Eddie Smith 
After yet another promising campaign filled with hope, even as late as February and March - Arsenal fans have ended the 2010 -11 season without silverware once again. The League Cup Final was an embarrassing blow for the club and although reasonable excuses could be made for the Champions League and even FA Cup, you have to feel that with Manchester United’s poor away form, the league was also there to be won.
What is even more alarming is the fact that not too long ago, Arsenal were sitting safe in second spot, but this quickly turned into falling down into fourth and staying there until the end of the season, meaning that the club will now have to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League this season.
There have been many excuses for the club not achieving in the last few years, but it now seems like the time that there have to be some major changes of personnel in the squad. There’s no question that Arsenal play some of the best football in the Premier League, but this clearly isn’t good enough for success. The team play the same style of football in each match and even when it’s clear that they should change this style early on in a match, they not only don’t, but are probably unable to do so.
This is down to the fact that Arsene Wenger stubbornness and that they have too many players who play the same way. You could argue that Barcelona are like this, but a counter argument would suggest that the Barcelona first XI has far better talent in it than Arsenal’s does. So what changes are needed?
In my opinion, Arsenal need much stronger players in their side (both mentally and physically), so that the side are better equipped to cope with the rigors of the English Premier League. Although this won’t be able to happen now, could you imagine the current Arsenal side with a few Manchester City players such as: Vincent Kompany, Nigel de Jong, Yaya Toure and Carlos Tevez in it?
These were players (possibly minus Tevez) that Arsenal could certainly have afforded to purchase and who would have given a different dimension to the side. There have been too many times away from home to sides like Bolton and Stoke over recent seasons that Arsenal have been beaten quite comfortably because they couldn’t cope with the physical presence of these sides.
Teams like Manchester United and Chelsea are able to cope with pressure from teams that have different styles, but those wearing Arsenal jerseys are unable to do this, especially at crucial times in the season. This will not change unless changes are made and here are a few that could potentially happen this summer.
It does appear as though there could be several players leaving the club this summer including: Abou Diaby, Tomas Rosicky, Denilson, Andrei Arshavin, Emmanuel Eboue, Marouane Chamakh and Nicklas Bendtner. Cesc Fabregas is also linked with a move to Barcelona again this summer, which if completed could represent a significant sum of money for the club.
There have been rumours that Arsenal are looking to bring Blackburn’s Christopher Samba to the club. Although he is possibly not the ideal candidate for the role, this could be a step in the right direction and having a huge physical presence in defence, who is a no -nonsense type of defender. Scott Parker has also been mentioned as an Arsenal target and once again, you could see this being a possibility. Both of these players have a lot of experience in England and will give Arsenal added aggression into their side.
There are other areas in which the team could improve, but I definitely think a new striker is required. Once again, they need a player with good presence and goalscoring ability. Arsenal have been linked with Porto striker Falcao, who has had a fantastic season and is highly rated.
I understand that this article has been very critical of the current philosophy that Arsenal are using, but ultimately, they haven’t won anything for over six years now and many believe that things have to change in order for this to be turned around.
Eddie Smith is sports writer who also likes to blog about football shirts.
