Arsenal Analysis: Arsene Wenger's Management and Tactics Are Key to Success

Arsenal are currently at the top of the table, one point ahead of the Red Devils who have a game in hand. The Gunners have been very inconsistent this season losing to Newcastle United, West Bromwich Albion and Tottenham at home but have maintained an excellent away record, which is the best in the Premier League. This week could determine the fortunes of the Gunners, as they take on Partizan Belgrade and Manchester United in successive fixtures.

Arsenal will probably not top the group because of their shock losses to Shakhtar Donetsk and Braga, but they do have an excellent chance of qualifying considering that their home form in the Champions League has been excellent and Partizan have undoubtedly the worst team in the group and have not secured a single point in their five games.

Arsene Wenger has made it clear that the Gunners will be pleased to win all the four competitions and that includes the Carling Cup. The depth of the team seems to be excellent, which is the reason why the manager has played relatively strong teams in the Carling Cup fixtures. With all the major teams knocked out, Arsenal are the favourites to win the trophy in February with only Birmingham City, West Ham and semifinal opponents Ipswich Town remaining in the competition.

Wenger has been criticised on numerous occasions this season for wrong selections of the squad, for his repeated complaints and his transfer decisions in the summer. Laurent Koscielny and Sebastien Squillaci were brought to replace the outgoing William Gallas and Sol Campbell but both of them have not yet been very impressive. Also, his inability to seal the deal for an experienced keeper was widely cited as one of the reasons why Arsenal do not have the potential to win the Premier League title.

The Frenchman has made mistakes this season and no manager is free of errors in my opinion. However, his man-management skills have come to the fore this season and as always, he has retained the faith in youngsters and some of them are realising their potential. Arsenal still remain vulnerable on defence as they have been for the last few seasons but one would have to realise that Thomas Vermaelen's long-term injury has impacted the team in a huge way.

Cesc Fabregas' inspirational form and leadership were key in the previous season and he was the leading goal-scorer as well as assisted in numerous goals. However, he has been affected by his hamstring injuries and has had a stop-start season till now. In his absence, Samir Nasri has stepped up and risen to the challenge. Wenger's faith in Nasri has helped him to be an excellent player, who looks to be at the peak of his prowess.

Another youngster, Theo Walcott, has always had the support of Wenger, who believes he is the future of the Gunners. Though Walcott has not lived up to his early-season promise, he looks to have improved from the last season and there is more to come from the Englishman.

But the biggest credit that should be given to Wenger is his faith in young Jack Wilshere for this season. It was expected that he would retain his services for this season but Wilshere is now a regular thanks to his superb skill and Wenger's support. Let us be frank; how many managers in the world would give a teenager his first Premier League start in the opening game of the season at Anfield?

Andrei Arshavin has been under scrutiny for his lackadaisical approach in the first half of the season and has been criticised for his below-par displays. But the manager has retained immense faith in the ability of the Russian and has given him enough time to find his form. One superb move from Wenger, which has been overlooked by many, is to play Tomas Rosicky in the centre (when Fabregas is not fit).

Rosicky is an excellent team player who will track back to help out his defenders. As a result, Arshavin has less of a workload and drifts to the centre in counterattacks to be more influential. Arshavin is lethal when he is on form and he seems to be in the mood with important fixtures against Manchester United and Chelsea coming up this month.

Nasri is good in the central attacking midfield role but as a winger, he is given more freedom to be in the penalty area and that is the reason why he has contributed more goals. He steals into the box and his composure inside the area has provided a lot of goals for the Gunners. If Nasri was in the centre, he would be closely marked and it would be tough for him to get into the box regularly. Though he prefers playing in the centre, he needs to play on the wings for this season in order to notch more goals.

Finally, this could be the year that Lukasz Fabianski lives up to his manager's hype and justifies the faith of Wenger, who has always stood behind the maligned Pole. Fabianski has not been completely faultless this season but he has banished memories of his horror shows of the last season with some assured displays. His performances in the away games against City, Wolves and Everton were extremely important for the Gunners.

Wenger and Arsenal face their toughest test of this season as they face Manchester United and Chelsea before the New Year and also have to win against Partizan to be assured of qualification. The month of December could be the one which could decide the season for the Gunners, who are looking to end their long title drought. The Red Devils have been unbeaten in the Premiership and a victory against them would taste sweeter as it would ensure that their Invincibles record is not broken.

Last year, Robin van Persie's injury caused a huge dent in their title challenge, and their goal-scoring rate alarmingly dipped in the absence of the Dutchman, as they had to rely on Fabregas to produce something special. However, his injury in March doomed the Gunners to another trophy-less season.

Wenger was quick to snap up Marouane Chamakh, who relished the prospect of joining Arsenal. Chamakh has already scored 10 goals this season and even though Arsenal lost Van Persie for most of this season, and Cesc Fabregas has been a pale shadow of what he was in the last season, Arsenal are on top going into important games thanks to the excellent performances of Chamakh and Nasri.

Van Persie remains Arsenal's most lethal striker and he is capable of launching scorchers into the back of the net using his "chocolate" foot. Wenger has said that it is possible for him to accommodate both Van Persie and Chamakh in the lineup and his tactics have got to be right considering that it might leave Alex Song and the midfield slightly more exposed. Chamakh has provided Wenger with the option of easing Van Persie slowly to full fitness, which is what the Arsenal medical team and Wenger have done.

He has to decide if Cesc Fabregas should be risked for the Manchester United clash, as the Spaniard seems to be keen on making a return for the titanic clash. However, with many important fixtures coming up, Fabregas should not be rushed and should be eased into the physicality of the Premiership or they may lose him on another injury.

The game against Partizan is certainly an important one but even an under-strength Arsenal team can beat their opponents.

Wenger should consider whether or not to play Samir Nasri and Andrei Arshavin, who looked fresh after his rest against Braga. Nasri suffered from a knock a week earlier but recovered in time to provide a scintillating performance against Fulham. However, at the end of the game he looked tired and it looked like he would have preferred to be substituted.

Nasri is Arsenal's trump card against Manchester United and they would not want to lose him due to his excessive workload just like they lost Fabregas in the encounter against Braga.

Wenger has a lot of things to consider ahead of the Partizan Belgrade clash and his decisions could prove pivotal to the team's fortunes. It is easy for everyone to highlight his errors in every game that the Gunners lose but credit should be given to him for steering the Gunners to first place at the start of December.

Last season, Arsenal's title challenge was wrecked in November when they finished the month 11 points behind leaders Chelsea. November was not good this year as well with them suffering defeats against Newcastle, Spurs, Shakhtar and Braga but fortunately, it has not proved to be pivotal in this year's title race.

It is time to set the record straight in the month of December and Arsene Wenger and his young Gunners must fight hard to retain their position at the top of the table when the New Year starts. Wenger is Arsenal's most important person in the title race and if he gets his strategies and decisions right, then the Gunners could win the Premiership title after seven long years.