Why were Arsenal 4-0 down in the first place?

Brushed under the carpet, perhaps conveniently, in the euphoria of Arsenal's thrilling and improbable comeback last night, was the shocking start that led to them needing such a miracle in the first place?

Why were they 4-0 down?

Firstly, despite Reading's lowly league position, the Madejski Stadium is not an easy place to go. Before looking at Arsenal, credit must be given to Reading for their first half showing.

The home side were up for the cup tie from the first whistle, and exposed the problems in the Arsenal defence. With the exception of Carl Jenkinson, relatively inexperienced himself, the back five had not been part of the Gunners first choice back line this season.

Even Laurent Kosicelny has been in and out of the side, with Johan Djourou and Ignasi Miquel making just their second starts of the season. When players aren't playing regularly, there is bound to be a rustiness which shows in their performances, and that is exactly what we saw last night.

Then there was goalkeeper Damian Martinez, who was clearly nervous, in only his second professional start, and with a makeshift defence in front of him it made his task all the more harder.

Take a look at Vito Mannone's performances in the first team this season, protected by Arsenal's first choice defence, he has performed well, yet but him behind the backline which started last night in similar circumstances and his shaky showings when called upon previously would likely have re-emerged.

Last night also saw the very best and worst of Andrei Arshavin. As the game went on he got more and more dangerous, but during the first half he seems disinterested and was a peripheral figure.

Only when Theo Walcott had dragged the Gunners back into the game did he start to exert an influence. Is he the player Arsenal need in a scrap? Unfortunately watching fans did not learn anything new about the Russian last night, only confirmation of how frustrating he can be.

Then there are Piers Morgan's calls that Wenger has lost his 'competitive edge' and needs to go. Well unless Arsenal's board can tempt Pep Guardiola to the club, they should stick with the Frenchman.

The one harsh lesson Arsenal almost learned, was that they nearly paid the price for fielding an understrength team. It is highly publicised that the Gunners are seven years without a trophy, and the League Cup is arguably the easiest to win.

So why does Wenger constantly pay it such a lack of respect? That is bemusing to us, it's great to blood the youngsters, but he did get his team selection wrong last night, had the midfield and defence been stronger, the Gunners would never have been 4-0 down in the first place.

Fortunately they got away with it, but with money to spend in January, expect it to be spent, as this match showed Arsenal simply don't have the required strength in depth at the back they crave. 

Whether Ignasi Miquel will ever make it at Arsenal is questionable, and Johan Djourou will surely be sold in January. Despite his heroics last night, you'll be hard pushed to find an Arsenal fan which would rather have Chamakh than see Arsenal try to sign Llorente.

Ultimately the shocking start does not matter for Arsenal, but lessons must be taken from it, and Wenger should field a stronger side in the next round if he intends to avoid the risk of another heart-stopping performance.

What were the problems which led to Arsenal's shocking start last night in your opinion?

image: © Ronnie Macdonald