By Boris Mellor
November 21 2010

After two very good away results I wrote the following:However let’s not  get carried away unless Arsenal can produce this form at home as well as away, it will have all been a waste of time, this team has to prove it can be consistent.Against Newcastle I felt I had seen the worst ninety minutes played by an Arsenal eleven in a very long time, against Spurs Arsenal fans sat through the worst 45 minutes in 17 years. A team that had been 2-0 up conceded three goals and showed no meaningful fight back in return.

Arsenal fans left the stadium stunned as Spurs fans celebrated, and filled in order forms for the match DVD. A DVD all Arsenal players should be made to watch again and again.

Fan’s Immediate Reaction

A friend also at the match messaged me immediately after the game, and although knee jerk reactions are not always a fair reflection of what has happened the text still sums up my feelings and analysis 24 hours later. I quote:

“Where do you start, players that couldn’t care less after 30 minutes they stopped playing.  At one point in the first half they had a break on goal with all the Spurs defence in the Arsenal half and instead of getting the third they show boated and let the chance go.

Why do they think at 2-0 they no longer need to play? This is happening time and time again and you know it won’t change.

This is a disgrace to all the players in the past that put 100% into every game. I am stunned, but more so because I thought this game would mean something but obviously it doesn’t mean a damn thing.” 

Show boat sinks

However I think that the message does more than sum up feelings, it’s a correct analysis of how this team reacts to being 2-0 up. It identifies that the killer instinct didn’t stop at 45 minutes, it stopped at 30 minutes. This team thinks it can ease off once its two nil up.

Yet the minute it concedes a goal and it goes to 2-1 it is like a rabbit in the headlights, those at the back cry forward and those at the front cry back. They don’t know what to do.

Mental strength don’t make me laugh

This team doesn’t know what mental strength is, even if you could store it in one gallon tins and hit them in the face with the can they still wouldn’t recognise it. This team is not afraid when there is nothing to be afraid off.

Can’t win matches that matter.

This team can’t win a game that counts, games with nothing riding on them they are your men. I have mentioned this before and I stand by it, give them a game that will put them top they choke, give them a semi final, or a final,  they will choke. Ask yourself this -how many times over last 5 years has this squad had a chance to go top and they blew it? Put it the other way around how many times did they go top? This squad is congenitally feeble.

Win the league you're having a larf

A team that is on course to concede 38 goals, a team that has lost three games at home to teams not even in the top four, and struggled to beat West Ham at home will not win the league.

Yes Chelsea are having a bad patch, but that is something a team that intends to win the league must take advantage of, not use as a consolation. The minute you start watching other teams’ results you are not in control of your destiny. Whilst our players treat us to their bird brain treaties on how we can win the league, unbeaten Manchester United get on with it, walking the walk, whilst our squad talks and talks.

Defending as a team

This team has conceded 9 goals at home. Manchester United have conceded five and Chelsea three. Wenger has still failed to sort out defending, but I don’t think it is just about individuals, although Clichy’s errors are becoming a cliché. The team does not defend as a team, it loses shape, and doesn’t always track back, of whom Deckchair Denilson I think of the first.

Fabregas has taken up volley ball, he has got away with it on other occasions, this time his luck ran out.

Substitutions

When the subs came on we looked even worse, RvP tried but made no impact, true his one assist was wasted, but that’s life in football. Walcott also made no impact, preferring to shoot at Gomes or across the goal, when a gentle chip or cross would have done. Wenger took off players, who were playing reasonably well, for players who lack match fitness. Sure you need to gamble, but Arshavin was twice as effective as any player who came on as sub. Taking off Denilson first would have made more sense.

Conclusion not out of blue

One of Arsenal Times regular posters, saw this coming, foolishly I had thought they would be up for this one, I ignored my own analysis and went with the heart. After all Spurs are rubbish away, even losing at the Hammers.

This was the worst result against Spurs at home in 17 years, and this wasn’t a great Spurs team. It also means we have lost back to back against them in the league.The first 30 minutes had illustrated how poor Spurs are, but it was a lack of determination, and then a lack of penetration at 2-2 that sealed Arsenal’s fate. Nor did this result come out of the blue; it was a continuation of what has been two months of very poor home form. A team that cannot win at home, and even worse has lost three games at home before the end of November will not win the title.

Of course nothing is certain in life, apart from death, taxes, and the return of a Labour MP in Jarrow, and Wenger could turn things around. But to do that he will need to coach his players to defend as a team, to become more ruthless, and to care about the club. What are the chances of that happening? I leave you to decide.