Arsene Wenger's Tactical Insight Against Anderlecht Came Far Too Late

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Speaking to Arsenal.com after Arsenal’s Champions League capitulation against Anderlecht, Arsene Wenger seemed to possess a very cogent understanding of how his team were undone:

"

We dropped off too much and didn’t go into the challenges any more. Then you’re always open. We stopped winning the challenges and we dropped off and off and off. We were always open and we didn’t stop the crosses, we didn’t stop the long balls and I don’t especially think we were outnumbered. In the first half it happened, in the second half it was bad defending more than being outnumbered.

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It’s an eloquent dissection of how the Gunners managed to throw away a 3-0 goal lead in just 30 minutes. However, if Wenger could see the problems so clearly, why did he not do more to stop them?

Wenger is often criticised for not possessing defensive nous. However, his articulate postmortem suggests he understands how to safeguard a lead. Questions need to be asked of why he isn’t putting the theory into practice.

To a certain extent, the players have to take responsibility. Any professional team would be disappointed at the concession of a three-goal advantage. If every individual made themselves accountable, Arsenal would be a far more solid team.

Speaking to ESPN, Per Mertesacker appeared to place the blame on his colleagues:

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When we drop sometimes everyone has to be involved to defend. You can’t afford for just five or six players to defend, or just the back four.

That is what we lacked especially in the final third and in the last 20 minutes. We have to defend better as a team. We did not stop them playing and they are good at it.

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However, the buck stops with Wenger. If Arsenal are growing lazy, it is his job to motivate them. If they are beginning to look tired, he must carry out the requisite rotation.

With Arsenal dropping off, neither Wenger nor his assistant Steve Bould were present on the touchline attempting to change the game’s dynamic. Instead, they watched on with grim acceptance. The disaster was allowed to unfold without significant intervention.

When Wenger did take decisive action, it backfired. His substitutions have rightfully been questioned. Why did he bring off the hard-working Danny Welbeck for Lukas Podolski, who offers almost no defensive cover? Unsurprisingly, Anderlecht’s eventual equaliser came down the right flank, where Podolski was ostensibly stationed.

The great coaches of the modern era are able to change the course of a match. However, this match seemed to snowball out of Wenger’s control. He remains an expert at cultivating a football philosophy, but at this level the devil is in the detail. Arsenal’s players dropped their concentration in the second half against Anderlecht. It’s impossible not to feel that Wenger may have been guilty of the same thing.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and has been nominated as the best Established Football Blogger at the Football Blog Awards. Click here to vote for him.