No defence for this, Arsene!
EASY as one, two, three. Mark Hughes didn’t need to overcomplicate this victory — the message was simple. Get the ball wide, put Arsenal’s fragile defence under pressure and reap the rewards.
This was nothing to do about intensity or the Britannia Stadium resembling a cauldron — the Gunners simply weren’t good enough and couldn’t deal with what was thrown at them. They were outplayed — both in and out of possession.
Hughes sounded as if the Potters had just routinely beaten a Burnley or Leicester, not a team boasting Alexis Sanchez and who have spent more than £ 100million on a revamped squad over the past year.
‘We wanted a fast start, we talked about it beforehand and we felt that if we put the ball into good areas we’d have a chance against the back four we were facing,’ Hughes said.
He certainly got it. Nineteen seconds was all it took for Arsenal’s back four to part ways.
‘They’ll always try to be creative in the final third and rotate and circulate the ball so we talked about how when we did win it, we had to be progressive with our first pass and then drive the game the other way.’
Almost as predictable were the seven words in two telling sentences that will fill a large section of the Arsenal support with serious justification for demanding change at the top. On trying to front up after their season plunged to new depths, Arsene Wenger uttered the sort of reasons for defeat which may come back to haunt him.
Firstly, that ‘anger doesn’t help’, even when three goals down at halftime. Then that ‘we have to learn’ from the mistakes leading up to each goal.
The fans, unfortunately, are tired of hearing it. They want Wenger to lose his cool and address a flimsy backbone; instead he is trotting out the same excuses which now won’t wash with the majority.
‘Of course you’re angry when you’re 3-0 down at Stoke. But anger doesn’t help, you need to see what you can do to come back,’ Wenger said. ‘Honestly, I feel the spirit of the team is great and they want to do well.
‘Stoke were out of the blocks sharper than us and we have to learn from that. I think we were just too tender in the challenges, not decisive on corners and crosses.’
This is from a man who only last week said he expects the Gunners to win a Premier League title before his contract expires in three years. They are a long, long way off and he knows it.
Arsenal were unlocked not by a player of Stoke’s ilk, but one who would look at home at London Colney. Mathieu Flamini was incapable of dealing with Bojan Krkic, signed from Barcelona in the summer, and the visitors never recovered from the early flurry.
Wenger has seen his side fail at the Britannia for the last four years but never before have they been so obviously outplayed. But while it seemed clear where the problems lay, Arsenal, and their ailing manager, failed to address them.
‘You come out of the game and think...’ Wenger said, puffing out his cheeks. ‘It’s unbelievable you didn’t get anything out of this game just because we didn’t start well.’ Frankly, not even Arsene is believing that rationale any longer.
SUPER STAT: Saturday was the first time Arsenal have conceded three goals in the first half against a team other than Chelsea,
Liverpool or Manchester United.
STOKE (4-2-3-1): Begovic 6.5; Bardsley 7.5, Shawcross 7.5, Muniesa 7.5 (Whelan 63min, 6), Pieters 6.5; Nzonzi 8, Cameron 7; Diouf 7 (Adam 69, 5.5), Bojan 8.5 (Huth 86), Walters 8; Crouch 8. Subs not used: Butland, Ireland, Assaidi, Shenton. Booked: Muniesa. Adam, Crouch. Scorers: Crouch 1, Bojan 35, Walters 45.
ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Martinez 4.5; Bellerin 5 (Welbeck 46, 6.5), Chambers 3.5, Mertesacker 3, Gibbs 5; Flamini 5, Ramsey 4.5; Oxlade-Chamberlain 7, Sanchez 7, Cazorla 5; Giroud 4 (Podolski 63, 6). Subs not
used: Szczesny, Koscielny, Ajayi, MaitlandNiles, Campbell. Booked: Gibbs, OxladeChamberlain. Sent off: Chambers. Scorers: Cazorla 68, Ramsey 70.
Man of the match: Bojan. Referee: Anthony Taylor 7.