Another season beckons for Arsenal and as fans hope that their manager, Arsene Wenger, can lead them to another Premier League title, something that they have not won in more than a decade, there is a real fear that the London side will miss out on the crown yet again.
The Gunners might not be the favourites to pick up the title but they should be one of those clubs in the running simply because of the size and strength of the team. Arsene Wenger might be one of the oldest managers in the game of football but even he has picked up certain nuances in recent years.
The Premier League club should actually take a leaf out of the book from Borussia Dortmund, who despite not having the biggest budget in the Bundesliga still do a fairly decent job. Even after replacing their successful manager Jurgen Klopp, they still seem to get better; of course it is another issue that Bayern Munich are also getting better at the same time.
With Arsene Wenger’s future still uncertain, as in when he will let go of the club, here are three things that the Gunners should learn from Dortmund.
Have ready made replacements
Dortmund might not be the biggest club in Germany but they still can attract players, they need to as Munich keeps taking their best players away. Every year it has been the same thing, first it was Robert Lewandowski, then Mario Gotze and now Mats Hummels but the Bundesliga club doesn’t cry or moan about it, they just move on and sign someone who they know can step-up.
They have brought in players such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has been spectacular for the club and who has ensured that no one misses Lewandowski anymore. Cue to Arsenal and if one player decides to leave a hue and cry begins.
The Premier League club have a vast scouting network and they should have replacements for each player ready, since every season they too, lose out on one top player.
Build a team
This is a little tricky one, Arsenal do have a lot of stars in the team but they seem to rely only on a couple of players. If you look at the Dortmund side, they not only make stars but there isn’t one player who stands out as the only person that can make a difference.
Nuri Sahin, Marco Reus, Aubameyang and Gotze (who has returned to the side) all are world-beaters and can change the game. So even if one player is having a bad time, someone else can step up and solve the problem.
Arsenal need to ensure they have something similar in place and are trying to build a team but Dortmund seem to have done more of that in less time with Tuchel and Klopp as their managers.
Plan for the future
Ah, the most important question, who will replace Arsene Wenger when the time comes? No one knows and the French manager himself has not spoken about this. Dortmund knew who they wanted when they had to replace the outgoing Klopp and Tuchel was in fact not managing any side at that time.
The Bundesliga club had decided on the former Mainz coach to replace Klopp and it has worked out pretty well. Arsenal have to plan for this inevitability that Wenger will leave and the quicker they do this, the better the transition phase will be but we do not see that happening any time soon.