Another home defeat to Swansea; the point of no return?

ARSENAL 1 SWANSEA CITY 2

By Ricky Butler

WHEN A TEAM is battling for the title the minimum you expect is to see a bit fighting spirit on the pitch. But this meek surrender to a weakened Swansea City side was painful to watch.

You could point to the fact that we hit the woodwork three times. Or that Mesut Ozil was fouled in the build up to the Swans' first goal. Or that Ashley Williams' winner was offside. But none of that can disguise the fact that this performance was nowhere near good enough.

After a bright start which had seen the recalled Joel Campbell give us an early lead, we completely fell apart after the Swansea equaliser. The players seem to lack not only confidence but also direction.

I actually think the problem is that Arsene Wenger has them believing that they are better than they actually are. So when things don't go well and we get turned over by poor sides like Swansea, the players are looking around wondering what the hell is going on.

Aaron Ramsey is case in point. Apart from half a season back at the start of 2013-14, the guy has been poor since his dreadful injury yet Wenger insists on picking him every week. Clearly this sends out the message that he must be doing okay.

Yes, Ramsey has lots of energy and covers an incredible amount of ground. He can make some great, late runs into the box. But he can't do the basics such as pass to a team-mate, tackle or shoot. He wants to play centrally yet when he has done so he looks out of his depth and gives the ball away more than any other player.

We have missed Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere, there is no doubt about that. Both can carry the ball in midfield, drive us forward, something neither Ramsey nor Francis Coquelin are capable of doing. New signing Mohammed Elneny could fulfil that role yet Wenger rarely uses him.

Alexis Sanchez is another to be suffering at the moment. In fact bar a run of five or six games in the autumn, he has been poor all season. This match summed up his recent problems. A simple first half chance and he completely missed his kick. This is a world class player and not for the first time in recent games, he fails to connect with the ball.

Wenger has said he is just coming back from injury and needs time to regain his sharpness, yet he has played several games now and appears to getting progressively worse with each one.

I have always supported the manager despite the evidence piling up against him. But even I am struggling now. The decision to take off Campbell last night, easily our best player, was baffling. Wenger said he was looking tired having not played a for a while. But that's only because you have failed to pick him, Wenger, despite the poor form of Alexis and Theo Walcott.

In his 70 minutes against Swansea, the Costa Rican had more influence on the match than either Sanchez or Walcott have had in the last 10 put together.

Danny Welbeck, a scorer in his two league matches since returning from injury, started on the bench. Why? Surely he needs game time, like Alexis, to get back to full match fitness.

It is just baffling.

The frustrating thing is we were playing so well before Christmas. We had the best record in the calendar year of 2015. Most wins, most points, most goals scored. But the 4-0 defeat at Southampton on Boxing Day seems to have derailed our season, just like the heavy defeat at Liverpool did two years ago.

Our home form has not been great either. From the opening day defeat against West Ham we have rarely hit the heights at Emirates. We have scored just 19 league goals at home, less than Newcastle United. On just two occasions have we scored more than twice in a match at home.

In all fairness we could play this game against Swansea 10 times and we'd win nine. If either Sanchez or Olivier Giroud had scored in the first half instead of hitting the woodwork, we would have won comfortably. But as soon as we conceded the confidence ebbed away.

So when we went 2-1 down with a little over fifteen minutes to play, instead of rising to the challenge and throwing everything at Swansea, we retreated into our shell. Players who earlier in the season where giving their all to ensure we got the result were scared to take a chance.

No balls were put into the box for Giroud to attack. Too many square passes and no movement. This was not the performance of a team who believes they can win the title. It was the performance of a team lacking leadership and direction.

Successful teams, and by successful I mean teams that win titles, roll up their sleeves up when things go against them. Playing poorly we can all accept. But giving up? No way.

And so on to Spurs. Knowing us, we will probably go there and win, giving us all false hope again. But I won't be fooled. I said back in 2013 that I believed this group would win the title by 2016. I honestly thought they would. I felt they were growing together as a squad and with the additions of Ozil, Sanchez and Petr Cech, we had the world class players we had been lacking.

Back-to-back FA Cup wins convinced me even more that this would be our year. The collapse of Chelsea and Manchester City merely strengthened that belief. But I have now conceded defeat. I was wrong. For all their ability, and despite recent performances they do have plenty of ability, they will never have the mental toughness required to win the title. And for that Wenger must take the blame.

So as much as it pains me to say it, it is now time for change. I love Wenger and really hope that he can go out on a high. He deserves that. A record third straight FA Cup win would be a great way to go. 20 years that has seen some unimaginable highs should not end with the whimper of another failed title challenge.

I am old enough to remember the demise of George Graham. This current situation reminds me of that. A team drifting along going nowhere fast. A manager running out of ideas. It was said Graham went due to the 'bung' he received but that was merely an excuse to get rid of a manager who had gone stale.

We were all upset for a while but we supported the club and soon we were rewarded with the genius that was Wenger. We have now come full circle and I have no doubt we will be rewarded again.

Wenger, your players have let you down but you must take responsibility. The same mistakes are being made, week in, week out, season after season. A fresh approach is needed. I'm sorry it has come to this but, bye bye, Arsene, and thanks for the memories. The King is dead, long live the King...