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Deja Vu at Arsenal: 3 ways to ruin a title chase

Dylan Martinez / Reuters

If Arsenal was clinging to narrow title hopes, those ambitions are now a pipe dream after Tuesday's dire 2-1 defeat to Watford at the Emirates.

Arsene Wenger's lot started the day eight points adrift of table-topping Chelsea, and with the Blues and fellow title-chasers Liverpool and Tottenham all dropping points midweek, Arsenal was handed a perfect opportunity to inch closer to the top.

Consider that an opportunity spoiled, as Younes Kaboul's deflected free-kick and Troy Deeney's winner gave the visitor a 2-nil advantage inside of 15 minutes. Even a spirited second-half effort wasn't enough, as an Arsenal side that benefitted from late goals against Burnley (twice), Bournemouth, West Brom, and Swansea couldn't muster late heroics amid a chorus of boos from the Gunners faithful.

It was the first time Watford has beaten Arsenal in Premier League play, a fitting tribute to recently deceased club legend Graham Taylor, who both Walter Mazzari and Deeney dedicated the victory to.

Now nine points adrift ahead of Saturday's early kickoff at Chelsea, Arsenal's title hopes appear all but decided in a season that bares a striking resemblance to many others during Wenger's two-decade reign.

Here's a look at three ways that Arsenal blew its title hopes against Watford. Not surprisingly, all three factors relate to squad selection:

Ring the bell for Bellerin

With Hector Bellerin's return to full health on the heels of an ankle concern, it's a mystery as to why arguably the Premier League's best right-back was on the bench for Tuesday's clash.

Back to his dependable ways during the weekend's 5-0 FA Cup butchering of Southampton at St. Mary's, Bellerin sat and watched as centre-half Gabriel deputised for the speedy Spaniard in the starting XI.

Considering the quickness of the Hornets' January signing M'Baye Niang on the left flank, it was a curious decision to include the flat-footed Gabriel. Had Niang been able to make an imprint on the opening half, a two-goal margin could have doubled before the break.

Watford boss Mazzari employed the same high press that Arsenal has dealt with so many times before. It's a brand of pressure that Bellerin excels against, further compounding doubts over Wenger's choice to opt instead for the erratic Brazilian.

A look at Deeney's match-winner highlights Gabriel's mental lapses.

(Fig 1. Gabriel's reckless throw evades a lethargic Aaron Ramsey. Note Etienne Capoue, who is 10 paces away from the helpless Welshman.)

Gabriel's limp and utterly wasteful throw-in at the halfway line aimed at a lackadaisical Aaron Ramsey was easily poached by Etienne Capoue, who with little effort cast aside Francis Coquelin and Shkodran Mustafi before an opportunistic Deeney side-footed home a simple finish.

(Fig. 2. Ramsey is unable to corral Gabriel's bouncing effort. Credit to Capoue for closing down Ramsey.)

(Fig. 3. Ramsey and Gabriel indifferently trot back as Watford makes the most of an odd-number attack with only Deeney, Capoue, and a distant Niang in the attacking half.)

Fitting that both Gabriel and Ramsey jogged back casually as Arsenal's hopes of a first league title since 2003-04 went up in smoke.

For the love of Herbert Chapman, Gabriel should never start over Bellerin, and Aaron Ramsey is a No. 10 whose virtues playing out of position are no longer adequate for Arsenal's lofty expectations.

Painful, narrow, and compact

With Bellerin's pace on the flanks noticeably absent and a defensively committed-yet-sluggish Nacho Monreal manning the other full-back spot, one would expect Wenger to compensate with tempo on the wings.

If the speedy Spanish youth international and agile left-back Kieran Gibbs are to be left on the bench, then Wenger must employ rapid wingers, a position of strength within Arsenal's deep squad. He did not, and zero overlapping play was the result.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott, Lucas Perez, and Danny Welbeck - a quartet of players adept at playing wide - were all out of the starting XI, with the latter curiously absent from the team sheet. That quartet all performed admirably against Southampton, with only Perez filling a central role.

If anything, Arsenal's performance in the opening stanza should have been reason enough for change.

Instead of opting for an in-form bunch rife with pace, Wenger started Alex Iwobi and Alexis Sanchez - two players who tend to lean centrally - on opposing wings. That's not to say that the pairing had no bearing on the match, on the contrary, they were Arsenal's two best players. But in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Olivier Giroud starting up top, what other choice does he have?

First of all, scrap the 4-2-3-1 (see below) in a home fixture against a side that featured Capoue, dead-ball squanderer Tom Cleverley, and the stay-at-home, tough-tackling Valon Behrami.

Next, start Sanchez up top and let Giroud return to his super-sub standing, slide Iwobi into a central position alongside traditional No. 10 Mesut Ozil, and put some speed on the wings. Craig Cathcart and Miguel Britos are hardly adept at handling pace.

Change formation based on opponent

Considering Watford's midfield was an inspired Capoue and two sluggish players in Cleverley and Behrami, it begs the question: why play both Ramsey and Coquelin at the Emirates?

With Granit Xhaka midway through a four-match ban, Santi Cazorla injured, and Mohamed Elneny in Gabon nursing an ankle injury, options are limited.

Understanding that dropping Ramsey to leave Coquelin alone in the middle may warrant undesired pressure on the Frenchman, task a central midfielder to support him against the run of play.

Solution: play a 4-1-4-1 at home against lesser sides with weakened midfielders.

In this situation, Iwobi, Ozil, and Coquelin form an inverted midfield triangle, where the young Nigerian international will be depended upon to support his deep-lying colleague against counterattacks.

If Iwobi isn't up for the task, swap him with Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was stellar in a deep central role against Southampton.

Characterised as a stubborn manager whose tactics are archaic and rigid, Wenger's failure to adapt to opponents' weaknesses has again cost Arsenal a straightforward result, and with it, the club's once-realistic title ambitions.

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