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Doom and gloom seemed to be in the air at the Emirates Stadium in mid August when Antonio Luna slotted the ball into the net to cap off an fantastic 3-1 away win for Aston Villa against Arsenal on the opening day of the season.
The atmosphere was poisonous among the 60,000 fans packed into the stadium.
Looks of disbelief, cries of anguish and strong chants of furious malice were thrown towards Arsene Wenger – the long serving manager whose eight-year trophy doubt weighed upon his shoulders like Zidane must have felt after being sent off in the 2006 World Cup final.
But 100 days later the atmosphere has changed.
Doom and gloom has turned to joy and goodwill. Poisonous atmosphere has turned to a feeling of optimism.
Looks of disbelief upon fans are transformed to one of hope. Chants of furious malice to the manager are now chants of adulation.
Arsenal now sit top of the Premier League after 12 games and have lost only once (against Manchester United) after their opening day defeat.
In Europe they are top of their group where many had thought Arsenal could be relegated to the Europa League, with opponents such as Borussia Dortmund, Marseille and Napoli.
As said in a previous article the signing of Flamini has bought in defensive solidity, Mesut Ozil’s acquisition has installed a sense of excitement among fans and the club while the defensive partnership of Laurent Koscienly and Per Mertesacker has brought steely resilience to Arsenal’s back four that has not been seen for a long time.
So what does Arsene Wenger need to do in order to sustain Arsenal’s excellent form?
1) Keep their best players fit
It is no surprise that to sustain a title challenge a team’s best players have to be fit so they can play in their most important matches. No doubt two of Arsenal’s important players have been Olivier Giroud and Mathieu Flamini.
The Frenchmen have in my view been Arsenal’s two players that have been at the heart of Arsenal’s resurgence– this shall no doubt court controversy and rightly so seeing Aaron Ramsey has been in outrageously good form.
But Giroud has played most of Arsenal’s games whether domestically or in Europe.
Apart from his goal scoring threat, he adds so much more in terms of hold up play and bringing in other players bursting forward from midfield like Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil.
Since his move from Montpelier in the summer of 2012 Giroud has been growing in confidence. He did have an indifferent start, but that was always going to be difficult after replacing Robin Van Persie who at times led the attack by himself.
Now he is in his element and on deadly form.
No doubt Arsenal’s failed attempt to get a striker (I will look at this later on) in the form of Luis Suarez or Gonzalo Higuain in the summer spurred Giroud to show Wenger that he is the man to lead Arsenal’s forward line.
With just over a third of the season gone he has scored seven goals in 12 league appearances and three goals in seven Champions League appearances – that includes the Champions League playoff.
He also has four assists in the Premier League, which reinforces his ability to bring others into the game.
As for Flamini, his free transfer has been one of the most astute signings of the season.
Wenger no doubt felt he was right for the club, as he knew what the Frenchmen could bring, mainly because he had played for Arsenal in a four-year spell from 2004-2008 before moving to AC Milan on a free transfer.
Flamini has brought the physicality, which had been a weakness of Arsenal in recent years, and has done an excellent job of giving balance to a midfield packed with attacking talent.
When he has not started, the Gunners have missed him terribly. Flamini missed the home game against Dortmund where they lost 2-1 before exacting revenge in a brilliant victory in Germany.
Keep him fit and Arsenal’s ability to have a ferocious defensive midfielder screen the back four will help maintain their title credentials.
2) Be active in the January transfer window
Losing out to Napoli in the race for Gonzalo Higuain and unable to persuade Liverpool to part with star striker Luis Suarez was a blemish on Arsenal’s transfer activity in the summer.
Despite Giroud’s excellent start it is clear the Frenchman needs a rest.
Sadly, Arsenal is entering a period of fixture congestion, which includes the festive period.
The Gunners are to play eight games in the space of under a month starting with a home game against Hull before ending their eight-game period on New Year’s Day against Cardiff City in London.
Though Giroud is fit I am sure by the end of the year the Frenchman will be in need of a rest and it is vitally important Wenger uses him cleverly.
Apart from Giroud there isn’t anyone close to Giroud’s quality to back him up.
Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner is football’s equivalent of James O’Connor and has made more headlines dealing with the police than on the pitch, while Yaya Sanogo is injury prone and along with 18-year-old Chuba Akpom not deemed ready for first team football.
Therefore, it is imperative Arsenal try and acquire a competent striker, which will provide a Plan B should Giroud be ineffective in a game or suffer injury.
Arsenal has already in the last few weeks been linked with strikers though a club will always be incessantly linked with players when enjoying such good form.
However, three players certainly catch my eye.
The first option is 17-year-old youth player Antonio Sanabria who plays for Barcelona B and is part of the fabled La Masia academy that has churned out players such as Gerald Pique, Cesc Fabregas and most famously Lionel Messi.
The rumours have been that Arsenal are in a transfer battle with Italian side AS Roma (who are doing well in Serie A and in second place) with both sides bidding £3 million for the Paraguayan.
The second option is 26-year-old Konstantinos Mitroglou.
The Greek striker who plays for Olympiakos has since the last few weeks has been under the radar since this year though I knew about his quality when he scored two goals against Arsenal last season to beat the Gunners.
He is a striker of great talent who has lit up the goal scoring charts in the Greek Super League and in Europe with 41 goals in 84 games and has helped his team one up their deadly rivals Panathinaikos.
But his exploits with Greece have made other sides sit up and notice.
His two goals in the World Cup playoff first leg against Romania to win 3-1 made people realise how good Mitroglou is.
The forward has made Greece a side different from the negative defensive side that have bored fans in international tournaments after their shock Euro 2004 triumph.
With Mitroglou Greece could be the potential dark horse and in recent weeks has been linked with Arsenal and Liverpool.
Olympiakos know they will face a fight to keep him during the January transfer window and a bid of £10 million should be enough to prise him away.
Whether Arsenal will bid for him is yet to be clear but he would be a perfect back up to Giroud and has credible Champions League experience.
The third option is Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata.
The young Real Madrid striker is a player of real promise who has risen from Real Madrid’s youth academy.
Though first team starts have been limited as of late he has shown he does not look out of place among the big boys of Madrid.
However, in recent days talk has been growing of a potential loan move to either Arsenal or fellow North London rivals Tottenham.
Both sides need a striker (especially Tottenham!) and Morata would add youthful exuberance to Arsenal’s forward line.
Though it is just rumours Morata at Arsenal is certainly an exciting addition and time will tell whether the rumours are true or not.
One thing is for sure, Arsenal definitely needs a striker if they hope to continue their good form and challenge for a trophy this season.
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