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TSN Soccer Analyst

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Players remember the big losses more than the big wins

Robin van Persie's face said it all. His Arsenal team had just been annihilated 8-2 by Man Utd at Old Trafford. He walked off the field stunned at the difference between his side and the top team in England at the time. 

A year later the Dutchman was back at Old Trafford, only this time as a Manchester United player.

Van Persie left out the same door as Cesc Fabregas, Alex Song, Emmanuel Adebayor, Gael Clichy, Samir Nasri and others. Bacary Sagna followed them last summer.

Players want to win. Of course, they want money and that's been the big reason many Arsenal fans have called their players in the past for leaving them but, above all else, players now leave Arsenal to join bigger teams because they want to win trophies and don't believe they can do that at Arsenal.

Arsenal's pathetic display in Wednesday's 3-1 home loss to Monaco is another reminder to those players. This sport is about combinations coming together on the field and although it was easy to pinpoint certain individuals on all three goals conceded this defeat was a collective failure. Arsenal still have excellent players but the combination of the team's approach, mentality and weakness in certain areas ensured their top players couldn't dictate the game. 

This is a massive longterm problem. Take the case of Laurent Koscielny. The French defender often divides opinion because he is occasionally prone to high-profile mistakes but this is a defender who regularly plays at an elite level. If Koscielny was to play under a manager who didn't expose his defenders to wide-open transitions or with a partner who could stop going for a leisurely stroll into No Mans Land then he would be talked about as one of the best in the game. He will know all of this. 

The same can be said about Santi Cazorla, the Spanish midfielder who was been excellent in the Premier League this season. Cazorla looks like he is on the path from very good to great but he will be desperately disappointed by his showing in the second half against Monaco. Once again, this wasn't entirely his fault and the lack of genuine quality around him made him look pedestrian against a very impressive and fluid Monaco midfield.

The Premier League is the most entertaining league in the world but not the most talented 

Last week I wrote a column about Manchester United and why it was difficult to judge their progress based around how mediocre many of their latest opponents have been. 

This is where we are at in 2015. It was another dismal week for the Premier League in the Champions League with Arsenal and Man City losing at home but we should be cautious about general comments around the league based off those two results. City have been below their standard this season and were outplayed by a brilliant Barcelona while Arsenal were abysmal on the night. 

This caught most by surprise. After all, Arsenal have been on a good run in the Premier League but, then again, of course they have. This is an enormous football club based in the capital of the country which is home to the richest league in world football. They are top four in spending and are able to attract players that 60-70% of the league's other teams could only dream of acquiring. 

Despite all of this they are consistently applauded for finishing in the top four every year even though they haven't come close to seriously challenging for a Premier League in over a decade. It is little wonder that Arsenal have struggled to reach another level. Their manager has convinced the board, the owner and a large section of their fan base that beating 16 domestic teams, ranked somewhere between woeful and average, over a 38 game season is sufficient. 

He has spoken proudly about taking the team into the Champions League for 17 years in a row but for far too long Wenger and Arsenal have lived in the past. The club's fanbase, who pay more money than any club to watch their team, deserve this team to be analyzed on a season by season basis. It is more than time for Wenger to be judged by the teams he cannot beat, not the ones he continues to defeat. 

Big game problems for Arsenal again

It is 2015. A time when so much statistical analysis is available to all clubs. Yet, the beauty of this game is there are no time-outs or stoppages to reflect and gather. In a two legged away goal system it should not be a panic if you concede the first goal at home. When playing away the archaic rule allows you licence to attack more and Arsenal still have 90mins of this to come. However, down 1-0 and, crucially, 2-1 the team continued to push far too many men forward and showed us another example of how they can crumble mentally in a big game. 

"Worst performance in over a decade from Arsenal," said Warren Barton on FOX. He is entitled to his opinion but it was only last season that this team was humiliated 6-0 at Chelsea, 6-3 at Man City and 5-1 at Liverpool. Those who remember the games will known those scorelines were kind to Arsenal based around how they played. 

Against Monaco the same habits returned. Far too many men high up the pitch leaving them open to a precise counter on a transition. Arsenal played the second half like it was the second leg. 

They may still progress, although Ajax in 1969 were the last team to do so after losing at home by two goals in the opening leg of a European Cup tie, but much of the long-term damage has been done thanks to the same old problems.