Arsenal Can Start to Save Its Season by Releasing Theo Walcott

If you’re like me, you’re sick and tired of reading the same old articles about Arsenal.

“Fire Wenger,” you read, hoping for something different in the next few paragraphs. Piers Morgan, the new host of CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight that replaced The Larry King Show, said his Arsenal team "need to develop a bloody backbone." It seems that the same old opinions about Arsenal are just being recycled. Firing Wenger will not help Arsenal. It will only help your misplaced anger. Arsenal needs a solution, but they need one that's plausible.

So where does the answer lie for this once-proud club?

Well, hope springs eternal. While I think Arsenal needs to go in a different direction, I don’t think changing managers (especially midseason) is the answer. Nor do I think it’s a good idea to go out and sign a handful of all-star South Americans to the starting lineup.

No, fixing a soccer club like Arsenal is going to take time. There are many small steps that must be taken. Some may seem small. Some may seem trivial. But making large, sweeping changes is never the answer for any organization.

Release Midfielder Theo Walcott

When forward Theo Walcott came to Arsenal in 2006, he was a 17-year-old rising star. He had scored four goals in 21 appearances at Southampton and had also risen the ranks of the England national team. But he’s been lackluster in the Premier League.

In 118 matches for Arsenal, Walcott has scored only 19 goals. He creates chances for others but only sparingly, assisting on 16 other goals. Walcott has flashes of brilliance, but in the past five seasons he has been anything but consistent.

With the move of new acquisition Mikel Arteta, the Gunners will have an explosive front line without him. His £3 million salary could be put to better use elsewhere.

Change Formation to a 4-3-3

Arsenal can change its course, but it will take a better utilization of the players it already has. That starts with a formation change from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3.

Did you see the match against Swansea City where Arsenal captured its first victory of the season? Wenger finally relented and let his squad play in somewhat of a 4-3-3 formation. And it worked! They held the ball 60 percent of the time, had four shots on goal to Swansea's two and Robin van Persie was let loose, getting ample opportunities to attack the net.

With Walcott gone, midfielder Mikel Arteta would need to be moved up to forward. Arteta is quite brilliant with the ball and has clever movements. He needs to be put at forward with van Persie and Andrey Arshavin, who has scored 23 goals in just 83 appearances with Arsenal. This will create more chances for all three players (and make Gunners fans happy in the process).

Keep Arsene Wenger as Arsenal Manager

For all the flack Arsene Wenger has gotten this season, he has gotten some very good results for Arsenal in the 15 years he’s managed the club.

Since 1995, Arsenal has won the Premier League three times, captured four FA Cups and earned nearly 500 victories. During the 2003/2004 season, Wenger’s Gunners never conceded a loss, becoming the only EPL team to go unbeaten in a season.

Maybe Arsenal needs to go in a different direction. Maybe it needs to be soon. But firing a club’s manager midseason is never the way to go. It will only result in fracturing the chemistry of the players remaining. A manager is never as bad as when he leads scared.

Wenger knows he’s on the hot seat, and maybe that’s good. But making the man look over his shoulder every weekend won’t help Arsenal score more goals or win more matches.