The worst of Arsenal and Arsene Wenger can be seen on the road this season, and the lack of consistency highlights real failings with his management.
Arsenal have played away from home 17 times this season. They’ve won just five times. For a team with aspirations of returning to the Champions League, that record is far from good enough.
We’ve seen just about everything on the road this season. Big teams have thumped us, mid-table teams have frustrated us and smaller team have upset us. Plenty of goals have been shipped, and not enough have been scored.
Arsene Wenger is at the head of the problem. His team is built in his image. So here are three things that Arsenal’s away form tells us about his management.
2A lack of preparation
On top of an ailing attack is a leaky defence.
25 goals have been shipped against every type of opposition. We’ve conceded from set-pieces, counters, long shots and simple goals from open play.
A lot of these goals stem from individual mistakes. Arsenal have given up goals from failing to play the ball out the back effectively, as well as being caught out at the back.
The players continue to make the same errors and struggle to deal with the same threats. Just by watching the team, you can tell that they haven’t worked on dealing with specific threats or recognising danger.