We have witnessed it for several seasons now, the tendency to focus on circumstances beyond their control and simply “feel sorry for themselves.” Earlier in this blog, I wrote the following will be a critical success factor for Arsenal’s  season:

We may find it frustrating, but the mental strength remains the big question mark for this team. If Arsenal wants to win the League the team must be able to handle blows  the current players in the squad have a tendency to feel sorry for themselves.

As I see it, there is no real leader in today’s Arsenal squad, Van Persie as a captain? I am Wenger biggest fan, but it could be that we all are (Gunners fans) and that we are being blinded by our emotions for Arsene.

I simply don’t understand why for several years he has not yet got a real striker…it’s a big mystery for me. It feels like with the game Arsenal is playing he doesn’t even have to be that good.

But the talk after the Newcastle game was of course about the referee and if it was a red card or not. Not about the performance of the team..

The talk about Gervinho and if he should have receive a red card is irrelevant in my opinion. That is not the issue.

This is a destructive culture of the team to “feel sorry for themselves.” And it comes from its manager who formulates it, via the player who would rather criticize opponent via twitter than it own reflects on the team’s effort,  and for the fans who give it legitimacy by spreading it further in other social contexts.

Arsenal has a very important season in front of them, and now almost a couple of very important weeks. To cope with the task, based on a very difficult starting position, Wenger needs to make some important changes. Otherwise, it will never go, it’s the same old Arsenal over and over again.

Now is the time to  make the changes, post Fabregas..it might be the last chance.