Seven changes, but same result!

Olympiacos 2-1 Arsenal

Arsenal continued their recent atrocious run of results with another loss yesterday, this time against Olympiacos in the Champions League. While Wenger could point to the fact that the Gunners had already qualified for the last 16 of the competition and that he had therefore decided to make seven changes to the side which was humiliated against Swansea, the Greeks had also made six changes of their own.

In addition, the seven replacements who Wenger called upon yesterday, apart from full debutant Jernade Meade, were all experienced internationals, who are supposedly fighting for a place in the first eleven. It would have been more than reasonable therefore to have expected this team to put on a performance full of vigour and verve, but instead Arsenal’s supporters were simply left bemused as they wondered how these players were ever considered good enough to wear the famous red and white shirt.

And yet the Gunners began the game reasonably well. With Thomas Rosicky making his first start this season at the heart of the midfield, Arsenal did appear to be more fluent in the first half. They attacked with purpose, but unfortunately the final pass let them down on several occasions as perennial offenders such as Ramsey and Gervinho lacked the necessary composure required at this level. Both players had opportunities in the first half to set up goal scoring opportunities for their teammates but simply did not look up or did not play the right pass and the chance was soon gone. With the game only a few minutes old, Gervinho had an opportunity to test Roy Carroll in the Olympiacos goal, but instead blazed his shot horribly high and wide of the near post, before Chamakh nodded the ball into Ramsey’s path, only for the Welshman to characteristically fluff his lines in front of goal and miss the ball.

However, with Arsenal’s defence containing the utterly inept Sebastian Squillaci, it was no surprise to see the home side also creating several chances of their own, and as the first half wore on, Olympiacos actually began to take control of proceedings. Thomas Vermaelen’s last ditch tackle prevented Rafik Djebbour from stabbing home, Vassilis Torosidis had a header cleared off the line by Rosicky and Djamel Abdoun and Djebbour forced Szczesny into good saves. It was slightly against the run of play therefore that Arsenal took the lead in the 38^th minute as Rosicky calmly and assuredly guided the ball into the left hand corner of the goal; following Gervinho’s cut back from the by-line.

Having shown glimpses of his great ability to quickly enable the transition of the ball from midfield to attack, it was a shame to see Rosicky replaced at half time with Andrei Arshavin. The Russian international did absolutely nothing to endear himself to the Arsenal faithful, producing yet another inadequate display in which he soon became virtually invisible on the field. It was no coincidence that the Gunners second half performance left much to be desired as with Chamakh failing to make any impression on the game, Arshavin nowhere to be seen, Oxlade-Chamberlain performing below par and Gervinho and Ramsey sluggish and wasteful in possession, Arsenal simply did not pose any threat going forward.

Consequently, when Olympiacos’ equaliser arrived in the 64^th minute, there was a sense of inevitability about it. Although Arsenal could complain that the home side had been granted a corner which never was, as the referee adjudged Szczesny to have made contact with the ball before it had crossed the by-line, when in fact the ball had simply hit the post, it was the Gunners poor defending which resulted in the concession of the goal and not the referee’s decision. The resulting corner was initially cleared, but as the ball was returned into the box, Vermaelen and Squillaci inexplicably pushed out, leaving three Olympiacos players free on the edge of the box. Abdoun’s cross was nodded down on to the chest of Ramsey and the ball fell straight to Maniatis to prod home at the near post.

From this moment on, Arsenal never looked likely to regain a foothold in the game and retake the lead. There was no real leadership, passion or hunger within their ranks and the Gunners got their just deserts nine minutes later when the defence sat off Mitroglou, allowing him time and space to turn and curl a wonderful shot into the bottom corner of the goal.

Unfortunately yesterday’s loss merely highlighted the lack of strength in depth within Arsenal’s squad. Wenger must surely accept that the likes of Chamakh, Squillaci and Arshavin are not good enough but he is stuck with them until their contracts run out due to the ridiculous decision to grant these players lucrative long term contracts. The sense of crisis is exacerbated as players such as Vermaelen are experiencing a dip in form, yet there is no one there who can adequately replace them. While Meade and Coquelin did produce relatively strong performances last night they are still too young and inexperienced to be thrust into an underperforming side and be expected to somehow help turn things around.

Although this game did not have a great deal of significance due to the fact the Gunners had already secured qualification to the last 16, it did come at a time in which Arsenal are desperate for a victory. Four wins in their last thirteen highlights the critical situation in which Wenger’s side find themselves in and a win yesterday would have at least temporarily lifted the sense of gloom currently engulfing the club. There is now added pressure on the next match at home to West Brom, in which defeat simply cannot be contemplated. The major question which remains to be answered positively is, are Arsenal up to the task?