Arsenal 1 Tottenham 2

Arsenal's players walked onto the pitch yesterday knowing they needed a victory. And for 30 minutes they played like it. Then the almost de rigeur defensive lapses started, leading to two goals in quick succession. The first had a lot to do with Mertesacker stepping up and Vermaelen failing to follow the run of Bale, who got the ball easily past Szczesny. The second again saw Vermaelen to blame, with an assist from Nacho Monreal, who stopped following Aaron Lennon and his ran into the box and dribbled around the Pole goalie with ease. And so a good start, with excellent pressing and passing, suddenly was replaced by a 2-0 scoreline that we were lucky to get to half time with. 

As usual, the Gunners came alive in the second half and Per Mertesacker's second goal of the year, on a clever header from a Walcott corner, put us back in the game at 2-1. But as with the games against Manchester United, Chelsea and Man City, that was as close as the Gunners would get and they ultimately lost 2-1. It was a huge loss that puts our Champions League prospects in serious doubt -- now down five points to Chelsea and seven to Tottenham. While both arguably have tougher roads in, we still have to beat Everton and Swansea and hope for even a point against Man United. It is dark times for the club, who seem set to fall behind their North London rivals for the first time since 1995. And the one prize that Wenger has held onto as a sign of success since the 2005 FA Cup final has been our appearance in the Champions League -- which could be another hit suffered by the team this year.

Wenger himself should take a large part of the brunt for this loss, even as he can't be on the field playing for his players. Three baffling choices seemed to have a huge impact on the outcome -- 1) Starting Ramsey again in such a big game when our most potent offense appears to include Podolski. 2) Playing such a high line against a very fast team with good finishers and 3) Making bizarre substitutions -- when Rosicky comes on, why take out Jenkinson, who I thought was having a good game, and put Ramsey at right back? And why wait so long to put Podolski on the field? In a broader sense, the lack of scoring by Giroud and Walcott in recent games (I think a seven game drought for both) shows how desperately we needed a striker in the winter transfer window. Some will say we just don't have the money, but we all now know that this is a lie -- with 123 million pounds sitting in the bank unspent. Wenger has picked this team, letting his best players go, and picked a defense that is tactically naive and too slow (we could have had Vertonghen and Cahill if we wanted -- or what about Samba?). He is the one who has become tactically stubborn in an age when the best coaches change things up regularly. He is the one who does not have any proven leaders on the squad. He is the one who has no legitimate backup goalkeeper to give the young Pole a challenge. And he is the one who continues making bizarre choices on position and tactics, while continuing to rely on players like Ramsey and the perpetually injured Diaby, who keep letting the team down. To player grades ...

Szczesny (5): while the Pole was not to blame on either goal, he could have come up quicker to at least challenge Bale and fell far too easily in letting Lennon past for the second. While he has had some great saves this year, he often makes poor decisions and needs to be challenged for the starting job.

Jenkinson (7): maybe this is a little high, but Jenkinson shut down attacks down his flank and pushed forward with purpose throughout his shift. His crossing was decent as well, though he has to learn to wait for the strikers to get in the box. The problem, among others, seems to be Giroud being a step behind the wingers and thus letting crosses shoot through with little purpose. 

Mertesacker (6):  the only reason he gets a six is because of his fortuitous header (it went off of Bale's head) that put us back in the game. But the German appears to have suffered from a major drop in form that is translating to Arsenal falling behind early in far too many games.

Vermaelen (4): giving the captain's arm band to the Belgian is yet another error by Wenger that seems to have negatively affected what was once our most solid defender. I'm not sure why, but he seems to have to positionally sense anymore, has lost his confidence, makes poor tackles and often sends his longer passes too long (leading to goal kicks for the opposition). He has been a major disappointment and one just hopes he finds some form before the end of the season.

Monreal (6):  Monreal was, in my mind, partially to blame for the second goal -- one for not following Lennon's run and second for not verbally alerting Vermaelen to the threat. But he was decent going forward and had a nice shot fly a few feet wide. He needs to work on his positioning and pace, but I still think he was a good signing.

Arteta (5): The decline in form of Arteta is, in my opinion, down to two things -- 1. playing him out of position as a defensive mid (without any support, which he got from Song last year as they switched back and forth in the B-2-B roll) and 2. his age and maybe playing too much. He rarely gets a rest and his age could very well be catching up with him. Wenger has made a lot of mistakes this year, but I believe letting Song go and not replacing him will be the costliest.

Wilshire (5.5): this was not the best game from our young English star. While he did make the marauding runs forward he has become famous for, they didn't amount to much and Tottenham clogged the middle, meaning we relied on attacks from the right (and occasionally left) flank. Wilshire will also have to chip in a few goals going forward, as this threat will help free up other players to score.

Ramsey (6): Ramsey has certainly been in better form since the turn of the year and didn't play terribly yesterday. In fact, his level of effort and versatility must be respected. On the other hand, when given a chance to level the game one on one with the goalie, his pace and shot let him down and went wide of the far post. This happens far too often to a player with a world of talent but very little scoring. The incisive passes that he has been offering of late seemed to go wanting in this game, though that was true of the entire team in the final third.
 
Cazorla (7): the Spaniard had another fine game keeping the ball and distributing it around, creating most of the chances the others failed to grasp and finish. A few shots at the edge of the box might have opened up the Tottenham defense a little, but little else to complain about. 

Giroud (5): The Frenchman is not having the worst first year of a new striker in the EPL. He has 13 goals to show for his performances and 9 or 10 assists. But what is striking is how many of these have come against lesser opponents and how few times he has come through when we really needed him. He has a penchant for missing chances early and late (and often in between) in games and arguably played a big role in costing us points yesterday. A 2-2 draw would have kept our spirits up and us closer to the four above us. I also think the timing on his jumps is off (am I the only one?) and that he tries too often to flick behind his head, where he can't be sure if anyone has a chance to get the ball. It is better to hold the ball up and then push it forward. Also, he had at least two good opportunities to send a player in, but his passes came up short -- which we generally don't see from him.

Walcott (5): the good news? Walcott completed 100% of his passes. The bad news? There were only 12 in the entire game. That's right, 12! Walcott disappeared in a big game for the umpteenth time in his career and has not scored one goal since he signed his new contract. To be fair, he wasn't getting the service when he did go on good runs, but he fails to track back with any purpose, doesn't play an active enough role in the buildup and continues to spend too much time playing as a central striker when we need him more on the right. A big disappointment after the impressive productivity in the first half of the season. 

Subs

Rosicky (6): I thought he brought some liveliness to the attack, though he did miss some passes and one really good opportunity to put the ball on goal. Maybe should have been brought in to start the second half -- or start the game.

Podolski (5): Wasn't given enough time on the pitch to make a real difference. Did flub a couple of half chances though. I really believe our best team this season is with him on the right and Cazorla as CAM. Also, why has he only been played through the middle once all year? This means that Giroud is maybe racking up too much time on the pitch and never getting a break; except when Walcott plays there -- and he has been inept from the center this season (with a couple of exceptions). 

So I think the case for letting Wenger go continues to strengthen, but that the board won't do anything about it. Why would they? They are racking in millions of pounds as the team continues to flounder. The only good news for Gooners came with the recent rumors of a Middle Eastern takeover of the club (for 1.5 billion pounds, which would make Kroeneke almost 500 milllion in a couple of years). To be fair, it is mixed news, but welcome for those of us who are tired of both the board and Wenger. We have money to spend, but will the Frenchman spend it wisely this summer if he stays? I worry about the answer. On top of this, it is clear that Wenger's lack of talent in formation, tactics, training defenders positionally and motivating his team to succeed are starting to take their toll as the few great talents we have continue to head for the exits. No matter what the blindly faithful Arsene supporters say, it is Wenger that has put a team of losers and misfits on the field and bench and it is Wenger who keeps making the wrong calls over and over again. It was a sad day to be an Arsenal fan but might just be the kind of loss that leads to real change. At least one hopes ...