Source: Daily_Mail
Martin Samuel: Arsenal's familiar failings still dog Arsene Wenger
The problem for Arsenal is that the longer this continues - this run of nearly, of almost, of what might be - the harder it becomes to rebuff the claim of Patrice Evra that Arsenal have mutated into no more than football's greatest finishing school.[LNB]There has to be an end product, measured in trophies won, if this is not to be another season of useless beauty. At times, Arsenal's football is so exceptional it feels almost sacrilegious to question the direction of Arsene Wenger. Yet this was not one of those times.[LNB]Arriving at Old Trafford top of the League, Arsenal failed to put it up to Manchester United, forcing barely a save from goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. The margin was small but the best team won. Had Wayne Rooney scored his penalty, two goals would have separated the teams, a more accurate reflection of United's superiority.[LNB] New faces, same old story: Arsenal's hopeless record against the other top clubs continued at Old Trafford with a 1-0 defeat[LNB]In this way, it was a depressing evening. The same old failings may pull Arsenal up short again, and that is a source of continued frustration. Whatever Wenger might think, his team could do with a major signing in the transfer window, they could do with the match-winning quality an outlay of £30million might bring, and they could do with a world-class goalkeeper. [LNB] More from Martin Samuel... Martin Samuel: There's never a dull moment in Harry's game at Tottenham12/12/10 Martin Samuel: There's only Chelsea left for Tevez if he stays in England...12/12/10 MARTIN SAMUEL: Jacko's rave from the grave is no Thriller10/12/10 Martin Samuel: Hughton's end was a tawdry business, you can bet on it07/12/10 Martin Samuel: Bad luck Australia but the rain owed England one 07/12/10 MARTIN SAMUEL: Aussies pray for more rain after sinking to new depths06/12/10 Martin Samuel: 1,137 reasons why Australia look like mugs05/12/10 Martin Samuel: World Cup corruption... another nail in the coffin05/12/10 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE Evra's words were disrespectfulconsidering Arsenal's wonderful contribution to the Premier League, buthe is not alone in regarding Arsenal as a college rather than achallenge. Jose Mourinho is perhaps the most openly disparaging ofWenger's project, but others are equally dismissive, if not publicly.[LNB]Here is one theory, advanced to me by a senior football man only recently. Wenger does not buy big because then he will have to deliver a trophy. While he chooses to build his team on a self-imposed budget, based on youth development, there will always be mitigation for nights like this. [LNB]The moment he throws money at it, like Sir Alex Ferguson, Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Mancini at Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City, there will be no excuses. He loses at Old Trafford then and there is no hiding place.[LNB]We seem to spend each season highlighting the same deficiencies at Arsenal. How many times has the pedigree of the goalkeepers been debated? And here we go again. Arsenal did not lose to Manchester United because Wojciech Szczesny, a 20-year-old from Warsaw, was in goal, but even so, should he have been?[LNB]Wenger's refusal to address an obvious weakness in his squad is nothing if not curious. Szczesny has talent and potential and made two excellent saves in the second half, but he should not have been exposed to this. [LNB]Wenger should have secured a world-class goalkeeper for Arsenal long ago; instead they were reduced to bickering over the fee for Fulham's Mark Schwarzer in the summer. The difference in valuation between the clubs was said to be as little as £1million. Winning the league is worth at least 30 times that; hardly makes sense, does it? [LNB]True, Manchester United's winner looped into Arsenal's goal as much by luck as judgment and, for any other team, that would be dismissed as just one of those things. But this is not any other team. This is Arsenal and these players are on the brink of delivering on all of Wenger's most fanciful predictions. They just need one last push. [LNB] Out of his depth? Should 20-year-old Wojciech Szczesny been thrown in to the mix against Manchester United?[LNB]So, when they go down by one goal atOld Trafford and surrender the summit of the Premier League, we lookfor clues. And there in Arsenal's goal is Szczesny a fine prospectand yet to concede in the Carling Cup this season, but this isManchester United away, and it is his Premier League debut. He is halfthe age of Van der Sar at the opposite end. Is this any way to win atitle? [LNB]Arsenal had rotten luck with injuries prior to this game, no doubt about that. Manuel Almunia is out of favour and, when his understudy Lukasz Fabianski picked up a knock, Wenger had little option but to relegate him to the bench and pick the third choice instead.[LNB]Yet, looking along that cast list, is there anyone in Arsenal's goalkeeping roster with the pedigree of a title winner? Think Van der Sar, Petr Cech, imposing figures who have long been regarded among the best in the world. Then consider that Arsenal's first choice is not even a squad player for Spain, and their second conceded a goal last season when he turned his back on the play to argue a decision with the referee.[LNB] Lonely place: Arsene Wenger is running out of excuses as to why his teams cannot find that extra edge[LNB]Then there is Szczesny: a callow reserve thrown into one of the biggest matches of the season. He made a fine save when Anderson was put in by Wayne Rooney early in the second half and denied a vicious chip from Rooney, but his positioning for the goal was unfortunate and his distribution nervous in the extreme.[LNB]His first kick went straight to a red shirt 30 yards from goal and in the first half he did a better job picking out United's forward line than some of Ferguson's midfield.[LNB]For the goal, he was in no man's land, not far enough off his line to influence the play, not back protecting his goal. The ball arrived with Park Ji-sung courtesy of a fortuitous deflection, which did not help, but any header that goes in soft and loopy will be a frustration to a goalkeeper.[LNB]It was not Szczesny's fault that Arsenal lost, but whether he should have been in that predicament is another question, A recurring one, unfortunately. [LNB] Man United 1 Arsenal 0: Park swings it as Fergie's men go topPREMIER LEAGUE LIVE: Manchester United 1 Arsenal 0 - the action from Old Trafford as it happenedWin FIFA 11 signed by Wayne Rooney and an Xbox 360 4GB courtesy of EA SportsARSENAL FC
