I’m not an Arsenal fan. But I like them as they play very attractive football and their management, players & fans are a very decent lot. For last few weeks I’m rather puzzled about their present state of affair. What is the problem!!!

Is it the management!!! Are they skimming the cash from players’ sale! Are they withholding major squad investments until the costs of Emirates pays-off!

Is the manager!!! Have Wenger lost the plot in more competitive EPL! Have his ego standing in the way of bringing in players who can make a difference and simply wants keep his habit of buying young players who will leave before making a difference!

Is it the players!!! Do they lack the (winning) attitude and are simply happy to bask in whatever glory afforded to them! Do they lack a leader who can drive them on & off the field!

Even a casual look into the Arsenal squad gives some grim facts:

While RVP is a very good player he is still some way off from the likes of Henry or Bergkamp and beyond him none of the likes of Arshavin, Park or Chamakh can be credit as a 20-goal striker. In the defense, long gone are the times of Adams & Keown. So much so that even Luzhny will appear like rock now a day. In the midfield, I don’t think any sincere effort was made to fill the void of Vieira.

While Arteta & Benayoun are definitely good players (I think both are severely underrated), are they enough for a Champions League contender!!! In my opinion the transfer targets (for Arsenal) can be categorized as follows:

Young but proven players aged 21-24 with 2-5 years experience in major leagues.
Young & promising players aged 19-22 with 1-2 years experience in major leagues.
Experienced but over the hill players from major leagues.

What's that now?