Arsenal's season so far..

It has been a turbulent week for my beloved Arsenal. However, it has to be said that the signs were coming as early as pre-season…..

Before the home game against Aston Villa, we have lost to Fulham, Hull and Stock City. The inexperience young team also allowed Tottenham to grab a 4-4 draw although we were leading with seconds left. The talent is there for all to see, most prominent in the 2-1 win over our arch rival Man U. After the debacle of Villa at home, we followed up with a successive loss at Man C. To rub salt into the wound, Man C actually put 3 behind us and we had no reply.

As early as pre-season, we lost so many players that that it easily adds up to a century of experience. Lehmann, Gilberto, Flamini, Hleb and even Senderos left, were sold or sent on loan. These few players add up to hundreds of premiership games experience. In addition, they had leadership and some were outspoken enough to rally the young ones. The painful part was that they were never replaced. To add to the trauma of losing so many experienced heads, Adebayor and Fabregas were duly psyched by the yearly bombardments of transfer interest from the usual suspects. In fact, I have a deep suspicion that Ade would have signed for Milan if Ronaldino did not sign for them.

After dragging ourselves through pre-season, we started dully and were never on the same pace as last year. The midfield fluency was gone as Fabregas find himself surrounded by new teammates. There was no Flamini to cover his back and no Hleb to do the simple one-twos that he got so used to. Fabregas had to go for his Hollywood passes in order to increase his tally of assist. The rest of the team struggled as our main man suffered. He also had to lead the team as all of the sudden; he is the most experience guy in midfield. Being so young himself, the burden on his shoulders made it difficult to express himself freely on the pitch.

In William Gallas, we have a time bomb ready to explode anything. He is like a nuclear weapon; extremely useful when you have him under control and utilize properly while extremely dangerous when he goes all haywire. As great as his reading of the game, scoring of crucial goals and fierce tackling is important for the team, his lapse of concentration, his crazy foray upfront and that bloody big mouth are causes of concern for the manager. His latest contribution is like an explosion on an international level. His fierce criticism of his team mates and disclosure of intimate dressing room details rocked a boat already in troubled waters. Instead of leading as a captain, he made a bigger hole in his own boat to sink it faster. True to form, the young gunners were sent to the slaughter house and suffered a most humiliating lost of 0-3 to Man C.

The problems are obvious to all, but what are the solutions? These will not be clear, but there are a few basic things for Wenger to do immediately:

1) Order has to be restored in the dressing room. If there is any truth in Gallas’s ranting of young brats and in-house fighting, Wenger has to step in and discipline the boys.
2) Wenger has to decide what to do with our crazy captain. Sell him, bench him, make him apologise to his teammates or just deep freeze him. A decision must be made in order to move on from this episode.
3) Confidence and Morale must be restored. Senior members of the team must take the initiative and lead the younger ones. There are not many left, but we must make do with what we have. Off hand, Toure, Almunia and even Clichy and Adebayor can do their parts.
4) Team Spirit must be instilled. If it takes a trip to some cold forsaken mountain top to do teambuilding, so be it. Throw the whole lot there with minimum food and drinks and see how the environment can turn them into men with a mission. At the end of the day, it is one team, Team ARSENAL. Not team Africa, team France or team Europe.
5) All the players must understand what ARSENAL means. Arsenal is a club with a fierce tradition to fight, to win and to be passionate about football. Over the years, how much blood has been spilled on the pitch? How many passionate footballers have graced the pitch in front of the fans, willing to die for the club? All the players must understand this passion.

After the Man C game, we have already suffered 5 losses this season. We have yet to face Liverpool and Chelsea. As we travel to Stamford Bridge next season, can we avoid a third successive defeat? Only one team can prevent that and that will be Team Arsenal. Wenger must lead this team out of the doldrums. Go Gunners!!!