The recent drop in performances at Arsenal continued in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
The Premier League side (pictured looking stunned) were easily outclassed by a confident Schalke 04 unit, who defeated the Londoners 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
Assistant manager Steve Bould admitted afterwards that the players seem to have lost the composure they were showing before the most recent international break.
He said: “We haven’t looked our best since the international break. We lacked a bit of confidence. It’s a concern we’re not making many chances.
“It looks like we’re lacking confidence on the ball and that’s unusual. We looked a bit tired and jaded.”
Controlling matters
Bould was controlling matters from the touchline again as Arsene Wenger sat in the stands, serving the final match of his UEFA ban.
There was little the former great defender could do about the Gunners lack of drive going forward, which was also evidently missing in their recent Premier League defeat away at Norwich.
The Bundesliga side created the best opportunities throughout the match and could have won by more had they been a bit more clinical with their chances.
It was an Arsenal side missing the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott, Abou Diaby and Bacary Sagna through injury but even so, the lack of efforts on goal left many fans deflated.
The jeers at the final whistle at a second successive loss said it all.
Gervinho was given the attacking responsibility to lead the line. Although the Ivorian has improved dramatically on his performances from last season, he simply isn’t a natural striker.
Olivier Giroud and Marouane Chamakh were left on the bench and for Arsenal to go into the match without a regular man upfront was a surprising and baffling tactical move.
Exposing Santos
Schalke eventually punished the hosts, taking the lead with 15 minutes left. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who had missed an early chance from no more than four yards out, exposed Andre Santos’s limitations at left back by beating the offside trap and converted Ibrahim Afellay’s cross.
It was the Barcelona loanee who settled the outcome 10 minutes later; taking an easy chance after Santos had been beaten far too easily on the flanks again by Jefferson Farfan.
The performance of Santos at left back was a joke. On this evidence, he would be lucky to get into the reserves side, let alone the senior squad.
Schalke have now taken control of Group B ahead of the return fixture in Gelsenkirchen at the beginning of November.
Like Chelsea, this defeat is a setback but not a crucial blow in regards to Arsenal's hopes of qualifying for the last 16.
However, after suffering their first home defeat in the Champions League to a foreign side since Inter Milan in September 2003 and having only struck 22 shots in their three group games so far, there is bound to be plenty of thinking going on at the Emirates.
By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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