Arsenal lost today to Manchester City, their second loss in a week, and questions have to be asked as to why we lost form so swiftly.
The Gunners lost 2-1 from a winning position today, much like they did against Everton in midweek, and we have to look at how, or more why?
We were gifted the lead today when Hector Bellerin was allowed to skip down the field before feeding the ball to Alexis Sanchez, who then perfectly placed the ball under Theo Walcott’s feet on the run to glide into the box, and neatly tuck away.
The rest of the game did not come so easy however, as after the break we were losing every 50-50, and didn’t seem to be fighting for the game as we should have been.
This was hard to watch, especially as only five days earlier we had to watch our side be second best for the second-half against Everton also, a site we have not been used to at all this year.
Arsenal have looked like serious title contenders since the season began, but for whatever reason, this week has been a complete shambles.
Shkodran Mustafi is one player who has missed the recent two matches, but his absence cant be blamed for the sudden loss of impetus from our whole team. Whatever is going on, it appears to be mental.
Are the Arsenal players actually rocked by the Champions League draw? We drew Bayern Munich for the fourth year running at this point of the competition, not qualifying beyond this stage over our rivals, but is it just coincidence?
Santi Cazorla is obvously an important cog in our system, but he has been missing for a while now, and it would be naive to pinpoint our recent dip on his inability to play, although against Man City we would obviously want our best possible XI available.
Losing from a winning position makes it all the more hard to take, and what we can definitely agree on, is that a win on Boxing Day is vital.
Did the CL draw mess with our morale? Is Mustafi THAT important to our team as a whole? Or is it just that time of year again?
Pat J