Arsenal will go into the Champions League game in Belgrade tomorrow trying to convince themselves that their shambles of a performance against a well‑organised, disciplined though hardly awesome West Bromwich Albion side on Saturday was just a bad dream. Having been debagged by the Baggies they will try not to be taken apart by Partizan, but until or unless Arsène Wenger addresses his most pressing problem in the January transfer window, the nightmare will recur.
"It's a mystery to me," Wenger said after Arsenal lost 3-2 to Albion, who were leading 3-0 before Samir Nasri twice took advantage of a tiring defence in the final 15 minutes. "Today in our performance something was not right. It is unexplainable how flat the whole thing looked for the whole game. I did not recognise my team today."
More than a few among a crowd of 60,000 would have been happy to enlighten him, for they recognised exactly what was wrong, starting with the goalkeeper. Manuel Almunia's loved ones must regularly give thanks that he did not decide to take up bullfighting rather than football, that the horns upon which he regularly finds himself are of a dilemma rather than a hunk of bad‑tempered beef.
Almunia's day began well with a sharp save from Chris Brunt's penalty, albeit one which he recklessly gave away by bringing down Peter Odemwingie, West Bromwich's quick-witted, nimble-footed import from Lokomotiv Moscow, then deteriorated rapidly thereafter. Two elementary errors enabled Albion to put the contest virtually beyond Arsenal's reach after Odemwingie had given them the lead early in the second half.
First Almunia allowed a firm but stoppable shot from Gonzalo Jara, sent clear by Brunt's back heel, to skid past him at the near post. Then, having left his goal to meet another threat from Brunt, he hesitated and was stranded by a simple pass which set up Jerome Thomas for a tap-in. This was hardly Arsenal goalkeeping in the tradition of Jack Kelsey, Bob Wilson, Pat Jennings and David Seaman. More like Dan Lewis, who is best remembered for fumbling the ball over the line in the 1927 FA Cup final to hand the trophy to Cardiff City.
Wenger was not prepared to single out Almunia for criticism. "You can have question marks over many players today if you look at the performances, especially defensively. Many players made massive mistakes defensively." No argument there and Almunia could plead in mitigation that all too often he had about as much cover as Gypsy Rose Lee, though with less support from the fans. From the first minute Thomas, once a member of Arsenal's youth team, was going past Bacary Sagna as if the right‑back wasn't there – and often he was not – while on the right Brunt and Jara motored through the Place de Clichy as if the lights were stuck on green. Greater awareness from the centre-backs, Sébastien Squillaci and Laurent Koscielny, might have prevented Albion's first and third goals.
Upsets among the leading teams are not uncommon when a Champions League fixture is in the offing. On the same September weekend two seasons ago Arsenal, facing Porto three days later, lost at home to the newly promoted Hull City. This time Wenger also had the excuse of having to field a patched-up side with its fulcrum, Cesc Fábregas, among the many injuries. None of which alters the fact that unless Arsenal sign a better goalkeeper there will be more humiliations before the season is out.
Maybe some of Wenger's players took West Bromwich too lightly. After all, Arsenal had scored 16 times in three home games while Albion had conceded seven in two away. Certainly they were taken unawares by the way Roberto Di Matteo's side came at them. "We pressed very high, we pressed them all over the pitch," he said. "We managed not to let them play their usual way and when we passed the ball we passed it very well and created chances ourselves."
In fact West Bromwich won at Arsenal for the first time since 1983 in much the same way Wigan recently won at Tottenham. They stifled the opposition with a five-man midfield while pushing up on the flanks at every opportunity and giving the lone striker, Odemwingie, steady support. Nasri's two, late goals, skilfully set up and taken as Albion started to wilt, offered Arsenal a great escape but any result other than a win for West Bromwich would have been a travesty. "Overall we got what we deserved," said Wenger. Arsenal are at Chelsea this Sunday..
Source: David Lacey, The Guardian on 27 Sep 10
No comments:
Post a Comment