For all the signings made, Arsenal’s soft centre is still their biggest problem

In the space of just three minutes, Arsenal’s home match against Leicester City went from being the worst possible league opener to being the best possible way to start a campaign. A quick fire double from Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud saw the Gunners fight back from 3-2 down to claim a 4-3 win. While Arsene Wenger’s side might have folded before, this time they rallied.

The precedent that was set in that win was shattered at Stoke in the next match, though. The bet365 Stadium has long been a litmus test for the mentality of Arsenal teams in years gone by, and so it proved again at the weekend, with Jese Rodriguez’s goal giving Stoke City a 1-0 win. If the victory over Leicester saw the birth of a new Arsenal, this was the epitome of old Arsenal.

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This season was meant to be different. Wenger might have stayed at the Emirates, signing a two-year contract extension, but that was supposed to mark the third act of his illustrious career. There was the Invincibles era, followed by the era of tedium that prompted so many to call for Wenger’s exit at the end of last season. The next two years were billed as a renaissance.

The club record signing of Alexandre Lacazette hinted at a new approach from the Gunners, finally securing the top class number nine they’d desperately lacked since the exit of Robin Van Persie five years ago. The addition of Sead Kolasinac also gave Wenger more grit and character to work with.

Those two players have made an instant impact, with Kolasinac in particular marking himself out as one of the shrewdest Premier League signings of the summer. But the performance at Stoke underlined how it will take more than just a couple signings to eradicate the culture of failure that has festered at Arsenal in recent years.

At no point against Stoke did the Gunners look capable of gathering themselves to mount a comeback in the way they did against Leicester. They flattered to deceive, swinging crosses into the box, taking aim from distance, but the hosts were fairly comfortable in holding Arsenal at arm’s length all the way until full time.

And so it must be adjudged that Wenger has done little, if anything at all, to address Arsenal’s biggest problem over the summer – their soft centre. The Gunners are a team that lack leaders. There’s something about the club that sucks the personality from players. At Chelsea, Petr Cech was a stalwart, yet at the Emirates he’s just as meek as the rest of his teammates.

In France, Lacazette was renowned as a stone-cold killer of a striker, but he already seems to have lost some of the self-confidence that made him so influential for Lyon. Others have also been sucked in by the culture at Arsenal, with Alexis Sanchez – undoubtedly the biggest personality at the club – still sidelined by a combination of injury and transfer speculation.

This is something that must fall on the shoulders of Wenger. The Frenchman doesn’t deserve all the blame for what has happened at Arsenal in recent years, but he is responsible for the lack of character in the dressing room. He was responsible for the way his side folded at Stoke on Saturday. And he is responsible for addressing it.

Wenger should look at how Jose Mourinho last season turned to Zlatan Ibrahimovic for his presence just as much as his ability. Arsenal need a similar figure. It’s not that the Gunners are a characterless team, it’s just that they need someone to draw the character out of them. Wenger, having coached players like Patrick Vieira, Tony Adams and Martin Keown, should understand this. So far, however, there’s little sign that he does.

On top of that there’s talk that Inter have made an approach to take central defender Shkodran Mustafi on a season-long loan deal.

The Serie A giants are looking to bolster their defensive ranks and have turned to the Germany international after failing to complete a deal for Manchester City’s Eliaquim Mangala.

Arsenal are reluctant to let Mustafi leave, however, having spent around £35m on him around a year ago but the fact he’s struggling to make the impression he was brought in for could lead him to the exit door.

Just one more problem for Wenger…