Sunday 28 August 2011

We cannot defend

Ignore the opposition, ignore the refereeing, ignore the personnel missing, ignore the away crowd, ignore the lack of confidence, ignore the weakness of our squad for a minute. The defensive organisation and strategy exhibited by the side today was weaker than weak, it was truly depressing to watch and the culmination of years of ignoring a key part of the game of football, keeping the ball out of one's own net.

It was pub defending, it truly was, players were bombing forward and leaving their positions vacant even when we were several goals down, there was never a thought to try to shut up shop. The marking was utterly pathetic, Manu players were given far far too much time and space again and again. There was so much ball watching, several would rush to the ball and leave others unmarked. I could go on and on.

It all smacked of a team that have not been adequately coached and drilled from a defensive point of view. It is an absolute shambles. There are other problems too, certain players are not Arsenal quality, the squad is perishingly weak. However for me the defensive setup at the club must be overhauled or we will continue to give goals away like this, and we will never win anything without being able to defend.

16 comments:

Mesbah said...

Arsenal not defeated today it's wenger. Now he will understand how it feels. I hope no I believe Arsenal will rise again..................

Anonymous said...

same shit worse day 6 years of wenger lies if u were in a job for 6 years and not getting the tools u needed u would leave right not lie for your bosses wenger runs that club from top to bottom and thats the prob he is a football manger he should not care how much something costs if he needs it to make his team better it should be done

MR SUPPORTER said...

it is day that we cannot defeat the first challenge team that we have. it is worry but not lucky. you can see how they behave every player go vaccant possition and leave their duty to their possition and that's the way the other players get chance to defeat us. but all, it is on Wenger, i think he has no ideas farther than the those he did before and the clubs go forward from him. just leave us and leave the club,we have still chance to do something and thanks to what you have done us.

Anonymous said...

Wenger was the best thing to happen to us a long time ago. Now it has gone full circle. Do we have to wait for an honourable resignation?

Alan said...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/2999656/United-hit-Arsenal-for-six.html

Read this. Looking at the back fours then and now 10 years on TEN YEARS ON, and nothing has changed. We cannot defend. Look at the class on the pitch elsewhere in this early game, compared to now we have gone so far backwards it is scary.

Anonymous said...

It is managerial incompetence that he left the squad so thin in experience. He has become a laughing stock and no Arsenal 1st team of paid professionals should lose any game 8-2. Non league teams would have been better organised.

I am so tired of being told "what would Arsenal do without Wenger!" That's fine if it was Sam Allardyce or Alan Curbishley being lined up to replace him.

But I believe Carlo Ancelotti would take the job. Or Marcello Lippi. Proven winners.

Anonymous said...

Clichy said Arsenal do not practise defence.So the score line confirms it.Wenger in his quest to play attacking soccer is to be blamed.Yet he has the balls to ask for more time to fix the problem.
I say he should resign before he is axed. His philosophy of kids ,kids, aint working and yet he shows no sign of reversing it to go for the quality players.
The writing had been on the wall for along time and yet he did not fix the flaws in the team .Well if he doesn't do naything by the time the window closes,he should be axed immmediately otherwise the gunners will become a laughing stock.

Ted said...

A truly awful day for Arsenal football club, only made worse that the consolation being offered is coming from prime rate arseholes like Fergie and Gary Neville. When those two are feeling sorry for Arsenal then you know you are in a bad place.

And unfortunately, Gary Neville made an excellent point after the game. Having sold Clichy and Eboue, our second choice specialist full backs are Jenkinson and Traore, both of whom are not good enough. Jenks might get there, but the poor lad will no doubt be scarred by the baptism of fire he has had at arsenal. I feel sorry for him.

Armand Traore is just another bad young player who Wenger gave a highly paid long term contract to, so that not even Portsmouth could sign him.

Add those two to another shocking performance from Djourou, who really is a Jekyll and Hyde of a footballer, and thats 3 parts of a leaky defence explained.

RVP looks shell shocked, his penalty barely made it to de Gea, and Arshavin is simply awful and has been for many months.

And then we get onto the droves of players who either abandoned the Wenger project this summer, of Wenger decided to jettison - Eboue, Bendnter, Clichy, Denilson, Vela, let alone Nasri and Cesc. Thats seven players who would or could have featured in this season's first XI. Wenger must have known that he was likely to lose all those players some months ago.

So, either Wenger does not think that he needs to make signings to replace them and improve this squad from last year, or someone else has prevented Wenger carrying out his plans.

We have three days to sort the problem out and still give ourselves a chance to finish at a respectable level this season. However, on the above analysis, we probably need at least 4 players of premierleague quality just to get ourselves back to even keel with last year. And I just cannot see that happening.

However, the more difficult issue is whether the 8 points dropped this season is already enough to demand blood. It might be, but we are in a real pickle now and I just don't think that going into September without a manager is the way forwards.

But something is seriously, seriously wrong at Arsenal.

And I suspect its not all Arsene Wenger.

Anonymous said...

Ted,

It is indeed Arsene Wenger that is the biggest problem. He is suffering some kind of psychosis and even his fans in the media can see it.

He bought all those lightweight players in the squad. He left the squad totally lacking experienced, physcially tough players essential for the Premier League.

He has persisted for over five years with using 2nd rate lighweight players like Denilson, Bendter, Traore, Senderos, Eboue, Clichy, Djourou, Almunia etc.. etc.. when everyone could see long ago they weren't good enough to win titles.

Wenger only realises this about 3 years after everyone else and THEN gets rid of these players in the end anyway! His ego is so big he can't make simple common sense decisons about signing the type of players every one can see the team needs.

A new manager is needed who can see what the team needs and simply goes out and buys that type of required player. Wenger simply is so detached from reality he cannot see anything is wrong. Even after losing 8-2.

1979gooner said...

Ted

I cannot disagree with a word.

Big up to the little one.

ctc said...

Is it bad form to ask if not wenger than who?

Does it really matter? it was all so predictable

And wenger wants time to change it? lmfao

Anonymous said...

It's time for Wenger to change direction in his player recruitnent policy and tactics.Even with a 100% fully fit team the gunners would still lose. Why?
They play the same way way all the time.99% possession and reluctance to shoot from outside the box.When a pass is intercepted or misplaced,it is fatal.
If he doesn't get the players who cAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE,THEN HE SHOULD RESIGN.M

Ted said...

If Wenger is also to blame to Arsenal's failure to complete the necessary signings then he simply has to be sacked. However, it remains unclear to me whether this isn't someone else behind the scenes who has been monstrously incompetent.

Problems with Joel Campbell's work permit follow strong rumours that Arsenal also fucked up Gervinho's application, which is why that signing was delayed for 2 weeks.

I cannot believe that Wenger has the time to micro-manage every single transfer that Arsenal are interested in. I appreciate he might be heavily involved in the transfers, but its not all him.

People like Gazidis and Dick Laws have been notably quiet in recent days.

We should not assume that Wenger should be sacked for what might be the abysmal failings of others.

Gazidis out?

ctc said...

Gazidis out?

Of course because he comes down after wenger finishes his training and says right, forget all that. This is what we're going to do. Everyone forward except you two fat boys. You two stay back and help the goalie.

The defensive holes have been apparent for years and suddenly it occurs to people it's not wenger's fault the defence sucks. It's gazidis' fault the defence sucks. As if.

Rhinogooner said...

Ted, I have no inside knowledge. But I do suspect that Mr. Wenger is responsible for our ineptitude in the transfer market. Quotes over the years point to that conclusion.

Just last week he admitted that he didn't have time to bring anyone in early in the summer because he was dealing with the Fabregas and Nasri transfer situation.

Why is he tending to that? And if he must, why then can there not be other teams of Arsenal staff tackling transfers in of the desired players?

But really, Mr. Wenger should not be involved in our transfers any further than pinpointing who he wants. After that, the negotiations, transfer fee, and player contract should be all handled completely by our club representatives like Gazides.

Let Mr. Wenger focus solely on managing football, not on the economics.

www.lamparas.biz said...

Thanks so much for the article, quite effective information.