Arsenal finished the 2015/16 Premier League season in second place, which was their highest finish in years, but many feel as though they should have seized the opportunity to challenge for the title. Here are five factors that contributed to them coming up short yet again.
Lack Of Transfer Activity
At the start of the season, when expert pundits were making their predictions for the league, a high number believed that Arsenal could go on to win it, if they signed a striker. This was the area identified as being their biggest weakness, with Olivier Giroud not in the same league as top strikers such as Sergio Aguero and Gunners of old like Thierry Henry. Last summer, Arsenal were linked with Karim Benzema, Gonzalo Higuain and Jackson Martinez, but Arsene Wenger eventually decided that there was no need to sign anyone new, much to the dismay of supporters. Wenger decided to initially rotate Giroud and Theo Walcott at the focal point of his attack. Walcott disappointed greatly, and Giroud was inconsistent with a long barren spell.
Not only was the striker situation not addressed, but the Frenchman failed to strengthen the team in other areas. This was evident when the squad went through its annual tradition of losing some of the key players to long-term injury. In January, he decided to go for some cover in central midfield with Mohamed Elneny, which was a case of too little, too late.
Next season, Wenger must learn from this error and sign some top players in the transfer window. He must not stand still while all his rivals make big moves.
West Ham loss
Arsenal didn’t do themselves any favours on the opening day of the season. As everyone’s hopes and expectations were brimming, they lost to a West Ham side that completely outclassed them. This should have been a routine victory against a team that had been so poor in the latter stages of the previous season. By not kick-starting their campaign with a message to other title rivals, many thought that this was a return of the same old Arsenal.
At the time, nobody could have predicted what an excellent season West Ham would go on to have but this was a game that Wenger’s side should have won. Combined with the reasonably kind list of opening fixtures, they could have cemented their position at the summit of the league early on.
“Santi Cazorla” (CC BY 2.0) by wonker
Cazorla and Coquelin Injuries
Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin both suffered severe knee injuries at the same time and missed most of the season. These players were an integral part of Wenger’s plans and their absence created a chasm in the centre of the park. It also exposed the manager once again for refusing to sign back-up players for key areas. The defence were frequently exposed and Arsenal couldn’t dominate possession in midfield.
Sanchez Injury
Alexis Sanchez has been one of the highlights of the Arsenal team since joining from Barcelona. His debut season in England was superb and many were expecting that he would build on that in his second year. His hat-trick against Leicester City at the end of September began a run of form that, if continued, could have propelled Arsenal’s title bid forward. However, he ended up suffering from fatigue which resulted in an injury that saw him side-lined for eight weeks. After his return to the fold, it took him too long to get back into his stride and, by then, a lot of the damage to the Gunners’ bid had already been done.
The loss of Sanchez wasn’t so much of an issue while Mesut Ozil was enjoying the best form of his Arsenal career, but the German’s output in the new year halted dramatically. In 2016, he made three assists, compared to the 16 he had made in the first half of the season.
“Arsenal vs Swansea” (CC BY 2.0) by wonker
Failing to beat lower teams
Wenger’s Arsenal have quite a history of failing to beat their closest rivals. However, this season they managed to beat the champions twice and recorded two draws against Tottenham Hotspur. Where they stumbled was in not managing to bag the points against teams that they really should have swept aside. Chelsea were suffering their worst run of form in years, but the Gunners still lost to them twice. Towards the end of the season, when Arsenal should have been mounting an onslaught on the leaders, they lost to Swansea and drew at West Ham, Crystal Palace, and Sunderland. These were games that they should have won to keep the pressure on the leaders.
All these factors can be attributed to Arsenal’s poor title challenge and improvements need to be made if they are to stand a chance in the future.
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