Arsenal 7 Middlesbro 0: If there is one thing more troubling for England fans than Sven-Goran Eriksson's latest indiscretion, it is that Steve McClaren is currently the man most likely to succeed him as manager of their national team.
It was a merciless Arsenal, spearheaded by a reinvigorated Thierry Henry, that shredded McClaren's callow team but that does not mitigate the Middlesbrough manager's lack of ideas and invention.
McClaren trotted out the excuse that, "with the young and inexperienced back four we had it was always going to be difficult", but Arsenal began with a back four including Johan Djourou, a league debutant, Philippe Senderos, in his 18th Premiership start, and Pascal Cygan at left back.
McClaren's team has suffered from injuries this season but can that alone explain the erratic team selection that has seen 30 players used in 21 Premiership matches? "I've been here with good teams and conceded goals," proffered the former Manchester United assistant manager.
McClaren spent more than £10 million in transfer fees last summer alone, yet he hasn't shown the preparedness to overcome unexpected obstacles; even the downright obvious appears to have thrown him.
In his team's previous three visits to Highbury they had conceded 13 goals, yet on Saturday they headed to N5 with an attacking 4-4-2 formation and an inexplicably high defensive line that allowed Henry free rein to run in behind that back four.
So poor was the marking on set-pieces that Senderos and Gilberto Silva scored with headers - even the aerially challenged Robert Pires could help himself but that "goal" was ruled out for a marginal offside. By then the Frenchman had already stroked one in from the edge of the area; the Alexander Hleb even scored a first goal for Arsenal.
When McClaren recognised the error of his team selection, at 3-0 down after 29 minutes, he altered to a 4-5-1. But rather than take off Mark Viduka, whose only sprint came when his number eventually appeared on the substitutes' board, and replacing him with a midfielder, McLaren shunted Yakubu Aiyegbeni, the only genuine goal threat in his team, to the left wing. The idea was presumably for Gaizka Mendieta to maraud forward but, with Viduka unwilling to rouse, the policy failed miserably.
"(It's) part of my learning curve as a young manager," said the 44-year-old of the defeat. "It's how the team comes back from it and how I come back. Of course it puts a doubt in your head."
Henry's hat-trick made it 150 league goals in his Arsenal career, a tally that equalled Cliff Bastin's 60-year-old club record. Henry pointed to the five successive clean sheets his team have kept in the Premiership as proof that Arsenal are clearly revived after a troublesome start to the season.
There will be three new players joining - Arsene Wenger let slip that Theo Walcott's name would also be added to the recruited Emmanuel Adebayor and Vassiriki Abou Diaby - and things look bright for Arsenal. The same cannot be said for Middlesbrough and England fans.
l Guardian Service
