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What’s gone wrong for Arsenal?
- Updated: December 19, 2016
Arsenal’s suffered their second 2-1 away defeat of the week on Sunday to slip nine points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea.
The Gunners had led at both Everton and Manchester City but on both occasions were pegged back for damaging losses.
Here, we look at five factors behind their faltering title challenge…
Mentality
Arsene Wenger had made a point of praising his team’s character and resilience after their 3-1 comeback win over Stoke nine days ago. It’s a symbolic fixture for the Gunners, given their recent struggles and run-ins with the Potters, and the three points – which temporarily took them top of the Premier League – were celebrated as a milestone moment.
But, for all that talk of strength of mind and fighting spirit, in their next two games Arsenal have surrendered two 1-0 leads to lose at Goodison Park and the Etihad Stadium.
“It’s a horrible week,” Wenger told Sky Sports, before pointing to offside goals which didn’t go his side’s way against City and blaming a busy schedule of away matches for dropping physically in the second half. “But the mentality is strong and we have to respond now.”
It appears to be a recurring message, a perception he’s trying to instil in either his players, the public or both about his side’s ability to battle back from disappointments. Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville isn’t convinced. “I disagree with his last point, that the mentality is strong,” he said. “I don’t think it is. They keep falling short.”
It’s an aspect Graeme Souness picked up on, too. “It’s a mirror image of the Everton game,” he said of the result against City. “You say, what did Everton do tactically, did they do something dramatically to change the way the game was going? No they didn’t. They were just more aggressive all around the park. The biggest reason for the change today was City became an aggressive team and they were first to everything in that first half.”
It’s something Wenger must address – and with more than just words to the …
