It’s been a story of hope quickly turning to despair before returning to hope for Arsenal in recent months, and quite frankly this statement could be applied to much of the last few years.
The Gunners have a knack of looking like the real deal before fading badly in February and March, which they invariably follow with a late revival sparking optimism for next season.
Meanwhile, the Emirates Stadium faithful are perhaps more torn than ever over the future of their manager Arsene Wenger and whether he can deliver the Premier League title once again. Some stay stick with him, worried by what a future without the Frenchman could look like after seeing Manchester United’s decline from Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign. But, others want to see someone with fresh ideas shake the team up and turn them into league champions.
Whatever happens the club need to sort some issues out and here at FootballFanCast we think these FIVE things need to be addressed to win the league once more…
Sort out the squad’s Mentality
It’s a widely held belief that Arsenal lack winners to get the side out of trouble when the going is getting tough. The classic argument that there are no Patrick Vieiras, Dennis Bergkamps, Thierry Henrys, et als in the side still persists and until the Gunners get a few more with a ‘win at all costs’ attitude, the league title is sure to elude the club for the foreseeable future.
Who’s to blame for this is up for debate and perhaps Granit Xhaka will help in this area. But even so, a few more wouldn’t go amiss.
Get a world class goalscorer
Olivier Giroud looks world class at times and then he’ll go on miserable barren spells. If Arsenal had a striker that was more consistent they’d probably have beaten Leicester to the title. Jamie Vardy is rumoured to be joining and whilst he had a stellar 2015/16, is he world class? The Gunners need a Gonzalo Higuain, Karim Benzema or someone else of that ilk to seal the Premier League crown.
Beating the smaller teams
For so long it was the other way round. Arsenal could batter the smaller clubs in the league, but then they so often fell apart against title rivals. Now it seems to be the other way, as the Gunners can match the big clubs – they were the only side to beat Leicester home and away last season – but they falter against the midtable and below sides. If the team can find a method to do both, they’ll be on to a winner.
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Defensive frailties
Petr Cech has come in an undoubtedly improved the defence, helping them to keep the most clean sheets of any team in 2015/16. Despite this though, the Gunners still look shaky when they face physical centre forwards. Per Mertesacker is huge, but for some reason doesn’t head the ball efficiently and Laurent Koscielny might be good on his day, but he can be bullied, too. Arsenal need a no-nonsense centre half that’s going to leave his foot in occasionally.
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Consistency
Inconsistency runs through the side. When they’re good, they’re very good, cutting sides to ribbons with ease, but then they look like they’ve never met at other times. Too many of their players have off days and this ruins a league season. Mesut Ozil went completely off the boil towards the end of the campaign just gone, Aaron Ramsey seems to lose his way at times and even Alexis Sanchez hasn’t looked right at it at times of late.
If they all clicked for a prolonged amount of time they’d walk the league with the way they play, but, to the frustration of the fans, it just doesn’t happen.
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