Tony Leen
STYLE, no substance. How often have we heard it muttered about Arsenal? Once again, it’s a taunt relevant to Arsenal’s hideous collapse at the DW Stadium on Sunday. Flash, no bottle. The blogosphere was humming yesterday with other explanations, more emotive perhaps, but no less valid for all that, regarding the lamentable defeat to Wigan Athletic.
Pathetic. Demoralising. Careless: accurate, each and every one if you see the world through North London red, but the most damning verdict has been the collective shoulder-shrug from the cogniscenti. Verily, the greatest indictment of Arsenal’s Championship challenge is the predictability of what happened on Sunday.
Monday morning headlines screamed of Arsene Wenger’s “shock” at his side’s abject capitulation in the final ten minutes - the first side in Premier League history to blow a two goal lead after the 80th minute - and the sheepish look on his players’ faces as the filed out of the DW Stadium suggested he had visited some of that on his squad. But if he was truly shocked, he needs to pause and reflect.
The “mental strength” he espouses only surfaces when the cause is hopeless - at home to Barcelona, away to Chelsea, when Arsenal owned the ball once they went 2-0 behind. It was a bullseye point made recently by Johnny Giles on RTÉ that it’s easy to look brave when the game is up. Substantial players shine when the battle is at its pitch. It’s somewhat impolite to cold-water the collective awe at Lionel Messi’s annihilation of Arsenal at Camp Nou earlier this month, but any proper analysis will attest to the feebleness of Arsenal’s challenge and their defensive fragility. It will be interesting to see how the Little One manages against The Pragmatic One this evening in the San Siro.
The facts support the view that Arsenal are flat-track bullies, and not even that when the opposition is feisty. Yes, Cesc Fabregas, William Gallas, Robin van Persie and Alex Song are leaders (even Aaron Ramsey, arguably), and they have been massive misses for the team, but are they the only professionals in the Arsenal squad? If Arsenal’s need for an experienced keeper and centre backs is urgent, the requirement for leadership on the pitch when the going gets tough is fundamental.
On Sunday, once again, there was an alarming lack of composure at key stages - Tomas Rosicky and Abou Diaby being guiltier than most - which underlines the dearth of intestinal fortitude in the squad. Throw in with that their penchant for individual errors and it’s a recipe for repeated disappointment.
Wenger’s wrong when he suggests that rivals try to kick Arsenal off the field. They don’t. Serious rivals mentally out-battle them. Serious outfits dig in when the tide turns into their face. They shut down and suffocate the opposition, kill their momentum. See out the game, in the parlance of the dressing room. It’s what elevated Roy Keane to a plateau well beyond his ability as a footballer. Sol Campbell is the nearest thing Arsenal have but he’s over the hill now. That’s why Chelsea and United will vie for the League title.
Arsenal invariably capitulate in such circumstances; it’s notable that once Ben Watson profited from absent-minded Arsenal defending to sow the doubts in Arsenal minds, Wigan then had a header from a straight-forward corner cleared off the line before Lukasz Fabianski (again) gifted an equaliser to the opposition. The collapse was a perfect template for all that is wrong in the Arsenal mindset.
It was Lee Dixon on Sunday night’s Match of the Day 2 who asked a question you might have read on this blog last month: why didn’t Arsene Wenger spend £5m on Shay Given when he had the opportunity - and the Irish keeper was up for the move? Not least when he is now reportedly prepared to shell out £9m to prise Joe Hart from Man City, by way of Birmingham.
Sunday’s fall guy, Lukasz Fabianski is an able shot-stopper but the Pole folds like a cheap suit under pressure and Manual Almunia is never more than a moment away from damaging eccentricity - e.g. his decision-making for Barcelona’s first goal at the Emirates. Third choice Vito Mannone has shown similar tendencies and it’s too early for the bright young thing on loan at Brenford, Wojciech Szczesny.
It’s ironic, though that the Bees’ keeper kept another clean sheet against Bristol Rovers at the weekend, and had his manager Andy Scott purring: “Wojciech made an absolutely remarkable save and he passes it off like a run-of-the-mill save, so we just let him get on with it.” He is clearly an ideal No 2 at the Emirates, but there is a queue of mediocrity in his way - and no-one ahead of him to groom the young Pole.
Arguably, there is no other position on the pitch where experience is as important as the goalkeeper for a variety of reasons - concentration, self-belief, decision-making, a calming influence on those around him - but Wenger does not seem to grasp that. If he does, he blithely ignores it.
The manager has been unlucky with centre backs - Johann Djourou has spent the season in rehab for a serious knee injury, and William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen are now both crocked with calf strains. However, when he was prepared to let Philippe Senderos out to Everton and permit Man Utd to outbid him for Chris Smalling, Wenger must have been satisfied with his back-up.
The respective transfer budgets of the ‘big four’ is an impressive example of Wenger’s prudence and financial husbandry, but there is a core issue here - it is not the cost of the player Arsenal are buying, it’s the type of player. The squad is overflowing with technical proficiency, but even Barcelona recognise the need for a Yaya Toure or Seydou Keita.
Maybe Sunday will prove a watershed. Perhaps there will finally be recognition that the issue is not the depth of the squad, but its make-up. Asked by reporters what he said to his players, Wenger looked ruefully at his inquisitor: “I will keep what I said to the players to myself.”
Hopefully, if you’re an Arsenal supporter, little of it was printable.
