Well that must surely be that for the league after our third 1-1 draw of the season against Liverpool. Before the game Arsene said we were still in the title race, the team he put out pretty much made a mockery of that.
I know he had an eye on Tuesday night’s game but this was a game we had to win and we didn’t pick our best team by a long shot. In Traore and Hoyte we had two full backs who looked quite obviously out of their depth and in Ebuseless a player who still fails to make any contribution to the team as an attacking midfielder. Defensively we leaked another soft goal and while Bendtner’s was the 100th goal we’ve scored in all competitions this season the amount we concede is continually making life difficult for us.
The first half, for the most part, was poor from an Arsenal perspective. The scene was set when Hoyte gave the ball away, it came to Crouch and his long range effort was smartly saved by Almunia. Hoyte went to sleep to allow Riise a great chance but thankfully it was on his ‘standing-only’ right foot and he blazed it over. Benayoun had a chance but he dragged his shot wide from inside the box. It was only late in the half when we began to play a bit of football. Cesc fired a shot wide of the near post with Reina going the other way and Bendtner had a great chance but he gave the Liverpool keeper a pass back rather than anything to deal with. Ebuseless got forward well a couple of times but once again there was no end product from, no shot, no killer pass. Nothing.
Then, of course, they scored. A long punt downfield was won in the air by Crouch, Benayoun flicked it on again and Crouch was there again to step inside and scuff it home to make it 1-0 to Liverpool. Anyone with concerns about our defence can’t help but notice the soft centre that Gallas and Kolo have become. There were boos at half-time.
In the second we began a bit better and after Kolo headed a great chance wide we equalised after Penannt brought down Theo on the left hand side. Cesc’s free kick was whipped in and Jose Reina, who came for two against United last week and missed them both, stayed on his line which made it easier for Bendtner to head home. We brought on Adebayor and put Eboue at right back where he looked much better than the out of sorts Hoyte. But we didn’t really create any clear chances until the very end. In the meantime we had to be thankful that Voronin is hardly Fernando Torres as he missed one glorious chance and then fell over when he could have created another. Again the defending left a lot to be desired.
We still could have won it though when the ball came to Alex Hleb inside the box but the man with such great technique had a terrible first touch, it must have been the sight of the goal in the front him that made him dizzy, and the opportunity was squandered. Arsene talked of a penalty on Cesc and I while think most Arsenal fans were desperate enough to claim anything, it would have been a generous decision had it been given. So 1-1, again, and that is absolutely that as far as the title in concerned. To have had any chance we needed to win all our remaining games. Yes, it’s not over mathematically but to use one of Arsene’s bastardisations, it certainly is footballistically.
Afterwards Arsene refused to concede the title and explained his team selection, saying:
When you don’t win the game, you’re looking for what could have been different. We had situations where Adebayor feels at the moment he has an ankle problem and he’s a bit tired. I felt, for example, that Hleb finished tired, Clichy finished the game against Liverpool Wednesday night very tired. It is difficult that you have to make decisions with the schedule we have. If you only play the same eleven it doesn’t work as well.
Which is all well and good but what is now plainly obvious is that this squad is not strong enough to maintain a league challenge. They have done brilliantly this season to get to the top, to be 5 points clear, but when the injuries and fatigue creep in during the closing stages you need to be able to bring in fresh legs. And not just fresh legs, fresh legs that are of good enough quality to keep things going. Some of the options we have on our bench are just not championship winning quality.
Yes, you can point to injuries and say that if Rosicky had been fit most of the season then we wouldn’t have to rely on someone like Ebuseless. Or if Robin van Persie was fit most of the season then his quality might have made the difference in some of the tight games. But then you also have to look at the injury records of these two players in particular and it’s not a huge jump to see that they’re going to miss a lot of games in a season, so instead of hoping they’ll be fit bring in someone who isn’t made of bone china and can play the games we need. The fact that we don’t have the required quality to rest players means the others get tired from playing more often than they should so the knock-on effects are considerable too.
I think as a first XI, with everyone fit, we stand up to pretty much to any team in the league. Unfortunately I can’t remember the last time our first XI were all fit and available. Where United and Chelsea have the edge is the strength in depth on their bench. Now, I’m not talking about Arsene going out and spending Chelsea style amounts of money but he’s got to see that this squad needs some fresh faces, some real competition for places, and that some of the players just aren’t up to it. He’s got money to spend this summer, he really does need to spend it this time.
The bottom line is that 8 points out of the last 21 in the league is not good enough to win the title. We don’t have the playing resources to keep up with United and Chelsea and that is down to the manager. Whatever about the quality of who we have or how they’re playing at the moment I feel he made a mistake in not strengthening in January, or even last summer, and he has to put that right for next season. With ticket prices on the increase and money in the ‘war chest’ the natives could become quite restless if he doesn’t.
So now all our eggs go into Tuesday’s Champions League basket. It’s our last real hope of silverware this season and we’ve got a slight mountain to climb. It’s a hill more than a mountain but even if we were coasting downhill we’d manage to make it difficult for ourselves at the moment. Still, given how topsy-turvy this season is a win would be no surprise at all. I said after the first leg I fancied us to go there and get the result we need and I still believe that. It’ll be the strongest XI possible, which hopefully will include Senderos to add a bit of grit to the centre of our defence, and the boys know that it’s all or nothing in the CL now.
Ahead of that game Cesc reckons Liverpool will ‘refuse to play’ football. Which is understandable. They’re strong defensively, they don’t need a goal, they only need to stop us scoring so they’re going to play a pretty defensive game. We couldn’t do that, simply because we can’t really defend at the moment. We always look like we’re going to concede a goal and we mostly do. However, I do think it will suit us to have to go attack Liverpool on Tuesday. More on that game to come.
To begin the Sunday round-up Theo Walcott reveals he asked Arsene Wenger what he had to start more games and reveals he’s probably going to be playing more as a striker next season.
The People links us with Ricardo Quaresma, they dub him ‘the poor man’s Cristiano Ronaldo’. He’s been linked before and with Porto facing relegation over match fixing charges we could get him for £5m apparently. He’s been a name on many people’s lists for a while and he does fit the bill in that he’s a tricky wide player.
The boss has also got his eye on Chris Kirkland. Just what we need, another injury prone player.
Right, that’s it. Apologies for the lateness of the blog but I’ve been catching up on some Zs. More tomorrow.
