Arsenal Win Late 2-1

After one of the worst week's in Arsene Wenger's reign, the Gunners slipped by Aston Villa at the Emirates after almost blowing the three points. Santi Cazorla started things off early with a 6th minute goal, after Wilshire burst forward and pushed the ball off to the Spaniard, who had his first shot blocked and then slotted the second past Villa goalie Guzman. From there the game was off and running and it was a surprise that the half finished without another goal, from either side. Arsenal then dominated large spells of the second half without putting the ball in the net, with Giroud missing a number of half chances, Cazorla sending a free kick over and other wasteful play in and around the box. Villa looked dangerous on the counter on a number of occasions and in the 68th minute a failed clearance by right back Jenkinson was grabbed by Andreas Weimann, who went on a 40-yard run before sending a relatively weak shot past Szczesny. The Pole again looked feeble in goal, but with five minutes left on the clock and Arsenal in danger of dropping further behind in the race for fourth, Cazorla took a nice pass from Monreal and stuffed it into the right corner. Ten minutes of nervy play later, Arsenal had their three points and a feel-good win that might serve them well as they head to White Hart Lane next Sunday for a key showdown with North London rivals Tottenham. First player grades, and then some thoughts ...

Szczesny (5): another average game from a goalkeeper who seems to have lost his confidence since Euro 2012 (when he got a red card in Poland's first game). He had a nice save in the first half and came out well when a second equalizer could have followed, but the Villa goal seemed easily savable, particularly as he got two hands to it. Among our many needs this summer is another goalkeeper to at least challenge the young Pole for the spot.

Jenkinson (6): marshaling for the injured Sagna, Jenkinson put in an average performance, partially guilty on the goal and giving up some needless corners, but did push forward on a number of occasions, though his crosses left something to be desired. Given that Sagna is probably leaving this summer, we will clearly need to make a signing here as well -- for a backup or first teamer.

Mertesacker (6): after an excellent start to the season, the German has looked increasingly suspect in the back in recent games. While he was not directly to blame for the goal, his lack of pace has been supplemented by bad positioning at times. He did have an important header in the second half that saved what could have been a header tap in for Benteke. 

Vermaelen (6): another average game for our captain, though much better than against Bayern Munich. He clearly is not the answer at left back and hopefully Gibbs will be back from injury soon. 

Monreal (7): Monreal had a relatively solid game and pushed past the defender and set up Cazorla for the winner. He appears to be a great acquisition that can help us going forward.

Arteta (6): the Spaniard has not been his usual self of late and though he played decent, the sort of penetrating passes that he offered last year have come much less often now that he is playing a more defensive role. And there are serious questions about how well he's doing that, understandable since this is not his natural position. 

Diaby (6): a decent game for the Frenchman, but nothing special. He seems timid since his return, though he did go in for a few tackles today and did hold the ball up well on a number of others. But as is the recurring theme of his career, he walked off in the 60th minute with another thigh injury. One hopes it is not major, but hope does little to temper continued disappointment with a player Wenger clearly put too much faith in this year.

Wilshire (7): a decent game for the England international, but not on par with recent performances. He was involved in the buildup to the first and kept Villa on their feet the whole game. Also could have easily had an assist or two if Giroud and the gang were more clinical. 

Cazorla (10): a scintillating performance from the little Spaniard who can, who scored both goals and controlled the game moving forward, in addition to a number of important interceptions in the back. His mixture of close control, vision, pinpoint passing and ability to shoot with both feet makes him one of the signings of the season. One wonders if he should stay out on the left, but that would leave out our dangerous German international Podolski, unless he moves to the middle.

Walcott (5): Walcott was largely invisible in the game and his pace did little to upset the Villa defense. His passing was circumspect and he didn't take the two decent chances he had. A forgettable game for a player who seems to be losing a little form as the season moves toward its conclusion. Hope he gets back on track next week.

Giroud (5): Giroud certainly contributes in every game, with his heading and passing, but he misses far too many clear chances to score. Think if he had put in that clear chance against Bayern in the second half this week? It would have been 2-2 and who knows what would have happened from there? I can think of at least six games this year where misses by Giroud in the second half directly led to us losing points (including four in the first two games). It is his first year in the EPL and he certainly has the tools to succeed but he needs to finish a higher percentage of his chances, work on his movement in the box and look up more often to pick out teammates, as he had an easy pass to give us a 2-0 lead before the Villa equalizer.       

Subs: 

Ramsey (7): another solid performance from the Welshman who seems to have recuperated his confidence and flair, but without all the errors we were seeing earlier in the campaign. He led the attack forward on a number of occasions after coming on and kept the ball moving to keep Villa at bay in the latter stages. If he could add a few goals, he could be a great backup to Cazorla or Wilshere; though I'm less certain of him in the more defensive position as he has a tendency to go in for dangerous tackles that let defenders by (a penchant of Vermaelen as well this year).

Podolski (n/a): came on for Jenkinson in the 76th minute and let two golden opportunities go wanting. The first was a beautiful pass across goal by Cazorla that Pod failed to get to and the second was a ball in the box that he didn't fight hard enough to get on goal. One does wonder if he should play through the middle at times though, letting Cazorla stay out on the left wing, where he was magical. Wenger has only played him through the middle once this season and that might be an alternative if Giroud continues to blow chances.
 
Koscielny (n/a): came on in stoppage time and looked less than thrilled with the late cameo. Kos has to find his old form or find himself relegated to the bench for the foreseeable future. 

So an important three points. Questions still remain about the back four and Sz, though Fabianski and Mannone are clearly not the answer in goal. Fabianski made his long awaited comeback in the under 21s and shipped four goals to the young Tottenham side midweek. An interesting article in Bleacher Report today argued that the real problem with Arsenal's defending is the team organization and I think there is a lot of truth in that argument. Not only do we lack a natural defensive mid, but the forward players too often fail to get back or fight for the ball when they lose it. A few games this season, Arsenal have pressed up the entire 90 minutes and this has yielded positive results, but too often our midfielders and forward players give up the ball and we get caught on the counter. Even the best defenders in the world look bad when they are chasing back and Steve Bould has clearly not had the intended effect on the squad. Maybe there is another coach that can help this summer, as this is clearly one of Wenger's weaknesses. 

Two big matches are upcoming, on the road at Tottenham and at home against Everton. We really need six points in the those games, and if we accomplish that feat, we move into the driver's seat for fourth place. We will have to shore up our defense though and be more clinical in front of goal. But even a draw in either could spell doom for our Champion's League ambitions. I have been pushing for Wenger to step down at the end of the season, but that seems unlikely now. He supposedly has money to spend and one hopes he spends it wisely. To be fair, our three signings this summer have played well in spells, though Giroud has disappointed at key moments throughout the season. Monreal seems to have been a clever signing as well this winter and may be more solid than the oft-injured Gibbs -- but either way gives us rotation at a spot that has caused us trouble since Clichy left almost two years ago. Many of our disappointments will be off the books come summer as well and if we sign a keeper, central back, right back, defensive mid and striker, we could be a force to reckon with next year. We now have a young core that could push us forward with some older internationals who need to up their games. Wilshere will probably take the captaincy this summer and his leadership and drive could be just what the squad needs to regain their confidence and start getting results. There will be big names available but the allure of the Champions League will be key to signing them so hopefully we continue our run of wins in the EPL (and ignore the disappointments in every other competition). 

The reality is I have been one of the fans overreacting to our losses, but Wenger should have made the necessary signings in the summer or winter window to give us a better chance in the league, FA Cup and Champions League. The failure to do so, together with a team lacking confidence and some key injuries, has led to the most disappointing campaign in Wenger's tenure (a tenure that can now be split into two halves -- one brilliant and the other far below par).
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