Canaries punish woeful Gunners

Norwich 1-0 Arsenal

Arsenal’s performance against Norwich on Saturday left much to be desired. Not one of the players in red and white could hold their heads up high after a display in which the Gunners failed to create a single clear cut opportunity or register a real shot on target.

The home side came into this game yet to record a victory in the new season, but throughout the 90 minutes proved to be more than a match for their illustrious visitors. Norwich’s tactics were clear from the very first minute as they sought to put pressure on the ball with their defensive and midfield units working close together to restrict the space between them. As a result, Santi Cazorla was not able to work his usual magic in his favourite position, the hole between these two units and consequently had to drop deeper and deeper to receive the ball, significantly reducing his effectiveness and influence on the game.

Furthermore, the pressure placed on the ball by the home side led to Arteta continually having to pass the ball back to the defence, so that while Arsenal enjoyed plenty of possession, they were not able to create anything with it, as most of this possession was in their own half. The fact Aaron Ramsey had another day to forget at the heart of the Gunners midfield, did not help matters either. The Welshman was far too weak on the ball, easily brushed aside by Norwich time and time again as the home side were able to bully their opponents. This is where Arsenal have suffered the most since Diaby’s inevitable spell on the side-lines. The Frenchman’s incredible power enables him to surge forward, past the opposition, carrying the ball from defence to attack in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately Ramsey does not possess either Diaby’s skill or power and his continued below par performances could lead to Jack Wilshere having to play more often than expected, upon his impending return to the first team.

However the midfield’s deficiencies were not helped at all by Arsenal’s front three. With Norwich clearly attempting to restrict the space between their defence and midfield, Wenger would have expected his front three of Podolski, Gervinho and Giroud to move the Norwich players out of position with clever runs, creating angles for the Gunners midfield to play the ball forward. Yet Arsenal’s front three were largely static and largely anonymous. Giroud in particular failed to win the majority of his aerial battles against the Norwich defence with the Gunners unable to build any momentum whatsoever, while Gervinho and Podolski just could not get themselves into the game. In his first few games for the club, a feature of Podolski’s game was his movement into the centre of the park, from where he would embark on forward runs, adding a new dimension to the Arsenal attack. However in recent games the German international has stopped doing this, maybe as a result of Keiran Gibbs’ absence, with Andre Santos unable to surge forward to assist the attack and then quickly track back if possession is lost.

The Brazilian left back, a result of the previous summer’s desperate last minute trolley dash, is simply not good enough to play for Arsenal Football Club. He appears to be unfit, clumsy in the tackle and while his forward play is far better than his defensive work, it too leaves much to be desired. On Saturday, as Vito Mannone failed to parry Tettey’s shot safely away from goal, the rest of the defence stepped forward in an attempt to catch Grant Holt offside. Santos however remained back, playing the Englishman onside, enabling him to score an easy tap-in and ultimately win the game. However it would be unfair to just pick out Santos. Mannone should have done better with the save, the Italian consistently seems to parry the ball into the middle of the goal rather than safely away and this time he was made to pay. In addition both Vermaelen and Mertesacker produced equally abject displays on Saturday. The two centre backs were completely outmuscled and outfought in every single aerial battle against Grant Holt and in truth the home side could and should have added to their lead.

Wenger’s insistence on his side employing the controversial zonal marking system when defending set pieces is continually leaving his side exposed. Rather than each player marking a certain opponent, they instead line up and defend an area. While this concept may work in theory, it certainly does not seem to work in practice as the tactic is extremely susceptible to movement. While the Arsenal players attempt to clear the ball from a standing jump, the opposition can easily out power them if they undertake a running jump, or outfox them by making runs in between Arsenal’s defensive line. The frailties of the Gunners zonal marking system were evident yet again on Saturday when Michael Turner was able to run in between the Gunners defensive line for a free header from only six yards out, from which he somehow missed the target.   

With time running out on Saturday and Arsenal’s display not improving, it became clear that the Gunners options from the bench were extremely limited. Apart from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who unfortunately suffered an injury immediately after coming on, there was not one player who Wenger could rely upon to change the game. With Theo Walcott out injured, Arsenal didn’t even have a striker they could call upon, a clear indication as to Chamakh’s position within the squad. Following Oxlade-Chamberlain’s injury, Wenger was then forced to introduce Andrei Arshavin, the man whose future everyone knows does not lie at the Emirates and the Russian did nothing to convince us otherwise. Yet over the course of the summer transfer window, all Arsenal fans were continually reminded how large the squad at Wenger’s disposal was. Funny how only a few injuries seem to have decimated it!

Arsenal will need to recover quickly from this set-back. Following a truly woeful display, every single player owes the supporters a performance. Having started the season in promising fashion, it is already apparent that the Gunners will face another season-long struggle to finish in the top four. Arsenal are already now 10 points behind early pace setters Chelsea and with just 8 games played, only the most optimistic Gooner would believe their club can overhaul this deficit.