AC have been criticised in the Italian media for selling on their playmakers and traditional number 10's leaving them with a lack of creativity. The 'architect' Andrea Pirlo was offloaded to Juventus in the Summer and replaced by the 'carpenter' Mark Van Bommel. They have some attacking firepower with Boateng, Zlatan and Robinho but not a lot in terms of creative support. Arsenal fans will point to their injuries (like usual) and the fact they weren't at full strength without Jack Whilshere amongst more insignificant others. Whilshere is a talent, that is unquestioned, but the hope and responsibility he is going to face when he comes back to full action is unprecedented for a team as well respected of late as Arsenal. Wilshere watching in the San Siro with the 5,000 Arsenal away fans will have seen the same huge problems everyone did but know that alone, he cannot fix everything. In Wilshere's breakout season he was playing alongside Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, he will now be slid in next to a stalling and overplayed Aarron Ramsey and a useless and aged Tomas Rosicky. Is he the answer? No, he isn't, in fact he probably just another another player that will be developed at Arsenal before moving on for a nominal fee to bigger and better club. No matter what Whilshere indicates his allegiances to be with his romantic tweets on the club he will surely have look to move on to better himself and his career, because at the moment he finds himself part of the worst Arsenal team in Arsene Wengers tenure.
Robin Van Persie has almost single handedly kept Arsenal's season alive with his phenomenal form and unbelievable scoring record, but he too will look for a move in the Summer especially after last night's debacle in Italy where he saw old hero Thierry Henry pulled off the bench at half-time to try and salvage an away goal for the men in yellow. That didn't work. Henry replaced the dismal Theo Walcott who has be terribly bad this season. For Henry it was another goodbye to a club he loves, but this second term has been like getting back with an ex-girlfriend for the New York Red Bulls man. At first it was great but by the end he couldn't wait to get away again, and in this case the ex-girlfriend (Arsenal) needs him much more than he needs her.
That Henry substitution just added to a game that tactically Wenger got all wrong. He said before the game he wanted his team to be 'audacious'. Audacious away from home in the first leg of a knock out Champions League game against Italian opposition??? He really may be losing it. The Arsenal fans will remember back to their wonderful 2-0 win 4 years ago, and compare how far they have fallen off since then. By the end of the game Wenger admitted they "were never in the game" and "poor", and that was putting it lightly.
Arsenal are a very average side with big expectations to meet which they probably won't. Although they currently lay in 4th position in the Premiership if that is still the case at the end of the season it won't be because of Arsenal's superiority it will be due to the lack of consistency from other teams. Arsenal were once the best team in London, but with the recent rise of Tottenham Hotspur they aren't even the best team in North London. This is arguably one of the worst Premiership seasons in terms of top quality teams and football, we have the big names and the glamour, sure, but there is no sense of the empowered 'invincible's' or the wonderful attacking Manchester United sides of the past reemerging. The Champions League knock out stages echo this, with the soon to be knocked out Arsenal and a ropey Chelsea squad the only Premiership representatives.
On the night Arsenal lacked leadership, heart, direction and quality and by the end of the game Wenger was slumped in so far back in his chair he almost disappeared, and by the final whistle I bet he wished he had.
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