No, the heading is probably inaccurate. After some consideration and a two days reflection period I've come to the conclusion this is the worst I've seen Arsenal perform this season. And when you have defeats to Borussia and Stoke to consider, well, that's saying something.
We made a disjointed and toothless Liverpool side with Sterling up top look good. Had Szczesny not been our goalkeeper that day, or had he just been as out of form as the rest of the team, Liverpool would have won the game. They had 27 shots, 10 on target and enjoyed 64% of possession. We only pulled off three shots on target and our respective 36% possession is the worst in eleven years. Maybe more, but Opta, who provided the stat, only started gathering such kind info eleven years ago.
Frankly, we only had three players who were up to scratch that day: Szczesny, Cazorla and Giroud. Wojciech did everything in his power to ensure we stayed in front, pulling off a couple of outstanding saves, Cazorla provided the assist for Giroud's goal and was the only player with whom the ball stuck and Giroud held our attack together by coming out on top in a lot of aerial duels and almost scoring the winner. Almost.
The manner in which we conceded the equaliser was horrible. It was the 97th minute, we were a goal up and had an extra man and yet somehow, inexplicably, we've left the most dangerous player on set-pieces unmarked. The concept of zonal marking always made me feel uneasy, but when it worked, it worked. The problem is that, when is doesn't work (like on Sunday) we suffer the consequences.
I also don't like the fact we no longer put men on posts during corners. Skrtel's header, as good as it was, could have been blocked or cleared off the line if somebody was just physically standing on the post. No one was there, so no one stopped the effort from going in.
Then again, there is the problem of making substitutions. Monreal for Alexis is alright, but Campbell for Oxlade? I mean, really? In what world does it provide us with a better chance at either end of the pitch? Also, why remove Giroud? Not only did this sub allow Liverpool to operate with freedom, knowing the chances of Welbeck or Campbell punishing them are slim at best, we also lost a player who could make the difference in our own box. A player who could have won the duel against Skrtel, or got in his way, at least. Coquelin, upon coming on, did nothing to shore things up, so why the hell did we need him?
I do realise we have a lot of injures and that stops us from finding our game, but the extent is remarkable, really. United had a lot of injures, but they thrashed Liverpool. Aston Villa beat Liverpool. The Mugmashers only picked up five points in the CL, for Christ's sake. They were battered by every half-decent team. But not by us, of course.
And then again, when do we not have a lot of injures? It's the same old story every year. And I don't really care whether they are muscle injures or accidents or results from Woodoo dolls' experiments. We have a bunch every year and it's just not good enough.
We have a big squad, much bigger than some will have you believe. Yet look at how many games Cazorla, Oxlade and Chambers have played and compare it to these of Arteta, Walcott and Koscielny. We have a squad with requisite depth (maybe just 1-2 players short) yet are unable to rotate because of injures. The same players feature over and over and over again, until they enter the fabled red zone and get knackered. By then the other half of the squad recovers and the story repeats itself, only with different players this time. Pathetic.
Right now we are a mess. We're unable to demonstrate any kind of consistency and this leads to us being where we are. Sixth in the table, level on points with seventh Tottenham. We've failed to capitalise on United's slip-up and are five points behind third-placed Devils.
Of course, much can change over the festive period. We play four games in rapid succession and four wins should at least elevate us into the top four. And we'll once again fight for staying there. Any talk of finishing second or even first is gibberish, not because it's mathematically impossible, but because no sane person, who has watched us for any period of time this season, will say we are capable of producing positive results on a consistent basis.
I cannot express how tired I am of seeing Arsenal struggle. Tired of analysing bad results and bad performances. Tired of us making the same mistakes over and over and over again. Tired of fighting for fourth/third every year. I do realise we are behind City, Chelsea and United in financial regard and that we finish about where our resources allow us to, but that doesn't make me any less tired. I badly want this to change, for Arsenal to become a major force again, but for now I see no light at the end of this long and gloomy tunnel.
Back in two days with a preview.
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)
We made a disjointed and toothless Liverpool side with Sterling up top look good. Had Szczesny not been our goalkeeper that day, or had he just been as out of form as the rest of the team, Liverpool would have won the game. They had 27 shots, 10 on target and enjoyed 64% of possession. We only pulled off three shots on target and our respective 36% possession is the worst in eleven years. Maybe more, but Opta, who provided the stat, only started gathering such kind info eleven years ago.
Frankly, we only had three players who were up to scratch that day: Szczesny, Cazorla and Giroud. Wojciech did everything in his power to ensure we stayed in front, pulling off a couple of outstanding saves, Cazorla provided the assist for Giroud's goal and was the only player with whom the ball stuck and Giroud held our attack together by coming out on top in a lot of aerial duels and almost scoring the winner. Almost.
The manner in which we conceded the equaliser was horrible. It was the 97th minute, we were a goal up and had an extra man and yet somehow, inexplicably, we've left the most dangerous player on set-pieces unmarked. The concept of zonal marking always made me feel uneasy, but when it worked, it worked. The problem is that, when is doesn't work (like on Sunday) we suffer the consequences.
I also don't like the fact we no longer put men on posts during corners. Skrtel's header, as good as it was, could have been blocked or cleared off the line if somebody was just physically standing on the post. No one was there, so no one stopped the effort from going in.
Then again, there is the problem of making substitutions. Monreal for Alexis is alright, but Campbell for Oxlade? I mean, really? In what world does it provide us with a better chance at either end of the pitch? Also, why remove Giroud? Not only did this sub allow Liverpool to operate with freedom, knowing the chances of Welbeck or Campbell punishing them are slim at best, we also lost a player who could make the difference in our own box. A player who could have won the duel against Skrtel, or got in his way, at least. Coquelin, upon coming on, did nothing to shore things up, so why the hell did we need him?
I do realise we have a lot of injures and that stops us from finding our game, but the extent is remarkable, really. United had a lot of injures, but they thrashed Liverpool. Aston Villa beat Liverpool. The Mugmashers only picked up five points in the CL, for Christ's sake. They were battered by every half-decent team. But not by us, of course.
And then again, when do we not have a lot of injures? It's the same old story every year. And I don't really care whether they are muscle injures or accidents or results from Woodoo dolls' experiments. We have a bunch every year and it's just not good enough.
We have a big squad, much bigger than some will have you believe. Yet look at how many games Cazorla, Oxlade and Chambers have played and compare it to these of Arteta, Walcott and Koscielny. We have a squad with requisite depth (maybe just 1-2 players short) yet are unable to rotate because of injures. The same players feature over and over and over again, until they enter the fabled red zone and get knackered. By then the other half of the squad recovers and the story repeats itself, only with different players this time. Pathetic.
Right now we are a mess. We're unable to demonstrate any kind of consistency and this leads to us being where we are. Sixth in the table, level on points with seventh Tottenham. We've failed to capitalise on United's slip-up and are five points behind third-placed Devils.
Of course, much can change over the festive period. We play four games in rapid succession and four wins should at least elevate us into the top four. And we'll once again fight for staying there. Any talk of finishing second or even first is gibberish, not because it's mathematically impossible, but because no sane person, who has watched us for any period of time this season, will say we are capable of producing positive results on a consistent basis.
I cannot express how tired I am of seeing Arsenal struggle. Tired of analysing bad results and bad performances. Tired of us making the same mistakes over and over and over again. Tired of fighting for fourth/third every year. I do realise we are behind City, Chelsea and United in financial regard and that we finish about where our resources allow us to, but that doesn't make me any less tired. I badly want this to change, for Arsenal to become a major force again, but for now I see no light at the end of this long and gloomy tunnel.
Back in two days with a preview.
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)