How to SAVE ARSENAL! 10 changes that must be made to make the Gunners great again
A 10-step plan to sort out Arsenal
We'd be pulling our hair out too, Robin
Arsenal slipped to seventh place in the Premier League after a goalless draw with Bolton made it four games in the league without a win. In what is set to be their worst season since Arsene Wenger took charge of the club in 1996, the Gunners are also facing the prospect of not qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in 15 years. But what's going on in the red half of north London? Arsenal's recent form is the same as relegation strugglers West Brom and QPR. Here, talkSPORT suggests 10 areas for change that could help Arsenal get back to winning ways…
1. ROTATE THE YOUNG PLAYERS TO AVOID BURNOUT
Last season Jack Wilshere played 50 games for Arsenal, the most by any player in the squad. He is one of the country's most talented prospects but, at 19 years old, the midfielder may have been pushed too far, too soon. Wilshere has missed the entire season with stress fractures and could be out for the remainder, scuppering hopes he could return to boost the Gunners faltering season. The same could happen to Aaron Ramsey; the Welsh international has played 31 games already and his exhaustion is seemingly evident on the pitch, with his recent performances being erratic, while he's failed to find the back of the net since hitting the winner against Marseille last October. For a player who only came back from serious injury at the end of last season, it wouldn't be surprising if Ramsey experienced burn-out soon. The squad has been shifted around so much there's barely been a chance for him to get a break - it's essential that there is more rotation of the young players.
2. TAKE A MORE POSITIVE STANCE ON TRANSFERS
It's easy to believe that the Arsenal board and Wenger think it's still 1999. Chief executive Ivan Gazidis recently called Oxlade-Chamberlain's £12million transfer "expensive", but when Stoke are happy to pay £10million for Peter Crouch, the Ox seems like a bargain. Arsenal need to face the fact that a potentially world class player is going to set them back £20million-plus and, unfortunately, where once the Gunners only needed a couple of top stars to become a potentially Premier League-winning side, they now need about five or six to get near challenging. The club needs to take a strong stance on transfers. If it doesn't improve, filling the 60,000 seat stadium will become more and more difficult as fans will refuse to pay £50-£80 pounds a game if they can't see where their money is going. This summer it is essential that a top class player is signed to signal the club's intent - when fans are paying a lot of money to watch the club week in, week out, they want superstars, not cheap imports.
3. SHAKE UP THE BACKROOM STAFF
Pat Rice has been Wenger's assistant since he arrived in London 16 years ago and, even though the former was adamant he would retire last season with a chronic knee problem, Arsenal signed him up to a new contract. It's not that Rice has done a bad job, but fresh ideas could help counterbalance Wenger's potentially blinkered approach to tactics. Former players and members of the youth team have offered praise for Steve Bould's management techniques, so why doesn't Wenger promote the former Arsenal defender to his assistant? During his time at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson has changed assistant seven times and no one can argue that he hasn't been successful. A new right-hand man can not only bring new tactics and training methods, but also a new voice in the dressing room to shake things up.
4. STOP TALKING UP THE BUSINESS PLAN AND FOCUS ON THE FOOTBALL
All Arsenal fans are proud of the fact that the club have a serviceable debt, a wonderful stadium and can preach to oil-rich clubs like Man City and Chelsea that they are trying to do it the 'proper' way, but what's the point in that if the Gunners consistently trail their supposed rivals on the field? Fans care most about what happens on the pitch, not off it. The board need to be honest - do the club have funds? Is it Wenger that doesn't want to spend? And if there is no money, where the hell is it all going?
5. KEEP HOLD OF THE SUPERSTARS
In summer 2011, after another trophy-less season, Arsene Wenger said: "Imagine the worst situation — we lose Fabregas and Nasri. You cannot convince people you are ambitious after that.” Those words will forever haunt Gunners fans. For all the hatred that was directed towards Samir Nasri for his 'money-grabbing' move to City, the French attacker saw that the Gunners had much less chance of fulfilling his immediate ambition to win a trophy, namely the title. Why could Spurs afford to turn down £30million bids for Luka Modric, but Arsenal couldn't turn down an offer for Nasri? Because his contract was about to expire - the same as Robin Van Persie's will soon. No player is bigger than the club, but RVP must not be allowed to leave.
6. GET RID OF THE DEADWOOD
There is so much deadwood in the Arsenal squad, if someone lit a match at London Colney the fire would burn for weeks. The money wasted on wages for players nowhere near the grade, such as Nicklas Bendtner (rumoured to be on £50,000 a week), Manuel Almunia, Marouane Chamakh, Sebastien Squallaci and Andrey Arshavin is embarrassing. No wonder Arsenal can't sell them. Wenger needs to follow Kenny Dalglish's lead and ruthlessly clear out the players that have proved they aren't Arsenal quality.
7. SORT OUT THE STRIKERS
Last summer Wenger paid about £3million for the South Korean international striker Chu Young Park, yet he never plays. What's the point in having a striker on the bench if Wenger is fearful of putting him in the team? The Park deal just compounds the terrible record of Arsenal forwards, excluding RVP. Yes, it was amazing to see Thierry Henry return and score a winning goal in the FA Cup, but papering over the cracks is an understatement. The fact is, Arsenal had to loan a past-his-best club legend to cover up that Chamakh and Park are duds. If RVP gets injured, Arsenal are done for this season.
8. WALCOTT NEEDS TO UP HIS GAME
The arrival of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has just highlighted how poor Walcott has been this season. He lacks composure in front of goal, struggles with his positioning, fails to play to his strengths and let's not get started on his tracking back. The Gunners defensive woes have been much commented on this season, yet for all the stupid mistakes that have been made at the back, arguably the forward players have not done their job in helping the defence by tracking back. We don't expect to see Van Persie making sliding tackles on the edge of his penalty box, but Walcott and Arshavin could certainly do better when the Gunners don't have the ball. Also, if Walcott wants to play as a striker he needs to score more frequently when he gets a chance.
9. GIVE THE FANS SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT
The argument between Arsenal fans intensifies with each game - should they support the club without question, or complain when results aren't there? Many modern Arsenal fans grew up seeing their team dominate, making seven years without a trophy seem exasperating. Things have certainly been worse for the club in the past, going back to the early 1980s and 1960s, but this is a club that has rarely settled for seventh best. While some Gooners could undoubtedly be more supportive when the going gets tough, it works both ways - the club, Arsene Wenger and his team need to lift spirits at the Emirates. AC Milan in the Champions League would be a fantastic start.
10. WENGER NEEDS TO GET TOUGHER
It was reportedly Robin van Persie and Thierry Henry in the dressing room that inspired the Gunners half-time 2-0 comeback against Aston Villa last weekend, not Wenger. That is worrying. It's understandable that the Frenchman will try to defend his players after the odd bad result, but when he publicly defends poor performance after poor performance, it is insulting to Arsenal fans and surely sends out the wrong message to his players that those standards are acceptable. When Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish launched a scathing attack in the press about his players' performance in the 3-1 loss to Bolton, everyone was shocked, but the result was a Wembley final after seeing off Man City, a great win over Man United and a 3-0 away win at Wolves. Sometimes you have to get tough and, yes, sometimes you have to do it publicly to get a response. If nothing else, it would be music to Arsenal fans' ears to hear that Wenger will not accept poor performances.
What do you think needs to change at Arsenal? Have your say by commenting below…
1. ROTATE THE YOUNG PLAYERS TO AVOID BURNOUT
Last season Jack Wilshere played 50 games for Arsenal, the most by any player in the squad. He is one of the country's most talented prospects but, at 19 years old, the midfielder may have been pushed too far, too soon. Wilshere has missed the entire season with stress fractures and could be out for the remainder, scuppering hopes he could return to boost the Gunners faltering season. The same could happen to Aaron Ramsey; the Welsh international has played 31 games already and his exhaustion is seemingly evident on the pitch, with his recent performances being erratic, while he's failed to find the back of the net since hitting the winner against Marseille last October. For a player who only came back from serious injury at the end of last season, it wouldn't be surprising if Ramsey experienced burn-out soon. The squad has been shifted around so much there's barely been a chance for him to get a break - it's essential that there is more rotation of the young players.
2. TAKE A MORE POSITIVE STANCE ON TRANSFERS
It's easy to believe that the Arsenal board and Wenger think it's still 1999. Chief executive Ivan Gazidis recently called Oxlade-Chamberlain's £12million transfer "expensive", but when Stoke are happy to pay £10million for Peter Crouch, the Ox seems like a bargain. Arsenal need to face the fact that a potentially world class player is going to set them back £20million-plus and, unfortunately, where once the Gunners only needed a couple of top stars to become a potentially Premier League-winning side, they now need about five or six to get near challenging. The club needs to take a strong stance on transfers. If it doesn't improve, filling the 60,000 seat stadium will become more and more difficult as fans will refuse to pay £50-£80 pounds a game if they can't see where their money is going. This summer it is essential that a top class player is signed to signal the club's intent - when fans are paying a lot of money to watch the club week in, week out, they want superstars, not cheap imports.
3. SHAKE UP THE BACKROOM STAFF
Pat Rice has been Wenger's assistant since he arrived in London 16 years ago and, even though the former was adamant he would retire last season with a chronic knee problem, Arsenal signed him up to a new contract. It's not that Rice has done a bad job, but fresh ideas could help counterbalance Wenger's potentially blinkered approach to tactics. Former players and members of the youth team have offered praise for Steve Bould's management techniques, so why doesn't Wenger promote the former Arsenal defender to his assistant? During his time at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson has changed assistant seven times and no one can argue that he hasn't been successful. A new right-hand man can not only bring new tactics and training methods, but also a new voice in the dressing room to shake things up.
4. STOP TALKING UP THE BUSINESS PLAN AND FOCUS ON THE FOOTBALL
All Arsenal fans are proud of the fact that the club have a serviceable debt, a wonderful stadium and can preach to oil-rich clubs like Man City and Chelsea that they are trying to do it the 'proper' way, but what's the point in that if the Gunners consistently trail their supposed rivals on the field? Fans care most about what happens on the pitch, not off it. The board need to be honest - do the club have funds? Is it Wenger that doesn't want to spend? And if there is no money, where the hell is it all going?
5. KEEP HOLD OF THE SUPERSTARS
In summer 2011, after another trophy-less season, Arsene Wenger said: "Imagine the worst situation — we lose Fabregas and Nasri. You cannot convince people you are ambitious after that.” Those words will forever haunt Gunners fans. For all the hatred that was directed towards Samir Nasri for his 'money-grabbing' move to City, the French attacker saw that the Gunners had much less chance of fulfilling his immediate ambition to win a trophy, namely the title. Why could Spurs afford to turn down £30million bids for Luka Modric, but Arsenal couldn't turn down an offer for Nasri? Because his contract was about to expire - the same as Robin Van Persie's will soon. No player is bigger than the club, but RVP must not be allowed to leave.
6. GET RID OF THE DEADWOOD
There is so much deadwood in the Arsenal squad, if someone lit a match at London Colney the fire would burn for weeks. The money wasted on wages for players nowhere near the grade, such as Nicklas Bendtner (rumoured to be on £50,000 a week), Manuel Almunia, Marouane Chamakh, Sebastien Squallaci and Andrey Arshavin is embarrassing. No wonder Arsenal can't sell them. Wenger needs to follow Kenny Dalglish's lead and ruthlessly clear out the players that have proved they aren't Arsenal quality.
7. SORT OUT THE STRIKERS
Last summer Wenger paid about £3million for the South Korean international striker Chu Young Park, yet he never plays. What's the point in having a striker on the bench if Wenger is fearful of putting him in the team? The Park deal just compounds the terrible record of Arsenal forwards, excluding RVP. Yes, it was amazing to see Thierry Henry return and score a winning goal in the FA Cup, but papering over the cracks is an understatement. The fact is, Arsenal had to loan a past-his-best club legend to cover up that Chamakh and Park are duds. If RVP gets injured, Arsenal are done for this season.
8. WALCOTT NEEDS TO UP HIS GAME
The arrival of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has just highlighted how poor Walcott has been this season. He lacks composure in front of goal, struggles with his positioning, fails to play to his strengths and let's not get started on his tracking back. The Gunners defensive woes have been much commented on this season, yet for all the stupid mistakes that have been made at the back, arguably the forward players have not done their job in helping the defence by tracking back. We don't expect to see Van Persie making sliding tackles on the edge of his penalty box, but Walcott and Arshavin could certainly do better when the Gunners don't have the ball. Also, if Walcott wants to play as a striker he needs to score more frequently when he gets a chance.
9. GIVE THE FANS SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT
The argument between Arsenal fans intensifies with each game - should they support the club without question, or complain when results aren't there? Many modern Arsenal fans grew up seeing their team dominate, making seven years without a trophy seem exasperating. Things have certainly been worse for the club in the past, going back to the early 1980s and 1960s, but this is a club that has rarely settled for seventh best. While some Gooners could undoubtedly be more supportive when the going gets tough, it works both ways - the club, Arsene Wenger and his team need to lift spirits at the Emirates. AC Milan in the Champions League would be a fantastic start.
10. WENGER NEEDS TO GET TOUGHER
It was reportedly Robin van Persie and Thierry Henry in the dressing room that inspired the Gunners half-time 2-0 comeback against Aston Villa last weekend, not Wenger. That is worrying. It's understandable that the Frenchman will try to defend his players after the odd bad result, but when he publicly defends poor performance after poor performance, it is insulting to Arsenal fans and surely sends out the wrong message to his players that those standards are acceptable. When Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish launched a scathing attack in the press about his players' performance in the 3-1 loss to Bolton, everyone was shocked, but the result was a Wembley final after seeing off Man City, a great win over Man United and a 3-0 away win at Wolves. Sometimes you have to get tough and, yes, sometimes you have to do it publicly to get a response. If nothing else, it would be music to Arsenal fans' ears to hear that Wenger will not accept poor performances.
What do you think needs to change at Arsenal? Have your say by commenting below…
Ndo hivyo,,,
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