Another day, another defeat.
This time in the FA Cup, the one bright spot in an Arsenal season for two successive years. Dumped out by a Watford side which has struggled to score goals before finding Arsenal such obliging hosts. An Arsenal side barely clinging onto the fumes of a title chase and facing an almost guaranteed exit from the Champions League. This is not just about these losses accumulating, it’s the way the Gunners are playing at the moment. There is no coherence, no composure, no sense of history or of direction – its Colonel Kurtz adrift in Cambodia scarred and broken as his world comes crashing down and madness descends.
On January 2nd, Arsenal were on top of the league table – 2 points clear of Leicester. The talking point was a club that usually reserved its best for the second half of the season and the expectation was a steadily increasing lock on a first title since 2004. In the 9 matches played in the new year, Leicester have gained 20 points while Arsenal have struggled to manage half of that. The Foxes have now taken an 8 point lead and show no signs of relinquishing that lead. Spurs energized by Mauricio Pochettino have surged past Arsenal with aplomb as the Gunners attack finds itself stalled and the defence leaks goals. 12 goals scored, 12 goals conceded, which really highlights the upward trajectory of the first half of the season and accounts for the positive differential.
This was a squad which had the benefit of having bedded in for a couple of seasons and again the first half showed up that advantage. With Petr Cech’s goalkeeping abilities and leadership qualities bolstering the back four, Mesut Oezil on point with Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott capitalizing on his mouthwatering finesse, and Frances Coquelin continuing his ascent as tough, no holds barred midfield enforcer, each player seemed to have found his niche. Even with injuries to key players mounting as usual, the side found ways to forge ahead. Wenger’s laissez faire coaching which allowed the side to do its thing was working nicely. However this discounts what other sides do to identify shortcomings and take steps to improve themselves. Which is what Arsenal’s competition have done very successfully.
Leicester tightened themselves at the back with the Wes Morgan led defence and a superb M’Golo Kante snuffing out nascent goal threats. Result: Claudio Ranieri’s side have only given up 6 goals in the last nine matches while they continue to perfect the art of efficient and lightning quick counterattacking. Spurs who were sputtering in attack till December finally got going and have overtaken Arsenal in goals scored, 53 to 46, as Harry Kane found his groove and Dele Alli joined in the party. Spurs now look the most well balanced side in every department as Pochettino has found a way to coax a 100% out of the squad. Erik Lamela a lost cause and expensive boondoggle with his cameos of petulant indignation amounting to little more than navel gazing has been moulded by Pochettino into a fine, tough minded creative presence and is integral to the side’s success.
The danger was Arsenal finding a wrinkle. Which they did against Liverpool as a last minute equalizer sank the side in a stunningly open ended and absorbing match. Both sides played lights out and now in hindsight appears to be the last match when Arsenal actually looked potent and capable of a victory. A stalemate against Stoke followed. Suddenly, the trope was of a nervous side which was how Wenger described their performance against a Chelsea which despite all their problems once again found a way to ruthlessly expose their shortcomings. With each match becoming increasingly crucial, the Saints forced a draw at the Emirates as Leicester and Spurs marched on. Not only was Arsenal not winning, their performances were desultory and pockmarked by defensive lapses and errant shooting. For any other coach with any sort of expectations, this would not be business as usual. The clouds kept gathering even as Arsenal eked out a less than salubrious win against Bournemouth and a last minute squeaker against Leicester. That victory proved another false dawn- as the next two matches, both losses against Man Utd and Swansea were expositions of Arsenal’s horrible decay and despondence.
A team with bad habits
When did basic defensive nous become such a foreign concept? Or ball protection? The same bad habits which sink the Gunners season in and season out which Arsene Wenger seems to believe will vanish magically under a carpet once the season begins. How many times have the Arsenal midfield lost the ball only to see the opposition bomb forward into space with the defence losing its composure and sucked into a black hole. We saw it against Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, and now more recently Diego Costa and Harry Kane feast off these shortcomings. Actually this is dated information and suggests unfairly the bigger clubs have a scoring monopoly but as Watford demonstrated, what was a contained infection is now an epidemic. Both goals were the result of cheap giveaways and mindless defending.
This was the fear that beset Barca before the season – as an ageing and rejiggered defence the conventional wisdom would have it would struggle against even mediocre attacking talent. But Barca do something that takes the pressure off. They protect the ball fantastically well and when they lose it on the off chance, their defence swarms and reclaims it back. You win the midfield battle, you usually will not lose the match. Guus Hiddink’s resurrection of John Obi Mikel has played a large part in their not losing a single league match. A sporting analogy would be while playing squash, the player who manages to control the forecourt usually controls the game. Arsenal to the best of knowledge have never controlled midfield this season. They appear not to have the personnel to set that tempo and/or the coach seems to be unwilling to teach them those tactics.
There is a certain predictability to Arsenal’s players which can come in the purview of curable bad habits- Alexis Sanchez running down the left, to cut inside, runs into defenders, loses ball. Aaron Ramsey’s heavy first touch and no look backheels, loses ball, Olivier Giroud back towards goal, falls backwards, sticks tongue out, loses ball, Theo Walcott running straight and direct into defenders and having an ungodly belief in his dribbling prowess, loses ball, Frances Coquelin tackles and then misplaces a pass, loses ball, Mesut Oezil, surrounded by 3 players, circles one way, then the other way, as space closes, loses ball. These are not wide eyed beginners – all are well established in their careers. A coach has to have a reasonable faith these players will develop an insight into their problems and figure out how to solve them. However, the overwhelming evidence is this is not the case as we see this repeat itself to the point of insanity. Maybe they can’t control themselves. Which means these players need intervention, in short, Wenger gets to earn his pay cheque. Blind faith is not a solution.
As William James in his seminal work on habits puts it, to break old ones, “accumulate all the possible circumstances which shall reenforce the right motives; put yourself assiduously in conditions that encourage the new way; make engagements incompatible with the old; take a public pledge, if the case allows; in short, envelop your resolution with every aid you know.”
Now, don’t even get started on mental frailty and self belief. When you see the same self destructive patterns repeat itself then how is this side going to ever develop a mental resilience and self confidence? And it’s not just the players, Wenger has some terrible ones himself, like this need for excessive rationalization, constant carping, and shifting of goalposts on achievements. It’s unreal.
“Our long, long run has come to an end in a very sad way because I don’t think that we deserved to lose. You’re always in the middle of a drama, it’s becoming a farce. We have lost a game, we are sad, and we want to focus on the next game. You know Arsenal have lost games in their history and we lose again in the future, and we have to stick together and cope with it and prepare for the next one with a complete belief.”
We deserved to lose the game because the players played badly. The drama is self made. This is a poorly coached Arsenal side. No excuses. Own up and make improvements. That’s what Claudio Rainieri and Mauricio Pochettino have done without complaining. The first one is in his first season, the latter in his second as coach. The board will never let Wenger go, it’s up to the fans to keep up the pressure.