Kevin Whitcher
The performance at Stoke has me scratching my head. In terms of motivation, surely the visitors had more reason to give their everything in this fixture. A remote, though mathematically possible chance of winning the title, as opposed to Tony Pulis’ team – who had little to play for and a cup final next weekend. And yet, credit to Stoke. They gave everything they had and thoroughly deserved victory.
The word commitment is the key one here for me. Arsenal showed it all too rarely. Sometimes rashly, in the challenges of Jack Wilshere, once in attack when Robin van Persie showed some drive and actually took on the opposition defence instead of trying to play around them. But aside from that, there was little. The players did not seem to play much as a team, some of them lost concentration when defending too easily and some were just anonymous. Just as last weekend’s victory does not make everything right, this defeat, in isolation, should not lead to any sweeping conclusions, but the bottom line this season is that the team has not given as much as might have been expected from it on a consistent basis.
Additionally, there does seem to be a habitual problem over recent years in the final weeks of the season. The players do not seem equipped to play the full nine months the major prizes require winners to. Is this fatigue? Is mental tiredness a reason for some of the poor defending we have seen of late?
An area where Stoke showed up their opponents was team spirit. They seemed to have it in spades, with a willingness to compete that was lacking in Arsene Wenger’s selection. Last season, in the game in which Aaron Ramsey’s leg was broken, the team rallied and showed a spirit that suggested they could go on and seriously challenge for the title. The reaction to the adversity of Ramsey’s injury was highly encouraging, but it proved a rarity. Ultimately, the team lacked the character and depth of squad to push on.
A year on, and I am struggling to see how progress has been made on this front, and a bit of me wonders if some of the players are not really putting in a shift because they are not willing to for the current manager. I have long believed that the same players could achieve more if they were motivated better, coached differently. And sometimes fear is a great motivator, as can be seen in the teams managed by Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho. At Arsenal, underperformers do not always seem to be given the message that the drop in their level is unacceptable. It is difficult to imagine Wenger bollocking any of his players and one gets the feeling that players having a go at one another is discouraged.
Looking back on my writings about this season, I will admit to having been critical of the team and the manager. I asked a non-Arsenal supporting acquaintance if I had been too harsh and he thought I had not, because I had written more in sorrow than anger. And I am sad that once again, presented with a chance to win the league, Arsenal have quietly slipped out of contention when the most pressured part of the campaign has come around. Ultimately, in terms of transfer and wages, Arsenal are the fourth or fifth highest spending club in the country. I am uncertain if Liverpool have spent more, but United, Chelsea and Man City certainly have. And on that basis, Arsene Wenger is achieving pretty much what you would expect.
However, Stoke spend a lot less and you get a game like today’s. Dare I suggest that the money Arsenal are spending could be spent better? Either the players simply are not good enough or they are not being prepared the right way for these games. I suspect it is a bit of both. The poor defending has once again cost dear. In 2008/09, Arsenal conceded 37 goals in 38 league matches, last season 41. With two outstanding fixtures, 39 have been shipped so far, a worrying proportion of them from set pieces. There exists tremendous technical ability if the aim of the game is to enjoy a greater share of possession, but what the Stoke game once again demonstrated is the lack of penetration. But the most pressing question for the manager is why the defence has been found wanting on a continuing basis.
The crest on next season’s shirt features the word ‘Forward’ below the badge. Arsenal can certainly score enough goals to win silverware, but they are not doing so from the bedrock of a solid defence. The players do not seem to defend as a team or really put in the extra effort for the cause as Stoke did. Lacklustre has been a description for too many performances this season. Wilshere is an exception, occasionally you can say the same about some of the others. But overall, this afternoon it felt like I was watching a disparate bunch of individuals rather than a collective. The players do not have to get on with each other socially, but at least have to trust one another to do the right thing. It often feels that someone like Van Persie has given up on utilizing Theo Walcott because he believes he will lose the ball or blaze it high and wide. He will hold up play and wait for Sagna to arrive on the right instead. And in fairness, you can understand why.
Are there deep-rooted problems with a team that will probably finish third in the league? Not if that is the limit of your ambitions. However, given the position Arsenal have got themselves into by February in three of the last four campaigns, it is no wonder that there is a repeated sensation of flatness, anti-climax. It’s frustrating and has made a lot of fans angry when they perceive a lack of desire from the players when the pressure is on.
And so Arsenal’s season limps on for another fortnight. I doubt very much Fabregas will be risked for the final two matches given his imminent sale and no reason to play him unless Manchester City get too close. The lap of appreciation after the Villa game should be thought about carefully. It might be an idea not to hold it this season as really, I can’t see it being a positive experience for anybody. The Black Scarf March before the game may well have gained a few more in number after today’s performance, even if it seems to be a protest about the board rather than the manager, as I understand it.
As for me, I don’t really see how the team can progress without a serious change of policy by the manager in terms of instilling a new attitude, a fresh approach to coaching and the purchase of a different kind of footballer, and more than one. As Fabregas is going, and probably Nasri too, there will certainly be some new faces arriving. Who they are and what happens at London Colney to change the current malaise will determine whether I am once again writing in sorrow this time next year.
To finish, sometimes I re-produce text messages I received over the course of the game and in the aftermath. I got one from Pete Mountford after each of the Stoke goals…
1-0: Pathetic and predictable. Same every year up there
2-0: Part of me wants them to stick five past us so it might force change
3-1: Even by our standards that was horrific
And some received from others after the game…
TFG: F***ing shocker… mental strength personified.
The Highbury Spy: F***ing Djourou again. God give me strength. How long is RVP going to hang around this shower of sh*t? And don’t get me started on the complete waste of space that is f***ing Wally Walcott. Where the f*** has he been for the last two weeks? F***ing rubbish. Sell the c*** in the summer.
Doktor Schneide: Surely the question to all rational Arsenal fans must be: how can you NOT think a change is necessary.
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