Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal : How to press the self-destruct button

Arsenal came out blazing - make that on fire - in the 1st half. Usually, the team likes to build up the play in the first 10 minutes of a match, but this time around, Arsenal clicked within the first minute with a coolly taken Walcott goal. By the 26th minute, Arsenal were four goals up thanks to a Djourou header and a double from Van Persie. To say that the 2nd half was a reverse in fortune for Arsenal would be stating it politely. Arsenal started well…and then the red card happened.

Was the tackle on Diaby by Barton bad? Yes. Did injury-plagued Diaby have every right to be angry about such a tackle? Yes. Should he have shown his distaste for the tackle so vehemently? No. As a professional footballer, players should (inherently) know that such displays are viewed negatively by referees. In today's game, players get red cards for sneezing at other players - it's that bad. Should the red card have determined the final result of the game so shockingly? No.

Yes, the red card was a bad idea. Playing with 10 men against a good Premier league side with 40+ minutes to go, is just not done. Losing a 4-goal lead, even with a man down, is deplorable…at best. Arsenal were a man down in the FA Cup tie with Huddersfield Town, but still showed enough steel and grit against a lesser side to win that game.

Unlike the FA Cup tie, once Arsenal went down, there was nothing to hold the team together. Fabregas came off the bench to pull the cup tie out of the fire, but that didn't happen today. Arsenal sat deep and let Newcastle toss the ball into the box; but with Djourou and Diaby gone, Arsenal didn't have the height advantage to defend crossed balls.

To make matters worse, Arsenal kept conceding fouls and gifting dead ball situations to Newcastle. Anybody who watches Newcastle will tell you this, Joey Barton + Dead Ball Situation (or crossing opportunity) = Bad Scenario (for opposing team). To show the aptness of this equation, let's examine all the goals. First penalty all started with a Barton corner, second goal came about from a Barton cross to Best, third goal (albeit a soft penalty) emerged from a Barton corner, and finally, the chance for the fourth goal was birthed from a Barton free-kick with Tiote finishing with a screamer (potential contender for goal of the season).

Arsenal played superbly in the 1st half. Period. Full stop. End of statement. Only the best teams in the world could have negated such an onslaught. The 2nd half was fraught with everything negative about Arsenal - lack of discipline, a team devoid of character and just plain bad defending. Arsenal lack a siege mentality, which in essence is this, the abiltiy to withstand unfavorable conditions and still come out on top, even if battered, bruised and bleeding. Anything positive? At least Arsenal took a point. (Why does that sound wrong on so many levels?) 

Final Thoughts : It is games like these that separates champions from contenders. Champions would have kept a clean sheet, mauled Newcastle to death in the second half, and added another scalp to their away record. Contenders on the other hand, find creative ways to butcher their hard work - remember the Spurs game at the Emirates this season? Today, Arsenal have etched themselves in Barclays Premier League history (for all the wrong reasons) by creating one of the greatest comeback games of the season - expect to see this match in the Premiership Greatest Matches DVD. Finally, the most important thing to take away from this match - and football in general - is that reality is stranger than fiction.