Written by The Arsenal Kid.
I don’t think in recent years, we have had such dreadful home form so early in the season. Even the last time we threw away the championship in 2006 after the St Andrews fiasco, we didn’t lose so badly at home.
Throughout the past few seasons, our home defeats have come at the hands of Chelsea, Manchester United and the occasional blips at places like Hull, Blackburn or Bolton. Never had we lost at home consecutively to teams like Newcastle and Spurs.
So what is happening to us at the Emirates? I have watched the second half against Spurs countless times since Saturday and I still can’t figure out how we lost the match. It is not like Spurs were out-muscling us all over the pitch. For what I saw, they beat us on pure passion and desire. Whereas the defeats against Chelsea and West Bromwich was mainly down to our lack of sharpness in front of goal, we can’t even use that excuse in the last two defeats.
Our performances at the Emirates have been lacking enthusiasm and passion. There was no desire or drive among the players. Leadership from the senior players were also lacking. Cesc’s performance as skipper in the second half was simply dreadful. No only did he gave away the penalty, he did not show enough as a leader to push the team when the going was tough.
This is really disturbing for the fans. In a year where so much is expected of them, they are not showing what they are capable of. Even the victories over Everton and Wolves were labored one and we could have even lost those matches if not for the keeper and the opposition’s weak forward line.
I like to think that this is just a temporary loss of confidence at home, especially in the month of November where we traditionally struggle. However, my gut tells me that there is a deeper problem running through the team.
Some supporters may disagree with me but I think Cesc is a problem. His performances has affected the team and although he has sparkled at times, he needs to do more as team captain. Arsene has to be brave enough to take out the captain should he not perform up to expectations. Like it or not, our season is very dependent on our skipper and what the Professor intends to do about him.
