Arsenal: The worst case scenario

Arsene Wenger looks on as a fan behind makes his feelings known during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium on August 17, 2013 in London, England. (Getty Images)

Let’s safely assume that the current situation that Arsenal Football Club finds itself in is as close to a worst case scenario any fan would like to see. Zilch signings, an exodus of sorts and a bunch of injuries to whoever’s left; Arsene Wenger doesn’t need a fan, who looked a wee bit tipsy by the way, telling him how to do his job.

Now Wenger would be completely justified if he chose to point towards that particular gentleman and tell him how to not mess up the floor wax again, because it’s a two-way street. But that will be an ideal situation, a diametrically opposite vein of argument.

Wenger is in charge of a football club, a club that has almost unparalleled heritage and honour in its scheme. It breeds fans that are vocal in their agreement and doubly vociferous in their dissension. Of late, Wenger has come to face more with the latter, but as usual, ‘he didn’t see that’.

Step one would be to acknowledge that there is a problem. Allowing oneself to agree with facts is always the primary move in any progression, be it math class or Alcoholics Anonymous. Wenger needs to agree, with the fans, with the pundits, with the critics and with the papers, that there is a gap that needs filling.

The only time Wenger got defensive was when Cesc Fabregas threw a pizza pie in someone’s face, and even then, one could see a sly smirk of sorts. Wenger has stated, more often than not, that the money is there, but it has been there for over the last one year, if not more.

Wenger has never actually binged in the transfer market, which is also corroborated by the fact that the club transfer record stands at £15 million for Andrei Arshavin, who has seen headed back – astonishingly – on a free transfer.

It is rather ironic that the shrewdest man in the English Premier League let the one player he splurged on, leave on a free transfer. Sure it took the bite out of the wage bill, but he introduced the sharp edge in the first place.

That aside, the important thing to remember is that Arsenal needs players at the moment, and buying cannot be equated to failure. Maybe that’s the reason why Wenger is miserly; he has spent so much time, money and effort on the scouting network (and the academy) that it pains him to look elsewhere for talent he may not have.

The better players leave because Wenger doesn’t invest in the team on a direct level and the longer the wait for silverware gets, the smaller the chances of a contract renewal for the manager. If you read ‘Wenger must earn his next contract’, you will understand why Wenger has faced so much flak over his dithering in the last 80 days of the transfer market.

It is absolutely gut-wrenching to read about how Arsenal does not have enough first team players to put up a real fight, against Aston Villa. Nobody picks the referee, but why does a team of Arsenal’s stature have to rely on decisions outside their purview to win a game on the opening day of the season?

Arsenal simply need to bulldoze their way through the opposition even if a decision does awry. That way they have enough goals in the bag to not worry about a missed clean sheet. Simple logic dictates that you need to score more goals than your opponent to win three points, and how do you propose to do that if your defence is tied up and the attack is essentially Tomas Rosicky/Santi Cazorla trying to thread the ball through?

The entire fight that the Gunners put up last season will go down the drain if Arsenal were to lose in the Champions League playoffs. Essentially, Arsenal were just one point better than cross-town rivals Tottenham Hotspur, and that would be the end of it.

Modern day managers measure their ability with regard to their presence and performance in the Champions League, because it is exactly that. You want to be the best and only if you are pitted against the cream of Europe, can you actually dare to take on that mantle.

Wenger seems to have started making frantic calls already and maybe Arsenal will reinforce themselves just enough to play the group stages, and finish fourth yet again, but this time, it certainly won’t be good enough.

If Arsenal go down to Fenerbahce over the next one week, Wenger will get the rudest wake-up call since Manchester United’s 8-2 victory, and this time, the call won’t be as simple. It may eventually snowball into a poor season, and you can’t overrule panic in January.

Let’s just hope Wenger is listening and has his glasses on.