The season’s half time whistle has blown and the New Year is here. So what better time for some New Year’s resolutions to help see Arsenal return to their trophy winning ways! Here’s my top 10…

1 - Stop dropping down gears before games (or groups) are killed off
Arsenal have dropped points because of this now at Sunderland, away at Shakhtar, versus Tottenham and last week at Wigan. In all honesty, were it not for some outstanding stops from Fabianski, points might well have been dropped at Molineux and Goodison Park also. It’s true that to win things in football you need a bit of luck, but Arsenal too often push theirs that bit too far. Fans can play their part here too, though, by keeping the atmosphere and intensity throughout the remaining fixtures.

2 - Get some fresh input for the defensive coaching
At the end of last season Wenger targeted the defensive aspect of Arsenal’s game as the area most in need of improvement . He said, “You cannot win the championship in England conceding 37 goals no matter how good you are going forward.” Now he might also need some help with his maths too because Arsenal actually conceded 41 - that’s 1.08 goals per game. "That is something we have to address and correct compared to last year" Arsene added.

But yet when we look at the half term report there’s little evidence of consistent improvement although it must be said the team selected for Chelsea and Birmingham looks certainly to be our most solid yet. Nevertheless Arsenal are still conceding at a rate of 1.1 goals per game.

After the Wigan game Wenger suggested that problems were down to a breakdown in communications. Arsenal perhaps lacked leadership at the back. Help may soon be at hand in that respect however. When asked who of the Arsenal squad would make a great football manager, Gael Clichy answered - “Thomas Vermaelen, people listen when he talks”.

3 - Work harder without the ball
This is linked very strongly with the point above. Arsenal with the ball, and at their best, are up there with the most successful teams of our era: Spain & Barcelona. Unfortunately without it they haven’t quite reached such dizzy heights. Barcelona swarm like wasps at the opposition week in and week out, pressing , harrying and stealing back possession. Arsenal have shown glimpses of their ability to do likewise - of which Birmingham away and the 3-1 victory over Chelsea were prime examples - but they have struggled to sustain that mentality both throughout the course of games, and from one fixture to the next. Let’s hope the most recent performance is evidence that this resolution is already in place!

4 - Cut down on needless fouls and loss of possession
Arsenal now lead the league in goals conceded from set pieces, which doesn’t suggest much progress has been made in defending the set-pieces themselves. So maybe it’s time, that they worked on cutting down the supply instead.

By not diving in or grabbing hold of the attacker when harrying and delaying, Arsenal could avoid exposing their Achilles heel so frequently. It also seems that many fouls are given away when the defenders are themselves pressed and on conceding possession are forced into fouls or rash challenges in their desperation to stem the danger. United exploited this particularly well with the result that Arsenal misplaced 35 passes in their own half: no league game had seen them miss more this season.

Again lessons can be learned from Barcelona here, no matter how hard Barcelona are pressed they always seem to have an option for a pass. This is admittedly somewhat down to the sublime skills of players like Iniesta, Xavi and Messi. But it’s also down to a lot of hard work from players without the ball to get free and offer a simple passing option to their team-mate under pressure. Sometimes I feel Arsenal don’t look keen enough to offer those options when the pressure is on (either tactically or psychologically) and hence the ball - instead of being treasured - is either given away cheaply or we’re forced to decide possession by the football equivalent of the coin flip: the long (or not so long in Szczesny’s case) clearance of the goalkeeper.

5 - Make dominance count!
Dominance of possession is worthless if the team do not create more clear chances than the opposition. This is a double sided coin, in that 1, Arsenal must make sure that when in possession they constantly strive to get behind teams and send balls and men into dangerous areas (at least until a result is assured). But on the other hand they must make sure that , having worked hard to dominate possession and play, they don’t then gift the opposition clear chances through lapses in concentration.

The game at Braga away is a clear example of this. Arsenal dominated possession completely, restricting Braga to just 35% of the ball. But yet Braga created 8 shooting chances to Arsenal’s 7. Braga put 3 of theirs on target and scored twice: Arsenal managed just one on target and lost 2-0.

Some might argue that it’s the transfer market not the training pitch where this issue needs to be solved, with Arsenal still lacking that 25+ goal striker that most teams that won silverware possessed last season. (Forlan, Eto’o, Drogba, Zlatan etc).

But one simple adjustment that could improve thing, would be making more of our set-pieces. Arsenal have scored the lowest proportion (18%) of set piece goals in the league. I wonder if having Van Persie deliver is the best policy there. Yes his technique is superb, but he is a sharp finisher and good in the air too. Personally I’d rather see him in the box and someone like Nasri, Cesc or Rosicky deliver.

6 - Go in for seconds!
Arsenal must do all they can to win the first ball, but if they can’t, then should make damn sure they win the second. If they don’t then teams like Stoke, Birmingham (and you too Manchester Utd) will continue to play a long ball game against us and get results from it.

7 - Be more Frank!
Not miserable England performances and angry phone calls to radio. No, what I think Arsenal need is a bit more straight talking and honesty. Before the Chelsea game Fabregas, and Wenger all spoke out openly about the team’s failings at United. Cesc declared that the team were “scared of losing in big games” and for once Wenger did not deny it, and lo and behold, Arsenal got a performance and a result. Perhaps then, the Arse could do with less smoke and more boot in the future?

8 - Make AFC more of a meritocracy
Linked with the last point, against Chelsea Wenger backed up the talk with the walk. By dropping Arshavin against Chelsea he (whether willingly or not) sent a message to the squad: perform your duties or face the axe. A great result and performance followed.

But I don’t think we’ve seen enough of that sort or ruthlessness this season. Wenger has too often stuck with under-performing players (as much from one game to the next as within the game itself - as many Arsenal fans get frustrated that Wenger often seems to limit himself to reactive rather than pro-active substitutions).

Djourou was excellent away at Wolves and Everton but found himself dropped against Spurs, and then again after his excellent Chelsea performance. Likewise Rosicky turned in some fantastic performances earlier in the season, but failed to budge a stuttering Arshavin from a first team berth. I’m not sure if Rosicky’s confidence hasn’t suffered from that because since then he hasn’t looked quite the same player.

Youngster Jay Emmanuel Thomas might also have similar complaint. Whilst he was banging in goals for fun at reserve level, Bendtner was in very poor form and demanding he be played in the press. For me, at that time, it was Jay not the Dane who should have been the go to attacker on the bench. It seems ludicrous that for all his talent that Jay has seen less game time than his peer Craig Eastmond, who for me has never really looked quite up to first team level.

9 - Get square blocks out of round holes
I think sometime Arsene could adapt the system to suit the players rather than the other way round. Denilson and Arshavin quite often come in for criticism from the Arsenal fans, but quite possibly it’s for the same reason: I think both players are being asked to play in positions which are not natural to them. Denilson is good as a linking defensive midfielder (an Alonso not a Mascherano) but when asked to fill in for Song. I think he lacks the physical attributes - particularly height and speed - to do so.