Everton - the aftermath

LISTENING to many of the comments from Arsenal fans recently, you would think that this late season collapse is a regular occurrence. But the opposite is actually true.

In 13 of the 17 seasons under Wenger, the club's league position has actually improved between February and April. 13 out of 17. So in actual fact these late season collapses are the exception to the rule.

In fact this is only the third time we have let a title challenge slip in the spring. In 2008 we fell apart after the Eduardo game at Birmingham and an FA Cup thrashing at Old Trafford. Lack of squad depth perhaps the reason.

Then in 2011 when we were chasing a possible quadruple, we lost to Birmingham again, this time in the Carling Cup final, and another collapse of Biblical proportions followed. But these have not been the norm. Far from it.

In fact the last two seasons have seen us recover from a slow start to finish strongly; both times overhauling a big Spurs advantage to pip them to the final Champions League spot. So a late season collapse is very rare.

Another myth going around is that we were only top of the table earlier in the season because we had an easier run of games. Well lets look at that shall we.

We were top after 19 games, the halfway point in the season and a time when everyone had played everyone else once. So we had in fact played all the same teams as everyone else. Not sure how we had easier fixtures then.

But I guess it is easy to look at the negative in everything following what was an unacceptable performance at Goodison Park yesterday. And coming on top of other poor displays at Chelsea, at home to Swansea and away at Liverpool.

Much of the slump has been down to the injuries suffered to key players. Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil have all been out so is it any wonder the attacking play has been so pedestrian.

Of all our recent poor displays though, this one at Goodison was the least painful. Everton are a decent club who do things the right way. They have not tried to buy success, it has been built on solid foundations and they have developed many great young players. It doesn't feel quite so bad losing to a club like them because their philosophy is the same as ours.

So much so in fact that I believe we saw the future of Arsenal yesterday. Martinez looks the perfect fit to replace Wenger when he finally calls it a day.

Everton play some good football and on Sunday they fully deserved their victory. They were better than us in all areas of the pitch. But the game is decided by small margins, and had Podolski's effort just before half time gone in, or Giroud's just after the restart, it may have been a different story.

But in the end it was poor defending that once again cost us away from home. With Vermaelan and Monreal at the back, we were always going to struggle. I am not sure what has happened to the Vermaelan from a few years ago. That guy was awesome. But now he a shadow of his former self and why he is still captain is something only Wenger can answer.

Poor Monreal, on the other hand, has never been good enough. Exposed time and time again. To be fair he did put in some useful deliveries from forward areas but I would prefer to see Sagna at left back if Gibbs is unfit.

Speaking of Sagna, he was once again our best and worst player. The guy is phenomenal but gets no cover whatsoever. So every time he goes forward, which he has to do on a regular basis as we have no other attacking threat down the right in the absence of Walcott; no one covers for him. No one. So when we lose the ball, as we inevitably do, there is a massive space behind him to exploit. So he constantly looks out of position.

Cazorla and Rosicky are not interested in covering. Mertersaker is often forced to pull across, thus leaving us exposed on the left side of our defence. Yesterday, the combination of Vermaelan and Monreal was an accident waiting to happen and unsurprisingly two of the three goals came from that area.

Everton got their tactics spot on. Every time their full backs attacked; and in Baines and Colman they have two of the best attacking full backs in the county, the wide men dropped in. It was seamless. Of course our one-paced attack helped them, but even so. Everton was a team who were in tune with each other and worked together as a unit. Arsenal, by comparison, looked like a bunch of strangers.

Despite such a poor performance though, I was shocked by some of abuse handed out by the travelling fans. Giroud, who admittedly was woeful, as he has been since his off the field antics came to light, was booed nearly every time he touched (mis-controlled) the ball and this reached a crescendo when he was substituted in the second half. And as for Wenger. Well he is public enemy number one. Not sure how any of that helps though.

Moreover, you have to ask; are things really that bad? Looking at our remaining fixtures there is every possibility we will finish the season with 79 points. One more than when we won the league in 1998. Yes, one MORE. There is also a very real chance we could win the FA Cup. Would that be a bad season? But it seems that a large section of the fans have already made up their minds.

But what happens if we blow it, as many expect us to do? What if we lose to Wigan this weekend and then finish 5th? Actually, I do not think that would be the disaster many are predicting.

If we do not win the FA Cup, I actually hope we finish 6th and do not qualify for Europe at all. As Liverpool have shown this season, no Europe can lead to fresher players at this crucial stage of the season. And the Europa League? Do me a favour.

Next season, I believe we will be serious challengers. All the signs are there. We have the basis of a very good squad. Players like Koscielny, Metersacker, Sagna, Wilshere, Ramsey, Ozil, Ox, Podolski, Walcott. With the right additions; a new goalkeeper, left back, cover at centre half, a defensive midfielder and two strikers, and we could be champions in 2015.

But something has to change. We have been nearly men for too long. This season has shown we are not far away. Not very far at all. But Wenger has probably taken us as far as he can. It seems the players are no longer buying into his ideas. It needs freshening up.

So I hope he can go out on a high. He deserves that. Winning the FA Cup and finishing 4th will mean he can go this summer with his head held high and give the new man something positive to build on.

Of course defending the FA Cup was something Martinez was never able to do at Wigan. Maybe next season he will be able to fulfil that ambition at the Emirates. After yesterday's events, we could certainly do a lot worse.