Another poor display

Arsenal 0-0 Sunderland

Arsenal were back to their insipid best against Sunderland as yet another drab performance lacking in commitment and ideas resulted in more dropped points.

The Gunners it seems can currently only beat teams who have completely nothing left to play for this season and therefore turn up with a distinct lack of ambition.

In recent weeks, every time they have faced a side with desire to enter into the top four, such as West Ham, or are desperate to avoid relegation, such as Crystal Palace and Sunderland, Arsenal have dropped points. Yet when playing against teams who have secured their Premier League survival for another year, such as West Brom and Watford or who cannot qualify for Europe next season, such as Everton, Arsenal have turned them over with ease. It appears therefore that whenever faced with a team who are committed to the cause the Gunners cannot match their level of commitment and come up short.

Against Sunderland Arsene Wenger’s men actually started the game well and for the first ten minutes were completely dominant, displaying neat intricate passing in the final third as another comfortable afternoon appeared to be in store. However Arsenal didn’t manage to break the deadlock in that opening spell as once again Wenger’s decision not to buy a top class, clinical striker, was painfully highlighted. Olivier Giroud was selected up front instead of Danny Welbeck for the second successive game, but looked far short of the required standard. As pointed out by Arsenal legend Alan Smith during commentary, Giroud makes poor runs and therefore often finds himself in a position from which he cannot score or is easily caught offside. It was rather ironic and damming that Mesut Ozil should surpass the record for chances created in a single season, during this game. A look at the goals scored column would clearly confirm that those deployed in the centre forward position this season, have not been good enough to convert a higher percentage of those chances.  Had they done so, Arsenal may well still be in this title race.

Wenger will of course suggest otherwise and point to the work that Giroud does to bring his teammates into the game, however centre forwards are ultimately judged on goals scored and Giroud doesn’t have nearly enough to justify his place in this team. But a clinical centre forward is not the problem with this team. One look at Per Mertesacker being left for dead on a few occasions throughout the game, by the aging Jermaine Defoe would have been enough for any other manager to decide the time has come for the German to be replaced. But Wenger will most likely stick with him as he has done so often in the past and simply continue to rely on Laurent Koscielny to bail him out every time he makes a mistake or is caught short for pace.

Wenger’s fierce loyalty to his underperforming players shouldn’t come as a surprise any more but it still does because it is completely unfathomable. For instance, how can Theo Walcott be consistently selected ahead of Joel Campbell? It is a situation which must cause the Costa Rican to scratch his head in complete bemusement. Walcott has been abysmal for most of the season, while Campbell has performed extremely well almost every time he has been called on. Against West Brom both players entered the field as second half substitutes with the game already over as a contest. Yet while Walcott did his all too familiar disappearing act, Campbell was full of energy, demanding the ball and being positive when in possession. Yet against Sunderland, with Arsenal needing a goal, Wenger brought on Walcott and was repaid with another pathetic display. One moment encapsulated him perfectly. As goalkeeper Vito Mannone raced out of the area to head the ball clear and got it wrong, the ball ran loose. Walcott and Kaboul were in a 50-50 race for the ball, but the Englishman jumped out of the way as Kaboul approached and lost possession and the chance to score. Walcott doesn’t have the guts for a fight. No one could blame Joel Campbell if he were to hand in a transfer request this summer, his situation at the club is beyond ridiculous.

Wenger’s blind loyalty to Walcott is very similar to that he has for Aaron Ramsey. Apart from that one season when he exploded into life and threatened to become the World Class player Wenger believed he could be, Ramsey has been distinctly average. He takes far too many touches on the ball, often plays square or backwards passes and attempts to tricks and flicks in unnecessary situations. More often than not he therefore either costs Arsenal possession or slows the attack down. But once again as soon as he returned to full fitness Wenger broke up the promising partnership that was developing between Elneny and Coquelin in order to include Ramsey in his starting line-up.

The frustration amongst the Arsenal fans has reached a real high point as this season comes to a close. Those who pay top prices to see their side repeat the same exact mistakes year after year have finally had enough. The manager’s attempts to gloss over poor performances, errors and a distinct lack of ambition, are now falling on deaf ears. The impressive history of this once great football club was belittled the moment majority shareholders, whose shares had been passed down from generation to generation, sold up to Stan Kroenke. This man does not care about the club or winning trophies. He is simply a businessman who has no real ties to the club other that the investment he has made. He can sit back year after year without putting any money into the club, knowing that his investment is increasing in value. Nothing will change until he sells up, but why would he?  Arsenal Football Club is officially stagnant and there can be no hope that things will change any time soon.