Here we go again. Just when you thought Arsenal were regaining their footing in the league, they put in a performance so shockingly devoid of effort, even the most level headed of fans steam up in anger. It wasn’t so much what Watford did as what Arsenal did to themselves, and they were not good enough on the day to overcome an above average Watford side and the referee. Arsenal will look to right the ship once again during their midweek Europa League clash with Red Star Belgrade.
Clean Sheet Streak Snapped
For a while on Saturday, it looked as though Petr Cech would earn his fifth clean sheet in a row in front of the Vicarage Road crowd. However, one half chance at a tight angle, a dive and and laughable whistle later, it was gone. Following their embarrassment at the hands of Liverpool in September, the Gunners totally reorganised their defence and balanced their positioning all over the pitch. The effects were immediate following the return from the international break, with Arsenal not conceding in the league again until Saturday.
For most of the first half, the defence was hardly threatened. With the exception of Richarlison finding some room in the Arsenal end and a few tense foot races involving the lead-legged Per Mertesacker, Arsenal looked relatively unchallenged in their own end. After the penalty was called on Bellerin and the spot kick put away by Troy Deeney, the Gunner defence totally lost its shape. What had first seemed a routine afternoon quickly fell apart, and Watford found themselves on the ball with time and space in the Arsenal end so often, they were threatening to steal the game. The disaster was completed as a bouncing ball to the top of the box was blistered into the top of the net by Tom Cleverly in stoppage time, giving the hosts a rather gratuitous win.
Injury Woes Deepen
Even before Saturday’s match, Arsene Wenger was having difficulty piecing together his defence, so he will undoubtedly be frustrated with what he saw as yet more Gunners found themselves limping off the pitch against Watford. Laurent Koscielny, who was already hurting from a chronic Achilles problem during the week was forced off in the latter stages of the match, to be replaced by Rob Holding. This proved to be extremely costly for the Gunners as Holding was involved in the defensive breakdown on the final goal, and Jack Wilshere was forced to sit down rather than come on for a gassed Alex Iwobi. Also suffering apparent knocks were Olivier Giroud, who limped for much of the last 10 minutes and Danny Welbeck, who seemed to reaggravate a groin/upper leg injury that he had only just returned from.
With Shkodran Mustafi out with an upper leg problem for at least a month, Calum Chambers dealing with a balky hip that won’t go away, The age of Mertesacker and the ever present issues with Koscielny, Arsene Wenger is quickly running out of options in defence. Though most of the injuries aren’t expected to be serious, most fans are skeptical of any prognoses until the players are actually back on the pitch. Given the team’s recent improved form at the back, Wenger will be hoping to get his players back fit as soon as possible for their matches against Manchester City and Tottenham, which bookend the next international break.
Bellerin Gets A Bad Break
One of the most unfortunate things about Hector Bellerin’s alleged foul in the box that led to the first Watford goal was that he was having himself an excellent game up to that point. He had been all over the pitch with a huge work rate, completing several tackles and interceptions while largely containing the Watford left flank. In attack, the right side of Bellerin and Alex Iwobi were finding acres of space in the first half, with the more promising of the Gunner attacks coming from the pair. The young Spaniard has been roundly criticized for his lack of a final ball, but he laid some beauties into the box that might have been buried on a kinder day.
Even on the penalty, Bellerin was in good position between the attacker and the goal, but Richarlison hit the turf, perhaps recognising his chance to score had otherwise been thwarted. Even supposing that Watford’s new Brazilian talisman didn’t dive (he did, and had been embellishing contact all match long), the actual contact itself was minimal at best, and it could even be argued that it was Bellerin’s foot that poked the ball out of play. Given the emotional nature of Arsenal fans, the post match reaction was one of typical narrow blame on a set of usual suspects, the former Barcelona man included, which is a real shame. His performance was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise miserable match.
An Un-Arsenal Attack
There is little doubt that a slightly larger dose of pragmatism might have served Arsene Wenger well over the last decade. His desire to play beautiful football at all costs has become something of a joke, and certainly has become an oft cited reason for Arsenal’s decade of dwindling trophies. However, lurking in the shadows this season is something of a new problem for Wenger’s men: a lack of attacking cohesion and fluidity.
Fans paying attention to Alexandre Lacazette this season have noticed the incredible amount of runs he makes from his centre forward role, even with the ball deep in the Arsenal end. Some are even dismayed by the amount of effort that is being wasted by the talented new striker because his teammates have not yet learned to look for them. Is that really the problem though? With his short area quickness and deft touch, Lacazette could be a real asset dropping deeper into the midfield in build up to see more of the ball, as well as to create more options for the midfield pairing. Not only will he get more touches, but after dropping deep, he has the option to lay the ball off and then turn and make one of his signature runs up the pitch to be played in on goal. Instead, Lacazette appears to be directed to spend most of his time on the shoulder of the last defender, looking for that pass.
With the midfield’s numerical advantage sacrificed for defensive stability in the new formation, Arsenal are lacking the dynamism in the middle that helps turn passive ball possession in their own end into promising attacks in danger areas. This is especially true against lower table sides with big physical defenders sitting in a deep block, where they will happily give Arsenal’s creative players space to play around with the ball around the perimeter but lock up any clear chances in the middle. It is in these matches that the extra man in the midfield, particularly if they happen to have the escapability of Jack Wilshere or Santi Cazorla, is sorely missed. In the second half at Vicarage Road, Watford (using, ironically, the same 4-2-3-1 Wenger favoured until last season) began to dominate the ball, with an extra man seemingly always available for the pass. It is hard to say whether Jack Wilshere really would have changed the outcome of that match, but it is hard to ignore the fact a player so perfectly suited to the situation was forced to sit back down again as his vice captain hobbled off.
The Bloody Ref? Again?!
How does the old saying go? Once is a fluke, twice a coincidence, three times a trend? Even allowing for short memory and only looking at this season, we are pretty much already beyond that now. Against Stoke City, Andre Marriner looked on in silence while Hector Bellerin was taken down twice in the box and a clear hand ball went unpunished. Against West Brom, Robert Madley let the Baggies beat up the Arsenal players, clattering Gunners from behind as they were receiving the ball all night long.
On Saturday, Neil Swarbrick did everything in his power to give Watford the win. Not long after an Arsenal player was roughly disposessed in a borerline challenge inside the penalty area, Richarlison broke toward the touch line on the edge of the 6 yard box when he was walled off effectively by Bellerin, who poked the ball out of bounds with his toe. Since the Brazilian had been hitting the deck on contact for most of the match, it was little surprise to see Swarbrick give them an easy way back into the match. Even Marco Silva couldn’t have hoped for more help to win the match, but then the ball was so clearly played by an offside player before the Tom Cleverly goal that even a Watford fan could have seen it. After watching a whole season last year of referees using two sets of rules for each team, it would be impossible to believe a change is coming. It has clearly entered into the minds of the Arsenal players, as in both the Stoke and Watford games, conceding a goal lead to the total collapse of the team and their effort.
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