Gooners – Are You Not Concerned?

In Ridley Scott’s epic movie “Gladiator,” Russell Crowe’s character Maximus turns to the crowd after vanquishing a foe in the arena and screams “Are you not entertained?” In reverse fashion Gooners across the interwebs and beyond seem to be screaming “are you not concerned” as a result of the club’s iffy start to the new season.

It befuddles some that some people, me included have yet to press to the big red panic button. In a recent twitter exchange a follower spent about 20-30 tweets trying to figure out why I wasn’t baying at the moon at the current status of Arsenal. He was beside himself that I was frothing at the mouth like him and others. In his summation, I wasn’t showing passion.

I’m not going to go into any discussion on my passion versus anothers, we all show it in different ways. Simply put, I am frustrated that Arsenal continue to stutter from 1^st gear to 3^rd – never hitting the purring acceleration of a motor running along, but I at 7 games in, I am not in a position to bay at the moon – yet.

Last season, Arsenal went on a run from Game 2 in August to early February. In that run Arsenal managed to climb to the top of the table and give us hope that we could challenge for a title, then bloody February came along and we lost 4 of our most influential players. The result was a slow and painful tumble to fourth.

The fact is we never can tell how the season is going to hold up. What is important in my opinion is a level of consistency that keeps the team in the top four and within touching distance by March if that hasn’t or isn’t happening then I am going to have real concerns. Even then though, as the 2012-2013 seasons showed us, a strong run then can also have positive effects.

This isn’t to diminish supporters concerns. We should be concerned. A team with as much quality as this Arsenal side should be doing better than stuttering.  It’s not as if they’ve been outplayed by anyone either, which would make results a little more palatable to take.

While the result against Chelsea was more of the same, the first half had things been a little more incisive in the final third might have made the result a little different. No, I am not going to blame the ref – he was hardly the biggest issue of the day.

The real concern though is in matches like Leicester and Tottenham, two teams we’re clearly better than, that we wound up drawing because we could never get a sense of urgency or directness going. Those are clearly dropped points. Even against Chelsea had we challenged a little more when down around Chelsea’s 18 yard box maybe we could’ve gotten something and forced the game a little more. Chelsea is one you can accept the loss but left with the lingering feeling, they were there for the taking.

So what are the issues? 

The Formation

A few weeks back we tried to explain our rationale in Wenger’s move behind the utilization of the 4-1-4-1. In our research we found that managers like Arsene and Pep, who like to have the ball but were susceptible to high pressure from the opposition, moved to the 4-1-4-1 to counter that.

The problem besides learning a new formation is that this decision looks like it happened the week of the Community Shield. It’s first debut against Man City looked fine but as we’ve learned its looked difficult for the team to grasp and additionally it has put players in roles that they haven’t been effective in – ala Özil playing out wide (more about that later.)

While I understand the move and the need to develop a plan “b” it seems to have taken away our strength and the formation that gave us so much success last season. It’s good to have this to fall back on but my key frustration is why Wenger won’t go back to what did us so well. Only the manager knows and anything else would be speculation but I hope that once Theo is back in the fold, that we go back to our 4-2-3-1 against teams we should bully and use the 4-1-4-1 as a means to counter high pressure. The good thing about both formations is that they can seamlessly transition from one to the other.

The players

Everyone wants to blame the manager for the problems. That’s fair and I think Wenger knows as the manager part of his job is being the target for everyone’s ire. But no one seems to be willing to call out players – en masse for their shortfalls.

Unless your name happens to be Mesut Özil. Mesut Özil for a myriad of many reasons is the scape goat for all of our poor performances. The list of complaints is long but just to summarize:

• He supposedly is nothing more than a passenger in matches
• He was a £42 million signing and should act like it
• He doesn’t look like he cares
• He doesn’t take the match by the scruff of the neck

There are more I am sure but these seem to be the most consistent ones. Here’s the thing (and I will try and address these all quickly) watch Özil all match – even when he doesn’t have the ball, take in a complete match of just Özil watching. See how his movement off the ball is just as important to the team as on it. Watch his passing, look to see if anyone is making runs when he has the ball.  When you do this, I think you will find he is hardly a passenger. As for how much he cost, if players were to perform based on how much they cost, someone should tell Calum Chambers he only cost £16 million and should bloody well act like it.

Does Özil care? Of course he cares. To listen to others talk about him he is an insanely competitive player. But he is not flashy and he is not boisterous. The Guardian a few weeks back had a piece that talked about football supporters never being supportive of it’s introverted players. Özil is just that – unassuming but when he pulls off that perfectly weighted through ball or megs one Cesc Fabregas – those moments add up to pure class. And as for taking the match by the scruff of the neck – first it’s not his style and second – no one on Arsenal is doing that so why should he get all the blame.

The fact is Mesut Özil shouldn’t escape blame but he is hardly the biggest issue on the team. You can look at Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Per Mertesacker and Szczesny for blame. You can add in the dynamic of learning a new formation on the fly and that plus some of the collective poor performances add up to a team that isn’t firing on all cylinders.

The Manager

Arsene Wenger shouldn’t escape blame either. His move to the 4-1-4-1 is admirable at least in an attempt to give us an option in games where we are getting pressure. But his inability to address the DM and back up defense positions in the summer leaves a large question mark over his head.

Now I’ve always contended that a roster is the manager’s prerogative and the makeup is based on what he sees day-in-day-out in training and in matches. Wenger very well may have always intended to promote the likes of Hector Bellerin and Isaac Hayden as backups in defense. The fact is until Wenger releases the best seller he keeps telling us he will one day do, we’ll simply never know.

But without an understanding of what’s in his mind, the lack of signings in two critical areas raises concerns.

The other question and one that should be discussed fully later is wonder if Wenger is a manager for this era of football. The man dubbed Le Profeseur for the changes he brought into English football and his studious look is a football romantic and believes in the purity and beauty of the game. Except that while the game has gotten more beautiful, the business side of it has become more ugly. It simply may no longer be the place for a man with so high a vision of what football should and could be.

Final Thoughts

We’re all frustrated (some more so than others and visibily more “passionate” about it) but with 7 games played I am not going to write anything off at this point. I still feel that this squad is better than last season.

So when will I get frustrated and maybe more vocal? Check in 20 games in. If we’re still stopping and starting like this – yeah, then I might just be a little more concerned then I am now.

For now I am going to bare this through pursed lips and gritted teeth – I’ll seethe for a moment and then try and put some perspective to it. Yes, I hate the word perspective too.

So what do you think? What are the issues facing Arsenal? Are you overtly worried or do you add perspective and think it’s still too early to tell? Let us know. 

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