Arsene Wenger is still in a job, but for how much longer, it remains to be seen.
Out of the running in the Premier League, struggling to break back into the top four, out of the Capital One Cup to fourth-division strugglers Bradford City, out of the FA Cup to Championship side Blackburn and then with a 3-1 loss at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, his Arsenal side is under the pump.
Anyone who follows Piers Morgan on Twitter would realise the pressure Wenger is under from his own fans. His decision to sell the likes of Robin Van Persie, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy to league rivals has left the Gunners with a void too big to fill across the park.
Theo Walcott is brilliant but inconsistent, Lukas Podolski likewise. Oliver Giroud continues to misfire. Aaron Ramsey struggles to keep up. Mikel Arteta just can’t influence a game like he used to and their defence is an unorganised rabble.
Time and time again, far too much pressure is placed onto the shoulders of 21-year-old Jack Wilshere. This is a kid, and he is just a kid, who has only recently come back from 15 months out of the game with a series of debilitating injuries. He’s not yet in the league of the Steven Gerrards, the Yaya Toures and the Michael Carricks of the Premier League, but still older, more experienced Arsenal players are turning to him when the chips are down.
Against Bayern on Tuesday night he deserved more. He showed potential, albeit in flashes, but there’s no way one player can shape the outcome of a game for the full 90 minutes against a side with the quality and depth of Bayern Munich when there is no help around him.
It’s this mental fragility of Arsenal, influenced by a manager whose best days have been and gone, that has kept them without a trophy since 2005.
This weekend, Arsenal will more than likely beat Aston Villa at home, but that will only serve to paint over the gaping cracks in their season and potentially their future. 21 points behind leader Manchester United, out of the top four and going into their ninth season without a trophy – a fresh start is needed.
The question has to be posed regarding whether Manchester City’s title defence is the most underwhelming since the reformation of the Premier League in 1992. A 3-1 loss to Southampton, in which Gareth Barry scored the most embarrassing of own-goals, left the Citizens 12 points off the pace with as many matches remaining. They host the European champions Chelsea in this weekend’s biggest match, where even more points could be dropped. And with Manchester United travelling to bottom-of-the-league QPR on Saturday, the title race could be all over by Monday morning.
As the season ticks towards March and the battle for places at the top and bottom of the league begin to pick up, we start to hear more of the phrase ‘six-pointers’. When two sides, each battling for the same position on the table, play each other, it’s not just three points won for the team who comes out on top, it’s also three points lost for their opposition. On Saturday, Reading host Wigan in a vital relegation ‘six-pointer’.
Reading’s plight for survival took a hit when they lost to Stoke last time out, but prior to that match they had picked up 14 out of a possible 21 points since Christmas. They’re still a point inside the relegation zone though, but two points above a desperately out of form Wigan side.
It’s also worth mentioning that on Sunday night (AEST) Swansea City take part in their first major Cup final. The Welsh side travels to Wembley to face League Two giant-killers Bradford City in the Capital One Cup final. Can Swansea, whose turnaround since being promoted to the Premier League has been incredible, claim League Cup glory? Or will Bradford City, who currently sits 11th in the fourth-division and 71 places below Swansea on the Football League pyramid, complete their Cinderella story and go all the way?
PREDICTIONS (AEST)
Saturday February 23 at 11.45pm
Fulham 1-1 Stoke
Sunday February 24 at 2.00am
Arsenal 2-0 Aston Villa
Norwich 1-1 Everton
QPR 0-1 Manchester United
Reading 2-1 Wigan
West Brom 2-1 Sunderland
Monday February 25 at 12.30am
Manchester City 2-1 Chelsea
Newcastle 3-1 Southampton
Monday February 25 at 3.00am (League Cup final)
Swansea 3-1 Bradford City
Tuesday February 26 at 7.00am
West Ham 1-2 Tottenham
Riley Beveridge is a second-year Bachelor of Sports Journalism student at La Trobe University. You can follow him and his footballing opinions at his Twitter account: @RileyBev.
