You might think that Arsenal should be scoring more goals, considering that with the likes of Santi Cazorla, Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey we have the most potent attack when it comes to creating chances. But I do not think that this is our main problem.
The strikers were certainly guilty of missing too many of those chances in the early stages of the season but Walcott, Giroud and Alexis have sharpened up and given the Gunners a real cutting edge. The biggest problem, in my opinion, is that too much pressure is being put on our attack minded players. In the table of most creative EPL players on Squawka.com, Santi Cazorla is way out in the lead of points scored, while only Toure and Hazard have more than Ozil and, surprisingly, Monreal.
So when managers prepare their sides to face Arsenal they know that they will have to be very organised, hard working and committed and that makes it hard for us, but you expect that. What we should not expect is to keep giving soft goals away at the other end and that is our big problem.
While Arsenal have to be at our best and work really hard to break teams down, often needing to score a worldie, all they need is a few counter attacks or a couple of attempts on goal. And that must be demoralising for the likes of Alexis and Walcott. That third goal against Olympiacos certainly took the wind out of our sails.
Defensive lapses and individual errors are not only making it harder for Arsenal to win, they are making it harder for us to score as there is more pressure on our attackers and the opposition can afford to focus more on their own defending.
The big question is, what can we do about it?