Can Injury - Ridden Arsenal Win a Trophy Next Season?
The fans of Arsenal have been listening to the rhetoric of manager Arsène Wenger that his young team has the potential to fight for the title. On many occasions, Arsenal stay within the race or even on top of the table – like two years ago – till mid-season, but everything collapses in the latter half of the season. Thus, they always end up third or fourth in the table, which is not good for a team which very recently had a record unbeaten season (2003-2004) and were labelled ‘The Invincibles.’ Some fans would say that shifting from the old stadium to the new one has been unlucky for the team; however, experts believe that the fault lies somewhere in the team strategies, or maybe in their manager. Wenger has been unable to lead his team to reclaim their lost glory after 5 long years sans trophy.
One thing is clear: all the rising stars and young players want to join Arsenal in their early ages. Arsène Wenger has a very good policy, as he gives a lot of playing time to the youngsters. The Carling Cup, especially, is taken as the Youth Cup by the Arsenal coach, as youngsters or players coming back from long injuries are given preference to play for the trophy. Also, in the league, a lot of youngsters are given chance to show their skills and improve their composure. Thus, the young players develop into mature players very fast in the club. But the situation has gotten quite interesting of late, as more and more youngsters are coming in Arsenal from the youth clubs of other teams, to gain experience and develop their skill at a very small age. Ben Arfa is the recent example of such a player, as the 23 year old has joined Arsenal and would play the next season.
Injuries have remained a great problem for the manager, as many important players got injured at important occasions. The major injuries in recent times were to Samir Nasri and Van Persie, which came at critical moments during the season, and a lot of failures can be associated to these inevitable problems. Apart from these prolonged injuries, many important players had to stay out for short periods due to minor health problems and inflictions. Maybe it is time for the manager to look into this matter and reduce the hectic training hours of the players, putting more effort in making the youngsters stronger and more resilient.
Whatever the manager says or does, this season seems to be another droughty one for the Arsenal team. There is a high degree of probability that many players are leaving the club, thus, creating a void that will not be filled easily. The midfield is already weakening and the defence needs reinforcements as well. Other teams are emerging as well and the likes of Spurs and Man City will emerge even stronger this season. Liverpool and Manchester United are deteriorating as well, but they only need a little investment in the transfer market to get themselves out of their dilemma. In the current scenario, there is only one hope for the Arsenal, and that is to revise their policies about player wages, in order to attract senior established players to the club. It is believed that players would love to play for a club of Arsenal’s stature and for a manager of Arsène Wenger’s brilliance.
Arsène Wenger announced at the end of the 2009-10 season that his team needed experience for vying for any honours. Well, if experience is needed, then who could do better than Thierry Henry himself? Arsenal has not won a single trophy since Henry exited the club doors. The player is almost certain to leave Barcelona this summer, having made only 14 league starts in the 2009-10 season. At 32, there is definitely a lot left in him which Arsenal can benefit from. There is no doubt that Arsenal is in dire need of a morale lift which they can get with their legend returning to where he actually belongs – to the land of the Gunners.
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