Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa

By: travis | November 16th, 2008

These recaps aren’t fun to write after another loss. I feel like it’s deja vu all over again - another loss against a team that needed to be beaten, especially if this side claims to have title aspirations. It’s hard to think about what keeps going wrong, because the same problems are showing up over and over again.

I’m not going to get into too much detail. This is a squad that has underperformed for a majority of the season, and continued to do so. Emotions were riding high after a win over United; but today it all stands for naught. Players like Nasri, Cesc, and Walcott continue to play very inconsistently, and it makes you wonder again and again why Wenger has faith in players when they fail to get adequate results. It’s very, very hard to be optimistic about the chance for this squad, as it stands, to win the title, with four losses so far in just 13 league games.

The problem starts in central defense. William Gallas, for all his purported claims to being a leader, has failed time and time again to provide the sort of experience needed for this squad to succeed. Almunia has spoke up since the loss, calling for players to analyze their performance. The keeper is the last one to blame for the loss, coming off a cheek injury and saving a penalty. Perhaps he could be given the armband? Meanwhile, Gallas and Silvestre have not adequately answered the questions asked from them by opposing attackers all season. Nothing summed it up better than Gabriel Agbonlahor outpacing him on the second goal. Is Wenger biased to have a back four that is all French? Bring back Senderos. I wish. Someone please, please explain the reasoning for him to be loaned out. He’s made all of one appearance for Milan, while he would be given a shot here. At least you’d think. I would much prefer Djourou and Senderos at this point.

You can only analyze things so many times. I feel like the United victory was simply wool being pulled over the eyes of Arsenal supporters. Recent form does not bode well for a title challenge. Time to set our sights on the Carling Cup. Is it silly to worry about this squad even finishing fourth? Villa clearly wanted the game more yesterday, and look very solid. Making things worse, Sagna is out for a few weeks, and Cesc is suspended for the next match, due to yellow card accumulation.

Highlights after the jump, and as usual, leave your thoughts below.

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