Oh, Arsenal, Arsenal, Arsenal. Two goals of the highest quality, grafted through some stunning give and go, Arsenal on cruise just before the half. Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini, the danger men more or less neutralized. Alex Iwobi setting up Ozil first and then Sanchez for their goals. The Nigerian international continues to build on his impressive start.
What could go wrong then? Two minutes of Andy Carroll and the defence crumpled like cheap, cheap tissue. And immediately after the half, the big man rampaged again, head smashing a whipped cross before the defence even got a sniff on him. David Ospina might have gotten his hands on the ball but Gabriel who had been cast aside like a rag doll for most of the game frustratingly got his head in to deflect Carroll’s header into goal. His hat trick will get all the headlines but he should consider himself lucky to be in the match at all because his unhinged challenge on Koscielny could have easily been a sending off.
Just as you thought this was another game ending badly, Arsenal managed to equalize, Koscielny finishing off nicely after a slick interchange of passes. Wenger withdrew Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny, throwing the kitchen sink with Ramsey, Giroud, and Walcott. Plenty of attack but most of it going nowhere.
What is so frustrating about Arsenal is how easily they get undone in an instant. While they expend the whole game to work and craft goals. This has been a constant theme going back in the mists of time. A defence with the mental make up of fluff would be less a headache if Arsenal were scoring a number of goals consistently. But they don’t. Part of this the almost overwhelming need to walk the ball into goal. Tick off all the boxes. Very few from set pieces, from distance, from first time, from crosses. The disease affects everyone, Welbeck, Sanchez, Giroud, Walcott, taking those extra touches because doing so before a certain number induces crippling anxiety. Giroud is about as physically built as Carroll but there is no direct route for him to goal. It’s all dinks, flicks, and touches through the middle. And Arsenal’s crosses are LOL material.
Welbeck brings energy but its all entropy. Today, he seemed to find himself potentially in good positions only to get pushed off or lose the ball. That very well could be Arsenal personified through this season.
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