Gunners draw another blank

Arsenal 0-0 Southampton

Arsenal continued their poor recent form with yet another disappointing result at the Emirates stadium to make it now four straight league games without a win and three without even scoring a goal.

The Gunners have now dropped down to fourth spot as all other results went against them and their hopes of a title challenge are beginning to slip away for yet another season. Arsene Wenger attempted to look at the positives in the post match press conference, such as the fact that his team did create a number of chances and at times were thwarted by a goalkeeper in inspired form, but there can be no doubt that Arsenal are in trouble.

Southampton had outworked, outmuscled and outfought the Gunners in their first encounter this season, as they strode to a comfortable 4-0 victory and during the first half of this game nothing had changed. Arsenal performed their usual trick of starting slowly with a severe lack of urgency throughout the side as simple passes went astray and the ball was moved either sideways or backwards as the player on the ball wasn’t offered any options ahead of him.

Wenger had elected to start the game with Flamini at the base of his midfield despite Francis Coquelin’s return to first team action over the weekend. As a result, Arsenal lacked a physical presence in the middle of the park and Southampton were able to dominate the midfield battle with ease. However the manager simply refused to address this issue and although in the second half Arsenal improved they still could have done with Coquelin’s presence there to help win the ball back as quickly as possible and get the team on the front foot. However Wenger didn’t make this change until there were only seven minutes left and therefore no benefit could be derived from the substitution.

The lack of real options from the bench is a major problem. Wenger has suggested time and time again that he has a large squad full of quality and when all the players are back fit he will have several options. However with the Frenchman needing to change the game on Tuesday, one look the bench highlighted the fact that this is not the case. For some reason new signing Mohammed Elneny was not even on the bench and so with Ramsey having a poor game there was no one to bring on his place. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has played in central midfield in the past but the Englishman is enduring a poor run of form and is low on confidence too. The fact Wenger didn’t bring him on said much about the manager’s own belief in Oxlade-Chamberlain’s ability to influence a match at present. The manager’s faith in Theo Walcott however remains unchanged and he was introduced from the bench but made little contribution yet again. Walcott has flattered to deceive throughout his time at the club and ten years on hasn’t improved greatly from the player who first joined the club. Against Southampton he was presented with a golden opportunity to open the scoring, but with all the time in the world and the goal at his mercy, Walcott shot tamely at the near post, when he should have gone across goal and his effort was easily saved.

Scoring goals has become a major problem in recent games with Giroud not performing to his level. The Frenchman just doesn’t seem interested and is losing far too many aerial battles, while his lack of movement means few options for the midfield. At most other Premier League teams the manager would be able to drop a striker who was not performing, but at Arsenal there are no other centre forward options because the manager has refused to buy another option. The notion that Giroud is a top class striker is laughable. Yes he does go through purple patches at times when he scores a number of goals, but then his form dips and he goes through a barren spell. That lack of consistency at the highest level is exactly the reason why he is not at world class level. Wenger advised there was no need for him to sign a striker in January as Danny Wellbeck was coming back from injury. But the former Manchester United man hasn’t played for almost a year and therefore it will take him until the end of the season before he gains match fitness again and if truth be told he isn’t a top level centre forward either.

Maybe as a result of the lack of quality around him, Alexis Sanchez isn’t performing at his best either. The Chilean is trying to do too much and on numerous occasions attempts to pass one defender too many and ends up losing the ball. When a player forces the play it rarely works out and there is a sense that Sanchez is becoming frustrated with those around him as they are failing to put a shift in for the team.

At the end of the game against Southampton Arsenal could look back on a host of missed chances as Ozil and Shanchez were denied by excellent saves from Fraiser Forster, there was a clearance off the line and Koscielny headed over from point blank range. However four straight games without a win is simply not good enough. The team’s form is alarming and the lack of options to freshen things up means Wenger has his hands tied. Yet the manager only has himself to blame as once again a promising season begins to disintegrate around him.