It's hard to add much more than the Arseblogger after last night's defeat to Benfica. There is no need for despair but there if nothing is done, then we are certainly in big trouble for the season ahead. A lot hasn't changed and obviously that's where a lot of the frustration comes from, this is very understandable so in my opinion.
Even with a few key men out the first choice eleven did a decent job. Gervinho looks a steal, incisive and penetrating with most that he does. Gibbs played neatly and got forward well. Szczesny led the defence well. RVP scored again and got injured again. We deserved the one nil half time lead.
The problem came with the depth in our squad, some are just not good enough while others are very very raw. This is a massive concern because given the length and intensity of our season ahead, these guys need to come into the side and pick up points for us on a fairly regular basis. Can anyone seriously say that they feel Chamakh is going to bang in 15-20 goals or that Squillaci is going to come in to keep several clean sheets?
We are less than a week away from the season's opener at Newcastle and frankly our squad is a complete shambles. We have two key men who look like leaving (Cesc, Nasri). We have a striker on his way out (Bendtner) when our reserve centre forward looks as potent as a stoned Franny Jeffers (Chamakh). We have a real lack of strength in depth in the centre back position with some struggling for form temporarily (Djourou) and others more permanently (Squillaci). We also have several injuries and several of these are in very injury prone individuals (Vermaelen, Theo, Gibbs).
If nothing happens in the next week then it will speak volumes. There will simply be no excuse for the lack of action in the transfer market. We need to get rid of Cesc and Nasri, we must then replace them with some real quality. On top of this we need a centre back and we must sort out the forward situation. I really hope the club has something up its sleeve. Arsene needs to change or he will fall on his sword, he must stop worrying about a million here or there, we need a strong balanced squad for the long hard season ahead. Sort it out Arsene.
13 comments:
I watched the whole game on ESPN last night. I’ve watched all the pre-season stuff and there is absolutely no change from last season. No improvement. Still zonal marking and panic everytime the opposition attack (and from a supporters point of view- an expectation that the opposition will score). Many players who were singled out for criticism last season have maintained last year’s poor standards (Squillaci, Rosiky, Chamakh). Alex Song was vastly over-rated for me last season. I felt his passing was very poor -often giving the ball to the other team far too easily, his distribution was limited to a sideways pass or back to the defence. His tackling was also very poor and often he conceded free kicks- so far this pre-season, he has continued at the same sub standard level. For me he is not the answer to our Defensive Midfield problem- he is more of a liability.
What has Wenger done since the end of May when he promised a busy summer of activity? He’s brought in Gervinho who was ‘wasted’ after 45 minutes and did absolutely nothing in the second half – no wonder he has been substituted after one half in each game. Jenkinson has played something silly like 14 games for a League One team before signing for AFC. Not exactly the quality we need. Nor the central defender EVERYONE and his dog said throughout the whole of last season we desperately needed to shore up our leaky defense. No Wenger has been sidetracked by the whole Nasri and Fabregas saga. He’s been too indecisive and talks about wanting both to stay. Who honestly believes that even if the club didn’t end up selling these players that they would play with pride, with their hearts on their sleave and give absolutely everything to the cause? I respect Fabregas’s decision to return to Barca- I don’t have a problem with that. He’s stayed silent and not been outspoken against his current club. I understand that Arsenal have a minimum price too and they won’t go below that. But what has been allowed to happen is disruption to Wenger’s spending plans. It’s clear he won’t go out and buy anyone until Fab or Nasri or both are sold. This will probably happen at the end of the window – too late for Wenger to sign a replacement and he’ll moan that he didn’t have time/control etc, etc. He’s been told we need a Central defender for ages and not signed one. We’ve seen over the past month that the glut of injury prone players (Diaby, Walcott, RVP etc) are going to be missing for large sections of the new season and last night’s game showed the lack of quality we have in reserve.
4th place is our maximum hope this season, but I believe 5th is realistic or even 6th. The silver lining is that this should prove to be the end of Wenger’s reign. In Wenger We Rust !!
So with the season less than a week to go,Arsenal haven't got the defenders who can make a difference.The quad aint big and good enough. Does Wenger seriously think the likes of Miyachi or a few other kids can do the job for those who are injured/off form/suspended?If he does,he is deluded.
By the way the gunners playing style is known to all including my 99 year old grand uncle. It's pass all day and little shooting. When the gunners want to shoot ,there is a mass of bodies.It's overplay and overpass.People come to see teams win and score goals and not be bothered about sexy soccer.
Mark my words.The red faced cunt will win when Arsenal play on 27 Aug. This aint surprising because he has the better of Wenger the last five years.Wenger's predictable style plays into his hands.
Well know Wenger is attack minded and doesn't want to close down games or play ugly to win. That is plain stupidity.
Arsenal under Wenger will decline unless there is a dramatic improvement and he could be fired if proves terminal.He has only to blame for this. The top gunners have lost faith in his ability to win trophies.Six years have passed. Don't be surprised it will be the seventh .
Patience?He better go and manage a French village team who will pander to his passing game all day.
Now Wenger has just signed another wonder kid,Campbell and few other wk could be on the way.Weall know this and that regarding these wk. But surely the more urgent need is the present needs of the senior team.
We need more wonder men not wonder boys who could be ditched two years down the road. It's this philossphy irritaing the fans when the present is sacrificed for a risky future with wk.
An absolute disgrace, it looked like we were playing a full strength barca team an we were a school boys team. to make things worse we started getting frustrated an putting in tackles that wenger wud go mad with if the shoe was on the other shoe. pure shit, i'm so disappointed.
When Arsene Wenger came to Arsenal we were not the club we are now. In reality we were one of the pack, but with a great tradition and history. To Wenger's credit he changed that and we became a top club, not only in England but Europe as well.
The problem is that Wenger is not suited to running the type of club he has created. It happens in other areas of business. Stelios started Easyjet, built it up, but stepped aside when it got too big for him.
Wenger needs to do the same, the management style that brought him success is no longer relevant to his job now. He has a poverty attitude to transfers, all the other clubs we aspire to be with (Barca, Real Madrid, Man Utd, Bayern, Inter, etc) all spend big when they need to. He is to close to and pally with his players, this affects his judgement when it comes to discipline and loyalty. He doesn't have a proper balance of personnel. You need players of all ages and experience, some young and ambitious to drive the club forward, but a few old heads to keep their feet on the ground and pointed in the right direction. Ferguson has don't this at Man Utd.
Wenger needs to go before he returns Arsenal to where he found us, we need a Manager who knows how to manage a big club and was is expected of that. There are such managers about, Ancellotti, Van Gaal, for example.
Fortunately the second half replacements will not be coming on with 7 others, come the start of the season. Be fair guys, this was a workout, and as has been said before, better to get the short-comings fixed before the then ... and there is still time.
Fabianski certainly gets the short straw, but he still looks good as No.2 GK?
Myaichi tried to impress, but may be another season on loan?
Gervinho is in danger. Danger of being over-used as our only outlet ball - He will only last 30 mins in any game if they expect him to do repeated 30 yard sprints every few minutes?
Song(in answer to Colesy's point) is not our answer for a DM. However, going forward, playing the difficult through pass, he is far better than Ramsey, Nasri, and Rosicky. The point about 'difficult' balls is that they do not always come off. I think if you check the stats, he provides more balls that lead to assists as Arshavin on a good day?
Chamakh could do with a temporary loan period to relieve the pressure on him?
Without doubt the Fabregas saga taken far too much time up. But I would hate to think of the vitriol that would pour out if we finished 5th, having sold our best player for 23m when they first came calling? Yes, we might have some players signed up, but that is no help if we found that we only punched above our weight last season BECAUSE of Fabregas's presence in the side??
Nasri, on the other hand, should have been placed on the transfer list on July 1st, after the first 'deadline' past. He can be replaced!
On that, here's a worrying thought, Mata looked amaingly out of place in his game against Liverpool ... also a friendly?
Yes, better players are required, but those shouting 'Spend some money!' should be careful what they wish for? I know my list of 'would be good' is still awaiting to happen, and while they are still available, I'll continue to wait before rushing my judgement.
If Wenger thinks his current defence is up to task, he better have a rethink.The 2nd benfica scorer easily went past the Arsenal defender and rifled in the shot.The thing is why can't the gunners shoot and score goals like this instead of passing all over the place.
This is the third game in a row where the gunners havelet slip leads.This maybe a friendly but it is criminal.If nothing changes in the playing personnel,don't be surprised it will Newcastle Chap 2 repeated on Aug 13.
Well, one thing for sure, if we fall out of the top 4 position (our trophy), at least that might force some movements.
And hope ebbs away
Apart from being quite depressed about how good Phil Jones and Ashley Young looked for Man Utd this afternoon, I have to admit I chuckled somewhat at watching Clichy sell Kompany an absolute stinker under the high ball in the 94th minute. Kompany did himself few favours, but that was so clearly Clichy's ball to deal with.
Maybe we can sell them Squillaci as well...
Don't panic. We've signed Oxlade-Chamberlain, definitely the 6ft defender we need, rather than another 17 year old with potential....
Last few years, clubs like Man City have been buying big. Tottenham/Liverpool also splash large sums of money, have they won their worth in spending,I do not think so!Guaranteed Champions league football,no! Arsenal still achieve more!Run in an ethical way, streamlined model of a football club and business,the envy of many clubs around the world.Only a fool would want to change this.Arsene will not break his wage structure for anyone player. The man has his house in order and is immense.Fact!(sounds of benitez) By sticking to his wage structure+tight budget, he faces enormous pressures. Yet he stays committed to the cause! He has pressures of having to contend with big spending clubs who are buying world-class players every year like they are cheap as chips. Every year, Arsenal financially need champions league football, and every year they qualify + do better than expected. Every year, he sticks to his philosophy of beautiful football + entertaining fans. Every year he constantly delivers and still achieves the fundamental objectives to keep the club on course to be hugely successful in the future and Financially Powerful. With the new stadium, Arsene clearly pointed out objectives,the other project was the young squad, tied into the debt of the move, and he had no choice but to rely on them! Last year, was a spectacular fail for trophies, considering they were in the hunt for all four trophies. But tell me, with everything Arsene has had to contend with, Arsenal still achieve above and beyond what everyone expected. Arsene was offered to take over at Real Madrid, yet he stayed to see the project through! Just think about it. Compare his loyalty to the fickle loyalties of the overpaid brats. Carlos Tevez is earning how much but cries about going home like a Schoolgirl only because now he can afford early retirement, and Ad-Ebay-Yoh has been reduced to a nomad!So when fans and pundits shout buy him or him..what's to say we not gona have these problems all over again. Arsene Wenger like a father, with morals and loyalty tries to instil this in his this young generation.This will hopefully foster a love and affection between them and the very club that gave them their success.Signing of Alex Chamberlain is fantastic.Only only a few months ago, many fans thought we lost his signature to Man Utd, which left fans fuming. Things that were said "how come we are so bad at singing players" and "our rivals are always beating us to sign quality players", I also heard that "we do all the scouting for great talent and then notify our rivals and let them sign our targets". Now that Arsene has signed this player, beaten our rivals, these same fans are now saying, "well we did not need him!
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Ok fans want trophies. I know I do! But if you take a step back and look at the whole picture, would a man who does not care about the club, put himself under so much pressure. Fact is Arsenal cannot spend like the Chelsea's. Arsene Wenger has his heart rooted to the core of the club and people who criticise him for not spending big money, to put it simply, do not care about the club. How can a person who has never had to pay for something, understand its true value, like a friend who says he cannot afford an mp3 player so borrows your expensive iPod and returns it broken and then asks so which one you buying next? These are the type of people who want Arsenal to spend big! To play beautiful football, to put so much faith and trust in this group of players, to play with so much financial constraint, to move to a new stadium, all of which would put massive amounts of pressure on any manager, have left him seemingly in a position of appearing to have failed due to the lack of trophies. Yet he has achieved more for this club, which many other managers,lcubns and fans can only dream of.He puts himself into the spotlight so that others do not have to. His job appears to be on the line as fans grow disgruntled, and still he will not break budget or wage structure even to save his job. This is a man who cares about the club. - Or he's just nuts.
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