Arsenal 0 Swansea City 2 – Five talking points

1. Wenger and his dispirited side couldn’t have got anything more than a loss

Another evening when Arsenal just never really switched on – Wenger’s disgruntled face at full time said it all, as the Frenchman fails again to induce any kind of enthusiasm in his side. At home, a side with the quality of the Gunners could’ve never been expected to stage such a purposeless run for the complete 90 minutes. Yet, when Michu scored the inevitable late goals to seal the night for the Welsh side, it looked like Arsenal never did much to earn anything more than a loss. Wenger’s side, not for the first time in the past few weeks, were increasingly wasteful with their opportunities and also lacked the defensive coherence to save them from a crushing home defeat – all and all, another night to forget for the North Londoners.

2. Laudrup’s induced adventurism has improved the Swans significantly

A second season in the Premier League could be a daunting task – even more with a new manager – but Laudrup has made this Swansea unit play a more attractive brand of football, if not any better than their last season. The Danish manager has been spot on with his introduction of quality Spanish imports in the side that has enlivened the attacking nexus of the Welsh outfit. This game was all down to the competitive side fielded by Laudrup, and his young guns delivered in style to cap a famous victory for the Swans.

3. Michu’s finesse in front of goal has been one of the headlines this season

Another two goals for the fans to cherish, as Michu returns to the attacking fore with goals that create a telling difference on one of the most important nights for the travelling Swansea fans at the Emirates. The Spaniard who had lost some of his bite after a rampaging start to the season, is finally picking up the pace with game-changing displays against Newcastle, West Brom and now at Arsenal. He harried the home side with his penetrating runs and posed a considerable threat with his menacing pace, before sealing the deal in the closing stages for the Swans.

4. The fans losing faith in Wenger?

Another unfavorable result for the watching fans at the Emirates and the fans voice their criticism with ringing boos across the arena at the final whistle – everything signals the fans may have finally seen enough of Wenger. With every other season, Arsenal has been associated with delusional crisis situations and now we see that moment actually arriving at the Emirates. The squad had a Robin van Persie to lift them through a deep hole mediocrity last time, but this time we don’t see an inspiring figure to lead the side, on or off the field. Wenger, as usual, has been calling for pragmatism from his fans but even he would want the reality to be better than what he saw from his lads earlier last evening. Fans could take the inconsistent tag associated to their side, but it’s the incompetence which they find hard to cope with. Wenger certainly faces a make or break situation in the upcoming festive weeks where in a cramped fixtures list, things could still go worst for his lethargic unit.

5. Gervinho has nothing much to offer as a centre-forward

To be fair, with depleted striking options, Wenger doesn’t have much choice in fielding Gervinho to replace his first choice Giroud as a lone striker. Yet, the Ivorian replacement has never found it easy to operate in the striking role. His finishing isn’t something to rely upon, neither his initial touches on the ball would impress the onlookers who have been spoiled by the brilliance of Henry and van Persie in the past decade. He was again found ineffective against a stern Swansea defense and if the scheme of things continues to disappoint the Frenchman on the touchline, we may see some strengthening of the strike-force in the January window.