Why Beating Newcastle Is Another False Dawn for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger

In the final moments of Saturday evening as Arsenal coasted towards an impressive 4-1 victory over Newcastle United, Arsene Wenger’s name could be heard sung around the Emirates stadium. 

Arsenal had brushed aside an in-form Newcastle with some sumptuous football, symbolised by Santi Cazorla’s audacious chip from the penalty spot, and suddenly all was well in N5.

Arsenal are certainly not a club in crisis, tumbling towards the relegation zone. They are always capable of winning games.

Wenger’s side will win plenty more this season and could very well finish inside the top four for a 19th consecutive season.

But this is not where they want to be; Arsenal want to mount a genuine title challenge and be looking down from the summit of the Premier League.

Arsenal want attractive football, but more than anything, they want to see the Premier League trophy paraded around the Emirates for the first time.

And despite Saturday’s comprehensive win, there remains no compelling reason to believe this will happen any time soon.

This win, like so many before it, will prove to be another false dawn.

Arsenal are still treading water, stuck with a manager an increasing amount of their fans believe has gone stale and one their own board seems unable to challenge or even question.

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As reported by the London Evening Standard, at Arsenal’s Annual General Meeting last month, the club’s chairman Sir Chips Keswick declared: “If Arsene has a plan, we back him. If he doesn’t, we keep quiet.”

The problem for Arsenal is Arsene Wenger’s plan seems to be a combination of blind hope, applying the same methods and avoiding addressing Arsenal’s glaring problems.

Last week Wenger declared that Arsenal had no real plans to add to his squad, and as reported in the London Evening Standard, he said: “If everybody is fit and available, we don’t need to go in to the transfer market.”

This is patently not true as Arsenal have proved in this so-far-underwhelming season which already has them sitting 13 points behind the league leaders Chelsea.

The spine of Wenger’s side needs urgent surgery.

The centre of the Arsenal defence continues to look vulnerable, and Laurent Koscielny’s absence through injury has put it under even greater pressure this season. 

Even when both Koscielny and Per Mertesacker are available, they do not inspire enough confidence.

This defence, whatever its composition, is not greatly helped by the lack of protection afforded to it by the Arsenal midfield.

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The need for an accomplished central holding midfielder was clear in the summer and has become even more obvious throughout this season as Arsenal have failed to win more than half of their 16 games in the Premier League so far.

Up front, Arsenal’s stable of strikers is not worthy of a club of their size and supposed ambition.

While Chelsea have the prolific Diego Costa, Manchester City have Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko, and Manchester United can boast Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Radamel Falcao, Arsenal only have the more modest talents of Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud.

Both Welbeck and Giroud have their merits, but it is difficult to see either of them scoring enough goals to ever lead Arsenal to the title. 

That banner politely asking Arsene Wenger to leave, which was unfurled by Arsenal fans at West Brom at the end of November, might have not been seen since, but rest assured it will be back soon.