Arsenal Audit’s raison d'être

Arsenal Audit was new to onlinegooner.com in August and there seems to have been some confusion as to its purpose. Arsenal Audit, as the name suggests, applies an evidence based audit approach to research and analyse the policies and practices of the Club’s management and Board over a considerable period of time. Matches, off pitch developments, months, seasons provide a portal through which to look at enduring themes which include player leadership / captaincy, tactical approaches, the nature of the operational team, injuries and recruitment. It is not a compilation of match reports, which are widely available from many differing perspectives, knee jerk reactions are avoided, and the author’s emotions will not be on display. If anything, Arsenal Audit engages with the manager in a language more akin to his own and the ‘technically, qualitatively, collectively’ etc. Neither will there be any tabloid style mocking or intemperate language towards Monsieur Wenger, as Arsenal Audit respectfully prefers to refer to the Frenchman, or his players or staff, or indeed any writers and commentators on the site.

One theme, the once much heralded - in 2012 - British core seems to be becoming increasingly less relevant; however, the dying embers have - so far this season - been reignited through the regular selections of Theo Walcott, in particular, and, to a lesser extent, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Others, such as the bizarre and unprecedented socialist wage policy, have thankfully been dispensed with for good. Other themes may arrive, such as in the last Audit, major enduring issues regarding inadequate pre-season preparations.

Arsenal Audit does not seek to take either side of the bitter, and sometimes violent, divide over the manager that seems to have almost become the Club. Some regular comment posters (sometimes, unusually, not having watched the match under review or not necessarily commenting upon the article under which their comments appear) will resent that. And unstintingly loyal supporters of Monsieur Wenger, may find the Arsenal Audit suggestion of neutrality very surprising. Nevertheless, the often negative tenor of quite substantial parts of previous Arsenal Audits stretching right back to their beginnings elsewhere in 2011, and not least the first for online Gooner, is not a pre-given. And there has always been an endeavour to acknowledge positives and historical achievements.

Some find Arsenal Audit long-winded and dull. Others are happier with the learned (as one comment poster dubbed it) approach. Many readers, like Arsenal Audit, don’t post comments. It is an undertaking that requires considerable time, which is scarce (this one was delayed by considerable work pressures), and trouble. Later in the season Arsenal Audit will (privately) review its own future. Of course (as Monsieur Wenger often says), having clarified Arsenal Audit ‘s raison d'être, no one has to continue reading it ….

Review of the month

Arsenal 2 – 1 Southampton
The team selection for a match against a team that took 4 points of Arsenal last season, and at a 4 – 0 aggregate, appeared to be a sensible rotation of players ahead of the following Tuesday’s testing Champions League match. Alexis, back late Thursday night from international duty in South America was, for once, sensibly rested, along with £35m. signing Granit Xhaka. New signing Lucas Perez replaced Alexis. Shkodran Mustafi was wisely given an immediate chance to try and build a partnership with Laurent Koscielny, whose remarkable overhead kick equaliser would have graced any centre forward. But whilst Mustafi had an encouraging debut individually and was clearly comfortable stepping out to instigate attacks, the partnership clearly had more bedding in to do. Lucas struggled to adapt to an offensive game which looked straight out of last season’s lateral and un-penetrative playbook. Tactically, Francis Coquelin again operated high up the pitch to try and win the ball back quickly. Whilst, Southampton lacked Liverpool’s cutting edge and finished product, they were offered good counter-attacking opportunities of their own as Arsenal’s midfield was unable to funnel back quickly enough and the defence was left exposed. Olivier Giroud came on as a tactical sub, along with Alexis, at 62 minutes. A highly contentious and highly criticised last kick of the match penalty, duly won by Giroud, gave Arsenal the victory (few seemed to notice that the free kick which lead to Petr Cech’s own goal was at least as contentious).

Paris Saint Germain 1 – 1 Arsenal
To many supporters’ disappointment - and Arsenal Audit - it wasn’t rotation after all; rather, a straight dress rehearsal for the trip to Paris. The wisdom of not starting Granit Xhaka, at least, looked highly questionable. Arsenal, extraordinarily, brought forward their customary Champions League end of match gung-ho indiscipline to concede within the opening minute. PSG continued to outmuscle and outpace Arsenal’s traditional midfield pivots and the rear-guard was left exposed time and time again. Monsieur Wenger attributed the problems to the midfield playing too far from Alexis in the first half, whereas after the break Arsenal played higher. Olivier Giroud seems to also deserve some credit as, the first tactical sub on, in the 63 minute, his presence offered a welcome outlet. Arsenal somehow survived and clawed back a very useful draw. One the two main reasons was that David Ospina, the controversially rotated goalkeeper, was an outstanding man-of-the match. The other was the repeated profligacy, after his opening goal, of Edinson Cavani - the 6th highest transfer in history in 2013, at around euros 64 million. A timely reminder that huge transfer fees don’t always guarantee success. The equalizer from Alexis Sanchez, again operating in the roaming centre-forward position, suggested that an internal solution may yet solve the long-standing centre-forward conundrum.

Hull City 1 – 4 Arsenal
The same formation was retained for the trip to the U.K.’s own ‘2017 capital of culture’. Hull had overcome much adversity to start the season better than many, not least their own supporters, had expected. Nevertheless, Arsenal’s exceptional record against newly promoted clubs continued, aided and abetted by Hull being reduced to 10 men for 50 minutes. Unfortunately, after the red card, Alexis’s celebrated South American street fighting spirit again extended to usurping the Club’s number one penalty taker (Santi Carzola) against the manager’s orders, and, just like the last time, missing. Whilst still a work in progress as a centre-forward, he made amends with two goals. Theo Walcott, missing at PSG with a minor injury, continued his solid early season form with another goal, assisted by Alex Iwobi who continued to display his end of last season promise. Granit Xhaka, a 67th minute substitute for an uncharacteristically unsmiling and irritable yellow carded Santi Cazorla, rewarded the faith of many supporters - and Arsenal Audit - in him by adding a fourth with a 30-yard strike.

Nottingham Forest 0 – 4 Arsenal
In the sponsor-less League Cup, four more goals followed at Forest – for whom Nicklas Bendtner, after some rather humbler pre-match comments than we had hitherto become accustomed, started for his new team. With the entire team that faced Hull rested and recalling the woeful performance last season at Sheffield Wednesday, Monsieur Wenger very sensibly warned against complacency. Youth was given its customary chance with Chuba Akpom (on the left), Jeff Reine-Adelaide, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles (at right back, not wing) starting, as was third choice goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez. And the team was anchored - to very good effect - by the £40m 2016 signings Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny, and also featured another new signing Lucas Perez at centre-forward. The difference in appetite and application was palpable. Lucas got off the mark with a well taken penalty and trademark Vardy / Deportivo goal after Xhaka had started proceedings with a deflected howitzer from even longer range, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain raced through for a well taken fourth in injury time. It will be interesting to see if Monsieur Wenger, with his long-standing aversion to long-shots, reigns Xhaka in, as he did with Mohamed Elneny, or if he has come to see how useful they can be against massed defensive ranks and in offering tactical unpredictably?

The fixture also gave an indication of the future of certain players. Mathieu Debuchy, woeful at Sheffield Wednesday and poor in attitude since, didn’t make a youthful looking bench and with Carl Jenkinson soon to return from injury, and Rob Holding also able to play right back, seems to have been permanently exiled. Similarly, Yaya Sanogo who, remarkably, started in the 2014 Champions League defeat at home to Bayern Munich, with Olivier Giroud getting an early taste of life on the bench.

Arsenal 3 – 0 Chelsea
The team reverted to that which beat Hull in what was a big test of progress and character against a team that Arsenal had not beaten in the Premier League for 5 years and not even scored since the January 2013 defeat (Theo Walcott). Added to which, they have suffered for years against the physicality of Didier Drogba and have recently suffered much of the same, and worse, against Diego Costa. The pre-match theme was to overcome recent ill-discipline and keep 11 men on the pitch. Arsenal comfortably obliged and Monsieur Wenger’s early 20th anniversary went rather better than many others. The new centre-back partnership continued to grow and shackled Costa into ineffectual pantomime frustration with unprecedented pace, controlled aggression and team work. The Monsieur Wenger’s own press, what Arsenal Audit will call the contre-presser was now consistently executed all over the pitch. Alexis, no stranger to pressing defenders, harried a woeful Gary Cahill out of possession and finished by sublimely chipping Petr Cech’s somewhat waning successor, Thibaut Courtois, for the first goal. Three minutes later a rejuvenated Theo Walcott finished off a sublime move assisted by Alex Iwobi, whose performance left Arsenal’s previous midfield prodigy (Cesc Fabregas) in the shade, and another former Academy player Hector Bellerin made one of the rear-guard actions of the season. Despite a subdued season so far, Mesut Ozil started and finished the third. Deep in Arsenal’s half he pirouetted around Chelsea’s much heralded new signing N’Golo Kante, so far having less impact for his new club, and left him for dead before finishing the breakneck counter attack fed by Alexis, as ever on his wavelength. With the game in the bag, Arsenal sat back and shut up shot and Chelsea managed one, late, shot on target. Arsenal missed several good chances.

Perhaps the biggest significance, even beyond the Chelsea hoodoo, happened just after the half hour mark. Francis Coquelin’s injury would normally have resulted in a regular berth for the significantly less effectual Mathieu Flamini to flail around the pitch. Instead, the recent Swiss captain Granit Xhaka was a very much more expensive, and accomplished replacement – and the first natural defensive-midfielder Arsenal have paid a transfer fee for since the bargain Invincible Gilberto Silva who was such a crucial, if sometimes unheralded, cog in that Great Arsenal team.

Arsenal 2 – 0 FC Basel
Many thought the midweek home tie against the Swiss PSG, Basel, was a given – but, certainly not Arsenal Audit. As Monsieur Wenger wisely pointed out, in recent Champions League seasons the unheralded Swiss team had downed Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool on their travels to England. And, after all, Arsenal are hardly strangers to complacency, Emirates slow starts and Champions League poor finishes. After all, Ospina’s horror show in the home defeat to Olympiacos, came this time last year and followed another excellent Premier League performance (the 5 – 2 win at Leicester City). There was to be no repeat. Most of the action took place at the opposite end of the pitch and, from the bench Petr Cech was treated to some very good goalkeeping from his international successor, Tomas Vaclik, who limited the scoreline to Walcott’s double and prevented a profligate Alexis reaping his deserved rewards for his two assists. As against Chelsea, Arsenal’s pressing and pace and movement blew Basel away and were two up inside the half hour and the Swiss never looked likely to repeat their previous exploits on these shores.

PART TWO
After the weekend, Arsenal Audit concludes its review of September by looking at the ongoing themes of captaincy and leadership, the British core, and Monsieur Wenger’s tactical approaches and particularly, as Arsenal Audit calls it, the contre-presser. Finally, it will finish with, as usual, re-examining the Clubs prospects in light of the (fledgling) season so far.

Sources:
On the problems at PSG:
www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160913/wenger-on-red-cards-and-psg-draw