Goalkeeper - Arsenal have 'no chance' if performances are repeated

But the Gunners’ goalkeeper Vito Mannone still feels there is plenty to remain optimistic about for his side.

“We have good players and we need to believe in ourselves,” he told me after Wednesday evening’s defeat at the Emirates. I asked him what the North Londoners need to do to get over such poor performances and results.

He replied, “Get ready on the training ground and work hard because we’re Arsenal and we need to show that.”

Arsenal made a relatively positive start to the season – new signings Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud, and Santi Cazorla had initially appeared to bed in well and all three have scored since joining the Gunners.

But Arsene Wenger’s side appear to be lacking a clinical finish – they recorded only one shot on target in the whole 90 minutes of play on Wednesday, despite enjoying a majority share of the possession.

They had suffered a similar fate last weekend in a 1-0 shocker against Norwich City in which Grant Holt’s 19^th minute goal was followed by a further 71 minutes where Arsenal dominated with a staggering 72% of possession and only managed to get four shots on target, most of which were aimed straight at the Norwich keeper.

Arsene Wenger’s options are limited since the departure of Robin van Persie – Giroud still lacks confidence and form, Podolski has mostly been used out wide where he has less impact, and Marouane Chamakh I imagine is rocking back and forth muttering to himself in the back of the reserves dressing room.

The only revelation has been Gervinho who came to the club as a winger and has now been converted in to a striker.

But, despite being the club’s top scorer on 5 goals, I’m not convinced he’s good enough to play through the middle for a ‘top four’ club and I can’t imagine any of the other ‘top four’ managers playing him there or, in all honesty, buying him in the first place.

Arsenal seem to have real trouble breaking down opposition that are happy to sit back, dig in, and hold out. Which is now so glaringly obvious that it’s become the only way teams play against Arsenal. Two solid banks of four, compacted so there’s no room for Cazorla to operate in, whip every dead-ball into the box and try and catch ‘em on the break. 'Simples'.

Except it shouldn’t be for a so-called ‘big club’ like Arsenal and Vito Mannone was quick to point it out.

“QPR on Saturday will be another tough game. If we play like we’ve been doing at Norwich and today, there’s no chance we’re going to win.”

Arsenal now face the Premier League’s bottom placed club in Queen's Park Rangers and will be hoping they can put the nightmares of Wednesday and Saturday to bed.

“We’re not going through a good moment,” he added, “but this is football and we need to get up off the floor and bounce back.”