The month of March has become all too familiar for Arsene Wenger, - TopicsExpress



          

The month of March has become all too familiar for Arsene Wenger, and once again there is enormous potential for the wheels to spectacularly come off. Taking his side to the Potteries has never been a pleasant experience; the animosity is almost palpable between the two clubs. But although his team once again showed a distinct lack of fight and belief against their more rugged opponents, the narrow one-nil defeat is far from terminal in their title chase. With four of their next five top flight fixtures coming against clubs in the top six of the Premier League, they can easily make amends for their unfortunate loss. Arsenal’s relative mediocrity in the past eight seasons, when compared with Chelsea, and Manchester’s United and City, has not been due to a lack of quality within their playing squad. Even before the £42million acquisition of Mesut Ozil, the Gunners still boasted Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott in their midfield. Defensively they started the season fantastically in 2012/13 - only two goals were conceded in their opening five league games - before Steve Bould’s influence was marginalised by the paranoid Frenchman and thirteen were conceded in their next seven. This Saturday lunch-time Arsene Wenger has the opportunity to lead his side to the semi- finals of the FA Cup for only the second time since they lifted the trophy in 2005. On the last occasion in 2008/09, the Frenchman had the audacity to leave out Alex Song, Bacary Sagna, Samir Nasri and Andrey Arshavin as he prioritised their forthcoming Champions League semi-final. With Everton the visitors to the Emirates Stadium this weekend, he is almost certain to rest some of his star names again, with the slim chance of over-turning a two goal first leg deficit against Bayern Munich fresh on his mind. The number of things English football has to be grateful to Arsene Wenger for is endless. His introduction to our game in 1996 heralded an entirely new era of preparation, conditioning and creative play. But the emergence of Chelsea in 2004 undoubtedly brought a new approach from the two-time league and cup double winner, as he invested in youth and allowed several big name players leave to earn higher salaries elsewhere. His prudence is admirable, and his faith in his own players commendable, but in his stubbornness to respond to the changing landscape, he has allowed his club to fall behind. In the previous round of the FA Cup, Wenger gave a surprising debut to Yaya Sanogo as he sought a response following their 5-1 defeat at Anfield. Other players given their chance in a difficult tie were Lukasz Fabianski, Carl Jenkinson and Nacho Monreal. With previous surprise exits to Blackburn, Sunderland and StokeCity still visible in supporters’ minds, it was a brave move from the manager. History shows he will almost certainly make the same decision again on Saturday, as he continually demonstrates a belief that domestic cup competitions are for squad rotation. Everton visit North London in the knowledge they can definitely perform an upset. In their manager, Roberto Martinez, they have a man who led Wigan to a surprise victory over ManchesterCity in the capital last May. His players enjoyed a well contested 1-1 draw with Arsenal in December, dominating with 56% possession against the home side. And the return to fitness of Romelu Lukaku has been perfectly timed as he basks in the glory of his goal scoring contribution last weekend, while both Kevin Mirallas and Ross Barkley were afforded the chance to rest. Both Mikel Arteta and Nacho Monreal still harbour the scars from Colin Kazim-Richards shock winner in the fifth round last season, and that result came despite Wojciech Szczesny, Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud all reportedly strengthening the Arsenal side. The upcoming trip to Munich will undoubtedly lead to a mix-match starting eleven once again from Arsene Wenger, despite many fans calling for the FA Cup to become their priority. In December, Arsenal dropped seven points from fixtures against Everton, ManchesterCity and Chelsea, leading to their four-point lead disappearing. Last month they took just a single point from meetings with Liverpool and Manchester United. Realistic followers of the serial Champions League qualifiers expect very little from their next five league games. If they leave StamfordBridge empty handed, and fail to inflict only ManchesterCity’s sixth league defeat at the Emirates, they will deservedly finish outside of the top two. Losing to StokeCity and fielding weakened line- ups in the FA Cup are typical characteristics of Arsene Wenger, and a quick glance at their recent Champions League history shows equal consistency. Only twice in the last seven seasons have Arsenal qualified for the knockout stages as group winners, having been usurped by European heavyweights Sevilla, Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Schalke in recent seasons. Subsequently they have faced tougher opposition in the last 16, and their last three aggregate scores read 3-4, 3-4 and 3-3 (losing on away goals). The symmetry in performance is symptomatic of their leader’s failure to achieve polished performances once progress has been secured. Last season’s 2-0 win in Munich has been spoken as a positive omen for next Tuesday, but it only serves to hide the cracks of the aberration in the home leg. There was enormous optimism last summer as the Arsenal board publicised the size of their transfer war-chest. However, after thirty-one days of the January transfer window, the only incoming signing was an injured, ageing Swede, who had hurt his back while frolicking on the beach. At the same time as Arsenal fans were beginning to believe their team could compete on three fronts, their manager was trying to increase his already bloated attacking midfield options. When on Saturday Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain presented the perfect shooting chance to substitute Sanogo, the youngster hurriedly snatched at the pass and fired over. Only at the end of the season will we know how costly such small details will prove. I hope for the sake of the man who has come through a 3-1 home defeat to Aston Villa, and an 8-2 humbling at Old Trafford, that Saturday is an enjoyable afternoon for Arsene Wenger, but I fear his habitual under-achieving may continue. The only silver-lining is that should their sequence of results in the Champions League continue, a 3-3 aggregate draw will see them into the quarter-finals. 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Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 18:33:15 +0000

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