CHRIS HATHERALL: More Aston Villa than David Villa
Arsenal’s rather half-hearted chase for the Barcelona striker looks doomed to fail after Wenger admitted the Spanish giants have no interest in selling.
But having seen Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott link up so well in a dramatic comeback for the Gunners against Steven Gerrard and Co it’s hard to understand why Wenger is investing so much time look for attacking players when his defence is such a disaster.
No doubt Arsenal fans left the Emirates feeling generally positive following yet another high-octane second-half in which their team came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2; but it would be wrong to completely wipe out the memories of a string of defensive howlers that allowed Liverpool to be ahead in the first place.
If the DVD of the first 60 minutes ever makes it onto the shelves of the Arsenal club shop then the likes of Tony Adams, Nigel Winterburn, Lee Dixon — and anyone who ever sung ‘1-0 to the Arsenal’ — should look away.
Every ounce of the legacy of those good ol’ days of arms in the air and a well-oiled back four is long, long gone; even though Steve Bould, Adams’ partner for much of the era, is the current defensive coach and even though Arsenal are crying out for some defensive stability.
Once again the response from Wenger’s men whence they went behind was admirable; but once again it really shouldn’t have been needed if the home defence — and German centre-back Per Meretesacker in particular — had done their job with even an element of professionalism.
Liverpool’s opening goal has to go down as one of the most embarrassing conceded this year, given that it featured not one, not two but four individual mistakes before Luis Suarez swept the ball into the net.
First Bacary Sagna slipped to the floor, allowing Daniel Sturridge to cross into the box. Then both Thomas Vermaelen and Aaron Ramsey wasted chances to clear with embarrassing air-kicks; and finally Mertesacker turned his back on the ball as Suarez put it in the net.
It got worse when Liverpool doubled their lead after 60 minutes.
This time it was the unheralded Jordan Henderson who was made to look like Maradona as he weaved past four static defenders, led by the disastrous Mertesacker, to slide a shot home and leave Arsenal facing another defensive inquest.
The departure of injury-prone Kieran Gibbs to yet another muscle strain (he will be out for three weeks with a thigh problem) was even further cause for alarm, especially as he was replaced by Andre Santos — a defender who makes Mertesacker look like Beckenbauer.
Thank goodness, then, for the new-look strike force of Giroud and Walcott who provided a goal each in an Arsenal comeback and were a constant menace. Walcott, who is still only 23, has now scored 18 goals this season, including four in the last four, while Giroud, who is 26, has 15, including five in the last three; and the pair certainly have the potential to be Arsenal’s first-choice strikeforce for a long time yet.
The most alarming statistic to come out of this match from Opta, however, is one that says Arsenal have now made more defensive mistakes that have led directly to goals being conceded than any other team in the Premier League — a total of 13 already this campaign.
Arsenal fans must surely be hoping their manager finds a solution in the transfer market because there is so much that is good and exciting in their forward play right now that it would be a shame for it to be overshadowed on a regular basis by kamikaze defending at the back.
Surely Wenger can see the front players are already at the level of a David Villa and don’t need reinforcements. The back four, however, look more like Aston Villa.
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