Arsenal's 2011 Premiership Collapse: Nasri, Not Wenger, Has the Last Laugh

It takes just a small neglected fault for the heaving waters, dammed, contained, to breach their unnatural boundaries and come tumbling out, wave on wave, crashing in massive rounds, destructive energy raging, Perillus' bull that claims its maker for its first victim.

The faults in Arsenal were visible to all but one, the sagacious Wenger, who, drunk on the adulation sung for his philosophic mind, forgot the first lesson the philosopher should learn: cast upon the fickle air the glories of wisdom, for they, like fortune, are friend to no one.

So did Socrates by this, claiming no wisdom, where wisdom was proclaimed his friend, proved after all its master.

Of course, the knives are out, seeking the very jugular of the hapless coach. It should not be a thing of surprise if the popular song, tuned by every critic and pundit upon the driving beat of the terrible beginning to Arsenal's season, is now, "Wenger is a fool."  

If it swells to a tumultuous climax on the back of the mishap at Blackburn, it's only because the prophecies voiced, beginning in January, have turned from abstractions to real life.

Nor were they true prophecies but mere deductions. Arsenal had failed to win matches with their second 11, requiring thrice or more the intervention of the starting 11 to win, what were on paper, easy matches.

The second 11, we would recall, were unable to win matches against championship sides:  A last gasp draw at the Emirates gave them a lifeline against Leeds in the FA cup on January 8, 2011. This meant they had to play one more match they could surely have done without. It also meant they had to call upon their best players to win at Leeds about a fortnight later.

Meanwhile, a surprising 1-0 loss to Ipswich Town, again at the Emirates, meant they had to repeat the dance one more time.

Fault lines had already appeared by November in the Championship when Arsenal lost at home to Newcastle United and to Tottenham Hotspur; they were evident in the EUFA Champions league when Arsenal lost to Braga in a match they needed to win to top the table and avoid in the knockout stage the likes of Barcelona, who became their eventual nemesis. 

The final collapse, to be sure, happened in the Carling Cup final against Birmingham City. From there, it became a calamitous affair.

And yet, the collapsed that has seen Arsenal humiliated by Manchester United, beaten by an uninspiring Liverpool, cowed and bullied by unimaginative Blackburn, scrape a draw against Borussia Dortmund, manage only an undeserved goal against unfancied Swansea, could have been stemmed during the January transfer window.

At this time, every armchair pundit knew that Wenger needed four players (at least three), to stem the rising tide; they knew that if he could not acquire the four in the tiny January window, he had to absolutely buy a player, better two. 

The pundits who always know, knew Wenger could not sustained his challenge on the Premiership without a solid central defender or two. The pundits knew just the players needed: Chris Samba or Phil Jagielka. 

The difference in half a million or two of pounds proved too daunting for the miserly Wenger. Funny when he went back to bid for these players three months later, he bid several millions higher than the asking price in January, talk about wisdom!

The four players Wenger needed to win the Premiership (which in truth they could have won since they were the better side even at this restive time) were:

Two central defenders (Bacary Sagna and Gaël Clichy were doing superbly as right and left backs respectively), a holding midfielder in the mold of Mark Van Bommel (to replace the creative midfielder when Arsenal needed to protect a lead and to relieve some of load that Song and Wiltshire are forced to bear) and a creative midfielder (as a backup or replacement for Fabregas).

A creative midfielder who can string a pass is absolutely essential to Arsenal since they play a triangle of midfielders, with the passer (who used to be Fabregas) at the tip.

This is both Arsenal's strength and Achilles heel, since the focal midfielder is often rendered useless when Arsenal are under pressure or are playing to protect a lead. Case in point: the horrendous 4-4 draw at Newcastle. 

Whereas if Arsenal simply reversed the triangle, with the tip facing their own goal, and manned by a holding midfielder (with the top two functioning as moveable arms that push forth and back on the holding midfielder to aid the attack when going forward and the defense when defending), the hole in the midfield that puts their defense under pressure when under attack would be stoppered.  

Incidentally, this reverse triangle is Barcelona's preferred way of deploying their midfielders: Busquets often on the reversed tip and Xavi and Iniesta occupying the arms.

Alas, Wenger refused to sign players in January or in the Summer until it was too late. I believe lack of signings in January convinced Clichy and Samir Nasri to leave (beside better financial returns at City of course).

I believe it also factored in Wenger's inability to keep Fabregas for one more season. It is arguably the reason Arsenal did not win the Premiership when they were, at a time, better poised to win it than their opponents. It is definitely a major reason for the present travail.

Could Nasri have stayed? Arguably, had Wenger acted swiftly and signed the much needed player at the beginning of summer. In the very least it would have convinced the embattled players they were not merely tools to further the Club's agenda to the detriment of their own ambitions, which most of them say is to win trophies.

Nasri bailed out of the sinking ship and is now having a laugh of relief if not of anything else, schadenfreude, say. Fabregas also can sigh with relief.

Arsenal were good at Blackburn going forward, but when will their defensive mishaps stop? When will their misfortune end? Can they still finish among the Top Four, or are they going to languish somewhere in mid table and not even challenge for a spot in the less glamorous Europa competition?

Here is a thought: If Arsenal can stop losing from this point onward, and if they can manage to keep scoring, they may yet surprise their enemies, silence in the very least their distractions.

One thing is certain, this mishap may have just driven sense into Wenger. B players are just that, which is why, though Barcelona's academy brim with young talents, they don't pretend the unfinished products are Xavi, Inniesta or Fabregas.