Comedy Of Errors Is No Laughing Matter
Oct 30th, 2008 by 'holic
You would expect old ‘holic to be looking for the positives from last night, wouldn’t you. I’ll try not to disappoint. There were two, from what I could see.
Firstly, 57000 Gooners responded to the manager’s plea to get behind the side and the atmosphere they generated was tremendous. Secondly, that was due in great part to the stewards not running round attempting to get people to sit on their hands. They might have had little option but letting those who wanted to remain on their feet was a sensible course of action, or inaction. We give them enough stick when they get it wrong, so fair play last night.
Actually, there was a third positive. The pre-match Guinness, and a very tasty tapas feast in good company made for a pleasant build-up. The day was going too well. Someone had to spoil it.
By now you will probably have seen enough of the action and read the details of who scored when and how, so I will spare myself the pain of going over it again. Singling out individuals when so many made howlers would be unfair.
Yes, the defensive frailties that have concerned us since before a ball was kicked in anger this season returned to haunt us. There’s not much we can do about that until January, but surely surrendering points to the likes of Fulham, Hull, Sunderland, and now the bottom club, will drill home the message that the cheque book needs dusting off?
One more question is running round in my head and cannot find an escape route. How many more times when we are on top of the opposition will we make negative substitutions and try to hold onto leads when clearly it is something we are not good at?
That’s enough of that. If you were among the 57000 last night, well done. You were fantastic. If you were one of the three thousand I had the misfortune to be seated next to, I’ll bet next time you will stay to the end and not sneak out when your team is losing.
Last Chance to Win Four Arsenal Books
Last week I announced the chance to get four great books from Octopus Publishing (see 22nd October post for details.) It is your last chance to enter, so just email your answer to this question to competition@goonerholic.com today.
Which three clubs did Arsene Wenger manage before joining Arsenal in 1996?
One of the titles up for grabs is Arsenal Confidential.
This book opens the door into a world never seen by club outsiders. Arsenal Confidential takes you behind the scenes to view the players as they train, relax, and prepare for big games, as well as getting ‘under the skin’ of day-to-day life at the training ground and Emirates Stadium.
With photos taken by the club’s official photographer, Stuart MacFarlane, this unique collection of exclusive imagery gives you unparalleled access to the squad, and captures the true spirit and love of the game that is demonstrated at Arsenal FC
Get your answer in today. Cheers for now ‘holics.
27 Responses to “Comedy Of Errors Is No Laughing Matter”
Morning ‘holic.
Well written as usual.
I’ll have a Guiness and a Jamesons please.
Bah. Pah. Gah. Meh. Puh.
That is all.
“Arsenal star Cesc Fabregas has added fuel to the fire ahead of the North London derby with Tottenham tonight by claiming Spurs are not good enough to beat the Gunners’ ladies side”
hahahhahah muhwahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! whos the lady now fiberglass hehe DB from the halfway line Nayim from the halfway line ooohhhh arrghhhhhhh!
I can honestly say that that was the end of our title hopes tonight! I think the question is, who will leave at the end of the season. Seriously! No gooners in denial here, if we win the league I will eat my pants, but I just don’t see it. Other teams are too strong for us to be this far behind without playing quality opposition.
The game was televised here in India from 1:30 in the morning/late night and I stayed up till 3:30 am to watch this joke of Arse learning from their Fulham/Hull/Sunderland mistakes; to add salt to injury I was watching the unbeaten season videos before the game.
And to our footballers, why on earth they go on shooting their mouth off in the press before the game rather than concentrating on it and letting the on field activities do the talking ? And frankly, the men’s team will do a lot if they can even half emulate the winning spree/mentality of the gunner ladies’ team.
Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ……… feel like killing myself *(^&*(^&*)%^$#$#@@#$^#@$…………..
It was till that song substitution diaby was okay (agresive approach) but song was awfull arsene should have brought in vela or or big dane…i was in pakistan and had to stay wake till 0200 pakistan time… and normally i dont dont watch midweek clashes because of this.. but the hype and interest created by holic arseblogger and le grove was enough for me to watch it no matter what!!!
disapointing end i m still not in good mood but have to get my frustration out some where………….
hope we do learn tht scoring single goal (against hull) or havin a gap of 2 goals is not enough to have a nap at field…wake up deenders!!!!
it defenders!!!
Wenger is to blame for this no one else and he knows it himself, why on earth take Walcot and Van Persie?
To bring on Eboue? To what? To kick the ball forward? Diaby came on as well did what?
Why break the momentum of the team when they were on fire?
Wenger needs to address his mistakes as well I will support him with all my heart but this needs to be looked into.
The game was won all they had to do is to defend it two fcuking goal cussion and we still managed to loose it somewhere.
Titles? What titles guys? We are far from Silverware as Reading FC coming back to the priemiership again which I think they will do it a lot quicker.
You just have to laugh at ar5ena1, what a bunch of losers. Just five to hang on and you mucked it up. Maybe you should have put the ladies team out you might have won. LOL
I would like a bloody mary, 6 shots of straight vodka and a bottle of red wine please.
so utterly pathetic last night. Almunia made a complete mess of Bentley’s goal. good strike, no doubt, but had Almunia just pushed it aside for a corner, instead of going for a glitzy palm over the top of the bar (when the ball was dipping nowhere near the bar), i actually think we could ahve won that game without conceeding, because to be honest, other than long range shots, spurs were simply not a threat to us.
It does feel like a defeat, it has to be said, but one swallow does not a summer make.
Let’s all be gloomy together.
*gloom and doom, gloom and doom*
That’s better. Right what’s for lunch?
Baked Spud?
I’ll have a glass of the hard stuff please ‘holic…
Thanks…
*crunches ice*
Oooh, that is chilly…
Yeah, agreed. Almunia could have done more but its deffo goal of the season material. Shame it was Bentley’s!
Well I lost 3 stone, all my finger and toe nails and my hair grew back just to fall out again last night…
What a damn shambles that was (hehe). I’ve read many posts this morning taking note of all the fans comments and concerns. But can it be that bad?
You’re damn right it can! What are our title hopes for this season and the next 3 seasons…
TBH, I’m not naive enough (like some of our team) to believe that the gap between us and the big spenders is small enough to bridge in the near future. Even beyond that who can say?
One thing is for sure. The mentality of AW is the biggest question I have, not the mentality of the players. Arguably, you do play to your worth? on Arsenals salary are we surprised of the commitment? Again look at the big spenders, great results and great attitude.
Ever heard the expression “I feel like a million dollars”?
You get what you pay for!
Here we go again…
bblllllleeeeeehhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!
FUCK IT!!!
Aw blames it on inexperience. he has been saying the same thing for the last few seasons.Of course the young could suddenly explode into genuine title contenders.That is about as remote as my 70 yr old father scoring for Arsenal.
This late goal scored by opponents is nothing new.
Allow me to refresh the memory of those who migh have forgotten by highlighting a few instances.
In the 2001 Cup final Arsenal were leading by a goal only to lose to goals by Owen.In the 2003 season the gunners were leading MU and less than a miniute later the rd had equalised,
So you see it’s not a recent phenomenon. The roots can be trace to AW who insists on attacking soccer without stregthening the defence by relying on the young guns.
I’m afraid Arsenal can say goodby to the title because champions often have water tight defence. Yes Arsenal may scored the most goals but a porous defence aint going to win trophies.
“How many more times when we are on top of the opposition will we make negative substitutions and try to hold onto leads . . . . “
Well he’s done it ever since he came to the club; the obvious difference being he no longer has a defence that can withstand this self-inflicted handicap.
What particularly worries me is that AW is demonstrating a stubbornness that is reminiscent of the latter half of the Graham era. Ok, the standard of football and the players are much higher but as with GG there is a persistence with tactics and player selection, not to mention a reluctance to spend money, which are patently wrong.
I’m not sure we have to wait ‘til January to sort out the defence. Keown came in and transformed a makeshift defense into good enough shape to take us to the CL Final (Christ, even Eboue looked promising at the time).
He’s an obvious candidate to do the same again but there must be others. Strengthening is needed but potentially the players are good enough; they simply don’t operate as an effective defensive unit and that has to be down to the current style of coaching.
Oh and we need a proper captain . . . .
Not even going to analyze that game.
This game was for the fans and Wenger and the team let down the fans.
Thats all i’ll say.
It couldn`t have been much worse could it? First of all that prize c**t Bentley put one past us, then, as if christmas had come early, we gift them Three more goals. It takes the biscuit (sorry) for Arsene to blame the inexperience of certain players for the result. (I nearly wrote defeat…. it certainly feels like one). Why are we being linked with half the worlds midfielders when its a proper defence we need?. The latest is rumour is that we are battling Sunderland to sign young Delph from Leeds. Perhaps Steve Bould is in the wrong job and should be switched from the u18`s to be defensive coach with the brief to get the basics right first, and take it from there. For example I`m tired of hearing Lee Dixon on Match of The Day pointing out, every time he appears, how the gaps between our back four are way too large. I haven`t had the radio on today, and won`t be buying my usual Standard. I`m just glad I don`t live in North london.
i dont understand why you guys are blaming only arsene for his stupid subs (which is appropriate) but no one dares to comment in the apparent arrogance of cesc (yes cesc) who refused to play the ball at the corner with song; and then in the last minute of the injury time refused to hold the ball and passed it into their defender……
classic arsene boys! they dont like to play the time out. because we all heard him critisize it other teams doing so (Hypocrite!)
I think AW has lost the plot. You don’t see any top team blowing a 2 goal lead with minutes left. He blames it on the players immaturity. Well the buck stops with him.This sort of thing has been happening too often.
He may not want to admit it but teams know how to mug Arsenal..It happened in the Hull game and in games of previous seasons.The need to be clinical has been said a million times.
He is too proud or arrogant to change his mind set.In other words he is too Brazilian. We know the Brazil teams are always full of flair but are fragile in defence. That’s waht is wrong with Arsenal at the moment.
At least two-thirds of the spuds fans missed the last two goals!
To be perfectly honest I am still stunned after last night. I agree with your comments entirely Holic. The only other positive is that there was not 6 minutes of injury time. The way we capitulated I dread to think what would have happened. The whole match was error ridden. They were very poor and we just failed to take advantage. We strolled around as if the game was already won and passed to whoever we felt like. Did not seem to matter what colour shirt they were wearing. Everyone today is going on about such a great comeback and how great Redknapp is. Why? Because we fucking allowed it to happen. Drives me nuts. They are a poor side and we were so unprofessional at times it was unbelievable.
I have said it several times on your site Holic but I will say it one more time. Above anything else this team lacks leaders. Can you imagine the reaction of an Adams, a Winterburn, a Keown, a Vieira etc etc when that third went in? Or their reaction after the first went in for that matter? We fucked about with it and in the end looked like rabbits in the headlights. Shocking.
As you point out AW asked for a reaction from the crowd. He felt we were poor against Everton. My opinion is that the odd booing at that game was just passionate fans venting their frustration. His program notes also mention it. So 57,000 loyal fans duly oblige. And that is the shit we are served up. Perhaps he also needs to take a look at events after the final whistle. These so called badge kissing superstars. Where were they? They had all fucked off down the tunnel before you could say “bugger me, we have blown it yet again”. Not strictly true. Gallas stayed to applaud the crowd and Theo got off the bench to do the same so good on them for at least having the balls to do so. AW, the team can not have it both ways.
I also refuse to buy this inexperience bollocks as well. From memory, every outfield player that was on the pitch at the final whistle is a full international. I am fed up with excuses.
We all know we are short and should have spent money. The clever rumour seems to be that Yaya Toure will sign in Jan. It was agreed in the summer but we would pay him enough so he stayed at Barca. Now we have upped the money and it is back on, If that is true I will be even more pissed. If we will up the money now why the fuck could we not do it in August????? It is beyond belief.
One final point before I head off for a barrel of beer. If either Flamini or Gilberto had been in that side at the death last night would we have conceded that 4th goal? Or the 3rd for that matter. My opinion is a resounding NO.
Throwing points away will not win a title. The squad is rudderless and it comes from the top. We don’t bring in quality players anymore. Our arrogance ‘we don’t buy stars, we make them’, are worse than empty words – it’s dishonest. Overpaid, over-rated, over-campaign. Don’t tell me it’s early, be honest, it’s over. Look at pool, they are the new model – attractive not so much, but sound defensively and they can score and are incredibly tough to break down. AND THEY FIGHT. WE DON’T.
*Waits at the bar impatiently for the ‘Holic RNG to start working…..*
T
I
C
K
T
O
C
K
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*wonders why the pub clock hasn’t be altered back to GMT*
AW refuses to buy experienced players; infact he sells those with some experience. He insists that THIS team can win titles; but when they fail he USES it as excuse…………
pathetic
It wasn’t inexperience that lost us the game. It was bloody minded arrogance!!!!!!
Sp*rs played with every ounce of blood and sweat until the 95th minute (where the hell did they all come from??) whereas we played until 4-2 up, then thought we had to simply cruise in neutral gear to the end……because we were at home, had done the work, had scored the goals, are the Arsenal and therefore could not lose!!!
We have a terrifically talented squad of players. Gilberto could add no more to the squad and Flamini is no more. The problem is that AW didn’t properly replace either.
It was pure arrognace that lost us the game. AW needs to address that!!!