The main problem with these players leaving is the fact that Arsenal made great improvements this season ,more than anyone thought they would.The chemistry in the team developed and positions and information was gained by Wenger. Now Flamini's left Arsenal will have to rebuild that chemistry with a player who didn't play as much last season in his position.It's like every 1 step further Arsenal progress they take two steps back.It's quite obvious that Flamini played out of his skin this season because he would be in the shop window at the end of it.

Flamini and Hlebs loss shouldn't worry Arsenal fans aslong as they are replaced by "ready to play" footballers that don't need to be babysitted through a season or two.

Wenger imo, needs to splash out some cash on one of the replacements that comes in.

Wenger also needs to tinker with the system and style Arsenal plays. I just think they lack variety and an ability to play ugly to grind out a result. They peg back the opposition and switch from left to right, right to left and look for that killer 1 2 and it becomes predictable in way even if it is great football. An Arsenal midfielder gets the ball just outside the box with room to shot and he passes it instead of having a shot on goal. Wenger has to instill into his players an ability of going direct if that opportunity arises.

The blowtorch will be on Wenger next season. I don't care how much the board and fans love him, deep down they expect a trophy every few years or so. I remember when United went trophyless for a few seasons and suddenly there was talk of Fergie's retirement and so on.

Last season was the "improvement" year for Arsenal. This season was where they were quite capable of challenging for the title and they were on their way to doing so. They bottled it, and there's no way ya can sugar coat that. Arsenal need to introduce some experience and directness into they squad and psyche.

I disagree.

There isn't one player in the world that i have seen that can replace Hleb and the things he can do.
Very few player can just fit into Arsenals style of play,it would take knowing the movement of his teammates and the intricacies of their ability.

"Tinker with Arsenals style"
I don't think so.There is nothing wrong with their style in fact it is the most effective way of breaking any teams in the world.Case in point 1.Undefeated season,2)Champ league final with 10 men.3)2-0 down with 10 men v Bolton won the game 2-3. etc.

What they need is consistency at the back nowhere else.If the back 4 are sorted everything else will fall into place with the team having more confidence going forward.No team in the world control and pass the ball as well as Arsenal at such a high percentage each game.There are teams who can link plays together just as well i.e. Barca,real Madrid and Man U ,but none of thsoe teams can do so as consistently as Arsenal each game.It's the hardest style to defend against as it is impossible to know where the ball is going next.The precision of passing and accuracy and speed of pass,the ability to control the ball under extreme pressure is what all those top teams admire and try to emulate.If it were easy everyone would be doing it.

This season was supposed to be the "improvement" year for Arsenal as well as last year.NO ONE gave them a shot in hell this season and they shocked everyone by leading the table at all ,Wenger needs a lot of credit for that.Next season should be the season when they are expected to win stuff,but the way they are on the verge of loosing these key players that could a fantasy also.
Arsenal's whole season could have been different if Hleb would have gotten that penalty ,that the whole world said should have been awarded.

Maybe this is due to the increase in the number of foreign players in our league. I look at the likes of Giggs, Scholes and Neville at Manchester United, who would die for their club and want to end their careers at United. That is down to a deep love for the club they represent and overrides ANY other factors such as money or not getting a regular place in the side. The loyalty issue FIRST hit home for me with Andrei Kanchelkis who, after having a couple of outstanding seasons at United, opted to move on for money reasons, manipulating his own move away from the club through his agent. Heinze, doing the same thing again last season, wanting to sign for Liverpool........unbelievable, but eventually going to Real. These people are extreme mercenaries, and it appears that Flamini and Hleb are in the same category. These type of players deserve NO respect from anybody, and any team foolish enough to sign them should be aware of their WEAK characters. Harry Kewell is a prime example of when it all goes wrong for this type of player.

I don't believe the style needs to be tinkered with. However, I do believe that some of our midfielders need to take a shot from outside the box more often when given the opportunity instead of looking for that final magical pass. We have seen more success when they took the shot. Earlier in the year, they'd take shots from any place in and around the box if they were given space and we scored goals in bunches. Cesc had a few goals as well in our early season run of form. Then for some reason, we went away from that, and then went back to it towards the end of the campaign.

Taking shots from outside the box does a lot for our style of play. It brings the defenders out, since they need to close down to not allow an outside shot on goal and in turn leaves space behind the defenders for that magic pass from the likes of Cesc or Hleb. Unfortunately, when we went away from that, other teams would just pack the box with 6 or 8 defenders.

This is why I feel that Kranjcar could be a better player at Arsenal than Hleb is. Kranjcar isn't afraid to take a shot on goal when given space; while on the other hand, Hleb won't take a shot on goal unless it's a one on one with the keeper.

Fixed your post Specnur