Yesterday, Arsenal disastrously lost to Liverpool with a score of 4-0 in London, and the scene on the pitch looked as if a UEFA Champions League participant was playing against a lower division club in the FA Cup. This statement is partly true - Liverpool did indeed make it to the strongest tournament of the Old Continent in the middle of the week, but Arsenal also played in it for two decades. Ironically, the full extent of Arsenal's crisis seems to be discussed precisely on the day, when exactly seven years ago they lost to Manchester United by 8-2, and it seems that little has changed since then. It is enough to look at the team composition. A team of average players Gary Neville, who commented on the match on Sky Sports, doubted whether Arsenal players who allowed such a defeat could find a stronger team to play for, and he was absolutely right. The current team is a mix of average players assembled through multiple transfer windows, with only Alexis Sanchez and occasionally Mesut Ozil pretending to be a top club. After the loss to Stoke City, Wenger stated that the team currently has 33 players, which is too many, so before making any reinforcements, this number needs to be reduced. This is where we must stop and ask why Arsenal's squad became so large in the first place. The answer is simple - almost all recent signings in recent years have been panic buys, meant to plug gaps. In other words, instead of acquiring a top-class player, several cheaper average players were bought, and some of the coach's favorites remained untouched. Do players like Joel Campbell, Mathieu Debuchy, Kieran Gibbs, Lucas Perez, Francis Coquelin, and Theo Walcott, who are still in Arsenal's squad, meet the level required to compete for the Premier League title? It is hard to imagine them representing even Everton, let alone Liverpool, and not to mention perennially injured Jack Wilshere, Shkodran Mustafi, who handed balls to opponents in the Confederations Cup, or the midfield pair Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey, who can't move the ball to the other side of the field. Since the 2010-2011 season, 50 million pounds have been spent on Sebastien Squillaci, Kyle Ebecillo, Thomas Eisfeld, Andre Santos, Park Chu-Young, Joel Campbell, Mathieu Debuchy, Takuma Asano, and Lucas Perez. In comparison, Ozil cost Arsenal 42.5 million pounds, and Sanchez - 35 million pounds, while all mentioned players practically did not contribute to the team's victories or even brought joy to the opponents. Looking only at the problematic positions of the central midfielder or central defender, Arsenal could have spent 50 million this summer on one of the players like Corentin Tolisso, Blaise Matuidi, Nemanja Matic, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Leonardo Bonucci, Victor Lindelof, Antonio Rudiger, and Mateo Musacchio. All of them could have been acquired for less money. Match lineup selection The problems with the team's lineup only start with the mentioned quantity of players, as from that number of players, it is still necessary to choose those who will be on the pitch and how they will line up there. Wenger has been criticized for his conservatism in using the 4-2-3-1 formation and not adjusting the match plan to the opponents, but finally, after switching to a system with three central defenders last season, there was hope when the season ended with seven wins out of eight. This prompted Wenger to further copy Antonio Conte, but few note that during the same period Arsenal played only with one team from the strongest six of the EPL, and it was the only failure. The problem is that in order to achieve the same results as Chelsea, the same organization is needed in defense and offense, not just beautiful movements on the grass. Regarding the latter, just a few things about the beginning of this season need to be mentioned: - out of the three central defenders playing against Leicester City, two were in their usual positions on the left, while on the left side, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was allowed to defend in the position he aspired to play; - against Stoke City, the situation with central defenders was the same, and Chamberlain and Hector Bellerin switched places, although the latter was completely disoriented in space; - two central defenders were already playing against Liverpool, but Bellerin remained on the left, while the player in this position, Sead Kolasinac, was left on the bench, and Chamberlain continued to take Bellerin's place. All of this had to be seen while watching a team whose main problem for years has been poor defense. It is not surprising that in these three matches, Arsenal conceded eight goals. Well, at least all of this didn't happen in just one afternoon, as it did exactly seven years ago. Uncertainty "My personal situation has certainly contributed to it (not qualifying for the Champions League - ed.) But my professionalism and dedication are not to be questioned," Wenger said after the last match of the previous season. Here he said that the uncertainty about whether he would remain at the helm of the team had a negative impact on Arsenal's results. Meanwhile, yesterday, speaking with SFR Sport, the coach said the following words: "There is a lot of uncertainty in the team." Does something sound familiar? In this case, Wenger meant that there are no new contracts signed not only by Sanchez and Ozil but also by Oxlade-Chamberlain. None of them is sure whether they will continue to wear the Arsenal jersey in the fourth round of the Premier League. This situation repeats year after year - the club fails to extend contracts with its key players in advance, and surrounding them with average players certainly does not motivate them to stay in London. All of this reflects the saddest truth of these days - Arsenal is a Europa League club. Such teams constantly say goodbye to stars who aspire to win trophies and try to replace them with cheaper players who may shine one day. Despite an impressive series in the top four of the Premier League in recent years, all signs show that without serious changes, Arsenal will have to say goodbye to the Champions League for a longer period. Arsenal fans can only hope that the end of the transfer window and the national team break, the team's coaching staff will use correctly.
