Kevin Whitcher
It’s an old gag, and certainly one I have used before, probably when Newcastle came back from 4-0 down, but it bears repeating. I doubt many Arsenal fans will be laughing at the ‘Because they can’t keep hold of a lead’ punchline this morning.
Arsenal’s good fortune is that, for once, this was actually a game they could afford to collapse in. Their chances of finishing first in the group were always marginal after defeat in Dortmund and now, almost impossible. The only real danger to their making the last 16 is that they lose both their remaining fixtures and Dortmund, having secured top place in the group, play a second string at home to Anderlecht on the final matchday and the Belgians win (having defeated Galatasaray at home before that). You can get 40/1 on Anderlecht qualifying from the group. Worth a punt?
Although it was a comfortable evening for the first hour of the match, in truth, Anderlecht did pose some danger on the break, prevented from scoring by some last ditch tackles. So the warning signs were there. At 3-0 up, the home side could have opted for safety first, and sacrificed their expansive game. However, they didn’t, and Calum Chambers was continually exposed at right back by the quality of Anderlecht’s tricky number 18 Acheampong. This wasn’t addressed either on the field or from the bench, and although the Belgian side’s first goal was offside, the assist came from that flank. It gave the visitors encouragement and they went for it with, frankly, deserved reward. 3-0 was not a true reflection of the first hour of the game. In theory, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was the cover for Chambers, but positionally, the team were all at sea, with the number 15 often in the centre when Anderlecht had the ball.
I know Arsene Wenger likes fluidity in his teams, but once the ball is lost, there does not seem to be much in the way of organization, and it has sometimes proved costly. Somehow, Arsenal need to get back to basics.
With Arteta off, Arsenal seemed to fall to pieces. More mystifying was the removal of Danny Welbeck instead of Santi Cazorla. Welbeck can both defend at set pieces and provide pace on the break. Cazorla is simply off form and contributing little to the cause. Aaron Ramsey tried manfully, but his form too, is something of a mystery, and this a player who does not have the excuse of a World Cup last summer.
The utilization of Nacho Monreal at centre back was exposed as a makeshift idea that hasn’t really worked out, as he was unable to deal with the strength of his opponent when he conceded the penalty that led to the second. Was their an argument to start Chambers – who I have been informed was bought more as a third centre back rather than a deputy for Debuchy – alongside Mertesacker with Hector Bellerin at right back? Hindsight is of course a wonderful thing, but Bellerin is a natural right back and Monreal certainly isn’t a natural in the middle.
As for the equalizer, Mertesacker was beaten to the ball. The consequence of going into the campaign with only two established centre backs is that if either is displaying bad form, you can’t drop them. Arsène, however, knows best, always remember. He told an old friend in the summer that ‘I need a centre back’, with the hope he might suggest one, rather than utilise his scouting system. You have to wonder what the point of the latter is.
Arsenal have not given away a lead in such amateur hour fashion for three years. Last season, certainly, they developed a very good habit of holding on to leads once established. However, something has changed and now we are seeing once again the brittle Arsenal of old. To quote the manager, “Mental strength”? Mikel Arteta was more accurate when he said after the game – “It’s not good enough”. Spot on. But what do you do to change it?
The reality is this has happened a little too often, and the common thread in all the past collapses is the manager’s inability to read a game and make changes during the match from the dugout, which ensure the result is achieved. That is why Arsene Wenger, a good developer of players who have yet to reach their peak, is no tactician, and why he will never outwit better managers. He lets the players work it out for themselves, and in the years when he was winning trophies, enjoyed enough experience on the field so that the players could indeed sort it out themselves without relying on any instruction from the sidelines. Project youth dismantled that and the club have never really re-acquired the winning mentality from the years at Highbury. It now needs a fresh approach and a new face on the bench to organize, focus and motivate a group of players that, with two or three additions, should be good enough to win a major title. Let’s stare at the cold hard facts. 16 consecutive shots at the Champions League. How many of those have ended in success? And only twice in that time have they reached the last four. There is no mitigation for that.
A couple of random points from last night. Alexis wanted to take the penalty that Arteta converted and seemed the have the hump until he scored his wonder volley from the free-kick rebound. He wants to be the star a la Cristianio Ronaldo, and given Arteta is not going to top the goalscoring charts, I think there is nothing wrong with allowing Alexis to add to his own tally from the spot. Still, Arteta converted the spot kick, so fair play to the captain.
The 1970 Fairs Cup winning team were in the directors box. However, when their presence was announced on the big screen just before kick off, a photo from the year was shown – but no panning of the camera to the guys today? And to boot, why not give them a lap of honour at half time? I wonder what Frank McLintock and the boys made of the last half an hour…
Nothing’s changed in the bigger picture. Arsenal proved last night why they are not equipped for another trophy winning season, unless they are very fortunate in the FA Cup draw. The manager cannot address situations on the field during the course of play, and failed to address the weaknesses in the squad during the summer. The chickens came home to roost against Anderlecht, and the manager can thank his lucky stars that his team somehow pulled off a win in Brussels, as right now, their prospects of progression would be looking decidedly dodgy without that.
Current group leaders that Arsenal could face in the last 16 are as follows… Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Paris St Germain, Porto. Arsene will be hoping that in the words of the Daft Punk hit, he gets lucky in the 15th December draw, assuming his team don’t blow second place as effectively as they did three points last night.
I am now on Twitter@KevinWhitcher01.
The current issue of The Gooner can be bought online here. The issue will be on sale outside the stadium for the forthcoming Man Utd and Dortmund home games.
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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. Use the promo code ‘Gooner’ to get 10% off the publisher’s price of £8.99.
