Arsenal’s last three results have basically ended their challenge for the Premier League title. Chelsea and Manchester United both proved that the Gunners are not yet ready to challenge for the Premier League title. So what are Arsenal’s main problems and how can they be fixed?
Weaknesses
I have been a firm believer in the way Arsenal play their football, but I have to now say that if I was an Arsenal fan I would be really frustrated by my team.
The reason is you can play all the fancy passing football you like but without taking your chances in front of goal it’s worthless. They lack a killer instinct as Theo Walcott commented upon after his side’s 2-0 defeat to Chelsea.
At the moment they are out passing teams easily but somehow not taking their chances. As answered by some of my readers in my ‘Do Arsenal need another striker?’ article a few months ago, Arsenal need another striker.
Arsenal are in true need of a natural born goal scorer. Unfortunately for the Gunners there are not many of those available. However Arsenal have been heavily linked with Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh.
The Moroccan international has been prolific for the French champions and has also revealed that he wants to move to the Premier League with Arsenal. He will be available on a free transfer in the summer. I don’t think Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger can lose with this signing.
Next season with the choice of the fit-again Robin Van Persie and Marouane Chamakh Wenger won’t need to play Andrey Arshavin as a lone-striker. The Russian obviously doesn’t enjoy the role and his talents are best served elsewhere.
Leadership
At the start of the season I thought Arsenal’s weakest position in the team was the defensive midfield role. However I think Alexandre Song has made the role his own. It’s the lack of leaders in the side that is proving a problem.
Cesc Fabregas at 22 is club captain yet he doesn’t seem the sort of person to shout and ball at people. He may be Arsenal’s best player but I don’t think he is the sort of player that would have been chosen as captain in the past.
You think of the leaders of the past at Arsenal. Tony Adams springs straight to my mind. He was always talking and motivating his teammates. Adams was an inspirational captain, even if he did suffer controversy in the earlier days of his career. Arsenal are missing a Adams style leader.
Defence
Arsenal are still vulnerable at the back. The signing of Thomas Vermaelen was a good one. He is a good defender but he’s also quite short for a centre-back. If I was Arsene Wenger I would invest in a big strapping centre-back.
In the Arsenal games I have seen this season William Gallas just hasn’t done enough for me. Both Gallas and Vermaelen have contributed at the opposite end of the pitch, but Gallas should show better positioning for a player with his experience. His attitude is also questionable at times as well.
As you can tell Gallas isn’t my favourite Arsenal player and I wouldn’t be surprised if a new centre-back arrived in the summer. I think part of Sol Campbell coming back to Arsenal was for him to pass on some of his vast Premier League knowledge to the younger Arsenal defenders.
However the likes of Gallas and Bacary Sagna are experienced players. While Gael Clichy and Thomas Vermaelen are 24 and have enough first team experience to know their jobs in the team. All four are international defenders and made schoolboy mistakes against Manchester United and Chelsea.
Next season
If Arsenal want to be a success they need to cut out the mistakes and become more ruthless. Every year we say that Arsenal need to toughen up and every season they flatter to deceive. Arsenal are not far off Chelsea and Manchester United but they need to sign the right players this summer, or we could be witnessing the Groundhog Day of English football, Arsenal underachieving again.
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