It always seems a little unfair to single out one player for criticism when a team loses.
A multitude of things make up a victory or a defeat, and that was certainly the case on Saturday evening when Arsenal fell to a 2-1 loss to Watford.
The Gunners were leading 1-0, thanks to Per Mertesacker’s header in the first-half, until Watford were awarded a contentious penalty in the 71st minute. Watford captain and substitute in the match Troy Deeney stepped-up and slotted the spot-kick away.
Marco Silva’s side went on to win the game in stoppage time, when Tom Cleverley scored from a rebound in the Arsenal penalty area.
"I have to watch what I say, but there's a reason for the loss and it wasn't because of one penalty" https://t.co/nuDGLlxETf
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) October 15, 2017
However, if the referee had not awarded a soft penalty, Arsenal might have held on for the win. A few minutes before that, if Alex Iwobi had scored after being played through on goal by Mesut Ozil, they would have doubled their lead. Ozil had a big chance of his own just before the penalty that would have killed the match off, but he failed to score.
One player alone is rarely the cause for defeat or victory. So, it wasn’t entirely Granit Xhaka’s fault that Arsenal lost to a stoppage time goal for the first time since January 2012, when Bobby Zamora netted for Fulham, but he could have tried a lot harder to prevent Cleverley’s goal.
The images below show how the winning goal played out. Watford were on the attack, and Arsenal’s defence was disjointed, but they appeared to have enough players back to deal with the home side’s threat. Xhaka and Cleverley were, at one point, standing beside each other, but the Arsenal midfielder didn’t follow his man into the penalty area. He stood still for around 10 seconds as Watford took two shots and a goalmouth scramble ended with Cleverley scoring.
Xhaka seemed completely oblivious to his opponent standing five yards in front of him, unmarked and ready to pounce on a loose ball. He also looked to the linesman after the goal was scored, for some reason.
Images also appear to show Xhaka scratching his nose instead of trying to mark Cleverley. He was picking his nose instead of picking up his man.
The Swiss midfielder is talented, but this could be the defining image of Arsenal’s decline from past glories. Xhaka stands helpless, picking his nose like Ralph Wiggum, as Arsenal concede a preventable last-minute goal in a match they had controlled. It sums up the last decade of Arsene Wenger’s reign as manager – the team stands still as obvious problems are ignored.
From Patrick Vieira’s midfield battles with Roy Keane, to Granit Xhaka picking his nose as Tom Cleverley scores the winner, that’s where it has got to for Arsenal.
