There initially appears to be just two basic schools of thought on this matter: the first is that Arsenal have a problem with leadership and the second is (amazingly) that Arsenal do not have a problem with leadership. The first is an argument often used by critics of Wenger and the second used by Wenger

First of all, let me start by offering a smiley, happy welcome to the whole (and I mean the whole) of the Arsenal blogosphere. Whatever Arsenal fans have been feeling this past few weeks I doubt ‘smiley’ and ‘happy’ have been a part of it and I therefore advise that you greedily gobble those concepts up while the chance is there.

A lot has happened since I last wrote an article on here – both in terms of football and real life. The major news on a personal level was that me and my flatmate were burgled, which was just super, but I suppose it at least affords me my first ever opportunity to confidently scream the phrase ‘we woz robbed’ without any nagging uncertainty whatsoever. 

My absence from writing was also due to a typically grey interlull as well as the frankly depressing plight of our mutually beloved team. For once I felt absolutely no urge to share my feelings with anyone since everyone was doing a sterling job of sharing many of those same feelings amongst themselves and I was more than content to take a back seat – right at the back, behind even the cool kids and the ghetto soldiers lighting up and blasting tinny grime tunes through their Nokias on the top deck of the bus.

Pre-ramble out of the way I am back here today to discuss an issue which I believe is fundamental in understanding why Arsenal are in the position we are at the moment. This issue is the cause of many an angry debate betwixt fans of this glorious club and is I feel also, in part, the stimulus for other infamous topics of discussion such as ‘The Great English Centre Back Paradox’. 

The issue I am referring to is, as you probably guessed from the title, leadership. 

There initially appears to be just two basic schools of thought on this matter: the first is that Arsenal have a problem with leadership and the second is (amazingly) that Arsenal do not have a problem with leadership. The first is an argument often used by critics of Wenger and the second used by Wenger himself and it is this two conflicting viewpoints which I aim to explore.

Before I start the investigation I want to quickly highlight the important, if slight, difference between the above question and that which asks whether or not Arsenal lack leaders. The difference between lacking leaders and having a problem with leadership may be hard to see on the surface but to my mind it is pivotal to understanding both sides of the coin. Hopefully, once you see why they are not the same it should become clearer why both sides think as they do.

Let’s begin then by looking at the players who give their all in every single game we play. The concept for this article occurred to me while reading Mean Lean’s excellent piece earlier and I would have to agree with him that there are really just three players in the whole team who have this quality – Sagna, Vermaelen and Wilshere.

These are leaders by example in the truest sense of the word – those who have put in 100% almost continuously throughout the season (last season for Vermaelen) and who fight to the death in every game to run that one extra yard that might just be the difference between winning and losing. They are therefore beacons of light to the rest of the team and the fact that there are (debatably) only three players in this category is quite a worrying fact and serves to highlight the flaws in our otherwise talented and exciting squad.

But taking a step back it soon becomes apparent that this does not tell the whole story. 

Fabregas, Van Persie, Nasri, Song, Clichy, Walcott and even Arshavin and Bendtner have shown glimpses of this quality in the past and there are numerous occasions when one or more of them has grabbed a game by the scruff of the neck and pulled us over the line when it has really mattered. There have been several games over the past two seasons when a goal or assist from one of the above has changed a game in our favour – West Brom two weeks ago fits the bill perfectly, but also West Ham earlier in the season, Nasri at Fulham and countless other examples – and for that reason I think it is completely unfair to say that these players are not leaders at all. That is very far from the truth in my opinion.

The problem in fact does not lie in the capacity for leadership – plenty of our squad has this –  but in the consistency of its application. All it takes is one, just one, of these people to step up to the plate in a game to make a difference and the real difficulty occurs when they all fail to do so at the same time, and it is this which happens to often. 

It’s ultimately a very strange affliction – to give your all only some of the time. Surely if you are a player capable of putting in the required effort some of time you are capable of it most if not all of the time. Sure there will be periods when you lose confidence but you should never lose heart and especially not when you are fighting for the most coveted prize in English football.

Unfortunately for us our most consistent leaders, Sagna, Vermaelen and Wilshere, are not regular game changers (although Wilshere will undoubtedly become one) and our game changers are not consistent enough leaders. That is The Leadership Conundrum. 

This is why the leadership criticism is such a difficult one because it is both true and not true. When Wenger says we do not lack leaders he is correct, since we possess many players who have shown themselves capable of leading the team. But when his critics say we have problems with leadership you can’t help but feel they are right since we desperately need more players capable of leading the team consistently.

In understanding this it becomes clear that there are two ways to approach this problem: the first is to bring in players with the required leaderships skills and the second is to cultivate a more permanent desire to lead amongst the current crop of players. Both I think are possible to a degree and both will help our cause. 

Whether or not Wenger is the right man to do this is another debate for another time but at least we have part of the problem. All that remains to be found is the solution so let us together hope that Wenger can begin to uncover it before our season fades completely.

WB