Wenger in crisis – A demoralising defeat at the hands of Swansea left Arsene Wenger’s Gunners reeling in the Welsh rain as a 2-1 loss but them 12 points adrift of the tabletoppers Chelsea in the Premiership table.
A demoralising defeat at the hands of Swansea left Arsene Wenger’s Gunners reeling in the Welsh rain as a 2-1 loss but them 12 points adrift of the tabletoppers Chelsea in the Premiership table.
A lack of defensive options has put the North London side under pressure and many of their own fans are now calling for Arsene’s head.
Even as the manager will be given a 20m January transfer budget to help kick start Arsenal’s season by buying some defensive players, the French manager has made a mistake in the summer by not replacing Barcelona-bound Thomas Vermaelen.
That has left the Gunners woefully short in defence with Nacho Monreal having to fill in at centre half and they are desperately trying to recruit for January. Some of the names that are been listed are Celtic’s Virgil van Dijk and Manchester United defender Chris Smalling on their hit list while Aston Villa’s Ron Vlaar could be available cheaply.
But even as Arsenal falters in the race for the EPL crown, here are 5 reasons that are plaguing the FA Cup champions this season:
Poor form of key players:
Ever since Arsenal began this season, their key players have not turned up. Most notably, Aaron Ramsey who was a revelation last season, winning the Arsenal Player of The Season award. Moreover, the Welsh midfielder scored 16 goals in 34 appearances for the Gunners despite their poor form last year. But this season, Ramsey has been a shadow of his former self and with niggling injuries, has been sidelined on the bench. Same can be said of Santi Cazorla and Per Mertesacker who have not performed upto the mark this season.
Where’s the defensive cover?
When manager Arsene Wenger let Thomas Vermaelen leave, he announced there would be cover arriving as well. But despite some names linked, Arsenal failed to sign anyone in the summer transfer market and now is succumbing to the shortcomings. Left-back Nacho Monreal has been slotted in as to cover injured Laurent Koscielny but the former is no ‘Centre Back’.
Arsene Wenger’s tactics are failing:
When the season began, Wenger deployed a 4-1-3-2 formation with Mesut Ozil playing on the wings. The German World Cup winner was brought in as a playmaker but Wenger’s insistence of playing the former Real Madrid star on the wings, just didn’t make any sense. Also, why have Aaron Ramsey playing offensive when his job is simply to hold the ball (vs. Anderlecht)? Baffling!
CDM Alert!
Club captain Mikel Artera is ageing as well as club veteran Mathieu Flamini but none of the former names are quality enough to hold off the ball or stop the attack in the middle of the park. The likes of Sami Khedira were linked but ‘stubborn’ Wenger refused to put his hands in the pocket and now 12 games gone, Arsenal are battling to fight to be in the top-4 yet again!
Losing fan base:
With the arrival of Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck, fans expected some more ‘big’ names arriving at the Emirates. But sadly, Wenger could not pitch in for further and thus the Swansea defeat has created a huge gap between the fans and the manager. Some of them are even rooting for Wenger’s exit.
