Kevin Whitcher
So to do the maths, Leicester now need to win three of their remaining six fixtures to confirm another failed Arsenal attempt to win a first Premier League title since 2004. Who would have thought, at the end of the Invincibles campaign, that the Gunners would fail to add to their tally of championships for at least another 12 years? Who would have thought that in those circumstances, the man in the managerial hotseat would have kept his job?
Watching the highlights on Match of the Day, Jonathan Pearce came up with an interesting stat. It was only the 23rd occasion in the last 406 Premier League matches that Arsene Wenger has announced an unchanged line-up. Compare that with sides who have won the title and I suspect that consistency of selection, a settled side, has a benefit. Whether that makes the manager a tinkerman or simply very unlucky with injuries I am uncertain. Whichever it is, the consequence is inconsistency.
And so it was at Upton Park for the final visit. After two convincing wins and hopes of a late rally, two points were dropped in a game in which Arsenal had carved out an excellent winning position. 2-0 up and they blew it.
They were a little fortunate to score first. West Ham’s Lanzini had a goal wrongly ruled offside, but Arsenal took advantage. Both their goals were a consequence of Coquelin and Iwobi combining well to set up the scorer – Ozil and Alexis respectively. At 2-0 the visitors looked in cruise control. My thoughts went back to the fact that the Hammers were the final team to defeat Arsenal at Highbury, in a game in which Sol Campbell stormed out of the stadium at half-time, such a nightmare was he having.
Gabriel might have had similar thoughts at the interval, as by this time Slaven Bilic’s side had equalised. The reason – Arsenal defenders cannot cope with big physical forwards, and have not been able to for a long time. Didier Drogba anyone? Andy Carroll is a downgrade on the Chelsea forward, but he still managed to chalk up a hat-trick yesterday. It is a fundamental flaw in Arsenal’s make-up and one identified without too much scouting required by opposition managers. Laurent Koscielny in the past has been bullied by strong forwards. Would Per Mertesacker have done any better? He is a big unit, but hardly a brick outhouse. Still, neither was Tony Adams and yet, he could generally win his battles through intelligent use of his physical presence. Perhaps Arsenal should look to sign a couple of defenders from the likes of Juventus or Atletico Madrid. Or Stoke City. But Arsene likes technicians throughout the team. The days of Steve Bould – as a player – are a long time gone. A shame that the knowledge of the former centre back is surely not being utilised on the training ground. Martin Keown has never been invited back after taking a little too much credit for the Champions League shut-outs in 2006. Arsene has to get the glory, the sophisticated egotist that he is. It actually points to a fundamental insecurity in the man, which is why he bristles so much when anyone dares to challenge him.
West Ham’s goals do not require a great deal of analysis. Basically the defenders were not tight enough to Carroll to prevent his momentum for any of them. It wasn’t rocket science. Leicester have conceded only two goals less than Arsenal, but critically, Claudio Ranieri identified their weakness in the first part of the season and has been working on it since. Arsene has known about his team’s Achilles heel for a decade.
There was so much space on the pitch in this match – in a sense it was made for Arsenal, and they were able to recover from Carroll’s third goal as a consequence. And could have won it in the end. West Ham could have been reduced to ten men with Carroll’s flailing elbow catching Gabriel. Some will have no doubt he knew exactly what he was doing, others will argue that he was simply gaining momentum in his leap and the Brazilian was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The truth is probably a bit of both.
Bilic had changed tactics to switch from 3-5-2 to 4-4-2 at half time. As the second half wore on, Wenger, going for broke as he had to, dispensed with his defensive midfield and earned a point. It may prove significant in overhauling Spurs, but the title is gone now. At 3-3, Alexis had clear sight of goal in the box but refused to simply unleash a shot with his left foot. Oh well, I guess Lionel Messi is pretty one footed too.
So in terms of their mutual ambitions, neither side did their cause much good. The battle for a top four spot could get very interesting if Manchester United beat Spurs this afternoon – as we must hope they will. The thought of a Spurs title is something that simply cannot be contemplated, although they are the only side that can now stop Leicester.
So, after all the hopes and optimism, Arsenal go into the final six matches of the season with the objective of ensuring they qualify for next season’s Champions League. Is anyone else getting bored of this?
There was a banner at the end which read “Love Arsenal Hate Kroenke”. And yet, Kroenke is the man who is happy with the Groundhog Day seasons because they are providing solid financial growth and increasing the value of his asset. And the man does not look like he is going anywhere soon. He, for one, will not bring change to the club. That is down to the supporters expressing that they are unhappy with the stasis they perceive at Arsenal. But how exactly are they going to do that? There are still a large number of fans who are content with what Arsene is achieving. Cue more punch ups in the stands as the season wearily winds towards the same conclusion we have seen every year since the stadium move – the Gunners will finish third or fourth.
I am now on Twitter@KevinWhitcher01.
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