I have been meaning to write a post ever since the Southampton game, i just never found the time. But our performance in the first half today made sure i can spend most of the second half writing this, instead of watching our inability to have any defensive organization.
It's very easy after a game like this for every fan to point fingers and say "We suck", "We are not good enough" etc. But the painful truth is that after the Southampton game, i was thinking: "we have enough quality players needed to win the title this year, but i don't think we are defensively organized enough to get it done"!
In the Southampton game we were dominated in the first half, but were only 1-0 down. Somehow we scored 2 goals in the beginning of the second half and you would think that we should have enough composure to close the game out, instead we concede a goal 2 minutes later and the worst part was that we were beaten by a simple long ball and our defense was nowhere to be seen.
All the talk during the transfer window was how we need another striker to compete for the title and so on, but the reality is that we need a really good defensive midfielder to hold this team together. Arteta and Flamini have been doing their best, but neither of them is an imposing physical player. Someone like Yaya Toure would be the perfect for that role (the guy has amazing strength and control over the ball). The other thing Wenger has to be aware of is that Flamini and Arteta playing at the same time is not a good combination. Even before Flamini got sent off against Southampton they were struggling to work well together in our midfield.
The second and more important problem is the fact that i just don't think Wenger knows how to organize a team defensively! I have been saying for years that we don't press teams properly when we don't have the ball (you can read my posts from the last few years). On top of that we are not efficient enough going forward: at times we leave too many holes in the back without much end product up front. That is not a problem for us when we play weaker teams because a lot of times they don't convert the chances they get, but when we play a team like Man City or Liverpool who have a lot of good players going forward, we have no clue how to go forward without exposing ourselves in the back.
I watched Chelsea beat Man City on Monday and i remember being so jealous of the way Mourihno had set up his team: No more than 4 players at a time were attacking when Chelsea were going forward which was shocking to watch, but that ensured that City had no open spaces for their deadly counters. Instead Chelsea were sitting back, being organized in defense and every chance they got, they broke forward in lightning fast counters without over committing a huge number of players. They could have easily scored 3 or 4 goals if they were more composed in front of goal. The bottom line is that Mourinho knows how to set up his team to give them the best chance to win. Wenger on the other hand does not have a plan B: we just go forward trying to put teams under pressure even if we get punished by counters over and over! The 6-3 scoreline at the Etihad in December is a great example.
Another problem with good old Arsene (which i have talked about a lot as well) is the lack of personnel rotation. If he had given Vermaelen more opportunities to play during the season, he could have probably used him today instead of Mertesacker not because the German had an awful game or anything but just because Liverpool have so much speed on their team: Sturridge, Sterling, Suarez etc...Against a speedy team like that, you can make an adjustment in your tactics and come out with a more mobile defense but Arsene would never think of changing a team that has been playing well. Never. Regardless if that might be a helpful and useful change. His stubbornness would not allow him to alter his vision or tactics. Jose Mourihno on the other hand would have no problem changing his line up if he thinks that would give him the best chance to win.
Do we still have a chance at winning the title this year? Sure. Things might happen, there are too many teams that are playing well for one team to just dominate until the end. Do I think that we are good enough to win the title? On paper yes, but in reality i highly doubt it. I just don't see Wenger all of a sudden improving our inability to stay organized when we need to defend or go forward more cautiously. Let's hope i am wrong and i have to apologize (which i will, if we win the title) for doubting Wenger's ability to win it all.
p.s.Last thing i want to mention is Ozil. He continues to under perform and since the first few weeks in which he showed what he is capable of, he has been terrible! No desire, no fight, no hunger. It looks like he still can't get used to the physicality of this league but he has had long enough to get his shit together. If that's what we get for 42 million pounds, that's a fucking joke. Like our performance today.
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