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Progress, and what constitutes progress, is a nebulous and subjective concept. The debate has raged as the season begins to wind down as to whether Arsenal have made progress compared to last season. On the face of it, the two campaigns look like inverse versions of one another, with the team starting 2013-14 like a steam train only to grind to a halt. This season, the Gunners initially struggled to find the gears, but were able to lose the handbrake in the second half of the campaign.
One consensus that Arsenal fans, and indeed the wider football media, can reach is that where the Champions League is concerned, 2014-15 was very much a case of groundhog day. Arsenal stuttered through the groups into second place behind an off-colour Borussia Dortmund, only to then tumble out of the competition in the first knockout round.
It’s the fifth consecutive season that Wenger’s side have fallen at this fence. This year, the failing was compounded by the stature of the opposition. Whereas Barcelona and Bayern Munich had been recent conquerors – sides that one would expect to beat Arsenal – this year it was Monaco that dealt the fatal blow.
When the draw for the last-16 was made in December, there was an air of quasi-celebration amongst Arsenal fans. Despite finishing second in their group, they had drawn comfortably the weakest of the group winners. (Dortmund drew Juventus). Monaco came into the tie with a formidable defensive record, but unflattering scoring statistics.
The home leg turned out to be the Gunners’ most disastrous night of the season (I am hoping the F.A. Cup Final does not supercede this!). Once again, Arsenal were guilty of looking flat in the opening stages of the game and found themselves two goals behind to the stubborn visitors.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain presented Arsenal with a lifeline in stoppage time with a crucial goal which left Arsenal in much better condition for the second leg. Not ideal of course, but the best looked to have been made of a bad situation. That was until Chamberlain himself carelessly lost possession in the middle of the field and Monaco broke to score again.
Arsene Wenger lamented that his team had thrown caution to the wind too early, playing the game as if it were a one off cup tie, as opposed to a two-legged encounter easing towards its half way stage. Yet this has been a familiar failing for the Gunners in Europe.
The second leg was entirely predictable as the Gunners made up 66.6% of the required ground, winning 2-0 in the principality in the second leg. Good, but not good enough; close but no cigar.
This has been a theme of Arsenal’s last four Champions League exits. First leg capitulation (4-0 v Milan, 3-1 v Bayern x2) followed by semi-redemption and heroic elimination (3-0 v Milan, 2-0 and 1-1 v Bayern). If you flipped Arsenal’s first and second leg scores from the last four seasons, you would be left contemplating some serious surrender. It is rather curious that Arsenal make the same mistakes in the competition no matter who the personnel.
Whilst Arsenal will measure their progress next season against the parameters of the title race, there can be no question that shifting their familiar Champions League inertia will be an urgent priority for 2015-16. Arsene Wenger has a much better squad with far greater pedigree than he had 3 or 4 years ago. The league campaigns show that, with Arsenal no longer scrapping for 4th with Spurs, but it really is high time that the European campaigns reflect the club’s rising status too.
To repeat the same errors next season would not only be very frustrating and beg questions of the manager. It could harm future recruitment too if they can’t elevate their global standing.
