Arsenal: Nacho Monreal Hits The Nail On The Head

Nacho Monreal has bemoaned the uncertainty surrounding Arsene Wenger, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, hitting the uncertain Arsenal nail on the head.

The recent struggles that Arsenal have toiled through have been difficult to watch, to write about and to ultimately endure. Like the dying embers of a fire, I have, in resigned fashion, been begging for a comfortable and soothing end with no bucket of water in sight.

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In football, though, there is no end. There is always next season. And that, for the Gunners, is not necessarily a positive note. Thanks to their run of poor form, the club is now engulfed in uncertainty, unsure of its present and its future, changing its infrastructure as it presses forwards, without sacrificing the wondrous times of the past.

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It is this doubt and uncertainty that produces a rather hefty, grey cloud over the club as it enters the summer transfer window. I have, on numerous occasions, stated that this lack of conviction or assuredness is harmful to the prospects of the side, both in the short and long-term. Well now, someone agrees with me.

When asked about the current state of the squad, the future prospects of the team and how they are dealing with the uncertainty that pervades through every nook and cranny of the London Colney training centre, left-back Nacho Monreal couldn’t help but concede that the prevalent worries were harming the squad:

"“For Arsenal as a team and as a club, ideally, everyone should continue. But today these are the circumstances: the coach finishes his contract and has not yet communicated whether he continues or not, then there are two important players like Alexis and Mesut who finish their contracts next season and they are waiting for the coach to follow. It is a situation of uncertainty, and that does not help. But it is not in our hands either.”"

It is the future of Arsene Wenger that is the linchpin, the first domino to fall (or not) if you will, that will set many others in motion. With his contract set to expire at the end of the season, there were growing thoughts that this, his 21st year at the helm, would be his last. Wenger has proclaimed that he has made a decision. Unfortunately, though, he’s not willing to tell anyone.

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The other two central protagonists of the Arsenal past and, hopefully, future, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, are both caught amid contract struggles themselves. The expectation is that they will indeed leave North London in the summer. Whether they will or not remains to be seen. However, what the club needs, as Monreal rightly alludes to, is an element of certainty and truth. That, though, could be nothing more than a pipe dream for some time.