Arsenal: Time to Bring Out the Chequebook!

When the summer transfer window closed, there was a considerable amount of discontent among Arsenal fans. The manager might have tried to get in one player at the very end, but nothing happened.

At that moment, most Arsenal fans must have thought about a worst-case scenario. What is the worst thing that can happen to Arsenal with the current crop of players?

In my case, the worst-case scenario was that this team might lose three games at most and be fourth by December.

Of course, the Premier League has become a difficult league to predict, but this team has dropped points against teams which people would have expected it to beat, and convincingly at that. 

Things are worse at Arsenal than my worst-case scenario today.

Forget about Emmanuel Adebayor's sending off in the Liverpool game. He has been as ineffective as most of the Arsenal players this season, but his attitude has been abysmal. He didn't seem to be interested in the game against Liverpool and looked like he was lazing around. He can come out and say whatever he wants in the press, but if you don't perform on the pitch—words will always remain words.

The most disturbing thing to notice as an Arsenal fan is how disjointed this team looks. This team doesn't look like a unit at all. Everyone seems to be playing within themselves and the manager's confidence in them has made them think as if they're superstars in the making.

This is where Arsene Wenger has failed this season. His project of bringing in youngsters and giving them a chance to flourish at a top club, while commendable, is failing very quickly. Injuries and immaturity are clearly hampering his side's performances—not to mention a distinct lack of interest and attitude among the talented, young players.

The senior players have let the team down as well. Gael Clichy has had a poor season, while I don't really need to mention how poorly William Gallas and Kolo Toure have performed this season. Cesc Fabregas has clearly not enjoyed his partnership with either Denilson or Alex Song and even in this injury-wrecked season, he has found himself deeper (positionally) than all the midfielders. 

Isn't he supposed to be an attack-minded midfielder? Why would he play deeper than Alex Song or Denilson then?

This clearly demonstrates Arsene Wenger's folly. To believe wholeheartedly that this group of youngsters could last 38 games and challenge for the title simply beggar's belief. 

The Professor has been an astute student of the game, and he has got to realise that this decision ranks amongst his worst in his long and illustrious managerial career. 

Of course, it is easy to point the finger at one person. But this team has failed quite spectacularly this season for whatever reason, and this is not a blame game. This is just a time to establish some accountability, and that at the end of the day has to rest with the manager. His players have let him down, but he gave them the license to go out and play attractive football and they have been out muscled and outplayed by opponents who, while are not pushovers, are beatable.

When Wenger went away to watch the EURO 2008, he said that he has his chequebook out. Clearly, he didn't feel that his chequebook had enough leaves, or that his bank account had enough cash to acquire some new players because he didn't buy a single player.

He also stressed that he will look for "internal solutions" in the aftermath of Arsenal's latest addition to an ever-growing injury list. The internal solutions surely cannot be Alex Song, Denilson or Aaron Ramsey, can they?

This team has too many spoilt, and perhaps a certain number of overrated players who think no end of themselves. There are perhaps only a handful of consummate professionals and even they seem to be ruled out of action for awhile now.

It's time for Wenger to bring out his chequebook for real now. The time for games are over. The time for experimentation is long gone. Arsenal fans aren't going to pay premium prices to watch a team which performs like this team has done.

Every organization has to have an effective recruitment process, and at Arsenal the recruitment has been ineffective. The fact that people gave Arsenal a bit of a chance for salvaging some silverware before Cesc Fabregas' injury and now give the team no chance at all after the announcement of his four month lay-off illustrates this quite easily.

My message to Arsene Wenger is quite short and simply—buy big and buy quick—because Arsenal could very easily see themselves out of the top-four position this season.

That's because today, there is no worst-case scenario in my head. This is a ferociously competitive league and no one can take anything for granted.

Certainly not Arsenal or Arsene Wenger.