Chances were always going to be few and far between on Tuesday, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez conspired to miss what little they did create, but Arsenal have now not scored in five of the past eight games.
Arsenal attacking stats
What goals they have summoned in the last six weeks have been against Championship opposition in Burnley, Bournemouth at home and Leicester City, once Claudio Ranieri’s were down to 10 men. For all their reputation for creative fluency, Arsenal are the lowest scorers this season of the four clubs who are contending to win the Premier League.
Giroud has now gone eight games without scoring while Theo Walcott, the other main striker, has one goal in his last 13 appearances. Run through the squad and the goal records of the other main attacking options hardly inspire much certainty.
Aaron Ramsey has gone six games without scoring; Oxlade-Chamberlain’s 14 Arsenal goals are spread over five seasons and 148 appearances; Danny Welbeck has nine in 35 appearances and Joel Campbell three in 33 matches for the club.
Most crucially of all, the two best outfield players are experiencing a slight dip in their usual standards. After setting up 17 goals in the previous 24 matches, Mesut Ozil has one assist in his last seven games while Alexis Sanchez, who is still accumulating match fitness following his hamstring injury, has not scored in the Premier League since October or in any of the five matches since he returned.
It is a collective issue that Wenger regards as cyclical but is clearly reluctant to publicly dissect for fear of deepening any crisis in confidence.
“We were impatient in the build-up,” he said. “Technically we were not precise enough in our passing. We had an unbelievable chance in the first-half [for Oxlade-Chamberlain] and the way we finished our chances is a problem. I feel that in the final third, at the moment, we miss something.”
Many supporters will instinctively point to the decision not to sign another striker since Welbeck joined 16 months ago, and that frustration will be compounded in the coming week when interim accounts will again show a vast cash reserve.
Who dominated at the Emirates?
Arsenal will stress that an estimated £200 million balance must also fund day-to-day costs and does not represent the actual available budget, but there is little doubt that at least one other major signing has been financially feasible. It was Wenger’s favourable judgment of his current squad against what was available in the transfer market that shaped the club’s strategy. There is considerable personal pressure, then, for him to now inspire a renewal of the attacking cohesion that was so much more evident earlier in the season. Santi Cazorla is targeting the second leg against Barcelona in three weeks for his return, and he will make a big difference to the balance of the team, but Wenger must also now yearn for Ozil, Sanchez, Walcott, Giroud and Ramsey to rediscover their most incisive form.
None other than Lionel Messi remains certain that Arsenal do have the artillery to hurt Barcelona in the return leg but it was also telling that, like Mertesacker, he sensed that his team could not simply be contained indefinitely.
“Arsenal are capable of anything - they worked really hard for each other during the first half but we knew they wouldn’t be able to cope with the pressure after the break,” said Messi.
Mertesacker also kept stressing that, in order to keep Barca at bay, Arsenal needed to land at least one significant blow of their own. “You have to score at one stage against Barcelona to keep the pressure up on them,” he said. “They had a lot of possession but I think we defended so well over 70, 80 minutes. In our best period we conceded. We were doubted a lot but you can't say that we have defended badly. We tried so hard to cover each other. It was a bit naïve but when you keep going for such a long time and keep up with a good team you have to score and that was a disappointing moment for everyone and we couldn’t get over it.”
Arsenal v Barcelona stats
Mertesacker is also still adamant that a minor miracle remains just feasible at the Nou Camp on March 16. “We will try with effort and spirit; we won't give up, honestly,” he said. “There is a small chance, small margins obviously but we could see they were vulnerable at times. We need to play better on the break and, when we have the ball, we could have created more chances and shared the ball better in the final third.
“Whenever we have lost a game we have tried to bounce back quickly and I think we have a great chance on Sunday [against Manchester United] to do that again and to show we are still in a strong position and still competing for the title. We are in a good position and we don’t want to give that position up.”
Arsenal vs Barcelona timeline February 23 2016
- Telegraph