Arsène Wenger's team operate as a loose collective of individuals rather than the tight fighting force of old
For more than a minute Robin van Persie was barely visible in a throng of five Bolton players who were clearly not inviting him round for dinner. After an indecent delay, two Arsenal colleagues finally jogged over to offer political assistance.
In Arsenal's pomp the team's best striker would have been joined within seconds by a wild-eyed Martin Keown or Patrick Vieira with a warning for the five Trotters. Instead we saw Arsène Wenger's team operating as a loose collective of individuals rather than the tight fighting force of old. Any analysis of Arsenal's three wins in 16 league fixtures before this 3-0 victory over Bolton would have to mention the shortage of players with a fierce competitive edge.
Wenger rejects this. "I admire our squad's mental qualities and I think they will come out [ie show]," he wrote. "Everything we want to do will start with being determined and united." In this quest small things matter, such as not leaving team-mates to be jostled and pressured alone and not throwing the captain's armband on the floor for Tomas Rosicky to pick up, as Marouane Chamakh did when Van Persie handed it to him as he went off on 86 minutes.
This is an Arsenal side with a conviction deficit, as well as holes where Cesc Fábregas, Samir Nasri and Gaël Clichy used to be. The fans feel it too. Until Van Persie scored at the start of the second half and Bolton's David Wheater was sent off the home supporters displayed an emotional condition that may be called Thierry Ennui.
All across the Emirates there were empty red seats: far more than the thousand or so suggested by the official attendance of 59,000. Wenger blamed "a run of poor results" but also the economic turmoil, which, he claimed, has caused "tickets to be sold more slowly" across the Premier League. "We're heading for a financial crisis," he said.
But the days when Arsenal had nothing to declare but their genius have passed. A neutral wanting a ticket for a game in this palatial stadium would be confronted by multiple membership tiers and box office dead-ends.
That magnetism is no longer there. Managed properly, the faith-drop is temporary. A comprehensive second-half display by Wenger's men brought a second win in six league games following the 1-0 win over Swansea. Aside from an opening draw at Newcastle, they have lost to Liverpool, Manchester United (8-2) and Blackburn (4-3). Already Wenger talks of needing points to avoid falling too far behind. Not the league leaders so much as a top-four place.
"It was a question of nerves at the start of the game," he said after Van Persie's 100th goal for the club (his second on the day) and a third from Alex Song two minutes from time, at the end of a week when Jack Wilshere was booked in for ankle surgery and ruled out until December. Next Sunday's visit to Spurs takes the Gunners into ultra-hostile territory, before a couple of easier home games against Sunderland and Stoke.
There have been times in the past six months when Wenger has appeared to believe that if he contradicts reality often enough it will simply melt away: on the team's defensive frailties, for example, and their lack of mental rigour. He was due a break and it came with the arrival of a Bolton team missing Gary Cahill and with Kevin Davies on the bench after 116 appearances in Bolton's previous 117 matches.
When he joined the action in place of the injured David Ngog 20 minutes in, Davies was a shadow of his old boisterous self and Bolton muscled their way round the pitch without threat. Arsenal, you could say, are a team of conundrums. Judged on the first half alone, their paralysis continues. In the second period there was more of an awakening, led by Van Persie, one of the players Arsenal are already talking to to avoid a repetition of the Nasri contract run-down scenario.
Mikel Arteta, a grand player, took a pay cut to join this show and is already betraying frustration, though his contribution remains high. Gervinho, whose name alone raises expectations, is still fact-finding in English football. Per Mertesacker, meanwhile, has brought a measure of languid assurance to the Arsenal defence and Park Chu-young, the new striker, has yet to appear in the league.
Arsenal have numbers and they have potential, but too many players who shine only intermittently (Aaron Ramsey) or too infrequently when the need is greatest. They lack confidence and they lack a winning mentality. Their predicament is neither as dire as the Wenger-out minority insist or sufficiently promising for the two Manchester giants or Chelsea to fear a resurgence.
After the Swansea game it was felt they ought to cheer up. This time the need was for unity. A captain cannot fight alone.
Source: Paul Hayward, The Guardian on 24 Sep 11
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