Look who's missing Thierry Henry now

If you hadn’t looked at the English Premier League standings since the first week of February, you can be forgiven for being surprised. The Gunners were at the top of the table back then, five points clear of Manchester United. It was said the title was Arsenal’s for the taking. Apparently they chose not to. Furthermore, they have even given up second spot to their London rivals Chelsea, who many thought were out of the title chase as far back as December last year! When 2008 dawned, they were in the running for four trophies. Now the best they can hope (pray would be the better word) for is the Champions League, where they meet European specialists Liverpool in the quarterfinals.

How did it go so awfully wrong for Arsenal? Simplest question ever: they lack an inspirational player. They lack someone who would fight and fight till the end, someone whose energy could prove infectious at a critical moment. I’m sorry, but William Gallas isn’t fit to captain a side looking to win trophies. Time and again he has made mistakes, and that’s not what you want to see from a leader. Cesc Fabregas, for all the praise he got earlier in the year, isn’t yet the kind of player who can win matches on his own. Emmanuel Adebayor may have scored twenty-odd goals this season, but he has repeatedly failed during crunch games. Alexander Hleb can be an amazing player one match, yet a woeful one the next.

Where Arsenal lost this season (yes, they are out, mark my words) was their difficulties to grind out wins when they were struggling. In the last month or so, they have drawn against lower half sides like Birmingham and Middlesborough (games they could have lost), Wigan (the pitch was certainly horrendous, but it’s still a match against Wigan), and a UEFA Cup spot contender in Aston Villa. Meanwhile, other teams like United, who by the way have lost more often this season than Arsenal, sneaked out wins even on their off-days (example is their win against Derby recently). All it takes for that to happen is a moment of brilliance from someone like Rooney or Ronaldo. Veterans Giggs and Scholes can inspire the rest of the team, while newbies Nani, Tevez and Anderson can get the crowd behind them with their amazing work rate. Chelsea have so many match winners that Avram Grant can’t decide who to leave out and who to play. Lampard, Ballack, Joe Cole, Didier Drogba, all players who can win a match single-handedly.

Earlier in the season, Arsenal were playing so well and were unbeaten for so, scoring goals for fun and playing “beautiful football”, as the press called it, that they were compared to the Invincible Arsenal side from few years ago that claimed the League without losing a single match. Now, you can see the differences. Wenger was hailed for the squad he built. While other clubs were spending millions and millions, he seemed to be picking gems out of dust. Adebayor seemed to be proving that Arsenal don’t need Thierry Henry to win, Fabregas and Flamini were compared to the famed central duo of Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit. Yet now a season that promised so much lies in shambles.

True Arsenal dismantled AC Milan in the first knockout round of the Champions League, but remember, Milan is an aging team that lies fifth in the Italian League. The press called it the end of an era, but that was to happen to Milan anyway. A team with that many number of players over the age of thirty were going to fade away sooner rather than later. Wenger looked at the League Cup and FA Cup as beneath their dignity to take seriously. Lose 5-1 to Tottenham, and supporters say “It’s only the stupid League Cup, we got better things.” Lose 4-0 to United, and supporters say “We face Milan mid-week, that’s more important. We don’t need the FA Cup.” That kind of ideology may just see Arsenal miss out on any trophy. I’d put my bets on Liverpool over Arsenal, despite the merseysiders being mauled at Old Trafford. And if not them, Chelsea (who have the mere formality of playing Fenerbahce en route to the semi-finals) may prove too strong yet again. All I can say is, Arsenal, start preparing for next season, send out your scouts to strengthen your personnel, and respect each tournament.