Five things we learned as Arsenal suffered a painful evening at home
It will surely be said by so many after that Arsenal performance against Paris Saint Germain, but it really was the same old, same old from the Gunners.
Flopping when they can least afford to and having defensive troubles in November, the familiarities of previous years echoed around the Emirates Stadium. Arsene Wenger is a couple of defeats away from the sort of early winter crisis that is becoming the trademark of his time at the club.
Legacies and previous successes are forgotten on nights like Wednesday for Arsenal. It is about here, now and the short-term prospects for the club. Although it could end up being almost irrelevant, it will still sting that such a glaring opportunity to top the group was missed out on yet again.
Repeating the same action and expecting different consequences is the very height of frustration. What is next for Arsenal we cannot tell, but we most certainly learnt a few things from their fortuitous draw with PSG.
November Curse Continues
The nonsense of Arsenal’s November curse is looking less nonsensical by the week.
A third poor performance in a row for the Gunners raises many, many questions about the management of Arsene Wenger. Challenging matches is one thing, but the displays that Arsenal have produced – in stark contrast to earlier in the season – have been shambolic.
Alexis Delivers
Despite an appalling first half from Arsenal, they managed to go in for their oranges on level terms.
In part that was down to Alexis Sanchez once again. The powerful Chilean looked a little lethargic at times during the first half, but he produced the quick feet when it mattered to win the penalty.
Cavani will do
His chance conversion is not quite at the elite level, but Edinson Cavani is more than adept to lead the line for a team as good as PSG.
Leaving Arsenal’s centre-backs in a mess with his intelligent, well-timed runs, Cavani – despite his critics – is the sort of striker that could really transform Arsenal.
Wenger still doesn’t know
Imbalance in the Arsenal midfield, death, taxes – you know how this thing goes.
Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin were named in the deepest midfield roles for the visit of PSG and it was a failure, unsurprisingly. Without a player who can build from deep, possession was clumsy coming through the pairing as Santi Cazorla was sorely missed once again.
Xhaka cannot be trusted
For whatever reason, Arsene Wenger does not seem to have a great deal of faith in his big money summer signing.
This links well into the last slide, in fact. Xhaka could be the man to balance the midfield, as he offers both the ability to break up play and pass from deep. Instead, he was left on the bench and shouted at when he made an error of judgement late on.