Arsenal supporters were left venting their spleen at full time after their EFL Cup encounter with Southampton, with many of them making their way out of the stadium long before the final whistle.
The Gunners suffered a shock 2-0 defeat to the visiting Saints, ending their 19 game unbeaten run in all competitions.
Although Arsenal fielded a weaker second string side, the mere fact [that] they lost at home to a Southampton side that had made eight changes to the team that beat Everton this past weekend made the feeling all the more worse.
Flat and uninspiring
Greatly unbalanced and sans creativity, the Gunners started poorly and were soon punished for their ineptitude, falling behind to a Jordy Clasie strike in the 23th minute.
Ryan Bertrand doubled the lead right before the interval, in what was seemingly the proverbial last nail on Arsenal’s coffin: more so because of the under strength, uninspiring nature of the team.
Confident and with a two goal cushion, Claude Puel’s side executed wave after wave of attacks in the second half, although their culpable finishing remained unrewarding.
Arsenal’s over-dependence on the creativity of Mesut Ozil and the raw talent of Alexis Sanchez was evident, as the likes of Aaron Ramsey and Alex Iwobi had a nightmare unlocking the Southampton defense and supplying the final ball to Lucas Perez.
Doesn’t care
What really boiled the fans blood however was the fact that Arsene Wenger didn’t seem to care much about the League Cup.
Now Wenger is one of the most accomplished managers in the Premier League. In fact, his unbeaten run of 49 games will never be equaled or broken in my view: but the Arsenal gaffer has somewhat lost the plot.
The Gunners have previously only won the League Cup twice- none of which was won by the French manager.
Furthermore, Arsenal have never won the Champions League, [they] haven’t won the Premier League title for nearly a decade and a half now, and only won two major trophies in twelve years.
Unjustified
My point here is, Arsenal have not won enough trophies over the last decade or so for Arsenal Wenger to field such an under-strength side in the quarterfinals of a Cup competition: they just can’t afford such a luxury.
The League Cup is the least demanding domestic tournament: the semifinals and final are single day events played in January and February respectively, and cannot heavily dents a team’s Premier League and Champions League aspirations.
Arsene Wenger has just lost the plot, and the defeat to Southampton is inexcusable.
Written by Brian Humphrey
Follow Brian on Twitter @brihum
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