Dear Arsene,

We posed these questions around the middle of the season. We are posing them again, as despite the illusion of progress, thanks to a friendly fixture list, it is apparent that Arsenal's troubles are very real. There is very little doubt about your position as the preeminent priest of the beautiful game - the custodian of much that is good about stylish football. If the purest joy of football is that essence which can be enjoyed when team bias and fan-following have been distilled out, you have given fans and neutrals more absolute joy than anybody else alive. You climbed the impossible mountain with your invincibles team. You found the best young talent from across the world and created the perfect window for their talents. If there was a vote for the one person to spend an evening with, discussing football, you would be a forerunner for sure!

And yet...

You stand today at the helm of a club that has not won a trophy for 4 years and does not appear to have any real chance of winning more in the immediate future. Your own fans are despairing - trying hard to bring themselves to think the unthinkable - whether it might be time for you to let somebody else manage the team. People accuse you of being delusional - a man who watches his team get beaten 3-1 and 4-1 at home and says that his team played well! How did this happen? When did this happen?

There may be no simple, single answer - but we have 11 questions for you that you can certainly answer.


1. Why do you put profits before trophies?

Arsenal, like any other organization has a structure in the management team with a CEO, CFO and other marketing, sales and HR type roles. Ivan Gazidis is the current CEO and he is accountable to the board for ensuring that the club runs at a profit. Your job, is to make sure you're bringing in the silverware. Yet you persist in doing Gazidis's job - and it actually harms Arsenal. If you had a striker who insisted on falling back into the midfield - it would make the midfield much stronger, but it wouldn't get you goals. Would you keep such a striker? In other words, if you demanded the players for the sake of the trophies, it might push the organization to find more innovative ways of funding them, rather than stay in the comfort zone of under-achievement. Despite the recent boost of the new stadium, you have stayed financially conservative. Why do you seek profits rather than trophies?

2. why do you not see the defensive frailties?

This season, Arsenal have conceded 36 goals in the League. Worse than Fulham and and the same as Everton. It's one of the reasons why Arsenal were never in contention for the automatic qualification for next year's Champions League. The last 4 games against the top 3 teams have seen Arsnal score 6 and concede 12 goals. Arsenal have conceded 13 more goals than title favourites Manchester United. Surely you see that this is not the path to success? Or do you? Your first choice defensive pairing at the start of the season was Gallas and Toure - neither of whom are positionally the best, though both are exceptional and athletic footballers in their own way. Clichy and Sagna are also exciting talents but not above the odd mistake. Djourou and Silvestre would not make the grade as the first choice stand-in centre-back for any of the other big 4 clubs. But thanks to injuries have had to play key games. Yet, you do not seem to be aware or concerned by any of this - why?


3. why do you never "see the incident"?

For such an intelligent and rational man, you have incredibly selective vision. Why? Why do you never see the incident when it's one of your own players at fault? Some 76 red cards have littered your reign at Arsenal and it could be argued that your lenience is a factor that prevents this from being stamped out. We've grown accustomed to the "I did not see the incident" moment in post match interviews, but apart from the comic relief, is there not a darker malaise lurking behind your partial view? With 52 yellow cards and 3 reds, Arsenal lie 8th in the fairplay rankings, languishing behind Chelsea, Everton and Boro. Does this not go against the credo of beautiful football? More importantly does it also not dent Arsenal's aspirations with suspensions and on-field discipline issues?


4. why do you let go of players so early?

The team that beat Middlesboro 7-1 has all but gone. And that was just 2 years ago. Pires and Henry are still doing the business elsewhere. Gilberto Silva is still good enough for Dunga and Brazil. Vieira is still making regular appearances for Inter Milan. Notice, how many of these players will win silverware in their new teams. Could they not have done the same at Arsenal? Played a few less games, added experience to the team, on the pitch and in the dressing room? Could they not have played the roles that Giggs and Scholes play at United? Or Hammann did for so long at Liverpool?


5. why do you maintain such a lean squad?

It seems so facile to say Arsenal were robbed by injuries. But surely every year half a dozen players miss a month or more due to injuries. Isn't it wise to plan around this? And if you don't have the squad, and you end up playing the same players more often, doesn't that increase the risk of injury? Through fatigue, if not anything else? Your treatment of Amaury Bischoff is nothing short of brilliant - by giving him a new lease of life, you've rescued his career and earned a huge debt of gratitude. But surely, you're just inviting the injuries by over-playing the few fit players. Bischoff might have to start playing before he's ready, thanks to the other injuries. Fabregas was carrying the team for much of last year, and played through the Euros - and has clearly hit a wall - his performances dropped off and then he was injured. Wouldn't a bigger squad and a few good back ups allowed Fab to stay fit and on top of his game by taking the odd game off to recharge his batteries?


6. what do you see in Eboue?

This is the million pound question. Or to go by newspaper reports, the £80,000 a week question. What's the deal with Eboue? Yes he's athletic and fit. But so's Usain Bolt. When you bought him from the Belian club KSK Beveren, it was yet another amazing deal at a million and a half. Yet, at 25, Eboue has not shown the kind of form and perhaps psychological and temperamental improvement that would mark him out as a real asset. In fact, more often than not, he's a liability. Yes, he has had a better second half of the season but is far from an accomplished player who adds to Arsenal's strengths. Yet, he invariably finds his name in your starting 11. Is this because of a lack of options, a self-created problem? Or is it something that you see that the rest of us don't?


7. which young players have really developed well?

Here's a serious one - you have always had a fantastic track record bringing young talent through to a first team standard. But how many of your famed youngsters have actually become world beaters? Fabregas perhaps, but he hasn't yet broken into the Spanish first team as a regular. Who else really? Flamini could have been another, but he flew the coop. Clichy has been error prone despite his fantastic talent. Sagna is great but not outstanding. Denilson, Walcott, Wilshere and Ramsey are all seen as precocious talents, but will they be considered greats once the forgiving tag of youth is removed? Walcott's profligacy in front of goal is already proving to be a curse. What, really, is happening to all this talent?


8. How will you handle the multiple challenges of Spurs/ Villa/ Everton/ Man City?

Quite apart from the already stiff challenges from Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool, who are all at present obviously stronger than Arsenal, over a season, you also have to worry about the challenge from Everton, Aston Villa, Spurs and perhaps a Man city soon. Although this season Villa have fallen away, you can be sure that next year all 4 clubs will be stronger. Villa are spending more, and Man City will sooner or later start to see the benefit of their spending. Do you have a plan for staying in the top 4, let alone being a serious title challenger?

9. Why do you believe that a defensive midfielder is not required to win the league?

Every armchair pundit, every fan up and down the length and breadth of the footballing world has learnt to admire and debate the virtues of the holding midfielder. Makalele, Essien, Carrick, Hargreaves, Alonso, Mascherano - these great ball winners and distributors of differing styles are so key to the success of a football team today. You should know - you've had men such as Edu, Gilberto, Flamini and Vieira grace the team. But one way or the other they've gone and you've not found a replacement. In fact, given the money to spend in the January transfer window, you went after Arshavin the playmaker rather than a ball winner. Exposing your already weak defence to more scrutiny. Have you found a way to dispense with the holding midfielder? Or is this this just your stubborn streak?


10.how do you hope to keep talent at Arsenal if you don't win things?

Flamini and Hleb departed last year. For AC Milan and Barcelona respectively. Adebayor, Van Persie, Fabregas will all be targets for clubs from across the world. You have a strict pay structure at Arsenal that will not allow financial muscle to be the reason they stay at Arsenal. How will you protect and keep the talent at Arsenal as they look for trophies and salaries to justify their talent? Van Persie and Fabregas are probably the most key talents to retain, but how long before they start looking enviously at other clubs for stoking their title-winning aspirations?


11. why would you not repeat the success of the invincible team?

Lets face it, you came as close to perfection as anybody with the Invincible team. So more than anybody else, you could say you know how to do it. Yet, how is it that you have yourself walked away from that model and turned your back on that formula? The typical starting line up of that team was Lehmann, Cole, Campbell, Toure, Lauren, Pires, Gilberto Silva, Vieira, Ljungberg, Reyes, Henry, Bergkamp. Not the same as your fresh-faced team - more like a team of hardened veterans. With the exception of Reyes, most of them were experienced players. Yet they did all right, didn't they? What happened to them? You disposed of most of them, and it doesn't look like you've replaced them. Where is the authority of Campbell? Or the dominance of Vieira? The audacity of Henry? Will we ever see such a great Arsenal team again?

Eleven questions. Simple answers. Over to you!

Arsenal Football Club | Manchester United Football Club | Liverpool Football Club | Chelsea Football Club