It was a tough game to watch this one, even if you were not a Gooner. Arsenal were dominated by Southampton who gave Wenger’s side no chance whatsoever. It did not matter if the Gunners ended the game with 500+ passes if no solutions were found towards Stekelenburg’s goal. It’s hard to find a player who stood out for Arsenal as most of them were dominated by their direct adversaries. Flamini was probably one of the weakest as he is no longer used to playing back to back. Cech was not in great form either which probably mattered to some extent. It is true that Cuco Martina’s Quaresma-like shot was a stunner but that’s no excuse for what followed.

The second half was lost at the middle of the pitch where nothing seemed to work. Ramsey, Flamini and Giroud lost the ball several times and allowed the Saints to showcase some excellent counterattacking skills. Even the set-pieces were well-prepared by Koeman who probably could not have predicted the final score.

As revealed by Sky Sports, Wenger’s post-match interview was pretty balanced as the Frenchman acknowledged Arsenal’s poor and determination-free performance while still pointing out that the two points separating them from Leicester are not that big of a deal at this point in the competition. “Southampton made the game very physical, we lost too many challenges and that explains why we lost the game. They were sharper than us in the challenges and we have to look at what we can master.” It is kind of late to figure out that you need to master something. Hopefully he will figure out what that is by the end of the year so as to have a good chance when facing Liverpool, Chelsea, Leicester or Barcelona. I`m pretty sure that this was a slip-up though and that the players went in too relaxed after the win against City. This loss could open their eyes and help them push their limits. This would not have happened if Sanchez was on the pitch, not because of his skills as a player but because of his character. The man knows how to motivate without saying too much. Earlier in the season Ozil and Ramsey admitted to be influenced to push themselves after watching Sanchez train and play. That kind of motivation was missing against the Saints.