Tuesday night’s surprise 2-1 loss at the Emirates to Southampton in the League Cup raised many questions over Arsenal’s ability to be able to capture silverware in successive seasons.
Plastic fans will argue ‘oh it’s only the Capital One Cup’, but it’s a trophy that Arsenal are more than capable of winning.
The Gunners lifted the FA Cup last season after a thrilling 3-2 extra-time win over Hull City at Wembley, and finally ended their excruciating nine-year wait for silverware.
At the beginning of last season, Gunners fans were calling for Wenger’s head after a woeful performance saw them lose 3-1 at home to Aston Villa on the opening day of the season. But the former Monaco trainer shocked the football world only days later by signing Real Madrid playmaking sensation Mesut Özil.
Özil started life brightly at the Gunners, but under Wenger’s tutelage him and the rest of the Arsenal squad were left pondering at the end of the season at what might have been, despite their FA Cup triumph. Arsene Wenger’s men comfortably spent more time at the top of the Premier League table last season than any other club, but still only managed to secure fourth place.
The Gunners were strengthened in the summer, signing Frenchman Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle, Calum Chambers from Southhampton, Colombian World Cup keeper David Ospina and most notably Barcelona’s Chilean wing wizard Alexis Sánchez.
Though the club strengthened in various departments, they still need a holding midfielder and another defensive signing to truly address all of their weaknesses.
Gone are the days when Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and co. would go out onto the pitch thinking ‘are we going to win 3 or 4-0 today?’
Arsene Wenger has won three Premier League titles (including the incredible unbeaten season in 2003-04) and five FA Cups during his 18-year tenure, but many fans still argue that the club should replace the legendary Frenchman in the Arsenal hotseat. The Frenchman is a stubborn character at the best of times, and many questions remain over him and his team.
Can he get the best out of Sánchez and Özil? Will Arsenal stop conceding soft goals from set-pieces? Although the Gunners are noticeably stronger on paper than last season, when compared to sides such as Chelsea and Manchester City, the Arsenal squad does appear to lack depth.
Though Alexis Sánchez can play through the middle, the club still needs a striker who can finish off the hatful of chances that the Gunners incredibly gifted midfield create.
Arsenal’s success this season will be down to how Wenger chooses his team. Only a month into the season life is already getting tough for the Gunners. Mathieu Debuchy and Olivier Giroud have both sustained long-term injuries, Arsenal have already been dumped out of the League Cup and last week in their opening Champions League fixture put in a dreadful performance against a Borussia Dortmund’s weakest side for years, as they were beaten 2-0 at Signal Iduna Park.
Rampaging young Spanish fullback Hector Bellerín has entered the first team fold to cover Debuchy’s extended absence. The former Barcelona youth product made headlines earlier in the season when he broke Theo Walcott’s 40 metre sprint record at the club, but at only 19 the Spaniard is surely being thrown into the deep end far too early in his career.
Wenger has the quality in his squad to be able to compete on all fronts this season. Though Mikel Arteta has been in horrible decline for quite some time, the rest of the squad have started the domestic campaign brightly.
The Gunners’ comfortable 3-0 win over Manchester City in the Community Shield got the ball rolling, and despite their League Cup exit and poor Champions League start, confidence will still be high. With the pace of Walcott and Alexis accompanied by the finesse of Ramsey and Özil, the Gunners are capable of retaining the FA Cup and challenging for the Premier League.
This current side has the potential to rank among the greatest in the clubs glittering history, alongside teams such as Herbert Chapman’s great 1930s side, the famous double winning 1971 side, George Graham’s team of 1988 to 1991, and particularly Wenger’s teams of the late 90s and the 2003-04 Invincibles.
The current side have a long way to go if they are to ever reach this status, but if any man can lead them to the success that the team are capable of, it is Arsene Wenger. He has proven everybody wrong time and time again and turned promising but average players into world-beaters.
He may be old and stubborn in the eyes of many, but few are as good as the Frenchman at what he does.
Radelaide
Guest
I know it's early but I'm calling Ronald Koeman a man to win some silverware :) .
Adam
Guest
Also, who would replace Wenger and the club be assured would do a better job? Until there is an obvious replacement available why change for sake of change
Schuey
Guest
Wenger is stubborn. Refused to buy a Centreback a few years back when hangeland/cahill were on the market. Refused to buy a striker last year in January tfr window and has stubbornly refused to buy a defensive midfielder for many many years relying on out of position players like Arteta and inadequate players like flamini. Again he has been caught out selling Vermaelen & Sagna with only Chambers as cover. To many transfer window errors holding back what could be a super successful club Wenger has it 90% right, just getting the easy transfer detail wrong.
Roary
Guest
Gurudoright is exactly correct. Its all about money. As a Gunners die hard, I for one am really over this constant BS comparisons with Chelski and Money City whose unlimited deep pockets can continue to churn players and managers until they buy their silverware. Do we want our club to be paying a 50m fine because we broke FFP rules..........I don't think so! Arsenals EOY financial results were published this past week, it paints a rosy picture of fiscal prudence and good management. Our jewel being Emirates is now paid or almost paid for etc. so to the piss ant commentators, get off our backs and write another article towards the end of the season, if Arsenal bomb out, until then, please stop the apples and oranges comparisons with the clubs owned by Russian Oligarchs and Arab Billionaires........
Evan MG
Guest
A fairly comprehensive overview, except there's no mention of Welbeck at all. His addition, perhaps more than anything else, makes Arsenal's potential front line astonishingly quick, what with Walcott to come back and Sanchez settling in too. Ramsay and Ozil will have no shortage of eager runners with those three ahead of them, and Ozil in particular will have to make far fewer streaking runs forward, which suits him. The opposite is the case with Giroud, the play has to pivot around him, such is his immobility, which works too, but maybe not as well.
Swampy
Guest
I see arsenal's failures more so a result of them being operated by a committee of one - rather than a group of people who make co-ordinated decisions. If you look at the city and Chelsea models - recruitment is carefully managed by a team of people (including the manager). look at both those clubs respective recruitment over the summer - Chelsea specifically required a battering ram striker. They recruited a battering ram striker. City needed additional strengthening in defensive mid and centre back - not all together surprisingly they recruited a defensive mid and a centre back. Arsenal, via its committee of one, needed a defensive mid and a at least one (if not two) centre backs. Of course they recruited a creative winger. -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Gurudoright
Guest
Actually it was the 2003/04 season. I was living in London at the time. I'm not a Gunners fan (I support Charlton Athletic) but I feel for Wenger. Everybody talks about the 9 years without a trophy but forgets he was on a shoestring budget due to the building of The Emrites. While Chelsea and then City had unlimited funds, Wenger had to go the cheap options or had little room for haggling a good price for players. I mean 17 consecutive CL campaigns I think says it all
Daniel Gartner
Roar Rookie
It was 2003/04, 2004/05 was won by Mourinho's Chelsea.
mottorokr
Guest
no it was 2003-04 look it up anywhere on the internet, in 2004-05 we lost twice in the league to Manchester United so it cannot be the unbeaten season.
spookweno
Guest
Thanks for your thoughts, the unbeaten season was 04/05 by the way.
Pennyman
Guest
I love arsenal with all of my heart, i really do. I was actually at the season opening last year against villa whre we fell 3-1 and the chants of "spend some f'ing money" rang round the ground. The problem is Wenger knows. He knows it's best to go into a season with only 6 senior defenders - one made of which is made of glass.unfortunitly best is giving a 19 year old his senior debut in the most intimidating grounds in Europe. It's also not buying a proper holding midfielder with presence and strong in the challenge and playing arteta there instead with his nice hair and nice personality. There comes a time when Wenger HAS to take responsibility. IF he indeed knows best, which seem the popular notion because we won the league ten years ago and made 17 champions leagues in a row (though only coming close to winning it ONCE) I think it would be interesting to see how many real fans want him to stick around for another 3 seasons, as real fans know things aren't going to change. He'll deliver the same results - 3rd of 4th place and disappointing knock outs in the champs league - just like Einstein said made ness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Though I'm sure Wenger would like us to point out the Dortmund game and Southampton game and pretty much all our limp performances inbetween are only a few games except it isn't. It's the same arsenal summed up of the last 10 years - good but not good enough.