With seven games left to play in their 2014/15 Premier League season, a small section of our resident Arsenal fans are daring to dream in respect of catching current league leaders Chelsea and securing a first title since 2003/4.
On the other hand, while the vast majority of our Gooners are delighted with the form Arsene Wenger’s side are showing right now, they claim they are realists and concede that Jose Mourinho’s side have all but won the coveted prize, especially following Manchester City’s slump in form that culminated in a shock 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace yesterday evening.
The current situation leaves Arsenal fans in that oh so familiar position of thinking ‘what if?’
With the exception of the likes of Mathieu Debuchy, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and of course Abou Diaby, the Gunners rarely have most of their first team professionals fit and firing right now and following the thumping 4-1 victory over Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium this past weekend, you can surmise that this is in no small part down to Wenger being able to select from a rich pool of talent once again.
That said, the Gunners always seem to be one or two players away from being real Premier League title contenders in the eyes of many but in reality, Arsene Wenger may have to part with a few players before he can strengthen further.
This has led us to question whether the following five players are the ‘most dispensable’ in North London right now?
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Click on Arsene Wenger to reveal the five candidates for Arsenal’s ‘most dispensable’ players right now.
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Wojciech Szczesny
On a personal note, the official Arsenal number one Wojciech Szczesny won’t be looking back on the second half of the 2014/15 campaign with any relish.
After being part of that painful away Premier League defeat to Southampton on New Year’s Day, the Polish international has found himself unable to get back into Arsene Wenger’s first team with the Gunners favouring David Ospina instead.
With the Colombian now boasting his own fan chant of ‘Ospinaaaaa’ whenever he takes a goal kick, to many, this serves to suggest the majority of Gunners fans are willing to throw their vociferous support behind the former Nice man as a direct consequence of growing fed up with the continuing unreliable nature of Szczesny.
Yes; Szczesny and Chelsea stopper Petr Cech did indeed share the ‘Golden Glove’ award at the end of the 2013/14 campaign but the Pole hasn’t progressed at the same rate of similarly aged and even younger rival stoppers such as David De Gea and Thibaut Courtois.
All of that said, Szczesny may yet finish the season in glorious fashion, much like his national counterpart Lukasz Fabianski who before him appeared in the FA Cup all the way until the final against Hull City last season.
Nevertheless, many of our resident Gooners claim that the signing of Petr Cech – now a Chelsea reserve – plus the release of Szczesny would make all the difference in their pursuit of the Premier League title next term. Then again, would Jose Mourinho really sell to a London rival?
Mikel Arteta
Rumoured to be signing a new one year extension to his Emirates Stadium contract in January, the Spaniard is yet to pen these terms.
Following the emergence of Francis Coquelin following his loan return from Championship Charlton Athletic, many of our resident Gooners claim their upturn in fortunes is majorly down to the young Frenchman’s athleticism in defensive midfield.
On the contrary, the Arteta boo boys claim he lacks the physicality to impose himself in the so-called bigger fixtures while not getting any younger at the age of 33.
Elsewhere around Europe, Chelsea have Nemanja Matic, Juventus have Paul Pogba and Barcelona have Javier Mascherano and it is the lack of this calibre of midfielder that has long been touted as a contributor towards Arsenal’s lack of silverware.
While Coquelin has been an excellent, refreshing addition to Arsenal’s first team squad in 2015, the feeling in the tavern is that they need to further strengthen in this area and if this occurs, Arteta could find himself out of the picture. Athletic Bilbao of his native Basque Country were rumoured with a switch back in August 2014.
Jack Wilshere
For many he is still the future of Arsenal’s midfield, for others he is now considered a candidate to be the next fall guy.
Jack Wilshere has been splitting opinions for some time here in the tavern and it would be an incredible shame if his career was to tail off on an unwanted tangent, such is his craft and passing abilities when fully fit.
But the question to ask one’s self is just how long ago did Wilshere truly stamp his mark on this Arsenal side?
Often tied in with fellow Gunners midfielder Aaron Ramsey in the comparison stakes, it seems that the Welshman has usurped Wilshere, especially following that FA Cup Final winning goal that meant so much against Hull City last season, effectively ending nine years of pain.
In 2014/15, Wilshere has again suffered with injury and off-the-field controversy and there comes a time in every supporters mind whereby they become fed up with the norm continuing.
If Wilshere was to leave the Gunners, it would be interesting to see where he ended up and it would be incredibly difficult for Gooners to watch him potentially overcome his injury troubles at a rival side.
Then again, a Gunner through and through, you would expect Wilshere to be carried out of the Emirates Stadium kicking and screaming but do they need him as much as he needs them?
Theo Walcott
Like Wilshere, it would be an incredible shame if Theo Walcott was to depart the Emirates Stadium and flourish for a rival side at pastures new but he makes this shortlist following the signing of Danny Welbeck on summer transfer deadline day.
Football is crazy isn’t it; who could have claimed Welbeck would be favoured over Walcott in an Arsenal side only this time last year but fast forward to 2015 and that is firmly the case.
Favoured ahead of Theo at international level for England too right now, a Gunners front three of Alexis Sanchez, Olivier Giroud and Welbeck seems to be Arsene Wenger’s favoured attacking options when everybody is fit, such is the multitude of sheer individual brilliance, assured hold-up play and tracking back that the trio possess.
There will come a time in Theo’s head that he needs to decide whether he has the strength of character to usurp Welbeck and force his way back into Wenger’s plans.
Leading up to that injury against North London rivals Tottenham in the FA Cup last season, Walcott was in scintillating form but a lack of success when rarely deployed as a centre forward (under his request), not to mention competition from fellow Southampton academy product Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain means the inclusion of Walcott isn’t so crucial as it once was, right?
Carl Jenkinson
Although currently performing away from the Emirates Stadium on loan at West Ham United this season, Carl Jenkinson has been a name on the lips of our resident Gooners for a little while now.
The reason being that fellow right back and Spanish starlet Hector Bellerin has come on leaps and bounds in Arsene Wenger’s first team plans this term, plunging Jenkinson’s long-term Gunners future into doubt.
Scoring a hugely important opening goal against Liverpool in the Gunners’ 4-1 triumph over Liverpool this past weekend, all of our regulars have been bowled over by the progress that former Watford loanee Bellerin has made in such a short space of time.
Incredibly quick off the mark, Bellerin boasts great recovery pace and composure in his game, so much so that a few Arsenal regulars claim Mathieu Debuchy has a battle on his hands to retain his first team slot at right back following his return from injury.
With Calum Chambers also capable of performing in this role, it is looking increasingly likely that Gunners fan Jenkinson is surplus to requirements at the Emirates Stadium. That said, Jenkinson has already lived out a lifelong dream, stepping up on the Wembley Stadium podium to collect the FA Cup trophy last season.
With many agreeing that Bellerin has done more in his breakthrough campaign than Jenkinson did (who can forget that spat with Theo Walcott during that crushing 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford), it is the Spaniard and not the Englishman who will be Arsenal’s first choice right back in future seasons to come.
