3 reasons why Arsenal are in danger of being a mid-table club

Arsenal Football Club is a club that is extremely famous worldwide for having a rich history and is famous for winning trophies. They achieved the unique feat going unbeaten in the entire Premier League season in 2004. But over the past few years, the club has slowly deteriorated and the standards of the club have dropped. From challenging for the Premier League title a decade ago, they have become a team who struggle to finish in the top four in recent years.

There are a multitude of reasons, both on and off the pitch, as to why this has happened and this may not be the lowest they have fallen. Here are 3 reasons why Arsenal may become a mid-table club in the near future.

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#3 Poor management of the club by the owners

Stan Kroenke

For a club to be successful on the field, they have to work efficiently off the field. We can see a recent example of Liverpool, and how with the backing of the board, Klopp has managed to build a team full of world-beaters. At Arsenal, it is quite the opposite.

Arsenals owner Stan Kroenke has been severe criticism for not backing the club in the transfer market. He came under immense pressure from the fans to remove long-serving Arsene Wenger from the managerial post after a few disappointing seasons. Even though a new manager, Unai Emery, is in place, Kroenke has failed to give him enough funds.

There is also some speculation that the transfer budget that will be available for Arsenal to spend in this transfer window is just 40 million euros. For a club which needs a massive squad overhaul, it is nowhere near enough.

Such dissent between the fans and the owners rarely ends on good terms and it seems as if the road that Arsenal are taking right now will hurt them in the future.

#2 A leaky defense that has not been fixed for years

Mustafi has had a season to forget

"Attack wins you games. Defense wins you titles". This is a very famous quote in football that has revered throughout the years. Arsenal has some very good attacking players, with the forward duo of Lacazette and Aubameyang forming a lethal combination in front of goal. Despite their strength in the final third, their backline leaves a lot to desire

This is a problem that has riddled the club for many years and something Unai Emery has not been able to correct. The current defence is just not good enough to secure major silverware.

Their entire backline is suspect at best. New signing Berd Leno has made more than a few mistakes this season. At right-back Hector Bellerin, although an excellent player, is riddled by injuries and his backup Stephan Lichtsteiner is a 35-year-old player who is struggling to handle the intensity of the Premier League. Sokratis has had a fairly good first season in the center-back position, while Mustafi and Koscielny have had a year to forget. At left-back, Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasnic are largely inconsistent.

Arsenal conceded a massive 51 goals in the Premier League last year. With such a leaky defense which lets in goals for fun, and with a severely limited transfer budget, you can only expect it to get worse.

#1 The rise of already established mid-table clubs

Nuno Espirito Santo has done wonders at Wolves

While Arsenal is in downfall, there are many mid-table teams that are on the rise and can even potentially replace Arsenal in the top six. Leicester City, who were Premier League champions in 2015/16, have had a very positive season. Although they finished 9th, they should be very happy with the personnel that they have at the current moment.

They have a manager in Brendon Rogers, who has previously managed Liverpool and guided them to a second place finish in 2014. The Foxes have a decent squad, with summer signing James Maddison looking like a very shrewd piece of business and loanee Youri Tielemans hoping to be a permanent addition.

Another such team is Wolves. The newly-promoted side already looks like one of the other well established Premier League clubs. Their manager Nuno Espirito Santo looks like a man on a mission. He also possesses a very good squad, with players such as Ruben Neves and Raul Jiminez shining for the club this season and looking as one of the finest players in the league. Their 7th place finish means they will play in the Europa League next season; which is an astonishing achievement for a newly promoted team.

With such teams slowly creeping behind descending teams such as Arsenal, it won't be long until one of these teams climb up the table.