Five Reasons Why Arsenal Did Not Win a Trophy in the 2010/11 Season
Although it's not May 22 yet, Arsenal's season is basically over.
After crashing out of all four trophies they were contending for within the space of a little longer than a month, the Gunners no longer have any silverware to battle for.
Here are the five reasons why Arsene Wenger's men once again find themselves empty handed.
Not Buying Anyone in the January Transfer Window
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Out of everything on this list, this was by far Arsene Wenger's biggest mistake in the 2010/11 season.
Both he and all Premier League followers know that Arsenal desperately needed (and still need) a strong centre back to bolster the defensive line; however, Wenger refused to buy what was obviously needed.
Both Gary Cahill and Christopher Samba were linked with a move to the Emirates in January, but like most Arsenal transfer rumours, the transfers never seemed to materialize.
For some reason, Arsene Wenger always tends to have a prudence when it comes to the transfer market, as he refuses to buy any player who's just a penny too expensive, or a tad bit too "known."
He doesn't want to make the transfer that everyone wants him to make; he wants to buy the player that no one's ever heard of, and although that strategy has worked to produce some world-class players, it's not winning us trophies recently.
Persisting with the 4-2-3-1 Formation
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Don't get me wrong, this formation does work very well for Arsenal. Wilshere and Song act as the defensive midfielders, while Fabregas, Nasri, and Walcott/Arshavin provide an incredible attacking trio.
And just to finish it off, van Persie is perfectly comfortable in the lone striker role, receiving passes and turning them into goals.
However, you can't win a Premier League season if you never change the formation. Arsene Wenger was very stubborn with this formation and refused to change it.
This led Arsenal's gameplay to be very predictable when it came to the kick off, and this was probably the reason behind their draws with Sunderland, Blackburn, and West Brom, which ultimately cost them the title.
If Arsene Wenger had just switched to the 4-4-2 formation every once in a while, playing Chamakh and van Persie up front, then Arsenal's tactics wouldn't be so easy to predict by their opponent, and they might have gotten some silverware this season.
Using Under-Performing Players Too Often
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I don't think I'm the only Arsenal supporter who groans when they see Bendtner and Rosicky being subbed in for the second half of a match.
To see those green numbers of 52 and 7 on the substitute board just makes an Arsenal supporter ask himself: what does Arsene Wenger see in these players?
Well, that brings me to my next point, which is that Wenger had a bit too much belief in the players that under-performed for the majority of this season. Although Rosicky has had a good run with Arsenal, he's simply not the player he used to be.
In the Carling Cup final, for example, he broke down dozens of chances and scoring opportunities, and there are so many other players on the Arsenal squad who would bring more to the side if they were given the opportunity.
Bendtner, on the other hand, is also a player to whom Wenger has given too many second chances. His ego has its own zip code, while his actual playing ability barely has its own address. To put it in simpler terms, Bendtner thinks he's a lot better than he actually is.
Against Barcelona, he had a chance to score and keep Arsenal alive in the Champions League, but he controlled the pass from Wilshere extremely poorly, leaving Arsenal fans screaming "I could do better than that!"
Overall, these two under-performers are only a few examples of players that Arsene Wenger has kept too much faith in, and if he just stuck to the players that he knew would deliver, we might actually have a trophy.
Bad Ref Calls
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I don't want to make excuses, but it's no secret that Arsenal are unlucky when it comes to referees. I can't even count on my fingers the amount of times that Arsenal has been the receiving end of a downright bad call.
Just this Sunday, against Aston Villa, Chamakh scored a perfectly good goal, but the referee disallowed it because he thought Chamakh was "rough getting to the ball." Even the commentator of the match was saying that it was a poor call, and a "perfect goal" for Chamakh.
But really, that one call isn't even the half of it. Arsenal have had way too many encounters with bad refs this season, but I'll restrain myself from ranting about van Persie's being sent off against Barcelona, or the Vidic handball that should've been a penalty.
There's been so many ridiculous calls against the Gunners in their 2010/11 campaign, and had Arsenal been granted with better luck, this season could've been the one to end their trophy drought.
Losing the Carling Cup Final
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Although it is often called the "Mickey Mouse Cup," the Carling Cup final was the climax of Arsenal's season. Up until that final, Arsenal had been cranking out spectacular results, with 3-0 wins every week, being top of the form table, and defeating clubs like Chelsea and Barcelona.
It seemed as if this season would finally be the season where we won something, so the Carling Cup final was the perfect opportunity to end the Gunners' trophyless years.
The fact that the final was against relegation-threatened Birmingham was basically like a trophy being handed to Arsene Wenger on a silver platter, it was simply a given that Arsenal would win against a struggling bottom-half club.
But due to a last-minute defensive lapse with Szczesny and Koscielny that I like to call a "freak accident," Arsenal once again found themselves empty handed.
Although the Arsenal players are professional athletes, they're still mortal, and the psychological effects of losing a cup final really hit them hard.
Winning the Carling Cup would've released the pressure of ending the trophy drought, and Arsenal would've played with less stress and worry.
Unfortunately they didn't win, and from that point on, Arsenal hasn't played like they did in the first half of the season, gaining only three wins since that miserable day.
If the Gunners had lifted the Carling Cup, this season would've been a completely different story for them.
Conclusion
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Let's hope Arsenal can fix these things next season and end their six-year trophy drought. As usual, a season that once promised so much has delivered so little.
As always, feel free to comment, and check out my blog, victorythroughharmony.blog.com. I hope you enjoyed!
