COMMENT: It has been far too long now that Arsenal, one of the most followed football clubs on the planet, have enjoyed a dominant spell.
Often regarded as a genuine threat to the Premier League title, the North Londoners have failed to live up to mark of their fans' expectations as their consistency and any stability of good form never seems to endure for more than 4 or 5 months at a time.
There are a lot of major concerns where an instant improvement is required if Arsenal are to get back on the horse and redeem the faith of the 'Gooners'. To begin with, an immediate set of changes are needed in their rigid transfer policy.
Whilst names upon names of talented players from around Europe and elsewhere are always linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium during the summer transfer window, only a very rare number of players are actually recruited. It was speculated in the past that Stan Kroenke, Arsenal's major stakeholder, was not providing manager Arsene Wenger with enough funds to spend on new players as the only major signing the club carried out last term was luring veteran goalkeeper Petr Cech from Chelsea.
On being questioned, Wenger said it was simply rumours and that Kroenke had never stopped him from doing any hefty dealings in the transfer market. One of the major questions being asked by the fans is, 'why doesn't Wenger splash the cash to get some big names in?'
In today's increasingly competitive environment, no club with a weak bargaining power is likely to attract quality players, and the experienced Wenger should be well aware of this. The dependency of the squad on just a mere handful players is yet another aspect which needs to be addressed, as has been made evident by Leicester City's remarkable premiership achievement with a number of consistent contributors.
It is seen that most of the time the team relies on the services of selected stars like Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil to produce the attacking creativity while Laurent Koscielny and Cech are the ones at the back who are expected to constantly perform at a top level.
In case of an injury to any of the top men in the herd, Arsenal's performances are left depleted and the team regularly drops important points which ultimately affects their ongoing form and title chances.
This indicates that Wenger, guided by the club's scouts, has to act now to bring in new recruits from around the globe to strengthen a squad that has seriously underperformed over the past few seasons - barring their back-to-back FA Cup triumphs in 2014 and 2015.
The academy cannot be ignored as the youngsters of today are the team's future and this is something Wenger is certainly conscious of as he has a history of developing talented youth.
The fans have been very disappointed with the side's customary topple this season; following their fall from the top of the Premier League table as well as the now expected exit from the Champions League Round of 16.
The defending FA Cup champions were beaten by newly-promoted side Watford in the cup quarter-final at home, adding more embarrassment to a season that will now end up without a fresh piece of silverware. Some sections of the fans have been calling for 'Wenger Out' during recent games but their concerns seem to have fallen on deaf ears. This period of disappointing results and an unfortunate turn of events is all happening because of the manager's consistent and easy-to-beat playing style, according to the supporters. This has been a major concern for them as every year they're seeing the same picture being repeated with no positive outcome.
But sacking Wenger may not be the answer to all of their problems.
Any new manager would have to revamp the squad while trying to instil his own style. If Wenger were to be sacked, it should have been done earlier in the season when there were quality managers availing vacancy. Jurgen Klopp, Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho were all at some point this season without jobs but Arsenal didn't act as they were in a strong position at the time.
Now with all the big coaches having set their sights on other prospects, and Diego Simeone likely to stay with Champions League finalists Atletico Madrid, Arsenal are back to square one. If any well-experienced manager is available for next season, they should immediately make the move without any hesitancy. But who is out there that would fit the mould?
On the other side of the coin, keeping Wenger would be a safe step taken by the Arsenal board as there's no guarantee that the next man in charge would be capable of bringing glory to the club. Manchester United had their fate overturned by assigning David Moyes the job of filling the enormous shoes of Sir Alex Ferguson, which was a mammoth task at which Moyes failed miserably.
Hence, there are numerous changes and not just one mere managerial modification required to transform this also-ran Arsenal side from a team most opponents fancies their chances against into one that is feared like they were in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Surely the fans would want something powerful that will make them great again. New signings are a must and replacing Wenger could really revitalise things.
But the grass is not always greener…
By Aradhya Gujar
