5 things that can make Arsenal title contenders

Arsenal have yet again been on their roller coaster of a journey in the Premier League. They win, impress the crowds and pundits, lose a key player to injury and collapse like a pack of cards. It's a similar story every season and it doesn't seem to change.

Blaming the manager is easy. Fans find him responsible because he's the one who calls the shots but if he isn't able to bring forward his best team, wouldn't that inhibit his influence on how his team plays and the results? Agreed he can make a few signing but managers have trusted existing talents and won the league, who's to say Wenger can't?

Here's looking at five things can that make Arsenal title challengers – and kicking out Arsene Wenger isn't one of them.

#5 Three quality signings & clearing deadwood

The kind of towering presence our midfield needs

While social media is amuck with Arsenal fans constantly urging Arsene Wenger to make signings, most of what's said isn't that bad, to be honest. Arsenal do need reinforcements. At centre-back, we need a top-quality defender who can not just complement Laurent Koscielny but maybe even replace him because the Frenchman hasn't been the same lately.

Per Mertesacker looks like he's at the end of the line with Gabriel Paulista preferred. And while the Brasilian may be the future of the club, it looks like he still has a lot to learn from the likes of Steve Bould and the Arsenal coaching staff.

Elsewhere, Francis Coquelin has been impressive for Arsenal ever since rejoining the squad last December but has since stalled in making any progress. You could blame Santi Cazorla's injury for his form to dither but an imposing central midfielder - someone in the mould of a Patrick Vieira or a Gilberto - is what the club needs. Granit Xhaka's name has been thrown around and while the Swiss has the height and the strength, he's still a gamble.

Lastly, the one thing Arsenal fans have needed since Robin van Persie left the club: a striker. Yes we have Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud and parts of Theo Walcott but a proven goal-scorer can do wonders to even a mediocre team. They're expensive but ultimately they're the difference between winning and losing.

There isn't the slightest chance that we'd sign someone like Robert Lewandowski or a Gonzalo Higuain but someone young and upcoming - yet deadly - like Alvaro Morata might be the key for Arsenal to start scoring more.

The need to clear the deadwood is an obvious one. Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini, Mathieu Debuchy, Tomas Rosicky - even though he's awesome - and Olivier Giroud are some of the names who need to leave.