What does Arsenal’s late Champions League collapse tell us about the Gunners?
In a way, this title is misleading: we haven’t learned these things so much as have them hammered home time after time by Arsenal’s deficiencies. The same problems came to the fore for the Gunners last night, the question is – when will Arsene Wenger do something about them?
SEE MORE:
NK Maribor v Chelsea: Live Football Streaming And Champions League Preview
8 Biggest Winners & Losers Of Old Trafford Chaos
Jose Mourinho Apologises For Fan Criticism
5) They need more defenders.
Selling Thomas Vermaelen seemed like a good idea at the time, with Barcelona offering good money for a squad player, but in hindsight has been a disaster. The Belgian may be error-prone, but he wouldn’t have made.
4) They need some “game intelligence”.
Arsenal’s players showed great immaturity, especially late on, attacking when they should have defended. Almost all of Anderlecht’s players were under 24, yet they still showed greater maturity on the pitch than Arsenal did.
3) Aaron Ramsey needs some coaching.
Ramsey was the worst culprit of this lack of discipline. In the pre-game discussion, Sky pundits discussed Ramsey tendency to bomb forward too often, and he went on to show exactly what they meant in the game. His low-point was shooting high over the bar from a late free kick, with Arsenal 3-2 up, when he should have kept possession.
2) Mikel Arteta is not a defensive midfielder.
Wenger’s love of technical players has meant that Mikel Arteta has been crow-barred into a deep-lying midfield role which doesn’t suit him. It’s all well and good when Arsenal dominate games and the Spaniard can operate on the half-way line, but when Arsenal are under pressure, he just doesn’t present enough of a barrier.
1) Mathieu Flamini is not good enough.
Arteta was replaced by Mathieu Flamini, who is Arsenal’s only true defensive midfielder. The Frenchman is simply not good enough however, and bringing him back to the Emirates has proved to be a disaster, as it convinced Wenger that he no longer needed to spend big on a defensive midfielder.