After a disappointing last home game of the season that was greeted with boos and jeers, Arsenal looked to bounce back after their defeat to Villa with 3 points against Fulham that would have given them the slimmest of chances of qualifying for the automatic Champions League spot
1st half
Sidwell opened the scoring for Fulham in what is now becoming a trademark for Arsenal: shambolic defending. Gibbs showed signs of promise at the beginning of the season with some fans calling for him to be given his chance in the starting XI with the poor form of Clichy but his performance, especially in the 1st half, other than a header on target, was poor. Perhaps an indication that the only person he has to learn from is Clichy who himself often makes very poor positional decisions, incidentally Clichy is the only player in the Gunners’ squad that has a Premier League medal (not counting Mad Jens). Fortunately the magnificent van Persie came to save the day yet again with his record equalling 18th goal since January, a feat shared with Arsenal legend Thierry Henry and the most expensive player in the world Cristiano Ronaldo. RvP really has been a revelation since his return to form and in the absence of Cesc fully deserves to wear the captain’s armband.
2nd half
In the last 4-5 games, I’ve seen Wenger looking drained when his side concede a goal. Looks to say ‘I’ve given you all the knowledge I have’ seem to be a recurring theme when conceding easy goals. One would imagine a half-time team talk explaining the importance of the basics whilst motivating the team to do better would’ve had the players rallied for their last 45 minutes of the 10/11 season but this simply wasn’t the case as Arsenal went down to a Zamora goal, who has to be said, seemed to deserve his England call-up. Walcott was our saving grace as he came off the bench to score a well-place goal with just a few minutes left but Arsenal fans, once more, were left wanting more.
Putting red tape around the bargain bucket
Wenger has admitted that he will be active in the transfer market however; any fan would tell you that they want proven players rather than Silvestre/Squilacci signings. Wenger has bemoaned fans’ calls to spend £50 million on a player but it seems that Arsene, in his old age has misheard. I haven’t heard a single fan wanting a £50 million player, they just want quality. That being said, I think we need more than better players, we need a better strategy going into next season otherwise we’ll just be making the same old mistakes with a different squad. Work for next season should commence immediately starting with tying down Nasri to a new contract.
The consequences
With Man City picking up 3 points, this cemented Arsenal’s place in 4th. This means we will have to go through the qualifying rounds of the Champions League meaning more games which will surely be (one of) the excuse(s) for next season when we let the title slip with 5 games to go. I’d love to be proven wrong but with Man City’s spending power, Liverpool’s boost from King Kenny and the usual threat of Man Utd and Chelsea, Wenger must seriously reassess his playing squad and tactics. Whilst he has put the club in a great position in terms of economics, especially with UEFA’s financial fair play rules coming into play in the near future. Arsenal are in serious danger of slipping behind without focusing on the present rather than the future. Most things are set in place – Now it’s time to act accordingly.
