GettyImagesConsistency remains elusive for Arsene Wenger this term

Early last week, Arsene Wenger was asked the question that is always suggested and implied when it comes to the modern Arsenal but rarely so directly spelled out: why aren't this group as reliable as his rock-hard sides of the past?

His response, which was accompanied by a smile, was fairly typical.

"Believe me, I can show you some goals where they were not completely untouchable. So that's happened to them as well."

The crucial difference, though, is that it happened an awful lot less for the likes of Tony Adams than it does for Thomas Vermaelen.

In fact, the stats prove that Arsenal have never been so inconsistent in Wenger's time. And not just inconsistent: completely unpredictable. Arguably more than any other side in the Premier League in recent years, their last performance gives absolutely no indication as to the pattern of their next. Take the wildly oscillating last two weeks.

After the manner in which Manchester City overpowered them 2-0 on 13 January to continue a pretty bleak beginning to the year, there seemed a certain sense of inevitability when Michu - who has already developed something of a penchant for inflicting pain on Arsenal - came on for Swansea in the closing stages of their FA Cup replay. Instead, it was Jack Wilshere who hurt Michael Laudrup's side in the worst way possible: with a late winner.

Given how that strike overturned so many supposed narratives, as well as providing a significant psychological boost for an ailing team, it was reasonable to anticipate that it might finally generate the momentum to turn their season around in the manner of the comeback against Tottenham last season. They were fired up.

In the very next 45 minutes against Chelsea, though, they offered up what was arguably their most atrocious and shapeless performance in that entire 11-month spell. They were flat, damp.

In between that and the West Ham game, Wenger spoke about how the team was "very down" in the Stamford Bridge dressing-room. It hardly seemed the best mindset with which to face an abrasive Sam Allardyce side who are better equipped than most to play percentages and exploit any evident weaknesses. The mood around Arsenal’s London Colney base seemed one of depression rather than defiance.

Yet, on the night, the team went and produced what was by far their most dynamic and complete display of the season. Uncertainty even gave way to audacity, as both Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud flicked the ball in for two separate goals.

After all that, who knows what Arsenal team will turn up tonight? Because, even allowing for Wenger's argument that such wild swings were down to the "special circumstances" of facing the English and then European champions in consecutive league games, the exact nature of the performances point to something else, while the general trend has just been a microcosm of the whole season.

Again, the stats prove Arsenal have never been so inconsistent under Wenger. Even amid the deep doubt of last season, for example, they still put together a five-game winning streak by October with that only part of a wider run which saw them claim victory in eight of 10 games.

In this campaign, by contrast, there have only been two spells in which they have won consecutive games. And even the better of those, a four-game league run over December, was still punctuated by one of the worst lows of the entire Wenger era: the League Cup defeat to Bradford City.

Otherwise, you have to back to the victories over Southampton and Liverpool at the start of the season.
As such, it would be somewhat symmetrical if Arsenal finally ended a period of incredible unreliability to beat Liverpool again and embark on something of a run.

In that, they are perhaps also fortunate they are coming against a team with very similar issues. The league form of Brendan Rodgers' side since the end of November reads: LWWLWLWWLW.

Consequently, this could well be a rare game that genuinely does come down to the cliche of who fancies it more; who's prepared to block out all recent doubt and properly seize the game; who displays that bit more assurance and swagger.

That, however, is the other hugely surprising element of Arsenal's inconsistency. The way in which their performances have swung from extreme to extreme actually goes against the traits of this team.

Previously, they have been the ultimate confidence team. Up until this season, their form really was conditioned by big moments like the Wilshere goal against Swansea or the collapse away to Chelsea. In fact, it was inconceivable that two incidents so drastically different would come together so closely.

That's certainly the case when you consider the picture painted of the training ground by Alex Fynn and Kevin Whitcher in their book, Arsénal.

The writers, who were granted unprecedented insider access to the club in 2009 and again in 2011, describe London Colney as almost like a ‘finishing school’.

Rather than create a team with sufficient resolve to win games they shouldn’t, the objective seemed to be to instead create an environment where players could just express themselves and build confidence to the point sleek football becomes second-nature.

"As a result of enhancing the attributes Wenger holds dear," Fynn and Whitcher wrote, "victory should be the natural consequence. Losing is not contemplated and therefore everyone - players and coaches alike - are dumbfounded when it happens. The ‘unbelievable faith’ coined by Paul Merson has a flip side when the faith is puncture. There seems no fallback position from which to regroup. A collective trauma invades."

That's been reflected in results. Long unbeaten runs in which the team seemed to glide have been interrupted by defeats which came in pairs - as if, again, Arsenal were so stunned by the setback they couldn’t sufficiently rouse themselves for the next game.

The 2009-10 campaign was the ultimate example of this, seeing the pattern repeat itself four times.
Clearly, though, that hasn’t been the case this term. A very distinctive cycle has been broken.

It’s possible, though, that the deviation is down to the same trait just being felt in a different way.
Arsenal's confidence is no longer derived from how they’re doing but what they're doing.

As Santi Cazorla said recently, they "are a team that needs to have control of the game". In other words, if Arsenal aren’t allowed treasure possession, they suffer. They don’t quite know how to cope with a game not being played on their terms.

This, too, is the likely explanation of why a remarkable 44% of their league goals - 20 of 46 - have come in games against last season’s three promoted sides: Arsenal have been allowed boss those bouts, as against West Ham.

It's also likely a consequence of that now long-term issue with the squad which was put to Wenger last week: the absence of "spiky characters" - as one club insider says - such as Adams, Martin Keown or even Cesc Fabregas to influence and alter games that were going against them.

And, ultimately, it could be the key to Wednesday night against Liverpool. Impose their style on the game, and Arsenal could enjoy themselves. Allow Rodgers’s side to keep the ball, though, and it might be an evening to endure.

Given the general similarities between the teams in these aspects, it could genuinely go either way. That, however, would be in-keeping with the entire season.

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Email