Arsenal Lose in Awful Form

This team was supposed to be different. Not one dimensional. Stronger defensively. Attacking options across the front line. Maybe more mettle. And then they showed the lack of form that has plagued the Gunners for the past seven years. A game they should win against bottom dwellers Norwich, who had among the worst defense in the EPL, seemed like a good opportunity to get a nice three game streak going before the big Man United match. Instead Manone reminded us why he isn't ready to be a number one, we controlled the middle without providing any clear chances and we dropped another three points to a team that sat back and absorbed our pressure all day, just playing on the counter. Going back to the beginning of the season, we dropped four points against Sunderland and at Stoke as they just sat back and didn't allow many real openings (though we certainly had chances to grab the three points in each, but for Giroud flubs). Now another squad with little forward ambition went even further and cost us all three. That is seven points against mid to low table teams that we could seem to disentangle. Maybe most disappointing was the failure to try different tactics and a tendency to send balls long or send in average crosses rather than try to create from the middle out toward the wings, which has led to our best opportunities all season.

It's not worth offering individual grades, the team was average to awful across the board. Cazorla and Arteta played ably, but didn't create the chances they have been so far this season, though Arteta had a decent chance he didn't take. He seemed to send the ball over the defense too often, without anyone to control the ball and move in. Gervinho looked dangerous at times, but his last ball was often wanting. Giroud seemed unable to bring balls down effectively, except for the nice header to Gnarby's feet. The defense looked suspect on a set piece yet again, and were lucky not to be down 2-0 at the half, after Manone pushed the ball back in front of goal and Mertesacker reminded us why his lack of pace can be costly. The Ox came in but was injured almost immediately and then we saw the little Russian who couldn't in a game we needed to win -- together with the youngster Gnarby, who actually had some half-chances he dispatched harmlessly wide or high. These are players for games we are ahead in, not in the desperate closing moments of one we really needed to win (if we did, we would have moved all the way to fifth, rather than falling to ninth). The top three all won, by coming back, and we thus lost three points in the race and an opportunity to pick up points on Newcastle and Tottenham.  

Adding the disappointing Chelsea performance to the aforementioned two openers and last night and we see a team that is too much like the Arsenal of old. Losing RvP really is hurting us at present and it is clear that these players have to figure out ways to win when they are a little flat or off their game. And I don't want to exaggerate this point after being impressed with the way Wenger built a new squad in the wake of two key departures, but he does seem to have a hard time motivating his players for these tough away fixtures that we just have to win. The international break obviously came at a bad time and injuries hurt (one wonders if Walcott would have come on late to save the result again, as he has for the Gunners and England in the recent past), but the depth we Gooners were happy to see is maybe not as deep as we hoped. Santos is a real dropoff from Gibbs at the moment, the team is much better with Diaby who is, surprise/surprise, out yet again and Ramsey is so mercurial he really can't be counted on an a week-to-week basis. I just don't really understand how flat the performance was. The players had to know how important this fixture was and yet didn't show it on the pitch. 

What is clear is that we must find ways to beat teams that sit 11 back. And that probably requires a natural goal scorer, which I believe we lack at present. Podolski, Cazorla and Gervinho will all score this year, but not every week and Giroud worries me, even as he did finally get his league goal (and scored late to give France a 1-1 draw last week). I wonder, sometimes, whether we shouldn't actually give Walcott a shot up front and see what he can do, as his finishing has improved dramatically this year. We obviously also need another striker up front. Rumors have us in for Lopez, Llorente or Jovetus (sp?) -- with what I assume is an absurd story that we could get Dzeko (which would be spectacular -- he again showed his ability to score late important goals yesterday, with two to save the day for Man City). Last season, Arsenal won several games late, largely with goals from RvP. We need someone to take up this mantle this year or we could find ourselves outside the top four and in a hinterland from which it is not easy to escape, ala Liverpool. Everton, Tottenham and West Brom all look like strong rivals for that spot and the top three seem unlikely to give up their places (unless we beat them in our fixtures the rest of the season and they start dropping points), so we need to start beating the teams we should. Chelsea, Man City and United have all ceded a lot of goals this season, but they simply score more. If we look at the way we control games and create chances, we should be right there with them. But someone has to actually put the ball in the net with more regularity. And given our problems, shopping Walcott seems like a poor choice (even as I would have been happy doing so until seeing his form this year). Disappointment is the liet motif of being an Arsenal fan and it doesn't seem to be abating anytime soon. We really need a trophy to remind the squad how to win tough games (as it seems to have done for City this year, after coming back on at least four occasions already). We have the talent to do it; now we need to put our energy into actually achieving that goal (even if it's the Carling Cup). Go Gunners!