thierry Henry, but the season after we finished 3^rd in the Premier League. I don’t think we should spend money just because we get disappointing results; instead I think we should look at our players and take drastic action. In my opinion, either put Walcott up front or sell him, put Aaron Ramsey on a loan spell, sell Arteta, Rosický, Gervinho, Chamakh, and aim for a CB or CDM in the transfer market. Only 1 or 2 players I would ideally like to see us buy, as I believe Giroud still has potential at the club and Wilshere and Carzorla are having decent season’s so far. Podolski has been playing well at times, and Chamberlain always looks full of pace and potential when he plays.

Arsenal fans, please don’t talk about “WengerOut” but instead look at how many players are not performing for us. What’s next for Arsenal is that we look at increasing confidence on the pitch, sing loud at the Emirates and away games, and keep the belief in the club. The 2003/04 was remarkable, and I hope one day we can do the same again.

What’s your views about Arsenal? Follow me on twitter and tell me! @JoelEdwards92

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