Stoke 1-0 Arenal: Dreary Gunners Swept Aside

When the '17/18 fixture list came out, all gooners must have breathed a sigh of relief that Stoke City away was the second game of the season.

It's true that the current Stoke team is less intimidating, less physical, more football than rugby playing and our recent record against them has been pretty good.

But it's still Stoke away, the ultimate test of your title winning credentials. Can you go to Stoke on a freezing winters night with howling gale force winds and boisterous baiting supporters and pick up the three points?

The thought of avoiding such a test would have heartened us upon seeing the fixture list, but I for one overlooked two crucial factors. Namely, it's always windy with torrential rain in Stoke even on a supposedly summers day and the spineless nature of the current Arsenal team.

A strong spine is the hallmark of all title winning teams in England. Starting from the goalkeeper to the central defenders through the heart of the midfield culminating with the strikers, leaders and big personalities are needed in all these key positions.

Sadly for long suffering gooners, the current Arsenal manager has spent over a decade trying to disprove this theory. As the theory still holds, we may have to endure another decade of him trying.

We may not like Maureen, but he's a long time advocate and practitioner of this theory which has brought him success across three different countries.

Wenger was a better manager than Maureen having built successful teams that contained both a strong spine and were aesthetically pleasing on the eye. He can no longer claim to be a better manager as he has decided to turn up his nose on winning and instead turned our club into a lab experiment.

What about the game you ask, what happened? Not much unfortunately.

Stoke made a strong start with Shaqiri looking tubby but surprisingly dangerous and reminding me of a young pre-semi pro Lee Trundle. Although he soon pulled an hamstring and had to be replaced by Berahino.

Arsenal's threats mostly emanated from the left wing occupied by Bellerin and supported by Welbeck, they had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down when the former was clattered in the box by a Stoke defender.

The only goal of the game came from Arsenal yet again losing the ball in a dangerous part of the pitch, you may notice a pattern emerging as Leicester's second goal from the previous game also started in similar fashion. Berahino picked up the loose ball, made a strong run into the box before releasing Jese who shot past the onrushing Cech.

Thereafter, for all of Arsenal's possession - 77% - chances were few and far between with Lacazette's disallowed goal being the closest to an equaliser.

Failing the Stoke test in August does not bode well for the remaining 8mths of the season. On the evidence of this display I'll gladly take 5th position come May-18.

Next up is Liverpool away, repeat of the Arshavin 4-4 game will do nicely - without the 4 goals by Liverpool.