Arsenal: Befuddled Petr Cech only adds to concern

Petr Cech is seemingly befuddled by Arsenal’s away form, unable to explain why it has been so poor. That only adds to my concern regarding the disastrous run.

Arsenal were recovering a little form and confidence prior to Sunday’s trip to the North East. The much-publicised crisis of earlier weeks and months had passed, the Europa League campaign was progressing nicely, even with the news that it would be Atletico Madrid awaiting in the semi-finals, and even the Premier League results had begun to turn.

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But then, predictably, the Gunners had to get on the road. And in doing so, they completely forgot how to play. This was their fifth straight loss away from home. They have not picked up a point in 2018, the only side in English football with such a disastrous record, and are now in the worst run of away form that this club has seen since 1984.

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That is extremely concerning in and of itself. The worries only increase, however, when you read what Petr Cech had to say when asked for a possible explanation of his side’s calamities away from the comforts of the Emirates. Here is what the experienced goalkeeper had to say:

"“It is very difficult to explain why because until last season we were one of the best teams in terms of the away record but somehow it has completely reversed this season and we don’t seem to find the answer for it. When you commit so many team mistakes, away or home, you get punished and Sunday proved that. Of course, you try to address that but clearly the same things are happening. We don’t do these mistakes — the team mistakes — when we play at home. Unfortunately, it has affected our results.”"

Essentially, he is saying ‘I don’t know’. I don’t know why this team crumbles defensively away from north London. I don’t know why the lack of familiarity with the surroundings has such an effect on the psyche of the squad. I don’t know why this season has been so drastically worse than previous years, even with the same players and same manager in place.

That, for me, is even more damning of Arsene Wenger and his coaching staff than the run itself. Humans make mistakes. Sometimes, humans make the same mistakes over and over again. That is what happens when teams lose a lot of football games in succession. It is what is happening now with Arsenal. The problem is not necessarily the mistake itself. They are going to happen. The problems come when the mistakes are not learned from.

That is what Cech is conceding. Not only are he and his teammates not learning from their mistakes, but they do not even know the root cause of it to begin addressing them at an underpinning level. This is one of the most important jobs of a coach. To self-scout. To be able to analyse one’s own team, their flaws, their features, their strengths and their weaknesses. And then to implement a change in approach that tackles the issues that have arisen from such self-probing.

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But per Cech’s comments, it seems as though Wenger is either not doing this, not doing it very well, or doing it and then keeping the results to himself. Arsenal don’t know what’s wrong with them. That is far more concerning than the fact that something is wrong, because until they do know, it won’t change.