Arsene Wenger can’t hold on to world class players, and is eventually left with none; Laurent Koscielny is a terrible, irresponsible centre back who costs his team points; Olivier Giroud is a walking, expensive failure. And we’re still not done with everything wrong at Arsenal this season.
It’s not really this season. This is a situation six years in the making. Arsenal take a step back each season, as their squads continues to downgrade while new clubs pop up with a lot more ambition, making up for not having a 60,000 stadium and asking for the highest ticket prices in England with either great fund and man management (Everton) or simply spending money on the right players (Tottenham).
When Theo Walcott was purchased at the age of 16, he was to become more than what he is now. A player who wants to be a striker, but keeps being forced to the wing by the big yet failing presence of Olivier Giroud. Despite everything that Wenger says regarding Walcott’s future, it never looks like he truly believes the young forward can become a dependable goal scoring option.
So Giroud is his answer when things go wrong. A mistake made in the summer comes back to bite you a few months later. Whoever thought of signing someone with only one good season on his track record at the age of 25 has to be a brave soul, because translating one good season with Montpellier into Premier League terms simply becomes another in a long list of busts that Wenger has acquired, despite the “nurturer” stereotype.
Everything falls on the shoulders of a 20 year old, Jack Wilshere, who is so sick of being injured and being targeted by defenders that he’s grown the terrible habit of diving and cheating his way to get fouls. While Wenger complains about using young players too much during their early years, Wilshere is always in his lineup, sometimes being the only ray of light and hope in what looks more and more like a depressed team that has its shining moments quite rarely.
Playing with 10 men for almost an entire match doesn’t represent the entire truth, but even during the minutes when it was 10 against 10, there was nothing Arsenal really did to make anyone believe they have a chance of coming away with a point, even with a goal. Santi Cazrola looked like a wonderful player in the early goings of the season, but he seems to have lost his purpose and stability on the pitch as well. Wenger throws in as many central midfielders as possible, positions Lukas Podolski out of his shell and just hopes for the best. No surprise they’re not in a place that leads to the Champions League at the moment.
And when you look at the squad, you’re not quite sure that what Arsenal have is worthy of a top 4 finish. Not in the current situation, with three teams that are obviously much better, and a couple of others, if not more, who see themselves as legitimate contenders for the 4th spot. When they don’t make the Champions League, which is going to happen at the current rate, Arsene Wenger’s job won’t be so safe anymore, and we’ll probably hear a new set of excuses from him.