Arsene never learns!

Leicester 2-5 Arsenal
Arsenal 2-3 Olympiakos

Arsenal supporters watching their side playing wonderful, incisive attacking football as they racked up five goals away to Leicester City on Saturday could have been forgiven for getting excited. After a slow start to the season the Gunners appeared to be getting back on track and on the way to rediscovering their best form.

However a closer look at that game suggested otherwise.

This was a game which Arsenal allowed to become an end to end affair with both sides attacking the other at will and very little stability in the midfield, especially in the first half. With Francis Coquelin out injured, Wenger elected to start League Cup hero Flamini, but he too succumbed to injury midway through the first half and was replaced by Arteta. Unfortunately neither could really assert their authority on the game to halt the Leicester attacks on a regular basis and as a result the match turned on twists of fate and fortune.

Leicester took the lead through Jamie Vardy, with Arsenal holding a high line and Mertesacker caught out, the German had no chance of catching up with the Leicester striker, who was allowed to saunter into the box and curl an excellent shot around Cech and into the far corner of the goal. While the Gunners attacking play appeared promising, their defending was woeful at times, as they appeared completely unorganised. In fact Leicester could count themselves extremely unfortunate not to have scored two more goals before half time, given they struck the post and the crossbar as the chances continued to arrive on a regular basis.

It was from one of these near misses that Arsenal restored parity. The Gunners mounted a lightning quick counter attack which saw Walcott released through on goal and the Englishman was able to steer his effort beyond the goalkeeper and into the net. Walcott performed well throughout the game, continually making runs in behind the Leicester defence, stretching the game and providing his midfield with more space to play through balls into him. However it must also be noted that Leicester somewhat played into his hands. They didn’t try to restrict the space in any way and played an open game which allowed Walcott the opportunity to have a significant impact on the match. Olympiakos wouldn’t repeat the same mistake three days later as they sat deep and tight, allowing Arsenal to play in front of them and not behind them.

Arsenal went ahead before halftime on Saturday thanks to Alexis Sanchez who was finally able to get himself onto the scoresheet for the first time this season, converting a simple effort from close range. The floodgates suddenly opened for the Chilean and he was able to complete his hat trick thanks to an excellent header, leaping high to convert from a clipped ball over the top of the Leicester defence from Ozil and then a long range shot which flew into the net.

Yet somewhat alarmingly Arsenal fell asleep again, becoming sloppy at the back, inviting pressure onto their own goal which they seemed unable to deal with. As a result it was no real surprise when Vardy scored his second of the afternoon with twelve minutes left. Fortunately the Gunners were able to hold on and Giroud added a fifth as the game headed towards full time.

Although Wenger heaped praise on his side at the final whistle, he really should have been alarmed at their lacklustre defending, with the side appearing to fold under pressure all too easily. Yes they had created numerous goal scoring opportunities and played wonderful, flowing, attacking football at times but again it was more a case of Leicester playing into their hands, allowing Arsenal the space to play the game they like to play.

When Olympiakos arrived at the Emirates on Tuesday, the Greek side were not prepared to repeat the mistakes made by Leicester. As most teams who visit the Emirates tend to do, Olympiakos followed the blue print to sit deep, restrict the space and watch as Arsenal slowly and ponderously play square pass after square pass. Then wait for the inevitable defensive mistakes from the Gunners and exploit them. Once again as for so many visiting teams in recent years, these simple tactics worked a treat.

Arsenal fans must be alarmed at the undeniable fact that despite so many teams employing the exact same tactics against his side, week in week out Arsene Wenger has consistently failed to devise a plan to overcome them effectively. Even before kick-off Wenger had sent out the wrong message to both players and supporters, dropping Cech and Monreal, first team players, for the second consecutive Champions League game. Are Arsenal not taking the competition seriously this year?

The Gunners were dreadful from start to finish on Tuesday night. Slow and ponderous build up play with little or no urgency was the order of the day, while sloppiness at the back only made matters worse. Olympiakos took the lead as Arsenal failed to defend well from a set piece yet again. A corner played out towards the edge of the box to an unmarked player whose shot was deflected into the net. This move seemed to catch the Arsenal players off guard but in truth it is a move which is always an option for the opposition as the Gunners always fail to cover the edge of the box when defending a corner.

Arsenal equalised through a tame Walcott effort which the goalkeeper somehow spilled into his own net, but Ospina would return the favour by dropping a catch from a corner, when under no pressure at all and watched in horror as the ball spilled over the line. It took Arsenal over fifteen minutes of the second half to muster a shot on target and although they did get themselves back on level terms thanks to a Sanchez header, the Gunners once again shot themselves in the foot.

With the crowd on their feet urging their side on, Arsenal conceded a third straight from the restart. Kieran Gibbs was caught out as the ball was chipped over him and out on the wing. As the ball was played across goal, Mertesacker failed to make any effort to get across his attacker and before the celebrations from the Sanchez goal had died down, the ball was in the back of the Arsenal net.

After the game Wenger suggested that this was the kind of game that only happens one time out of a hundred. But this was a match that had echoes of Anderlecht and Monaco at home last season and Arsenal fans only have to cast their minds back to the start of this season and the visit of West Ham to reference a very similar match. If your manager is in denial, how can you possibly expect your team to improve? This is why year on year Gunners supporters have to endure the exact same issues and why while the current board and manager remain at the club Arsenal will not push for the biggest trophies in the game. Against Olympiakos Francis Coquelin was forced into the starting line-up despite clearly lacking fitness, because despite Flamini and Arteta being injured, there are no other out and out defensive midfielders in the squad. Up front there were no genuine strikers to bring on in search of a goal because with Giroud suspended there are no other genuine strikers at the club. And why are we in this situation? Because the manager couldn’t find any defensive midfielders or strikers that could improve the squad during the entire summer transfer window! Both he and the board are culpable for the ridiculous situation they allowed to develop during the summer.

Arsenal moved to their new stadium with the expectation that they would challenge for the game’s biggest trophies. Almost ten years on and with only two games of this season’s Champions League played, the Gunners faithful are now left hoping their team finishes bottom of the group. With back to back games against Bayern Munich next, Arsenal will almost certainly have no points after four games and therefore their only realistic option will be to enter the Europa League via a third place finish in the group, a scenario no one wants. Therefore we find ourselves in the ridiculous situation where last place is the best we can hope for. Talk about progress!