There are many ways in which one can try to excuse this dropping of two valuable points, but fundamentally one has to acknowledge that we were 2-1 up against ten men and we yet again surrendered a lead with some poor poor defending. It is the manner of this second Wigan goal and the fact that our own manager admitted that no one bothers to take charge of our organisation at set pieces that sealed it for me, it's so frustrating and it has been going on for so long now that it is no longer excusable in any way.
There were quite a few changes as expected and I don't blame the manager for this in itself. Problematically Eboue could not cope with N'Zogbia and this resulted in lot of danger down our defensive left side all night long. Our weak squad was exposed yet again in terms of midfielders who can get stuck into a fight, Wilshere and Song were rested, this left no one who was capable of mixing things up in a fairly robust fashion. The squad is not good enough, Denilson and Diaby are not good enough defensively, this was plain to see again, as it has been many times in the past.
It may be harsh to blame Fabianski for the second goal, but in my opinion it is undeniable that a more commanding keeper would have done far more to prevent that goal. Fabianski was again caught in two minds, in no man's land. He is never going to be good enough to be our first choice keeper and the sooner Szczesny becomes our regular number one the better.
Added to this was some terrible refereeing from Lee Probert and officiating from the linesmen. The Wigan penalty was never a foul, even if it was a foul, it was definitely outside the box, N'Zogbia was slowed down more by wind resistance that the minutest of touches from Koscielny. The way in which Caldwell spoke to the referee and intimidated him just before N'Zogbia's red card showed just how little balls and control Probert had. The final nail in Probert's coffin was his failure to give us a stonewall penalty as Nasri's freekick was blocked by the most blatant of deliberate handballs in the box. Piss poor from the officials all round.
I am not going to try to pin this defeat on the officials though, Wigan looked extremely dangerous throughout, they could have had more goals than the two they came away with tonight, our defence seemed all over the place at times. We are simply not good enough at the back, part of this is our keeper's lack of aerial power, part of this is down to the individuals at the back, a massive part for me is the lack of defensive players in our midfield who are able to shield and assist the back four. The buck stops with the manager and our persistent leakage of sloppy goals is symptomatic of a problem that he has failed to address for too long.
Maybe I'm being negative but frankly I feel it is fully justified, the negativity I am trying to express is about the manner of our capitulation and the way in which we are doing this on a worryingly regular basis. The win against Chelsea was only three points, we have seen almost the same amount of points pissed away tonight due to our complete inability to defend a simple set piece. The frustrating thing is that it wouldn't take much to transform us into a more solid defensive outfit that could hang on to leads, I just hope the manager stands up and takes note of where we are going so badly wrong defensively.
8 comments:
Wenger him self brought this needless result on us with very poor decision making before and during the game.
1. There is just one thing to say about eight changes: Scandalous! Three or four is ok, but not almost a whole team. The confidence had returned on Monday, and we could have built on that by going level with ManU. But no, this stubborn, stubborn old man chose to start with two, at best three from the first eleven. It is very bad decision.
2. With 25-30 minutes left Wigan started to get possession and had some chances again. The three up front lost possession over and over again in silly ways. And Arshavin didn't defend. The signals was obvious for any idiot to see. If he had put Nasri in for Chamach or Bendtner and Walcot for Arshavin with 25 min left, we wouldn't have lost the ball so easy any more and we would have created more chances. With Wigan trailing Theo would have got a lot of room to creating chances and score. But no, the old stubborn man didn't do the obvious. Instead he let Wigan gain more and more momentum. After the goal he put in W and N. But now Wigan is satisfied and pull back the team. And the room for Walcot disappear.
Its not the first time Wenger show his lack of tactical judgment on the sidelines. Doesn't any of his advisers have the guts to tell him?!
Wenger fucked this one up big time.
Gotta agree, wenger fucked this one up. I was screaming at him to bring nasri and theo on for arshavin/bendy round about 70 mins in. it would have stretched Wigan and kept them pinned back. Nasri is adept at ball holding while penetrating, this would have forced Wigan to drop men back while theo is a great outlet for pressure again constraining Wigans efforts to get forward. It has to he said though that the ref seriously mishandled this game. Stonewall Fouls and penalties were either ignored or missed...
Agree about Flappers. He is just not good enough.
For sure Wenger is frustrating everybody for his stupid ideas and stubornness. I was late in tuning in to this match for 5 minutes but when I looked at the players in the pitch I immediately called my friend and told him Wenger should go. He could be serious with us winning anything with that team and after what we had built on Monday. What is the point of changing the whole team as if our next match is Barca? RVP has hardly played this year and he wa not made to start this game. I wish someone bring senses to Wenger or let the russian buy the team and put it to the mafia. We cannot keep on dreaming for nothing and yet someone has reasons for all the mistakes he has been making for 5 years now. Shit! Shit! Shit! I even had to remember when Bendtner was making threats to for not playing, even the spider man was not falling like he was playing. One thing for sure, Wenger has made everybody stupid and we have to live with that. The Chairman, board, owners, fans and players are the most. Shit! Shit! Shit!
"I wish someone bring senses to Wenger or let the russian buy the team and put it to the mafia."
It is a shame that you claim to be an Arsenal supporter. Better move over to support the Chavs or even ManCity. We don't need scums like you.
What is up with all the people leaving comments, I would call you fans but I don't believe they are. You are all slagging off the man who got the team to beat Chelsea on Monday and was beating Wigan 48 hours later until a silly defensive mistake. I too was shouting at the tv for walcott and nasri to come on but 1-2 up and against 10 men they should not have been needed. We go into the new year in third place 2 points from top spot, now quit your whinging or clear off and support the chavs or man shitty.
Fabianski CANNOT be blamed for the second goal. The ball was impossible for any keeper to claim. Fabianski positioned himself on the near post, where he should have been. The problem came from our defenders getting out-jumped and out-hustled. No amount of coaching can prevent a player from being out-jumped.
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