AC Milan 4-0 Arsenal

ROBINHO: Two goals for Milan

Former Manchester City man, Robinho, struck twice to to put an end to Arsenal’s Champions League dreams as AC Milan ended Arsenal's unbeaten run against Italian sides to an embarrassing end.

Former Tottenham man Kevin-Prince Boateng’s stunning strike in the 15^th minute put the Rossonieri ahead before Robinho doubled and then trebled their lead.

Ibrahimovic scored a penalty in the 79^th minute to kill off the game beyond doubt and in doing so ensured that he has scored in every Champions League game he’s played in this season. Ibrahimovic made a nuisance of himself from the kick-off and looked every bit the player he says he is, creating and scoring goals tonight.

Arsenal had a good chunk of the possession in the opening ten minutes but their good spell ended there. Boateng’s strike of the night from the right-hand side rattled the underside of the bar and then the bottom of the net, leaving Szczesny helpless and Arsenal were 1-0 down before they knew it.

The pitch didn’t do either team any favours but it could be suggested that the wide-flanks, where the worst of it was, would affect Arsenal’s play more than the home side.

Arsenal’s defence were at their poorest since the start of the season and Milan’s front three of Ibrahimovic, Boateng and Robinho ran them ragged.

If things couldn’t get worse for the Gunners’ back line, Laurent Koscielny, who was their best defender by far and away with Vermaelen having a torrid time, had to be replaced with Djourou just before the break.

AC Milan were troubled by their own injury problems and manager, Allegri found himself having to bring on Urby Emanuelson for the injured Clarence Seedorf just after the 10 minute mark.

Robinho made it 2-0 before half time heading home a perfectly chipped ball from Ibrahimovic from five yards out.

Half time saw changes made from Arsenal and a final Champions League appearance for Thierry Henry who replaced the lacklustre Theo Walcott.

But the change didn’t rectify the problems and Robinho doubled his tally for the night after an unfortunate Vermaelen slip on the edge of the box allowed him the space to pick his spot and smash his effort towards goal.

Arsenal very nearly got one back just after the 60^th minute when Henry and Van Persie teamed up to create a rare Arsenal chance which forced a save from ‘keeper Marco Amelia.

The French maestro flicked the ball up with his heel for the prolific Van Persie to strike it on the volley but Amelia did well to tip the shot round the post.

Szczesny’s first save came in the third minute of stoppage time when he was forced to stop a later strike from Pato. Four Milan shots hit the back of the net and the other ten were off-target.

Arsenal have an important couple of weeks ahead with the FA Cup game then Tottenham and Liverpool in the league. If they continue to perform the way they did tonight then their season will be over sooner rather than later.

What's Arsenal's problem?

Arsenal find themselves dumped out of two competitions in less than a week and suddenly the Gunners’ chances of silverware are decreased significantly and now every league game is a cup final, almost (and we know how well Arsenal do in cup finals!). Now, don’t get me wrong, the title race is far from over but do Arsenal have what it takes or is there something of a ‘mental block’ when it comes to obtaining a trophy?

Arsene Wenger may not be highly regarded as one of arsenal’s problems and rightly so but the manager must take responsibility for his teams failures at some point. When players are under-performing and being accused of lacking in effort it’s easy to blame individual players but one must question how much of this attitude is down to the managers style and motivational tactics. For example, it’s difficult to imagine a player under the likes of Ferguson or Moyes playing a full game in a lacklustre fashion without it being pointed out to him, to put it mildly.

Arsene Wenger has seen a number of players come and go over the past 5 trophy-less seasons yet, all the squads seem to have the same problem. Wenger has said before that if his team are losing or have been defeated he never uses the hairdryer method; instead they are made to sit and contemplate their mistakes. This is, no doubt, a tactful and subtle approach yet, it does seem slightly childish to me, like the naughty step or silent treatment method employed by parents.

Perhaps Arsenal would benefit from a more mouthy and brash assistant coach, someone to tell them when they’re flailing around arse over tit. Someone to provide some steel and some of the ‘English grit and determination’ that we’re so often reminded of. Could Wenger’s method be too intellectual for a football team?

Arsenal's Case for Silverware

Arsenal, somehow, managed a 0-4 destruction of Newcastle United in the Carling Cup last night despite looking somewhat disjointed and unconvincing for the most part. Having said that, Newcastle never looked overly threatening throughout the match and whenever they did have a decent chance Szczesny performed brilliantly.

A lot has been made of Arsene Wenger taking the competition more seriously in terms of the strength of squad he fields now that Arsenal seem to be desperate for silverware. However, the team who lined up to face Newcastle last night is not much different from the side who were beat at Eastlands in the quarter final of last year's cup. There were four of the same starters last night as there was last season, arguably, if Wilshere and Ramsey were available that would make six. Gibbs was injured for last season's game, as was Djourou and Nasri started last season's clash against Liverpool so given the circumstances, I don't think the team is all massively different.

The most notable priority shift in Arsene's mentality is not so much the starting line up but, the bench; there is now first teamers such as Fabregas, Arshavin and Sagna occupying bench for the competition.

With Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City out of the competition there is a real chance that Arsenal could give it a good go this season and I think Wenger is very keen to take advantage of the situation.

The only question is, how much would change if Arsenal won the League Cup? It has been well documented that Wenger has previously used the League Cup to give the youngsters some much needed experience however now it seems that he cannot afford to do that to the same extent.

Would Arsenal really be able to silence their critics through one League Cup victory? I suspect not, but what it would bring to the club is a winning mentality, something that captain Cesc Fabregas said his team lacked recently.

Very, very few of these Arsenal players know what it feels like to win anything (and, I'm not counting the Emirates Cup!). This group of youngsters has not achieved anything together resulting in a lack of confidence when it comes to getting over the final hurdle. I suspect that should they lift one trophy, even if it is the Carling Cup that they may go on to win several, not necessarily in the same season but soon afterwards. 

Theo Walcott, who scored two goals last night, believes this too, saying: "Our fans have been desperate for us to win a trophy and the players have as well.  Hopefully we can win the Carling Cup and it will be one of many."