There were some surprising results on the first day of the Premier League season, but the biggest one has to be Aston Villa going into the Emirates and beating Arsenal 3-1. Arsene Wenger used to be a good manager, but at this point, the game has passed him by. Wenger has been quoted as saying that finishing in the top four and qualifying for the Champions League is like winning a trophy. This is the same Arsene Wenger who led Arsenal's Invincibles through an unbeaten 2003-04 Premier League Season. The fact is that it's not the same and for a club such as Arsenal, it simply isn't good enough.
The root of the problem is that Arsenal were transformed from being a buying club to being a selling club. While Wenger never spent money like it was going out of style the way Roman Abramovich or Khaldoon Al Mubarak do, he bought good players and made them into stars. Starting with the departure of Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona, and more crucially the departure of Robin Van Persie to Manchester United, Arsenal became a selling club. They may have brought in players such as Santi Cazorla and Lucas Podolski, but you can't expect to compete for the Premier League and Champions League crowns when you sell your best players. The most damning part of this is that Robin Van Persie left to win trophies because Arsenal's lack of big signings, coupled with Wenger's comparing Champions League qualification to the title clearly demonstrated a lack of ambition.
Arsenal were not awful last year, their biggest problem was that they failed to replace Van Persie. This summer, Wenger supposedly had a £70 transfer fund. The latest revelation to come out about the transfer market is that a deal for Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain was basically done and dusted before he found out that he could possibly get Luis Suarez (more on that here). Higuain has since moved on to Napoli and the apparent get out clause in Suarez's contract wasn't really a get out clause, meaning Arsenal are back to square one. Arsenal's only signing of the summer has been Yaya Sanogo from Auxerre on a free transfer. What's that? You've never heard of him? That's probably because between 2010-13 he had a significant injury and made 21 appearances, scoring 11 goals. While that's not a bad total, the fact is that an unproven striker is simply not good enough for Arsenal.
Fast forward to today. I picked Arsenal to win, but in the back of my mind I though Aston Villa could get a result. They're a team with lots of youth and speed who can destroy you on the break. Sure enough, Arsenal were once again inept in front of goal (aside from the tidy finish by Giroud) while Villa weren't at their defensive best. The first penalty was clearly a penalty, it also should've been a red card. It was a clear goal scoring opportunity. Had Agbonlahor not been not been taken down, he would've finished rounding the keeper and scored. It wasn't a good penalty from Benteke but he got lucky and scored on the rebound. After that goal Villa looked a different team, putting massive pressure on Arsenal. The second penalty was also a penalty. Koscielny may have got his studs on the ball but he had to go through the man to get the ball. The second yellow was also a stupid foul. The player had his back to goal and there was no real threat. The third goal was everything that makes Villa so great to watch. Defense to attack blindingly quick and then a cool finish. On the day, Arsenal should have no complaints. They wasted their chances and were ultimately outplayed.
Wenger's response should've been "Yes, we were outplayed, we have to do better." Instead he said he didn't like "the spirit" in which the game was refereed. I don't know what that means, and for me I think the referee handled the game well. He also went on to blame the press for their criticism of Arsenal's lack of spending for creating a negative atmosphere. It wasn't just the papers, it was the club supporters chanting "spend some money" after the third goal. He believes they could've won the game with the players on the pitch. I have to disagree with him. Theo Walcott was their leading scorer last year with 14, Cazorla with 12, and both Podolski and Giroud with 11. Walcott is a winger, Cazorla is a midfielder who was not consistently great all season. Podolski and Giroud are the two players brought in to replace Van Persie for goals. Eleven goals each is simply not good enough. Contrast this with the Champions for whom Van Persie scored 26, Rooney scored 12, and Javier Hernandez, 10. The goals simply aren't there for Arsenal and they still aren't there. Wenger says he doesn't want to bring in players for the sake of bringing them in. Arsenal need players. While they've brought in one, seventeen have left the Emirates this summer. They have virtually no cover for injuries, of which they had two just today. Add to that the fact that it looks like a stiff breeze could put Jack Wilshere out for half a year and you are left with the inescapable fact that Arsenal don't just need big signings, they need signings to fill out their squad as well.
So where does this leave Arsenal? The window closes in 15 days. That doesn't leave a lot of time to bring in all the players needed. Add to that, now that the season has begun in Europe, Wenger's likely to overpay as well for the players he wants. The fact of the matter is that it's just not good enough. Chelsea, Spurs, and City have all made improvements to their squad whereas Arsenal have been stagnant yet again. It is a royal mess, and I for one don't think Arsene Wenger is the man to clean it up.
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