Arsenal: Diagnosing the symptoms, not the problem

Petr Cech has stated that Arsenal must not give the opposition the first five minutes of the game. While he is right, he has diagnosed the symptoms, not the problem.

In the last three games, Arsenal have committed basic, defensive errors that have led to either goals or chances that perhaps should have been goals.

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They were fortunate against Huddersfield Town, for example, who lacked the requisite cutting-edge in the final third to capatalise. Manchester United and Southampton were not so generous. After 11 minutes last weekend, Arsenal were two goals; after three minutes this weekend, they were one goal down.

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Thankfully, it is a shortcoming that Petr Cech is aware of. Speaking after the Southampton match, the experienced goalkeeper admitted that the Gunners cannot keep allowing opposing teams to gain an early lead, admitting that they were lucky to get a point on Sunday:

"“One thing that is really gutting is that we lost the game against Man United in the first 10 minutes. Today we could have been 3-0 down after 10 minutes again, and I think this is something we need to improve because in this league if you give other teams the advantage in the first five minutes, you make it far more difficult for yourselves. Today, we were lucky to get a point, even if we deserved to get one in the end because we put them under pressure. But we wanted all three.”"

Cech, though, in his comments does not address the problem. The problem is not conceding goals due to defensive errors early in games. That is a symptom of a much deeper-rooted problem. There is a ‘why’ to the what. Cech is merely detailing the what, but it is the ‘why’ that is far more important.

I do not know what the ‘why’ is. But when individual errors are committed at such a painful frequency, they cannot be treated an anomaly, a mistake that will not happen again. There is a culture that is allowing these errors to happen. It could be Arsene Wenger and the coaches, it could be the players, it could be the board and executives.

At some point, there is a breakdown in culture. Arsenal have allowed mediocrity to seep into their play, and the complacency, the naivety, the innocence, and the acceptance have led to players making silly, sloppy, stupid mistakes.

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Cech is not wrong in his assessment of he and his teammates’ issues. Conceding early goals never bodes well. But he does not address the reason for the issue, he only describes the symptoms. I have little confidence in such symptoms not reappearing until the problem is solved, not contained.