Last gasp Gunners

Arsenal 2-1 Southampton

Arsenal secured a vital three points on Saturday thanks to a last minute penalty from Santi Cazorla which should not be used in any way shape or form to disguise an otherwise average performance.

Arsene Wenger decided to deviate from his normal approach to introducing new signings to the Premier League, by starting both his new additions, Mustafi and Peres. Unfortunately both struggled to come to terms with the pace and ferocity of the Premier League and as a result produced fairly average performances in keeping with that of the whole team.

The decision to start with Mustafi was fairly straightforward given the fact that Arsenal have been bereft of centre backs since the start of the season and Rob Holding, although having performed quite well, lacks the experience required at this level. However up front it was a different matter entirely. Olivier Giroud was fit and having played for France during the international break, should have been raring to go. Yet against a team in Southampton, who would clearly attempt to frustrate the Gunners by sitting deep and restricting the space in behind, Wenger decided not to go with his target man, but to deploy Peres instead. The Spaniard’s game is all about pace and playing off the last defender, looking to may runs in behind, but against Southampton there was no space to run into and at times in the first half in particular he looked all at sea and ended up drifting out wide, leaving his team with no focal point up front. It was not surprising therefore that Southampton found defending against the Gunners rather straight forward, as without a central striker to play off, the attacking players such as Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ozil didn’t really have any options when on the ball and all turned in sub-standard performances as a result. Frazer Forster must have considered himself extremely unlucky to come off the pitch at full time on the losing side as he barely had a save to make. Arsenal may well have enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, especially in the second half, but really didn’t do anything with it.

That is the problem for Arsenal. Signing players is one part of the jigsaw puzzle, but formulating a way to overcome teams who employ these ultra-defensive tactics is just as important. Yet the Gunners have failed to come up with a plan since moving to the Emirates. Week in week out fans watch the same build up play which is invariably slow and lacking in movement. Once the ball reaches the edge of the opposition penalty area, square pass after square pass ensues as the opportunity to shoot is not taken up time and time again. Then either possession is lost or a cross finally comes into the box, but with one or sometimes no Arsenal players in the box, the opposition can easily clear their lines.

On Saturday Arsenal had to rely on two set pieces to score their goals. The first, from a corner, saw Koscielny perform a wonderful overhead kick to steer the ball past the goalkeeper to restore parity following Southampton’s opener. The visitors had earlier taken the lead in somewhat bizarre circumstances. Having been awarded a free kick on the edge of the area, Dusan Tadic should not have been able to get the ball over the wall and on target. But from the moment Cech started lining up his wall, it didn’t look right and when the shot sailed over the wall, the goalkeeper should have been able to easily palm it away or tip it over the crossbar, as the ball wasn’t heading towards the corner of the goal. But Cech could only tip the ball onto the underside of the crossbar, with the ball bouncing over the line, off the goalkeeper.

The lead up to the free kick being awarded was also rather farcical as Southampton were able to rip through the Arsenal defence far too easily and Monreal was forced into a last ditch tackle which he failed to execute well, leading to the foul. It was only his first game, but at that point in the match Mustafi had looked rather nervous and did not exude any confidence amongst his colleagues in the defence. The German did attempt to play out from the back but his passing left much to be desired and at times he gave the ball away in dangerous positions and as the first half wore on he was reduced to playing square passes to Koscielny time and time again. Fortunately however, he did improve in the second period and played a pivotal role in the build up to Arsenal’s second goal. With Koscielny lying flat out in the Southampton penalty area, having gone up for a corner and taken a hit to the face, Mustafi could have kicked the ball out so that his teammate would receive much needed treatment. However with the clock ticking down, the German elected to clip the ball to Giroud, in the area, and within seconds, the referee was pointing to the spot. Replays showed it was an innocuous challenge but Arsenal will take what they can get at this stage of the season. Cazorla had to wait an age for Koscielny to receive his treatment, before stepping up to coolly dispatch his penalty and secure a much needed three points.

Arsenal will have to improve dramatically if they are to start their Champions League campaign with a positive result against PSG. The Gunners attacking play still lacks the verve, dynamism and energy to frighten the opposition. Presumably Peres was bought to add some pace at the top of the attack but the Spaniard and the team as a whole will have to learn to adapt to one another as quickly as possible for this to bear fruition. As showcased on Saturday, Arsenal cannot afford a prolonged delay, as they are unlikely to regularly receive the sort of gifts they received from the referee on Saturday.