Team Focus: Same Old Problems Persist for Arsenal and Wenger
There was a moment in early February when even the most self-confident of football writers was beginning to wonder if they might have got Arsenal wrong this season. All logic said that they didn't have the depth of squad to maintain their challenge - quite apart from all the other doubts about their mettle when the pressure was really on and whether Arsène Wenger is still able to compete tactically with the very best - and yet they kept plodding on, dismissing the league's lesser sides with a ruthlessness that seemed out of character. When they beat Crystal Palace 2-0 at home on February 2, it was their sixth win in seven in the league and, although the fixture list was backloaded, it seemed possible that they might hold on and win the title.
They had a tough fortnight coming up, with games away against Liverpool and at home to Manchester United in the league, at home to Liverpool in the FA Cup and at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, but if they could just get through that, the thought ran, then who knew what might be possible?
What happened, of course, was that Arsenal conceded four goals in that first 20 minutes at Anfield, and their form abruptly collapsed. They went out of the Champions League and, although they got by Liverpool to reach the semi-final of the FA Cup, the defeat to them in the league was the beginning of a run of nine games in which they've picked up just nine points. Winning the title isn't mathematically impossible, but it feels emotionally and psychologically so, and the battle now is to hang on to fourth in the face of an unexpectedly emphatic challenge from Everton, whose victory over Arsenal on Sunday was their sixth in a row.
Injuries, of course, have played their part, and few sides could cope with being without players of the calibre of Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott, Mesut Özil, Laurent Koscielny, Kieran Gibbs and Abou Diaby simultaneously. Still, greater investment might have prevented them being quite so exposed.
The issue is particularly acute at centre-forward. Whether Olivier Giroud is good enough to lead the line for a team with aspirations of winning the title is debatable, but what is certain is that he has not been helped by being forced to carry on leading the line even after his form has collapsed. Of Arsenal's 24 games before the capitulation at Anfield, Giroud played 22 games, scored 10 goals and set up six. In his nine games since, he has scored three and set up one. His conversion rate has fallen from 14.1% to 11.6%, shots per game from 3.2 to 2.9, key passes from 1.1 to 0.6 and his Whoscred.com rating from 7.52 to 6.84.
That's not to blame Giroud: no other centre-forward at a top seven club has made as many as 31 Premier League starts, so a level of fatigue is to be expected, and his dip in form feels as much a symptom as a cause of the decline. It feels as though there's been a collective loss of belief. In every metric other than pass completion, Arsenal have suffered severe decline.
Goals scored per game are down from 1.96 per game to 1. Goals conceded are up from 0.88 to 2.11. Pass completion has remained roughly the same. They're having fewer shots and conceding more. Tackles are down by over 3 per game. Possession is down almost 2.5 percentage points.
There's a good argument that the title challenge was an illusion created by the fixture list: strangely it was only when they won 1-0 at Spurs four games ago that Arsenal had more points in equivalent games than they had last season. The shape of the season may have been different but essentially nothing much has changed: all the doubts about squad size and spending, and Wenger's inability to change the pattern of a game remain.
What do you think needs to change at Arsenal for them to become serious title challengers once again? Let us know in the comments below
@yago to spend more money doesn't mean always you have a better team or players. It depends on how you spend your money, you can pay 50 mln for ozil or 30 mln for fellaini or you can spend 10 for Vidal, 0 for pirlo, 0 for pogba. Wenger's managing of the finances has been poor in the last year, he sold too many big and change them with average players paying too much. But the work on the pitch has been commendable, arsenal have been top table until February with a 4th position team. Liverpool have spent better their money, for example they bought Sturridge instead giroud, they have a bit better team than arsenal and play very good. Also Arsenal had a lot of injuries too and reds not. Instead sacking wenger it's time to get a person that minds the market and the finances of the club.
@Mattia. Sorry, but that sounds a lot like cheap excuses. Liverpool have spent less than Arsenal, much less than City or Chelsea, yet are right there in the fight. In Spain, Atlético is leading with a buget 1/10th of Real or Barça's. I like a lot of things Wenger has done there, but the year he spent 50M on his Nth attacking midfielder is the year he no longer gets a free pass for under performing.
@gnorn, you're right but here in Italy we have the coach, and a different person who follows the market, the economy of the club and the contracts with the players. So I was judging Wenger only on the technical side, forgetting about the managing part of his work.
The Arsenal team are lacking in pace and they could also do with someone more forceful with a physical presence who plays regularly other than flamini and we really do need another Striker if not two to help Giroud out, who sometimes tries too hard and then at the crucial moments doesn't have enough left in the tank
@Mattia: If Arsenal doesn't have the squad to compete, whose fault is that but Wenger's? The club has always stated that the money is available for purchases, and they have demonstrated that with the bid for Suarez and the purchase of Ozil.
Exactly. And you could have mentioned that the reason for many of these injuries is that players were run into the ground. Ramsey's fixture list is insane! http://www.whoscored.com/Players/26820/Fixtures/Aaron-Ramsey Did he **really** need to start the Capital One Cup tie against Chelsea, in the middle of a gruelling run of 7 twice-a-week games? Was it **essential** to play him against Cardiff and Hull, when consecutive high-pressure fixtures against Everton, Man City and Napoli were looming?
@JoeB91 I couldn't agree more. Especially considering the fact that they spent a fortune on a shiny new midfielder that was absolutely unnecessary. What was the 'Ozil effect' supposed to be anyway? The squad needs an overhaul and a new manager. Two things I don't see happening anytime soon.
they need a bigger squad like City's, Aguero's injured they've still got Jovetic, Negredo and Dzeko, Arsenal need more depth and since Walcott got injured they've been lacking something same with Ramsey
Arsenal's injury problems are of their own doing. If they kept a fit squad for the season they might maintain a challenge
Time for Wenger to go.
It's not Wenger, the fault is beliving that arsenal has a team to compete for the title. They have a great manager that always pull out the maximum from his players, even with several injuries, but the form can't last forever. Arsenal roster is paragonable to spurs's, and not to Chelsea's or city's.
Have a feeling this could be Wenger's last season in charge of Arsenal. Wins the FA Cup and bows out with his head held high.