The thing with Cup finals...

Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
27 Feb	4:00 PM	LC	Birmingham City (N)	1	2	Lost

The thing with cup finals is that there is no redemption. No chance of forgiveness. And certainly at the moment Laurent Kosicelny and Wojciech Szczesny decided to make mess of a rudimentary clearance one minute before full-time, there was set to be no reprisals. It may go on to be a symbolic moment of Arsenal's season, for better or for worse, but for many others, it highlights a very apparent issue with the team; that of a lack of leadership. It is, of course, very superficial to blame that moment, as an example of Arsenal's need for leaders but it perhaps displays a certain lack of assertiveness and ruthlessness of the situation that is missing in the side. Arsenal's use of a number of different captain's during the course of the season (Fabregas, Squillaci, Nasri, van Persie, Rosicky and Almunia have all donned the armband) has been, and rather bafflingly it must be said, been used against them as an argument for their failure to pin down a dominant captain.

Cesc Fabregas was out, so the biggest issue should have remained how Arsenal would cope without their key chance creator but the failure to talk about the game tactically always happens when a final is abound.

Arsenal started decently although at the same time did Birmingham City. The Blues lined up in a midfield packed with central midfielders and they did so in the hope that one of them could get on the end of one of Nikola Zigic's knock downs. It was Birmingham's biggest threat and Arsenal's problems stemmed from failure to deal with that. They did, however, score from two set-pieces and mentally, after the way they conceded the first, were always weary when a ball came in. Arsenal was too sloppy in possession. The pitch looked as good as it has ever been but perhaps not up to Emirates standards and cut up in the North London rain. It's doesn't serve as an excuse and rather, Birmingham hassles and pressed Arsenal up the pitch to stop them passing. Bakary Sagna's poor pass was seized upon in the build up to the first goal and nearly as a carbon copy of the goal The Gunners conceded in the 2-1 win earlier this season, Keith Fahey aimed a diagonal to Zigic's head. Birmingham won a corner and the Serbian diverted the ball in.

Wenger knew Birmingham would press through the centre so he tried, as he has throughout the season, to push Jack Wilshere and Alex Song up when Arsenal had it deep. It initially looked like it was working but Arsenal looked like they missed a ball circulator when the defenders had the ball so Arsenal's failure to play the ball out better can be as a result of that. Nevertheless Birmingham pressed up the pitch whenever possible.

Their second advantage from the five-man midfield was that they always outnumbered Arsenal. They had three in the centre vs two so whenever they broke forward, had an extra man. Tomas Rosicky, who was playing the Cesc Fabregas role, was culpable of not making a third man in midfield whenever Arsenal defended. The Gunners did their best to make sure the numerical disadvantage didn't show and as always, continued playing their football. Their technical superiority created triangles around Birmingham and got their reward when Robin van Persie finished brilliantly from Arshavin's cross. The Russian's movement was particularly good in creating Arsenal's best chances and he continually roamed inside from the left to link up with the midfield players. But as it is always with Arshavin, his energy levels are below 90 minutes and was taken off in the second half.

Wenger wanted control in the second half so he told Samir Nasri to drop deeper so that Arshavin could play higher. As a result, the Frenchman got a lot of the ball and was behind most of Arsenal's good moves. They dominated the middle periods of the second half but lacked the telling bite. Wilshere's fitness regressed, which was a shame because he was the best player on the pitch. Alex Song couldn't get any fluency, so it was a bit surprising Wenger didn't bring on Abou Diaby, who, Bob Wilson showed surprise at his exclusion. Wenger threw on his two forwards - not a bad move considering van Persie received a knock - but Arsenal was needing freshness a bit lower down the field because that's where Birmingham's strengths were. They could later pack the midfield and Alex McLeish sent on 40-something, Obafemi Martins, to give them legs on the counter.

As it was, a mistake cost Arsenal the defeat. Single moments can decide a match (although a wrong offside decision early on could have been dangerous to Arsenal early on) but it's Wenger's job to look at the bigger picture. Breaking down sides like Birmingham remains his life ambition and certainly the team missed Fabregas and subsequently the dynamism of van Persie. The defensive issue, however, remains he could treat with more pragmatism and the mistake from rookie goalkeeper and centre-back is not an isolated case. Wenger can't forecast those moments but at least in the goalkeeping position, he should have been more ruthless.

The knock-on effects this defeat could have cannot be predetermined. But what Wenger knows is that he is ahead of the game in football strategy and his team has massive potential - a term which shouldn't be taken at face value given the wider picture. His team remains ever closer to dominating English football for years to come. This season has seen a progress in combination, efficiency, bond and integration but unfortunately, silverware still eludes Arsenal. For the time being.

User Comments

User Comments

• Got something to say?
• Read comments

Vs chelsea