Arsenal’s ‘sterile domination’ against Swansea was punished with defeat

Arsenal had plenty of possession against Swansea but their lack of urgency was punished, according to Gary Neville.

When Arsenal beat Barcelona 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League knockout tie in March 2011, Arsene Wenger coined the term ‘sterile domination’ to describe Barca’s possession.

“It’s interesting to listen to the analysis of people [saying] we were dominated,” said the Arsenal boss. “We don’t deny that. But Barcelona had two shots on goal in the first half. They had a very sterile domination.”

For 59 minutes of Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat at home to Swansea, the words ‘sterile domination’ could equally be applied to Wenger’s own team’s efforts as they failed to come up with a single shot on target.

The Gunners had almost 70 per cent of possession before the break, but Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville was unimpressed.

“That’s a waste of time that 70 per cent of the ball, it’s where they’ve had it,” Neville told Monday Night Football. “They’ve passed far too slowly particularly in the back areas.

“They’re playing far too slowly across the back. They’ve got to shift it out of there. They’re never going to get beyond that Swansea block if they continue to pass it slowly like they are doing.”

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Wenger recognised afterwards that there was a need for more urgency in those early stages.

Asked what they tried to do in the second half, he told Sky Sports: “Play with more pace, pass quicker and be more penetrating. It takes sometimes one half to get there in the right rhythm.

“These kind of games you play 20 times, win 19 and you lose it once. This was that one time.”

While Arsenal did muster nine shots on target by the final whistle, Neville had little sympathy with the view that the home side were unfortunate.

They started to play with half an hour to go. They might win it 19 times out of 20 but the one time you do lose it you have no excuse because you’ve been lethargic for an hour.

“They started to play with half an hour to go. They might win it 19 times out of 20 but the one time you do lose it you have no excuse because you’ve been lethargic for an hour,” said Neville.

“For a team like Arsenal, they rely on tempo and shifting the ball quickly out from the back. Make that team with 10 men behind the ball move quickly.

“All Swansea were doing was screening the ball across. But they weren’t being made to screen quickly from side to side because Arsenal were passing it too slowly.

“Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin were coming too deep then in turn Aaron Ramsey was starting to come deep. Before you knew it you had six or seven players this (defensive) side of Swansea’s 10.

“You’ve got to shift it quickly out from the back. Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny set the tone for it and it was too slow. Get it forward quickly out to the full-back and find your channels and pathways.”

Mertesacker completed 92 passes, the most by any defender in a Premier League game since September, while Arsenal as a team had the most successful passes that they’ve managed at the Emirates for three seasons.

But their early caution proved costly when Bafetimbi Gomis headed in the winning goal late on and Arsenal were unable to come up with a riposte.

Live Ford Super Sunday

It means that while no team has scored a first half goal against Arsenal in the Premier League since New Year's Day, this was also the first time in four years that Wenger’s side have failed to score in back-to-back home games.

With Manchester United up next, Arsenal will need to be back to their best on Sunday. And that means upping the tempo.

Watch Man Utd v Arsenal live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 3.30pm on Super Sunday