Arsene Wenger's Arsenal: Where Did It All Go Wrong? Start with the Captain

After lifting the FA Cup in 2005, Arsene Wenger decided to sell his captain, Patrick Vieira.

Arsenal has not won a trophy since.

Wenger's now infamous trophy drought has spanned five long seasons. That number will soon increase to six unless Wenger and his team pull off what most would surely consider a miracle and catch Manchester United in the league.

It's not as though United have run away with the title this season. United's recent losses against Liverpool and Chelsea offered Arsenal a huge helping hand. But Arsenal could not take full advantage. We threw away a 4-nil lead at Newcastle and struggled to break down Sunderland at home and drew both matches. 

Recent draws to West Brom and Blackburn have enraged some Arsenal supporters. The chorus of boos that rang after our most recent draw at home to Blackburn shows that. Some still steadfastly believe in Wenger. Some do not. There were stories of fights breaking out between the two at the Emirates last Saturday.

This is what it has come to: We are fighting each other now. We have become so frustrated with this team that our rage is dividing us.

Why have we become so frustrated? Six years of the same old problems.

I do not intend to berate Wenger or the people who still support him with this article. I feel the club is stuck in neutral. I feel the problems with the club are such that serious debate should be undertaken by the people that make Arsenal what it is: the Arsenal supporters.

Arsene Wenger has let us down.

Wenger's tactical decisions are the wrong ones. Our formation and attack is too predictable. He is too stubborn to change up the tactics on a match-by-match basis depending on certain teams' weaknesses. His substitutions are normally puzzling and often come too late.

Wenger is so arrogant that he believes so long as his team play their system well, there is nothing the other team can do to stop it. This is perhaps best exemplified by his reluctance to spend money on a goalkeeper and replace Almunia. Wenger believes goalkeeper does not matter if you can keep possession. It has proven to be a very naive belief.

Wenger is consistently beaten tactically in the biggest matches. I could live with tactical mistakes if Wenger appeared to learn from them and correct them. He does not.

But my problems with Wenger go deeper than that. More glaring than Arsenal's tactical problems are its mental shortcomings. Since moving to the Emirates, Arsenal has yet to show the desire, heart and determination needed to win trophies.  

At any level of sport, a team needs leadership. Without leadership, heads go down, faces pout and no one is motivated to give their all. 

Arsenal lacks leadership.

When Wenger took over Arsenal, he inherited Tony Adams, a great defender and a fantastic leader. Wenger's transition to English football was made easy by Adams' experience, leadership and organization. Wenger was allowed to concentrate solely on attacking football because he inherited one of the best defenses in England.

Wenger brought in a young Patrick Vieira, who grew up with Arsenal winning trophies, and developed Adams' same leadership qualities. Eventually Vieira became captain himself and led Arsenal to an unbeaten season, arguably the best season by any team in the English top-flight ever.

When Vieira and Adams captained Arsenal, the entire team was determined to win every match. These players led by example. And the example they set helped Arsenal make history not even 10 years ago.

But when Vieira left, Arsenal's captaincy became a sham. 

Henry was first given the armband in an effort to keep him from leaving the club, as Wenger feared what would happen if his superstar striker was passed over for the club's highest honor.

But the captaincy only kept Henry around for two seasons.

And Henry, knowing his best days at the club were now behind him, lost his motivation as his eyes fixed on bigger glories abroad in his final season as captain. Gilberto Silva was the vice captain under Henry and looked set to inherit the armband when Henry was sold.

What happened next was shameful. Wenger instead gave the armband to one of the club's newest members, William Gallas. Gilberto, one of the most respected members of the club, was wrongly passed over in favor of Gallas, who was a divisive player (which is being generous to Gallas). And then, to slap Gilberto in the face even more, Wenger gave Kolo Toure the vice captaincy. Keep in mind Gilberto also captained Brazil. Gilberto was an Invincible and a great leader. Wenger's handing the captaincy to Gallas instead of Gilberto showed how clueless a man manager Wenger really is.

Wenger's inability to unite and lead his team shone through most clearly while Gallas was captain. We suffered a few years with a completely divided team, a team who refused to talk to certain other members and a team who would get in fights with each other while on the pitch at White Hart Lane. The team was leaderless. Where was Wenger?

Eventually it came to an all-time low. Gallas, our captain, verbally attacked his teammates in the press. The captaincy was finally stripped away from him. Wenger handed it to his only option, a young Cesc Fabregas.

Fabregas performed admirably at first, but now has his share of doubters too. I was shocked to see him hugging the Barcelona players at the Nou Camp. I was shocked to see him basically gift Barcelona their first goal. I am not suggesting he wanted Arsenal to lose or Barcelona to win. I am suggesting his heart is not in the right place. I do not think a determined Arsenal captain, like Vieira or Adams, would walk around and hug his opponents before the biggest match of the season.

I do think Arsenal's captain now views Arsenal as his stepping stone. 

When Vieira left, Arsenal lost its leader. Wenger is coddling his team, not leading them.

When the league is there for the taking, there is no excuse for taking two out of an available 12 points with West Brom and Newcastle. There is no excuse for drawing 0-0 with teams that concede five or more goals to our competitors.

I do not want to hear about torn-up pitches, injuries or referees. Excuses are for losers. Excuses are for kids. Bad luck happens to everyone. Champions overcome that bad luck.

We are not as motivated as our opponents, plain and simple. Wenger used to depend on his captain to do that job for him. Now, with only his coddled kids to choose from, there are no more great leaders at Arsenal. 

The blame must fall solely on Wenger for that. He is the manager. It is his job to lead. If he can't lead, it is his job to find leaders.

With Wenger in control we will not win another trophy. We cannot overcome being beaten tactically and mentally in every big match. We need someone new to change up the pace and motivate our players.

Wenger needs to go.