Just over seven years ago, Arsenal were lifting the English Premier League trophy and celebrating an unbeaten league season. Not only were the Gunners winning, but they were also playing the best football in Europe. Back then, Arsene Wenger had plenty to smile about – Thierry Henry was arguably the best player on the planet, the dressing room was united and an era of dominance appeared theirs for the taking.
But events took a different turn. Jose Mourinho arrived to morph Chelsea into an unstoppable force before first Patrick Vieira then Henry walked away from North London. Arsenal’s aura of invincibility was gone and, though the eye-catching football remained, results slipped. They have never fully recovered.
Initially, Arsenal’s struggles were considered ‘a dip in form’ but as the trophyless spell stretched to six years, it became a ‘slump’. Now, with the departure of Cesc Fabregas and the likely sale of Samir Nasri, the situation has reached a new low. For Wenger, life at the Emirates is fast approaching ‘crisis’ status.
A turbulent summer has left Arsenal ill-prepared for the campaign ahead. The distractions of the Fabregas and Nasri sagas have dented dressing room morale, with Wenger letting the negotiations drag on so long that he is now scrambling to spend the money at his disposal before the transfer window closes.
It is still questionable whether the Frenchman will splash the £35M pocketed from Fabregas’ move to Barcelona. Wenger is so focused on building for the future that he is in danger of jeopardising the present by relying on youngsters. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Carl Jenkinson will surely develop into excellent players but they are not the summer signings that Arsenal fans had hoped for. It is hard to question the mindsets of Fabregas and Nasri when there is such hesitancy in bringing in world class performers who are ready to compete for a title immediately.
A place in the top four was once a guarantee for Arsenal – even if their title challenge stuttered, they remained head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. That has changed. Liverpool have been revived under Kenny Dalglish and, unlike the Gunners, have made a statement by lavishing cash to strengthen their squad. Tottenham Hotspur are young and ambitious, and now boast more match-winners than Arsenal.
Watching the disjointed, ragged Gunners performance in the 2-0 loss to Liverpool at the weekend, it became clear that the current squad is now the weakest since Wenger took charge back in 1996. He has a group of talented youngsters, however there is a real shortage of experienced winners and a desperate lack of squad depth, particularly when compared to Manchester United and Manchester City. Theo Walcott’s game appears to be going backwards and he was easily subdued by Jose Enrique while Andrei Arshavin is another player clearly bereft of confidence.
And things could be about to get far worse for Wenger. The Gunners travel to Udinese in midweek to defend a slender one-goal advantage in their bid to reach the Champions League group stage. The Italians showed more than enough quality in the first leg to suggest that they could hand Arsenal an untimely sucker punch. Hot on the heels of the trip to Udine, Wenger takes his squad to Old Trafford to face United at the weekend. It is set to be one of the most important weeks of his managerial career.
Wenger needs to take several steps to revive a campaign which already looks shaky. Without question, he must stop overlooking his squad’s weaknesses, reach for the chequebook and spend some serious money. The areas of concern are many but a commanding centre back to partner Thomas Vermaelen is a top priority and an experienced midfield presence to supplement Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey would be a real benefit.
There are options out there – Gary Cahill at Bolton, Phil Jagielka at Everton, Christopher Samba at Blackburn, Daniele De Rossi at Roma. But rumours that Wenger has been looking to raid the loan market, for instance chasing Marseille’s Lucho Gonzalez, will please few supporters given the vast sums at the Frenchman’s disposal. With Arsenal failing to score in their first two league games, another striker would take some of the pressure off Robin van Persie too.
That is a lot of business to complete before the transfer window closes on 31st August. It is a safe bet to assume that Wenger will only manage to bring in a maximum of two or three new faces in that time and his usual caution about paying over the odds will slow down the process. In short, Arsenal will not find the season’s saviours in the next week or so, forcing fans to accept that the best case scenario for this campaign is sneaking into the top four – and that looks a long shot at present. The worst case scenario is a season of Europa League football in 2012/13 and the possibility of a Wenger exit.
The 2003/04 Invincibles season must seem an eternity ago for the Frenchman, but he insists he will not walk away from the challenge of rebuilding this Arsenal team. However, if he is to rectify matters, he must act quickly. Both on the field and in the transfer market, Arsenal face crunch time in the coming days.
