It's that time of year again; the Premier League is back and with it comes hope and optimism for some, and fear and anxiety for others. For Arsenal fans, it was a mixture of both. All summer we were bombarded with rumors of high profile players that would help us return to the top of the Premier League. The most notable players Arsenal was linked with were Luis Suarez, Wayne Rooney, Julio Cesar, Luis Gustavo and Ashley Williams. Suffice to say that none were wearing the legendary red and white on day one. So what did Arsene Wenger do? Nothing. Granted, he brought in Yaya Sanogo, a young player with unbelievable potential, for free. But Arsenal didn't need a player who would help it win in the future. Arsenal needs to win now. It's been far too long since the Arsenal faithful have celebrated winning a trophy. It's been far too long since the players paraded through the streets of London, carrying the trophy with them in celebration, and it's been far too long since Arsenal fans have been able to wholeheartedly believe in the phrase “In Arsene we trust.” Saturday marked the beginning of a new season, a new year, and a new hope. But it also marked the first defeat of the year for Arsenal, a 3-1 thrashing at the hands of Aston Villa, a team that barely survived relegation last season. Who's to blame for this loss? Yes, the referee played a large role in the defeat, but the main fault falls on manager Arsene Wenger. Two of the three goals that Arsenal conceded were due to the open spaces in the midfield. There was no holding player who could stop them from controlling the midfield. Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey are amazing talents, but neither of them are no nonsense, hard tackling defensive midfielders who can dominate a midfield. With Mikel Arteta injured for well over a month, who else on the team is there that can fill that role? Absolutely no one. This could have been remedied had Arsene splashed the cash and brought in a player like Luis Gustavo or Marouane Fellaini, who would have easily been able to control the midfield and sprayed good passes to the more attack-minded Jack Wilshere or Aaron Ramsey. As of this moment, the club has only two fully fit and available defenders in Per Mertesacker and Carl Jenkinson. Sagna and Gibbs were both injured during the game, Laurent Kosielny was twice booked and will now serve a one-game suspension, and Nacho Monreal and Thomas Vermaelen were both injured over the summer. This leaves another problem Arsene Wenger needed to solve, but inexplicably didn't. Ashley Williams would have been an excellent player to have on the bench and, would have had as a good rotation option should situations such as Saturday's present themselves. However, that wasn't the case and now Arsenal is forced to play a number of players out of position just to remedy this problem. Finally, there were balls which should have been put in the net, but weren't. I'm a great believer in Olivier Giroud, but he is the only true striker Arsenal has at the moment. Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski are both willing, and able, to play up front. But if they were to be moved from the wings to the focal point in attack, Arsenal would lack players on the wing to help create goals. The only real wingers Arsenal has are Theo Walcott, Lukas Podolski and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. If one of them would lead the attack either as a striker or a false 9, Thomas Rosicky, Santi Cazorla or Aaron Ramsey would be forced to play on the wing, a position that is clearly not where they would excel. This situation could have been resolved had Arsenal signed Gonzalo Higuain or Luis Suarez. I think it's fair to say that Arsene Wenger's time at Arsenal should end as soon as possible. It's obvious that at this point, in Arsene we no longer trust.
