What Is Happing To Arsenal

Arsenal fans tend to listen when Arsene Wenger speaks. Most recently, he said, "I feel the team fights, we came back again against ‘Boro and this team will fight until the end."

But for many, even the words of their esteemed manager will sound less than re-assuring when one analyses the fact that, barring Arsenal’s fantastic victory in the Champions League against AC Milan, there has been a real downturn in Arsenal’s results as of late.

Never mind that this run of games has seen the Gunners contrive to draw their last four Premiership games, in the process seeing a five point lead over Manchester United evaporate in to thin air. A more worrying prospect for the Arsenal fans will be the form their team is exhibiting as they enter the ‘business end’ of the season, with the team's next five fixtures undoubtedly determining whether the Gunners' three-season wait for a trophy is going to come to an end, or is to extend in agonising fashion.

The scale of the task facing the out-of-sorts Gunners over the next few weeks reads is massive. It starts next Sunday away to the team breathing down their necks in the table, Chelsea, followed by a long trip up North to face bogey team Bolton Wanderers, and then the first of three consecutive games against Liverpool, of which two Champions League Quarter Final games bookend Rafa Benitez’s side travelling to the Emirates for a vital league encounter.

Whilst this run of fixtures would unnerve even the most brazen of Arsenal supporters, the fact that there are worrying echoes of the Gunners' progress last season would seem to only exacerbate the anxiety of the Emirates faithful.

For it was at a similar stage last season when in the space of a few games Arsenal managed to crash out of the Champions League to PSV Eindhoven, a Benni McCarthy thunderbolt sent them out of the FA Cup, Chelsea beat them in the Carling Cup final, and consecutive away day defeats to Everton and Liverpool put the final nail in the coffin of their Premiership challenge for the season.

Whilst the stunning performance of Wenger’s men at the San Siro against AC Milan stands as an example of how Arsenal can equip themselves in a style befitting any title winning team, when one watches the type of displays put in by the Arsenal players in the league in recent weeks then the alarm bells should be ringing loud and clear.

Gone, it would seem, is the breathtaking fluidity that delighted all that had the pleasure to watch Arsenal play, with shining lights such as Cesc Fàbregas and Emmanuel Adebayor on league form alone looking like jaded imitations of the players that started the season in such exciting style.

Furthermore, the injuries to Eduardo da Silva and Tomáš Rosický have seemed to really set the Gunners back, with Arsenal’s trophy push being seriously derailed from the moment that the promising partnership that was developing between Emmanuel Adebayor and Eduardo Da Silva was broken up so horrifically against Birmingham City.

Uncharacteristic mistakes have also begun to creep in, with a case in point being left back Gael Clichy who by twice criminally dawdling in the penalty box against Manchester City and Birmingham City cost the team goals. There was also his last minute infraction against Birmingham City leading to yet another draw, and of course the embarrassing on-pitch implosion of captain William Gallas.

These types of displays would seem to point to the undeniable fact that this youthful Arsenal team are starting to tire at the most vital stage of the season. The cumulative fatigue exhibited by Arsenal contrasts vividly to that of their rivals Manchester United and Chelsea, who are able to boast squads of much more depth.

For example, players of the calibre of Michael Essien, Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba have found themselves on the bench in recent weeks for Chelsea, but the teams winning ways have prevailed.

With regards to Manchester United, the contrast between their squad strength and that of Arsenal’s was displayed in unequivocal fashion in the F.A Cup meeting between the two sides where both managers decided to rest key players. However, the Red Devils' second string simply annihilated their North London counterparts, knocking Arsenal out of the F.A. Cup, and in the process inflicting a 4-0 defeat that would have undoubtedly pleased Sir Alex Ferguson.

Chelsea and Manchester United have also been able to win regularly when not playing anywhere near their maximum. This has not been the case as often for Arsenal, with a review of this weekend’s Premiership fixtures seeing Chelsea and Manchester United winning away to Sunderland and Derby County when playing nowhere near their best, whilst Arsenal dropped two potentially vital points at home to Middlesbrough.

This ability to claim all three points whilst performing well below your previous high standards is a key component of any title push. Arsenal must begin to exhibit this monotonous ability to win to significantly increase their chances of holding aloft the Premiership crown come May.

However , regardless of the poor Premiership form that Arsenal have exhibited in recent weeks, it would be incredibly churlish to write off any team that can boast players of the calibre of Kolo Touré, Cesc Fàbregas, Emmanuel Adebayor et al. when it comes to deciding who will be collecting the silverware on offer come seasons end.

It is not like Arsenal have stopped creating chances over the last few weeks, and supporters will point to dubious refereeing decisions such as Emmanuel Adebayor’s disallowed goal against Middlesbrough and the highly debatable penalty given against Birmingham City as more pertinent reasons for the side’s downturn in results.

Indeed, this Sunday’s visit to Stamford Bridge could provide the team with the perfect opportunity to correct the team’s disappointing results, and get the club’s Premiership title challenge back on track in the most dramatic of fashions.