Arsenal escape with a point in Germany

Schalke 2-2 Arsenal

Arsenal yesterday threw away a two goal lead against Schalke in yet another below par performance. Although the Gunners did race into a two goal lead, the goals came against the run of play, with Schalke once again the superior of the two sides.

Theo Walcott was granted a rare start in the first team, but not as a result of Arsene Wenger finally seeing the error of his ways in deploying Ramsey on the right wing. In fact the manager’s hand was forced by the Welshman’s groin injury and so we can all assume that had Ramsey been fully fit he would have once again started the game in this position. Elsewhere, Wenger did at least attempt to address his side’s shortcomings in the left back position, leaving out the woeful Andre Santos, shifting Thomas Vermaelen into this position and recalling Laurent Koscielny to the centre of defence.

However while this tactic was designed to give more stability to the Arsenal defence, it did not prevent the exciting Atsuto Uchida surging forward during the first few minutes of the game. With the pacey Jefferson Farfan operating in front of the Japanese international, Vermaelen certainly had his hands full in attempting to stem the Schalke attacks down his side. In situations such as these Lukas Podolski needs to show more awareness and willingness to track back and prevent his left back from becoming isolated. This happened on several occasions yesterday with Schalke almost predominantly attacking Arsenal through this channel, even after Uchida had been replaced by the less impressive Marco Hoger, due to injury.

If Wenger could deploy an out and out defensive midfielder whose role would be to sit back and screen the defence, the issue of Podolski having to track back would be eradicated as this defensive midfielder would move across the field to help protect the Arsenal left back. As a result, Podolski could hold station further up the field, increasing the prospect of the Gunners hitting the opposition on the counter attack. Yet the manager persists with Arteta at the base of his midfield due to the Spaniard’s technical ability and the belief that the defence can play the ball forward to Arteta and he will be able to transfer the ball between defence and attack with his range of passing. In recent games however, the opposition have pressed the Gunners high up the field and swamped the midfield as soon as the ball is played into this position, stifling the Arsenal attack.

While Arteta is a very competent footballer, he is not a defensive midfielder and although he has learnt to curb his attacking instincts he will never be able to provide the cover that a natural defensive midfielder would, with such a player possessing the instinct to spot danger and quickly cut it out. It may be the case that Wenger sees this as a tactic for the future, with the view that currently Francis Coquelin does not have the experience to fulfil this role, while Emmanuel Frimpong is still to gain match fitness following his cruciate ligament injury. With Abou Diaby also out injured Arsenal lack a real strength and physical presence in the middle of the park. The likes of Cazorla and Wilshere cannot be expected to win aerial challenges and at times can be out muscled too. Had the manager bought an experienced defensive midfielder, the Gunners would have had a solid base from which to defend and build their attacks.

From the very first whistle yesterday, Arsenal were not in the game. The German side appeared more fluid in possession whereas the Gunners struggled to pass the ball quickly enough, making the transition from defence to attack a desperately slow process. After only four minutes Christian Fuchs saw his shot blocked, before Podolski lost possession and Afellay raced forward, testing Vito Mannone at his near post. Yet completely against the run of play, the visitors took the lead in the 18^th minute, thanks to a poor backward header from Neustadter, which fell right into the path of Olivier Giroud. The French striker raced through on goal, but took far too long to get his shot away, allowing the Schalke defence to get back and make a last ditch tackle. Walcott collected the loose ball and was able to fire into an empty net for his 50^th Arsenal goal. Eight minutes later and the lead was doubled thanks to great work from Podolski on the left wing. With his back to goal the German international managed to hold off his defender, create enough space to wriggle free and deliver a perfect cross for Giroud to head home.

Having witnessed the away side go two goals clear, the home support began to vent their frustration at every misplaced pass and Arsenal’s midfield started to gain a foothold in the game. Unfortunately this did not last long and Schalke were soon able to regain control, with Farfan racing through but skewing his shot wide of the goal, before Klaas Jan Huntelaar reduced the deficit on the stroke of half time. Santi Cazorla slipped, losing possession and the ball was clipped forward for Lewis Holtby to head the ball into the path of Huntelaar, who had evaded Mertesacker far too easily, allowing the Dutchman to fire past Mannone into the bottom corner.

As in the first game of the group, away to Montpellier, Arsenal simply did not perform in the second half. The Gunners were pushed back deep in their own half, as Schalke launched attack after attack in search of the equaliser. Only five minutes into the second half and Huntelaar should have restored parity, but was denied by a fine save from Mannone, having easily eluded the Gunners defence once more. In the 68^th minute, the inevitable happened as Schalke breached the Arsenal backline. A cross from Afellay evaded Holtby, but found Farfan in acres of space on the right hand side of the box and his low shot was met by Vermaelen, who could only turn the ball into his own net. It was nothing more than Schalke deserved and although the German side continued to attack in search of a winner, the best chance of the night fell to Walcott in the last minute of the game, but the Englishman could not get the ball past Unnerstall in the Schalke goal and the match ended 2-2.

This was another abject performance from the Gunners. While Wenger’s sides in recent years have always had a tendency to be porous at the back, at least the Arsenal faithful could console themselves with the vibrant attacking play which was synonymous with the club. However in recent games, Arsenal have desperately struggled to find any fluidity in their play and create chances at will. There is no vibrancy in the side whatsoever and almost an acceptance of the fact that they are no longer good enough to perform to the levels expected of an Arsenal team. Wenger must do something to address these issues, but there is a sense that the scourge of mediocrity has also afflicted this once great man.