Wenger must take responsibility for defeat

Pathetic. Shambolic. Naive. Arsenal departed to a chorus of boos after a deserved 3-1 defeat by a Monaco side superior mentally, physically and tactically. It is Monte Carlo and probably bust now for Arsene Wenger as he returns to his old home on March 17 for the return-leg of Arsenal’s last-16 tie in the Champions League. The club that made him could be the club that breaks him.

Monaco did not park the yacht; they played with intelligence and elan, ripping Wenger’s team to pieces with precise counter-attacks, raiding into space vacated by Arsenal’s AWOL defenders. Monaco’s Prince Albert looked on from the smart seats, while Arsenal looked like they had spent an evening at the Queen Vic.

After watching his side suffer a collective paralysis in their biggest game of the season, Wenger bore the look of a manager who could hear the clock ticking. He clung to the hope that Arsenal could overturn the deficit at the Stade Louis II, but he was drained, a man running out of ideas and excuses.

Wenger heads to the famous casino town for what could prove his last throw of the dice in the Champions League. Arsenal’s board is very supportive of the manager — far too supportive, as he needs challenging — but evenings such as this really should erode its faith. The majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke, tends to attend the bigger games, but he witnessed a humiliation here.

Wenger lamented that his players were “a bit suicidal defensively” and accused them of losing their nerve, of playing with heart rather than head. It was difficult to disagree, barring the “a bit” part. Such criticism may not go down well in the dressing room, a place that lacks strong characters during the best of times.

Arsenal’s distinguished manager must take much of the blame for this. He sets the mood, shapes the tactics, builds the squad, selects the starting 11 and ultimately, he must take responsibility. It is a familiar lament in this quarter, but Wenger has failed to recruit sufficient leaders, warriors, those who will fight to turn around games, those who do not freeze as Arsenal invariably do at some point in Europe.

Arsenal were so sluggish for so long — their captain Per Mertesacker even lost out in a sprint to Dimitar Berbatov, who is more Agatha Christie than Linford Christie over 100m.

Olivier Giroud is still too one-footed, not quick enough and missed a couple of good chances. He is not ruthless enough at this level. Only when Theo Walcott came on, and particularly Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, did Arsenal carry a threat.

For all Arsenal’s collapse, Monaco deserved sustained lauding. There were 2,000 Monaco fans here, which could not have left too many back in the principality, and they chanted “We are at home” and “Ole” as Joao Moutinho played some superb passes, as Geoffrey Kondogbia dominated midfield and scored the team’s first and as Anthony Martial was magnificent down the left.

They cheered and did a brief Poznan as Berbatov scored the team’s second. Even when Oxlade-Chamberlain struck, Arsenal still dozed off, allowing Yannick Ferreira Carrasco to sprint through to seize a third away goal and surely put this tie beyond Arsenal.

This was not in the script. Monaco are currently fourth in Ligue 1, managed only four goals in the group stage and were missing the suspended Jeremy Toulalan and Ricardo Carvalho to injury. This appeared a straightforward, enticing draw, not an ambush.

Monaco appeared far less forbidding opponents than Arsenal’s more recent knockout conquerors in Bayern Munich (twice), AC Milan and Barcelona as they bowed out of the round of 16 in the past four years. Yet, Monaco had conceded only one goal in six group-stage games and their defence here was imperious.

The inquest will be painful for Wenger as he heads to his old home.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Henry Winter is The Daily Telegraph’s football correspondent.