Pathetic Gunners

Stoke 3-2 Arsenal

As the television cameras focused on Arsene Wenger on Saturday, his team 3-0 down and hopelessly out muscled by Stoke City once again, the phrase: “only a fool never learns” came to mind.

This is a Stoke side that are slowly trying to move away from the Neanderthal football played under Tony Pulis, but essentially still largely play in the same way, using their immense height and sheer brute force to gain an advantage. There are no surprises when playing against Stoke. Exactly why Wenger has never set his side up in preparation for this challenge is a question only he can answer, but facts don’t lie and the Frenchman has only tasted victory on one occassion at the Britannia Stadium.

In the post-match press conference Wenger highlighted the lack of experience at the back due to several injuries affecting his squad’s defensive department, but in truth this was a cheap excuse. Yes starting with Martinez in goal, Chambers at centre back and Bellerin at right back was not ideal, but everyone knows that when you go to Stoke you are in for a physical challenge and you have to be prepared to face plenty of long balls. If Wenger had somehow failed to realise this, comments attributed to Ryan Shawcross before the game, clearly outlined the approach they would be taking. Wenger could not have been in any doubt, yet his side were horribly exposed within the first 20 seconds of the game.

Straight from the kick-off, Stoke unsurprisingly launched the ball in the air and Arsenal, equally unsurprisingly, failed to win the aerial challenge. Stoke immediately launched another high ball and once again a Stoke player easily won the ball, nodding it out wide. Steven Nzonzi sent a cross into the box, which Callum Chambers inexplicably failed to head clear, completely missing the ball, which eventually landed at the feet of Peter Crouch and as Martinez had lost balance and fallen to the ground, Crouch basically had an open goal to score the fastest goal of the 2014/15 Premier League season so far. Arsenal fans and players alike looked around in disbelief but it was a case of the same old story from the Gunners.

It was the same when Wenger would take his team to Bolton, under Sam Allardyce and each and every time, rather than prepare themselves for what was to lie ahead, the Gunners would get themselves wound up about the physical approach they were about to face and ultimately would end up dropping points. The manager simply never learns and it has now reached a stage where this is unacceptable.

Having conceded so early in the game, the home crowd were on their feet, giving their whole hearted support to their team and creating a cauldron atmosphere, all of which could have been avoided had Arsenal simply turned up with the right preparation and attitude. Yes the Gunners could and really should have equalised within 10 minutes of the opener as Giroud missed the target with a free header right in front of goal, but the Gunners need to accept that they were second best throughout this game.

In the 35^th minute the home side deservedly doubled their lead through former Barcelona man Bojan. It was a great goal from a Stoke point of view, but for Arsenal it was a case of horrendous defending once again. A simple cross from Jon Walters found Bojan in acres of space for the Spaniard to tap home, past Martinez. A look at the replays proved embarrassing for anyone of an Arsenal persuasion as Bojan had run off the back of three Arsenal defenders with Mertesacker in particular, completely unaware of the Spaniard’s whereabouts.

Just when it felt as though things couldn’t get any worse, they did. On the stroke of halftime Stoke made it 3-0 thanks to more ridiculous defending from Arsenal. This time a corner delivered towards Peter Crouch saw the Englishman win the header, despite four Arsenal players challenging for the ball and Mertesacker stood in front of them, but not bothering to jump in an attempt to clear the ball. The ball fell to Walters and he smashed it home from close range.

Arsenal had endured a shambolic first half, but early in the second period Sanchez could have reduced the deficit, having embarked on a fabulous run, going past two or three defenders and rounding the goalkeeper, but unfortunately hit the post having done all the hard work. Despite the near miss, Stoke were still in control and should have extended their lead further when Bojan beat Martinez at his near post with a fine finish only to have the effort incorrectly ruled out with one of his teammates deemed to have been stood in an offside position.

This incident strangely seemed to turn the game on its head and within minutes Arsenal found themselves right back in the match. First Flamini was tripped inside the area and Cazorla despatched the penalty, then two minutes later, Ramsey ended his recent goal drought with an excellent volley from a corner. However any hopes of an unlikely comeback were quickly dashed when Chambers was dismissed for a second bookable offensive. In any case, had the Gunners completed a comeback it would have been a travesty and completely undeserved, providing Wenger with an opportunity to hide behind his buzz words, character and team spirit, rather than face the bare facts.

Having sat down for the entire game, despite his side falling apart so pathetically in that horrendous first period, there is a sense that Wenger just does not know what to do to correct his side’s shortcomings. He is either stubborn or incapable of change and his lack of action has resulted in his team becoming all too predictable and easy to play against, with the same mistakes being repeated over and over again. There hasn’t been one single league game this season where Arsenal have played well and won, as the same old deficiencies undermine any sense of progress. As week after week Gunners fans experience a sense of déjà vu, the question at the forefront of their minds is, is Wenger still the right man to take this club forward? How long will it be before the club’s board start to ask themselves the same question?