Arsene Wenger Takes Drastic Measure After Arsenal Derby Defeat, Drops Van Persie

Arsene Wenger was "speechless" after an embarrassing defeat at the hands of local rivals Tottenham, and he was clearly unhappy with the team's performance at the end of the match. It was a game which started perfectly for the Gunners, who scored two excellent goals within the first 40 minutes and then surrendered meekly to a decent Spurs attack, bolstered by the return of Jermain Defoe in the second half.

Wenger has always had a lot of faith in his player's potential and in the recent past, he has been lenient with his under performing players and given them a number of chances to improve on their performances. But it does seem that the Frenchman is clearly irate with his team's recent home defeats and is not going to refrain from making bold decisions.

Arsenal have a lot of quality in their ranks but have not performed to their potential and the Frenchman's patience is wearing thin with every trophy-less season. For a successful manager like Wenger who is managing one of the biggest teams in Europe, it is unacceptable to have not won any silverware for the last five years, and he does not want to extend that woeful run.

Tottenham brought on Defoe in the second half, and Defoe looked sharp, and made good incisive runs which created numerous problems for the Arsenal defence. The Englishman suffered an ankle injury, and when he returned from his injury, he made a huge difference to the morale of the team.

Robin van Persie's return from injury has been in stark contrast to this and he has not looked very sharp in the minutes that he has played as a substitute.

Van Persie has suffered numerous injuries and mentally, it will take a lot of time for him to be as physically sharp as before. He was declared fit for the game against Newcastle about three weeks back and he did play around 30 minutes in that game. However, he has played very little after that game, and came on as a second half substitute for Marouane Chamakh in the recent derby defeat to Tottenham.

Wenger has not been happy with the striker's progress with regard to fitness after returning from injury and he expects greater things from the flying Dutchman. Even with all his injury problems, Van Persie remains Arsenal's best forward and it is not hard to see why Wenger is not pleased that the Dutchman cannot start for Arsenal.

In the aftermath of the loss, Wenger has duly dropped Robin Van Persie and rested Andrei Arshavin for the important Champions League fixture against SC Braga. Wenger stated that Arshavin needs a rest having played a number of games for Arsenal and Russia in the season, and Van Persie would do better to train at the Emirates rather than being an unused substitute against Braga.

The other concern for Wenger has been the inconsistent performances from Cesc Fabregas in this season and he plans to consult with specialists on how to treat Fabregas' recurring hamstring worries. The Spaniard was at the heart of many attacking moves in the first half against Spurs where he looked close to his best, but not influential in the second half which was one of the main reasons why Arsenal could not control the game.

Wenger is desperate to secure a trophy, this year and he wants his team to conquer England and Europe. He still believes in his team's potential, but it is understandable that he is not pleased with his team's resilience. He does have a lot of talented players in his arsenal and some of them might play an important role in the upcoming matches.

Arsenal cannot allow the morale crushing loss to Tottenham undermine the outcome of the season, which will be hugely influenced by Arsenal's performances in the next six weeks within which they will meet top teams like Chelsea and Manchester United. He will want his team to maintain their impressive away record, this season and defeat Aston Villa in the weekend to keep pace with the title leaders.

Wenger should be tough with underperforming players, and he has taken a move toward that by dropping Robin van Persie, who will most probably be given a chance to prove his worth against Aston Villa in the weekend. So is Wenger justified in axing Van Persie from the squad? If Van Persie starts and scores goals against Villa, I am sure no Arsenal supporter will have any qualms about Van Persie's exclusion from the Braga squad.