.My initial intention was to write and publish this article last week but couldn’t find time to do it. Or rather, procrastination got the better of me. Then Swansea happened last night and all the Arsenal fan were brought back to earth. Myself included.
Being an Arsenal fan has always been an emotional roller-coaster. You move from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other in the flash of an eye. Take yesterday’s game for example. One minute, we were celebrating Ozil’s vision and Monreal’s unexpected goal scoring run. The next minute, Ozil lost the ball while Xhaka was busy counting sheep and Swansea were back in it.
Same old shit, just a different day
Considering how toxic last season was, the club has not done enough to justify giving Arsene Wenger a contract extension. The divide among Arsenal fans grows every day despite winning the FA Cup last season. We’ve not seen any improvements on the pitch and off it the same problems still plague Arsenal football club. We’re out of the title race and possibly the race for a top four spot. We sold our best player to Manchester United – again. We’ve managed only manager three away victories all season.
There isn’t much cause for optimism among Arsenal fans. The little we can celebrate is a Carabao Cup final against Manchester City in February and the possibility of signing Aubameyang in the January transfer window. Still, we need to ask if Arsenal can turn things around before it’s too late. In my opinion, it is possible but highly improbable cause the club’s hierarchy doesn’t seem ready to make the tough choices that will see the club change it’s trajectory onto an upward trend.
A lot has been written about Arsenal’s frailties and there is no secret as to what needs to be done on and off the pitch. One of the things that has frustrated Arsenal fans over the years is how the club handles player’s contracts. We already lost Alexis Sanchez and still have players who will be out of contract at the end of the season. Ozil and Wilshere being the biggest names on this list.
On the field, the club’s weaknesses have been exposed day in and day out yet the manager doesn’t seem to be doing much to address these issues. I don’t understand what goes on in the goalkeeping department, why despite all our exceptional midfielders we can’t seem to find a balance that works best in attack and defense and why we still haven’t sorted out our problem on the wings.
What now?
I could go on and on but I wouldn’t be saying anything you don’t already know. We’re a few months away from the end of the season and a lot of our judgement will be saved for May. As it stands I still don’t see us turning things around this year unless some tough decisions are made by Arsenal Football Club.
