Arsenal’s recent slump continues, and Middlesbrough were the latest team to take advantage of a generous Gunners side. It seems that Arsenal find it incredibly hard when facing teams fighting for their lives. As surprising as it may sound – the lack of quality of teams such as Wigan, Birmingham, and Middlesbrough, make life much tougher than it should be for Arsenal.
When Arsenal play teams of equal standing, such as Manchester United or AC Milan, the players find more space to show their silky skills, as their opponents are also trying to win the game. We could see this in the 2nd leg of the Champions League match with AC Milan, where the Arsenal forwards found a lot of space in behind AC Milan’s midfielders, as the Milanese were thinking not only of how not to concede, but also of how to score a much needed goal.
This changes when Arsenal face sides such as Wigan, who are delighted with a home draw against a vastly superior side. Due to this, neither Steve Bruce nor Gareth Southgate felt it was necessary to try and push forward. I am not sure if Southgate planned to score the goal, but it seems that Aliadiere enjoys playing against his old club…
Arsenal, despite their skilful players, find it hard to cope when all the opposition players are sitting behind the ball. It forces the Gunners to leave their delightful passing style as it clearly doesn’t work, and focus on swinging in balls in to the penalty area, in the hope that one of Adebayor, Van Persie, or Bendtner can find the space to head the ball home. In recent weeks – it really hasn’t worked for them.
Unless Arsene Wenger finds a solution to the “All Out Defence” playing style of his opponents, Arsenal can kiss that Premiership title goodbye, as Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo, along with their greater depth of squad, will prove too strong to overcome.
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