Saturday 21 February 2009

More points dropped, bollocks


I finally got a half day without having to work and it resulted in a very frustrating (again) ninety five minutes of football indeed. There's no doubt that there were some positives, but there were at least as many negatives from a game which we really had to win if we are to push up the table and try to secure a Champions League slot for next year.

I'll start with the positives, I though Arshavin had a very solid debut, he made some excellent bursts and almost scored with a cracking left footer in the first half. I also thought Nasri had another productive game, he really has developed nicely this season. Almunia didn't put a foot wrong, while we did secure another clean sheet, I am slightly disappointed that Johan Djourou has lost his starting place, he really doesn't deserve to be on the bench given his performances this season. Toure is looking fitter and sharper than he does for a while, and Bendtner had a decent game for Bendtner, but that's not saying much.

The performances wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible, we definitely created enough to have won this game rather comfortably, it's simply unforgivable to miss so many clear cut chances at this level and it's becoming a rather worrying recurring trend. RVP missed when clean through in the first half, Bendtner forced the save of the match with a terrific downward header also in the first half, Toure had one cleared off the line, while Arshavin went close twice. In the second half RVP again squandered some decent openings, Vela too, then Gallas at the death.

If we had had a fit Diaby alongside Denilson running the midfield show I feel the three points would most likely have been ours, Song does not deserve to be scapegoated, however he is clearly not Arsenal starting quality, he's a decent squad player in my opinion. However it was not just the centre of midfield that let us down, it was out inability to put the ball in the back of the net, I know RVP has taken the plaudits at times this season but he really should have scored many more goals than he has done, while Bendtner's goalscoring record is not good enough.

It will be interesting to see what happens when everyone gets back to full fitness. I'd like to see Diaby return in the middle, Arshavin continue on the right, with Eduardo slotting in up top. I also wonder if Gael Clichy is sweating a little over the rapid progress of his young understudy Kieran Gibbs. I'm immensely frustrated but determined to try not to wallow in self pity and gloom, there's certainly plenty of room for improvement but we have been on a slow upward curve of late. If only we could start putting the ball in the back of the old onion bag.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bugger, bugger, bugger. That is a massively disappointing result.
Ted

Anonymous said...

I feel that the requisite skill level is present in the team. It's experience in how to win matches and the proper attitude (getting stuck in, chasing lost causes, sense of urgency in play) that we are lacking.

These things can be corrected by the manager. But I wonder if he isn't the one who is responsible for these weaknesses creeping in?

We are being outfought in every match by our opponents. Where is our desire?

Anonymous said...

We need to improve the squad.

Anonymous said...

y choose a 4-2-2-2 formation a-la Spain/Barca when u don't have the players for it ? for Spain Senna + Xavi or Alonso sit in front of the defence; for Barca Yaya/Keita/Busquets and Xavi/Iniesta sit in front of defence.Does AW really think Denilson and Song are are of same quality? If he thinks so then he is more delusional than Spuds, he simply doesn't know.
Arsenal could also have gone for 4-1-3-2 with Nasri in the middle behind the strikers and Gibbs/Vela/Wilshire/Merida on the left combined for 90 mins ?

And all saying Villa will drop points and we will finish in 4th -- wont we be dropping points too?

4th place is getting further away every week.*sigh*

Anonymous said...

Wenger has kept faith with players who are not good enough and 1 or 2 not giving 100%.All this because we have a weak squad ok we have injuries but we should have a squad good enough to give cover for such occasions!!manure have it and there the ones who seem to win everything.Because of the lack of investment in the playing side and wenger reluctance to take a gamble on vela,ramsey etc or upset so-called players we will find for the 1st time in 12 yrs of not playing c/l ootball and the loss of millions is not going tohelp build a challenging team!!