By Karl Matchett.
Just a few weeks after English football in European competition was looked upon as being in turmoil, three of the four clubs in the Champions League have managed to safely navigate the group stage through
to the knock-outs, with Arsenal being the team to perform the most impressive turnaround of all.
Of course, that they needed a turnaround at all in what was a very straight-forward group is testament to nothing beyond their own mistakes and inconsistencies in the early part of the six-game encounter, but a memorable victory against Bayern Munich before back-to-back 3-0 successes over Zagreb and Olympiacos were impressive scorelines nonetheless.
It puts the Gunners into the last 16 of Europe once again and, also sitting second in the Premier League, they'll be feeling optimistic about making serious runs for major silverware this season.Â
To maintain their good positions however, and bearing in mind their current and ongoing injury worries, Arsene Wenger cannot afford to be dewy-eyed about his squad: they need a quality addition in midfield, in January.
Mathieu Flamini and Aaron Ramsey, the last central midfield pairing left available to Wenger, is a mixed offering. Stylistically they work, complementing each other with their respective strengths and traits, but Ramsey's fitness has again been a tricky issue to manage this season. Flamini has now gone several seasons without managing a particularly sustained run of form, certainly not more than a month or two. A powerful, multi-functional midfielder would be the optimal addition to the Gunners' squad, a player capable of playing the holding midfield role (alongside Ramsey or Santi Cazorla, perhaps) when required-but who can also contribute to the progressive nature of the team, especially once Francis Coquelin returns.
Such players are neither easy to find nor cheap to come by, but the cost of failing to mount a serious challenge in the league and make significant headway in Europe simply because of numbers would be an awful lot higher.
Having not spent any money on outfield players last summer, Arsenal aren't exactly strapped for cash. In attacking midfield areas they are blessed with significant numbers of talented players, but each of them in turn have suffered injuries too, so much so that Joel Campbell has come from nowhere to finally be given a chance. The Costa Rican is grasping that chance by turning in a series of performances with reasonable end product, but he's certainly no Alexis Sanchez. No more can be asked of Campbell, but is he genuinely likely to be the difference-maker over the next five months of Premier League action? Probably not.
Arsenal will never have a better chance to end their long wait for another Premier League title. The second 
half of the season will likely prove more difficult than the start, with (rival) teams usually finding new players or coaches settling down into a better rhythm from February onwards, but at the same time the Gunners must be looking around and wondering how things could be more perfectly set up for them.
Tottenham may yet emerge as genuine rivals, but for now Arsenal have the upper hand over Spurs in a mental sense. Chelsea are well out of the running, Manchester United now have to contend with switching to Thursday night matches after falling out of the Champions League, while Liverpool are still reassessing and discovering themselves after appointing Jurgen Klopp.
Manchester City and Leicester City, the latter somewhat bizarrely, are the two who are Arsenal's real and obvious challengers, and the suspicion remains that the Foxes will still drop off considerably at some point. Manchester City should be flying clear in front, but Arsenal lead them by a point at present.
There will never be a better opportunity for Wenger to turn things around with regards to his Premier League failings. A title challenge is in Arsenal's grip and even a single player could tilt the balance of possibility his team's way.
He cannot afford to miss out, regardless of what it costs his club to get his top choice. Add a midfielder, a quality one, and Arsenal may well have enough to get through the next three months without Cazorla, without Coquelin, but with a dominant centre of the park still capable of setting the platform for results.
Arsenal do not want to go into the run of games around the end of January to face Liverpool, Stoke City, Chelsea and Southampton having missed that opportunity, suffered another injury and be forced to play unfit or out of position players in key games, contributing to their own downfall if they drop crucial points as a result and, after all the positivity and optimism that scraping through the Champions League group stage generated, only embark upon yet another "what if" season.
