Late Collapse for Arsenal Again

There are many positives to take from the 2-2 draw with Swansea today in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, but with the replay looming, one has to feel the Gunners missed out on a golden opportunity for a come-from-behind win. I'm not sure anyone saw four goals coming after the first half performance of both teams, but the Gunners dominated the second 45, minus a few defensive snafus that again cost them dearly. Down 1-0 with 20 minutes to play, the Gunners started running rampant on a Swans team that seemed completely out of sorts. Two goals finally came after the relentless pressure, the first from Podolski on a clever finish and the second a booming volley from Gibbs (who finally shot in the box!!!!). But like has so often been the case over the past several years, the team went lax in the final few minutes and ceded a goal that included a bad clearance from Gibbs, poor closing by Sagna, the failure of Arteta to challenge the shooter and Szczesny flopping to the ground far too early. Certainly a draw is better than a loss, but a number of issues continued to rear their ugly head in this one. Let's take a look at some takeways from the game:

1. Finishing: if Wenger doesn't bring in another striker this transfer window, it is merely the latest blunder in a series of blunders by the manager. Yes Huntelaar and Ba are now gone, but there are still a few prospects out there, and I personally would take David Villa even at his age (31). We need finishers and we need people who can come in and make a difference. Now that we have let Chamakh go out on loan, it is a glaring missing piece and should be addressed immediately.

2. Walcott: Theo seems to be a talking point every week. Today he was supposed to be playing on the wing, but kept swooping into the middle and thus elminated an element of our attack, particularly as Sagna seems to still be a step slow and his crosses less than stellar (though he had a better game than the last two). But more troubling then a few missed opportunities was him taking free kicks. Non one seems to expect him to but himself, and he somehow has gained the power to simply tell Arteta and Cazorla (both better) that he is going to take them. His ineptitude cost us some opportunities and after doing a better job with corners, he was less than average today. Arsenal were on the ascendancy most of the second half and could easily have scored three or four, but I feel Walcott did little to help the cause.

3. Ramsey on the wing: Ramsey had his best game in a while for the Gunners, but that still included missing two golden opportunities to score and two other half chances. He doesn't have the speed or technique at present to get free down the wing and he thus hurt our attack often. On defense, he may be better than Podolski or Gervinho, but he has a tendency to overcommit and allow defenders to get past him -- made more glaring because of Gibbs penchant for playing out of position and not getting back. Ramsey might be slowly coming back into form, though one slightly above average game is not a trend, but playing him on the wing makes little sense. When he was subbed for Podolski, we had two goals within ten minutes or so. What this all means to me, given the absence of Gervinho for the next month and his terrible run of form in general, is that we need a winger. Why we pulled out of the Zaha race is beyond me, but we should get back in or find another suitable player to compete in that position. 

4. Arteta/Midfield: I think he had an only slightly above average performance, but as the Gunners pushed forward, I think we saw what he could do in a more advanced position. It is time to stop asking for and receive the defensive midfielder we so desperately need. Again, it is up to Wenger but let's hope he brings in someone. I also think we should be resting Wilshire a little more as his form has really dropped of late. Why not give Rosicky some time on the pitch? Or move Ox back to midfield and give him a shot in that place. Cazorla has also suffered of late and could use a break, or maybe playing out on the wing on occasion. Defenders seem to have figured him out and his passing has become a bit more erratic.

5. Wenger, Wenger, Wenger: I have become one of the biggest critiques of the coach of late (with my tiny readership, I'm not sure I count), but we can again ask some questions. For one, why not give Jenkinson a run out after two really poor performances from Sagna? For another, can you please think before you sub (or why you are not subbing)? When you grab a late 2-1 lead, doesn't it make sense to send in some defensive cover? Coquelin and Vermaelen were sitting on the bench and one has to believe that bringing them in might have made a difference in that late equalizer. It was shambolic defending yet again from a squad that plays well for long stretches and then just goes to sleep when it matters most. The first goal was terrible and the second followed a sea of errors. Wenger seems unable or unwilling to sign the players that could take this team to the next level. He has about three weeks to fix that, but we will have already played games against three key rivals by then. I just hope the board is starting to see what everyone else does -- Wenger and Arsenal both need a change. A final point about Wenger: the lack of confidence in him and the club has cost us a number of targets over the past three years alone. Let's look at an abbreviated list: Mirallas (Everton), Mata, Hazard, Ba (Chelsea), Holtby, Vertonghen (Tottenham), Huntelaar (stayed at Schalke), etc. Without David Dein Arsenal have had to settle for less far too often. If one just looks at one of these players -- Juan Mata -- they see the key engine in the Chelsea attack for over a season.

So we will have to fit this replay into our already busy January schedule now and have arguably played better on the road than at home. Hopefully, we can show that same drive that led to the comeback -- but Swansea has certainly had our number in recent match-ups. Looking at the game overall, Arsenal dominated  possession in the first half without creating any chances then were constantly dangerous in the second by missed a lot of chances to put the game away. Some of that goes down to poor finishing, particularly an open header by Giroud. We need reinforcements, but Wenger also needs to instill belief in a team that seems fragile no matter what the score. 

FA Cup Roundup
Taking a look at a couple of other key matches from the 3rd round, we again see how painful it was to send RVP to Manchester United. It is exactly the sort of signal to me of how wrong Wenger has gotten it over the past seven years. RVP saved the Red Devils a rematch with his delightful late equalizer -- the sort of heroics we clearly miss this season. Liverpool, on the other hand, were given all they could take from a lively Mansfield side -- and only won because of four decisions going their way. After a lively start, and Sturridge's first goal for his new club, Liverpool stepped off the acceleration and then suffered through a torrid second period when Mansfield very easily could have gone ahead. What stopped it was the failure to award any of the three handballs by Liverpool defenders and then failure to see an obvious handball by the always controversial Suarez before he kicked in for a 2-0 lead. Even with all of this bad luck, Mansfield finally put one in and had several chances to level. Newcastle continued their awful run this year by falling 2-0 but Tottenham continues to impress with their 3-0 route. All in all, it looks like it could be a great tournament this year, even if the fans are avoiding attending the games at present.