Arsene Wenger may have said that ‘the score was a very unfair reflection of the game’, but in truth he could not have be more wrong. Chelsea were clinical in taking us apart at The Emirates and fully deserved to run out 3-0 winners.
We may have had much more of the ball but the away side always looked more likely to stick into the back of the net and did so twice before the break – Didier Drogba finishing off a slick move and Thomas Vermaelen scoring an own goal – before Drogba added a third late on with a cleverly disguised free-kick. Chelsea probably should have had a penalty early on when Bacary Sagna pulled down Nicolas Anelka and could have scored more too, most notably when Manuel Almunia produced a spectacular save to deny a shot deflected by Frank Lampard.
While our boys huffed and puffed in and around the box they were unable to create anything of note apart from an Andrey Arshavin goal after half-time that was harshly disallowed for a non-existant foul on Petr Cech by Eduardo.
The final ball was sorely lacking from our performance today and we badly missed the likes of Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner. Despite an admirable effort the forward three of Arshavin, Eduardo and Samir Nasri were simply too small to trouble the Chelsea defence as Cesc Fabregas struggled to find the right sort of passes to hurt the away side. Crosses posed no threat to the likes of John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho and on the one or two occasions when Eduardo was afforded a little bit of space his touch let him down.
I don’t believe this defeat was down to a lack of attitude or incorrect tactics by the manage but a lack of key personnel. We could play this Chelsea team ten times without van Persie or Bendtner spearheading the attack and I don’t think we would beat them once. Their defence is just too strong and physical and unfortunately we did not have the right players available to allow a genuine chance of winning the match.
The midfield of Alex Song, Denilson and Fabregas can hold their heads up after a very decent exhibition of possession football, however questions must be asked of the defence. There is no team in the league would have prevented Chelsea’s first goal but there was an obvious lack of communication for the second as Gallas, Vermaelen and Almunia each expected to be the one to take care of the danger. The trio will need to sit down and discuss what went wrong tonight to prevent any further damage being done as the season moves forward.
Too lose badly was obviously a result but on reflection it is hard to see how this team could have done better. Against the very best teams we need a more physical striker to compliment the smaller, nippier players to allow the 4-3-3 to function properly. This was simply not possible against Chelsea and they exploited it badly.
I’m not one to write off a title challenge and I certainly don’t think we’re out of it yet, but the last two Premier League games have provoked some serious questions about the potential of this team. Can our new system produce goals without van Persie and Bendtner? Why is Eduardo looking so flat? Do we need to look at Marouane Chamakh for answers? How will we cope without Song in January? Why do we keep conceding soft goals in big games?
These are worrying times at The Emirates and with a visit to Manchester City in the Carling Cup midweek they might get worse before they get better.
Have your say on Arsenal’s 3-0 loss to Chelsea by leaving a comment.
Can’t blame Eduardo, after his leg was broken he just lost it a bit, any man would it wasnt a fracture, his ankle broke off. I really like Eduardo but he’s not what he was and he would never be that player we first saw him scoring that spectucalar strike in the carling cup. Sad really he couldn’t be the one to lead the line.
I hope Arsene buys in January, not because I agree with the doom squad but from what I see we really need someone to cover song, if Arsene buys more it’ll be nicer, at least he shows us he’s proactive and not being in denial like what he said of this lost.
To be honest we just weren’t good enough. Its all very well to play good passing football but when you have the cutting edge of a banana in the final third of the field you’re not going to win anything. We need a world class striker now and that won’t be cheap!
The youth policy failed. Its time for Wenger to stop being so stubborn and spend big on quality players. We have the money, why not spend it?
Ps. Almunia is toss, he should be the first to go. We wont win a thing with him between the sticks, he will always be a liability.
Arshavin nd Nasri werent trackin back enough…. Cashley got all da freedom to roam in our half!! And eduardo is not the player he once was. We do need to buy a striker in january. Hope Chelsea drop points.
I have to disagree, I thought Wenger got his tactics hilariously wrong. There is no reason Arsenal, even missing van Persie and Bendtner, couldn’t have won yesterday if they were truly a quality side – you can’t always blame injuries. It was down to a)disastrous performance and b)tactics. And why does Wenger always reject responsibility? Why does he always blame others and not say “we got it wrong, we deserved to get beaten”? How does he expect to move on and improve with that attitude? I would like to hear an Arsenal opinion on this.
We missed Diaby last night.
Gibbs God bless you. The fucking youth policy is a fucking sham fuck wenger can that idiot go buy players. Chelsea have a strong squad and yet want to get ribery. Aluminia is a waste. Men i am gutted. Let wenger go get jose.
we didnt miss diaby!!!!!!!! diaby is not good enough. why are we fans always protecting wenger. if he goes arsenal will continue.
So i am not accused of plagerism…….
This a bit from this evening’s newspaper…it says all
LONDON – Chelsea regained their dominant place in the Premier League title
race with a 3-0 win at the Emirates on Sunday that restored their
five-point lead over Manchester United.
Two goals from Didier Drogba and a Thomas Vermaelen own goal made the
difference as Arsenal, who had won their previous 11 home games in all
competitions, struggled to make an impression on a Chelsea defence that
has conceded just eight goals in 14 league games.
The match encapsulated the key differences between the two London sides as
Chelsea’s powerful lineup outmuscled Arsenal’s lightweights and, when in
sight of goal, went for the jugular.
In contrast, Arsenal were content to play endless passes around the box in
attacks that all too often petered out thanks to over-elaboration
As a arsenal supporter i was truly disappointed with the performance of the team last night.We lacked ideas in the final third and played the extra pass, instead of having a shot on goal.We can’t use the excuse that we had players like van persie and bendtner missing.The real problem with the team at the moment is that Wenger has to many players that are very similar.Players like fabregas,arshavin,nasri,rosicky are quality players but seem to offer the same type of play,short one two passes, through the middle of the park.This type of play becomes predictable and teams like chelsea adapt there defense to counter the type of play.Wenger needs to teach his players to change there style of play during the game and not persist with the same style all the time.
Almunia was very poor indeed and was fooled far too easily by that free kick. Anyone who watches football knows where Drogba is placing it, yet Almunia in a schoolboy fashion decided to move towards the side covered by his wall and got beaten at his near post.
But the lack of steel and physical presence is what cost us yesterday. Chelsea just bulldozed through us and unfortunately it looked like men against boys in the most literal sense. Why we resorted to crossing the ball with no big men in the box I don’t know. It was too easy for Chelsea and it hurts to see Arsenal dismantled like that.
Arsene may say the title isn’t out of reach and mathematically, of course it isn’t. But what I worry about is how a team that gets crushed 3-0 at home by title rivals can recover enough psychologically to mount a proper challenge. The damage may have already been done.
Not to sure that i understand all the wailing and hand wringing going on at the moment, the only thing that Chelski had over us was Drogpa apart from that we were the better team, we played the better football but missed that big presence up front, it was always going to be tough without both RVP and Bentner as Eduardo is not and never will be a main striker.
We lost the game through poor defending from the right side of the back four (Sanga)and the piss poor defending from Gallas, Silvestre would have been a better choice defender given that Drogpa all ways has a good game against Gallas.
Managers strange moment, taking off our best player Song and replacing him with Walcott, wierd or what???, lastly we realy do need another big pure striker as we cannot take the chance that Bentner will not be injured again this season
From my own reflections of the game,there were to things that stood out for me…the physical presence/strength and maturity,that’s what chelsea have and we don’t.We have played possession football for the last 4-5 years and what have we got for it?nothing!For starters, i agree we must have seen the best of Eduardo before he broke his leg and should never expect him to step up to plate on games that matter ever again!He was released 3-4 times yesterday and what did he do,actualy instead of feeling disgust for him,you are hard pressed to feel sorry…he cost us dearly.We not only need a better centre forward but a hungry one at that,I doubt Van Persie would have made much difference coz he is not your typical CF either.Just what tactics were being employed by withdrawing Song and leaving Denilson? Song has the build and confidence to deal with his fellow Africans in the opposing team,he understands them better.Walcott has to know that there is more to football than his pace and why did we insist on lobbing the ball in their box when we don’t have the physique….height and strength to match let alone threaten them.Wenger speaks of mental strength for this team but obviously it can’t be matched by Chelsea’s or Man Utd.It seems to me we’ve being going in circles for the last couple of seasons.Wenger needs to loosen up and agree to inject already established players to beef all the departments and more so a proved scorer…surely he can’t know it all.its been five years and still counting,something has got to give!He is a terrific manager but he needs to face reality.Lastly,trophys or no trophys, we are gooners forever and we want him to succeed,will he listen?
Wenger has a few blind spots. Notably in defence. Still men vs boys when it comes to the top too and I would say our top guys are a bit demoralised that this has still not been fixed. Question is are we really prepared to mount a challenge or not? We are not good enough … maybe on a perfect day with RVP … and are easilyl brushed aside when it counts. Where to from here? Not sure, but AW should be shopping in January sales for starters.
Sorry Wenger had it all wrong. Gooners are not going to win anything with the lightweights like denilson, song, diaby in the middle, vela, eduardo upfront and almunia a disaster in the goal. These players are just not good enough. Arsenal needs physical presence for goals and men of biting tackles in the middle like viera.
The results was very worrying. If we were outplayed completely, you can say that we were just playing badly. But the boys played well, full of running and passing but it was just that even the best display cannot match the Chelski. Very, very worrying. In terms of directness and efficiency of play, we were far away from Chelski. A bad week for Gunners, whats with the injuries and results. And now the debts of Dubai, how it will affect the stadium? After the third goal, I felt that Capt Fab was dissappointed, very worrying whether we can see him in Gunners jersey again next season. If he leaves, I feel that I can understand him. OMG, we need all the help that we can. Anyway, Gunners forever, players come, players go but in my heart it will always be Arsenal.
Please read this article before you make any conclusions:
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/2009/11/the-english-premier-league-is-corrupt/#comments
Totaly right on everything Andy, and i hope that the Arsenal fc staff or even AW would happen to read or look at this blog today.
We might have lacked RVP or Bendy but I see us lacking all strength as being called lightweight, yep it was boys agst men yesterday.
Chelsea would always play the same way agst any team in this world, 8 defenders and 2 strikers, thats it!!! How come AW hasnt analysed this fact and tried to bring something for solution???
As for our defense? Its been always fragile?never been solid enough for a top4 team.
Honestly, I never had confidence in Vela and Dudu, i dont know why,may be the fact that im pro RVP.I used to hate The dane but I see us calling for his name and he hasnt been really bad lately.TAygoon must be smiling with this now.Thats why Ive always suggested Theo being a central striker, he would be like Pato if we concentrate him on that position.
So pissed off with it I’m not even sure I should be writing here !
Wenger knows what it takes to win what is arguably the toughest league in the world – because he’s already won it ! It can’t have escaped his attention that he didn’t win it with kids and midgets – however skillful they are. Where is the “bite” at the back , the “steel” in the middle and the “triggerman” up front? Where is the height and the muscle ? It’s not at Arsenal folks .Just one example – how is it that Robert Pires is still playing top class football at Villa Real, what , 4 years , after Arsene would only offer him a 1 year contract ?
Why was there no interest in Shay Given , at 7 million , when he was on offer – definitely one of the 2 best keepers in the Premier League ? Given is a bully in goal ,the bully we haven’t got , forever shouting and encouraging his team and marshalling his defence . He’s also a superb shot stopper .Why do these things pass Wenger by ? Because he’s indulging his dream , trying to win the league or Champions League , with a bunch of kids . If he wants to play fantasy football there’s plenty of national dailies out there who run that sort of competition – but he needs to wake up and smell the coffee folks , because he’s playing with the fans money and , worse still , the fans expectations and emotions . He has a duty to the gooners – not his own dreams .I have been one of his biggest fans but it’s slipping away bit by bit . He’s in danger of destroying his own reputation too because it’s going on 5 years since we put anything in the trophy cabinet and thats too long .He needs to ask himself how many trophy winning teams Fergie (spit) has built at ManU in the last 20 odd years and how he has built them . He’s bought experience and blended it with a sprinkling of youth ,that’s how !And it’s worked .Wengers new way , and it is a new way , isn’t working and he needs to have big enough balls to admit that and see the reality of the situation .
Walter,I understand his commitment and he is such a gem. But I agree with the headlines “If we play them 10 times, we would not win once”. And referring to yesterday game, we do not play badly and we still cannot beat them. How many shots at goal that we made? How many attempts that we made Petr Chech save our shots? If we play well and made their keeper work but still lose, it is bad luck but if we play well but their keeper had a relax game, dun you think it is very worrying. There is something wrong with the system here as we always look second best among the top four teams. Don’t you think someone as Capt Fab calibre will feel frustrated at some point.
we have the quality of players but the most shocking thing is that wenger is failing to consinder the idea of buying a matual and sharp striker who is going to panetrate the the big teams.its so sad that we are losing points like this becouse of the problems that we even know the solutions.we need some experianced strikers.i think chamakh can be a good choice
FINALLY! thank god for real gunner fans! I have been writing and campaigning against this policy for six i repeat six friggin years. Youth policy. It has given me grey hairs. Kids for god sake playing men. this thing is not sustainable people even the dutch have found that out.
the question i again ask the front office is WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
i am tired of seeing the destruction of a great club. we collapse every christmas and when winter comes we look worst. have you looked at the squads size for god sake guys weighing 135 pounds and being 5ft 5 who can they beat. then this one tempo )_()*(*&*^&*%&^$%^$#%$#%@#@^$%^&*&*(*()( football with so many open spaces in it. Are we continously going to “endure to persevere” under this regime. wasnt nasri supposed to be the next zidane
as a fan since the 70s i need to know WHAT IS THE POLICY GOING FORWARD FOR ARSENAL. especially with a yankee trying to take over the club (will i go the way of man united and liverpool in debt adding insult to already gaping injuries
andy theres no way im holding vermaelen or gallas at all culpable for wot happened yesterday,they hav been exceptional this season and,along with cesc and arsha,are the only players we hav who are winners and fight and contest EVERY ball,how many times did arsha win the ball back yesterday off mikel,lampard and essien????when denilson,walcott,nasri,dudu and even traore lose the ball with constant carelessness their immediate responsibility should be to bust a gut to get behind the ball and in our half….but they simply TROT back,this infuriated me yesterday and many times it was the so called DM deni who was ambling back when the coles and lampard broke forward with acres in front of them,laninja made a great point that chelsea wer just sitting back laughing knowing that when our softly softly over indulgence approach broke down they could hurt us.
some1 asked how brown and evans cud contain chels at home,il tell you why; rooney,fletcher,carrick,anderson,evra,scholes,o shea and the 2 mentioned all fight and scrap for every ball and make it difficult from pass 1 to their box if it even gets that far,we ALLOW teams to pass around us and dont shut off space or obvious dangerous avenues,i.e the first goal yesterday
i do not want AW gone but i couldnt believe his pre-match interview when asked bout tactics he said we would not be altering the way we play simply because its chelsea,but chels wud certainly be changing theirs to combat us…wel maybe you shud be changing our formation becos its chels cos they spanked us at home last time and knocked us out of the fa cup last season
he then says today that drogba done very little in the game…except win it!!!i mean he really doesnt like direct powerful goalscorers and icehammers dead right we hav about 10 likeminded and ability styled players in our squad and they all lack the stomach for the fight….football is not just about 120 passes and looking pretty,and i dont want it to be.i mean who argued with me recently bout deni being physical and a capable dm??he was swatted aside so many times yesterday and i cuda put my boot thru the screen when i TWICE seen him grinning stupidly after running the ball over the line in the 1st half
and if i hav to look at almunia diving 5 mins late and lookin to the heavens on his knees for much longer i will crack up…some1 said he wasnt at fault for any of the goals!!!get a clue,a goalkeeper is not just about making saves,u hav to command the area,be vocal and take man ball ref and kitchen sink if needs be….how many times do you see verm and gall holding off defs waiting for him to come claim a ball at the bloody penalty spot only for them to hav to clear hurriedly as hes sat on his line!!!!liverpool last season any1?
chamakh is not the answer i hav seen him and hes not a clinical goalscorer and is a contradiction for these fans callin for an established big money signing.
andy do you know why song was subbed yesterday??i think walcott is a bluffer he turns his arse up at the opposition so much its cringeworhty,and this is when hes in possession!when he loses the ball or misplaces a pass hes never angry wit himself,its like he expected it and once against this ‘TROT’ comes into play,its like ah i couldnt get by ferriera and now its sagnas jobto win t back so i can hav a go again in a min….joke!!how can he run forward at the opposition so readily and swiftly yet hav no inclination to do it when running back towards our half……i have a million other things to get off my chest but this posta already too long
almunia,nasri,deni,traore,walcott,vela,diaby,eboue,senderos and sadly dudu hav shown they dont hav the bottle or fight necessary to compete wit utd,chels,pool,city,villa,spurs,everton……the list goes on of teams who hav more leaders and players with desire and resilience.the players in our team who will give the PAYING fan their moneys worth in effort and pride are gallas,verm,cesc,arsha,rvp,sagna,song,bendtner,rosicky and occasionally cliche.thats 10 in a squad of 20+…how do you win a battle against a capable adversary when,if they are even all fit,you only hav ten men who will put their bodies on the line for you???thats why we lose to the west hams,hulls etc because 11 men giving their all is at worst still a match for over indulging passing and lacklustre and ‘somebody else will do it’ defending.
gone are the parlours,keowns,wrights,dixons,winterburns and it wasnt cos they were ‘homegrown’!!!!bergkamp,vieira and petit would fight for everything,they wer winners
apologies andy i lost the run of myself there that post is ridiculously long
Arsene Wenger has 18 months left on his current deal.
I CAN ENDURE 18 MONTHS
Hands up who hates Drogba. I fucking do. Bastard. They weren’t tight enough on him for that first goal and look what happened. Almunia should have had the third covered and you can put Vermaelen’s down to the terrible conditions.
Seriously though, there’s 2 or 3 teams in the premier league that have figured out how to play against Arsenal and Chelsea is one of them. They just sit back with 9 in defence, draw Arsenal in, let them play poofy passes around outside the box then hit them on the break. Let’s see if the team learns anything next time they play Chelsea, Man U or Man City.
No one should dare blame GALLAS or VERMAELEN.
Isn’t the keeper supposed to be their third eye?
Where are the players who could take the ball, dribble one, dribble two and stick it in the net?
Even if they tried to do that, they were not given the chance, PLEASE guys do not forget some of these boys just came back from very serious long term injuries….
What happens to a coach that sells his top striker and fails to buy another…even when he knows the team has injury worries?
What do you expect from a coach who feels money cannot buy success or win championships?
What do you expect from a coach who is sentimental in choosing his first team?
What do you expect from a coach who never changes the pattern even when its obvious the team is struggling or loosing a match(seen MAN CITY play?)or fails to alter the pattern when the players on the pitch do not seem to gel with the pattern?
He knew he was playing CHELSEA, yet felt there was no need to avoid being predictable.
Failed to fix WALCOTT in the middle too
The following is taken from a match report in the Timesonline.co.uk today.It’s only part of the report , just a part I felt was especially relevant , but it’s an excellent report and has lots more of the same .
To any impartial observer the impression of men against boys was irresistible. Wenger said that we will be surprised when he produces his physical and technical analysis of the game, but for now consider the following statistics: the average age of the Arsenal starting line-up was 25 years, five months — three years younger than Chelsea; the average height of the Arsenal team was one metre 73 centimetres (5ft 8in), 5 centimetres shorter than Chelsea; the average weight of the Arsenal team was 73 kilograms, 10kg lighter than Chelsea.
None of this would be relevant if the statistics were not backed up by the evidence on the pitch
but when it comes down to matches such as this, a powerful, aggressive, experienced team are more likely to be flattered by the result than an inexperienced, lightweight team. It really is no coincidence.
Oh that Arsene would read it and think – but we know he won’t , don’t we ?
As a United fan i watched the game cheering on Arsenal.
Arsenal have these issues:
1- Arshavin is one lazy dude..his top quality but he doesnt make any runs for his team mates and doesnt drag defenders away.
2- Too many pointless little passes…cross the dam ball. You need the ball in the box to score goals.
3- SHOOT. Arshavin prob only player that shoots on view of the goal. If you dont shoot u dont score and in big games deflected goals are common.
4- A new striker..Bendner will do OK. But Chamake is a good player with alot of pace. Hell drag players out wide and his very very quick.
wait and one more…
Song is ok but his a bit awkward..his kinda too slow or too big for the centre midfield…is he better suited as a CB..not sure..i find him awkward to watch.
Many are still trying to find out about Song being dropped for Walcott in the 2nd half, why didnt he take Deni out instead?? Does someone have a clue about this??? Please let us now as we re very curious to find out abt it.
NB:I really share all the blame on our team here, but some of them are a bit exagerated!!!Our boys arent just winners to fight and to show on the pitch what they know to do.
1- we need the UGLY defender (Its a MUST)
2- Get rid of Deni and put Verma as DM to pair with Song.
3- Some of our players shud go.(Almunia has been given enough time and not very convincing, I d rather try Manone as a permanent GK from now).
I wouldnt put Nasri and Walcott in there as they ve just came back from injury and i woudnt get rid of Eboue either.
Sagna- Gallas- New Def- Clichy
———-Verma- Song———
————–Cesc————
-Theo———-RVP——–Arshavin
Subs:Eboue-Bendy-Rosicky-Gibbs-Nasri-Silly-Djourou
The rest shoud go for reserve team or go.
i belief arsenal potential winners al we need are powerful strikers like tores,obafemi martins who are powerful and can comand influence
@Owen7, i love ur comment bro, evn though i hate manu. Its true what you ve said except ur view abt Song, to me he is perfect.
vermalen is a technically gifted player no doubt about that. but i do not think he is a defender:
size – he is a bit too short and does not have presence in the air
he also goes forward a lot and leaves space
he also naturally runs straight downfield
solution – convert him to a holding midfielder and the shape of the game moves with him
and get a specialist defender to work with gallas
I disagree with u SF a lil bit,the overall performance,Gunners did beta only that they couldn’t find the back of the net
With RVP out till April getting a striker is a nessecity (preferebly Carlton Cole) as for the DM, neither Denilson nor Song has the quality and determination as Viera or Flamini. So getting a DM is a must.
Got this off gunnerblog, interesting analogy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g5t0s_Fn9s
made me laugh though.
^^ guess which team is the capoiera guy
Andy is wrong to suggest Arshavin’s goal was “harshly” disallowed. Clearly, Eduardo’s boot was too high and dangerous.
Bendtner is no sort of answer up front. Inconsistent, with a poor first touch, he misses too many chances to be taken seriously as a front-rank striker. Van Persie is obviously a huge loss. Wenger must buy. Eduardo seems not to be the of the quality one hoped he would be, horribly one-footed. Vela is too lightweight
Do Arsenal never practise taking or defending set pieces? Time after time corner kicks are met by an opposition defender so that the expectant roar from the crowd (as against Chelsea) when Arsenal get a corner seems hopelessly misplaced. Nor can they defend them. I give the latest away games at Wolverhampton and Sunderland as examples of many.
Alas, this Arsenal side is not good enough to challenge the top teams. How splendid it was yesterday to see how Chelsea defended, whereas Arsenal seem to believe they can prevail by attack alone. You’ll win nothing without a solid defence. All very well playing lovely football (and you will get away with it against modest teams – that is most of the Premier League) but where’s the penetration when you come up against the best?
Wenger’s peculiarly one-eyed version of events yesterday – see his Press Conference reported at http://www.arsenal.com – was once more totally at odds with what actually occured. Was he watching a different game? The referee did a perfectly adequate job and may even be said to have favoured Arsenal in not giving Chelsea two penalties, something Wenger chose to ignore because, I suspect, it didn’t suit his agenda. Time, Arsene, to come into the real world.
It’s been clear for several seasons that Arsenal need a goalkeeper, at least one defensive midfielder – why was Lassana Diarra let go so easily? – and one, if not two, goalscorers. He might have gone for Jermain Defoe when he was at Portsmouth.
However, while Wenger maintains the pretence that things are O.K. in terms of personnel, nothing will change and Arsenal will continue to be also-rans rather than champions.
IMO tactics are everything. You play :
1) To your strength, and/or
2) To their weakness.
Since we were hit by injuries therefore we should have played 4-4-2 with Eboue at left back,and two holding midfielders and play a patient boring game waiting for them to commit men to the attack and looking for breaks. standing in the middle of the ring and trading punches with a 6′-3″ 220lb boxer is not the way to fight if you are 5′-11″ 180 pounder.
goodpoint mac daniel i mean why do we hav to be the ones to take the game to the opposition all the time when they are intent on playing a blanket defense system…we didnt do that when we had the invincibles,i mean we hav one way of playing and thats attack,home and away we apply this tactic and we can be beaten in the same fashion if the oppositon bide their time for a set piece,harsh free/pen or if their a top side theyl wait for us to over commit and exploit the space left by our many defensely inept players…its is clear to all but the manager how predictable wev become.
and it was mentioned above the average age of the team is now 25….hardly babies anymore there are no excuses they should be up to speed by now.
good point guys, why cant we park a bus once in a while, especially when we are missing our big guns.
tbh i think we were going to get a draw at best with a fit RVP and Bendy.
i couldn’t wait for Nasri, walcott and rosicky to come back, but now i’m not convinced that they are better than Diaby. fair enuff they are more skillful but i fail to understand what these guys are doing for us. i’m one of the ppl who were criticising Diaby. i think most fans have double standards. Adebayor did a similar thing, pulling a disappearing act when he was needed the most. i understand when players are not on form going forward but trotting back is not acceptable. @ first i blamed Sagna for allowing 2 crosses to come from his side but it interesting to notice that they came from a defender (Cole) who should have been put under pressure by our Winger (who ever that is).
@ Mac Daniel – Fair points, well said. Perhaps this was a game we should have played more defensively, although it’s hard to see our team ever playing like that.
@ Rooiseun – I’ve said before that what Diaby brings to this side is variety. He’s not perfect but he is an awkward, unpredictable player to defend against and offers a different type of player to the smaller, nippier midfielders. In that regard he is a little bit underrated and he would have helped a little bit on Sunday.
personally, i think this whole disaster boils down to AW nt signing the prefered experienced play espacially in the defence area of our team. i think we needs an experienced backman to surport Gallas & vemaelen, we realy needs a striker too. too bad that chelsea, man u.often beats us on our ground, i’m very angry with what’s goin on with our beatifull team.wenger should start theo walcott to gain back his form. WENGER: is arsenal’s problem, he’s so sturborn that he wouldn’t sign players that will win him trophies. we needs players like KUN AGUERO, SAMEUL ET’O, BENT, VIDIC ETC….ALMUNIA??? What ‘re we doin with a player like almunia?? let’s loan him to wigan fc!! we really needs a keeper of layman’s class when he was still with arsenal. fabrigas, fantastic!
@Andy, you’re right the whole game I didn’t feel that we could score.
Where was Sagna when Cole made the two crosses that resulted in goals? I still can’t believe the ball that was played on the ground twice came b/n our CB’s for Drogba. One thing we learned from this game is though Edwardo and Vela are not ready to be the main strikers. Edwardo had the ball on his feet at least a couple of times and couldn’t manage a shot? I’m sure Cesc probably was frustrated as there was no outlet up front. So, now what happens with the striker situation? Since VP was out we failed to score in PL. Did anyone find out why Song was subbed at half time? Was it tactical or injury? Did Wenger believe Deni is better for this types of games? Sometime I don’t know who to blame. Is Wenger getting nervous in big games and that manifests itself in the players?
Now we had our rant, where do we go from here? I feel like this is going to be a long winter.
Interesting link – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rxu-qBKW_dg
yup, you guys said it. we need a strong physical striker to lead the line and win crosses into the box. uhhhhhhhhhh? isnt that exactly what a fella called adabayor was all about? bad move on our part. i suggest a purchase of a luis fabiano.
Is it safe to come back here yet…? Have the wailing banshees gone away? No? Righto…I’ll come back tomorrow…
Soon… 🙂
I just wonder what is the point in having the best playmaker in the world without having anyone to finish.
As for Almunia he is better to play in the championship or league one whatever, Mannone or Fabianski are better than him at the moment.
And what scares me the most is Arshaven…where is he after the 4-4 at the Anfiled, i didnt see a decent since.
IF AW wants to win anything this season well be, but if not at least dont lose to the Spurs or Blues, its to frustrating.
Many have been asking why Walcott came on for Song?
I can only answer for why Walcott came on-basically to put pressure on Cole and stop him from making any forward runs and dangerous crosses like the ones that cost us the two goals.
As for why Song was taken off instead of Deni-I do not know.
The result shows how the side misses Van Persie badly. His physical presence matters alot. Its high time Wenger thought of bringing in a striker with a strong physic in January, otherwise there’s no way Edward will ever be the same again after that horrific injury.
I’m very disappointed and I hope Arsen Wenger can buy new player to make the team strong