Arsenal News: 7 Players Who Need to Step Up with the Loss of Cesc Fabregas

Now that Cesc Fabregas has finally left Arsenal, the North London club needs to step up and take action.

They won't do any better than last season with their captain gone, so players in the Arsenal squad need to step up and improve their play in order to compensate for the loss of Cesc Fabregas. The media keeps raving on about how Arsenal is crumbling, so the youngsters at the Emirates must prove them wrong by showing that they can win without Fabregas.

Here are seven players at Arsenal that have to step up this season to fill the void created by Fabregas' departure.

Andrei Arshavin

The Russian dynamo is one of the most experienced players at Arsenal, but after his dip in form last season many fans were quick to doubt Arshavin, and some even demanded he be sold.

However, Arshavin has looked sharp in preseason and in Arsenal's matches so far in their 2011-12 campaign. Although he has the tendency to wander off at certain points in matches, when he's at his best he can be the best player on the pitch, as he clearly displayed against Barcelona last season. 

The 30-year-old happens to be a brilliant playmaker, and one of his greatest qualities is his creativity. Because Arsenal are currently lacking that exact quality in midfield, Arshavin needs to step up and try to be the creative presence in midfield for Arsenal week in week out.

Theo Walcott

Many insist that Theo Walcott relies on Cesc Fabregas to score goals, and think that his success will be stunted this season without the Spanish playmaker.

So now that Cesc Fabregas is gone, what's Walcott done? He's scored Arsenal's first goal of the season, making an incredible run from the midfield to finish off Aaron Ramsey's cross perfectly. Not only did the England international silence doubters, but he sealed a crucial victory for Arsenal.

Theo Walcott needs to keep putting in performances like that consistently. He's often brilliant for the first 20 minutes of a match, but fades off later. This means he can be an excellent impact sub, as well as getting the Gunners off to good starts with early goals.

As the fastest player in the Premier League, Theo Walcott can also be one of the best if he uses his blistering pace to its full potential. I predict that he can score over 15 goals in all competitions this season if he takes his performances to the next level and steps up for Arsenal.

Alex Song

Alex Song was arguably Arsenal's most improved player last season. He went from a being struggling youngster to the backbone of Arsenal's midfield, and is now one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League.

The Cameroon international does a superb job of stopping the opposition in midfield, and his tackles often spark an Arsenal counter attack. For a defensive midfielder he does like to attack, and has actually shown quite a bit of creativity in the Arsenal midfield so far this season, with lots of positive through balls accurately placed to wingers or strikers.

One of the best things about Alex Song is the way he shows up in big matches. He has scored crucial goals this season against Chelsea, Manchester City, and West Ham, and in general performs well in every match. Without Fabregas, Song needs to improve his performances to an even greater extent to continue to be a vital player in Arsenal's "spine."

Jack Wilshere

After being given a chance in the first team by Arsene Wenger, Jack Wilshere excelled, and was arguably Arsenal's best player last season. He was rewarded for his stunning performances with the PFA Young Player of Year award, as well as being named Man of the Match several times, specifically against Barcelona. However, these individual awards will only make the 19-year-old even more ambitious for club trophies. 

When Jack Wilshere has the ball at his feet, the Gunners have significantly more composure about them. The England international (yes, at 19 years old) has an outstanding vision of the pitch and is a superb playmaker. His dribbling abilities are also incredible, with extremely quick feet to make it look easy getting around world class defenders.

He was often Arsenal's best player on the pitch, but strangely he only racked up two goals and an assist in all competitions. Nonetheless, he still created many of the chances that turned into goals, but he definitely knows what he can do to step up his game, and that's to start scoring and assisting more goals.

When he returns from injury, Jack Wilshere will need to do the impossible: have a better season than 2010-11. Without Fabregas, the young Englishman must make himself the main man in the Arsenal midfield, and if there's anyone who's capable of doing that, it's Jack Wilshere.

Aaron Ramsey

Aaron Ramsey was inevitable to make this list: he's been labelled as Cesc Fabregas' successor time and time again.

He's been one of Arsenal's most promising young midfielders, but after a horrifying leg-breaking tackle from Ryan Shawcross, the Welshman was sidelined for about a year and many doubted whether or not Ramsey could pick up where he left off. However, he couldn't have recovered better from the injury, scoring the winning goal against Manchester United in one of his first matches back in the squad. 

At just age 20, Aaron Ramsey has been elected as the captain for Wales, which is simply incredible. But the young playmaker has an enormous amount of pressure on his shoulders to replace Fabregas, and although he's impressed since his return, he still has a long way to go before becoming Fabregas' successor.

That's not to say Ramsey doesn't have the potential to do so, and over time he could very possibly be one of the best midfielders in the world. His performances this season will be absolutely crucial to Arsenal's campaign, and out of all the players on this list he may be the one who needs to step up his game the most.

Robin Van Persie

Whereas Aaron Ramsey has the potential to be the successor to Cesc Fabregas as a player, Robin van Persie is literally the successor to Cesc Fabregas as the next captain for Arsenal. And the pressure is on for the Dutchman.

As one of the most experienced players in the squad, Van Persie has the potential to be a great leader for the Gunners. He's been at the club when the likes of Thierry Henry and even Dennis Bergkamp were there, and can be a real influence to the other players. However, there's also the possibility that Van Persie could fail as a captain, and that he might not be able to bring the squad together in a rough patch for Arsenal FC.

Robin van Persie and Arsenal's 2011-12 season depends on whether or not the Dutchman can step up to be a great captain for Arsenal, and if he can continue his prolific goal-scoring form from last season. Like Arsene Wenger said, van Persie can be Arsenal's superman. If he can rise to the occasion, then van Persie may very well be the Gunners' hero this season.

Arsene Wenger

Yes, I know he may not be a player, but he desperately needs to step up.

After the sales of Fabregas, Clichy, Eboue, and soon-to-be Nasri, Arsene Wenger has about £70 million to spend. That's enough to buy just about any player he wants.

But it worries other fans, and myself, that Wenger could let all of this money go to waste. This is the darkest moment in Wenger's career with Arsenal, and with the kind of cash Arsenal have acquired, "the Professor" has the chance to turn the Gunners around and prevent them from crumbling.

He needs to start getting serious in the transfer market and strengthen the areas of the squad that he knows need to be strengthened. He's said it countless times that he has to add to the midfield and defense, so the Frenchman must live up to his promise and make some bold moves in the remaining few days of the transfer window. No more youngsters; Arsenal needs players that will affect the team now.

More than any player in the squad, Arsene Wenger absolutely needs to step up, because Arsenal fans will not be happy if they have to go a seventh year trophyless.