Arsenal will have to make major improvements if it intends on saving its season. The team has gotten exactly one point from its last three Premier League matches, meaning the Gunners have fallen completely off course from their title dreams. Arsenal fell 2-1 to Watford in the FA Cup, knocking it out of the tournament. Now, it has a matchup against Barcelona in Champions League play to prepare for, and a loss in that would knock the Gunners out of that tournament as well.
As players begin to speak up over their displeasure with the club, Arsene Wenger is trying to silence criticism.
Wenger is clearly frustrated. The loss in the FA Cup was just another dark mark on his resume this season as his manager's seat begins to get very hot. Things came to a boil when Wenger walked out of a radio interview after being asked about the pressures to keep his job. Wenger is well aware of the dismal year Arsenal is currently in as he continues to shoot down speculation over his job.
"We have come to the end of a very, very long run in the FA Cup, so it is very sad, but we want now to focus on the next game," Wenger said. "The next game is always a big challenge and you are always in the middle of a drama. It is becoming a farce. What is going on at the moment is very, very difficult to take for the players, but judge us at the end of the season. We have lost a game. We are sad and we want to focus on the next game. Arsenal has lost games before in history and we will lose again in the future."
Regardless of how much Wenger tries to downplay things, if Arsenal falls to Barcelona in the second leg of its Round of 16 match, the club might have no choice but to fire him. Wenger has a great history with the Gunners, which is why he continues to shake off the idea that the club would fire him for one bad year, but Arsenal intended to win a Premier League title this season, and with that goal out of reach, changes must be made.
According to defender Per Mertesacker, the thing that needs to change is Arsenal's attitude. He believes the club must re-discover its killer instinct if it intends to win something this season. That will come in the Champions League. Arsenal and Barcelona will meet for the second time on Wednesday. The Gunners lost the first match to Barcelona 2-0, meaning they will need a huge offensive showing in order to advance.
"The season is not over," Mertesacker said. "We play in a confident way, we maybe lack that bit at the end. What is really important in football, to be successful we need to score. The desire to play together and to be good at a team is there, you can feel that, even if there is a bit of negativity [among fans, which] I can understand."
