For most Arsenal fans, the draw against Crystal Palace over the weekend is no surprise. It is not the first time our precious club would be in the lead with a comfortable goal range and end up throwing it away. So when Jordan Ayew had put in the equalizer in the 52nd minutes of the game, it had been one of those moments for me. My club is full of surprises but not bottling a lead – the bestcasinosites24.co.uk agreed, as Arsenal were 1.09 to win the game in-play after their second goal went in.
What was hard to understand however was why Unai Emery has continued to play with a formation that clearly does not allow Arsenal to play the game style we’ve known it to play. And also, why the manager has refused to use Mesut Ozil again when it was obvious the midfield is not creative enough to make chances.
The Arsenal I watched yesterday is a defensive Arsenal and as much as we all hate to admit, it was an eyesore seeing us defend against Crystal Palace. It then births the question I’ve been looking for an answer to since the match ended yesterday night: ‘What happens when we play against a tougher club?’
In what seemed like a circus of clowns, it was also interesting to watch two of our centre-backs step up to score the two goals we had in the match. First, it was Sokratis who managed to put himself elusively in an open position to kick in a beautiful goal in the 7th minute, then again David Luiz in the 9th minute. As much as I wanted to ask what our forwards were doing on the pitch and what their input was for the rest of the game, I was happy we had the game in the bag.
Then things changed for Arsenal in the second half of the game. Firstly, it was Calum Chamber’s tackle that led to a penalty, finely put in by Crystal Palace midfielder, Luka Milivojevic and then a poor defending – because David Luiz could have done better – that led to the second goal from Jordan Ayew.
In all of these, what I have been able to pinpoint was Emery’s lack of organization. His team was a total mess to watch, and his ego will not let him admit the problem is in him shunning the creative midfielder who has created a total of 64 big chances for Arsenal in the Premier League.
More often than not, the question pops up on why Unai Emery has continued to let one of the best creative midfielders in the world sit on our bench while we have a problem coordinating our attack. A reporter even asked Unai Emery during the week after our Europa League game against Vitoria on why Emery didn’t use Ozil and his response only gave him away as one who has a grudge against the German international.
Now that fans have started clamoring for him to use Ozil, obviously tired of Emery’s strong headedness on the issue, the coach has a big decision to make: Either start using Ozil and undermine his own authority or continue watching the disgraceful fall of Arsenal from the top under his watch.
Needless to say that many Arsenal fans had already started asking for Emery to be sacked. His days might be numbered in the club, but his reaction to the looming problem will be the answer to the questions left unattended to.
