Was it the lack of height that got Ledbitter the goal or the abject abandonment of good defending and tackling? This was atrocious. Song actually put up his hands in apology for the incidental bump on Ledbitter instead of tackling him on the spot. This after Richardson poached the ball right back from the clueless Song.
I just saw Wenger’s post match reaction to the Sunderland game and I got the distinct impression that he was delighted with the point. It has come to this. Games we are supposed to win are slipping away because of crucial lapses in defense.
And its not just set pieces that Arsenal has trouble defending. It has become the depository for spectacular open field goals that make the goals of the week category.
Wenger on the match:
“They congest the middle of the park and we wanted to use a bit more of the flanks. We finished with a 4-4-2 in the last 25 minutes and we looked more dangerus because it suits us a bit more. But it is always difficult to rate whether it was because we were a bit tired or because of the shape. It’s difficult to know.”
So is this surprising? Haven’t other clubs done that before to us successfully. Crowd out the middle. Last season it was Birmingham and then Newcastle. You widen the game, introduce unpredictability by the occasional long ball, take snap shots from the open field. Why does it all have to narrow down to the area in the box for the final tap in?