“We live at the moment in a permanent assessment from everybody, and definite judgement. We find plenty of people can [criticise]. I don’t do that too much. Let people assess and judge. They know much better than I do. We get on with it.” – Arsene Wenger 

It’s fair to say that Arsenal haven’t had the best week. After a disastrous 6-0 drubbing by Chelsea – in Arsene Wenger’s thousandth game at the club no less – they drew in emphatic fashion with Swansea after a Mathieu Flamini own goal in the last seconds of play. It would be alarming if we haven’t seen this before, but since it’s Arsenal, it’s really the norm. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, and after watching that display, we can really say that Arsenal under Wenger are who we thought they were. They’re not deep enough to compete with the big boys at this level, they lack a leader, and they have reached the stretch of the season where every year it seems they fall from grace in spectacular ways. As soon as I saw Arsenal’s March fixtures I knew they weren’t going to win the league. It was a stretch where they would have to face behemoths like Chelsea and City while also playing mighty Bayern in the Champions League. That normally doesn’t end well for Arsenal. Especially not this late in the season. There has to be an assessment of Arsenal before next season. Wenger needs to realize that he needs to strengthen his squad, both physically and mentally. Arsene Wenger is a stubborn fella, so maybe someone else needs to do that criticism for him. Whether that means parting ways with Wenger as a manager (I wouldn’t) or relieving him of some of his other duties at the club (Arsenal really is Arsene Wenger’s club more than anyone else’s – no director of football, no scout network; it’s all Arsene), a change has to be made.