Arsenal FC: 5 Biggest Problems Affecting the Gunners

Right now, times are tough for Arsenal. After two straight league defeats, the season is in danger of collapsing altogether.

Achieving a top-four place and maintaining lucrative participation in the UEFA Champions League is looking as far out of this team's reach as it ever has.

The Gunners are playing with no style, flair or structure and their laboured efforts are beginning to be exposed by mediocre opposition on a weekly basis.

A number of contributory factors have led Arsenal to this stage. Here are the five biggest problems currently affecting Arsene Wenger's team.

5. No Pace to the Passing Game

There is a distinct lack of pace to Arsenal's passing game. The Gunners' usually fluid attack has become static and sluggish. This has made Arsenal too easy to defend and severely reduced the number of chances the team is able to create.

Wenger's teams have always been successful based on their ability to move the ball quickly and create space for teammates.

But this version of Arsenal are laboured in possession and lack the precision to link together series of fast-paced and intelligent passes.

If they are going to become the attacking force they once were, the Gunners must add speed to their passing and rediscover their fluidity.

4. Lack of Movement in the Midfield and Forward Areas

The passing game will never flow at pace without more movement in the midfield and forward areas. Too many times, Arsenal players in possession are presented with little or no options.

It's baffling to see midfielders running away and strikers with their backs to the player on the ball. Quick and intelligent movement was the attribute that made Arsenal's fluid and intricate passing style possible.

The midfield and forward lines need to begin to play closer together in a more cohesive fashion and deliver the ball with greater accuracy.

3. Indecision on Defense

A tentative approach to defending has been the bane of Arsenal's existence in recent seasons. But just as it appeared that the team had begun to resolve their frailties at the back, the problem reared its ugly head against Fulham and Swansea City.

In fairness, the back four does not deserve all of the blame. Midfielders are routinely caught in possession due to trying to do too much instead of simply releasing the ball to a teammate.

Against Swansea, all three goals conceded by Arsenal came about as a result of this troubling tendency. Efficiency in possession is one of the best ways to protect a defense. But Arsenal have frequently been guilty of surrendering the ball too easily in dangerous areas.

Inevitably though, the back line is the team's most essential line of defense and, in the last two games, the Gunners have made some horrendous errors.

Arsenal still lack a commanding and assertive presence at the heart of their defense. Injuries have played a part, but the likes of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny simply ought to do better. 

2. Culture of Complacency

One of the chief problems at Arsenal is the worrying culture of complacency that has pervaded the club during its prolonged trophy drought.

The squad is simply littered with too many players content to rest on their laurels, assured of a place in the manager's plans.

As technically gifted as Tomas Rosicky is, the Czech schemer has had more than enough opportunities to establish a true comeback from his litany of injuries.

But no matter how many indifferent performances he suffers, or games he misses, Rosicky remains a member of the first-team setup.

The former Borussis Dortmund star is not alone. The likes of Andrey Arshavin, Theo Walcott and Abou Diaby have been given every chance to succeed at Arsenal, but continue to flatter to deceive.

Without more of a threat to their positions at the club, Arsenal's players will continue to coast along, lacking the drive and motivation to push the club back amongst the elite.

1. Playing a Fabregas System, Without Cesc Fabregas

It defies belief that Arsenal persist in playing a system designed to maximise the talents of Cesc Fabregas, even after the player has departed for Barcelona.

This has been an ongoing problem this season that this author has alluded to before. The current formation and tactical structure was put in place to emphasise Fabregas as the focal point of the scheme.

But without the services of the Catalan playmaker, Arsenal's hybrid 4-3-3 has been rendered largely impotent.

Aaron Ramsey has talent, but he lacks the speed of thought that Fabregas possessed and his more methodical pace of passing may be better suited in deeper areas of the pitch.

Wenger's insistence on sticking rigidly to this undermanned formula is preventing Arsenal from getting the most out of the players currently at their disposal.

A change in formation and team structure could make room for partnering Robin van Persie with another striker to increase the scoring potential of this team.

More appropriate use could be made of players like Arshavin and Walcott in such a setup. Ramsey could be taken out of such a prominent position and allowed to concentrate on a more traditional midfield role. 

Familiar Failings Reveal the Need for Big Changes

The most disappointing thing about Arsenal's current problems is that they are all very familiar issues. Swansea's third goal, conceded mere seconds after Arsenal had equalised, summed up all of the failings of this Arsenal team.

Yet it was not the first time Arsenal have been guilty of such a monumental lapse in concentration in recent seasons.

Defensive calamities continue to happen even as the faces at the back change. When the same problems persist with an ever-changing cast of characters, it speaks to a deeper malaise.

The need to fix Arsenal is no longer about pursuing trophies and satisfying the minimum requirements of being a big club.

It is now about preventing an alarming slide into mid-table mediocrity. Halting this decline will require radical changes to the recruitment and design of the team.