OLIVIER GIROUD’S celebration epitomised everything that is wrong with Arsenal’s mentality under Arsene Wenger at the moment.
With five minutes to go against a beleaguered, fading Bournemouth outfit who were down to ten men, Arsenal found an equaliser after clawing their way back from 3-0 down.
But instead of grabbing the ball and immediately sprinting back to the halfway line, Olivier Giroud, infuriatingly to me and many around me, chose to celebrate in front of the Arsenal fans imitating his scorpion kick from the weekend.
And this isn’t a personal dig at Olivier, who was the catalyst for Arsenal’s comeback by being involved in all three of the goals. However his mentality of achievement when equalising, after what was a dire 70 minutes of football from the entire team, demonstrated exactly what’s wrong with the ‘settling’ mentality at the club at the moment.
Some are saying that it only cost 45 seconds, some are saying less. But when you only have five minutes remaining, time is at an absolute premium and who knows what Arsenal could’ve achieved if they had time to finish that last attack? More pertinently and something I picked up on, was the mentality after the goal. It was almost as if the team had achieved their target and lost their edge.
Nine points behind Chelsea and drawing away to Bournemouth, the intensity completely went out of our attacking play, with Bournemouth coming closer out of the two to finding a winner. And it’s all to do with mentality, when you feel you’ve achieved, your level will drop. It’s human nature. But a team with a true winning mentality would have gone for the jugular and would’ve saved the celebrations for the winner.
As for the performance? Tepid, lethargic and utterly embarrassing for 70 minutes. Arsenal were both out thought and out fought, with the Cherries passing the ball around the Gunners’ back line at will, as well as dominating them with consistent aerial bombardment. And there’s nowhere for anyone to hide.
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Arsenal have arguably their best squad since the Invincibles, and have players in their ranks who have won World Cups, Copa America’s, played World Cup and European Championship finals.
So, is it the manager? I for one hate pointing the finger straight at The Boss, but these cycles of going on a run, building up hope only to capitulate when it truly matters are becoming far too familiar, and sadly easier to predict. And It’s getting harder to defend him, as he is the one common denominator behind the four/five squads he’s managed since the last title winning team.
The believer in me still holds hope for success this season, and along with the thousands of other Arsenal fans who travel the length and breadth of the land supporting the club, will continue to back them. But there needs to be a serious change in mentality and it needs to happen fast.
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