Arsenal analysis: Europa League or bust for Arsene Wenger as Vincent Kompany EFL Cup heroics highlight gulf in class

James Olley26 February 2018

Manchester City beat Arsenal 3-0 in the EFL Cup final with goals from Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva.

Aguero scored in the first half, outmuscling Shkodran Mustafi to reach goalkeeper Claudio Bravo's long ball before lobbing David Ospina from the edge of the box.

Kompany diverted in Ilkay Gundogan's shot after Kevin De Bruyne's well-worked corner and Silva fired home a third in the 65th minute to make the game safe.

The result brought City boss Pep Guardiola his first trophy in English football and left Arsene Wenger still without a League Cup title in his Arsenal career.

In Pictures | Arsenal vs Man City | 25/02/2018

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James Olley assesses the key talking points at Wembley...

Europa League or bust for Wenger

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

It is a measure of the position Arsene Wenger finds himself in that winning the EFL Cup would not have been enough to silence his critics yet losing it only gives them more ammunition.

The FA Cup has been Wenger’s salvation in recent seasons and he hoped this competition could provide a springboard for a positive run-in but instead they will utterly outclassed by a Manchester City side some way short of their best.

Wenger has to limit the damage a result like this can do, and quickly. They are ten points off the top four in the Premier League and now face a testing Europa League last 16 tie with AC Milan.

Winning the Europa League now looks to be the only realistic way of ensuring this season does not end in misery.

Wenger’s tactical tweak can’t bridge the gap

REUTERS

Arsenal started with a back three for the first time since losing at Bournemouth on January 14 and Wenger’s decision was in part based on the Gunners’ performance at the Etihad Stadium in their Premier League defeat last November.

Wenger was so wedded to a back three then that he deployed midfielder Francis Coquelin as an emergency centre-back in what basically became a back five and they matched City in that shape for a long time before eventually succumbing.

The hope was that fight would be replicated here at Wembley. It was a gameplan that initially showed promise as Arsenal started brightly but they lost conviction in the play and a huge chunk of self-belief once Sergio Aguero opened the scoring.

Losing Nacho Monreal to injury before half-time was a blow but it does not account for the way they fell away thereafter, with Granit Xhaka and Mesut Ozil guilty of going missing when it mattered most.

Kompany underlines gulf in defensive strength

Getty Images

Arsenal started brightly here but in truth never recovered from conceding the open goal. Of all the attacking threats City pose, a long ball from Claudio Bravo ranks near the bottom of the list - yet Arsenal were undone in exactly that fashion.

Shkodran Mustafi was caught out of position and then allowed Aguero to manoeuvre him off the ball far too easily - the contrast with Kompany’s excellent marshalling of City’s defence throughout was stark.

It was fitting Kompany scored City’s second goal - benefitting from some more errant defending by Arsenal - while Wenger’s somewhat curious decision to start Calum Chambers looked even more curious as David Silva turned him easily for City’s third.

Aubameyang looks off the pace

PA

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s preparation for this game was not ideal. The 28-year-old had not played a competitive match in more than two weeks, dating back to Arsenal’s last visit to Wembley - the north London derby defeat to Tottenham on February 10 - due to being cup-tied for the club’s Europa League campaign.

He had an opportunity to open the scoring after just eight minutes but was twice denied by Claudio Bravo, and that moment set the tone for a disappointing display in which he failed to make a meaningful impact.

His pace was a huge mismatch against Kompany but the one time he did get in behind, the veteran City defender eased him off the ball far too easily.

These are formative days in Aubameyang’s Arsenal career but improvement is needed.

Wilshere shows his match toughness

AFP/Getty Images

Arsenal’s desire to tie Wilshere down to a heavily performance-incentivised contract is born from concerns his injury proneness could resurface but displays like this will go a long way to proving he is physically robust enough to be a fully functioning first-team player.

The 26-year-old was on the receiving end of several tough challenges, particularly in the first half, but he withstood everything City threw at him and continued to try and drive Arsenal forward.

There weren’t many positives for Arsenal today but Wilshere’s resolve was one of them. Sadly, there weren’t too many in red following his example.

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