What to Do?

The calls are now starting to mount to sack Wenger. The season is all but lost seven games in and our beleaguered manager has already admitted the league title is probably out of reach (hmm, unexpected pun). But what about 4th place? Can they again ascend above Tottenham, even after this disappointing defeat? Can they surpass a resurgent Liverpool, possibly on the cusp of rediscovering the taste of past glory? At the moment, serious doubts on either score seem prudent.

So where does the club go from here? We will now be without Wilshire and Sagna until next year. We will be without Vermaelen for the next couple of matches after the international break (and hopefully when he finally returns, he will find a way to avoid another injury as Van Persie has so far this year (knock on wood)). We are still without Squillaci and Djourou, though I don't take that as terribly bad news. What is a team that can start to win games and what should we look for in the winter transfer window? Some thoughts:

Forwards: Van Persie is first rate and will start until he is either injured or leaves. If things don't improve, I expect the latter to occur. Beyond Van Persie, there is clear weakness in this position. Hopefully Gervinho will grow into the role and perform as he did at Lille last year, but that certainly hasn't happened yet. Chamakh is getting back in form, but he has to put it in the net more. One hopes this starts to happen. We still haven't seen Park yet, so nothing to say there. And finally, Campbell just scored for Orient and is hopefully a great signing for the future. I think we could certainly use another top  striker to bolster the squad. And, as I've argued before, why not put Walcott up there and see what happens. He just isn't as good a winger as some pretend (nor as bad as some decry, to be fair).

Goal: Szczesny and think he will be a great goalie, but he still makes mistakes and needs to avoid falling asleep. With a better defense in front of him, he could start providing us with the unthinkable -- a clean sheet (against anyone besides bottom dweller Bolton). Could use a better backup, but Fabianski isn't bad and we have much deeper needs.

Midfield: Here, obviously, is our big problem. But let's think about a healthy squad for a moment. We have Arteta, who is doing a good, though not great job so far. We have Wilshire, who will hopefully return to form upon returning. We have Song (who just keeps improving in my eyes) and Frimpong to serve the holding position. We have the surprising Coquelin, who really looks like a great player for the future. And we have Oxley-Chamberlain as the winger (or Walcott obviously). On the left, we have Arshavin, who regardless of what Wenger says might be on his way out after this season. He is a major disappointment and I think it's time to cut our losses (and maybe get Hazard for him, if rumors are to be believed). And we have Ramsey, who is occasionally great, but often sub par -- as he was yesterday for much of the game. We obviously need more creativity here to get the ball forward to Van Persie and whomever else is up front. A key signing over the break could be huge to really jump start an offense that looks good, except in the final third (where it counts).

Defense: This is obviously our major problem area and needs to be addressed with great celerity in the winter. One has to admit that Arsene is largely to blame here, with a number of questionable signings over the past few years (instead of established English defenders). Among the worst selections are Djourou, Squillaci and some that have just left. Now let's start on the wings. Sagna might have been our second best, and most consistent defender, but now he's gone for three months. And our only backup is Jenkins? Are you kidding me? This is an example of the problem with Wenger of late. We need a reasonable backup here, and it just doesn't exist. Obviously Gibbs and Santos are reasonable options on the other side, but who will now take the spot for Sanga? We need someone with more experience than Jenkins, made clear both in the Man U debacle and yesterday as Bale teared him apart. Now to centre back where the real trouble begins. Mertesacker appears to be growing into the role, but he has certainly cost us so far, particularly on the first goal yesterday. But I thought he was relatively strong overall and that Sagna might have been more to blame for the Van der Vaart hand-ball assisted effort. But then what? Koscielny is okay and seems better when Vermaelen is in, but we need more power and support back there. Hopefully we can lure Cahill in January, but there are no guarantees. If not, we need someone else and now maybe a left winger to fill in for Sagna and maybe replace him in the future. It will be interesting to see what happens when Vermaelen and Mertesacker line up side by side, but I'm not sure we can count on the former to actually make it through the rest of the season without another injury (if you watch the way he plays, which I love, it really isn't a big surprise that he hurts himself often).

Coach: Is it time to let Wenger go? I don't think it is his fault entirely that we are in this situation, and if a few calls and games go the other way in February and March, we might be talking about a return to glory for Arsenal. But that didn't happen and now the team needs something to change. Is it the coach? It is the most obvious thing that can be done to shake the team up and do something. I would probably wait until January, see what happens with our winter transfers and then decide. But another bad result or two might just mean it's time for a change. 


The reality, as many have argued, is that Arsenal stands on the precipice of what could become a long term decline. I think they can save themselves from this fate if they develop a winning attitude. We can't calculate the effects of the endless list of injuries, or the bad calls that have really hurt us since last February, but the squad has performed much better in the Champions League (as shaky as it's been) then they have in the premiership. Once you lose your confidence in sports, it's hard to recover. Yet the Gunners have to find a way and soon. As the season has unfolded, can we really blame Fabergas or Nasri for wanting to leave? I do think it is telling that top athletes would rather take the easy route then help rebuild their own teams, but if that's the reality of the present then we can either decry the fact or build our team around that sad fact. And if we can't, well it'll be time for me to stand alongside the naysayers and finally say adieu and merci to our French God turned oh so human.