All the *wtf* moments belong to us:
First Diaby with his head scratching header that led to an own goal against Man Utd. The difference between a draw and a defeat. Then Almunia’s bounce of the head from a bounce of the goalpost into the goal which gave City the lead and dampened a bright Arsenal start. Goalposts, crossbars, own goals, opposing players clearing off the goal line, dives, fouls, Wenger’s ejection and meandering thereafter at Old Trafford, and Shay Given all contribute to the plethora of *wtf* moments in Arsenal’s early season.
Arsenal is mentally a “soft” club:
Mental breakdowns, lapses in concentration, flagging defensive intensity. Utd scored its goals in a span of less than 10 minutes shortly into the second half. City went one better scoring three goals in 10 minutes after RVP evened the score. Arsenal seems to lose focus at the 50+ mark. Whether it is an over commitment to offense, a sense of complacency brought on by different scoring sources, or defensive errors, it is clear that Arsenal is doing less to keep clubs from scoring.
The oppositional defiant disorder:
Wenger went out of his way to praise Abou Diaby as he compared him to Patrick Vieira after the Portsmouth match. Since then Diaby has disappeared. In fact, he has become a defensive liability. As soon as Song is singled out as a tower of strength, he is guilty of atavism in the following match. There should be a moratorium in all such instantaneous comparisons till after the season since it is first highly disrespectful to Vieira or Bergkamp or whomever and secondly and more importantly, it is simply not true. But it is not just Diaby, Denilson, and Song. Even Cesc has faded after a bright start.
Arshavin! Arshavin! Arshavin!
Its amazing how the Russian has implanted himself in the subconscious in such a short while. He is like an engram. Darren Fletcher’s anti-football tactics were centered around bringing down Arshavin and he had fans wondering whether the City game would have ended in a draw if he had played yesterday. He is the prime mover in the 4-3-3 formation. Without him, Arsenal look straight down the pipe. With him or without him, the Arshavin effect is the most discussed phenomenon amongst Arsenal forums.
Arsenal are and will always be ball hogs whatever the outcome:
An oldie but goody. The possession game is an Arsenal staple. In fact, I wager if possession was the entire story then Man Utd and Chelsea would be two matches short in the win column every season in the Wenger era. And so it was with Utd and City in these fixtures. Pointless possession sounds paradoxical because one needs to have the ball to score and the more one has the ball, the odds are that you will score. Of course, clubs throughout suffer such cruel fate but Arsenal has virtually trademarked it.