Kevin Whitcher
For long periods of yesterday’s goalless draw with Chelsea, Arsenal appeared somewhat lacklustre. Watching the highlights on Match of the Day, someone who had not seen the game in its entirety might have felt the home team had a good go at their opponents, yet it certainly did not seem that way in the flesh. In a sense, that is a credit to Chelsea. In an odd sort of way, this looked like a runthrough of what will be required at Barcelona on Tuesday evening, even if only three of Roberto Di Matteo’s starters are likely to be selected. Romeu, nominally a midfielder, played so deep that at times, it looked as if Chelsea were lining up in a 3-4-3 formation. Perhaps this is what will be used to counter Lionel Messi. Even if Arsenal did eventually fathom some decent chances, for the most part, the south west London side gave them a lesson in defending.
Not that Arsenal seemed to try particularly hard. The performance suggested that nothing was at stake. Yet, if Chelsea do pull off the required result in Spain, and then win the final in Munich, fourth place in the Premier League would mean Europa League football, with the attendant plethora of Thursday and Sunday matches next season. Granted, Newcastle have some difficult fixtures in their run-in, and Spurs can’t seem to buy a win these days, but if Arsenal do not improve on the displays at home to Wigan and Chelsea, they could find themselves at best in an August play-off for a Champions League spot and at worst out of it all together. That won’t help do good business nice and early this summer as even Arsene Wenger has acknowledged the club must.
I wonder what kind of difference Mikel Arteta would have made to the match? On one level, as a defensive midfielder, perhaps not much. Chelsea were offered plenty of encouragement, especially in the first half, but were unable to exploit it. Yet, perhaps what is not so obvious is that the Spaniard keeps the midfield ticking with his tidy and generally pacy short passing. He is a better link man than Aaron Ramsey, and certainly less wasteful than Alex Song, whose tendency to give the ball away when playing what would seem to be a simple pass has become increasingly worrying. So much so, that I am now of the opinion he would be better utilized as a back up player, or a central defender. The return of Jack Wilshere will mean Arsene Wenger has some choices to make next season, especially if he does strengthen this area with the signing of a player such as M’vila. Song can play some delightful through balls to the forward line, but his ability to do the simple stuff has become his Achilles’ Heel. He has been around long enough to master this side of his game, and the fear is he may never. Granted, even the greats makes mistakes – Vieira in the FA Cup semi-final replay in 1999 comes to mind – but not with the frequency that Song manages.
In one sense, it is a real achievement for the manager to deliver third place – assuming he does – with a group of players that many question the ultimate abilities of. And yet the counter argument is that for the wage bill the club spends, they could afford better players. It should also be remembered that, outside of the keeper and the centre backs yesterday, Chelsea fielded their second string and Arsenal were unable to beat them. Four points out of six at home to Man City and Chelsea would be a decent return if it wasn’t for the three dropped against Wigan. Next week at Stoke has become a bigger game than it should be.
It was also interesting to note that Arsenal were kicking towards the Clock End for the second halves against both Wigan and Chelsea. I know the manager puts a great deal of emphasis on routine so that the players can perform without distraction, but surely that can’t be a factor regarding which end the team are playing towards in which half. I would be interested if anyone can remember any other home matches in the last couple of seasons when the team was kicking ‘the wrong way’ in the second half, and whether the result was affected.
As for Robin van Persie, the lean patch he is experiencing has highlighted what we all knew. There simply aren’t enough goals in the rest of the team. Some of the chances he had against Wigan and Chelsea would have gone in earlier in the season. He was always going to hit a barren patch at some point, but it is a concern that others cannot step up to the plate. Theo Walcott – compared to past campaigns – has had a relatively injury-free season. Yet it was ironic that, having made such a policy of not over-playing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, the manager witnessed Walcott break down. In the past, Walcott would have been habitually substituted not too long after the hour mark. But he has played a lot more full matches lately. I thought Arsenal’s new fangled fitness equipment was supposed to pick up players in the red zone? Still, at least it saves his being hacked down by one of Tony Pulis’ mob next weekend. The Ox is made of stronger stuff to these eyes, so I hope he gets another start at the Britannia.
Let’s hope we see a return to form there. Arsenal have taken seven points out of the last fifteen. To continue with that kind of run could make life more interesting than it needs to be on the final weekend of the season.
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