Is it Time for Arsene Wenger To Go?

After five matches in the English Premier League 2011/12 season, Arsenal are sitting in 17th position and have the worst goal difference in the league. It would be unthinkable to suggest that this is where the club will be at the end of the season, but Arsenal fans are genuinely worried that Champions League football might be off the table next year.

The departure of both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri have left a huge void in the Arsenal squad and players like Gael Clichy, Emmanuel Eboue and Nicklas Bendtner are also gone. Signings have been made with Gervinho, Andre Santos, Per Mertesacker, Yossi Benayoun, Mikel Arteta, Park Chu-Young and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all joining the club this summer. These signings might prove to be great business for Arsenal, but there’s no question that the fans were expected at least one top name coming in. The money men and those in the Arsenal shop may also have been holding out for a marquee signing!

One major issue with Arsenal’s start to the season is the manner in which they have lost two of their matches. They were destroyed by Manchester United 8-2 at Old Trafford and were beating Blackburn 2-1, before collapsing and losing the game 4-3. Is it the case that the players are not performing to the best of their ability or have some of them lost faith in Arsene Wenger’s ability as a manager? Defensively, the team look extremely poor and until this issue is resolved, they will continue to struggle to win games. Arsenal desperately need Thomas Vermaelen to come back in and not pick up any other injuries.

Jack Wilshere has also been missed badly at the beginning of the season, but he is still a good bit away from returning to the side. The side is lacking a top class striker at the moment, unless Marouane Chamakh can come back in a regain the promise he showed at the beginning of last season. Robin van Persie is a fantastic player, but is not an out-and-out striker.

These are testing times as an Arsenal fan. There is obviously still a lot of quality in the squad as the club do have some fantastic players in there, but there definitely is a problem in there that needs to be resolved soon. The start of this season for Arsenal is very similar to Liverpool’s last year and it would not surprise me if The Gunners also finished in 6th place at the end of this season.

Like Liverpool, there is a good chance that Arsenal will have to spend big in January in order to compete with the top teams in the league. Arsenal’s big hope is that they can somehow finish higher than both Tottenham and Liverpool, as it’s extremely unlikely that they will be close to either of the sides from Manchester or Chelsea for that matter.

Is it possible that also like Liverpool last season, they will improve at the turn of the year when they sack the manager?

Written by Colin Hill, a sports blogger who writes about football kits.

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1. Petit – Lowest ever point for Wenger
2. Van Persie is perfect says Wenger
3. Will Liverpool Qualify For Next Season’s Champions League?
4. Can Liverpool get back among big guns?
5. Is Sven Serious When Suggesting Wenger To Be Next England Manager?