Arsenal - No Guts, No Glory

I am not an Arsenal fan but i like their attacking football. This article is taken from Goal.com and although none of them are my thoughts, i must agree with every word of it :) :)

Arsenal - No Guts, No Glory


What a poor few weeks this has been for Arsenal’s hopes of being crowned Premiership champions. Indeed, all Arsenal fans should look away now, as a recap of their recent Premiership form makes for less than pleasant reading.
The Gunners are without a win in the league since February 11th, and have managed to claim only a paltry four points out of a possible fifteen. Simply put, it is a shocking collapse - more reminiscent of relegation form than that of title contenders. Newcastle United, Fulham and Sunderland have all taken more points from their last five games.
This disappointing run included this Sunday’s crucial 2-1 defeat to title rivals Chelsea, in a game that provides a worrying microcosm of the current problems afflicting the Arsenal team.
Although the Gunners managed to take the lead through Bacary Sagna’s first goal for the club, the stage was then set for Ivorian powerhouse Didier Drogba to play the key role in Chelsea’s emphatic comeback, with the striker scoring the two goals that saw the men from Stamford Bridge usurp Arsenal in the chasing pack behind league leaders, Manchester United.
However, not only was the loss itself a bitter blow to the Gunners' title aspirations, but as Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger noted after the game, “I feel we have some defensive problems which we need to sort out. We got caught on the long balls and the physical battle."
Anyone who saw the style in which Chelsea pummelled Arsenal with sheer ferocity after going behind will agree fully with the Arsenal manager’s rather honest assessment of his team's weakness.
Whilst it is to Arsene Wenger’s credit that he has been able to assemble a team capable of proving the point that football is 'the beautiful game', there comes a point where necessity must come hand in hand with artistry if a team is to fully prosper.
As such, there can be no doubt that the soft underbelly displayed by the Arsenal backline bullied into submission by Chelsea is their Achilles' heel. This seemed to be something that Arsene Wenger was previously aware of, with his title winning Arsenal teams of the past being manned by players of the physical capabilities of Tony Adams, Martin Keown and Patrick Vieira.
Indeed, even flying French winger Robert Pirès stood at a height of over 6 feet. Whilst all these players were capable of reaching the high technical standard expected by Wenger, they were also able to stand up tall in the face of the challenges presented by the less complex and more basic nuances of the game.
This, however, cannot be said of the current Arsenal team that boasts a first choice backline consisting of no player that stands above 6 feet tall, and which has exhibited an alarming inability to prosper in the overtly physical world that is the Premiership.
Indeed, they did earlier in the season - fresh and in peak form. For that, they deserve due credit. But with the demands peaking as the season moves into overdrive, and a couple of injuries here and there, all of a sudden, opponents saw something to aim at.
This Sunday’s match against Chelsea more than proved this viewpoint, with the Arsenal midfield being over ran by the power of Michael Essien when he was switched to his more favoured central position, and a defence that simply could not withstand the Blues' striking duo of Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba, when Chelsea manager Avram Grant made the all important decision to introduce the ex-Arsenal striker to the fray.
Whilst it would undoubtedly serve as a blow to Wenger’s ego, he really should look no further than the examples set by his fellow title contenders if he is to see the blueprint of what it will take to get Arsenal’s name back on the Premiership crown.
How often will you see Chelsea's centre back pairing of John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho be run ragged and physically undermined? Even in their worst games, that is very unlikely to be the case.
Furthermore, Wenger should also see the doctrine laid out by Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United side, in which players of an exuberance and flair to match the brilliance of Wenger’s own side are backed up by an ironclad defence that has managed to concede a miserly 15 goals in the league so far this season.
It is imperative for Arsenal that he starts setting up defences of the quality of Manchester United’s and Chelsea’s to stand any hope of ending his side's four year wait to claim another Premiership trophy - now set to become at least five.
However, the Arsenal backline will be unnerved to find out that this weekend’s fixture list sees them travel to Bolton Wanderers, who, in the Sam Allardyce era, had made a canny habit of roughing Arsenal up. It might be easier this time - with Anelka having made his impact on Sunday - but the damage might already have been done, one fears.
We love your football Arsene, but some steel in the midriff would not hurt.