Why Arsene Wenger Is Not to Blame for Arsenal's Issues

Hindsight is a funny thing, isn't it? Three weeks ago we sat atop of the Premier League and were in a considerably better position than we are right now. My main point is the FA Cup game at Stoke.

At the time, I remember a lot of people agreeing with Arsene Wenger's team selection. They echoed that the Premier League and Champion's League was more important. Well, here we are three weeks later, and every Arsenal fan is slating Wenger for throwing away the FA Cup. In my opinion, Wenger didn't throw away the FA Cup, even in the match he brought on Arshavin, Ramsey, and Eduardo, which showed his intent on winning the match. However, Stoke hit us on the break, as Chelsea and Manchester United did, and won the game.

I believed that what he did was right, and I still do. He saw an opportunity to win the Premier League for quite a while and decided to try and deliver a bigger and better trophy to the Emirates.

Three weeks later, it does look slightly more perplexing considering that he didn't buy a new striker in January. In the end, all Arsenal fans will admit getting our hands on the PL or CL is a lot more alluring than that of the FA Cup or Carling Cup, so I say give Wenger a break, albeit a small one, as he should have strengthened in January.

In my opinion, the loss to Chelsea was not nearly as bad as the one to Manchester United. We dominated possession for most of the match and had eight shots on goal to Chelsea's three.

The only problem is that Chelsea had Drogba, a recognised hit man, and we had a midfielder playing up top. I would say if we had Van Persie playing today, we could have won this match quite comfortably. Chelsea essentially played the tactics I want Arsenal to play.

It's no coincidence that Manchester United and Chelsea want to play Arsenal on the break now because our defence is, at times, a shambles. Individually, all of our defenders are talented, but something is fundamentally wrong with our defence. Maybe the trust between Almunia and the defense is the reason, because it's obvious that Gallas and Almunia don't see eye to eye.

To end, I ask you Arsenal fans this: three weeks ago, did any of you see us getting one point out of 12 so far? I didn't, and Wenger probably didn't, so we should give him a break.