Arsenal: What is going wrong on the road?

This season, Arsenal have their worst away record during the 21-year Arsene Wenger tenure. It’s fair to ask, then: What is going wrong on the road?

It’s fair to say that this has been a disappointing season for Arsenal. While aspirations of a title challenge were perhaps a little far-fetched, especially given the form of Manchester City and the riddling infection of uncertainty thanks to, primarily, the Alexis Sanchez situation, it is disappointing to see the club already out of the top-four race — or at least face an extremely unlikely chance of competing in that race for much longer.

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There are many reasons, factors and underlying motives as to why the Gunners’ season has not panned out as hoped for. There are many people to blame. There are many decisions to bemoan, actions to criticise, and choices to question. But there is one clear, on-the-surface implication that scuppered the team’s progress: Their away form.

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It is indeed something that Arsene Wenger himself admitted after another away loss in Saturday’s North London derby, stating:

"“Our record since I’ve been at Arsenal is one of the worst away from home. Certainly, the worst since I’m in England. That doesn’t work, we have to play much better away from home and make superior results if we want to have a chance to come back.”"

And the stats bear that out. Arsenal have played 14 away Premier League games this season. They have won just three of them and lost half, amassing a relegation-standard 13 points. Their last away win was in December, against Crystal Palace, with their only other wins coming against a hapless Everton and a last-gasp, snatch-and-grab victory against Burnley. So what’s going wrong on the road?

Well, it is difficult to say. Wenger has said that he does not see the difference between playing a game away from home and a game at the Emirates. It is still 22 men on a green field. To some extent, he has a point. To another, he makes very little sense. The atmosphere, the pressure, the travel, the potentially disrupted routine, the rhythm of a home game that is repeated time and time again. These are all factors that could affect the mental state of the squad, and we all know how resolute this squad is.

But there are other issues, more technical, hands-on issues. As Wenger rightly pointed out, Arsenal do not score enough goals. They have only 15 in their 14 games. Manchester United, for example, not a team renowned for their free-flowing football under Jose Mourinho, in the same number of games, have 22. Liverpool, who have conceded the same number of away goals as Wenger’s side, have scored 34, more than double. They can, obviously, afford to concede more.

It is, though, at the other end where, I believe, there is a greater cause for concern. The 22 goals that have been conceded do not necessarily seem that damaging. It is the same amount as Liverpool; it is less than Leicester City, who actually sit one place ahead in the away table. But a quick glance at the bottom of the away table tells a slightly different story. Three of the bottom four clubs rank in the bottom five for goals conceded away from home. Of the eight teams that have conceded less than 20 away goals, none are in the bottom quarter and five are in the top six. Moreover, Southampton and Swansea, who are ranked 12th and 14th in the away table, have played only 12 and 13 games respectively.

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It is clear to see that there is an inverse correlation, and perhaps causation, between conceding goals and winning matches. That is an utterly obvious thing to say — football is about scoring more goals than the other team. But it is a message that doesn’t seem to have gotten through to Wenger. That, unfortunately, is the level that this club is performing at. The troubling trips have decimated this season. I’m not sure I believe that Wenger knows how to solve them.

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