Arsenal - January will be key battleground

Arsene Wenger’s and Arsenal‘s credentials are set to face the decider. I won’t talk about transfers since I would rather rely on what Arsenal have. The Gunners are set to face Manchester City (H), Chelsea (A), West Ham (H) and Liverpool (H) in January. Although Arsenal’s tendency to go down against weaker opponents is well known, but going by the track record of previous seasons if Arsenal can get through with 3 wins in January, then I would fancy Arsenal to finish in the top 4.

Wenger’s biggest problem this season has been the baffling inconsistency of his talented team. They have failed more than once to build on a huge win and take that momentum to a longer stretch. They have beaten Southampton 6-1, Spurs 5-2, Newcastle 7-3, Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield but they have not been able to take it to 5-6 matches in a row and have ended up hanging in the middle. The concern for Arsene Wenger must be the tightly sandwiched points table from 4-10 and Arsenal should know how important it is now to widen that gap to sit firmly in the top 4. This can only be achieved if Arsenal beat the bigger teams in the 2nd half of EPL.

With Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United (April 27) set to travel to Emirates, logically, nothing less than a win is sufficient although they have lost to Chelsea at Emirates and their form at home is not encouraging. Arsenal seem to be suffer the same vulnerabilities that Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool have. City seem to be under too much pressure to prove their silverware capabilities, having been thrown out of Champions League and Carling Cup. Chelsea seem to suffer the same problem. Wenger would know this and should prepare his lads to hit hard at their inconsistency but will Arsenal manage to rise from their inconsistency? That’s a bigger question.

Arsenal’s two major problems seem to be Santi Cazorla and Theo Walcott. Strange names, right? Why them? Well, they seem to be a class apart in one match and in the next match they are average and that is where Arsenal suffer. Someone has to carry the form week in, week out and deliver the punch which does not seem to happen. Frankly, Arteta should play further forward if Diaby comes back since both of them can aggressively drive the play. Santi loses the ball too much with this tricks at times and Walcott scores a hat-trick in one game and then hardly touches the ball for one half of his next match.

With Theo’s contract situation resolved, it might give him the extra bit of confidence that he does belong to Arsenal more than ever and that might make him what Arsenal need the most at this time – an inspirational figure like RVP to take them to the next level.

Time for Gunners to step up!