As I started writing this article, Chelsea had just sacked one of the most successful managers in European club football over the past decade. This might be the Chelsea the way of doing things but it is certainly not the Arsenal way, they are more like the Catholic Church. Change doesn’t come easy to them, they think in terms of decades not days and weeks. For many this is the right approach to running a  football club, after all look what success Manchester United have had by sticking with the same manager. But there comes a time when change is needed in one form or the other and for Arsenal that time is here, whether Arsene Wenger believes it or not.

Now that change can come about one of two ways, one more likely to happen than the next. Either Wenger can change or the club can change manager. However whatever opinion you have on this subject, it doesn’t matter, Wenger is not leaving this summer so let’s not even discuss it. Let’s instead focus on what change should take place with Wenger as manager.

First of all he has to understand why the fans are so upset. Wenger needs to come back down to reality and stop preaching from his high horse. Yes his team is young, yes they play lovely passing football, yes they spend less on transfers than the other big clubs. But they also charge their fans more for tickets than any other club in the world and he is simply wrong to think he can take that support for granted. They also miss out season after season on the big honours when it is often just down to individual player mistakes, individuals that have never been good enough to play for the club in the first place. Wenger has to win back the fans and show the intent that he is willing to flex on his very rigid transfer policies and once again invest in the club. This also means cutting loose the dead wood that has let down the club and its supporters time and time again.

Arsenal also need better leaders on the pitch and this issue of lack of leadership in the team is down purely to Wenger. He spoke a few years ago of not needing a traditional captain as he has eleven leaders on the pitch. Anyone looking at Arsenal this season would strongly disagree with that. Cesc Fabregas is a wonderful footballer but he is not a natural leader of men.

Often when talking about captains, football fans will talk about how the great leaders of a team are like soldiers in a trench, screaming orders at their men and saving lives through their strong leadership. This might be an overly romantic and poetic view of things but that’s not to say it’s entirely wrong.  Tony Adams, John Terry, Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane were all brilliant players and great leaders and the teams that they played for were helped massively because of how each led the players around them.

Back to the Gunners, leadership throughout is missing and Fabregas’s uncertain future is certainly not helping the situation. On the day of Arsenal’s final match of the season Fabregas was off in Spain enjoying the F1 auto racing. This is not a captain, this is a man who is not a leader. Wenger needs generals on the pitch and leaders in the dressing room. If he is spending his time kicking the hell out of water bottles on the touchline then leadership is needed from other places.

Of course the biggest issue that surrounds Arsenal football club right now is the transfer policy of Arsene Wenger and the negative effects that it’s had on the team in recent years. Wenger needs to identify the problems with the team and then sign players to fix those problems. Seems simple but that’s been the issue for years now and nothing has changed. Another centre back, defensive midfielder player and striker are needed and that’s before other players are sold. If Clichy and Nasri don’t sign new contracts soon they are off and a massive headache for Wenger will follow. He has often said he won’t spend £50million on a player, Arsenal fans would agree with that. But they are not asking him to spend silly money, instead they want solid investment in proven players. If a player like Benzema were available for £20million then that is exactly the kind of signing that is needed. Don’t break the bank, just open the purse strings.

Arsenal are at a crossroads then. They are not currently good enough to win the league but neither are they facing total disaster. It is to be remembered that Arsene Wenger has kept the club competitive while they were going through their biggest ever financial restructuring. And Arsenal have in some ways this season made strides forward, beating Man United, Chelsea, Man City and Barcelona over the course of the season, they were losing these big matches last season. However Arsenal once again crumbled this season when success was close and Arsenal are now moving past some of the financial issues that have held them back over the past five years and fans simply won’t accept this as an excuse for failure anymore. Especially when they are still asked to pay top dollar in order to support the team. For those fans fourth is not good enough and either is another season full of excuses and self pity.

Change is needed this summer at the Emirates in order to move the club forward and appease the disgruntled fans who feel let down by Wenger and his policies. Arsenal have a young promising squad of players, a manager who knows how to win the league and a stadium that generates more revenue than any other club in the country. These are positives. However these things were also true a year ago and twelve months on the situation at the club seems no brighter.

Simon Heptinstall