QPR vs. Arsenal: 6 Things We Learned About the Gunners

Arsenal suffered a very disappointing defeat to Queens Park Rangers, succumbing 2-1 at Loftus Road.

This was easily the most lackluster Arsenal performance in weeks, with the Gunners' good run of form abruptly brought to a halt by a QPR side that worked extremely hard and deserved the scoreline that they were rewarded with at the end of the match.

Two mistakes by Thomas Vermaelen gave the Hoops both of their goals, as two fine finishes by Adel Taarabt and Samba Diakite negated an opportunistic goal by Theo Walcott of the Englishman's own miss.

The three points are invaluable for QPR, who are on the brink of moving out of the relegation zone. Meanwhile, Arsenal drop a bit farther back towards Tottenham and Chelsea, and put more pressure on themselves to win their remaining seven fixtures.

Here are six things that we learned about the Gunners from a dispiriting loss.

After keeping two consecutive clean sheets for the first time this season, Arsenal looked extremely vulnerable at the back against QPR.

On numerous occasions, the Gunners' back four was torn apart when put under repeated pressure by the Hoops, and confusion resulted in open space—which translated into goals.

Free-kicks were dealt with very nervously and numerous last-ditch challenges needed to be made to save Wojciech Szczesny when the linesman did not.

Thomas Vermaelen, in particular, was quite horrid. He was responsible for both Rangers goals when misplay created gaping holes in the defence.

Because this side of the team had been improving in recent games, I will give Arsenal the benefit of the doubt, but they really should have played better than they did.

Arsene Wenger has never been regarded as a brilliant tactical schemer in the mold of Sir Alex Ferguson. Substitutions have notoriously been his achilles heel, and he has gotten his team selections seriously wrong in the past couple matches.

Against QPR, it finally came back to hurt him.

Why on Earth he decided to play Aaron Ramsey, as pure a central midfielder as anyone can be, on the left wing is beyond me. Arsenal had Gervinho and the superb Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain fresh and on the bench.

In the end, the Gunners lacked any width on the left side because Ramsey constantly drifted to his natural position in the center of the pitch. Wenger held his two most dangerous weapons back until late in the second half, when it was obvious that he had made a mistake in the first period.

Initially, I did not think that QPR would be able to keep up their pressing game that stymied Arsenal in the early stages of the match. But, they did, and the Gunners could never quite beat it.

Time and time again, whenever Arsenal got the ball, the player in possession was swarmed by several opposition players who became especially determined to win the ball back. And that was only whenever Arsenal were brave enough to venture into Rangers' defensive third.

As a result, QPR were able to retain more possession than many expected and launch stinging counterattacks. The Gunners had trouble dealing with this on a day when their defence was extremely fragile.

Prior to this fixture, Arsenal were flying high, having won seven Premier League games on the trot and dramatically overtaking Tottenham in the League table.

Against QPR, the Gunners looked as if they were in one of their poorer patches of the season.

The attack bore little fruit, Arsenal had immense trouble in keeping possession, and at times the defence was in shambles.

Arsenal will hope that this game is just a bump in the road, and not the start of a longer run of bad form. This match could easily be filed under "January" in a list of Arsenal's worst of the season.

In the wake of wins against Everton and Aston Villa, in which 26-goal scorer Robin van Persie did not find the back of the net, some suggested that the captain does not need to score in every game anymore to lift Arsenal to victory.

His importance might be somewhat reduced due to the form of other players. However, it is clear that the Gunners sometimes need a moment of Dutch magic to spur them into action.

In past games, when the attack has looked toothless and without inspiration, van Persie has always been there to provide the crucial goal. While Arsenal are more balanced now, they will clearly need some more great moments from the captain in the run-in.

While I certainly do not think that Arsenal approached this match with the malaise that saw them throw away their title hopes last season, I doubt that their performance would have been the same if this was the FA Cup final.

It is a cliche trotted out all the time today, especially by Arsene Wenger, but it is nonetheless true. Chelsea won and Tottenham have yet to play, meaning that Arsenal could potentially be back in fourth place and facing pressure from those below them once again.

There are only seven more matches that will decide the final Barclays Premier League table.

Just seven.

We are really in the final stretch now. It would be utterly foolish, then, for an Arsenal side that controls its own destiny to not give everything every player's body can give until May.

Summer is for rest, but now is decidedly the time for action.

Follow @charliemelman