Gunned down, again and again

> Anfield humiliation showed that Arsenal haven’t learned anything since their 8-2 defeat by United. Barcelona still want Coutinho

WATCHING Arsenal get torn into little bits by Liverpool on Sunday, it was easy enough to remember back to February 2014. Then, an Arsenal team were woefully unprepared for Liverpool’s speed and intensity. They were 4-0 down within 20 minutes and lost 5-1.

Or, to look back further, the game might have reminded you of their third match of the 2011/12 Premier League season. Arsenal, weakened and distracted by an exodus of their best players, went to Old Trafford with a strung-together back-line. They lost 8-2.

Or was it the day in March 2014 when they went to Stamford Bridge to celebrate Arsene Wenger’s 1000th game in charge, only to run into Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea steamroller? They lost that day 6-0.

Or was it any of the trilogy of 5-1 defeats to Bayern Munich, two of which combined earlier this year to knock them out of the Champions League by a 10-2 aggregate? Or the madcap 6-3 at Manchester City in 2013? Or the unforeseen 4-0 at Southampton, of all places, on Boxing Day last year? Or the 3-0 loss this April at Selhurst Park when it felt, clearer than ever before, that Wenger’s position was no longer tenable.

The sad fact is that these bad defeats happen so often now to Arsenal that they lose their power to shock. Nor is there much value in individual analysis. The problems are so ingrained and so long-standing that it barely mattered that, for example, the departing, distracted Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was played out of position at right wingback. Or that Sead Kolasinac was left on the bench.

Because if the problem was just individuals not performing, we would not see the same problems year after year after year: no organisation in the defence; no protection in front of them; no plan to deal with the specific threat of a dangerous opponent; no leadership or game management when things

are ready to keep spending after parading £135.5million new boy Ousmane Dembele at the Nou Camp.

Around 17,000 fans attended Barcelona’s official unveiling ceremony on Monday for the 20-year-old France winger, who sealed his switch from Borussia Dortmund.

The fee agreed between the two clubs makes the player the second most expensive in history. are going against them. And, worst of all, no refusal to put up a fight after going behind. Of course it is easy to hammer Granit Xhaka or Aaron Ramsey or Rob Holding after Sunday, and certainly none of them did their jobs at all well. But in football the buck stops with the manager. And no manager in the modern game can be more deserving of criticism when things go wrong – or praise when it goes well –than Wenger. Arsenal is Wenger’s personal fiefdom and it has been for years. He signed these players, he coaches them, he arranges their contracts and he gives them team-talks. None of the ultimate blame for days like Sunday can be attributed to anyone else. That is why this summer at Arsenal was such a missed opportunity. Wenger’s contract was expiring and chief executive Ivan Gazidis pushed for the club to change direction, to bring in a director of football, to spread responsibility around the club and refresh the

The signing of Dembele may not be the last Barcelona transfer activity before tomorrow’s deadline, according to technical director Robert Fernandez.

“We hope to present another player before the end of the month,” he said.

Barcelona continue to be linked with Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho despite having three bids for the Brazilian rejected. – The Independent environment.

But it did not work out like that. Wenger signed a new two-year deal, no director of football was brought in, and this season does not look like being any different from the last one. 2017 will go down as the year when Arsenal thought about change, and went for more of the same.

After finishing fifth in the Premier League, it was a surprising move.

But go back three years to 2014. Wenger’s contract was expiring, but the same problems we see now were just as clear in the team then. Arsenal won the FA Cup, though, and Wenger signed a three-year deal.

That was another fork in the road, and we can say now that Arsenal chose the wrong path. They have flatlined for years while their more progressive rivals get ahead of them. But while the same man stays in control of all the levers, who would expect anything different? – The Independent