Kevin Whitcher
Yaya Sanogo is the focal point of criticism for yesterday’s unimpressive display at Leicester. However, the kid does not pick himself. That Arsène Wenger continues with his experiment to develop Sanogo into a first class footballer will certainly cost Arsenal any chance of a shot at the league title if it continues. The difference between someone like Sanogo and Aaron Ramsey is that, in his early days, you could see Ramsey had the basics to become a very good footballer. Sadly, Sanogo does not have a first touch. Being gangly and awkward does not mean it is impossible to be a very decent forward in a possession team. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is an example of this. However the difference between the young Ibra and Sanogo is as wide as the amounts spent compiling the two teams that started yesterday’s fixture at the King Power Stadium.
The Alexis as central striker experiment was deemed not to have worked when he was hauled off at half-time the previous weekend at Everton. Yet, against Besiktas, there was obvious improvement. The conclusion was that Sanogo was drafted in yesterday because the manager felt the quality of the opposition allowed for him to continue with his indulgence of proving he has found a raw talent he can make good. The hope is that he now realizes it is going to cost him too many points and will either return to Alexis or ideally give himself better options by spending some of the £100 million the club can now afford, given their progress to the Champions League pot of gold. Certainly, to leave a large sum of cash in the bank whilst the squad is short will lead to valid questions about the decision makers at the club. That Stan Kroenke made the trip to the East Midlands to catch the game was an eye opener, and hopefully an indicator that some big decisions are going to be made before the end of today regards the club’s spending.
As for the match itself, after about 83 minutes, a stat revealed that Arsenal had made 24 attempts on goal compared to Leicester’s eight. The problem was that the vast majority of them were not particularly clear cut, and on the isolated occasions they did break through, Casper Schmeichel seemed to block them with ease.
As for the two goals, the first was a combination of Leicester’s offside trap going awry and Alexis being in the right place at the right time to convert Sanogo’s saved effort. Koscielny had been removed from the fray for a head cut before the goal, but was back on the field at the time of Leicester’s equalizer shortly afterwards. Mertesacker’s lack of pace was exposed in the build-up and Koscielny was nowhere near Leonardo Ulloa when the cross came in. That he was subbed shortly afterwards indicated that mentally, he was not fit to continue. Questions ensued about why Calum Chambers was not brought on initially when Koscielny was presumably having stitches in the dressing room.
Alexis and Ozil played on the opposite flanks to where we have been accustomed to seeing them, but ultimately, the quick passing movements and one-twos to break down the Leicester defence failed, sometimes because Sanogo was involved, but not always. It is strange though, that a player such as Sanogo is the antithesis of ‘Wengerball’ as it is sometimes labeled, yet the manager persists with him. Whatever, in spite of seeming to dominate possession, Arsenal looked uninspired, and failed to break down a defence that one suspects other sides will make easier work of. One wonders what, privately, players such as Ozil and Alexis make of being asked to work with an unproven 21-year-old who has yet to score for the club after 16 appearances. In fairness to Sanogo, no-one in an Arsenal shirt covered themselves in glory yesterday, although he was probably the worst. There is no point in singling out, say, Ozil over Cazorla though, even if Ozil-bashing is currently in vogue. Even Aaron Ramsey seemed ineffective, in spite of not playing in midweek against Besiktas. It was simply a poor performance all round.
Arsenal were fortunate not to go behind in the early stages of the second half when Ulloa only had the keeper to beat and found the side netting. Sanogo enjoyed a fine opportunity but blasted it at the keeper without even looking up. Podolski and Oxlade-Chamberlain were given 15 minutes to try and change things, and the former did have one good chance that was smothered. However, you have to wonder why they were not tried earlier, or indeed why Joel Campbell was not given a chance after the manager’s claims that he too is a striker, and surely a better one that Sanogo. An alternative would have been to bring Campbell on wide and move Alexis into the middle at half time.
All ifs and buts. Arsenal remain unbeaten, but four points behind the leaders after three matches, and critically, not looking anything like a team that is about to hit its groove soon. Quite obviously, there are areas of the squad which need improvement and strengthening, and the club have the funds to make this happen. So let’s hope for some news today which can return the optimism and feelgood factor that built up with the FA Cup win and the July signings. If not, it has the feeling that it is going to be another race for fourth place kind of season.
I am now on Twitter@KevinWhitcher01.
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Further Reading
A sequel to Arsènal – The Making of a Modern Superclub and entitled Arsène and Arsenal The Quest to Rediscover Past Glories has been written by myself and co-author Alex Fynn. It takes up the story of the club from the last update of the previous book, and can be bought online here.
