Arsenal FC 2010-11: New Season, Same Old Issues Facing the Gunners

I fully comprehend that it would be foolhardy to attempt to draw definite conclusions from the first game of Arsenal's 2010-11 English Premier League season.

It is true that the team were fortunate to draw 1-1 at Anfield on Sunday, earning a valuable road point against tough competition.

The timing of this being the opening fixture of the season's schedule doesn't preclude one from noticing that many of the frailties that have plagued the team in recent years seem to remain.

After an off-season of expectation from supporters, the first game at least, could logically lead one to believe that most of Arsenal's recent issues have yet to be addressed.

Constant Injury Concerns

Of course, the lineup was not at full strength as Arsene Wenger was forced by injury and match fitness issues to construct a starting XI creatively from who was available. But then again, that's always been part of the point, hasn't it?

Think back to the biggest games over the last several years. In how many can you remember having our two marquee players, Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, on the pitch together?

Of course, those two currently have the excuse of coming off injuries last season, then a busy summer, as both progressed to the World Cup championship game.

Van Persie found his way onto the pitch for a 20-minute cameo, hoping to instill life into Arsenal's attack, however Fabregas was unable to be included in the squad for today.

Although the two stars are the obvious focal point, they were hardly the only players missing. Arsenal did have a great number of talented footballers available, and most of them played, but the additional absences of Alex Song, Denilson, Niklas Bendtner, and  Johan Djourou left the squad thin in various positions. 

Every team faces injury woes, that is certainly an inevitable consequence of athletic competition.

When the problem becomes constant, however, the reasonable approach isn't to always view it as poor luck, but to analyze the root cause, whether it's the training techniques, the fitness and physio staff, or even the specific type of players included in the squad.

An Essentially Non-existent Andrei Arshavin

Certainly, every player to ever step on a football pitch has had their share of off days. Occasionally, your touch is off, your body feels sluggish, you're a step too slow or even simply bad luck can contribute to a poor game, even for the most talented players in the world.

As one of the most experienced, skilled players on the Arsenal squad however, it is an assumed responsibility to try to step up your game in the absence of the other most potent offensive threats that the team has.

With Cesc and van Persie out, much of the onus to create scoring opportunities rests on the shoulders of the diminutive 29-year-old Russian. He is after all, quite capable of dynamic offensive mastery himself.

All too often though, Arshavin goes completely missing on the pitch. This is not an unreasonable assessment based upon one poor showing today against Liverpool. It has been a consistent pattern he has faithfully adhered to during his time in London.

There is no expectation for Arshavin to light up the opposition in four-goal efforts on a regular basis, as he has never been a prolific goal-scoring player.

However, the all-too-common occurrences where he roams unfocused, makes weak, aimless passes, gives up and pouts when losing the ball, and almost literally contributes nothing, need to feature less in his performances.

Lack of Defensive Cover

The startling inability to secure defensive replacements for the mass exodus of players from the Arsenal defensive ranks is continually appearing more worrisome.

New recruit Laurent Koscielny played a solid enough game, considering it was his first match in the Premiership, and his first meaningful game partnering with Thomas Vermaelen in the heart of the Arsenal defense.

Tell me though, if Koscielny had been forced out of the match at halftime, due to the rash challenge by new Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole: who was going to replace him?

Alex Song was the only reasonable candidate on the bench, but he clearly wasn't match fit, as evidenced by the makeshift midfield employed by Wenger: Samir Nasri, Andre Arshavin, Abu Diaby, Emmanuel Eboue and 18-year-old Jack Wilshere.

With only two players fit enough to marshal the center of Arsenal's defense, and Song, one of the few capable of playing there in an emergency also unfit, leaving his own position without adequate coverage, the screams for reinforcements are reasonably growing louder by the moment.

Indecisive Goal-keeping

Aside from the immense gaffe that Pepe Reina committed in the final minutes to rescue Arsenal from a fruitless commencement to their 2010-11 season, the gulf between the quality of each team's goal-keeping situation was rather apparent.

Arsenal helped Pepe Reina by putting only three of 17 shots on goal Sunday afternoon, and Manuel Almunia made what possibly turned out to be a game-saving stop when tipping a blast from Glen Johnson over the bar in the 44th minute.

It must be said though, that Liverpool's 46th minute opening goal should not have scored from the position and angle at which David Ngog took his shot.

With that slight of angle, a goal-keeper absolutely must defend his near-post stronger than Almunia did.

Of course, the defensive lapse by young Jack Wilshere partially gifted the opportunity, and it was a fine shot, but it still could have been saved.

Shot stopping isn't usually the issue with Almunia, as he is normally rather adept in that regard. The deficiency is the complete lack of command he shows within the box.

Throughout the entire 90 minutes plus injury time, I can recall one cross that he came out to claim confidently.

Against a team with a more proficient aerial attack, realistically there could have been several goals scored while Almunia was passively "lost at sea" in front of his own goal.

If the rumors are to be believed, Arsenal are still in search of a more competent keeper in order to minimize the problem of allowing soft goals that haunted them last year.

Crosses to Nowhere

For a team that enjoyed a 64 percent possession advantage, and took 17 total shots, the Arsenal offensive attack looked bizarrely impotent. Three shots on target are not an acceptable tally with that many opportunities.

Unfortunately, Arsenal have developed a reputation for owning a lot of the ball, yet failing to truly create meaningful scoring chances.

This was the problem once again, as they rarely tested Reina, and until very late his night was rather comfortable in goal.

The hope is that bringing in Marouane Chamakh will add a different dimension to Arsenal's attack, providing an aerial threat that they don't often possess.

Niklas Bendtner does have some similar skills, but he is proving to be injury-prone in his early Arsenal career.

With a player of Chamakh's stature, the team must improve the quality of its crosses to utilize the new dimension he brings to the team. At Anfield, there was literally one cross that became a threat as Tomas Rosicky put a pass onto Vermaelen's head in the 65th minute.

Unfortunately, the defender headed it wide left by about 10 feet, but it was an improvement over the rest of Arsenal's crosses.

Nearly every other ball in from the flanks drifted harmlessly into Reina's hands or floated aimlessly over everyones' heads across the box.

A team with Arsenal's technical gifts truly needs to provide more quality crosses than most of them regularly do.

Moving Forward

Reasonably, this is one game and Arsenal certainly did not play badly, although they were extremely fortunate to escape with a draw and a point to open their season.

There were plenty of positive points in their play, but the positive things aren't the issues that need to be addressed.

If, as Arsene Wenger has himself stated, Arsenal are truly poised to win silverware for the first time in five years, then the team cannot continue to gloss over the matters that have faced them consistently over the last few seasons, while somehow expecting different results.

The 2010-11 Gunners are undoubtedly a talented group, but with management's help, if they are to take the next step, the need to immediately address and overcome the issues preventing them from reaching their maximum potential.