The Morning After Rant
Feb 17th, 2008 by 'holic
For the second time in a matter of weeks it is time to consider briefly a fearful beating by a side we didn’t want to lose to. Once again it has come with a much weakened side in a cup tie which may not have ranked high in the clubs priorities.
If you take a wider view then we are still top of the league and preparing to do battle with the holders of the Champions League. At the start of the season if somebody had offered you that scenario in February you would have chuckled to yourself and nodded.
Let’s just put my famous rose-tinteds to one side for a moment. Not surprisingly the fora are full of angst. Nine thousand loyal gooners made the trek north. They deserved better.
They deserved better of Alan Wiley, who pandered to the hosts, allowing several poor challenges to go unpunished in the opening half before being persuaded by the baying hordes in red to chuck cards at the visitors when finally we started kicking back.
Let me make clear I don’t blame United for the physical approach. Indeed I was wondering why we were not as committed in the opening half. It was Wiley’s job to manage the contest, his idea of managing United at Old Trafford was to roll over and let them tickle his tummy. The hosts played well enough without his help.
The travelling support deserved better from those who wore the cannon on their chest. Credit the blogs who feared the pairing of Hoyte and Toure at full-back in advance of the contest. We breathed a sigh of relief when we saw Ronaldo was absent, and then saw the likes of Nani and Fletcher (that’s right, Fletcher!) give the two unfortunates a torrid time.
To be fair they were horribly isolated by the lack of cover ahead of them. Now that is a sort of occupational hazard when you have Hleb on one flank, but there is no excuse for the lack of support that Eboue showed Hoyte, but I’ll come to him in a moment.
Poor old Gilberto was also shown, once again, to be a yard short of this standard both physically and mentally. I feel sorry for him. Had he chosen to return to Arsenal for pre-season training he would probably now be captain. Instead he quite reasonably opted to skipper his country, and by the time he returned he found Mathieu Flamini had turned from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. Starved of regular football his effectiveness is now limited, and that is a massive shame.
Whilst I am inclined to a charitable view of some, one man has now proven to me to be the very essence of why transfer windows are a pain. Today we should be selling Emmanuel Eboue to anyone prepared to put up with everything that he does. The arguments about just how critical I should be of an Arsenal player have raged on in my head throughout a largely sleepless night.
‘He is a pillock, but he’s our pillock’. Sorry, that doesn’t cut it anymore. I don’t want to see this liability in an Arsenal shirt again, but we are stuck with him until May at least.
‘That wasn’t a sending-off offence. Wiley just pandered to the pack of obnoxious United players who surrounded him’. There is also an element of truth in that, but come on now, it was still a cowardly challenge whichever way you look at it.
The other players think he is funny’. I don’t care how amusing he can be when he dresses in a tiger suit. I am concerned with how often he makes us squirm with his diving, his histrionics, his overall lack of a temperament that would enable him to make the most of his talent. Nine thousand Gooners were less than amused at being short-changed by him once again yesterday.
I have thought long and hard about publishing this overnight. Much soul-searching was involved. Blogging is about opinions, and this is my opinion as I try to deal with a painful defeat. So hang it all, let’s hit that button.
26 Responses to “The Morning After Rant”
Mike Riley wasn’t refereeing the match I watched.
I have read comment staht the ref could be the manure’s
secret weapon.Alas it has to happen. Let’s see what
happens in April when hopefully our first teamers return
to OT.Then we will see how the refs deal with the tackles.
Anyway I’m confiedent the gunners can stuff the jeers and
wry smile of the red face back to oblivion.
if he aint careful he could be hit by a massive heart attack.
I know he goes for perodic check ups. But can anyone
guarantee 100% spot on?
Eboue – Arsene said to the press he needed to see it again and thought it was a little harsh – but the look the boss gave him as he left the pitch said it all, and now he will be out for a few games and I for one am glad – he is an embarrasment!!!!
I know we were out played, however, the pitch was like a second division ground, the ref was a tosser, who could only see our tackles – Fergy rants on about Gallas and his kick, which yes deserved a yellow, but old granny’s headbutt should have seen a red card out, but funny enough, nothing!!
The best thing the club could do about this game is learn from it – we were exposed at the back – Lehman, as I have said many times before doesnt seem to give Toure and Gallas any confidence, great start!
Hoyte and Traore are NOT good enough cover for Clichy and Sagna – cheque book out in the summer boss!!
Eboue – Dreadful yesterday! and did not help out Hoyte and the game was Man U’s down that side. Oh, and the other side – we were totally exposed and once that happened the defence were all over the place.
Gilberto – I could cry…..
But hey – look who was missing, but i bet they will be ready for wednesday
Thomas, Ade, Flamini, Diaby, Song, Sagna, Clichy, Almunia (YES ALMUNIA) Theo
All is not so bad, just wish we could have scored a couple of goals… revenge will be so very sweet though in April, and wont we be up for it…Also, it should be warmer!!!!
Ref was Alan Whiley!
to be fair to eboue he was a top playr in the seaosn we got to the champs league final. orld trafford pitch was a shambles
Thanks Chris and Alan, first of many slices of humble pie to be consumed I expect. I allowed the fact that there are two clueless gits ending in ‘iley’ to get in the way of the facts!
Yer blaming the pitch now!!!!!!!
Just accept it, you were feckin thrashed. It could have been by a lot more so show some dignity & go lick yer wounds in private & recall the amount of times you have treat other clubs with the same disrespect. We should of beat you by more at our place too!
Kiss me Irish arse yer cockerney gobshytes
Up the BORO
What has a match between two proper footballing sides got to do with you?
Well said Goonerholic. We don’t need ill concieved rants like that. He should concentrate on writing on Boro blogs.
We were bloody awful, but that was one game and people quickly forget how wonderful this group of players have been all season. We can and WILL bounce back.
^ lol
Coming to the match, I think Lehmann shouldn’t be blamed – he did make some good saves. We lost the game because of a number of reasons:
1) The two deplorable full backs. They are nowhere near the ability of Clichy and Sagna, and they make the CBs and GK look much worse than they really are. Gallas could have played at left back with Senderos and Toure in central positions.
2) Half-fit players on the bench. What was the point of this? In the end, by bring Adebayor and Flamini on after 70 mins, Wenger compromised both Arsenal’s chances in this match AND those players’ fitness. Ridiculous decision. Either they should have started, or not been in the squad at all.
3) Wenger’s negative comments in the lead-up to this game. Comments like “We’re down to the bare bones” don’t exactly instill confidence in your squad, and if those really are his sentiments, he has loaned out too many reserves and not signed enough players.
4) The pitch. No need to elaborate here.
5) ManU played well. Yes, really.
I do like Wenger’s comments that the League tie will see an entirely different Arsenal performance. At least he’s committing to something.
Did anyone notice a blatant (bookable) handball by rooney in the build-up to their second goal. on the near side of the pitch jus tinside our half?
Let’s not hear any moaning about the pitch. Whatever you think of it, it was the same pitch for both teams.
Fact is, we were well beaten, some of the players need to have a long hard think about their efforts, the boss has to take some responsibility for the team he named and the lack of depth of squad that forced him to it, but at the end of the day I still believe in him. Eboue is an unspeakable assclown though.
Just hold up our hands, admit we were well beaten, transfer Eboue to somewhere they’d welcome his style of play (Blackburn perhaps?) and move on with our lives.
I questioned Arsenal’s precariously thin squad well before December, although not on this blog, and got unmercifully crucified for it.
Well, nothing’s changed.
Arsene is Arsene, I’m afraid. Stubborness-cum-arrogance dictactes that you craft a team unlike those of your rivals: which is to say, “I can win the title without resorting to my chequebook.”
And then he has the temerity to tell us that he nearly signed this amazing player and that amazing player.
Well it’s put-up time or shut-up time, Arsene.
Win nothing now, and youl destroy your players confidence and, more to the point, lose players who are fed up with doing just that: winning nothing.
This is the way it is and the way it’s always been.
Lately, you have put us all through mental torture.
Watching you buy 15 year olds at the expense of proven experience; playing the likes of Gilberto and that scum Eboue; listening to every excuse under this Earth’s sun.
Put-up or shut-up Arsene.
If you think you can manage our team for another 20 years – again, wishing to outdo Ferguson because that is what stubborness-cum-arrogance dictates – you had better think again.
Arsenal fans deserve better.
Nothing less than the title is now required.
The ball is firmly and truly in your court.
We want what we believe is truly ours.
I just checked the starting line-ups in the 4 games we have lost this season.
Flamini has not started any of them. Neither has van Persie (for obvious reasons). Clichy, Adebayor and Rosicky only started the Boro game. Those players, especially Flamini and Clichy are very important! We just can´t afford to be without them.
On the other hand Gilberto have started in all the 4 games we have lost. Traore, Hoyte, Eboue, Eduardo, Bendtner, Toure and Gallas started in 3 of the games. Traore and Hoyte are just not EPL material, not yet anyway. Not overly convinced about Eboue and Eduardo either, and Gilberto surely must be off in the summer!
With our strongest team we still have only lost once (against Boro), and remember that was because the team was worn down after 4 away games in 13 days! Also we were missing both Flamini and Fabregas in that game. So confidence should still be high!
After stewing over this a number of hours now, I believe I’ve calmed down enough to see the bigger picture. For me Arsenal have reached a stature where the two priorities every season have to be 1) the Premier League and 2) the Champions’ League. The domestic cups have lost their relevance for a club of our standing and should be “sacrificed” by letting our reserves play in them. 10 years ago I would have said that we should play our best players to win in every competition we play in. But that was then and this is now as other than the truly fluky Manure Treble, it’s just too much to ask for a team to win every competition these days. As much as I hate to lose to Manure at anything and so this loss “hurts” in a way, I am actually pleased now that we have fewer games to play than Manure and hence our players have more rest and less chance of injury before completing the remaining 12 league games. I still think we can do well against Milan and should we clear this hurdle, I think we have a good chance of reaching the final. The F.A. Cup run is over now and so let’s get over it and support the team for the remaining 2 competitions that we are still involved in.
Hoyte – ok in a strong side where nothing much is expected of him except to make no mistakes, otherwise not good enough – cannot impose himself on the game nor can he dominate anybody.
Traore – talented young man who could become top class however he is very naive at left back right now. Put him in a team of players his age and he will look outstanding but lack of cove at left back is costing us dear this season. Always wanted AW to bring in an experienced left back both as cover for Clichy and to plug the [2 yr?] gap until Traore grows up a bit.
Gilberto – past it by a long way – his only hope for the rest of his career is to go to Italy where they’ll give him the ten minutes on the ball he needs. He’s been awesome for us but sadly now he has to go – he doesn’t even bring composure to the party these days.
Eboue – Liability, arrogant, lazy and petulant. He did nothing yesterday NOTHING. I dislike the man intensly and he does little to counteract that. A bit too liable to cheating and has no right to represent our club. Aside from that he’s keeping a better player out of the side – one we don’t have but i would wager Arsene will address that in the summer.
Lehman – did ok I think … certainly not at fault for the goals and although his ball distribution was not good I don’t think there was anyone moving into attacking positions – he was constantly looking for the quick throw out but no targets.
Bendtner – useful player and should come good but too isolated alone up front, never got into the game but mostly due to the ineffectual performance of our midfield creative players.
Hleb and Fabregas – nowhere near good enough, they were husled out of it and suffered from the weakness of the two full backs and the lack of someone in there to break up the play and drive forward into scum territory. Fabregas took the day off.
Why not play;
Lehman
Eboue Toure Senderos Gallas
Hleb Flamini Gilberto Fabregas Eduardo
Bendtner
I watched the game on the BBC and I didn’t see Rooneys handball I thought I did but no replay, I couldn’t tell if Arsenal were offside when they got the ball in the net I didn’t think the player who got the ball was but no replay.
So I thought I would see them at half time but it was the Rooney show then the news.
I hate Fergie but his motivational skills for one off games seem better than Wengers perhaps thats why there second in the league and Fergie cannot do it every week.
I think Arsenal only had 8 to 9 men mentally at the start of the game and it just got worse I just hope it dosn’t hurt Arsenal or Help Man U and our best players can get over it.
Well, you have said your piece, Im sure it took a few jars to help console the pain. The referee was poor!!. No, to be honest you have to ask your selves what was it said in the dressing room at half time and by whom which determined how close you were to seeing multiple red cards. Outplayed and made to look foolish again.
really the reason you lost was poor marking and not a credible outlet up front. A loss during midweek could create a surge for surgery and much dispensing of prozac!!
Ebouy is a little thug and cheat.. Why has it taken this long for you to figure that out. But who trained him!!
Eboue is a disgrace and I’ve been saying it for ages. He does not deserve to wear the red and white. No soul searchering was neceassary for me to publish this opinion. It’s come to something when one of my most disliked football players plays for my team.
Oh I am so offended
“You cant always get what you want,
You cant always get what you want,
But if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need.”
WE WERE JUST KILLED ( NO EXCUSES ) WE WERE KILLED !!!! I have one rant.. I am so happy the Great EBOUE is back from Africa WOW! he has been stunning all year, and now to GILBERTO. I am sorry guys but I am going to have to take him out back and put him down. I know we all have this special place in our hearts for him but his time has come. I will buy you a Ice Cream after……
Cusop,
Arsenal supporters have been calling Eboue a disgrace for a long time. I’d really like to see Wenger explore other options at right midfield. Even before there was such a long injury list, he preferred to have Eboue in there over players like Denilson, Diarra, Walcott, and Eduardo. Some will say none of these players were ready, or they weren’t good enough, or that right midfield’s not their position. Not that I agree with those arguments, but if that’s the case, then Wenger, it seems to me, from the comfort of my couch, should have brought in a new player.
Now mind you, if Wenger pulls off the league and champions league double, especially if Eboue does well, say he scores the winner in the Champions League final (and makes it through the game without diving), I’ll gladly admit how wrong I was.
http://www.wickeddeflection.com
Name me one match this season Eboue has been in the game … Please name one …. Name me one assist or cross this season… How about a great GOAL!!!! nope none there.. Oh but RED CARDS …. Hell he could not Defend either..
Agree about Eboue, ‘holic. Patience has been wearing thin, and its just about run out now.
Re:Traore and Hoyte, I believe they are good squad players and decent back up. They were just exposed against a very good ManU side. No need to get rid of either of them. This will be a good lesson for them.
The manner of the defeat hurt more than the defeat itself. Before the game, a loss would mean that the focus on the Premiership & CL would be high. I still believe that, that this is good for the long run.
The points that Maximus makes are OTT, and a knee jerk reaction. Wenger was always taking a risk with the depth of the squad, and time will tell whether it will pay off or not. Nothing to do with his arrogance. Its difficult to win a single trophy these days, forget the double.
The response in the League game at OT will be interesting, some extra motivation (hopefully) which will benefit the final Premiership standings.
i hate eboue. always have. dont care if he is the next freaking pele or maradona. diving and being a prick has no place in the team.