by Stephen Mattson

Created on: March 20, 2010   Last Updated: March 22, 2010

At first glance Arsenal appears almost perfect. They play as a team, their style is beautiful, their form flawless, and they win consistently. Once again, coach Arsene Wenger has surprised nearly everyone by producing a team worthy of a championship. But nearly all of the Arsenal teams throughout the last decade have looked like this. So what must they do to finally win at the highest level?

The Gunners desperately need a top-tier goalkeeper. Manuel Almunia is good but not great. Throughout this season Arsenal has suffered from average goalkeeping. The best keepers, like Petr Cech and Edwin Van Der Sar, make games unfair for opposing teams. Even when defenses fail and momentum turns dangerously one-sided, great goalies can produce surprising wins.

During Porto’s stunning first-leg victory over Arsenal during this year’s Champions League competition, backup Lukasz Fabianski proved a failure, and their depth at the position is dangerously thin. If Arsenal fails to win the English Premier League, one of Wenger’s few criticisms will be that he didn’t obtain a goalie before the transfer window closed. If Arsenal considers itself one of the world’s best, they need one of the world's best keepers. Arsenal should already have had this season’s EPL title secured, but average goalkeeping has cost them valuable points.

Despite acquiring fullback Thomas Vermaelen, Arsenal’s defense is still  vulnerable. Much of the problem revolves around injuries to William Gallas and Gael Clichy, but the temporary solution of re-signing Sol Campbell has proven ineffective. Campbell is old and slow, and his recent bumbling tackle against Hull City’s Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink reflects his inability to keep up with today’s strikers. Their defense is too unreliable to win championships

For years Arsenal has religiously employed Arsene Wenger’s strategy of passing and finesse, and the lack of star power on the team has ignited a debate regarding how far Arsenal could go if they were to sign a world-renowned striker. With Robin Van Persie out with injury, Arsenal has transformed midfielder Andrey Arshavin into a pseudo-striker, and has depended on the rising success of forward Nicklas Bendtner. With Cesc Fabregas maturing into an elite midfielder, adding a big-name striker would give Arsenal the needed boost to finally defeat rivals Manchester United and Chelsea.

Time will tell whether these deficiencies prove fatal to Arsenal, but fans are becoming increasingly frustrated with close finishes. For all of Arsenal’s many successes, they remain cursed by tiny flaws.

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