Wednesday 14 April 2010

Too many schoolboy mistakes cost us dear

Firstly one must give some credit to Spurs for their first win against us in the league for some time, but frankly we shot ourselves up the arse today. It may be a cliche, but you will never win the league with the defensive howlers that were exhibited tonight.

The first goal for the spuds was a nice hit, but Almunia should have caught the corner, he was under no pressure, he was then a bit slow to react to Rose's volley. From that moment on we were always chasing the game, and this suited our inferior opposition, they could sit back and defend in numbers and then hit us on the counter.

It could all have been so different if Campbell's early effort had crossed the line, we could then have picked the spuds off on the break. For the rest of the first half we huffed and puffed, we lacked a real cutting edge offensively, Bendtner was isolated, Rosicky and Eboue weren't doing the job.

Bale's goal was shocking, Sagna was caught playing him onside when he should have been well off, it was elementary stuff. Time and time again this season we have conceded cheap goals like this and in the end it is this which has cost us the title for all our offensive prowess.

The last twenty minutes saw us hammer the spuds, how they only conceded one was a down to a mixture of luck and excellent goalkeeping. RVP and Walcott made a huge difference, the former was looking as sharp as a razor and would have had a hat trick but for Gomez' heroics.

Overall this game summed up our season's failing in a way. We were unlucky with injuries to so many key players yet again, but our squad is far too weak in certain areas to absorb certain absentees, for example at centre back and in central defensive midfield, we need more strength in the squad and this has been obvious for some time. We were unlucky to come up against such inspired goalkeeping, however you create your own luck to a degree and the cheap goals we conceded have been the story of the season.

The first goal often changes the game, and this was perfectly demonstrated today, we started so well, we were knocking the ball around very sweetly and looking by far the better side, then we took the shotgun to our own head. We need to defend better next season if we are to win the title, Arsene should go about addressing this problem before anything else. Spuds fans should enjoy the win because they won't be getting another for some time, what a bunch of dysmorphic cretins they are.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Spurs could have scored a few on the break as well.
If that was Chelsea catching Arsenal on the counter attack they woulod have scored more.
Arsenal looked great in the last 20 minutes But Spurs looked exhausted...
Good gam for us neutrals though..

Anonymous said...

Spurs could have scored a few on the break as well.
If that was Chelsea catching Arsenal on the counter attack they woulod have scored more.
Arsenal looked great in the last 20 minutes But Spurs looked exhausted...

Good game for us neutrals though!!

Anonymous said...

WE DIDNT LOSE THE LEAGUE TONIGHT WE LOST IT LAST AUGUST 31ST 2009 WHEN WE DIDNT BUY , TO STILL BE IN IT UP UNTIL TODAY WAS A BLOODY MIRACLE , ITS NOW 5 YEARS AND COUNTING WITHOUT A TROPHY , LETS HOPE HE HAS FINALLY LEARNT HIS LESSON .....PAULY H

Anonymous said...

You mentioned about luck.
Could it be possible - the "Feng Shui" aspect of the Emirates is not good? since we move there, we've had players breaking their legs...mountain of injuries and always just come short towards the end? Hmm...Another season but I'm stand firm behind AW. Go Arsenal.

Anonymous said...

And when we didn't buy when we got a second chance in January. Arsene saying that we would have had more points with a top striker just rubs salt in the wounds.
One more thing, what a PRICK Martin Tyler really is describing the sick chant 'Sit Down You Paedophile' as 'VIBRANT'

1979gooner said...

agree about not buying.

we need better cover for Song and at centre back, we also needed a short term player to fill in up front while RVP and Bendtner were out.

Anonymous said...

I ALSO FOUND IT STRANGE THAT THE MOMENT THE 2ND WENT IN HE DIDNT BRING ON RVP , WE NEEDED 3 GOALS AND HAD NOTHING TO LOSE AT THAT POINT , HAD HE COME ON EARLIER WE WOULD HAVE HAD A MUCH BETTER CHANCE OF WINNING....PAULY H

Anonymous said...

almunia was to blame for the first goal.after he punched the ball out he dived to the ground unnecessarily and was then slow to get up. as soon as i saw silvestre coming ob i knew the game was up. we need a gk,2 cb's as back up and another striker. on a positive note rvp gave us a glimpse of what we have been missing. he was really sharp

Anonymous said...

The loss to the scum today made me sick. However there are positives that we can take from this match, that If Wenger can realize & admit to the following from the match & correct them accordingly next year might just be our year.
1.We try to press high like Barca, but our midfield is made up of passive players without the will nor the skill to win the ball back, which puts the backline under constant pressure.
2.When we have possession, we waste chance after chance thru over elaborate yet predictable passing or excessive dribbling that leads to nothing.
3.We keep trying to swing the ball in from out wide thru our fullbacks who are terrible crossers & into the box where our aerial threat is virtually non-existent.
4.Half the team needs to brush up on the tactical aspects of the game, esp players like Diaby, Eboue & Walcott, despite their obvious physical talents, are in real need of some football brains.
5.We have no real quality on the bench, as evidenced by the fact that we actually have to resort to fielding the likes of Silvestre, Almunia & Denilson.
6.Our defending is a joke at times. Campbell was our most commanding presence at the back. That in itself speaks volumes on the state of affairs in our defence. & I don't even want to start on the jester of a goalkeeper that we have.
7.There are too many delicate pansies on the team, we need to buy players with the will to battle & the desire to win. I'll gladly sacrifice technical ability for physical strength, with the way things are.

Anonymous said...

This schoolboy errors cost us is nothing new.It has been happening in the last five to seven years.
If Arsenal keep on getting crocks and castoffs and not put thier trust in proven performers this wil happen again and again.