Will Arsenal Be Genuine Title Contenders Next Season?

Arsenal's seven trophy-less years are no joke.

Arsene Wenger getting pelted and smeared in abuse by unsatisfied fans and ignorant pundits pains many to see.

The best player at the club demanding to leave every summer is not how football should be.

But behind maybe Newcastle, Arsenal's achievements last season went the furthest to eclipsing expectations. Wenger proved that he is the man for a battle, dragging his team up above the Magpies and Chelsea into third place.

For rest assured, this is Le Professeur's team—not Robin van Persie's, and not any of the big wigs' from the board meetings who hold the purse strings.

It has been said before each of the previous couple of seasons, and it will be said again before this one—Arsenal are facing their most difficult Premier League campaign in recent memory, Dutchman or no Dutchman.

But assuming that van Persie persists in his plan to desert the Gunners, surely Wenger's biggest challenge will be getting his team to...well, play as a team.

He will have to ensure that new signings Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud (and maybe Santi Cazorla) are integrated into the Premier League as quickly as possible to avoid a repeat of last season's early meltdown.

Theo Walcott and Gervinho will be asked to sufficiently up their game to the point of consistency.

Holding midfielders Mikel Arteta and Alex Song must carry over their form from the tail end of last season into this one; Laurent Koscielny must do the same as well.

Arsenal must be clinical and ruthless and dispatch of every West Brom and West Ham that are put before them, teams that they should beat, but are often found incapable of doing so.

Egos must be checked at the door, with in-fighting banned from the changing room with the punishment of death threatened for those who put "I" before "team."

Now, if the Gunners are able to do all of this, if Wenger can inspire his men to perform above and beyond themselves, they can undoubtedly challenge for the Premier League trophy.

And there will be nothing funny about Arsenal anymore.