Mistakes of Last Season Are Already Haunting Arsene Wenger and Arsenal
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Arsene Wenger should write that down and keep the note in a safe place. He certainly forgot the old adage ahead of Arsenal's dismal season-opening 2-0 home defeat to West Ham United.
Wenger not only forgot what has to be one of the golden rules of management. He also saw several familiar problems wreck his team's chances of winning.
If a disjointed formation, slow and unimaginative buildup play, and players taking the opposition lightly looked familiar to the Frenchman, it's because he saw those things plenty of times last season.
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The first of those problems was entirely the manager's doing against the Hammers. Wenger changed his personnel and their positions to accommodate returning players and indulge the demands of others.
It started with moving Mesut Ozil out wide, an experiment that's never borne fruit. On the other side, a fit-again Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain started on the right flank, facilitating Aaron Ramsey's move back into the middle.
Two decisions destroyed the balance that worked so well for the Gunners during the second half of last season. It was a balance entirely dictated by a perfectly complementary midfield trio. Every member of this trio had clearly defined roles. Ozil was the No. 10, Francis Coquelin was the defensive shield and Santi Cazorla was the withdrawn playmaker who linked everything together.
There was no point asking who'd play No. 10 because Ozil is the best option in the role. There was no point asking who'd play defensive midfielder because Coquelin is the best holding player in the squad.
With that trio roaming the middle, Arsenal played quick, crisp and and expansive football. That meant better performances and results.
It also meant a player like Ramsey being forced into a wide role. Despite the Welshman bristling about his new position, per the London Evening Standard's James Olley, Ramsey still performed well, as goals and assists in key games against both Liverpool and Burnley proved.
Ramsey's clever movement, attacking and scoring instincts, along with his tremendous work rate, actually made him a very useful right-sided player. Again, balance was achieved.
Ramsey not warming to the role all that much was a small price to pay for better performances and results.
Never change a winning formula. That's not a mantra Wenger has always lived by as a manager.
The reason is his increasingly frustrating habit of indulging players. Faith in his players is one of Wenger's most admirable qualities. It's also his Achilles' heel.
The desire to fit everybody in often leads to formations and playing combinations that don't work on the pitch. Remember the 4-1-4-1 introduced last season just to make room for Jack Wilshere? He and Ramsey didn't play well together as a central partnership. They never have. Ozil looked lost out wide. He often has.
Yet like the formation against West Ham, Wenger's 4-1-4-1 worked in the FA Community Shield, helping the Gunners beat Manchester City 3-0. This year, Chamberlain was the star man as Arsenal bested Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley.
But that shouldn't have guaranteed him a starting berth to begin the season.
Not only did Chamberlain's presence force Ramsey off the right flank and break up the midfield trio that works, it also contributed to Arsenal's stunted approach play.
Match of the Day 2 pundit Danny Murphy broke down a frequent problem against the Hammers while talking with BBC Sport's Chris Bevan (h/t BBC Sport):
"The Gunners actually started with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the right and Santi Cazorla on the left but Cazorla always looked to come inside and, although Oxlade-Chamberlain had a bit of joy down his flank a couple of times in the first half, he drifted in to to look for the ball.
They created an overload in what you would usually call the number 10 position behind Arsenal's striker, Olivier Giroud, and at times when the Gunners came forward they had as many as five players who were no wider than the lines of the penalty area.
"
Notice how Murphy credited Cazorla with starting on the left. That's not how Arsenal began the game. Truthfully, the idea was probably to create a fluid rotation of positions. That was the idea, but chaos was the result.
Chamberlain had no business drifting inside so often. Despite his own assertions that he's a future central star, the 21-year-old is an out-and-out winger—at least on this Arsenal team.
His pace, power and direct style can terrorise teams on the flanks. That's what he did to Chelsea at Wembley. If Chamberlain can't stick to a remit out wide, an extended stay on the bench should be in his future.
Ultimately, that's the real point here. Chamberlain shouldn't have even been on the pitch. He's not part of this team's best starting 11.
But Wenger just can't help himself. He believes so much in Chamberlain's talent, the way he does Wilshere's. If the latter was fit, you just know Wenger would be trying to concoct a formation to fit him in as well.
The Arsenal chief just has to be more ruthless with his players this season. His best 11 is based on the Coquelin-Cazorla-Ozil trio behind a front three where Ramsey and Alexis Sanchez bracket either Olivier Giroud or Theo Walcott.
As for Chamberlain and Wilshere, they are squad players only in the current side. That means Carling Cup and dead-rubber UEFA Champions League games beckon. As do the early rounds of the FA Cup, where Wenger commonly and rightly shuffles the pack.
But neither player has a place in a league campaign, especially one where Arsenal have been so widely touted to win the title. In a marathon for silverware, Wilshere and Chamberlain are there in case of injuries only. It's not about how good those players are, it's about which combinations work best for this team.
Things just have to be that way if Arsenal are going to put the best 11 out to help them successfully navigate this season's Premier League title race.
Even then, though, winning the title won't happen until this group stops slipping up in games they should win.
You could take the defeat to the Hammers and find plenty of similarities to last season's goalless home draw with Sunderland and the home losses to Swansea City and AS Monaco.
In fact, there are eerie similarities between Wenger's words following the latter defeat and what he said after West Ham left the Emirates Stadium with all three points.
"It is just not right to give goals away the way we did. We missed chances and were suicidal defensively." That was Wenger's assessment of Monaco's shock 3-1 win in north London back in late February, according to BBC Sport.
Here's Wenger after the Hammers left town, per Sky Sports:
"We were not convincing offensively or defensively.
...
But it's just the start of the season. ... Any championship is never a motorway, it is always about responding well to accidents. Today we have been hurt mentally and it is a good opportunity to show a response.
...
If you cannot win the game, don't lose it. I believe we gave away very cheap goals before and after half-time, which made it even more difficult for ourselves.
"
Surrendering avoidable goals, losing a game when at least a point should be preserved and suffering an accident. It's Groundhog Day at the Emirates.
The fact is this team has too many accidents. While potty training isn't quite what's needed after just one game, you'd certainly be in the right area for describing the performance against West Ham.
It was only game—the first game no less. But Arsenal's problems won't be solved simply by replacing Giroud with Karim Benzema, as some—including MailOnline's Pete Jenson—have suggested. Nor will the issues be made to go away just by banking on goalkeeper Petr Cech recovering from a nightmare league debut in Gunners' colours.
Arsenal have the talent and numbers to mount a stronger title challenge this season, but that won't happen unless Wenger is more ruthless with his team selection, regardless of his faith in his players. It won't happen if this squad continues to fall victim to so-called "accidents."
There are 37 games left. If those things don't change, the West Ham result won't look like a blip. It'll be remembered as the starting point of a season-destroying trend.
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