Why Arsenal can't be title contenders this season

Let’s not start off on the wrong note here. I’ve been an Arsenal fan ever since the 2006 Champions league final, a game that possibly helped us achieve our reach-the-finals-and-let-it-go status. Well, we haven’t reached many finals after that year anyway.

So, watching this team for the last 6 years or so doesn’t exactly mean I know exactly what’s going on at the Emirates. But I do know this. The squad we have now this season right now definitely doesn’t look like one that can be title contenders, at least not this season.

I do have my reasons; I’m not just another fellow randomly hurling opinions to a crowd of bemused readers. Starting with our Goalkeeper to our Forward line, we have four major reasons of concern, namely – the Goalkeeper, the Defense, the Midfield and the Forward line.

Let’s start with our Goalkeepers – Wojciech Szczesny, Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone. Currently, while Szczesny maybe the one of the better Goalkeepers we’ve had in a long time, we must also admit that he’s still young and makes goalkeeping look a lot more complex than it actually is. It’s usually the small mistakes that we make at crucial times that cost us the season. As for our back up, it may be sufficient, up until the time that they are actually needed, and we can only pray that they don’t mess up.

Moving on to the biggest worry of them all, the Defense. In Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen and Gibbs, we definitely have a Premier League standard back four. What we lack is bench strength, a must-have for title-contenders in any League. With Mertasacker deemed slow and Djourou not finding his form of 2 seasons ago, we don’t really have good replacements for the centerbacks. Remember Squillaci? He’s still on our pay-roll. We start our season with Sagna injured. The replacement? Carl Jenkinson, who I believe is not as bad as they say, but he seems to be trying very hard to prove me wrong with every minute he plays. Andre Santos seemed a good buy last season, a tuft of experience and flair in place of the pace of Gibbs, but he spent more time with the Medical rather than the Coaching staff last season and we are yet to convince ourselves he is worth something. So in terms of Defense, we are probably lacking 3 proper players. What makes me wonder is why Wenger chose to strengthen the midfield and do nothing about defense, an area that was the major zone of criticism last season.

WIGAN, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 03: Thomas Vermaelen of Arsenal celebrates with Mikel Arteta and Gervinho after scoring the second goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Wigan Athletic and Arsenal at the DW Stadium on December 3, 2011 in Wigan, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Midfield is probably the only region of the field which I could say is excellent. Arteta has been named Vice-Captain after just one year at Arsenal (no, it’s not because we are losing our Captain every year). It shows what an impact he has been on the team. Song was brilliant last season, both as a defensive midfielder and with those inch-perfect chips to Van Persie. But he too seems to be pulled by the Barcelona calling, with a 15 million offering being made by the Catalans, trying to steal yet another prominent midfielder from our squad. Aaron Ramsey seems slightly immature still and hasn’t provided much help, with just 4 goals and 2 assists last season, which is poor, considering the playing time he had. Jack Wilshire is expected back in October. He was hailed as the prodigal midfielder, oozing with skill and vision. One injury, and we lost him for the whole season. The return of Abou Diaby and the current form of Rosicky will do loads in strengthening this department. Santi Carzola, our latest signing, is an amazing scoop in this transfer season and I sincerely hope he fits in well and hits the ground running. All in all, our midfield is one department we can feel proud of, and should pull the team up a few spots if and when the defense collapses.

Our forward line (earlier known as Robin Van Persie) is back to shambles. Van Persie was undoubtedly our star of last season, the fan favorite, the knight in shining armor come to save Arsenal in its time of need. At last, Wenger’s persistence with the lad seemed to pay off and he seemed to make up for the eight years of salary he received. ‘He scores when he wants’ and ‘We don’t need Batman, we have Robin’ became common posters around the Emirates. And once again, we have succumbed into selling our best player, our captain. So where do we stand now? Lukas Podolski and Oliver Giroud. Definitely considered good additions to any ambitious team, the former with loads of international experience, but yet to prove at club level, and the latter being the top scorer in the French league, guiding his team to the top of the table. But they will be under immense pressure, trying to fill the boots of a man who scored 30 odd league goals. Nevertheless, I do believe that between them, they have the talent and skill to take us to the top. Our wingers, Walcott, Gervinho, the Ox, Arshavin all have decent quality in them and maybe we don’t have to worry about them so much right now.

All in all, while not being overly optimistic, I do believe we can finish in the top three this season. With the arrival of City, the transfer market plunge by Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool (not talking about amounts, rather the infusion of quality players), the Barclays Premier league continues to excite millions of viewers worldwide. The competition grows every year and is getting continually tougher. This is why I believe Arsenal cannot be serious Title Contenders this season. But you never really know, do you?