Kevin Whitcher
Wikipedia - Jossy's Giants was a children's footballing comedy drama that ran on BBC1 between 1986 and 1987.
That’s just an explanation of the title for those too young to recall BBC children’s television, but footballing comedy drama is certainly in vogue at Arsenal once again. Once you stop really caring too much about the team’s fortunes (a situation I reached some time ago, acknowledging the club cannot contend again until the current manager departs), their games offer entertainment and pleasure regardless of the result. I still have a positive experience when I attend the Emirates and witness defeats against the likes of Liverpool, Bayern and Watford as we saw last season. Because I enjoy interacting with my neighbours, having a good chinwag about the game, and being amused by the team’s ability to shoot themselves in the foot by making the same errors over and over again. Slapstick at its finest. It doesn’t hurt anymore. Yesterday at the Britannia (or Bet365 if you prefer, but I’ve got used to the former so I am sticking with it), Arsenal rolled out the old lose possession in the middle of the park and get caught cold on the counter attack routine. It rarely fails to entertain. If you let stuff like this p*** you off either accept that you should not let something you cannot control affect you for the worse or start chanting against the manager at home matches. A third choice has been taken already by many – stop going to Arsenal games.
The interesting aspect about Mark Hughes’ Stoke side is that they were not even particularly physical. Defensively minded, sure – they let Arsenal have possession – but they had a decent enough gameplan. Attack on the break and utilise set pieces. Arsene’s team merely set out to express themselves and dominate the ball. And this they did, without the desired outcome of three points. Certainly, they were unfortunate not to get a penalty for the challenge on Bellerin and for the offside against Lacazette. But the underlying problems so obvious in the first fixture of the season against Leicester remain. When attacked, three at the back or not, it’s hot knife through butter time. Far too open and desperately crying out for a Gilberto / Kante / Matic type of defensive midfielder. The only one on the books is Coquelin and he isn't up to the standard required.
I recall when three at the back was being seen as the way forward after the run-in at the conclusion of last season. For the two FA Cup games at Wembley, the players performed with an intensity rarely seen – I think because there was a trophy in sight. In the remaining fixtures, they only once played a team that really tested the system… the final north London derby at White Hart Lane. We all know what happened there. The other matches were against relegation fodder or teams on the beach. So forget the formation, it's the motivation, organisation and ability of the personnel that is at question here. Arsenal will get enough results to qualify for Europe, be it Champions League or Europa League, but they are a long way from being title contenders, even with no CL distraction this season. Because of their ability to leak cheap goals.
Watching BT Sport, before the game, Martin Keown described Arsenal’s defending from set pieces as “laughable”. At half-time, with the score still level, Steven Gerrard stated that Wenger’s teams were “too easy to play against”. Soon after the re-start, the visitors were caught cold and new loan signing Jese put Stoke ahead. Losing possession sloppily in the opposition half, none of the Arsenal side made a meaningful challenge to win the ball back. They were torn apart by a side that looked completely impotent in their opening match of the season at Goodison Park. Even Saido Berahino almost scored.
Time for some input from the council of elders that sometimes offer me their thoughts. First up, a text from Ian Henry:
Right back at left back, two left backs at centre back and a midfield pairing as weak as I am with pneumonia. A surefire recipe for failure.
And by email from Mike Preston:
Arsene's playing post-senile total football. You play anyone you've got anywhere you fancy and then say you're not convinced by your central defence. Bizarre.
In the cup final, Arsenal played a back three of Holding – Mertesacker – Monreal. I can certainly understand the return of Mustafi to the starting line-up, but why then not play Mertesacker in the centre and Monreal to his left? Kolasinac could play left wing-back and then one of the Ox or Bellerin at right wing-back. Instead you have two left-backs in a three man central defence and a right back playing on their left. Balance? There were two fit centre-backs available for selection but left out of the side. And another one sold back to La Liga during the week. Is this some kind of total football experiment to completely do away with centre backs? Post match, the manager said, “I was not convinced by our central defence today”. Seeing the team line-up at kick off, we'll file that one under: No sh*t Sherlock. Football visionary or Fantasy League starting eleven come to life – take your pick.
Wenger referred to something called the ‘hunger index’ during his pre-match press conference when discussing the supposedly injured Alexis Sanchez (who I assure you will be fit enough for international duty with Chile at the end of the month). I wonder what he made of the hunger of his team against Stoke? Mesut Ozil was highlighted by the TV pundits, but the player has always been a passenger when the team has lost possession. In the Gooner Survey we asked: Mesut Özil's languid style and body language suggest a lack of commitment. Do you believe this to be the reality? The vote was 75% no. I wonder if that might be different if we took the poll today?
Asked for a three word match review of your team by Jake Humphrey I tweeted ‘uncommitted fancy dans’. The defenders weren’t much better in terms of desire in the challenge, with the exception of Mustafi. The bottom line is that Arsene wants to field as many attacking / creative players as he can. There is no room for destroyers to break up the opposition play because in the perfect game they never get the ball off Arsenal. The Gunners enjoyed 77% of possession yesterday. Possession may be nine tenths of the law, but in football, goals matter more. Arsenal have conceded four in their opening two matches and the next three include visits to Anfield and Stamford Bridge. And Stoke had more than one excellent opportunity to score more, Ryan Shawcross’ header probably the pick of them.
Laurent Koscielny will be back for next weekend and one imagines after yesterday, Mertesacker or Holding will also play at Liverpool. One swallow does not make a summer, but the two performances so far have been ominous. The manager looked like a haunted man in the post-match TV interview. It looks like he isn’t sleeping too much these days. I think he knows he is continuing to erode whatever good feeling there still is amongst the Arsenal supporters with each further performance of this nature. He is arrogant, stubborn and obstinate, and will hang around as long as he likes to prove his doubters wrong, something that isn’t going to happen as the game has left him behind long ago. But he runs the club now - after the summer just gone, that is not in doubt any more. Sadly, my suspicion is that things will start to get ugly again before too long. We are in for another season of ups, downs and cries for the manager’s head, when the only man who will decide when to call time on Arsènal is the tactical dinosaur in the zipcoat.
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