Arsenal: Troy Deeney absolutely nails their limp, pathetic attitude

Arsenal were lapse, absent, and shambolic in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Watford, and Troy Deeney’s post-match comments absolutely nail their issues to a tee.

That was dreadful. With Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil on the sidelines, it was likely that Arsenal were always going to have to be workmanlike and industrious in their search for three points against Watford on Saturday. Arsene Wenger picked a combative and hardened side, not the technically proficient, pass-first, slight sides that he usually selects.

And although they did not deserve it, they entered the break with a slender one-goal lead. All they had to do was see out a game against a lesser team that were struggling for any semblance of quality or threat in the attacking third. But they couldn’t do it. They folded. They collapsed. They crumbled under the pressure.

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The key moment in the second half came after Richarlison looked to burst past Hector Bellerin. A wayward left foot from the Spaniard was duly accepted by the Watford attacker, who dived, winning the penalty, and offering Troy Deeney the perfect chance to equalise, which he duly did. It was not a penalty. The referee was wrong. But Deeney, rightly, states that that wasn’t the reason for why Arsenal lost:

"“I’ve heard Wenger’s already blaming that’s [the penalty] the reason they lost <…> But there’s a reason they lost and it’s not because of one penalty. [The reason is not] having a bit of cojones, having a bit of nuts. Whenever I play Arsenal, I go up and I think ‘let me whack the first one’ and let’s see who wants it. And I come on today, I jumped up with Mertesacker <…> and they all just backed off. So for me, as a player, I just go ‘happy days’. Because that’s my strength. If you’re gonna let me do my strength against you, you’re in for a tough afternoon.”"

Such hard-hitting comments are rare to hear from the careful, considered, reserved, modern-day footballer. They are trained to say much without say a lot. But Deeney, who is refreshingly honest during his interviews and his assessments of Watford and their games, was willing to nail Arsenal for their issues: They lack balls. That was, in totality, his point. And he is absolutely spot on.

Many will bemoan the lack of cutting-edge quality thanks to the absence of Sanchez and Ozil. Many will bemoan lapse refereeing decisions. Many will bemoan the bad luck with rebound after rebound for the winning goal. But, as the cliche goes, this is a game that title-winning teams win. Anyway, anyhow, anywhere, and anytime. They win. The Gunners did not.

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And it is because of the limp attitude that Deeney exposes. This is a soft-centred, pressure-buckling, spine-lacking, white-flag-raising team, and for as long as the nicety culture exists at Arsenal, titles and trophies will not.

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