1. Arsenals Management Has Encouraged and Tolerated a Culture of Mediocrity on the Pitch
While I find the team selection to be off the boil, the transfer policy are Arsenal is downright criminal. Arsenal is still a talented team. However the transfer policy and wage structure has created a culture of mediocrity which cripples the team. The transfer policy ensures that the players will always see a great player walk out the door every summer. The Robin Van Persie saga is Arsenals problem. Arsenal actually did fantastic buying business in the off season. Giroud came in, Podolski came in, a new creative heart for the team came in the form of Santi Cazorla. Two classy finishers being supplied by Cazorla in the advanced midfield position and Alex Song from the back. Theo Walcott wreaking havoc with his pace. The leading scorer in the French league coming off the bench to give Arsenal a big target man and plan B option. So when Van Persie said he would not sign a new contract what would a club that was intending to finish higher than it did last year do? They would have kept him and sacrificed the 24 million pounds. When RVP walked out the door it was not only the best player on the team walking out, not only the captain leaving, but it was the hope of legitimately challenging for the title. It was the individual skill, the magic, and the ability to pull a goal out of nowhere to inspire your club. It was yet another reinforcement of the notion that Arsenal is a mediocre club that isnt striving to dominate the league, but rather to get by and make money. And every star that walks out of the door replaced by a good player who may eventually become a great player reinforces that culture and weakens the fabric of the team. Well be having this discussion again with Sagna / Jenkinson or with Walcott / Oxlade-Chamberlain. Additionally the wage structure promotes the same mediocre culture by limiting the ability of the club to attract incoming star level talent to replace the outgoing, and by limiting the ability of the club to get rid of underperforming players. The first point is self evident. However, the second is often times understated. Of course there are many articles on the financial waste of having players in the squad who will not play a meaningful role in the squad. However it is not just financial waste. There are a host of players at Arsenal, such as Squillaci, who are surplus to requirements, but because of their inflated salaries are content to sit at Arsenal. One of the things that a team needs is hungry players coming up pushing the first team. Instead the Arsenal squad is filled with surplus players who know that they will 1) never get game time and 2) never make the kind of money they are making at Arsenal. Im sure that leads to an intense and focused squad needed to succeed in the league.