Kevin Whitcher
With Arsenal still to play Chelsea and Manchester City, and those two sides to visit Anfield, on paper the Gunners’ title chances are still alive and well in spite of the defeat at Stoke. It is a venue where the other top sides have failed to take maximum points, so in isolation coming away defeated was no disgrace.
However, the feeling before the game was that Arsenal needed to win at the Britannia because there is not much faith that they can take six points from the games against Chelsea and Manchester City. The truth of this woeful performance from the Gunners is that it is difficult to see them having the creative wherewithal to overcome either of these sides.
Yesterday, Arsenal lacked quality in the final third. Too many bad passes led to a lack of good chances. In the end Arsene Wenger switched to a 4-4-2 with Sanogo joining Giroud up front, but the young man showed why he is not going to make the difference that leads Arsenal to a title with a howler of a miss when he was presented with a very decent opportunity to score near the death of the game. As for Giroud himself, after two goals last weekend, he never looked like scoring against Stoke. I think there is some stat about the player only scoring once outside of London, although I won’t vouch for what may have happened in his pre-match hotel.
However, on quality of the chances created, Stoke deserved this win, even if the penalty was fortuitous. They wanted it more, and showed greater appetite for the battle. Poor refereeing meant they were allowed to go over the top and retain eleven players on the field. There is little doubt both Charlie Adam and Glen Whelan should have got reds for stamping on Olivier Giroud. However, long before Stoke got cynical, the visitors looked like they were not interested in the fight. It reminded one a little of visits to Bolton where Arsenal teams often came unstuck, and this has now become something of a habit at Stoke. So much for the idea of this group of players as a more spirited bunch. The absence of Mathieu Flamini was probably significant. He would have offered more than the milder mannered Arteta did alongside Wilshere in the middle, certainly in terms of matching Stoke for attitude.
Liverpool have now moved into second place whilst Manchester City are two points behind, having played two matches less. There is a feeling that Arsenal are gradually slipping out of contention and the run of four make or break league matches has not even started. Certainly, if they can beat Spurs, Chelsea, Manchester City and Everton then the mood will change, but only the most optimistic of fans is going to believe that is likely given that they have managed only two victories (at home v relegation threatened opposition) in their last six league fixtures.
Mesut Ozil was not started, which made sense. Despite a very poor first half, Arsenal should have scored when Cazorla burst through the middle and had Podolski in space on his left in the area. He chose to shoot and hit it at Begovic in the Stoke goal. Tomas Rosicky at least showed some battling qualities to get himself a yellow card for the kind of challenge more typical of the home side. Generally though, the visitors lacked width, and their poor passing meant they were not going to achieve much going through the middle. They simply did not know how to handle this game, and seemed devoid of any real drive or inspiration.
Ozil finally entered in the second half and had one decent attempt. Oxlade-Chamberlain also came on and added an extra dimension to Arsenal’s game with his pace, making you wonder why he did not start. Sanogo was the last throw of the dice and unfortunately, the gamble on a raw unproven youngster exposed the thinness of Arsenal’s options in an area every man and his dog knew needed addressing back last summer.
With hindsight, it is clear the club should have spent the £55 million that would probably have secured Luis Suarez rather than buy Mesut Ozil. They have enough options in Ozil’s position, too few at centre forward. Suarez has shown he can be devastating as a wide attacker as well. So, events have revealed the manager got that one wrong, in spite of the initial joy of him splashing £42 million on a superstar. Sadly, a superstar who might never adapt to the rigours of the Premier League by the looks of things.
Where do Arsenal go from here? In truth it looks like the Premier League will come down to whether or not they can finish third or fourth (and avoid a qualifying game), although this assumes there is not a complete collapse which gives Spurs any encouragement. The FA Cup seems their best bet of finally ending the long years without a trophy, and should be the priority now, because they only need to win three matches to lift the cup and two of those will be on neutral territory. The Champions League is over for this season unless you believe in the fairies.
The manager has still not signed his contract yet, and as long as that remains the case, the idea of him hopping over to PSG to replace Laurent Blanc on his one year deal cannot be 100% ruled out. Many would welcome a change.
One thing I noted about the game yesterday is that, watching it, I did not feel the desperation for Arsenal to win that I would have in seasons past. I was fairly philosophical about it. The players did not look particularly interested, so why should I? By the time of the Stoke goal, I just felt a sense of resignation. I was prepared to hold off the feeling that a springtime collapse was inevitable, even if I had seen it more than once in recent campaigns when Arsenal have been well and truly in the mix as February turns to March. But after yesterday’s game, there seems a sense of the inevitable now. The team seem to have run out of juice. Yes, they were unfortunate with some questionable refereeing, but that should not have prevented them being able to come up with football to outwit a Stoke team based on physicality and desire, at least if they had the stuff of champions.
Winning the title is about meeting challenges at the key times. March onwards is pretty key. Even in last season’s excellent run-in, Arsenal failed to defeat either Manchester United or Everton at home. It seems that when push comes to shove, Arsene Wenger cannot send a team out to win the difficult matches. That they can win enough of the easier ones has retained their annual qualification for the Champions League, but there is something of a glass ceiling about the club’s achievements these days, away from the financial reporting. Change is needed, a fresh approach, if silverware is regarded as important in the club’s ambitions. However, if Arsenal can win their next four league matches, I will happily eat my words.
Here is a recent form guide for the top four teams, with the number of points taken from the last 6 games played:
Chelsea – 14
Liverpool – 16
Arsenal – 8
Manchester City – 13
It would not be true to say I have lost faith in Arsenal’s title challenge, because I never truly believed. However, up until yesterday, I was at least prepared to be converted, and would listen to an argument that it could be done is spite of my own reservations – that the squad was not deep enough in certain areas and that the manager did not have the tactical nous to win key matches against the principal rivals.
Maybe there are some optimists still out there. As I said at the outset of this piece, on paper, Arsenal are still very much in it. However, form is key, and that of the Gunners has gone to pot. They need a run-in even better than last season’s, where they took 26 points from their last 10 matches. Unfortunately, the opposition they must face to do that is much stiffer. Win every game and they would have 89 points. There is still plenty to play for, but I just can’t see where the inspiration is going to come from after the malaise I witnessed yesterday, because there is an all-too familiar feeling about this time of the year.
The team look weary and that is exactly how this Gooner feels today.
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