Arsenal have yet again been on their roller coaster of a journey in the Premier League. They win, impress the crowds and pundits, lose a key player to injury and collapse like a pack of cards. It's a similar story every season and it doesn't seem to change.
Blaming the manager is easy. Fans find him responsible because he's the one who calls the shots but if he isn't able to bring forward his best team, wouldn't that inhibit his influence on how his team plays and the results? Agreed he can make a few signing but managers have trusted existing talents and won the league, who's to say Wenger can't?
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Here's looking at five things can that make Arsenal title challengers – and kicking out Arsene Wenger isn't one of them.
#5 Three quality signings & clearing deadwood
Per Mertesacker looks like he's at the end of the line with Gabriel Paulista preferred. And while the Brasilian may be the future of the club, it looks like he still has a lot to learn from the likes of Steve Bould and the Arsenal coaching staff.
Elsewhere, Francis Coquelin has been impressive for Arsenal ever since rejoining the squad last December but has since stalled in making any progress. You could blame Santi Cazorla's injury for his form to dither but an imposing central midfielder - someone in the mould of a Patrick Vieira or a Gilberto - is what the club needs. Granit Xhaka's name has been thrown around and while the Swiss has the height and the strength, he's still a gamble.
Lastly, the one thing Arsenal fans have needed since Robin van Persie left the club: a striker. Yes we have Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud and parts of Theo Walcott but a proven goal-scorer can do wonders to even a mediocre team. They're expensive but ultimately they're the difference between winning and losing.
There isn't the slightest chance that we'd sign someone like Robert Lewandowski or a Gonzalo Higuain but someone young and upcoming - yet deadly - like Alvaro Morata might be the key for Arsenal to start scoring more.
The need to clear the deadwood is an obvious one. Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini, Mathieu Debuchy, Tomas Rosicky - even though he's awesome - and Olivier Giroud are some of the names who need to leave.
#4 Utilising their Plan B more often
Arsenal's 2-0 victory against Manchester City last season, they're 2-0 win against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League group stage this season showcased their ability to play the unorthodox but ultimately win. They weren't the same Arsenal. They sat back, they dug deep and hit the teams on the counter.
Why is it the Gunners don't do this more often? No way am I suggesting Arsenal become a Chelsea or an Atletico Madrid but when teams play two banks of four to prevent the creative players from getting between the lines, the team have to adapt, let them have the ball, tempt them to attack more and then attack on the counter.
While they use this strategy against the 'bigger' teams, they ought to start using it against the teams who counter their slick passing style. Arsenal are at the edge of being found out by every team in the League and in Europe. The likes of Tony Pulis and Alan Pardew have easily decoded Arsenal's game and have been able to effectively counter the style with the use of their physical players.
#3 Get behind the manager / team
These days, ever since Liverpool experienced a change in guard, Anfield seems like a fortress again. Irrespective of opposition or the importance of the fixture, the Kop are one in unison singing and getting behind the team and their manager.
Arsenal fans are some of the most hypocritical fans in the Premier League. They expect everything to be done the best way possible but they don't expect it to happen in a way that could damage the club in the future. Arsene Wenger isn't the kind of manager who would spend £100 million year in and year out to improve the team – look at what United are going through having done something like that.
He's working towards ensuring the club are 100% self-suficient in the future – maybe not even under his reign. While the club's failure to win trophies has been uncomfortable, the fact that the future might be brighter than everyone elses doesn't seem to matter to the fans of the club.
Let's face it, walking out of the stadium and holding banners isn't going to drive Wenger out. He's right not to listen to the fans as well. Get behind the team, put your personal agendas aside, after all you're a very small part of a huge fan base. You don't have any sort of influence to tell the club how to do their job.
Maybe just maybe if all Arsenal fans got behind the team and their manager, they'll be able to motivate their players and bring about a change in their performances.
#2 A fighting spirit
The best part of the Invincibles or the Arsenal of the early Wenger-years was that they never gave up on a fight. Even if they went 2-0 down, they had the confidence and the toughness to ensure they could bring it back to 2-2.
This generation of Arsenal don't lack leaders but lack of the kind of personalities who can do something about the team having an off day. We've seen the likes of Francis Coquelin, Jack Wilshere and Alexis Sanchez rise up to the occasion and doing something about the team not performing.
A sense of being part of a whole and sticking together will take this team to a whole other level. Technical players and impact players are in abundance in this Arsenal side but if only the team had the 'killer instinct' most title-winning sides have, they'd easily stand a chance to challenge for the title.
The players are often seen slumping or losing interest once they go down or bullied a little. Bringing the fight to the team will definitely do this team a world of good.
#1 Sort out fitness issues
How often have we heard the same story of Arsenal having played excellently well in the first half of the season, losing a key player in December / January and consequently their whole season collapsing? Last time around it was Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey, this time around its Santi Cazorla.
With Jack Wilshere the only exception – given he's got bow feet – plenty of Arsenal stars suffer from small niggles here and there greatly affecting the outcome of their season. Danny Welbeck, Alexis Sanchez, Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla, Laurent Koscielny, Gabriel, Francis Coquelin, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud have all suffered injuries this season and is possibly why their legitimate title challenge waned come the beginning of the new year.
While specialists like Shad Forsythe were reruited to make sure these niggles didn't happen as often, things haven't improved. Maybe he needs more time, maybe Arsenal's players are – unfortunately – born fragile but whatever the reason, the club has to learn to ensure the first team is injury free for a whole season.
