Gunned Down: What's Wrong at Arsenal?

Originally, I had planned to write about either Chelsea or Liverpool, Andre Villas-Boas and what appeared to be his attempt at harmonizing his successful 4-3-3 from Porto to the Premier League or Kenny Dalglish's revitalized Liverpool, led by Uruguayan conductor Luis Suarez. But after what transpired last night though, those topics play second-fiddle to what's going on at Arsenal, surely.

Looking at the team sheets prior to kick-off, I was reminded of last season's FA Cup tie, where Manchester United fielded a team that included the Da Silva twins, Darron Gibson, Chris Smalling and Wes Brown, with the likes of Gabriel Obertan on the bench. On the day, the Man Utd reserve team engineered an unlikely 2-0 win at the Emirates, and as Arsene Wenger prepared to lead his side onto the pitch at Old Trafford, the way the pundits talked about what they expected sounded eerily familiar.

Then I realized that this was Arsenal, and laughed.

But to be perfectly honest, the situation at Arsenal is an intriguing one, to say the least. Shorn of Fabulous Cesc and mercurial attacking midfielder Samir Nasri, facing mounting injury woes that would make David Moyes cringe and with every debutant seeming to aim to be sent off, Monsieur Wenger is having a hard time.

The accusation that Arsenal have lacked dominant and consistent players all through the middle of the park has echoed across the lands for years, and many lament the losses - and lack of able replacements - of the likes of David Seaman, Tony Adams, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry. Manuel Almunia, Laurent Koscielny, Tomas Rosicky and Nicklas Bendtner aren't names that inspire confidence even in the most fanatical of Arsenal supporters. That the trophy drought that has plagued the North London side has coincided with the departure of the last of those former names is likely no small coincidence. Over the past few years, the Gunners have been increasingly reliant on the trio of Fabregas, Nasri and Van Persie to keep playing the tune that Arsene Wenger has been harping forever - playing attacking, positive football and being focussed on developing youth. Two of the three have departed though, and the last remaining is perhaps bested only by Louis Saha and Owen Hargreaves in ability limited by fragility.

Two of the longest-running and most-followed transfer sagas over the summer involved Fabregas and Nasri of course, with Barcelona's ultimately successful three-year courtship of Arsenal's skipper angering many in the red part of London. Man City's hijacking of their own city rival's interest in Samir Nasri was much more rapid, but no less damaging to Arsenal. Each might have his own reasons for choosing their destinations - a long-awaited homecoming or what is termed "sporting ambition" - but both probably has the same things going through their minds when they made the decision to leave proper. Manchester City forced Manchester United fans to take down the (in)famous "counter" banner as they lifted the FA Cup last season. And a telling statistic would be that Cesc Fabregas' 8-year stay at Arsenal generated the same number of trophies as an 8-day period at Barcelona. For so long key components of Wenger's symphony, the two maestros appeared to have lost belief or patience with Wenger's song. Few can blame them, perhaps.

Is there hope yet for Arsenal, who have conceded more than Swansea and Norwich put together? Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny was not at fault for most of the goals last night, and the way he could still crack a smile might suggest there are some positives to take from recent times. Henri Lansbury was the only other Arsenal player who looked somewhat cheery, though I had attributed his laughter to the fact that he could say he wasn't on the pitch when United scored the vast majority of their eight goals. The past three weeks have been harrowing ones for Arsene Wenger, and surely he has never been more glad of an international break to retreat and regroup.

From my count, Arsenal were missing seven players as they went up against the reigning champions at Old Trafford; Sagna and Vermaelen were late omissions, Song, Gervinho and Frimpong were each serving deserved suspensions for idiotic offences while Wilshere and Squillaci missed the trip due to injury. Now, while some sympathy must be directed at Arsene Wenger for having such a "crisis" to contend with, the reality is that United were missing many players as well. Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Rafael - arguably three of the first-choice back four last season - picked up injuries in recent weeks, while Darren Fletcher has been sidelined with a mysterious virus since March. Michael Owen, as always, as unfit as well. Immediately, it becomes evident that when Arsenal are bemoaning missing Squillaci and United seem comfortable naming a changed defensive line, Arsene Wenger's ability to plan long-term is called into question.

For so long, the Frenchman and his supporters have been clamoring for time and for patience, insisting that "next year" will see the maturation of their Gunners. The reality is, though, while Manchester United beat Tottenham comprehensively last week and Arsenal were lucky to escape with only a 2-0 home defeat to Liverpool, both sides fielded squads with the same average age. The two proven youth talents that Wenger has nurtured in recent times have left, and he has failed to strengthen those, if not any other part of the squad. The failed pursuits of Mark Schwarzer are moot with the emergence of Wojciech Szczesny (how I hate to type that name), but with no progress on the likes of Gary Cahill and Christopher Samba and as Juan Mata picks Chelsea over Arsenal, things look bleak. Debutant Mata, unlike Gervinho and Frimpong, made the headlines for the right reasons this week.

Arsenal as a club have long championed the cause of refusing to splurge on marquee signings, going against the norm and precedent set by their rivals. Liverpool's captures of Carroll, Suarez, Henderson and Downing were all fairly significant as far as chequebooks go, and Chelsea have 50m-pound Fernando Torres, David Luiz and the aforementioned Juan Mata among their new acquisitions. Man Utd of course, spent big on Ashley Young, David De Gea and Phil Jones and Man City set the bar as far as spending goes. After selling Fabregas and Nasri for a combined total of over 50m themselves - as well as Eboue and Clichy - why don't the Gunners shoot for someone (or some people) who can lift them as a whole? It astounds me that their bids for the players previously mentioned continue to be rejected for being "derisory".

With a "full" squad of course, Arsenal's fortunes will improve. Eventually. Arsenal's last twenty games though, have seen only four wins. Two narrow ones over a depleted Udinese side, and victories over League One side Leyton Orient and the relegated Blackpool. How much time will it take for Arsenal to find their rhythm again? Will Wenger still be at the helm by then?