Weaknesses prove costly again

Watford 2-1 Arsenal

“Arsenal’s players just lack cojones” was the damning verdict from Troy Deeney on Arsene Wenger’s side having just helped Watford secure a last gasp victory against the Gunners. Although it is largely unprecedented for a current player to appear in a television studio straight after the game and castigate the opposition players in such derogatory terms, it was difficult to argue against the Watford striker.

If Wenger himself was having a similar discussion with his players after yet another away game in which they appeared to throw in the towel at the first sign of a physical battle emerging, then maybe there would be a reaction from the players rather than the team posting such a dismal away record in 2017. From 15 away games in this period, the Gunners have registered 4 wins, 2 draws and 9 defeats, resulting in a total of 14 points. This is clearly not good enough for a side which sees itself as a regular top four challenger. It also demonstrates a worrying trend which Wenger must address, rather than skirting away from the issue.

After the game Wenger rightly castigated the referee for awarding a penalty to Watford for a foul by Hector Bellerin on Richarlison. Replays confirmed that Bellerin had at most made minimal contact with the Brazilian and therefore the decision to point to the spot was clearly incorrect. It was unfortunate in many ways because not only did it provide Watford with a perfect opportunity to get back on level terms, it also gave Wenger something upon which he could focus on in his post-match interviews and shift the spotlight away from the fact that the goal had been a long time coming.

Arsenal had played well in the first half. Moving the ball relatively quickly, winning possession back rather easily and playing on the front foot. When Per Mertesacker rose unchallenged to meet Xhaka’s corner delivery and send Arsenal into the lead, it was a fair reflection of the game and there was a sense that Arsenal would kick on and soon score the second. Unfortunately this never happened. They failed to kill the game off when they were on top and then came out for the second period with a collective bad attitude which allowed Watford to dominate the second half.

The home side had clearly been fired up during the half time interval and came out a different side for the restart. Suddenly they were in the Arsenal players’ faces, putting them under pressure and dragging them into areas and battles that they didn’t want to be in. To this end, the introduction of Troy Deeney was a masterstroke. Not the most mobile, or talented player on the pitch by his own admission, but his hunger and desire were up there with the best. Suddenly the Arsenal defence had a physical battle on their hands and they wilted under the pressure. Deeney was sent on the pitch to test their resolve, to ask questions of them and they in turn failed to answer any of them as they were battered from pillar to post, outmuscled and outfought in every battle and made to look as feeble as all other sides perceive them to be.

Deeney’s introduction helped to completely change the game. The panic of the Arsenal defence quickly spread throughout the team and the Gunners completely lost their way, failing to retain their composure and keep the ball. Contrast Deeney’s impact from the bench with that of Olivier Giroud and Arsenal’s second half capitulation becomes all the more damming. With the Gunners struggling to hold onto possession, they needed their own physical presence up front to hold up the ball and bring the side back into the game. In this respect, the decision to bring on Giroud made sense, but the Frenchman’s level of performance was simply shocking. He offered absolutely nothing to his team, falling to establish himself in the game at all and not even attempting to close down the opposition when they had the ball. In fact it was difficult to remember a point in the game when Giroud actually broke out into a sprint, rather than his frustrating casual jog. Given that he is fighting for his place in the starting eleven, the Frenchman should be offering far more than he has so far this season.

Although Giroud’s performance was largely laughable, he cannot be held solely accountable. Despite the experience of the likes of Mertesacker, Koscielney and Cech all being on the pitch, there was once again a clear lack of leadership when things started to go against the team and a clear lack of desire to do the dirty work. In years gone by a player such a Ray Parlour may not have been overly blessed with technical ability, but he was more than willing to chase lost causes and get stuck into the uglier side of the game to turn things in his side’s favour. Over the last decade Arsenal have lacked players in a similar mode and have suffered as a result.

As the game turned more and more into a physical battle, the decision to introduce Ozil from the bench when Danny Welbeck suffered yet another injury, was bemusing to say the least. Like Giroud, Ozil offered very little to the side and is certainly not the type of player that others look to for inspiration when the going gets tough. He did have a wonderful opportunity to put Arsenal two goals ahead and in doing so could have taken the game beyond Watford’s reach, but in typical fashion, Ozil failed to deliver at the critical moment. Faced with a one-on-one opportunity with Heurelho Gomes in the Watford goal, all Ozil had to do was steer the ball beyond him. However the way he approached the chance, with such a clear lack of commitment, meant that he was always destined to miss. In the end the effort was so tame that Gomes had the simplest of saves to make. Barely 30 seconds later and the referee was pointing to spot following Bellerin’s supposed foul.

Rumours this week suggested that Ozil has held positive contract talks with the club, but in truth there won’t be many Arsenal fans who actually want him to stay. No matter how good a player you are, you must always earn the right to play and Ozil just does not seem interested enough to do this. He has failed to deliver on the big occasions and when it really matters he goes missing. The fact Wenger wants to hold onto him says everything about why the club find themselves so far behind the top teams when it comes to challenging for the top prizes in the game.

That lack of commitment, hunger and desire was also present as Arsenal conceded a second in injury time. This time it was Xhaka who showed a real lack of interest to fight for the cause as he simply stood on the edge of the box watching, as Tom Cleverly latched onto a rebound to fire home. Had Xhaka actually bothered to track the run from Cleverly then Arsenal may well have escaped with a point instead of leaving with absolutely nothing than the bruised egos their second half performance deserved.

Once again a poor result led to questions over the manager and while supporters of other clubs tend to look at the anger and vitriol directed towards the manager with a sense of curiousness, given his great success, it is difficult to look beyond him. Of course Wenger, unlike Guardiola and Mourinho, is not working with an unlimited budget and the well documented lack of desire for on field success from the owner Stan Kroenke does not help matters either. But ultimately it is Wenger who decides which players to sign, which to sell and which to hold onto. For several years now the recurring theme of a side that has a weak backbone and cannot stand up to the physical battle has been allowed to continue unabated. Only Wenger can answer the question as to why this has been the case but of course at Arsenal, Wenger is king and the king answers to no one, as his team becomes a laughing stock.