Arsenal Draw 2-2 with Liverpool

Another inauspicious start, more defensive frailties and a much improved second half. This has become the story of Arsenal's second half of the season and while they might take some momentum from the two goal comeback, it was another disappointing result at the Emirates when they had a chance to gain two points on Tottenham (who drew as well with a late breathtaking goal from Gareth Bale). The scoring started in the 5th minute when Sagna fell down as Suraez passed him into the box. He sent the ball across the box and Vermaelen missed what should have been an easy clearance, leaving Sturridge on goal. Szczesny saved well and the ball careened out, only to land a Suarez's feet. He shot and the ball deflected off Mertesacker and into the goal. A minute later Walcott was in with a chance to equalize, but missed the opportunity. Another arrived in the 24th minute, as a lovely overhead pass from Cazorla found Walcott on the edge of the box, but his touch sent him to the outside and another opportunity was lost. The rest of the first half, Arsenal lacked fluency in attack and was lucky to enter the locker room at 1-0 after Podolski cleared a ball on the line in the 26th minute after a bad pass from Mertesacker almost let in a second. Gibbs came up limp in and was subbed for the awful Santos in the 35th minute.  It was a half to forget, with Cazorla missing several passes between a couple of gems, Walcott blowing two clear opportunities including an opportunity to cross for what might have been an easy goal and sending a couple of corners too high in the air. Sagna had another forgettable half and game in general and Vermaelen continued to show defensive frailties that must be worrying to Wenger. Szczesny was also below par, except for the early save for nought and was lucky to get away with getting caught on the edge of the box right before half time as Henderson chipped over him and just high of an easy goal.

The second half was much improved from Arsenal, but included another horrific bit of defending, with Henderson getting past Santos, Mertesacker failing to defend and Ramsey crashing in for an attempted clearance that fell back to Henderson, who coolly finished past Sz. Arsenal woke up from here though and started pressing further up the field. The breakthrough came in the 67th minute when Wilshire sent a free kick across the box and onto the head of the attacking Giroud, who put in his 5th goal in his past three games. Less than three minutes later, they had equalized as a nice run from Cazorla culminated in a pass to Walcott on to Giroud, who laid off to Walcott again for a lovely finish across goal. It was 2-2 on 67 minutes and Arsenal looked ready for a nice comeback to culminate with three points. Unfortunately our finishing let us down yet again, with Mertesacker missing an open header on a corner, Walcott just missing, Reina making a nice save on a Giroud shot and then Giroud missing three good chances to score (one on an open header, another on a lovely cross from Podolski that was slightly behind the Frenchman but that any good striker should have clipped into the open goal and a third late header). Santos almost gifted the game to Liverpool in the 93rd minute, but luckily the ensuing attack led to nothing. So Arsenal still sit in sixth place, four points off of Tottenham and three below Everton (who won 2-1). Thoughts from the game ...

1. Full Back Troubles: Gibbs is now out for three weeks and with Santos as the only viable backup, we are going into an important period with one of the worst left backs in the league (Santos). I'm not sure who else we can blame but Wenger, who has had this problem since the end of last season but has done nothing to address it. On the right, Sagna had another awful game and his defensive frailties and inability to get crosses in with any regularity are really hurting the team. It is time to give Jenkinson a game there, lest we fall completely out of the race for fourth.

2. Middle-complex: another area where Arsenal have shown real weakness is at center-half. Mertesacker was our most consistent performer throughout the first half of the season, but his lack of pace and some errors have really hurt us in recent games. Vermaelen has been below average far too often this year, and had a great chance to equalize in the first half free on goal, but inexplicably took two touches and lost the chance. Their backup is Kos, who has cost Arsenal two key games -- against Chelsea and Man City and just doesn't seem to be the player he was last season. QPR just signed Samba and one wonders why we didn't even try for him, the Frenchman who went to Newcastle or anyone else. With Squillaci as the fourth choice, we will be shipping goals the rest of the season at this rate.

3. Oh Wenger: with less than 24 hours to the close of the Winter Transfer Window, Wenger has done nothing, and it shows. I have just outlined our defensive problems, but we clearly need a defensive midfielder and striker (as well as a winger, arguably). But Wenger appears unable or unwilling to do any business as Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester United, Everton and even QPR made important signing (most of the teams in the premiership made at least one arguably good move). In this game, playing Ramsey, Cazorla and Wilshire in midfield clearly backfired, as the defense was left to largely fend for themselves and paid for it with two weak goals conceded. There are options out there and we just aren't trying hard enough to get them. M'Villa went to Russia, Capoueoa appears set to join our rivals, Wanyama might be available and there are other options as well. Why neither Arteta nor Diaby started is beyond me and further proof that Wenger should take the offer at Real or PSG and let someone take a shot. 

Looking at the squad overall, I have outlined our clear needs in defense including a backup left back, a centre-half (in my opinion) and maybe another right back if Sagna keeps playing this poorly. He seems to lack focus, confidence and quickness at the moment, and maybe a little motivation if the rumours from a few months back are true. Moving to the midfield, I think Cazorla, Wilshire and even Ramsey are solid attacking players, but we need a defensive midfielder to shore up the defense. Arteta has been adequate when he's available, but he isn't the sort of rough presence we need. And while Diaby could get back to form, one can't see him really playing the enforcer role either, as his fragile body just can't be risked. Looking at the attack, it appears we need a backup at left wing, as Podolski generally doesn't play 90 minutes (though he has twice now) and can never move to the middle unless someone can take over (Ramsey's improvement does not mean he is a viable option here to me). On the right, Walcott is playing great and Ox is the backup, but who do we have to play striker besides Giroud? Oh yeah, our starting wingers. That's absurd and why Wenger won't bid on anyone besides the 31-year old Villa (who we probably won't get) is beyond me. Jovetic is a good option, even at 20 million, we should have bid for Ba and there are other interesting choices across Europe. 

I know I am a broken record, but this draw should seal the fate of Wenger. He simply refuses to spend money to fill the holes in the squad, doesn't seem to have any answers to the poor starts we have made in one big game after another this year (against Tottenham (when we were saved by an early Red), Manchester United (the gifted goal from Vermaelen to old teammate RVP), Man City (Kos' red), Chelsea (another early goal) and now Liverpool. We could easily have won this game 3 or 4-0, or lost it 4-2 to be fair, but it is yet another big game that our players have started poorly. As is so often the case, our comebacks fall short because we still don't have any real impact subs to come on to score those late equalizers or winners. Giroud was probably tired, but he had the best chance of maybe seven after we had squared the match. Instead we head into the weekend dropping another two points, with a tough match against Stoke. Go Gunners; but Wenger please go!