Arsenal: Simplicity of errors the true damnation

Arsenal again conceded cheap goals in a 2-1 loss to Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon. It is the simplicity of the errors that is the true damnation of their defending.

And here we again: Bemoaning Arsenal’s inability to defend. It is not even surprising now. In fact, it would be surprising if we saw this team go an extended period without making any stupid, dumbfounded, silly, individual or collective errors.

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Against Newcastle United, it was, largely, the turn of Shkodran Mustafi and Nacho Monreal — no one is exempt from blame, but they, in my eyes, are the two biggest culprits. But, to be honest, it doesn’t really matter who the individuals are. This is an endemic that has infected almost every player in the team.

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For me, tactically speaking, the biggest issue for this team is communication. Nemanja Vidic, in his post-match analysis with Sky Sports, which was very interesting if you get the chance to watch it or read what he said. Vidic contrasted what Arsenal were doing, or not doing as the case may be, to what he, Rio Ferdinand and others would do in his career. Here is an extract of what he said:

"“I think there is a lack of communication, they are watching the ball and not reacting. There are six players against three and there is no communication about who is going to go and attack the ball, who is going to cover. I think communication is the key <…> I did that my whole career with Rio [Ferdinand], Patrice [Evra] and players I played with, we always had a communication between us. It’s wasn’t just us waiting to see what was going to happen, we communicated all the time throughout the game.”"

This a real damnation of Arsene Wenger and his coaching staff. Unlike attacking football where one or two individuals can create and score goals with moments of individual brilliance, defending is very much a team game. It requires cohesion as a collective and connected unit. Communication is absolutely essential to the foundation of that.

In fact, I would argue that communication is the most important element of defending. It is one of the first things that you learn as a schoolboy growing up — communicate with those around you; understand your position in relation to the position of others; act as a group, ensuring that each is aware of their individual role as a part of the greater machine.

It is also one of the most basic elements of defending. It is not easy, but it is simple. And yet, Arsenal, and not just this iteration, but the many teams prior to this season’s version, do not, as Vidic rightly points out, communicate. They are utterly disconnected to one another, unaware of the collective aim, oblivious of their part to play in the scheme.

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And that, perhaps more than anything, is the true damnation of this team. It is not just the fact that Arsenal can’t defend, though that is clearly unacceptable. It is the fact that the reason they cannot defend is one of the most underpinning skills in the game. And yet, these are professional footballers apparently at the top of the sport. What in the world is going on?!