Arsenal vs West Brom: 5 Brutal Things We Learned

Arsenal were wholly and thoroughly defeated at the Hawthorns and it was an eye-opening experience. Here are five things we learned from the brutality.

Arsenal had lost three of their last four Premier League matches going into the Hawthorns. But they hadn’t just lost them, they had been embarrassed. The matches were full of a disgusting lack of fight, desire, hunger, or any sort of propelling quality.

But we had been here before. Arsenal gets in these ruts, then they find a way to fight out of it and end up in the top four. It really is remarkable in its own right, but at this point, it’s the same old story. Why do we always have to fight out of a hole at the last minute?

This match had the set up of the game where the Gunners flip the switch, put on a show, and fight until the end of the season, finishing seven points off the top and making it look a hell of a lot closer than it actually way.

But that didn’t happen this time around. What happened this time around was that there was no reaction. At half time, when the team usually rights the ship, all they did was let it sink. There was no fight, no desire, nothing. It was like watching a fire and not being able to put it out.

These five brutal things that we learned from the match are things that we may have known in the back of our heads, but seeing what this team looked like against West Brom just confirmed it. These are the things that have been plaguing us more and more over the years.

And we start with No. 5.

5. Goalkeeping Is Suddenly A Problem

So you sign Petr Cech and you let the more talented of your two keepers, Wojciech Szczesny, scamper off to Roma (on loan, though) while David Ospina remains in town. He has, after all, had himself some promising moments.

Maybe it comes down to confidence, but David Ospina should not be considered an option anymore. He has had questionable decision making in the past, but this was a whole new level of ineptitude. The kind that can make you second guess any further uses.

I’d rather see Emi Martinez in goal at this point.

Next up, let’s keep the individual observations going at No. 4.