While new squad personnel will be needed in some capacity, I generally feel that at least 75% of what we need can be achieved on the training ground. We have the best midfield in the country and pretty much dictate every game we play, at least in our domestic league. We consistently dominate

Good afternoon,

Is it safe to come out now? The negativity swarming around makes for rather uncomfortable reading to be honest but that is not the reason why I have been away for the last few days. Amongst all the anger and frustration there have been several calm heads from bloggers which has been very therapeutic and timely.

I can only speak for myself and judging by the comments section over the last week a number of people disagree with my point of view but I find talk of a pre match march before the Aston Villa game to show their disappointment a little embarrassing to be honest. Shouldn’t most other clubs be organising marches because they are trophyless?

I heard a great comment recently, cannot remember who I heard it from but it went along the lines of ‘The reaction of some Arsenal fans are like someone winning a brand new Bentley only to have a fit about the colour of the spray paint’

This whole trophyless thing is very funny. Type in the word ‘trophyless’ into google and 9 out of the 10 articles are to do with Arsenal. Thanks to the media it appears that Arsenal are the only club to go without trophies every year. Strange stuff.

Arsene Wenger has raised the bar for Arsenal football club. Even the most critical fan would find it difficult to argue against that and the foundations laid by our manager is now almost an irrelevance, it no longer exists. The fact that no other manager in the Premier League is achieving what our manager is currently doing given the same resources is now almost immaterial due to the failure of Arsene Wenger’s players to take the all important final step over the last few seasons.

Even the most supportive fans of our manager (including myself) feel that some form of change is needed for Arsenal to make that next step in search of silverware.

I am pleased that we have not had injuries as an excuse to fall back on this season to wipe away the what if’s and what would have been’s.

Pretty much our strongest available squad let the manager down at the crucial time of the season and the management team will have to look deep and hard at those reasons.

It is abundantly clear that changes will be made in the squad. The likes of Frimpong, Ryo and perhaps Lansbury could be promoted as second string options and we all have a decent idea as to which squad members may either be forced elsewhere or push for a move in search of regular football but it is not the squad that has cost us the league this season.

Vermaelen and Fabianski apart Arsene has had the full use of his squad to select from and it is those players that have let him down. Not all of them mind you, the likes of Van Persie, Sagna and perhaps Koscielny have done their bit in recent weeks but others have not been able to lift themselves when the points where on the table,

I look at the first team and wonder where and how Arsene can improve. Which player(s) will be demoted to a squad role in place of whatever new quality the boss thinks we need.

Szczesny

Sagna Djourou/Koscielny Vermaelen Clichy

Song Wilshere

Cesc

Walcott Van Persie Nasri

Our youngest and most inexperienced players Jack Wilshere and Wojciech Szczesny are two of the brightest prospects at the club and Arsene knows more than anyone that young players need games to improve and fulfil that potential. That is why calls of a new goalkeeper seem somewhat off the mark to me.

It is Koscielny’s first year in the country and league so I see him only improving. Johan Djourou has only looked shaky in two spells this season. Once when he just returned back from long term football at Manchester City at the Eastlands and then again when returning back from his shoulder problem against Liverpool. Apart from that he has been up there as our most consistent performer.

Alex Song has been off his game in the latter part of the season but when he is on form he gives us that stability in midfield.

While new squad personnel will be needed in some capacity, I generally feel that at least 75% of what we need can be achieved on the training ground. We have the best midfield in the country and pretty much dictate every game we play, at least in our domestic league. We consistently dominate possession but it is at both ends of the pitch that we often let ourselves down.

Our shots to goals against ratio is pretty good. We do not often allow the opposition to test our goalkeeper with shots but it is set pieces that have been our weakness time and time again. Offensively we do not always score the goals that our possession deserves. We need to find other ways of scoring goals when the opposition park the bus.

The mental side of our game is much more difficult to address and to be honest I am not going to start claming that I know more than the management team we have in place today. It will be down to them to solve those problems and I can only hope as a supporter that those issues get addressed when the season is over and done with.

I watched most of the Manchester United game last night and was very envious. I just cannot imagine that we would not have won that game last night. Schalke played just the way we like teams to play and we would have enjoyed that game. Unless of course we missed all our chances and let in a set piece. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don’t say it.

Apologies if I am sounding like a broken record today, this is stuff that I have spoken about before and have also asked the question to the Twitter world but it is very much on my mind, pretty much every day.

I am looking forward to the Real Madrid vs Barcelona game tonight which should be another intense battle of Barca’s expansive game vs Mourinho’s pragmatism.

As much as I want Barcelona to lose every time they play, I just want Manchester United to get embarrassed in the Champions League final and I just don’t see Real Madrid doing that to them. So I want Barcelona to get through this round.

Right, off to enjoy the sunshine. Keep you heads up Gooners, life is not as bad as many think it is.

Back tomorrow.