A fortnight ago, challenging on four fronts was a sign of Arsenal’s new-found strengths. Three cup defeats later, the experience is being cited as evidence of long-held weaknesses. How quickly everything, and nothing, changes.
Arsenal stockpile disappointments instead of silverware, not breaking their mould but conforming to it. A quadruple became a single in only 13 days.
The North London club were victims of a freakish late goal in the Carling Cup final, bad refereeing made a near-impossible task against Barcelona even harder and they were perky and dedicated against Manchester United but could not beat Edwin van der Sar.
But reasons sound like excuses. The narrow time frame between the defeats and Arsenal’s long wait for a trophy encourages us to think that the past fortnight’s results are symptoms of an underlying psychological block, not isolated outcomes related to misfortune, missed opportunities and the reality that the deeper a team drill into a competition, the stiffer the resistance they will meet.
Arsène Wenger, the manager, said on Saturday that the defeat at the Nou Camp has bruised his players’ confidence. If Arsenal did not need a session on the therapist’s couch before, perhaps they do now.
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When Arsenal lose yet have more possession and better chances than opponents, as on Saturday, the pattern of play is not a cause to be optimistic but a reason to lament their inefficiency. As Wenger said, United were more clinical.
Challenges now are not just mental but physical. The squad no longer looks deep. Save for Samir Nasri, the attackers are out of form; Cesc Fàbregas, the captain, struggles for fitness; Johan Djourou suffered a dislocated shoulder on Saturday and will miss the rest of the campaign, so the central-defensive burden falls squarely on the mediocre Laurent Koscielny and Sébastien Squillaci. Thomas Vermaelen, Arsenal’s only convincing centre back, is unlikely to return from injury this season and Alexandre Song, the team’s most effective midfield shield, is sidelined.
If Arsenal’s players feel daunted in big games, that is not pessimistic but rational. This was United’s fourth successive victory against Arsenal. The past ten meetings between the clubs have brought eight United wins and one Arsenal victory. This is not a rivalry but a routine. United go to the Emirates Stadium in the league on May 1.
“The Man United game is only important if we win our games before that,” Wenger said. “If that game is decisive, we will have a good chance.
But before that, it is very important that we respond very quickly.”
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Wenger believes his team will not be underachievers even if they end the season without a trophy. “If I listened to everybody then it is a miracle that we are playing for the title with ten games to go,” he said. “Nobody in England believed we could fight for the top four. The fact we’re in this position deserves a lot of credit.”
Still, Arsenal are in a vicious circle. They do not win trophies because they do not have enough experience, and they do not have enough experience because they do not win trophies. How to break that, except with a radical rethink in transfer policy and tactics?