Kevin Whitcher
Tony Pulis’ teams have a record of giving Arsenal a torrid time away from home, but he is far less of a problem at the Emirates. And so it proved again last night against West Bromwich Albion, although it could have been very different.
There aren’t too many people who didn’t think Mustafi’s foul on Rodriguez in the Arsenal box, fairly early in the game last night, was a penalty. Fortunately for the Gunners, referee Bobby Madeley wasn’t one of them. Or at least, if he decided to play advantage, allowing Rodriguez to hit the post and a colleague to put the rebound wide, he then did not subsequently award a spot kick after they failed to score. I assume the rules would allow him to do that.
Hindsight tells us Rodriguez should have stayed down, but I can only assume he believed it was too good a chance not to get up again and put the ball past Petr Cech, who got something on the shot to avoid his team going behind.
Arsenal took the lead through a free kick just outside the area by Sanchez, which hit the bar, only for the predatory Alexandre Lacazette to head home the rebound. Rather than take this as an opportunity to control the game and take the sting out of any opposition response, Wenger’s team construed to allow West Brim to dominate the closing stages of the first half, with Monreal having to clear off the line amidst other very decent opportunities which a better forward line would have capitalized on.
The second half was much better, with the Gunners doubling their lead thanks to an excellent Lacazette penalty after Ramsey had been barged off the ball a little too heavily (although in truth it was a less obvious spot kick offence than Mustafi’s).
So, a win’s a win, but the concern is that the lack of focus and organization that saw three goals conceded against Leicester and four against Liverpool is still an issue. Arsene Wenger paired Elneny and Xhaka in the centre of midfield last night, moving Aaron Ramsey forward. I am far from convinced that the club have the solution to shoring up the midfield with any combination of the players in the current squad, and ultimately, this is going to cost more points than have already been lost this season. It’s a glaring weakness in the Arsenal set up that has not been addressed. And recent history has told us that it is unlikely to be sorted out until there is a change in the way things are done at the club.
Reputedly, Dick Law is leaving his post because he is actually frustrated at not being able to negotiate deals without having to leave the room and get on the phone to Arsene Wenger. And – this is pure speculation – a bit of me wonders if Ivan Gazidis has given up trying to take an active part in player recruitment after the manager over-ruled him on the signing of Lemina from Juventus in the summer. So now the CEO has simply decided to let Wenger fail with a view to moving on either next summer (if this season sees another failure to make the Champions League) or in 2019.
As for the current campaign, last night’s game demonstrated that Arsenal’s problems when they lost possession have not been ironed out yet, and by the time they face Spurs and Manchester City either side of the international break in November, they will need to be. What bemuses is that the team are capable of discipline and organization – we saw it at Stamford Bridge. And yet, they can then allow a team like West Brom to exploit them when they lose focus for spells during the game. It’s the old Jekyl and Hyde Arsenal. And it certainly isn’t the hallmark of champions in the making.
Still, Arsenal are at least moving in the right direction in terms of position in the table. Brighton at home on Sunday should be comfortable enough. The visits to Watford and Everton that follow the next international break will be more indicative of whether this team will be capable of a genuine renaissance after the nadir of the season’s opening matches.
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