Forget Tyler. Arsenal, again, were awful

With ten minutes to go, when Arsenal’s title challenge was leaking hope like a punctured balloon, Martin Tyler, the Sky Sports commentator, said this: “Alex Ferguson said he hoped Arsenal battered Chelsea. And, in a way, they have.”

True, Arsenal had more possession (56 percent), more attempts (14 to nine), and more corners (eight to six). But, like a Government press release, the figures hide the facts: Arsenal were awful. At Stamford Bridge, they couldn’t batter a sausage.

Of course, we saw it coming. Chelsea - like Manchester United - sat back, patted Arsenal on the head, then killed them with a set-piece and a counter attack. The hacks could have written their match reports at noon. Same old Arsenal, always losing.

This side have been worked out. In big games, they pass short, pass often, then lose. While the aesthetists applaud, the fans weep with frustration. For all Sky Sports’ warm words, did Arsenal ever look like winning?

Arsene Wenger’s side have become a self-fulfilling prophecy; a caricature of themselves. They are paper tigers. Arsenal, like boxing’s mandatory challengers, are indulged, hyped, then swatted away inside three rounds. Chelsea, by contrast, haven’t a mark on them.

Against big teams, Arsenal’s style is flawed. Chelsea had good defenders, organised by a good manager, and they sat deep and narrow. At times, you could have thrown a blanket across their outfield players.

It means that, unless Arsenal’s passing is inch perfect, their attacks are easily intercepted. When there’s no room, they’re squeezed from the game. They don’t go wide, because they don’t have wingers, and, if they did, they don’t have a striker who can head the ball.

As we’ve said, Arsenal are one-dimensional. When it works, that dimension soars like an in-tune symphony. When it doesn’t, it’s like a broken record, making the same mistake over, and over, and over.

That style can’t be changed by a team-talk. For Arsenal’s players, five-yard passing is indoctrinated. But, for a start, shouldn’t they shoot more often?

A 25-yard shot has – say – a ten percent chance of success. A cross from an Arsenal full-back has almost none. Yet on they go, like that broken record, giving Petr Cech catch after catch. He could, quite easily, have left his skullcap at home.

Arsenal didn’t play well, and it’s wrong to think they did. They played like Arsenal: neat, tidy, and toothless. Sol Campbell, sitting on the bench, must yearn for Thierry, and Patrick, and the other Invincibles. We know how he feels.