Arsene Wenger's Restoration Begins To Crumble Once Again As Swansea Defeat Exposes Cracks In Arsenal's Foundations

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By Andrew Kennedy

Arsenal’s trip to Swansea on Sunday was billed as a clash between the Premier League’s two purist footballing styles, yet the Gunners’ 3-2 defeat at the Liberty Stadium was indicative of the fragility which the north London outfit have become more closely associated with in recent seasons.

Twice Arsene Wenger’s team allowed the newly promoted Welsh outfit to take the lead, with Danny Graham’s winner coming immediately after Theo Walcott had drawn level, once again raising questions that were originally prompted by Arsenal’s turbulent start to the season.

Retracing the club’s defeats to Liverpool, Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers will no doubt feel like trodden ground on healing wounds to supporters, with the arrivals of Mikel Arteta, Andre Santos and Per Mertesacker seemingly beginning to remedy the departures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.

While a resurgence that has taken Arsenal back to the cusp of the top four must be acknowledged, it appears that familiar mental weakness or, perhaps more worryingly, a lack of quality has prevented the Gunners from crossing that threshold.

Aside from the 2-1 defeat to rivals Tottenham at White Hart Lane, Wenger’s men steamrolled through the months of September and October, and by mid-November found themselves back in contention for the Champions League places alongside Chelsea and Tottenham.

The winter schedule would evaporate Arsenal’s smokescreen revival with a frosty gust, yet signs that the deadline restoration embarked upon by Wenger was coming undone became evident much sooner.

In between the 1-1 draw with Fulham at the Emirates at the end of November and the 2-1 loss at Craven Cottage five weeks later, the north Londoners began to stutter.

Whilst the 1-0 victory over Everton on December 10 saw the Gunners rise temporarily into the top four, an unconvincing win over QPR by the same scoreline followed by a stalemate with Wolves suggested a false horizon.

Combined with injuries in defence and an uncomfortable lack of options elsewhere on the field, there have once again been calls for the manager to dip into the transfer market this month.

Thierry Henry’s second coming may have been marked by a glorious moment in the 1-0 FA Cup victory over Leeds and only a cynic would try to detract from it. Yet would a manager as headstrong, or stubborn, as Wenger have readily acquired a former player at 34 years of age for a six-week period two seasons ago?

One thinks not. Even then in the 2009-2010 campaign Arsenal were being questioned as they finished third but 11 points off the pace as Chelsea secured the title. And if the following year's League Cup final loss to Birmingham City, which all but ensured the club’s trophy drought would extend to a seventh year, was regarded as a worsening of affairs, then the current dip has been almost expected.

Robin van Persie’s inclusion in the world-class bracket needs no more mention, but aside from that, Wenger’s side is lacking in players whose quality is matched by consistency – Alex Song benig possibly the only exception to the rule which has dogged the Gunners so frequently this year.

The Dutchman is flanked by players who produce and frustrate in equal quantities in Walcott, Gervinho and Andrey Arshavin, and whilst a midfield of Arteta, Song and Aaron Ramsey is not to be frowned upon, it lacks the incisiveness of the one occupied by Nasri and Fabregas.

Unquestionably, however, the fulcrum of Arsenal’s woes continue to lie in defence. The Gunners have the worst away defensive record in the Premier League with 25 goals conceded, three more than relegation candidates Blackburn and Bolton.

That tally is equal to Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool’s combined total of goals conceded on the road, while the fact that the ‘Invincibles’ of 2003-2004 yielded 26 in the entire season both home and away provides the perspective to just how far Arsenal have fallen.

             False dawn | Arsenal were defeated at Swansea despite taking an early lead

Such statistics are worthy of condemnation, and the form which has led to them was once again on display as Brendan Rodgers’ side took advantage of further defensive lapses on Sunday.

Ramsey may have been judged unfortunate to have fouled Nathan Dyer in the build-up to Swansea’s equalising penalty, but for the wideman’s goal to make it 2-1, the Welshman capped an unhappy return to his home nation as he cheaply lost possession to Joe Allen, who took the opportunity to assist.

Just as hapless was stand-in left-back Ignasi Miquel. The young Spaniard has looked unconvincing so far in the early days of his Arsenal career, and with an injury crisis at full-back forcing the 19-year-old’s inclusion, his inadequacies out of position were fully exposed by Dyer. It is doubtful Wenger will be convinced a temporary loan solution is worthwhile, however.

Perhaps more concerning was the out-of-sorts performance from centre-back duo Laurent Koscielny and Mertesacker. The German was slow and positionally poor – sloppiness punished by the Swansea attack, although the 27-year-old had been displaying signs of gradual adjustment to the Premier League.

Koscielny has shown the improvement that Wenger will hope from the ex-Werder Bremen man. With a series of assured performances since the turn of September, the 26-year-old was arguably becoming the first-choice partner to Thomas Vermaelen.

And it is in the Belgian’s absence that the form of Koscielny and Mertesacker individually has dipped, and in turn reverberated to the Arsenal backline as a whole.

Vermaelen may possibly be available for the visit of Manchester United to the Emirates on Sunday, as the Gunners look to exact revenge for the 8-2 humiliation at the hands of Sir Alex Ferguson’s men in August – the result which prompted Wenger’s latest rebuilding project.

Yet no greater example of the true predicament in north London is the fact that as Manchester United’s period of transition pits them against Manchester City and Tottenham in a bid to reclaim the title, Arsenal’s has led to a battle to even be considered contenders next season.