Arsenal face yet another London derby tonight, this time against an even more bitter rival. But in the Capital One Cup, it’s much less of a crunch game.
Traditionally, Arsene Wenger has fielded a team of young, academy graduates to play the ‘second cup competition’, but this time Wenger says that he’ll be sending out an experienced line-up as most of his ‘fringe’ players are no longer at the club – either out on loan or simply moved on.
It’s a chance to bounce back from the frustrating, infuriating defeat away to West Londoners Chelsea on Saturday. Diego Costa has been banned and Gabriel has had his red card rescinded, justice has been done. Sort of. And lightyears too late for it to have made any difference to Arsenal and their fans.
Before the start of the season, I really thought Arsenal had everything they would need for a title push. To be fair, I also thought they’d sign a striker or a defensive midfielder given the newspaper reports about Wenger’s alleged £200m war chest. Even though it didn’t materialise, I still thought they’d be in touch with the challengers come May. They still might be, but it’s not looking great.
And that’s because, at the start of the season, I thought that Wenger had changed something vital. I even thought it had started further back than the summer. Last January, Arsenal went to the Etihad to play Manchester City. The previous season’s visit to Eastlands had been emasculating for the Arsenal defence. They were beaten 6-3 and sent home to London with their tails between their legs. Wenger learned a lesson.
In January, they went to the Etihad again and played the game they should have played the time before. They won 2-0 playing on the counter with the revelation that was Francis Coquelin performing like a pitbull in front of the defence. A clean sheet and a comfortable win was just what they needed to exorcise the ghosts of their last visit, but it did more than that: it made Arsenal look pragmatic and modern, a team capable of beating anyone through proper tactics and a devastating ability to take their chances. Far from the old Arsenal who would pass around the opposition’s box, playing one pass too many 90% of the time, only to give the ball away or miss a chance and allow the opposition to counter them.
Arsenal’s naivety has always been a problem, but Wenger’s new pragmatic streak seemed to have countered this. If you set your team up to play with a solid defensive unit comprising of a back four and a holding midfielder, then you have a wonderful base from which to attack – and Arsenal have some wonderful attackers. They have options, too – pace in Theo Walcott, explosiveness in Alexis Sanchez, vision and class in Mesut Ozil and finishing prowess in Olivier Giroud (sometimes). And they have lots more who fit the same categories.
Against Dinamo Zagreb, it was the naivety to field a weakened side, to play Arteta instead of Coquelin, to get a stupid second yellow card after arguing with the referee to get a first, to get hit so easily on the counter attack. It was all of these things that cost Arsenal, and they’re all symptomatic of a naive approach to the game.
Yet again on Saturday, it was naivety that cost Arsenal. We all know what Costa is like, he’s the villain that Wenger needs in his midfield. Costa is like a banned fighting dog, one that Mourinho keeps on a metal chain, muzzles him during training and wheels into the dressing room in a straight-jacket on matchdays. He’s quite simply the biggest nutter around. And Arsenal got too close, they indulged him and they paid the price.
Arsenal are naive in so many regards, they’re naive to the dark arts that Costa performs so well. They’re naive when they think they can score the perfect goal. They’re naive when they think that they can deal with counter attacks when they have 70% of possession and piles of chances, because invariably they get picked off by a sucker punch. They’re naive when they think that they can rest their entire first team and play only youngsters – the clubs that win trophies know that winning is a habit and that success breeds more success. And then, after all of this, Arsenal seem to wonder why they can’t compete for the title year after year.
I thought Wenger had learned, and I still believe he has to some extent. But he and his players have a long way to go before they can truly compete at the top of the table. Tonight, even though it’s much less important than the Chelsea game last weekend, is a chance to put things right at the club, to field a good team and win the game.
A win tonight will put the good feeling back in place at the Emirates and it will reassert their dominance in their own area. It will allow the players to feel that winning sensation once again and it will wipe away some of the frustration of last weekend. But more important than all of this, it will show that Arsenal are at least learning from their mistakes. It’s forgivable to be naive once, but if you do it again then you just haven’t learnt. Wins breed more wins, success loves more success. A win tonight will show that Arsenal are back in business.
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