Once more Arsenal were cast aside by Liverpool last weekend as Arsene Wenger’s side were hammered 4-0. Once more was their defence shown to be weak and leaderless. Once more was their attack portrayed as blunt and without direction. Once more did the fans turn on their manager and players, calling for change.

Truthfully, Liverpool versus Arsenal was a very even contest on paper, but in reality, it was anything but. Liverpool’s in form front three tore Arsenal to shreds. If it had not been for the Gunner’s goalkeeper Petr Cech, then it would have been much worse.

Liverpool gave Arsenal a masterclass in how to play football with a weak defence, as Jurgen Klopp’s side kept the ball well and pressed their opponents into mistakes high up the pitch when Arsenal were in possession. Ultimately, Liverpool were not exposed in defence because they rarely needed to defend.

What is going wrong at Arsenal?

Arsenal, on the other hand, were abject. Their defence was limp, their ‘midfield-partnership’ spent more time on the opposite sides of the pitch than close together, while their forwards were never allowed to get into the game.

Their awful showing had led many to question what is going wrong at Arsenal. Few perceive their problems as ones which will solve themselves with more game time, instead, they either blame the manager, the players, or both.

Manager Arsene Wenger was offered a two-year-contract after the last campaign, further extending his tenure with the Gunners. However, many questioned whether he was deserving of an extended deal. With his record last season seeing his side miss out on Champions League football, it is very interesting to wonder whether it is Wenger, or the players that are letting the side down.

Of course, there is fault on all sides here. The players were awful against Liverpool, while there seemed to be a lack of direction from the manager. Would the players benefit without Wenger, or would the manager do better with a different group of players?

Keep the players and change the management 

Perhaps the contract extension for Wenger was premature last season. Although the Gunners did win the FA Cup after beating Chelsea in the final, the season itself was seen as a failure because they failed to challenge for the title and lost out on Champions League football.

If Wenger had not been offered a contract or had instead rejected it, would things be different this season?

Against Liverpool, there was no leadership or footballing intelligence on the pitch. The Reds found it far too easy to pick up the ball and drive forward, while Arsenal’s midfield did not wake up to the fact that their defence was being continually exploited as they drifted from their positions.

While this was poor on the parts of the players, Wenger should have made some form of tactical switch to plug the gap in the middle. He should have either changed the personnel in midfield or told one of Granit Xhaka or Aaron Ramsay to sit in a more defensive position and stay there. Incredibly, it took Wenger until mid-way through the second-half to make any changes, and while Arsenal did start brightly in the second 45, they were quickly overrun as Liverpool got back into their groove.

There are problems further forward as well. Alexis Sanchez has been continually linked with a move away from the Emirates, while Mesut Ozil seems to always go missing in games. Arsenal’s two most talented players were near anonymous on Sunday, although the Chilean was making his return to the side and so should not be criticised too strongly. While Sanchez is a player that galvanises the team, the fact he wants to leave will begin to spread an almost poisonous atmosphere in the dressing room, and, across the transfer window, there were further developments, with Manchester City bidding for the player. While he remains with the Gunners, it will be incredibly interesting to see whether the returning Sanchez will put his heart and soul into the team considering he seemed so intent on leaving.

While Sanchez is a player that galvanises the team, the fact he wants to leave will begin to spread an almost poisonous atmosphere in the dressing room, and, across the transfer window, there were further developments, with Manchester City bidding for the player. While he remains with the Gunners, it will be incredibly interesting to see whether the returning Sanchez will put his heart and soul into the team considering he seemed so intent on leaving.

It seems incredible that the future of their best player had been left until the final few hours of the transfer window. In conjunction with this, there was no movement by the club to bring in new players following a tough start in the league even though they clearly need fresh faces. Bids for Thomas Lemar were apparently rejected by Monaco, but there was still a lot of movement on the final day of the window, with Danny Drinkwater, a defensive player that works very hard, moving to Chelsea. Perhaps the Gunners would have benefited if they had have hijacked the move.

Nobody really knows whether it is the owners or Wenger that seems so reluctant to buy, but much of the blame seems to fall upon the latter. Perhaps changing the manager and keeping the players is a better option, with new ideas, a different philosophy, and a fresh start ideal for all involved.

Keep the manager and change the players

Wenger has been something of an institution in the Premier League for decades, overseeing one of the most incredible teams in football whilst at Arsenal; The Invincibles. His current crop of players are a long, long way from being anywhere near as good as a side that Arsenal fans still look back on with the fondest of gazes.

If Wenger was able to cultivate a team of such class all those years ago, what has changed?

Players of course now command a lot more power and, with a star like Sanchez clearly wanting to leave, it is no longer a case of simply telling the player that he has to play whether he likes it or not, with Carlos Tevez and Diego Costa both very famous cases of this.

Perhaps Wenger himself should be given more power with regard to his transfer, thus allowing Arsenal to avoid being held to ransom by their players and other clubs. There already seems to be a mass exodus happening at the Emirates though, with Sanchez linked with a move away, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has made a move to Liverpool, and Lucas Perez sealed a loan move to Deportivo, while Wojciech Szczesny, Gabriel Paulista and Kieran Gibbs made permanent moves away from Arsenal.

Perhaps a lot of power is being given back to Wenger then. Many of the players that are leaving have failed to break into the first team and, while ‘The Ox’ was a favourite at the club, his game time was curtailed as he wanted to make the switch to a more central role, something Wenger clearly did not want to accommodate.

If the manager is given time and the ability to see out his two-year deal, then he may begin to build another strong team. Too often have Arsenal’s best players left prematurely only to be replaced by a substandard player, leaving the Gunners far weaker for it. If the manager is allowed to have total control over business, meaning he decides upon the ins-and-outs at the club, then he will not see his favoured players discarded on a whim.

Ultimately though, the manager can only prepare his team so well. His tactics, plans and traps for the opposition are all well and good, but if the players do not implement them properly, then they simply will not work. The incredible thing is that the blame so often falls at the manager’s feet when his players seem unconcerned with how the team is doing.

Would an entire overhaul of the club change things? It is very difficult to answer this question. Many fans would say yes immediately, citing new management and players would take them forward, but it has taken Manchester United years to recover after the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, and Arsenal may suffer similar toil.

However, a new manager may come in and completely turn around the ailing football club with fresh ideas and a different outlook. Ultimately, the only way to find out whether one or the other will work is for Wenger to either see out his contract and then get replaced, or for the board to act quickly and erratically, and let him go.

Arsenal face a crossroads in their continued development, and their next decision could shape the club for years to come.

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