Kevin Whitcher
Expectations sufficiently lowered, Arsenal start to cobble together a series of wins (with the odd noticeable blip), once the league leaders are safely out of sight over the horizon. ‘Twas ever thus, or at least it feels like it. Chelsea wrapped up the title on Friday night and now the focus moves to who, out of the teams lying in the third to sixth places, will qualify for the Champions League. Against opposition that have next to nothing to play for (or in the case of Man Utd, choose not to), Wenger’s team rack up the points.
There was another protest banner flown across the skies during the first half, this one reading “Wenger – Out Means Out !!”. It should be recalled that the protests calling for a change in manager began at the Bayern Munich home game in early March. Aside from the humiliating first leg defeat, in the Premier League the side had effectively counted themselves out of a title tilt by losing three out of four games – away to Chelsea and Liverpool and at home to Watford. After 36 matches, the gap to Chelsea stands at 18 points. If Arsenal had drawn with Antonio Conte’s team at the Bridge that would have been 15 points. Since December when they went top of the table after beating Stoke at home, the Gunners have dropped 25 points in matches aside from Chelsea away. So, for the sake of argument, wins at home against Watford and Manchester City (plus 5 points) and away wins at Bournemouth, West Brom and Palace (plus 8 points) would have put them two points behind Chelsea. Granted, they would have needed two draws or a win from matches at Goodison, the Etihad, Anfield or White Hart Lane to give them parity or better, but it would certainly have made yesterday’s win at the Britannia mean something a lot more than a raised eyebrow. So those unhappy about continued expression of desire for change in the dugout might care to remember that this was brought about not by fear of missing out on the Champions League, but the habitual humiliations suffered in said tournament combined with the predictability of the club’s collapse when there is a sniff of a title challenge back home.
In truth, this was unlike any Arsenal match at Stoke since the latter were promoted under Tony Pulis back in 2008. The home side lacked the aggression, tenacity and over-physicality that we normally witness, leading to a far less intimidating atmosphere than is customary in this fixture. Things were symbolised by Rob Holding shoving Arnautovic into touch and the Austrian forward complaining about the challenge. It was far less cynical than the kind of shove from Arnautovic himself that led to Mathieu Debuchy’s shoulder injury in 2015, one that allowed Hector Bellerin to claim his place in the team and effectively ended the Frenchman’s contribution at Arsenal.
On that note, with the Ox injured, Bellerin started at right wing back. Gibbs was dropped and Monreal moved back to the left flank as Koscielny returned. The Spaniard came close with a header that hit the post after 17 minutes and his lack of pace does not seem to be a significant handicap in the position. Two other changes were made with, presumably, the anticipated physical nature of the game in mind. Coquelin in for Ramsey and Giroud in for Welbeck. The first half saw very little from Stoke with Arsenal dominant, but little to show for it until Giroud’s goal as the interval beckoned, the result of good work by Coquelin and Bellerin. Three players brought back into the starting line up combining to score. Well done to the manager there. Ten minutes into the second half, Ozil and Sanchez combined well for the former to score, although it wasn’t game over as Stoke introduced Peter Crouch. A spell of pressure from them followed. They used to call Gheorghe Hagi “the Maradona of the Carpathians”, which must make the beanpole Stoke striker the Maradona of the Potteries after his use of the hand to score. Arsenal weathered several corners and re-established a two goal lead when Sanchez, who had requested to be removed with what looked like a muscle injury shortly before, popped up to score from distance. Giroud sealed the deal with ten minutes left and many of the home fans vacated before the final whistle. Stoke were on the beach for this one.
So, it's down to Arsenal to beat Sunderland in front of a half empty Emirates on Tuesday evening and Everton at the same venue next Sunday. And hope Liverpool fail to pick up six points from West Ham away and Boro at home. Due to their goal difference, Man City probably only need one win from their two games at home to West Brom and away to Watford. So really, it’s all eyes on the Olympic Stadium this afternoon, where two highly unpredictable teams go head to head, one of them with nothing to play for.
Even if Wenger does manage to sneak into the back door and take the cherished fourth place trophy once more, making a triumph out of a tragedy of a collapse between December and mid-March, it will mean that we have witnessed the same old season, and nothing has changed. There is a glass ceiling to what the club can achieve, but the ‘next level’ the manager talks about will prove elusive unless there is a dramatic change in the recruitment of players, the organisation of the team and the injury record of the players. There is enough right with the club to make healthy profit, but too much wrong with it to give us any silverware aside from domestic cups. Things need to evolve from the solid foundations that Wenger has laid in terms of the club’s size if not its footballing operation and that isn’t going to happen with a stubborn dinosaur crowing about the achievement of finishing a large number of points behind the champions on a habitual basis.
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