Arsenal FC: Have Sebastian Squillaci and Officiating Cost Arsenal Third Spot?

Heading into March, Arsenal FC looked set to fight it out with Manchester United for the English Premier League, and many even felt the Gunners had a great chance of finally ending their trophy drought. Considering Arsenal’s blistering form in the league (and in general) ahead of their Carling Cup final match against Birmingham, it looked destined that the Gunners would finally end their trophy drought.

But as we go into the final league match of the 2010-11 season, Arsenal’s hopes of finishing third are out of their hands for the first time this year, as the Gunners crashed to their first home loss of 2011 against Aston Villa.

A Darren Bent brace was enough to condemn Arsenal to their second defeat in as many games, as a late van Persie strike—his 21st in all competitions—wasn’t enough to rescue the Gunners.

As a result of Arsenal’s loss to Stoke City last week, the Gunners still had work to do to finish third. Heading into the match, the Gunners were favourites to clinch the automatic Champions League spot, but this loss means FA Cup Champion Manchester City is just two points behind the Gunners, and the Manchester club still has two games to go.

Heading into the match, Arsenal fans had something to cheer about as Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen made his first competitive start in the league since the 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers back in August. With Laurent Koscielny out injured and Johan Djourou looking visibly fatigued, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger stated that the ex-Ajax man would start.

And start he did, along with Sebastian Squillaci in the heart of the Arsenal defense.

With Gael Clichy, Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri all not fit, Kieran Gibbs, Andrei Arshavin and Aaron Ramsey retained their places in the starting lineup. Save for the central defensive pairing, it was an unchanged starting lineup to the one that was hammered by Stoke last week.

At the end of it, Aston Villa ran out 2-1 winners, thanks to some poor defending—from Squillaci in particular—and some even more shocking calls from referee Michael Oliver.

15 minutes into the match, the Gunners found themselves down 2-0 thanks to a Darren Bent brace that took his tally to 17 goals in the league this season.

During the summer, Wenger chose to sign the experienced Squillaci from Sevilla in an effort to fill the gap left by the departure of Sol Campbell and William Gallas. It would suffice to say that the signing has proven to be a huge mistake on Arsenal's part, as Squillaci has proven to be a liability whose abilities are just not cut out to play in the Premier League. His frailties were exposed once again, as he was caught out time and time again by the pace of the Villa attackers.

Over the course of the season it has become painfully evident Squillaci lacks the positioning and pace to be a good defender. His lack of pace means he naturally struggles against fast strikers, especially so on Sunday against Bent, who has been one of the league’s best strikers the past two seasons.

While Squillaci was largely to blame for the first goal, he should shoulder culpability for the second as well since Bent beat him twice to score two easy goals just 15 minutes into the match.

Marking is one of the basics of defending, and Squillaci seems to have forgotten the basics once again. He let Bent escape from a simple long ball close to the half line, as he presented Bent with a simple finish from six yards out.

For the second goal, Thomas Vermaelen slipped, allowing in-demand winger Ashley Young to slide in a through ball to Bent, who escaped from Squillaci once again.

For both goals, Squillaci demonstrated his inability to keep track of the run and was left dumbfounded by the quick interchanging of positions from the Aston Villa strikers. It was quite rudimentary defending, but Squillaci was inept at handling situations that Koscielny and Djourou could have handled far better.

When you compare his horror show to that of Vermaelen, it just shows the extent of his incompetency. Here was a man who has spent close to nine months on the sidelines, yet he has an aura of authority about him, while Squillaci goes around running like a headless chicken.

Wenger saw all this and made some good substitutions. He took off Squillaci, brought on Marouane Chamakh and moved Alex Song into the centre back slot. He later brought on Nicklas Bendtner for the ineffective Arshavin.

But while Squillaci was culpable in Arsenal’s loss, blame must also fall on Arsenal’s ineffective attackers and the referee who once again made a hash of things.

Despite the Gunners once again dominating possession, the brilliant Robin van Persie was to blame for a change, as he missed a few chances before he scored an opportunistic consolation for the Gunners.

But it was the referee who had another shocking outing, denying the Gunners a clear penalty and ludicrously denying the Gunners a goal when Chamakh slotted home a header.

After Ramsey was sent clear through on goal, it looked obvious for everyone watching the match that Richard Dunne had brought down Ramsey in the box, which should have resulted in a penalty and a straight red card for the defender. Instead the referee, who once again happened to be watching some other game, waved play on and Aston Villa went into the break up 2-0.

The standard of refereeing in the league has come under severe criticism in recent weeks, and this outing will do nothing to decrease the increasing pressure on referees.

Arsenal fans thought they had grabbed a lifeline when Chamakh slotted home a header, but the referee once again made a shocking decision, adjudging the Moroccan to have fouled an Aston Villa player in the buildup to the goal.

Both decisions ultimately cost the Gunners and left them with a solid chance of finishing fourth.

Had these decisions gone the Gunners' way, they could have ended up winning the game, but the reality was that it would have been a tad unfair on Villa, who played and defended well for large parts of the game. While a point would have been a fair result, Wenger hardly mentioned the refereeing decisions in his post-match press conference, an indication he has understood his team’s frailties this season.

For once Wenger cannot be blamed, but this season is ending with the Gunners going out with a real whimper, as they have failed to show the fight they displayed earlier in the season.

All this sees the Gunners resting at 67 points with just the final away game at Fulham to play. Craven Cottage has been a tough hunting ground for several teams, and considering Arsenal’s recent form, it is hard to see them coming out with all three points. I see them getting a point at the most, which leaves Manchester City with just four points to get in their remaining two matches to finish third.

They recently ended their 35-year wait for a trophy and are on a high. With third place well within their grasp and having secured Champions League football, they are now the favourites to clinch the third spot. Their next opponent is Stoke City, who lost to City in the FA Cup final. Following that, they play Bolton, who has lost the last four on the trot with their last win coming against the Gunners.

Manchester City will pick up four points with ease and should pick up all six in all probabilities, thus condemning the Gunners to fourth spot. This would mean added fixtures at the start of the next season, something Wenger will be desperate to avoid, but sadly that is not even in their hands anymore.

At the end of the last home game of the season, Arsenal fans will be desperately awaiting for some transfer activity from Wenger in an attempt to finally end their wait for a major trophy.