Arsenal’s summer of discontent

The transfer window has finally shut and with that, Arsenal will be relieved that there were no further departures. The stance of Arsenal and Arsene with reference to Alexis Sanchez has finally been resolved it seems, with the Chilean set to don the colours of Arsenal for at least one more season or till the next transfer window opens.

The international break for Arsenal couldn’t have come at a better time as one feels for the Gunners as they introspect their early season performances. To be frank, Arsenal did look out of place at Anfield but in the early season matches, it has been individual mistakes that have been punished as well as the collective drop of shoulders.

Transfer woes

One would have expected Arsenal to push for some signings but so occupied has the club been with the Alexis Sanchez situation that bringing in new personnel didn't figure in the Arsenal's Board of "List to Do". Sead Kolasinac has been a welcome addition and Thomas Lemar of Monaco was mooted for a while, only for Arsenal to baulk at the transfer fee which has been inflated this summer.

After an early summer of discontent in the Arsenal ranks, one had finally hoped that the Gunners would be a more potent force by the window closes. However, with the 4-0 thrashing handed out by Liverpool last weekend, things at the Emirates seem to be unravelling while the 'Professor' looks on.

One feels that the hierarchy has been so occupied by “Arsene Out” demonstrations that they have taken their eye off what they need to be doing. This has directly led to the running down of influential and key players' contracts who will now fetch less of a transfer fee than earlier and are less marketable.

Thus it doesn't come as a surprise when the bid for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was accepted by the London club. Chamberlain's move to Anfield is bound to leave a lot of fans seething but one cannot fault the youngster who seems to have stagnated since his arrival at the Emirates.

While the direct strengthening of a rival league club has often been frowned upon, Arsenal seem to be committing the same mistakes time and again to expect a different result. Over the years they have lost players of the calibre of Samir Nasri, Robin van Persie and Gael Clichy to direct rivals. In a way, it’s been a home cooked recipe for disaster.

As Alan Shearer on Sunday on air (Sunday Football Show after the Liverpool - Arsenal game) put it very bluntly, Arsenal stood to miss out on business worth 300 million pounds give or take. Irrespective of the status of the club, losing that much amount of money due to the lack of a plan is mind boggling, to say the least. The England legend then went on to tweet as well about the abysmal performance of the Arsenal team.

.@Arsenal have been absolutely hopeless. Lucky to only be two down. @LFC have been brilliant. #LIVARS

— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) August 27, 2017

Arsenal are registered as a company and to break it down, this author is assuming that there is a personnel recruitment department, a department specifically assigned to look after player contracts. I wonder whether that department is anticipating a lottery or something for the running down of contracts which seems to be more of a gamble than a thought out plan. While the gains of retaining Sanchez outweighed his potential transfer as calculated by Arsene, only time will tell whether if this is a worthwhile gamble.

Conscious decision not to renew contracts

From Gunner to 'Goner'?

Arsene Wenger must have been aware of the contract situation. Instead, the Frenchman has come out with statements that the players in question needed to pull up their socks if they were thinking of earning a new contract.

The irony is that all the players in question did play their socks off and it was a conscious decision on their part not to renew their contracts. So what does it say for the morale of the team? Clearly, things aren't working out for the Frenchman or his team. While there is a lot of respect for the work he has done in the past two decades at Arsenal, it is the inability to evolve as a team, which may cost him a league challenging team.

Players have been pointed at and most players currently donning the Arsenal jersey seem to play with an attitude where they are happy to pick up the pay cheques. Responsibility seems to have taken a backseat and even the senior pros must be considering whether they have any shot of glory given the way things are unravelling.

For long, Arsenal and Arsene have been synonymous with each other. But maybe the time has come to break the partnership and shake things up. Manchester United learned it the hard way, Liverpool still haven't been able to regain the past glory of the '80s and these are just two of the clubs who have learned it the hard way.

The Board of Arsenal needs to be clear in their objective of why they are running this club. Whether they see themselves as being an elite club which competes regularly in Europe and for the title or are they just concentrating on pleasing the shareholders?

The current scenario indicates that they are more than happy with the finances rather than the results and this steady deterioration will only lead to a long-term decline. Corporate boxes and Arsenal’s ability to offer a fulfilling experience when one goes to watch a match is all hunky dory, but nothing feels better than a win, however scrappy it might be.

Alarm bells have been ringing for quite a while now. Tactics, players, and the manager have all at been fault. If Arsenal are to attract a new generation of fans then they really need to sort out their situation or they will be staring into a very deep abyss.