Saturday’s capitulation to Spurs was the first home league loss to our North London enemies since 1993. And anyone who was at that match 17 years ago will remember that it was a game staged a week before Arsenal’s appearance in the FA Cup Final and George Graham fielded a very much weakened team in the days when “squad rotation” didn’t happen and the FA routinely fined anyone who didn’t put out what was perceived to be their strongest team. The Spurs victory that night was a hollow one - Arsenal fans mocked their visitors for the length of time it took them to break down a near youth team.
The meeting at the weekend couldn’t have been more different and the fact that it was a match that had a genuine bearing on both team’s aspirations at the top of the table made it all the more important. To say it was a game of two halves was an understatement. The bottom line, however, was that a team like Arsenal should not be surrendering a two-goal lead to anyone at home, especially in a game as important as this.
After the match Arsene Wenger suggested that the second half performance came down to a mental problem rather than a football problem. He is partly right. Anyone with half a brain would have known that Harry Redknapp would lay into his team at half-time and they would come out a different side in the second period. It was imperative that the Gunners did not concede a quick goal after the break - but that is exactly what they did. From there, they began to wobble and just couldn’t seem to recover.
So, Wenger is right that there was a mental problem. However, he also needs to concede that there was a football problem too. Arsenal showed a lack of tactical acumen in shutting the game down at half-time. They only know how to play one way and that is passing and attacking. This was a time though when less idealism was required and they needed to keep their opponents contained. Spurs had offered so little in the first half and yet Arsenal maintained such a high defensive line in the second half it almost invited their visitors to hit them on the break- particularly after Jermaine Defoe’s introduction. It was all so unnecessary.
Criticisms can be made of the defensive work for all the Spurs goals, but the blame for Saturday’s defeat has to fall squarely with Arsene Wenger. If the players weren’t sufficiently focussed in the second half and if they were tactically naïve - that is down to the manager.
The Gunners had the chance to bounce back last night in the Champions League away to Braga but matters went from bad to worse when the Portuguese team conjured up two late goals to leave Arsenal needing a win in their final group to ensure qualification to the knock out phase.
It was a game in which Wenger’s team had the lion’s share of possession and yet they failed to muster a sufficient cutting edge to put their hosts to the sword. They were hard done by when Carlos Vela was denied a penalty decision but to focus on that would be to ignore that, again, this was a match that Arsenal should have won but couldn’t find the resources to do so. Worse still, again, they got hit on the break and lost the match. Add to that Cesc Fabregas aggravating his hamstring injury and it all adds up to worrying times for Arsenal supporters.
The first thing that needs to be sorted out is their home form. The last five Premier League games at Ashburton Grove have seen Arsenal lose to West Brom, Newcastle and Spurs, scrape a last-gasp victory over West Ham and beat Birmingham 2-1. That is a very long way from being the form of Champions.
Arsene Wenger has built this team and it is he that has put his faith in these players. He may "not understand" how it is that Arsenal contrived to lose to Spurs and Braga but it is he that has to find a way of re-instilling confidence and a winning mentality into players who look bereft of both at the moment.
Source: David Young, ESPN Soccernet on 25 Nov 10
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