The first half of the English Premier League season was riddled with constant questions from fans and media alike regarding Arsenal’s status as an elite title contender.
Arsenal’s ongoing trophy drought is no secret (for exactly how long it has been, see this), so when it was sitting in first place after Christmas, it was deservedly the topic of discussion.
Those talks have now dramatically shifted to a point where people find themselves asking, “What went wrong?”
After an abysmal 6-0 drumming at Stamford Bridge to first-place Chelsea Saturday, the Gunners needed a response in their game back home against Swansea City Tuesday.
Arsenal went down early thanks to Wilfried Bony’s 11th minute header, but two goals from Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud one minute apart appeared to signal good things.
However, the final result was not what it was built up to be.
Mathieu Flamini’s own goal in the 90th minute was emblematic of Arsenal’s season as it now sits only six points ahead of Everton in fourth place, the final spot to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
As every player in a red shirt slouched with their hands stuck to their hips, it became all the more evident the Gunners would need a miracle to win the league title this season.
So, what went wrong?
There are the practical answers: Arsenal has been dealing with injury troubles and they lack a center forward who can give Giroud a break to name a few.
The answer I propose delves deeper.
If Arsenal does not win the FA Cup this season, their manager, Arsene Wenger, should part ways with the team.
The Gunners sit where they are now because not only do they not win big games, but they have been humiliated by the three teams that are above them in the standings.
They lost 6-3 to Manchester City, 5-1 to Liverpool and 6-0 to Chelsea in Wenger’s 1,000th game as manager.
Arsenal has given up the fourth fewest goals in the EPL (36) and 17 of those came in three games.
To be taken seriously as a title contender, you cannot put in those dreadful performances against the elite teams in the league.
Wenger has been a brilliant manager. There are few in the world who are better at developing talent and building teams from the ground up. His consistency at the helm is commendable, but the team simply needs to go in a different direction in order to get over the final hump.
The culture of world soccer is changing, and Arsenal needs to go in a different direction, and fast.
For years, Wenger was criticized—although all of the blame should not fall on him—for not spending money in the transfer market.
Then this summer, the ship appeared to turn when they dropped something around $70 million on Mesut Özil.
While the German international has put in some strong performances, this season has been a relative disappointment to his own lofty standards.
Given years of opportunity, Wenger has not been able to compete with the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea with his style of development.
Yes, what Arsenal does is considered to be the right and moral way to build a team, but in this day and age should fans for a club of Arsenal’s standards be forced to sit over eight years without winning anything of note?
Wenger has a golden opportunity in front of him to salvage his reputation and his team’s season.
He has to beat Wigan Athletic of the second division and then the winner between Hull City and Sheffield United—who currently sit 10th in the third division—to bring home the FA Cup.
If Arsenal cannot end its trophy drought this season, then manager and club need to mutually part ways.
Winning a trophy this year and a successful summer where more talent is developed and brought in could be enough to have Wenger realistically challenging for a title next season, but how many times will fans have to wait until next season?
What should Arsenal do when Arsene Wenger’s contract expires at the end of the season? Do they still have a chance at the league championship this season? Let Jonah know what you think by emailing jonah.beleckis@dailycardinal.com.
