Kevin Whitcher
Few covered themselves in glory for the two goals that Arsenal conceded at Southampton yesterday. January 1st. Start at you mean to go on? No, but start as they will probably go on, as long as defence is not prioritized as a starting point in building a team. Wojciech Szczesny was undoubtedly the worst culprit for the opening goal, doing one of his hare-brained runs out of goal. Laurent Koscielny has in the past proved a little physically weak for the Premier League, a trait that returned in the build-up to the goal as he was easily shrugged aside by Mane. One shouldn’t be too churlish about Per Mertesacker not getting back to hook the ball off the line with the keeper stranded, but a faster defender would have made a better fist of it.
The second goal was only marginally less embarrassing. Debuchy should have hacked the ball across the goal clear, but opted to attempt to play the possession card by knocking it back to the keeper. Szczesny presumably felt it counted as a back pass, so lamely kicked it straight to the grateful Tadic.
Arsenal shot themselves in the foot big time. They had got away with an early Pelle header that went just past the post with the keeper nowhere near it, and should have gone up when Cazorla was wonderfully teed up, but shot straight down the middle of the goal.
But this was a performance well below the level displayed at West Ham. A central midfield combination of Chambers and Coquelin showed how thin resources are in defensive midfield at the club, a damning indictment on Arsenal’s strategic planning, and the chickens came home to roost as the visitors struggled to get any real foothold on the game.
That Theo Walcott came on and probably didn’t have a touch for an eternity, even at 2-0 down when Arsenal were presumably focused on getting back into the game, sums up how poor a performance this was. But that is Arsenal in 2014-15. Inconsistent. No real pattern of play other than – when the going is good – some extended periods of possession in the less dangerous areas of the park. Aside from that it’s freedom of expression and hope for Alexis to provide a moment of magic. The Chilean must wonder what exactly he has let himself in for.
The remainder of the season will presumably feature a pattern alongside the one seen so far this campaign. Some good days, some bad days. Arsenal are inconsistent because they have no solidity – even when everyone is fit. The club of old built from the back. Wenger’s successes were due to the inherited back five, the habits they instilled in their successors, the good fortune in acquiring Sol Campbell (a no-brainer the manager can’t really take too much credit for) and (give him credit where it’s due) the purchase of Jens Lehmann. However, Martin Keown left the club in 2004, Campbell two years later. Lehmann was frozen out in 2007, and Arsenal have not looked defensively assured since, aside from a period of a few months starting in the spring of 2013 when they concentrated on not losing matches rather than winning them.
The question now is whether or not there will be enough good days to ensure the sacred top four place. The purchase of a couple of quality defensive players to balance the squad in the next week would go some way to balancing a lop-sided group of players (and it should be noted that the first choice back four and keeper were on duty at St Mary’s), but Arsenal would not be in their current predicament if the required personnel were purchased last summer when they should have been. The club have spent a lot of money is the last three transfer windows, but, in terms of Premier League position, they appear to be moving backwards. If that isn’t an indicator that it’s time for a change, I am uncertain what is.
I watched the Spurs v Chelsea match after Arsenal’s defeat, and the home team’s performance was enlightening for two reasons. There seemed a real desire and belief in the players that they could go toe to toe with Chelsea. They played with genuine drive and attempted to move the ball forward quickly and with purpose. Spurs have had many false dawns whilst Wenger has been at Arsenal. However, Mario Pocchetino has taken time to look at all of his options and instigate his methods. If I were to bet on who would finish higher based on yesterday’s displays, there is no question Tottenham would be ahead of Arsenal. And in the race for fourth, this assumes Southampton will collapse. Is it possible we are seeing the experience of Arsene Wenger being overtaken by two managers still on the upward curve in their managerial careers? The job of the board, or if you prefer the owner, is to make the best call for the club and address decline before too much damage is done.
Psychologically, this season has not been a good one so far for the team. Bad days seem to becoming more frequent, and ultimately, hopes of progress take another dent with every performance of this nature. Obviously the manager is going nowhere fast, so what Arsenal, as a football team, now need to do is get back to basics, as they did in the run-in to the 2012-13 season, and concentrate on not losing matches before trying to win them. Historically, great Arsenal sides have been built on a solid defence, and tactics which do not sacrifice that side of their game. Arsene Wenger would do well to pay homage to the club’s history in that respect. Yet, as Lee Dixon stated in Amy Lawrence’s recent book on ‘The Invincibles’, Wenger wouldn’t know where to start when it comes to defensive coaching. Still, Steve Bould is on the staff, and allowed to go to work would surely improve things.
One hard truth to swallow is that Wojciech Szczesny must now be replaced as the first choice keeper, and that the time has come to move on Gerry Payton and get a better goalkeeping coach. The Pole’s moments of madness would surely have been coached out of him by a better trainer. David Ospina is fit and will start the FA Cup game on Sunday against Hull. Unless he makes calamitous errors on a par with Szczesny’s ever-growing catalogue, he should remain there for the subsequent Premier League fixtures.
Going forward, the right type of purchase could help address the issues in midfield, as crying out for the return of Mikel Arteta shows how desperate things have got there.
The inconsistency will continue unless the required changes are made. Arsenal have the money to buy players (don’t believe the £20 million figure, they have a lot more than that), and a coach on the staff who can sort the defence out – and the defensive shape of the whole team - if allowed the time to work on it. It just needs an acceptance that things as they stand are simply not working and that adaptation is needed. Otherwise, the club will officially be going backwards by the end of May.
I am now on Twitter@KevinWhitcher01.
The new issue of The Gooner with free 2015 Art of Arsenal calendar can be bought online here. It will also be on sale outside the stadium for Sunday’s match v Hull, and the away match at Manchester City.
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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.
