Arsenal’s 9 year trophy drought has come to an end, leaving fans now more expectant than ever.
Over the past few years, a strength of the Gunners has been their consistency. Some may argue that this ‘consistency’ has in fact been detrimental to Arsenal, as they were near enough settling for 4th spot. They may have been right, but with the weight lifted off Wenger’s shoulders through the FA Cup and the first truly ‘big money signing’ in Mesut Özil, Arsenal fans will undoubtedly be hoping for a new lease of life at the club.
The old Arsene Wenger philosophy, if you like, of spending very little on players and just scraping 4th place has to go. To truly build on the FA Cup success the team needs to improve in two key areas. Firstly, a longer lasting run in Europe would be desirable. The downfall in the last 16, for many is very disappointing. Since the 2005/2006 Final Arsenal have won the group 4/8 times. A key advantage to progressing the competition is winning the group and next season this is something that needs to be drilled into the players. Losing 2-1 to Olympiakos (2012/2013) in the final group game may have seemed insignificant at the time, while in reality it resulted in drawing Bayern Munich and being knocked out of the competition prematurely. Admittedly having to qualify beforehand for the competition means extra games, but if Arsenal really want to contend in Europe winning their group would be as good of a place to start as any.
Secondly, league form has to improve in the latter stages of the season. More importantly, against the so called ‘big teams’. Labelling them, “the big teams”, might in fact be the problem. Arsenal have a predisposition to panic and thus under perform in these high pressure games. Fans will of course bitterly recall the 8-2 loss to Man United. However in more recent times, 6-0 and 5-1 losses to Liverpool are just as poignant. Here, the manager needs to reassure the players and change their (as much as it hurts to say) losing mentality. Instead, Arsenal should exhibit the confident passing football reminiscent of the Norwich game where they displayed some truly wonderful football. Perhaps a striker who can live up to the occasion should be brought in. Mario Balotelli, Alexis Sanchez and Loic Remy would all be welcome additions and would give the team more confidence going forward.
Overall, this is a crucial season after the trophy drought’s elimination. Instead of following the bad habits and struggling to finish 4th, Arsenal should target a run in Europe, a more long lasting battle for the title and decent run in either of the cups.
Best Case Scenario: Champions League: Semi Final (onwards) League: 2nd/3rd
Cups: Winners (of either)
Worst Case Scenario: Champions League: Last 16
League: 5th
Cups: Quarter Finals
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