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What Does Arsenal Have To Change In 2017?
Meta Title:
What Does Arsenal Have To Change In 2017?
Meta Description:
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<meta name="description" content= "If they are to have a better year, the Gunners need to make some
real changes. Read on for a breakdown of what Arsenal needs in 2017.">
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Last year was good, though not at as great as expected for the Gunners. With the title so close up ahead,
we all hoped that we are finally getting the cup once again only to be spending the summer lamenting
the missed chances and thinking ahead of the upcoming season.
And it seems that a stormy season it will be, what with all the other teams bringing reinforcements to
their line-ups and management. Looking at the odds, Arsenal are once again in the top 3, only preceded
by United and Manchester City whose new manager, Guardiola, turned bookies and analysts into
proclaiming City as the top favorites for this year.
But the odds are nothing more than predictions based on the current situation and are bound to change
as the season unravels. Just look at the odds for Leicester City last year. They had 5000/1 odds and still
won, which kind of makes you forget about betting tips and gets you thinking of going back to your
favorite mobile slots. And yes, mobile casinos may not be as familiar as football bets, but they can be
pretty straightforward once you have the most commonly asked Questions about mobile casinos
answered.
But betting aside, the Gunners find themselves once again in a safe position, and whether they’ll make
the final push and re-live their glory depends on whether we’ll finally see some long-overdue changes
being made.
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The Mindset
If there’s one thing we can all agree is that the entire club needs to push the Refresh button on their
mindset and start the year fresh. We’ve repeatedly seen either a lack in motivation among the players
or too much of it, up until a point where our defenses became an unsteady pile of bricks that shattered
whenever it was most needed.
We saw it with Barcelona this year, when the team was so focused on pushing through and scoring near
the end that they forgot about securing the back – a mistake that Barcelona exploited to the maximum.
And despite their successful goal stats in the season, the team proved unable to even win the games
where they scored the most due to the faulty attitude they adopted on the field.
And this is not just a problem exclusive to the defense either. The downward spiral that the team’s
motivation and attitude have been on for the past years is reflected elsewhere as well. You can see it in
Walcott, who instead of living up to his projected potential is stuck in a limbo, often failing to motivate
himself into even collecting the ball, not alone striking it, and even Giroud himself, who at times proved
he could really shine, finished the season with stats that can be gently described as “disappointing”, at
least. And even though Giroud’s case of chronic underscoring may also be attributed to his lack of skill,
his motivation and attitude were surely a large part of the problem.
Let’s admit it, we’ve all envied the Spur’s self-motivation to always go full-throttle on the field, which
made us even more desperately miss the same drive in Arsenal.
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The Transfer and/or Scouting Policy
Arsenal used to be different about refreshing the team and even often took in cheaper players that had
great potential and seemed vital to plugging the main leaks, just like Leicester did last year, but for some
time now we’ve seen a different transfer policy that steadily remains the same every year, even though
some changes are much needed.
Arsenal’s transfer policy has been the subject of much debate for long, most of which ended in pouring
criticism and hate over Wenger who many believed was, well, let’s just say a bit “frugal” when it came to
transfers. But criticism aside, the man has a sound logic when it comes to bringing in new players, as his
approach is to never bring in something that can’t be better than what he already has. But thinking
about Giroud as the better replacement for van Persie is a bit hard to do.
Which is why one starts wondering that if the problem is not in the transfer attitude then it must lay
somewhere else entirely – the scouting. Wenger is often heard saying that if he had known anyone
better he would have went for it, which often makes you question the whole scouting system, especially
after the “overlooks” of players like N'Golo Kante from last year. Whatever it is, Arsenal need to work on
better coordinating both systems if they are to do better this year.
Drop what they already have
Arsenal have always been about improving potential, but sometimes that faith in players proved to be
more destructive than beneficial, as was the case with a number of players who only dragged along
without breaking out of their initial success and becoming better with years.
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Take a look at the British signings from 2012, for example. Out of five signings, only Ramsey showed the
drive to push himself and justify Wenger’s hopes in the group. And Giroud aside - for whom there isn’t
really much more to be added than that everyone will be much happier to see him replaced - similar
words can be said about Walcott as well. Walcott started of solid, and after having his best year in 2013
was supposed to only become greater, but the dream was shattered by his injury in 2014. His playing
has never been the same, and even though he is righteously defended by fans, he never really gives
much more than just enough to keep you hoping. Which is exactly why Arsenal need to forget some old
hopes and let new ones in, ones which will finally end up being realized.
