Gunned Down: What's Wrong at Arsenal?

Originally, I had planned to write about either Chelsea or Liverpool, Andre Villas-Boas and what appeared to be his attempt at harmonizing his successful 4-3-3 from Porto to the Premier League or Kenny Dalglish's revitalized Liverpool, led by Uruguayan conductor Luis Suarez. But after what transpired last night though, those topics play second-fiddle to what's going on at Arsenal, surely.

Looking at the team sheets prior to kick-off, I was reminded of last season's FA Cup tie, where Manchester United fielded a team that included the Da Silva twins, Darron Gibson, Chris Smalling and Wes Brown, with the likes of Gabriel Obertan on the bench. On the day, the Man Utd reserve team engineered an unlikely 2-0 win at the Emirates, and as Arsene Wenger prepared to lead his side onto the pitch at Old Trafford, the way the pundits talked about what they expected sounded eerily familiar.

Then I realized that this was Arsenal, and laughed.

But to be perfectly honest, the situation at Arsenal is an intriguing one, to say the least. Shorn of Fabulous Cesc and mercurial attacking midfielder Samir Nasri, facing mounting injury woes that would make David Moyes cringe and with every debutant seeming to aim to be sent off, Monsieur Wenger is having a hard time.

The accusation that Arsenal have lacked dominant and consistent players all through the middle of the park has echoed across the lands for years, and many lament the losses - and lack of able replacements - of the likes of David Seaman, Tony Adams, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry. Manuel Almunia, Laurent Koscielny, Tomas Rosicky and Nicklas Bendtner aren't names that inspire confidence even in the most fanatical of Arsenal supporters. That the trophy drought that has plagued the North London side has coincided with the departure of the last of those former names is likely no small coincidence. Over the past few years, the Gunners have been increasingly reliant on the trio of Fabregas, Nasri and Van Persie to keep playing the tune that Arsene Wenger has been harping forever - playing attacking, positive football and being focussed on developing youth. Two of the three have departed though, and the last remaining is perhaps bested only by Louis Saha and Owen Hargreaves in ability limited by fragility.

Two of the longest-running and most-followed transfer sagas over the summer involved Fabregas and Nasri of course, with Barcelona's ultimately successful three-year courtship of Arsenal's skipper angering many in the red part of London. Man City's hijacking of their own city rival's interest in Samir Nasri was much more rapid, but no less damaging to Arsenal. Each might have his own reasons for choosing their destinations - a long-awaited homecoming or what is termed "sporting ambition" - but both probably has the same things going through their minds when they made the decision to leave proper. Manchester City forced Manchester United fans to take down the (in)famous "counter" banner as they lifted the FA Cup last season. And a telling statistic would be that Cesc Fabregas' 8-year stay at Arsenal generated the same number of trophies as an 8-day period at Barcelona. For so long key components of Wenger's symphony, the two maestros appeared to have lost belief or patience with Wenger's song. Few can blame them, perhaps.

Is there hope yet for Arsenal, who have conceded more than Swansea and Norwich put together? Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny was not at fault for most of the goals last night, and the way he could still crack a smile might suggest there are some positives to take from recent times. Henri Lansbury was the only other Arsenal player who looked somewhat cheery, though I had attributed his laughter to the fact that he could say he wasn't on the pitch when United scored the vast majority of their eight goals. The past three weeks have been harrowing ones for Arsene Wenger, and surely he has never been more glad of an international break to retreat and regroup.

From my count, Arsenal were missing seven players as they went up against the reigning champions at Old Trafford; Sagna and Vermaelen were late omissions, Song, Gervinho and Frimpong were each serving deserved suspensions for idiotic offences while Wilshere and Squillaci missed the trip due to injury. Now, while some sympathy must be directed at Arsene Wenger for having such a "crisis" to contend with, the reality is that United were missing many players as well. Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Rafael - arguably three of the first-choice back four last season - picked up injuries in recent weeks, while Darren Fletcher has been sidelined with a mysterious virus since March. Michael Owen, as always, as unfit as well. Immediately, it becomes evident that when Arsenal are bemoaning missing Squillaci and United seem comfortable naming a changed defensive line, Arsene Wenger's ability to plan long-term is called into question.

For so long, the Frenchman and his supporters have been clamoring for time and for patience, insisting that "next year" will see the maturation of their Gunners. The reality is, though, while Manchester United beat Tottenham comprehensively last week and Arsenal were lucky to escape with only a 2-0 home defeat to Liverpool, both sides fielded squads with the same average age. The two proven youth talents that Wenger has nurtured in recent times have left, and he has failed to strengthen those, if not any other part of the squad. The failed pursuits of Mark Schwarzer are moot with the emergence of Wojciech Szczesny (how I hate to type that name), but with no progress on the likes of Gary Cahill and Christopher Samba and as Juan Mata picks Chelsea over Arsenal, things look bleak. Debutant Mata, unlike Gervinho and Frimpong, made the headlines for the right reasons this week.

Arsenal as a club have long championed the cause of refusing to splurge on marquee signings, going against the norm and precedent set by their rivals. Liverpool's captures of Carroll, Suarez, Henderson and Downing were all fairly significant as far as chequebooks go, and Chelsea have 50m-pound Fernando Torres, David Luiz and the aforementioned Juan Mata among their new acquisitions. Man Utd of course, spent big on Ashley Young, David De Gea and Phil Jones and Man City set the bar as far as spending goes. After selling Fabregas and Nasri for a combined total of over 50m themselves - as well as Eboue and Clichy - why don't the Gunners shoot for someone (or some people) who can lift them as a whole? It astounds me that their bids for the players previously mentioned continue to be rejected for being "derisory".

With a "full" squad of course, Arsenal's fortunes will improve. Eventually. Arsenal's last twenty games though, have seen only four wins. Two narrow ones over a depleted Udinese side, and victories over League One side Leyton Orient and the relegated Blackpool. How much time will it take for Arsenal to find their rhythm again? Will Wenger still be at the helm by then?

A Tactical Analysis: Manchester City

I've been meaning to write something for a long time, and have been thinking about a football-ish piece for most of it. Drawing inspiration from similar daily discussions at work, here's my first shot at what I hope to be a weekly (optimistic!) shot at what I've noticed about the world of football in general.

Most of you will know that I'm an ardent Manchester United fan. I don't go out to claim the scalps of Gunners or Koppers, and I don't agree with many of Chelsea's or Manchester City's antics, but here I'll touch on a few tactical observations I've made from an objective standpoint.

Since Manchester City has become the love-child of the Abu Dhabi United group, they've grown from strength to strength on and off the pitch, evolving from a bottom-feeder that Liam Gallagher turned down to a team that will probably finish within the top two in the Barclays Premier League.

The man at the helm of this project, pitch-side at least, is one Roberto Mancini. For a man who finished his playing career at Leicester City, he seems to be doing rather well for himself. Boasting an impressive CV (at least before that stint in Leicester), many questioned his appointment at first, but it seems like he's doing something right. One FA Cup so far means he might even be ahead of the Arab schedule imposed by the Sheikh.

His most successful period by far was as manager of Internazionale, where he won three back-to-back Serie A titles - though one of them will always be "tainted" - and brought Inter back to the pinnacle of Italian football. After replacing Mark Hughes at the Eastlands, it was immediately apparent that the scarfed-one wanted to lay down his own ideas, ideals and identity to an under-achieving Manchester City. Aside from dropping key players like Craig Bellamy (and replacing them with Jo), Mancini attempted to import his successful "Inter Diamond" from the San Siro, the tactical framework that served him so well in Italy.

Connoisseurs of Football Manager might recognize the phrase as a description of Mancini's variation of the "4-4-2 Diamond", or the "narrow 4-1-2-1-2". At Inter, his team-selection invariably revolved around the same rigid, effective principles, which many expected (and have since observed) in England. And lately it's my belief that he's finally done it.

Let's take a look at their starting lineups at Inter and Man City side-by-side:

In defence, Julio Cesar and Joe Hart as a regular, solid goalkeeper. Maicon/Maxwell and Richards/Kolarov as strong-running attacking fullbacks. Two steady centre-backs (Burdisso, Chivu, Materazzi/Kompany, Lescott, Kolo Toure).

And the midfield is where it gets interesting. At its base, Mancini often deploys one anchorman, a destroyer-type, a role fulfilled by Cambiasso and De Jong, accompanied by two other "Box-to-Box" type of midfielders, of which Mancini would regularly rotate at Inter (someone partnering Zanetti, primarily). These three act as a shield for the defence while the remaining players do the damage in attack. At City, players like James Milner, Gareth Barry, and Yaya Toure fit here. It's also interesting that Mancini brought one Patrick Vieira to Eastlands as well, someone who fits this system perfectly.

At the base of his attack, or the head of the midfield, is his playmaker, the Trequartista, if you may. It's easy to see who fills that spot now, with the ever-elegant David Silva pulling all the strings. Inter continued with this even after Mancini left, by recruiting Wesley Sneijder to replace such names as Figo and Recoba. Finishing off the lineup, and the chances, are two strong and skilful forwards. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Julio Cruz, Adriano, Hernan Crespo, and Mario Balotelli fit the bill at Inter, while Man City currently boast Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez, Ediz Dzeko, and a repeat appearance from Balotelli. And Jo.

Over the past 18 months or so, we've seen David Silva perform magnificently "in the hole" behind one or two strikers - usually just the one when Tevez is fit and mentally-sound - and it's something he continues to do. Many point to the recent Bolton-Man City game and call it a regular or flat 4-4-2 that Mancini put out, but after looking at the game in great detail for hours (no exaggeration), I've found a few things.

1. Yaya Toure just about never stepped ahead of Milner and Barry.

2. Milner and Barry covered a lot of ground up and down the pitch.

3. David Silva spent more time in the middle of the field, and not the right wing, than anywhere else.

4. David Silva made few, if any tackles, even going to far to allow an opponent 3 yards from him to run unimpeded while another team-mate would close him down.

5. Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero linked up especially well with each other, fed by Silva.

Point 1 is an interesting one, and would probably not have been observed had Nigel De Jong been fit (Toure would have displaced Barry, perhaps the last vestige of the Hughes era). Still, it was a role he played well at Barcelona, despite his obvious ability in storming forward. When De Jong is fit again, I would expect the Dutchman to play the Anchorman, and Toure and Milner probably to flank him, as in Point 2. Points 3, 4 and 5 perhaps best illustrate why I feel that Mancini has finally gotten his "Inter Diamond" working at Manchester City; David Silva's role as the Trequartista. And it's working beautifully.

Sharp-eyed readers and quick-minded football analysts would be quick to point out that this system leaves little room for the likes of Adam Johnson, and I agree. Mancini's 4-2-3-1 perhaps does, but that necessitates playing the lone figure of Carlos Tevez or Mario Balotelli, neither of which are dependable for their own specific reasons. And past and recent history suggests that the ways of last season at a Plan B, at best, and that the pairing of Aguero-Dzeko, supplied by Silva and guarded by the others, is the way Mancini envisions his team.

How this will pan out against the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea (with Andre Villas-Boas' tactics my next project) remain to be seen of course. Mancini, so long accused of being too negative, had a team that scored more than "attacking" Tottenham Hotspur last season, and also led Inter to a record number of points and goals during his last season at the club. And witht he addition of Samir Nasri, this whole analysis my become moot by the time anyone reads this. Another factor to consider is the possibility that want-away Tevez will change his mind and Mancini his tactics to accommodate his former skipper, but for now, I'm fairly sure this is what is actually happening when Man City take the field, and not the 4-4-2 that you might see flashed on your screen.