The Situation
The club has seen a great season slowly descend into yet another season where trophy opportunities are becoming slimmer and slimmer. With a heavy pounding at Liverpool over the weekend, and an extremely tough fixture list coming up, it is entering the fabled ‘squeaky bum time’ for Arsenal. This is a chance for the big-game players to step up and be counted.
To have any chance of winning the league, the Gunners must be looking to pick up wins against Manchester United, Everton and Tottenham, and some form of points in fast-approaching fixtures against their biggest title rivals, Chelsea and Manchester City. So far, against these sides in the league, Arsenal have a measly five points to show from a possible whopping fifteen. Even grabbing ten points in the upcoming fixtures may be good enough, but it will only happen with the correct players (more of which a bit below).
To get through the FA Cup, they must defeat the inflictors of the 5-1 defeat, Liverpool. This game seems perfectly set up, with both sides having beaten each other already this season. Similarly, with the Champions League, Arsenal have the unenviable task of a last-16 tie against holders, Bayern Munich. Many have already ruled out the English club from this competition, although, as the cliché goes, it isn’t over until the fat lady sings!
One seemingly massive problem for Arsenal is the ‘big-game-bottlers’ as they are becoming known to some. No other club seems to suffer as much from this, yet it could be solved with a little tinkering before some of these ties.
The Decision
So far, the decisions have been controversial. Many fans are calling for Mesut Ozil to be dropped for the United game, due to painfully bad performances against them the first time around, and similar form in other big matches. Others however feel he should be given time to adapt and he can’t be expected to play all the time.
In contrast, Santi Cazorla is looking to be the most potent threat in the team when he takes the central attacking midfield role, which he has been usurped from by Ozil. His usefulness out wide is nowhere near the spectacles he provides down the centre.
To add to this, decisions to start Nacho Monreal instead of Kieron Gibbs, despite the Englishman being far and away a better player, looked embarrassing against Liverpool. The big game mentality has been drilled into Gibbs, and he has is better equipped to deal with the runs of wingers. Monreal was at all sorts for a couple of the goals on Saturday.
The other big call was to neglect the selection of Tomas Rosicky, despite his glowing history in big games, especially against Spurs. He has been a vital cog against Liverpool and City as well before. With the midfield ‘crisis’ (as it is being deemed in the media), anyone with a bit of common sense would have placed Rosicky on the team sheet for the game at Anfield.
The Verdict
Obviously, a revised verdict could have to be made after the run of big games across February and March, but so far it is a big thumbs down. Admittedly, Chelsea parked the metaphorical bus and Arsenal will feel they deserved more from that game, but dropping so many points to all their other rivals is something that cannot be ignored.
Arsene Wenger needs to look at his team and decide who isn’t pulling their weight. No one of any intelligence will slate him for removing the £42 million man if he feels it would benefit the team. Moreover, if he wins, it is a masterstroke. Any losses will hurt, but no more than the same loss with players who have proven they have not got the mentality as of yet.
If the club as a whole starts making some changes, and return some better performances, the decision can actually be deemed a good one. Until then, the lack of bold decision making has really hurt the club in the league. Will it ultimately cost them a trophy?
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