By Stan Collymore (Former Aston Villa Player)
Arsenal don't need a new manager, they need Arsene Wenger to become a new man. He needs to go from being a dreamer to a pragmatist and revisit the past to understand how he earned his reputation. Wenger's early teams at Arsenal were physically imposing. you'd stand next to the likes of Martin Keown, Patrick Vieira, Emmaneul Petit and Co. in the tunnel and you know there was a fierce battle ahead. they had a mob of street fighters back then-- tough players who stood upon to be counted.
But at some point Wenger decided on a change of philosophy. perhaps inspired by the rise of teams like Barcelona on the continent, he turned his focus to signing smaller, more mobile players. it might be the right approach for Europe, but it neglected the fundamental requirements of the Premier League.
Fans in England want to see physicality. They want players who can win aerial battles, thrive in close-quarters combat and handle themselves in a challenge. The Premier League is a reflection of that, and you can't win without those elements to your squad.
Manuel Pelligrini and Jose Mourinho know this only too well, Sir Alex Ferguson was well aware of it also. That's why Mourinho bought Nemanja Matic to Chelsea. And why he has John Terry and Frank Lampard in his squad, with the likes of Michael Essien and Didier Drogba. Ferguson had Nemanja Vidic, Darren Fletcher, Carlos Tevez, Ronaldo in the squad that won the Champions League in 2008.
These are street fighters, born and bred. If you held a WWE smackdown with all the 20 Premier League, these are the guys who would be standing at the end of it. Where would Arsenal be? they'd be a the end of the pile, having taking a pounding.
Arsenal is fine with 80 percent of the teams in Premier League, but when they play the big teams, they get rolled over. Chelsea outplayed and out-muscled them last week.
The only way back for Arsenal is for Wenger to appreciate the fact, and act on it. Arsenal can play all the beautiful football they like, but without the core of physically dominant individual in their squad they wont be challenging for the Premier League anytime soon.
Wenger could start by signing a powerful striker-somebody in the mould of Diego Costa, who will sweat blood for the team and put himself about. Arsenal also need a Matic type in the midfield to set the tone and make them hard to beat.
If Wenger needs inspiration he should watch the clips of Keown jumping arounding wildly in front of Ruud Van Nistelrooy at Old Trafford. Arsenal had a mean streak back then. Tobe successful, they need to discover it again, and Wenger needs to fundamentally change his outlook.
"When failure starts to be cliched, as it does at Arsenal this season, a manager needs to act"
culled from the Bleacher Report.
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