Our Boy in the Clock End
By Nick MacWilliam
The immediate aftermath of watching Arsenal limp out of European competition is not a time that I usually bask in objectivity or clarity of thought. I’ve seen it enough times now.
But in spite of this recurring theme, there was something baffling, as well as wholly predictable, about Arsenal’s exit to PSV Eindhoven. If you didn’t know it was possible to be both these things at once, then Arsenal have surely proven that it is: while they can sometimes have the finesse of Mozart, they can also have the killer instinct of Elton John.
The baffling aspect isn’t that they lose in such a manner, but that they continue to lose in such a manner. It’s not as if it’s new to this season, either. Let’s look at recent games. Chelsea in the Carling Cup final: Arsenal dominate possession, but fail to convert chances, before succumbing to a late winner. Blackburn in the FA Cup: Arsenal dominate possession over two games, before succumbing to a late winner. PSV Eindhoven in the Champion’s League: Arsenal dominate possession over two games before succumbing to a late away goal. They also let in late goals in the cups against Spurs and Bolton after bossing the park, but fortunately they’re both rubbish.
Okay, so there was no shame in the boys losing to Chelsea. But Blackburn and PSV made such little offensive effort in the four games we played against them that it became obvious they would score late tie-clinchers. The law of sod. It’s such a familiar story. Pass your opponents to death, resist several opportunities to shoot, miss open goal, repeat sequence, concede softly from set piece. It’s becoming a trademark. And virtually every team is aware of it. They all know that if they defend resolutely for eighty minutes, Arsenal will gift them a few golden opportunities in the closing stages. You could put a brick next to a calculator and it would show more ambition than PSV. Yet still we contrive to lose.
Arsenal have been worryingly profligate at times in front of goal for a few years now. But this time it’s terminal. How about the string of home games earlier in the season when teams managed as many goals as shots? All season long, they’ve huffed and puffed, not to mention danced and pranced, and sometimes the substance has been there with the style. Think back to those heady days of January as Arsenal knocked Liverpool out of both cups, embarrassed Spurs and beat Man U late on. Throw in a very untypical 10-man victory at Blackburn and the only way looked up. Then Arsenal rediscovered their early-season form and the season is more or less over without a title challenge or cup final to look forward to for the first time, by my reckoning, in ten years.
Next year, of course, will be different (again). As I’m sure you know, Arsenal’s youth of today are the purist total footballing Gods of the future. I know everyone says it but I’m inclined to agree. In five years’ time we could well be celebrating a third consecutive European Cup triumph. However, until the next generation of superkids blossoms fully, we should expect a few more repeats of recent performances. It’s the Arsenal way.
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