The Spine of Glass

For a team to be successful, we all know it needs to be strong down the middle of the pitch. A reliable goalkeeper, with a strong central defensive partnership in front. A midfield capable of destroying and creating in equal measure. A goalscorer up front.

Arsenal arguably have these components in theory, but almost never in practise. To be injury-prone is an Arsenal trademark.

Although Wenger still, unbelievably, refuses to buy an experienced goalkeeper of true quality, Szczesny has looked the best of the revolving bunch this season. He will now miss the rest of the season. Djourou and Vermaelen are the two best centre backs at the club. But they have had no opportunity to forge a partnership. While Vermaelen was impressing last season, Djourou was unavailable. This time around, Djourou has held things together alongside some frankly very erratic partners, while Vermaelen has fallen victim to the injury curse. And now Djourou himself has proven brittle yet again, and Arsenal are left with two apparently incompatible, error-prone defenders to see out the season.

Ahead of the defence, with Denilson and Diaby clearly not good enough to play for Arsenal, and Ramsey recovering from being Shawcrossed, Song, Wilshere and Fabregas established themselves as the unchallenged first choice trio. It is a midfield of flair and invention, even if they can be made to look lightweight at times. But when the back-up players are not up to the task, Arsenal cannot afford to see Cesc Fabregas suffer recurrent hamstring injuries, stalling his season time after time. Now Song too is missing important games, and Wilshere is holding things together despite his youth and inexperience.

Up front, Van Persie is, as proven by his New Year purple patch, a striker of real class. Nobody has ever doubted his ability to score goals, but in the last two seasons his link up play has improved and Arsenal play much better as a team with him in the side. But he is comically brittle and has never stayed fit for close to a full season. Chamakh and Bendtner could be good understudies to someone like Thierry Henry, who could be relied on to bang in goals all season long. Because of Van Persie's frequent, prolonged absences, they are being asked to do too much.

The evidence is that the spine of the Arsenal team is mostly made up of players whose fitness cannot be trusted in. Van Persie and Djourou have always been injury-prone. But after the last two seasons, Fabregas now invites that tag aswell. And Vermalen has been plagued by a problem of Rosickyesque proportions this season.

We still cannot be sure of the reasons. Is it just bad luck? Does Arsene Wenger sign too many brittle players? Is there a problem with the medical staff or with the training regime at the club? Are players rushed back from injury too often? Is the players' physical weakness somehow linked to their obvious mental weakness?

I have only talked about the main players down the middle of the team- no mention here of Abou Diaby's niggling problems, or Theo Walcott's, or Rosicky's. It is difficult to remember a time when Arsenal did not have a lengthy list of short and long term absentees. Worse still, it is difficult to suggest a solution, besides the fanciful one of dropping most of these players and bringing in more durable replacements, which in any case sounds like a recipe for more transition.

Arsenal 0-0 Sunderland...

A disappointment, but a familiar disappointment. For Arsenal to drop points at home to Sunderland ought to be shocking, but it's not a completely unexpected result. Three big reasons for that.
1- Arsenal don't play well under pressure
2- Arsenal don't recover quickly from setbacks
3- Arsenal don't cope well without Cesc Fabregas
With the absences of Song, Walcott and Van Persie added to that list, it was never likely to be as straightforward a game as some assumed.

Bad luck played a part. Their keeper made a couple of great saves. Chamakh crashed a header against the bar. Arshavin sliced wide with Bramble falling all over himself and the Russian. And very late on, the same man was played through by Bendtner, danced around the keeper and rolled the ball in, only to be wrongly flagged offside.

But overall, it was the kind of Arsenal performance the Emirates has seen too many times- a slow start, turning into a frantic siege late on as Arsenal strive to secure a result. Since the move from Highbury easy home wins have never become a regular habit, and if you want another obvious contrast with the team that's going to win the league this season, there you have it. United have, if I'm not mistaken, only dropped home points once all season long. Arsenal have, by way of example, lost at home to West Brom and Newcastle.

The team needs more urgency at the start of games, but perhaps when the midfield features Denilson and Diaby, a lack of fluency is to be expected. The Brazilian has fallen out of favour this season, while the "new Patrick Vieira", as some idiots used to call him, is really a YouTube player who does a couple of amazing things during a game (that usually don't lead to a goal) and otherwise spends his time taking too many touches on the ball, slowing every move down and exhibiting a complete lack of footballing intelligence.

Arsenal created chances, particularly toward game's end, but without Fabregas the chances are never as frequent or as clear. We only really appreciate when he's gone the effortless creativity of the guy. I read recently that, statistically, he makes more chances on average than any other player in Europe. For all Arsenal's attacking midfield players, they find it difficult to replace that surgical precision. And for all the huff and puff of Bendtner and Chamakh, neither can blow houses down like Van Persie. A word even for Walcott, whose raw pace is a rare and precious commodity in the Arsenal squad.

Arsenal's injury problems have surely relaxed Barcelona ahead of the second leg on Tuesday. The man most likely to exploit the open spaces they leave behind them is out. And so is Arsenal's primary source of goals. The stalemate today increases the likelihood that Wenger will risk Fabregas and/or Song, and the way things are going, you wouldn't be surprised if that led to more injury problems. Remember that Fabregas played the first leg last season when clearly not ready, and as a result, wasn't seen for the rest of the season.

It all seems painfully familiar. A promising campaign falling apart in the space of a fortnight. The first two chapters of disaster are complete- the loss of the Carling Cup final, and the loss of vital points in the title race. Getting knocked out of Europe by Barca and of the FA Cup by United would complete a familiar picture.

It seems cruel that while Arsenal fall short of being a very good team, they are also a long way off being a lucky one. On Tuesday night they will need a whole pile of luck. Barca can step up as they like to, and Arsenal without Walcott will likely fail to break behind their high line effectively. And we can hardly expect Messi to be as profligate as in the last game, although you'd also expect Arsenal to defend much better than they did on their last visit to the Nou Camp. If Barca have a huge amount of possession- and there's no reason to expect otherwise- they will make chances. I think they will score a few and go through. Arsenal are unable to play the kind of disciplined game they need to.

It's a pity that the next week has become even more important than it should have been, as a result of that cataclysmic cup final. Because they messed up a relatively simple task, now the success of the season rests on two very difficult ones. If Arsenal cannot beat Birmingham, or Sunderland for that matter, why would the players believe they can win in Barcelona or Manchester? And if those games go badly, will the players have the heart or the energy to keep up with United in the league?

Sometimes it seems this Arsenal team are destined to fail, and that the only thing to be decided is how they do it. So let's sit back and find out.

WEAKNESS: if the mental don't get 'em...

... the physical will











Should Arsenal win the Carling Cup this weekend, the club's harshest critics will rain on their parade, dismiss the competition as an irrelevance, and deny that Arsenal have taken a meaningful step back towards the power and poise they exhibited seven years ago. I disagree. I think that Sunday is a huge day for the club, even if the League Cup in itself is the least important trophy they are fighting for. The first taste of genuine success could be the making of this team; defeat, on the other hand, could mean desolation in this campaign and many more.

Of course, this being Arsenal, injuries have taken hold at the very time the campaign is reaching its highest level of intensity. Fabregas is now, sadly, one of the many Arsenal players who can be called injury-prone. His absence, and that of Walcott, will be felt on Sunday, adding to the pressure on the shoulders of players who have, sometimes, buckled. Vermaelen's continued stint on the treatment table is far from ideal, but Arsenal have been living with that for most of the season. More worrying is the prospect of Van Persie missing out, if he cannot recover in time.

Birmingham are pretty far from formidable, but they will not feel as much pressure as Arsenal will on Sunday. Not much is expected of them. They have a dogged, defensive work ethic throughout the team, and the kind of physicality that can ruffle the feathers of those of a more artistic temperament. Up front, they have Zigic, a towering, immobile lump, the kind of player recent Arsenal defences have struggled to deal with. He opened the scoring at the Emirates this season, and back then, he was acclimatising to the English game. Now we can expect him to play a more substantial role and Arsenal will hope he is not to be a central figure in the final.

Djourou is the man who will be expected to quell whatever sporadic aerial threat Birmingham pose. He and Sczcesny, along with the ever-dependable Sagna, have been instrumental in making Arsenal look a little less brittle in recent months. That the Polish keeper was under threat at times from Stoke's grenades will not have escaped the attentions of Alex McLeish, however. As much as Arsenal will try to win the match on the floor, Birmingham will try to do it in the air. Still, the Gunners defence ought to be confident of producing an effective enough performance and providing a platform for the attackers to go and win the game. Gael Clichy has rediscovered some consistency, and Koscielny, assuming he is able to start, has improved immensely since finding a semi-regular partner in Djourou.

Can Arsenal produce when it matters, and without their talismanic captain? Much may be expected of Nasri, but although many believe that the position of central playmaker is his most natural, he is not yet a player who can shape a game, or indeed provide habitually incisive passes, like Fabregas does. An interesting subplot will be whether Nasri actually plays centrally at all; with Walcott's injury, the Frenchman may prove a more natural right-sided attacker than Bendtner, the other obvious option.

Tomas Rosicky could perhaps step into Fabregas's boots, although, after a promising start, his season has lapsed into inconsistency. Perhaps his goal against Leyton Orient will provide a spark. One man who has found one is Arshavin- the jeers of a few weeks ago no longer ring in the Russian's ears and the goal against Barcelona cemented his rehabilitation- and he is no stranger to shaping the outcome of big games.

Wenger could even, if he chooses, bring Denilson in alongside Song, and allow Wilshere the liberty to roam that his talent probably deserves. But would Birmingham be obvious opposition for the sideways passing and general conservatism of Denilson? Probably not.

After the unfortunate picking off of some of the physically brittle members of the Arsenal squad, those who still stand need to cast away the clouds of mental fragility that have hung over them in recent years. Wenger has constantly praised what he sees as a growing maturity: if Arsenal play in a mature manner, focussed and professional, without compromising the freedom that marks their game at its best, they should end the trophy drought on Sunday. If they fail to play to their abilities and crumble against a mediocre side, some serious, soul-searching questions will need to be asked. NO PRESSURE THEN!

Striker crisis looms?

Arsenal, having sold Adebayor, started the season with only 3 real first-team strikers. Van Persie and Eduardo we all knew to be injury-prone. Question marks remained over Bendtner's ability. A characteristically stubborn Wenger insisted on naming Vela and Walcott as options, when both have only really played upfront in League cup games. And he even mentioned Arshavin, who is clearly a link player. I always thought that the lopsided nature of the squad would lead to trouble at some point. We have so many attacking midfielders/ wingers/ half-forwards, whatever you want to call it, and very little cover in other areas. As mentioned, two of the three players we would realistically be wanting to spearhead the current 4-3-3 are terribly prone to injury- in fact maybe all three now, as Bendtner is facing a longish spell out aswell. There's not enough cover there. And that's not to mention goalkeeper, centre-half, defensive midfield. All potential problem positions if we pick up injuries or suspensions.

Wenger may complain that RVP's been crocked while playing a meaningless friendly. But worrying about Van Persie getting injured is like wondering if the sun is gonna come up. The manager should have ensured that the squad was ready for this. It's not.

Of the players who can now play in the centre-forward position, Eduardo is the most obvious option. While he's been in and out since his return from the leg break, we can hope that those were just the inevitable niggles one suffers upon returning from such rehabilitation, and that he can now put together a run in the side. We all know he's an adept finisher, but it remains to be seen if he can master the role the way Van Persie seemed to be doing lately. I've always thought Eduardo's team play was underrated- he's far from an invisible poacher like Inzaghi, say- but at the same time Van Persie always had the ability to play in team mates and it's not such a natural part of Eduardo's game.

And what if he gets injured? There's no sign of possible emergency options, Walcott and Vela, of late. Maybe Diaby would finally find his true home upfront????

Or we could just try to finish the job that Wenger seems to be moving towards, a free-scoring team with no real focal point in attack, just five total footballers going wherever they choose?

The truth is, coming at a time when he was reaching the best form of his career, Van Persie's injury is a sickening blow.

Arsenal seamlessly rotate injury list

Good news: Rosicky's latest lay-off turned out to be a very short one by his exceptional standards, and he's back in the squad for tomorrow night.

Bad news: clichy looks to be out for a month with a back injury. But at least it's a position that's relatively well-stocked, and Gibbs already has a bit of big-game experience. Indeed, until clichy's recent mini-revival, many were calling for him to be dropped in favour of his promising English understudy.