That puts them third in the league in terms of goals conceded, behind Chelsea and Manchester City, and ahead of Manchester United and Tottenham. Really though, the numbers don't tell the whole story: Arsenal's defense has been downright awful at times this season.
Take the goal conceded against Blackburn on Saturday as a prime example. Francis Coquelin loses an aerial duel, letting Martin Olsson get the ball. As Olsson takes his shot, Laurent Koscielny is drawn in, and Olsson's shot is parried by Wojciech Szczesny right into the path of an unmarked Colin Kazim-Richards, whose mishit shot isn't cleared off the line by a waiting Thomas Vermaelen.
That's four "big-name" players making individual mistakes to concede the deciding goal against a team in the league below them.
This defensive situation isn't novel, either. Arsenal have been leaking goals for years now, so surely the manager should've realized that some new tactics and new faces would shore up the backline, right?
Instead, Arsene Wenger has persisted with zonal marking on set pieces, and it's precisely those tactics that have cost Arsenal sloppy goals, with instances against Brighton, Hove Albion and Manchester City coming to mind.
There have been glimpses of defensive solidity this season, with clean sheets against the physical teams of Sunderland and Stoke both home and away, but goals have flown in elsewhere on the fixture list.
The way I see it, if a back four that consists of top class, big name defenders (The first-choice four of Bacary Sagna, Per Mertesacker, Thomas Vermaelen, and Kieran Gibbs is a very strong backline on paper.) is conceding sloppy goals, it's the fault of the defensive tactics, and ultimately, the manager.
I've only mentioned three of Wenger's best and worst decisions this season, so what do you think of the Frenchman's management this season? Feel free to contribute in the comments section below.
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