EPL: Arsenal's Wenger Going Down with the Ship

Arsenal has strung together a slew of poor performances as of late with losses to A.C. Milan and Sunderland in non-league fixtures.  Currently Arsenal is clinging to fourth spot in the table, tied with Chelsea.  

Unfortunately for Gunner fans, Arsenal has began to trail off since their loss to Manchester City in early December.  Since this fixture, Arsenal has dropped points with losses to Fulham, Swansea and Manchester United.  They have also dropped points with dissatisfying draws to Bolton and Wolverhampton.   Despite the 7-1 romp of Blackburn, goals have been few and far between for this declining side, coming at the most pivotal stretch of the season.  

Arsenal has a very difficult span of matches coming up, all of which will have direct league implications.  Arsenal's next three league fixtures include Tottenham, Liverpool and Newcastle.  With Tottenham looking to secure a spot in behind the Manchester clubs and Liverpool and Newcastle both scraping and fighting to secure a Champions League birth, Arsenal will have their hands full after two terrible non-league performances this week.  

Ironically, I predicted this collapse with an article written on December 16 entitled: "Arsenal: Why Their EPL Season Will Still Be a Disaster."  Just two days before their loss to Manchester City and the beginning of a slew of poor performances and dropped points to inferior teams, I took a great deal of heat for criticizing Arsenal's weak defense, their heavy reliance on RVP for scoring and their thin roster.  

Well, it is now February and Arsenal is on the decline.  All the same problems still exist and nothing was addressed in the January window.  Arsenal is reaching the "make or break" portion of their season in the upcoming weeks, with seemingly nothing left to give.  Comparatively, Chelsea's next three fixtures are featured against much weaker opposition: Bolton, West Brom and Stoke.  Baring any upsets, Chelsea has the ability to secure fourth spot in the upcoming weeks. 

It appears evident that Arsenal should not remain among the top four in England this season. With defeats in the FA Cup and Champions League, there is very little for Gunner fans to cheer about at the moment.  It is certainly frustrating to see one of England's most storied teams and constant top-four finishers lose star players to have them replace them with cheap alternatives.  Certainly something is off when Arsenal cannot attract star players to the Emirates.  

Wenger sealed his fate this January by staying put at the transfer window. Bringing Henry back for a swan song two-month return was classy, but nowhere near enough to change Arsenal's fate.  Arsenal should part with Wenger this summer and start fresh.  They have some great young pieces to build around, but somebody knew needs to be brought it to shake things up—both parties need a change.

It should be interesting to view these upcoming fixtures; multiple loses could potentially end Arsenal's season before the end of March.  The sinking ship that is Arsenal will have much to do in terms of damage control if they do finish outside of top four.