Breaking Down Who Is to Blame for Arsenal’s Continued Premier League Failure

This season, Arsenal failed to win the Premier League for the 12th consecutive campaign. This year feels particularly disappointing, given the opportunity that was clearly presented to the Gunners.

With so many other challengers falling by the wayside, the path ought to have been clear for them to snatch the league for themselves. Instead, the prize was ultimately claimed by unlikely heroes Leicester City.

There are a number of factors which explain why Arsenal fell short. However, the uncomfortable reality is that the focus always comes back to their long-serving manager, Arsene Wenger.

One of the problems that Arsenal have suffered with since the departure of Robin van Persie in 2012 is the lack of a top-class goalscorer.

Olivier Giroud has tried manfully to fill the void, but he appears to have hit a wall this season. The France international recently ended a four-month Premier League goal drought, going between early January and May without finding the net.

Perhaps the manager should have done more to improve Arsenal’s firepower. Although he could not have anticipated such a prolonged barren spell, Wenger has been aware of Giroud’s limitations for some time.

The Gunners boss recently lamented to Sky Sports: “We don’t have anybody with 20 goals in the league, so that is a handicap”.

It’s a good point—title-winning sides typically have a prolific goalscorer as their spearhead. However, Giroud has never hit 20 Premier League goals. Rather than gamble on him reaching that landmark this term, the Gunners boss could have moved to bring in a more reliable finisher.

Similarly, he should not have put quite so much faith in Theo Walcott as the alternative to Giroud. A flurry of goals at the back end of last season convinced Wenger to give Walcott a new deal and a new position as a central striker.

Per Vaishali Bhardwaj of the Evening Standard, Wenger boasted earlier in the season that Walcott could become a “prolific goalscorer” and that he had to potential to get “around 20 goals without any problem.”

How foolish that prophecy appears now. Walcott has just nine goals in all competitions, and he has followed Giroud’s lead in enduring a hugely difficult second half of the season.

Had Wenger splashed out to sign a superior forward last summer, Arsenal’s chances would have been significantly improved.

They simply haven’t been clinical enough. According to Squawka, Mesut Ozil has created a ludicrous 141 goalscoring chances in the Premier League this season. The …

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