Bradford City 1-1 Arsenal

By Nick Lander

Arsenal slipped to another disappointing result on Tuesday evening, suffering a penalty shootout defeat at the hands of a club 65 places below them in the league ladder.

Turning in a lacklustre display, a strong Arsenal side, who were also strongly tipped to win the tournament, slumped to defeat in the Capital One Cup.

Arsenal dominated proceedings throughout, but never much looked like scoring - despite their 28 efforts on goal. Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla both hit the woodwork as the Gunners strove to find an equaliser after the Bantams scored an early, and avoidable, goal, Gary Thompson volleying home after the away side failed to deal with a free kick from one side of the penalty area, after Thomas Vermaelen felled Nahki Wells.

In truth, despite dominating possession and the shots tally, Wojciech Szczesney was by far the more tested of the two 'keepers, saving well on a number of occasions. The Londoners lack composure and creativity when in possession and all too often failed to make the most of promising opportunities.

Olivier Giroud was out injured and manager Arsene Wenger took the decision to start Gervinho through the middle. It did not work out. Arsenal frequently managed to work the ball into good crossing positions before being thwarted by a lack of options in the box. Marouane Chamakh's introduction on the hour was too little, too late. Equally the Moroccan should not have replaced the lively Coquelin rather the ineffective and wasteful Gervinho. In all likelihood, that would also have meant that the Gunners would still have had German striker Lukas Podolski on the pitch come the penalty shootout.

Vermaelen got a late equaliser, heading home Cazorla's cross to take the tie to extra time, but in reality it should have been over long before then.

In extra time, Arsenal continued to have the majority of the play, but were unable to score a crucial second, allowing Bradford to take the tie to penalties. Cazorla, Chamakh and Vermaelen all missed, and whilst Szczesney saved well from Stephen Darby and Ritchie Jones, it was not enough to prevent the Yorkshire side from winning 3-2 on penalties.

There were chants of "Wenger out and sack the board" as the Arsenal fans filed out, but that is far from the solution. There is only so much a manager can do, sometimes the players have to look at themselves and take responsibility for a shocking performance.

Summer 2011 proved that panic buying in the transfer window is a flawed tactic, but Arsenal will need to be a serious player in the January market, or they risk falling far behind in the race for fourth. With just one win in their last six games, I believe that around £40m of investment will be needed in January alone in order to keep the squad competitive.

Arsenal are understood to be considering adding 4 or 5 new players in the transfer window, and you will be able to keep track of everything by following me on Twitter - @nlander94 - and by liking the Facebook page.

Are Arsenal after soon-to-be out of cotract stars?

 

By Nick Lander

 

There has been renewed speculation over the last few days about Arsenal's interest in Shalke striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. The 29-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season, and Shalke could be prepared to part with the Dutchman for just £6m, with the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror both reporting that the Gunners will make a move for him during the January window, having had scouts watch him on a number of occasions recently.

 

More surprisingly, the Gunners have also been linked with a move to bring Frank Lampard across London from Chelsea. The 34-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season, and interim manager Rafa Benitez has confirmed that the England midfielder will not be having his deal renewed. He had been expected to move to the MLS and LA Galaxy or China, but those options now seem less likely.

 

One legend of the game that Arsenal do seem certain to sign is Thierry Henry, with Wenger having stated his desire to make arrangements with New York Red Bulls for the Frenchman to have a third stint in North London, to provide cover for Marouane Chamakh and Gervinho, who will both be competing in the African Cup of Nations in January. His fitness will be assessed when he starts training with the Gunners on his return from holiday.

 

Personally, I can envisage all of these moves happening, with Huntelaar and Henry the most probable. Both would enrich Arsenal's squad and, in Henry's case, bring a passion for the club that the players could be accused of lacking in some games so far this season. With regards to Lampard, I normally would not give this story the time of day, but when asked about it at his pre-Olympiakos press conference yesterday, Wenger was particularly cryptic; "We are in the country of Socrates. He said, 'I know that I know nothing', and that is a bit like football." On the face of it, that does sound like a denial, but usually Wenger is far more direct than that, so it could just be that Lampard will be swapping blue for red in either January or the summer.

 

After a torrid start to the season, that has seen Wenger's side win just three of their last 12, the club are likely to be far more active in the January window than normal. I am sure there will be much more speculation over the weeks to come and The N5 Blog will try to keep you up to date with it all.

 

You can follow me on Twitter - @nlander94 - and like our Facebook page.