Former Arsenal defender Paul Merson believes that manager Arsene Wenger may have ruined the club’s opportunity to win the league title – after a decade’s absence – by not signing any players in January.
Arsenal appeared to be in a strong position to lift the first league title since the 2003-04 season only four weeks ago. However, they have now slipped to fourth place after a run of four league matches without a win. Arsene Wenger remains confident that the club can return to winning ways soon enough to avoid a major dent in the title hopes, but Merson believes that the opportunity may have already been lost.
Arsenal have fallen five points behind table leaders Leicester City, but many consider Manchester City as the realistic title challengers. City have been able to go from a position of deficit into a two-point advantage in the space of a few weeks. Even though there are still 14 matches left in the season, Merson says that City are appearing very strong now. Arsenal do not have any advantage in the form of other competitions apart from the League Cup. City will be playing in the final of this competition and it will be a source of more energy sapping.
Since the gunners are involved in three competitions themselves, this advantage is likely to be negated. “I was very disappointed Arsenal didn’t do more business on Deadline Day. They needed a centre forward, they need to score goals. All the clubs down the bottom signed strikers to help them avoid relegation, and it’s the same if you’re going for titles, you need to score goals. If Olivier Giroud gets injured, Arsenal are in major trouble in terms of winning the league,” said Merson. Arsenal continue to rely heavily upon French striker Giroud for their goals.
