Is any club’s feel-good factor as potent as Arsenal’s right now with the Gunners having won every single one of their pre-season fixtures at the moment while playing some scintillating stuff in the process.
While you can of course claim that it’s only pre-season, winning games is a good habit to get into but because this is Arsenal we’re talking about, there’s always some that will try and bring the mood down.
The only mood-killer for Arsenal and some of their fans at the moment is the fact that they appear no closer to bringing in top class striking reinforcements to supplement Olivier Giroud.
It appears the man the Gunners are dangerously lumping all of their hopes on is Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema who Gooners will hope becomes available right at the end of the window like Mesut Ozil did back in 2013.
Real Madrid have been linked with swoops for both Marco Reus and Fernando Llorente and if those switches came to avail, it is probably only then that Benzema could become more of a realistic prospect in terms of a transfer.
Of course, whoever comes into the club will be down to Arsene Wenger who has started to turn it around again following two successive FA Cup triumphs after all those years of hurt.
For some Arsenal fans however, albeit a fantastic achievement, the FA Cup isn’t enough for a club the stature of the Gunners with there being no more excuses for the North London club to not win the title given their resources.
For members of the infamous #WengerOut brigade and backers of the Frenchman to boot, we’ve devised a list of five things Arsene Wenger needs to do in order to get all Arsenal fans back on board over the coming season.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 things Arsene Wenger must do to get all Arsenal fans on side.
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Finally get one over on Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea
It is now 13 attempts in which Arsene Wenger has failed to register a single victory over a Chelsea team led by Jose Mourinho.
With the Community Shield taking place between London’s finest on Sunday, it appears there’s no better time for Arsene Wenger to lay a marker down and make it lucky number 14.
While the loser of the game at Wembley will claim it’s still pre-season while the winner will say it’s another trophy, you feel Arsenal versus Chelsea fixtures are never friendly occasions with the club’s at the polar opposite ends of the spectrum in regards to many factors.
Make no mistake; Jose Mourinho has gotten under Arsene Wenger’s skin during his time in England and we saw last season at Stamford Bridge that the Frenchman couldn’t hide his dislike of the Portuguese boss any longer as they were forced apart by the fourth official as the image above shows.
With Arsenal formerly the top dogs in London in regards to landing the Premier League, you feel Arsene Wenger really does need to get one over on Jose Mourinho in order to give Gunners fans more of a firm belief that he can get the better of the Blues boss when it matters at the business end of a season.
Be more aggressive in their pursuit of reinforcements
You could talk for week’s about Arsenal’s transfer policy compared to that of other clubs but we’re going to try a short version today.
In a nutshell, what many Arsenal fans wish is that the club were more aggressive in their pursuit of ready-made reinforcements.
While it is of course true that Arsenal’s squad is looking more complete than it ever has done before in the last five or so years, wouldn’t it be great for Arsene Wenger to really take that step to the next level while aggressively going after two or three players that everybody knows would strengthen his ranks.
While Wenger will viably claim that squad harmony and cohesion is of paramount importance, it’s sometimes difficult to agree with the Frenchman’s policy part way through a season when Arsenal have suffered their annual injury crisis and inferior back-up players have to be brought in.
At the start of the summer, many felt Arsenal needed another defensive midfielder and striker and at the moment, Arsenal could realistically start the new season with just Petr Cech arriving.
While his signing will make Arsenal a different animal, you just feel aggressive swoops for the likes of Geoffrey Kondogbia and Alexandre Lacazette could’ve finished the puzzle.
When you look at how Manchester City appear to be turning Kevin de Bruyne’s head, sometimes you just wish Arsenal could follow this approach.
Adapt tactics in top four battles more readily
Arsene Wenger has admitted himself that last season’s victory away at Manchester City was the most significant result of the season given the mental belief his Gunners side were able to take from the Etihad Stadium.
In the 2013/14 campaign, Arsenal were on the end of nasty pastings delivered by the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea but the Gunners’ 2-0 victory at City was ever so refreshing given the fact it finally looked as if Arsenal had a plan B.
We all know Arsenal can play anybody off the park on their day but this time, an Arsene Wenger side was clever, cunning and smart in counter attacking their Premier League title rivals before finishing them off in respectable style.
So many times before, Arsene Wenger has been criticised for getting his tactics wrong in big top four battles by being too gung-ho in their approach but with Francis Coquelin now balancing the side far better, Arsenal fans want to see their side employ this counter approach more often depending on the fixture and respective significance of it.
Go further than the last 16 in the Champions League
For five straight seasons now, Arsenal have failed to go further than the last sixteen phase of the Champions League – a fact that is often reminded to them by Tottenham fans who have themselves gone further in their single season in the time elapsed.
The latter stages of Europe’s elite competition are starting to prove a real problem to get to for Arsenal and ultimately, if you cannot do it on the very biggest stage, your credentials as an elite world club will naturally come into question.
While the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich have disposed of the Gunners in recent years gone by and deservedly so given the embarrassment of riches both clubs possess, to go out to Monaco last season proved a new low in the competition.
A famous name of French football of course, Monaco certainly aren’t a European giant and after dumping Arsenal out earlier this year, it literally seemed a classic case of both Arsenal fans and their players being too complacent in buying into the hype that they were already through to the last eight given the French side’s underdog status.
Fortunately, Arsenal learnt from their mistake and didn’t underestimate Aston Villa in the FA Cup Final but every Gunners fans feels the club needs to be going further in Europe.
Win the Premier League title
Of course it’s easier said than done with more money than sense being pumped into new signings to try and bring home Premier League title glory but you feel Arsenal are now there or thereabouts.
So close are Arsenal to being winners of the Premier League that many are predicting with the capture of Karim Benzema, the Gunners can go the distance while without him and with Olivier Giroud, they’ll simply make up the top four yet again.
The situation is also far more complex than bagging a 30-goal striker alone with Arsenal having endured an annual injury crisis for as long as some fans care to remember.
Right now, all of Arsenal’s players have unusually come through pre-season unscathed but this time around, they really need to stay fit for far longer throughout the season.
Arsenal’s squad looks the real deal in terms of competition for places right now, particularly in midfield so basically it is up to them now, to put a run together, to manage the top four battles effectively, to finally win away at Stoke City and just well, win the Premier League title.
If that were to happen this term, the #WengerOut brigade would be chased up into the hills, if there were any of them by that stage that is and Arsene Wenger could eventually retire a happy man.
You feel it’s his quest to win the top flight again, proving to both himself and the critics of the watching world that he can do it for a fourth time before he does a Fergie and puts his feet up!
