Arsenal Analysis: All Style and No Substance Is Not the Making of Champions

Arsenal suffered one of their most embarrassing defeats to their arch rivals Tottenham at the Emirates in what was a largely exciting game. Both the Gunners and Spurs are known for their attacking football and it was a game that boasted some of the game’s brightest talents.

Tottenham recorded their first away win at the Emirates through a sensational fight back after they were down by two goals at half time. It is not the first time that Tottenham have come back superbly from goal deficits, but this one was sensational and they will cherish this game forever.

But Arsenal will feel they lost the match, rather than Spurs winning it, being the better team on the pitch. The Gunners started the game brightly and took the lead through a superb finish from Samir Nasri from a tight angle after evading Gomes. They dominated possession and Tottenham were under a lot of pressure from the outset.

Arsenal showed their class when they counterattacked through a fluid move involving Cesc Fabregas and Andrei Arshavin, who provided an excellent ball to Marouane Chamakh, who was rewarded with the ninth goal of the season. It was a stylish break from the home team, who looked to be cruising to victory against Spurs and even the most pessimistic of Arsenal supporters would not have predicted a loss.

The Gunners were dominant in the first half, but they looked anything but that in the second half. Rafael van der Vaart had struggled in the first half, but showed his quality to produce the perfect assist to the onrushing Gareth Bale, who only continues to enchant football lovers with his skill, talent and pace. Suddenly, the tempo of the game had shifted drastically in Tottenham’s favour, and it was the visiting team who looked more likely to equalise again.

Cesc Fabregas committed a cardinal sin when he raised his hand to obstruct the free kick from Rafael van der Vaart after Luka Modric was fouled by Alex Song. Van der Vaart did no mistake in finishing from the penalty sending Lukasz Fabianski the wrong way. Arsenal brought on Robin van Persie for Chamakh to try change things after the equaliser.

Then, in what can be described as a baffling decision by Arsene Wenger, he decided to bring on Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott for the goal scorer Samir Nasri and Andrei Arshavin. Rosicky has been in awful goal scoring form, this season, and if anyone was going to break the deadlock in favour of the Gunners, it was Nasri who looked impressive, particularly in the first half.

The Gunners defence without the services of Thomas Vermaelen has looked shaky throughout the season, and their travails continued, as they proved to be inept in dealing with crosses and set pieces. Rafael Van Der Vaart took a deep free kick, and Younes Kaboul scored a good header to clinch a memorable victory over their arch rivals.

Reasons for the Disappointing Defeat

It is difficult to point out the reasons of this woeful capitulation by the Gunners, and they will really have to step up in the next six weeks, if they are to be considered as serious title challengers. They cannot blame injuries for their defeat because only Thomas Vermaelen would have surely started this encounter if he was fully fit.

There is no doubting the capability and talent of the side as they showed in the first half. But there does not seem to be enough mental strength, which is necessary to eke out results even when things are not going right for them.

Ex-Gunner William Gallas was jeered at the Emirates, but he played with a lot of passion and thwarted many Arsenal attacks, and his replacements at Arsenal have not performed to very high levels. Arsenal were linked with a number of quality central defenders to replace the departures of Gallas, Mikael Silvestre and Sol Campbell.

An imposing strong central defender like Gary Cahill or Phil Jagielka would have been excellent for Arsenal, but Wenger decided to opt for relatively lesser known signings in Sebastien Squillaci and Laurent Koscielny. The Arsenal boss has been provided enough transfer funds to work with, and it is hard to explain his extremely frugal approach.

He did spend the better part of 10 million on Laurent Koscielny, and though he has done a decent job, he looks far from the imposing, strong and settled defender that Arsenal need to rectify their weaknesses.

It was a similar signing to that of Thomas Vermaelen, last year, who has been impressive for the Gunners, and is touted to be the captain of the club in the future. But it is clear that Koscielny and Squillaci will not be as impressive in their debut seasons for the Gunners as Vermaelen was, and it is a pity that their main anchor man in central defence has been ruled out for an indefinite period.

Arsenal’s brilliant success in the 2003-04 was built on a solid defensive partnership formed by Kolo Toure and Sol Campbell, and the present defensive options do not provide great quality. They are lacking someone of the stature of Patrick Viera, who could take the bull by its horns, and inspire the team.

The Gunners are technically brilliant, and create a number of chances in almost all games, but they are often too wasteful in front of goal, and do not maximise their goal scoring opportunities. Arsene Wenger has been a little too rigid with his strategies in this season, and is still unsure of what his best eleven is.  

Another surprising fact is that Arsenal have not exactly struggled against the more physical teams like Bolton, Wolves and Blackburn, but have lost to teams who defend in an organised way and pass the ball a lot in comparison to Blackburn or Bolton. Arsenal have been excellent in their travels in their season, and might actually prefer playing away from home instead of playing under the spotlight of Arsenal fans at the Emirates.

Marouane Chamakh is an excellent addition to the squad, but if it is a straight call between Van Persie and Chamakh for a slot in the eleven, the Dutchman remains the first choice striker. Chamakh does not take many shots on goal, which is quite poor for a lone striker, and needs to work on his finishing with his legs. Van Persie, on the other hand, is one of Arsenal’s best finishers even if he has not scored a goal in this season.

Van Persie looks to be regaining his match sharpness after returning from his ankle injury, and his cross to find the unmarked Koscielny at the far post, is a clear example of what he brings to the team apart from his quality finishing. The return to match fitness of Robin van Persie is a huge boost to the Gunners, who will look to bounce back immediately from this distressing defeat.

What lies in store for the Gunners in the next six weeks?

The following six weeks will be extremely crucial to the hopes of the Gunners, as they look to improve their recent set of results. The month of November has not gone according to plan for Wenger and his young battle troops, but they will have to triumph against a resilient Aston Villa unit, who should prove to be a tough nut to crack.

They will also face their title rivals Manchester United and Chelsea within the next six weeks or so, and the outcome of these important games could decide the course of the season. If they do manage to win those crucial encounters, there is no reason why Arsenal cannot win the title despite these setbacks.

The January Transfer Window

Arsene Wenger should open his eyes to the weaknesses of this team, and should use the transfer funds to bring in some quality players. There are not enough mentally strong players in the squad, and Wenger’s young team needs match winners alongside them in order to improve on their mental strength.

If this loss against Tottenham would make Wenger open his chequebook, then it is for the greater good because Arsenal need to add one or two players to strengthen their squad. I will be analysing the Arsenal targets, according to position, in the recent future, but one thing is for sure, they need to bring in some quality in their defence.

The defence has leaked goals, and the partnership of Koscielny and Squillaci has been pretty bad till now, and Wenger should consider playing Johan Djourou more often in the absence of Thomas Vermaelen. Also, there is no reliable cover for Alex Song, and Wenger would do well to address the situation.

Reasons for Optimism

Though Arsenal were nothing short of terrible in the second half against Tottenham, they showed that they do have the quality to beat teams if they can cut out their concentration lapses and focus on the job at hand. Besides, even after the loss, the Gunners still remain only 2 points behind Chelsea because their London rivals lost by one goal to nil to Birmingham City.

Arsenal have an extremely tough set of fixtures coming up, but they have some of the best players close to their best. Cesc Fabregas looked sharp in the first half, and with every match, his confidence will increase and he will be integral to Arsenal’s title hopes, this season. Robin van Persie seems to be fully fit and will be starting games on a regular basis, and should he find form, then the quartet of Fabregas, Van Persie, Arshavin and Nasri will be extremely hard to stop.

Phil Neville remarked after Everton’s loss to Arsenal that the Gunners have improved their resolve but they crumbled against Spurs in an all important derby match. The Gunners have the style, but do they have the substance to back it up? The next six weeks will determine Arsenal’s title challenge, and it is a great opportunity for Arsenal to show their resolve and firmly establish their credentials as a genuine title contender.