As Barcelona player Cesc Fabregas stepped onto the Camp Nou against Real Madrid last Wednesday, he entered into what is now one of the most intense rivalries football has ever seen. An intensity which no longer exists between that of his former club Arsenal and Manchester United.
Arsenal’s 2-1 loss to United was met by fans with resignation and anger, where before there would be disappointment and the knowledge that in future they would be ready with an almost 50-50 chance of winning the next encounter.
However, with Arsenal five points away from that all important Champions League place and a team teething with weak links it seems that it will be a long time before such a reaction is seen from the fans again.
The fact is that Arsenal fans now approach matches against United with the expectation of a loss and vice versa. The title race no longer at the forefront of their minds but in their dreams; and it is for this reason that the rivalry between the two teams now only strikes a few embers where before there were infernos. There can be no doubt that Fabregas’ decision to take up the Catalan colours has been vindicated.
15 minutes into the first half at the Emirates and it was already clear where the first glaring problem lay in the Arsenal ranks. A team well known for their possession football were being completely out-passed by United who were all but camped around their box. Arsenal, as they did against Fulham and Swansea, now struggle to comprehensively keep possession let alone dictate a game.
The loss of three players and a lack of replacements lie at the heart of this problem. Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Jack Wilshere are all players who rarely ever lost the ball and could thread passes through the eye of a needle. Their replacements in Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta and Gervinho simply do not possess the world class ability of their predecessors who imposed themselves on matches so effortlessly.
As a result it is now commonplace to see Arsenal play in a more counter-attacking style of football to compensate. Yet this only highlights another flaw in their team.
Apart from Van Persie, who has shown himself to be one of the best in the world, Arsenal are blunt up front with no real goal threat. Walcott has potential but is still sporadic in front of goal, Gervinho has shown none of the ruthlessness his 15 goal haul last season with Lille gave reason to expect and with Chamakh woeful and Park deemed unready for the struggle of the Premier League, it is difficult to see from where the goals will come should Van Persie be sidelined with an injury.
Sadly for Arsene his dream is or has come apart at the seams.It could have been successful if he had brought in quality players to assist the rising stars so that they had time to develop and learn from experienced players but he would not spend the money and we are now seeing the result as we have been for several seasons. He has been unlucky with injuries but even allowing for that we do not have any quality in depth and we are now looking at RVP leaving in the summer as he has no reason to stay. He needs to change and quickly to ensure that we do not end up as a regular 6th or 7th place team. We have been used to success, pay the highest ticket prices in the world but are being asked to watch a struggling side. We have 2 billionaires on the board and although I would hate to go down the Chelski/Man city route we need to spend big money and bring in 3 or 4 top players to cement what is mainly a very talented squad. He also needs to take his blinkers off with regard to certain players, Arshavin and Chamackh are the 2 obvious contenders but there are more as we all know. Lets get back to a side that other teams are afraid of.
Good article but it’s of no use cause we are no longer a top 4 side maybe it’s a good thing if we play the europa we might re-gain our zeal in getting a trophy with the europa next season.
And hopefully, Wenger would get the sack??