Arsenal: 5 Worrisome Trends That Must Be Addressed Against Olympiakos

It feels somewhat irrational and certainly pessimistic to search for flaws from a 3-0 performance. 

But it would be a discredit to Bolton's performance at the Emirates on Saturday to say that they were as thoroughly thrashed as that scoreline would suggest.

The visitors, who came to North London on Saturday mired in their own dreadful spell of recent form, would leave North London firmly planted in last place in the Premiership standings, having failed to gain a point since their opening weekend 4-0 romp over Queens Park Rangers.

They held on valiantly against a Gunners team searching for their own brand of confidence, and entered the halftime break at 0-0. They packed the midfield, defended stoutly at the back and even had a couple goal-scoring opportunities of their own.

To my mind, Arsenal's chances in the first period could be summed up by a Robin van Persie left-footed effort that just shot wide of the post, and a Gervinho strike from 20 yards out that fired over the crossbar.

It was a rather moribund first 45 minutes to be fair. Arsenal's vintage slick passing, seen so often on the Emirates' billiard green of a playing surface, was disjointed and thoroughly lacking attacking intent.

Bolton allowed Arsenal possession in the middle third of the pitch and collapsed immediately when the Gunners ventured into attacking portion.

Arsene Wenger had warned before the match that unless Arsenal became more ruthless in front of goal, they would fail to win trophies.

It was a stirring sentiment, and a change in tone from the one Wenger has used in recent campaigns. The Frenchman was almost proved correct, but captain Robin van Persie's sensational performance allayed all fears. The Dutchman's brace on the day would see him notch his 100th goal for the club.

With a plucky Olympiakos side coming to the Emirates on Wednesday, Arsenal would do well to improve on a number of troubling trends from the early season that weren't addressed against Bolton until the visitors were a man down.

The weekend's North London derby looms large in the near-distance, and a reinvigorated Tottenham side will be looking to exploit Arsenal in any way, shape or form possible.

Arsenal Must Be More Direct in Attack

After nearly going 1-0 down within two minutes after a point-blank shot from Darren Pratley forced a wonderful save from Wojciech Szczesny, Arsenal bossed possession for the first half.

Yet through 25 minutes, they had only two concerted efforts on goal to show for their domination.

It's nothing new for Arsenal supporters to see their team take its time in constructing concerted attacks at home. But against a struggling Bolton side, a more direct approach would have been a welcome change.

To Arsenal's credit, at the full-time whistle, they'd enjoyed 63 percent of the possession and had amassed an astounding 28 shots (11 on goal). What's most distressing, however, is how skewed those numbers are.

Van Persie seemed to be responsible for at least half of those efforts on goal during his unconscious spell at the start of the second half, when the Dutchman appeared to fire off a shot on goal every other minute.

The fact remains that despite going 1-0 up in the 46th minute, Arsenal only truly bossed the game after Bolton were reduced to 10 men. In the 55th minute, David Wheater pulled down Theo Walcott, a move adjudged to merit a straight red, as Wheater had denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

With tougher tests coming up, one has to think that Arsenal will be made to pay dearly if they don't adopt a more direct approach in attack. Recent counterattacks by Manchester United spring to mind, which have cut Arsenal apart.

Teams have figured out that to beat Arsenal, they must wait patiently, soaking up the Gunners' slick passing in non-dangerous areas of the pitch before picking off a mistake and launching on a quick counter.

Inability—Still—to Defend Against Set Pieces

In what has to be one of the most frustrating frailties of current Arsenal teams, set piece defending has once again been a major point of weakness.

It looked in no way to be shored up on Saturday, despite Wenger's claims that his side needed to improve in defense, leading to rumors that he may be on the lookout for a defensive specialist coach.

Bolton nearly were ahead upon two minutes after a diagonal ball was sent in from a set piece 40 yards away. Why Bacary Sagna was left on an island defending David Wheater, who was easily a head taller than the right-back, is inexplicable.

Per Mertesacker, Arsenal's tallest player, was in no-man's land at the top of the penalty area and Laurent Koscielny had his back turned to Pratley who would sneak in to toe-poke his effort on goal.

I once watched an Arsenal game in a Parisien pub with a healthy number of English ex-pats. One in the crowd was an avid Gunner, who said something quite interesting during the course of the match.

He'd read somewhere that Wenger never went over set-piece defending in practice, leaving his team to make do with threadbare instruction. It seemed absolutely unbelievable, but after watching this side for years, one begins to wonder if the rumors are, in fact, true.

Arsenal have paid dearly for a lack of organization at the back before, and very nearly were undone Saturday.

Inability to Adequately Defend Rapid Counterattacks

In what seemed improbable at the time, given that they had seen very little of the possession, Bolton had the best collective move of the first half.

After clearing the ball from their penalty area, Bolton winger Martin Petrov latched onto a ball in his own half and embarked upon a 50-yard run that saw only Sagna attempt to stop his process.

The French defender eventually weaned Petrov enough to force him to deliver a cross, which turned out to be an inviting effort into the penalty area. But striker David Ngog was just unable to get a touch onto it.

It was yet another indication of how frequently Arsenal can be carved open by a quick, incisive counter. Though Olympiakos are certainly no heavyweight, the Gunners have come undone to other CL opponents in years past, with last year's trip to Donetsk still fresh in mind.

Can Theo Walcott Play with His Back to Goal?

Taking away nothing from his overall performance, which was very good, Theo Walcott still struggled when not given space with which to run at defenders.

With his back to goal, his touch became more unsure, his overall disposition more reticent. It was yet another failure to impress upon his desire to become a more central-based striker.

If he is to see that wish come true, he will need to improve, and fast. That knock you hear is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain announcing his arrival.

Thankfully, that knee injury suffered by Arsenal's No. 14 at the end of the Bolton match, which saw Walcott drop to the ground in agony, appears to be a minor knock. The England international should be available for Wednesday's Champions League tie.

If Van Persie Struggles, Who Will Step Up?

Alex Song got his name onto the scoresheet on Saturday with a wonderful right-footed effort. But outside of Robin van Persie, Arsenal still looked bereft of ideas in the final third on far too frequent a basis.

Aaron Ramsey has made concerted strides in improvement this season, but for whatever reason still lacks the ability to pack any considerable punch into his long-range strikes.

Mikel Arteta scored a wonderful goal against Blackburn last weekend but hasn't looked too keen to launch upon attacks in the final third, often electing to drop into a deeper-lying central role where he can spread play.

Gervinho has looked very good in attack in the early season but his for all his industry, his final ball is often lacking. It will take time for the Ivorian to adapt to the rigors of the English game.

So who will step up should van Persie find himself isolated in attack against a solid, structured defense, and somewhat muted?

While we've grown spoiled to his dominance in 2011, he's already been deprived of adequate service against Newcastle and Liverpool. While Arsenal have certainly improved since then, they are still miles away from a finished product in attack.

The vaunted slick passing has yet to resurface from a season ago, yet Arsenal haven't replaced that movement with a more direct approach. At least not yet.

Perhaps they can start against Olympiakos.