The instability in front and behind the back four meant it was inevitable they would come a cropper. Not helped by those around him, Laurent Koscielny put in one of his worst performances in Arsenal colours. A true day to forget. When Agbonlahor made his run towards the Arsenal goal, Kos found himself in a state of panic rushing out to make a challenge. What followed was a feeble attempt to win the ball allowing the Villa striker to skip past and win his side a spot kick. It was the kind of ill-thought out decision to step out that Thomas Vermaelen is all too often (rightly) crucified for. The Frenchman’s day got worse when he slid in to concede the second penalty. As I said above, I thought it was a 50-50 decision but when you go sliding in like that, at that angle, on somebody with that much more pace than you, you give the referee the opportunity to make that sort of decision. Put your hand on heart and tell me you wouldn’t demand a spot kick if a Villa player went in like that on Giroud or Walcott at the other end

*Anthony Taylor did us no favours.

And not that I’d expect him to, either. All I ask is that he knows the laws of the game and interprets them in a just and fair manner. Laying blame at the door of the referee is a cop out, especially having played as badly as we did. However, gooners are well within their rights to point the finger after some truly dodgy the decisions this time around. While the first penalty was ultimately the right decision, the moment Taylor allowed the advantage, there was no way he should have pulled the game back when Villa spurned their goal-scoring chance. Being the saddo I am, I scoured the FIFA laws and found nothing to suggest he was in his rights to make this decision. As for the second penalty, Koscielny plays the ball, no two ways about it. Looking closely though, his trailing right leg does indeed play the man a fraction of a second earlier but for me it was one of those 50-50 decisions that a referee simply cannot make a decision on if he isn’t 100% sure. With such a poor referee, any chances we had to take something from the game evaporated completely. That said…

*We didn’t do enough to win the game

Taylor can’t be blamed entirely for the defeat. We were second best to a team that nearly went down last season and not really improved since. A good start was rendered redundant as soon as they equalised. Heads dropped, belief was non-existent and the overall attitude was simply not befitting of our club. We never showed at any point that we were the ‘better’ team and it certainly wasn’t like days of yore when we could say we created chance after chance but were ‘unlucky’. Villa weren’t ever really on the back foot at any point, and in the end were good value for their win in the end.

*Lack of fear factor

There was a time when we would have a moan about teams ‘parking the bus’ and showing no ambition when they played us. This certainly isn’t the case anymore. Villa, although overly physical at times, didn’t set out frustrate. After going a goal down, they rallied and approached the game in a positive manner, exploited our various weaknesses with a bold forward-thinking approach and were duly rewarded. On the ball they were positive, driving forward constantly. Without it, they weren’t simply content to sit back – hassling and harrying to win the ball back and hit us on the counter. Gone are the days when teams try and ‘keep it tight’ in the hope of ‘nicking something’. Now, the way to beat Arsenal is simply to ‘go for it’. The fear they once had of being outplayed is gone.

*Lack of defensive midfielder

There was no greater example of Villa’s endeavour than Gabriel Agbonlahor’s driving run that ultimately led to the equaliser. Agbonlahor found himself being allowed to make this run due to a complete lack of defensive cohesion which usually starts with the presence of a defensive minded midfield player tasked specifically with breaking up play or at the very least providing some sort of cover/barrier. Arteta’s injury meant that we were left brutally exposed as seemingly nobody else in the squad is capable of performing this role. It’s no secret in the modern game if you go in without somebody who ‘sits’ in that position in front your back four, you are simply inviting trouble.

*Jack and Ramsey doesn’t work

A worrying sign. Two talents who can’t seem work together. The experiment to pair them isn’t working so it has to be either one or the other. I personally don’t care which at this stage.

*Keeper

The absence of the pivot in front of the back four led to all kinds of defensive problems against Villa. Not helped at all by a goalkeeper who I struggle to believe instils any confidence in those around him. Many questions were asked of Szczesny last season to the point where he even found himself out of the side. It seems as though nothing was learnt over the summer as he looks just as shaky as he was when he was dropped. It’s difficult to be too critical about the concession of the first goal but I don’t think it’s overly harsh to suggest that having saved the Penalty from Benteke, he ought to push the ball AWAY from the goal rather than straight back into the path of the striker. Any goalkeeping coach in the world will tell you that. Not long after, our Pole in the goal found himself in no man’s land having charged out of his goal attempting and failing to clear the ball. The fact he wasn’t punished for this was about the only bit of good fortune one can take from a miserable afternoon. Not that it ultimately mattered.

*Koscienly

The instability in front and behind the back four meant it was inevitable they would come a cropper. Not helped by those around him, Laurent Koscielny put in one of his worst performances in Arsenal colours. A true day to forget. When Agbonlahor made his run towards the Arsenal goal, Kos found himself in a state of panic rushing out to make a challenge. What followed was a feeble attempt to win the ball allowing the Villa striker to skip past and win his side a spot kick. It was the kind of ill-thought out decision to step out that Thomas Vermaelen is all too often (rightly) crucified for. The Frenchman’s day got worse when he slid in to concede the second penalty. As I said above, I thought it was a 50-50 decision but when you go sliding in like that, at that angle, on somebody with that much more pace than you, you give the referee the opportunity to make that sort of decision. Put your hand on heart and tell me you wouldn’t demand a spot kick if a Villa player went in like that on Giroud or Walcott at the other end. Don’t get me wrong, I like Kos – perhaps not as much as those of you who proclaim him among the best CBs in Europe, however. Mainly because he is still prone to the same acts of stupidity as others supposedly inferior to him – albeit less frequently. Hi repertoire regularly seems to involve own goals, mistakes  such as the league cup final fiasco and once again on this occasion, a red card. Having been booked, he lost his head and went diving in again (when he had NO chance of reaching the ball) and was sent off for the fourth time in his Arsenal career. Yes, admittedly any contact on Andreas Weimann was minimal (if at all) but when you consider how inept Taylor had been already, flying in like that is only going to give him the opportunity to make another bad decision. As our best defender by some distance, one would hope for much better when he returns from suspension.

*Defensive problems

Koscielny’s dismissal exposed the dearth of current defensive options in the team. Aaron Ramsey of all people had to slot into the centre back position for the latter portion of the game. We are already missing Vermaelen and Monreal as well as potentially Gibb
s who went off injured in the first half. This now means that we go into our second game of the league campaign with the terrifying prospect of just three available defenders for Fulham next weekend. Mertesaker, Jenkinson and Sagna – who himself nearly picked a serious injury after landing on his neck, almost becoming a human accordion – are the last men standing. This is the kind of defensive crisis you wouldn’t expect to have at Sunday League level so for a team with the stature and resources of Arsenal, this quite simply unacceptable and something the manager needs to address immediately before all else.

*All too familiar ways of conceding

And it’s not just the personnel that are the problem. How many times in recent years have we seen Arsenal concede the kind of counter attack goal Antonio Luna scored to kill the game? Manchester United a few years back? Pienaar for Everton in the snow? Wigan two seasons ago? Michu last season? VILLA last season? How is it we find ourselves in such a ridiculous situation that the opposition have a better chance of scoring from OUR corner kicks than we do? When playing so high up the pitch attempting to chase a goal, surely the players and manager must realise that the second they lose the ball they are bang in trouble – especially when making little/no effort to chase back. To see something happen so often is infuriating for all concerned and more worryingly, it’s now a glaring weakness that every team that plays against us will know to target. Draw us in, then hit us on the break. It’s not like we leave anyone back to defend. The predictability would be funny if not so depressing.

*Not enough up front

Quite simply, we didn’t look like scoring the goals we would need to get anything out of the game. Theo Walcott was virtually anonymous from first minute to last. When you see the trouble Agbonlahor caused us with his running, you wonder what exactly is stopping Walcott from doing the same. Giroud scored early and seemed to be content with his goal having put in very little effort to do much else. In fairness, the supply was virtually non-existent but rather than go AWOL, he could have done far more to get involved in the game by dropping off and collecting the ball himself. The one shining light on the day was Thomas Rosicky yet it was his appalling on-on-one miss at 1-1 which was arguably one of the most lamentable moments of the game. An uncharacteristic lack of composure in a situation that could have swung things in our favour and changed the complexion of the game. Instead we’re looking back on what might have been.

*Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

Hindsight is always 20/20 but was this really a surprise? The 3-1 score line may have raised an eyebrow but it hardly the most shocking outcome given the state of the team/squad going into the game. So much has been made about our reluctance to strengthen. Coupled with our stupifying injury problems, our chickens very much came home to roost. Many of the problems outlined here could have been prevented with the right signings. A new keeper, a recognised defensive midfielder, an attacker and proper defensive back up would have all improved our prospects on the day. Instead we are blaming the referee. Ignoring our own deficiencies.

The transfer window has been open for months yet it seems that the club is, again, waiting until the very last minute to do business – if at all. For the second time in three seasons we are looking at a mad trolley dash before closing time. That, to me suggests a lack of any cohesive plan and once more, it looks like we might end up with more bad than good. In that crazy August of 2011, we actually ended up signing players without medicals! Beyond amateurish for a club of Arsenal’s stature.

To say that judgement should be reserved until September is ludicrous given the fact the season starts in August. One would hope/expect any major signings to be in place before the opening day and these final two weeks reserved for fine tuning. Instead, the club and manager have decided to gamble by leaving it oh so late. By the time the window shuts, the worst case scenario could see Arsenal with no points from three games and out of the Champions League. To wait is a foolish strategy and I for one hope in my heart of hearts we don’t regret doing so.   

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