WONDER OF WENGER
Arsenal are thrilling mix of brilliant and brittle
WHAT a glorious, peculiar evening of mixed messages from Arsenal, a team that seem to continually bounce between beautiful actions and moments of self sabotage. They will be quite an operation if they get that split personality under control.
This was another of those days where, irrespective of the final numbers, Arsene Wenger’s side simply could not decide if they were fantastically gifted or plain daft.
As so often, they settled on a compromise, coughing up so many mistakes in the first half that they should have trailed, before they gathered the senses and scored three goals through Alexis Sanchez, Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey.
At times, the speed of passing and thought was brilliant; at others, the errors were no less characteristic. That is the beauty and the curse of this vintage, who have a chance to scratch the title itch but still appears to have too many vulnerabilities.
Wenger said: ‘We started a bit hesitant — Watford showed that we had to be completely committed to win the game. It took us a while to get on top of that. Fatigue got to Watford.’
That, of course, is the main thing. Arsenal have now won five of their past six games to sit second in the table. But even this coming week offers clues about the kind of inconsistencies that make them such a shaky bet to take that next step.
It is incredible to think that after two woeful games against Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos, they face Bayern Munich on Tuesday with Champions League elimination looking likely.
With so much at stake, perhaps it was a surprise to see Wenger go into this game with such a strong side, making only one change to the team that battered Manchester United in the final game before the international break. Laurent Koscielny came in for Gabriel Paulista and, crucially, Wenger let Sanchez stay in the team despite a minor hip injury and his need for rest.
Wenger explained the decision by saying: ‘I said the important game was Watford. It is vital to stay in touch with the top teams and this is the best game to prepare. There is no obvious reason to change completely the team (for Bayern). Maybe one or two.
‘We have put ourselves in a bad position in the Champions League. We want to make something special against Bayern as that is only way to stay in the race.’
His decision to stick with Sanchez was vindicated as he scored his sixth Arsenal goal in three games. That streak, Wenger admitted, is why he won’t drop him — the rationale being that you do not disrupt a good thing.
But the wider lessons of the performance are that Arsenal’s good thing might come to an end if they do not address the sloppiness that keeps surfacing.
In one instance here, Francis Coquelin was easily bounced off the ball 25 yards out by Troy Deeney; in another Per Mertesacker was too slow and played Deeney onside, allowing a dangerous attack.
Koscielny, on his return from a hamstring problem, also gifted a chance to Odion Ighalo with a fluffed header, only for the striker to shoot wide. It was a measure of the game that Koscielny atoned with two vital interceptions. It was the kind of day that required last-gasp interventions, even if Arsenal did have 65 per cent of the possession in the first half.
They really should have conceded but scoring goals is Watford’s big problem. Then it all changed for Arsenal. Sanchez’s 62nd-minute breakthrough, which triggered the slaughter, was easy on the eye. Arsenal surged forward at speed with Mesut Ozil, Sanchez and Cazorla linking before Ozil was tripped by Ikechi Anya and Sanchez buried the loose ball. It was an excellent blur.
Giroud came off the bench and added a second goal after yet more good work from Ozil, that master of assists, and then Ramsey bundled in a third.
Watford boss Quique Sanchez Flores offered a neat summary in saying: ‘It is difficult to accept what happened after one hour. We were working well against Arsenal. But we are talking about a team that has a chance to win the league.’
Wenger still has work to do if he is to shorten his odds on that.