Atrocious Arsenal going from bad to worse
IT IS becoming undignified now. Being overwhelmed by Bayern Munich is one thing; West Brom quite another.
Tony Pulis’ side did not go the full Bayern; they stopped at three goals, not quite being able to reach five. But they did enough damage to dig deep into Arsenal’s wounds and expose the laughable fragility of this team.
The fightback that was promised after the Bayern debacle only managed to do for Lincoln City.
In serious competition, Arsenal folded again. This is now Arsene Wenger’s worst-ever run of results at the club since he started there 21 years ago — four defeats in five Premier League games, six in nine. His future, he says, is decided but it will not be announced yet.
Leaderless on and off the pitch, it is no wonder fans are confused. Aeroplanes had been hired to trail banners, one demanding: ‘No contract, Wenger Out’, another stating: ‘In Arsene we Trust’.
‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ chanted the fans in the stadium when, at 3-1 down, Alexis Sanchez was withdrawn for Alex Iwobi. But Sanchez had been badly hurt by an awful James McClean challenge, so that was an understandable decision.
Other than the bombshell that he had made a decision on his future, Wenger was remarkably composed afterwards.
‘We had 77-per-cent possession but we didn’t create enough chances,’ he said. ‘We were naive but you don’t see any obvious signs of a lack of attitude.’
All that ought not to overshadow West Brom’s performance, which was excellent.
‘We deserve a bit of credit,’ said boss Pulis. ‘We had a meeting after our two defeats and I told the players not to listen to people outside. It’s the most demanding league in the world and what the players have achieved has been fantastic.’
Arsenal are trying to maintain a 19-year run in the Champions League. They may drop down to sixth by the end of the weekend if Manchester United beat Middlesbrough today.
It was a familiar Arsenal tale of woe when Craig Dawson headed home Nacer Chadli’s corner in the 12th minute.
All the familiar Arsenal tropes were featured: the soft centre, lack of defensive organisation, absence of leadership. So it was something of a surprise that they did not take the setback lying down, with Sanchez lashing home the equaliser three minutes later. The Chilean’s involvement ended three minutes before half-time after McClean’s foul.
Petr Cech had already limped off minutes earlier, having pulled a hamstring.
West Brom went ahead in 55 minutes when Hal Robson-Kanu took advantage of a mix-up between substitute keeper David Ospina and Hector Bellerin to prod the ball home.
Arsenal, however, did not roll over. Danny Welbeck headed against the bar, but they were finished off when Dawson headed West Brom’s third 15 minutes from the end.