Embarrassing And Shameful
Apr 10th, 2017 by 'holic
Arsene Wenger went with an unchanged team for the trip to Selhurst Park following last week’s defeat of West Ham United. The Gunners started the match seven points and two places behind fourth-placed Manchester City with two games in hand. Another three points were sorely needed. The experienced Cabaye, once a target for Arsenal, was surprisingly fit enough to start for Palace.
The game started at a good pace and worryingly Palace created the first clear opportunity but fortunately Cabaye mis-kicked and we survived. Shortly afterwards Milivojevic blazed a drive wide but Emiliano Martinez looked to have had it covered were it on target. The young goalkeeper claimed a couple of crosses well in this opening phase.
The Arsenal were next to test the goalkeeper when Elneny drew a flying save out of Hennessey at his far post. The Egyptian was quick to join in our early breaks and was clearly looking to impress for the second match running. Danny Welbeck was crowded out as he tried to turn a couple of defenders in front of goal and the ensuing corner was easily dealt with by Palace.
In the 17th minute Palace struck from a route one effort. Benteke bullied Gabriel to win a headed flick on and Zaha’s cross fell invitingly for Townsend. He finished having nipped in front of Skhodran Mustafi. It was a poor goal to concede against the run of play, but the replays showed that Benteke used a leading elbow to knock Gabriel down. Sometimes you get those, sometimes you don’t.
Crystal Palace 1-0 Arsenal Eh?
When the goalscorer next found himself in possession he was subjected to a poor challenge for which Mustafi was rightly booked, but Mustafi was having to cover a clearly unfit Hector Bellerin too often. We need to give him a break and treatment for whatever has made him half of the player who started the season.
Gradually the Gunners got back into the contest and Alexis curled an effort just wide of the far post. However our slow build-up play at this point enabled Palace to defend in numbers. Mesut Oil and Alexis tried to engineer an opportunity but the hosts blocked the Chilean’s final effort.
At the other end Townsend blasted an effort over the bar before Mustafi had to be at his best to deny Benteke with a smart sliding tackle. Arsenal forced two corners in response but both proved fruitless. Benteke again was offered the freedom of the Arsenal box and Martinez had to make another excellent save at full stretch to deny him.
Granit Xhaka’s magnificent through ball presented Welbeck with an opportunity to shoot but he cleared the far post before Gabriel’s thumping header was saved by Hennessey, and 1-0 it remained as the half drew to a close. Arsene and Steve Bould faced a very important fifteen minutes.
Sensing the importance of the second-half the travelling Gooners ramped up the volume and stayed firmly behind their team. It was good to hear. On the pitch Ozil and Zaha traded overhit crosses as the end to end contest resumed. Benteke was denied by Bellerin’s smart block. The Palace striker netted but from an offside position. Arsenal needed to wake up, and fast.
They didn’t. From a corner Martinez had to hold on to a near post header from Puncheon. Ten minutes into the half Elneny and Xhaka indulged in some tippy tappy square balls in front of the massed ranks of red and blue. Where was the creativity, the spark? Sanchez crossed for Bellerin but his attempt at a controlled volley went horribly wrong.
The changes so clearly needed were made before the hour was up. Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey came on for Welbeck and Elneny respectively. Almost immediately Palace doubled their lead with a superbly flighted finish by Cabaye. It was no more than the Eagles deserved.
Crystal Palace 2-0 Arsenal You’re joking, right?
The match was effectively ended in the 67th minute. Giroud was hauled down by Sakho in the box and got nothing. At the other end Townsend ensured contact with Martinez and the spot-kick was awarded. Milivojevic just beat the dive of Martinez. Three down to Palace. Alan Smith was right. We were being humiliated.
Crystal Palace 3-0 Arsenal No, really
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain came on for England captain material Theo Walcott. No, you hadn’t seen him mentioned above. Most had forgotten he was even playing I suspect. Bellerin laboured down the right flank once more and his chip to the far post just evaded the incoming Giroud.
“You’re not fit to wear the shirt” screamed the travelling Gooners. At last, some condemnation of those who for whatever reason couldn’t be arsed to turn up and show some pride in the cannon. But you can’t sell the players and leave the manager who cannot get the best out of them in charge. That was once again all too evident tonight. Let’s rebuild this broken club.
Sorry, and goodnight.
70 Responses to “Embarrassing And Shameful”
The Beginning of the END.
Bellerin is unfit between the ears. If he was physically unfit I can’t believe we’d carry on playing him when Rob Holding could come in and we could reorganise a bit.
It couldn’t be any more shambolic than it already is.
What I see is a group of players divided. They are not bothered about playing for the club, the manager or each other. They are perfectly ok with being in the comfort zone where nothing is demanded of them, and when the chips are finally down for them and the club needs them to perform, they are mostly hiding.
I go back to the two interviews given by Ozil (I’m comfortable at Arsenal) and Giroud (my goal was better than Carroll’s) to sum this team up.
Faint hearted wankers.
Holic,
This is a very balanced report! Then again we have seen it too many times this season and it’s sad what we have become but I’m kind of use to it!
The palace players talking to each other and demanding more from each other and we looked liked complete strangers. No communication and no heart, that is our club now and we all know he’s staying. So get ready for another pile of shit next season.
All criticism of players is spot on, but I can’t help but think of the person who is letting them have that comfort zone. I used to have a running argument with my mates in secondary school in the early 2000s about Wenger v Fergie, Henry v van Nistelrooj. I can’t help but feel a little embarrassed looking back to have considered Wenger on Fergie’s level no matter how much I hated the United man. It’s ultimately up to the manager to reward or punish the player’s performances and refuse to let them piss about on or off the field. Imagine that last team Fergie won the league with, no one would think they were champion material but the manager dragged them there and the season after they finished 7th. Our manager can’t do that, and hasn’t done it in a long long time.
Professional job Holic, fair play to you. Will this slow motion car crash ever end ? Will the fan base finally unite properly and get rid of this bull shitting, overpaid tyrant ?
Honest words, Guv’nor. The time has come for change, if only because that is our only option left.
What a sad night. I’m even sadder that I changed my mind and secured a Semi-Final ticket this afternoon.
I will leave it up to you Holics to more forcibly express our views on our current load of rubbish.
Good night.
Great honesty from Theo but I don’t think he’s done himself any favours there, as true as it is.
“They wanted it more than us, you cold tell that from the first whistle”
Just go.
I think Carragher’s had a drink but he’s come out with a pearler there. “You wouldn’t want your daughter to bring any of these home”
It’s time for the fans to unite and demand a change. I believe the fans are partly to blame for all this shit. You have a set of fans still bringing banners saying in Wenger we trust on the other hand fans bringing in banners saying it’s time for a change. When are we all going to come together and demand that Wenger should be let go if he is too fucking arrogant to see that his time is done. You can’t sack all 22 players, one option only and that’s the boss going. He is a fucking dictator. I can’t wait for this shit ass season to be over with and hopefully start afresh with a new coach.. I can dream I guess..
22 points off the top and 27 points out of the relegation places. Mid-table mediocrity. Numbers don’t lie. As if I needed numbers to tell me I am looking at mediocrity.
There will be standing room only at The Wailing Wall tonight.
This is not the end.
This will get worse.
Cracks have been papered over in the past- but no more! Cracks are rapidly become gaping holes; and not just the ones all over the pitch. These non-performances have been all too familiar for all too long. It is just that now too many players clearly do not give a damn about playing for Arsenal enough to even show some fight.
Think back to Bournemouth away in January: as poor as tonight- if not worse – for the first 70 minutes. I walked away from the ground that night knowing what I think the vast majority now know: this team and manager is on a downward spiral that requires immediate action to be taken. Instead, we have what at best could be described as “uncertainty” being peddled by the kinder onlookers. I prefer to describe it for what it is: a complete and utter shambles.
With some of the fixtures we still have to come this season, I see more humbling scorelines and inept and shameful performances ahead before May is done. Just think about Spurs away, St. Marys, The Britannia, United at home, City in the cup at Wembley…. actually- try not to think about it, you may not sleep tonight!
None of the players that pulled on the shirt this evening should get any sleep. But we all know that most of them will walk away tonight emotionally unblemished. As for Arsene…. I think he still cares, and a lot of people I speak to still have a lot of love and respect for the man. But to my mind, this is only the respect you have for anyone with whom you have shared so much for so long- in the past. An increasingly distant past. A past that can carry him no further as manager of our club.
He is now the stubborn old goat that family members avoid and find themselves feeling guilty for speaking or thinking ill of. I don’t sign up to any hateful vitriol against him or any man (ok- I can think of a few candidates!) but I can understand the anger. I am sad and frustrated by him and the club as a whole.
This is not the club I have grown with. This is a joke. Everybody else is laughing at us and I just feel sadness. There is no turning this around. It is simply heading for a final destination….. I will stay on board but I find myself paying more and more attention to the pre-flight safety message. This flight is now beyond turbulent…. and I need more rum than they serve in those single servers!
@Scgooner, when you say “tyrant”, do you mean Kronke, Gazidis or Wenger? Personally I think all 3 should go (but I know that won’t happen), only AW is likely to pay the price. I’ve never felt more depressed with the state of the club, and I remember the early 80’s very well !
The thing about mid-table mediocrity is you should not need to have one of the higjest payrolls in the league to achieve it. What goal do we have left now? Staving off Everton?
As if a surreal night could not get any more bizarre,
That footballing imposter Wally gets to wear the armband of the Club i love,and then i read that our esteemed former Captain and great servant Tony Adams,has been appointed manager of Granada.
I thought that was a Country,turns out it’s a Spanish team wallowing in the depths of La Liga. !!
You couldn’t make it up.
I’ve been working all evening and am now on the train home. As with all games I know I’m going to miss, I set the record button. Once again, I was kept fully updated by a portable transistor and the texts from BTM. And it is on his advice that the first thing I shall do when I reach my humble abode is to hit the delete button.
It’s all a bit of a shambles really. From top to bottom. We have an owner with very little interest. A billionaire who owns over 30% of the clubs shares and a board with more free bus passes amongst them than you would see at the bingo on a Wednesday night. The playing side as been in steady decline for years now. This has hardly been helped by constant failures and failings in the transfer market. So now, we are left with this. One incredible mess with very little expectation that anyone connected at the club as the foggiest idea of how to sort it.
Wenger needs to make a decision on his future, if he has not done so already. It needs to be communicated to all. The uncertainty is helping no one. That is the first hurdle that needs to be cleared. As for the rest? Who knows? I keep being told that Hector is not fit. Debuchy played for the under 23’s this afternoon???
I don’t want the world. All I have ever asked is for us to be the best we can be. All I want is for us to maximise our potential. There were some that found that a concept too complicated to get their head round. I hope they have a little more understanding about it all now.
Excellent post Sam.
I think the problem is that we’re playing without a sweeper, Clive. Are you available next Monday night by any chance? You’re in for Mustafi if you are. Mr Gazidis says he’ll pay your train fare. (You’ll need to bring your own boots though and Ivan can accommodate anything but black as he doesn’t want anyone painting things black and clashing with the rainbow of tasty colours that the rest of the team will be wearing to brighten the gloom up in Middlesborough).
The stats show that we had 72% possession? How can we allow a team to have only 28% possession and to beat us 3-0?
No wonder we all feel embarrassed.
Nice post Guvnor, still a bit too kind to all concerned though.
My summing up is that tonight was perfectly predictable, even Sam is saying how simple it was to have the tactics to beat us FFS Defend well and make them play it sideways, simple as that.
I’m prepared for more humiliation before the season ends, – at least we won’t be relegated.
Unfortunately that might well be an issue next season if he stays.
AW says (when asked about his future) that tonight it isn’t about him. But oh yes it is, because there aren’t many gooners left that have faith that you can turn things around.
Oh I could just ramble on and on now, so bitterly disappointed with something that has just been so predictable for about 7 years now.
BTM mate
If Boro players were watching that game tonight,they will be licking their lips in anticipation at the prospect of their first league win this year. !!
After this shambles,how many of the diehard travelling Gooners, will want to make the long trip to Teesside next Monday night. ??
Good stuff Guvna, even if painful to write and read. I fear that we have more pain in store for us before the end of this sad period.
Major surgery is required. More than just making a few additions to a squad that seems to be stale and under motivated. Is the Board capable of making the right decisions? Sadly I doubt it.
We were warned by several US sports fans that Kroenke had taken all the teams he owns into mid-table mediocrity. I fear that future.
Hypothetically, if Arsenal were to sack Wenger tonight in a late bid to salvage CL qualification, who do you get in for the last 8 games? Warnock? I say it as a joke but at this stage in pure logical terms whould he really do any worse? Teams change manager late on to avoid relegation, would it be logical to do the same now? I know it’s not going to happen but it’s an interesting point.
Ramsey – had talent but plays like a man who is lost. Looks mentally battered. The way he rubbed his face, just weird actions. He’s lost it. Oxlade, no different to Tom Cleverley. Average at everything, no business at a club like Arsenal. Ramsey at least has talent but no coincidence things fell apart when he came on. Xhaka may be a player someday. Elneny also. But not with Wenger as manager. With midfielders, he turns them to garbage. Even Bellerin, Mustafi – actually no issues talent-wise, but not being coached well. Probably.
I don’t know at what point the players threw the towel in, but towels are being thrown. Similar to Leicester. The players weren’t bad players or evil men, they were just fed up and miserable. I should caveat this by saying I’m a Spurs fan but I’m also an objective football fan and that side of me still has a soft spot for the Wenger teams of yore – the football was brilliant and Spurs were nowhere. Now is obv a different time but I’m not here to rub salt.
I guess I just wanted to say that although some players are crap – Ramsey, Ox, Coquelin, Cech too (been on the downslide for years) a lot are fit for purpose. Even Walcott and Giroud if used well are useful. The point is another manager at this stage will do no worse that Wenger is currently, even if it’s Neil Warnock. A year ago I wanted Arsenal to change manager because I thought it might lead to more uncertianty/turmoil that Spurs could exploit. Now I want him to stay because of the growing fear that a new face will achieve a huge turnaround fairly quickly purely by not being Wenger. Far from being the man keeping them on top, he’s the millstone around your neck. He’s flailing around at the controls but there is no response. Not this time.
The massive fear for me as a Spurs fan is you get Simeone and he brings Greizmann with him.
Oh dear…
I wore me lucky tie today… to no avail. I’m afraid my annual mental separation from the club I love is in full gear.
Here’s hoping the boys find some internal motivation to avoid an ultimate embarrassment by the scum.
‘Holics, keep the faith…somebody has to.
BMBD.
Sympathies in complete sentences from a sp*rs “fan”…oh dear, indeed.
BMBD.
Warnock would build his team around smashing lad Welbeck up top, Sanchez playing off him in the Jamie Mackie role and Shaun Derry in the Steve Bould role. He’d also experiment with 3 at the back, having once gone on a 2-day ether binge with Steve Walsh, Matt Eliott and Spencer Prior back in the 70s when he managed Notts County.
I do think we need wholesale changes but I really don’t think Colin Wanker would be a step forward. Thanks for the kind thoughts, though.
Bath knows.
Wenger has lost the dressing room, none of them could give fuck, loose the ball fuck it, piss poor 5 yard pass, fuck it !!!! Theo comments were just laughable and not thought out. I agree with the scouse twat, don’t talk about it do something about it !!!!!!
There is talk of a mass clear out in the summer, why ? Because he has lost the players respect and they won’t fight for him so get rid of them is the easy answer. However we have very highly paid average players who won’t get this wage anywhere else so we are stuck with them.
This is just too painful watching this club implode. Well a least another 2 years of being a laughing stock. How can the board just sit back and think this bullshit is acceptable ?
Naughty Chrisman, but I will allow you your moment of joy against 22 years of the natural order. You are about to fester in a three sided stadium because you have run out of money. Thank fuck for the Ikea instead of the home end. ?
Firstly great post Sam.
I was at Selhurst tonight. I had never seen us lose there since I first went there in 1969. The club is in serious decline. I rate very few of this team and some of them are suffering because they haven’t got the experience to cope. Wenger bought terribly in the summer. He bought wid.y overpriced players. Allardyve had us on toast tonight. Early goal and hit us on the break with Zaha and Townsend . There is so much you could say- Walcott marking Sakho at a set piece, Monreal railing at the players after the first goal for getting overloaded on the right flank. Ramsey coming on and being worse than Elneny , Ox similarly with Walcott.
Some, even now are holding out hopes of a Cup win. Forget it. Citeh will pulverise us on that sort of stage. It’s a big game and most of these pussies won’t turn up again. And the North London Derby will be a nightmare. The Totts know how poor our team is and could humiliate us at the Lane. Mourinho lies in wait at our place and would love to rub salt into the wound.
We just can’t hand Wenger a two year contract it would be evidence that this board is as clueless in football terms as we all fear it is. The man himself has to take stock of how poor this team is and step away with dignity . I can’t see us getting many points this season and although I hate Arsenal struggling maybe it has to get worse before it gets better and believe me it will get worse.
I would announce Wenger is leaving at the end of the season and implore the team to try to manage a send- off of some kind. We can’t let a man in decline make plans for the new season. Silent Stan needs to speak
Now I know what Tottenham supporters must feel like, most of the time.
Embarrassingly awful. “They wanted it more than us”, says Theo? As if that wasn’t too fucking obvious! I feel sorry for our guvna, up all night composing pearls to encourage our support, and what does he get? You deserve better, ‘holic.
Personally I feared the worst when we started with Danny up front AGAIN. If ever you want evidence AW is totally blind to what actually happens on field this was it. I’d like to think Alexis’s crap do it alone attempt was his response to playing wingman to the Prem’s worst CF, but in truth he was playing his usual one-man-show-see-if-you-can-get-the-ball-off-me-and-that-applies-to-all-you-Arsenal-drongos-as-well game, constantly having the ball taken off him or passing it to opponents anyway.
If it wasn’t for Nacho we would never have attacked at all. But why was everything going down the left anyway? Why did Özil spend most of his time on that side virtually ignoring the right? Is he in love with Alexis? He doesn’t seem to want to play with anyone else.
Nice Wailing Wall line, Clive. 😀
I wish this season could end already. What a shit ass season. Please Wenger if you have any respect and love for this club, just do the right thing and announce your departure at the end of the season. Pleaseeeee
pleaseeee………. We know these toothless board cant sack you.
Watched the game yesterday and wondered how many cowards were playing in the team.
When players opt to play the safe backward pass repeatedly and show no urgency and pass into the corner when in a position to shoot at goal.
Howbdo you fix this without change.
No guts no glory.
Nothing to add to that report GH, thanks for posting after
another miserable performance.
@16 Hello Fin
I was a Highbury regular in the early eighties and to be honest I
don’t think it’s worse now, mostly just similar.
Some good players (there were really!), some not good enough and a manager I respected, and who’d done well for us in the past. The problem, then as now, I believe is that the players won’t fight for the club week in, week out, just when they feel like it. Rallying cries, player meetings etc have made no difference and it’s too far gone.
The fans then were angry, cynical, fed-up much as they are now.
One difference is the fans then voted with their feet and we ended up with 20,000 home crowds and eventually the board, albeit, ineptly
actually did something.
Oddly enough, I still think we might beat Man Shitty at Wembley,
they’re as iffy as we are I think and it could go either way. Wouldn’t fancy whoever goes through in the final too much I must admit.
I don’t believe in the ” it’s the hope that kills you” mantra so I still hope
we beat Shitty, somehow spake the final, and then the board decide
enough is enough. I agree with many on here, it is time for a Graham style clear-out and change of approach. If the Board don’t step up then that’s too bad and pretty much next season will be a write off too.
But things will change and I am optimistic for when they do !!
Beating $iteh in the semi would be no surprise, but what then? Spuds in the final? I’d be chewing my nails down to the elbow.
Otoh, who would they least want to meet? Especially after failing to catch the chavs. Us I bet. And a lot could be forgiven if that scenario went in our favour.
I know, I’m fantasising. But what else can you do after being Crystal-lized so comprehensively? After all, tomorrow is another day, right? Thank you Scarlett.
Morning.
Tomorrow is here Chris. It is another day.
Does it feel any better? No, not in the slightest.
I must say that like many others, I feel we are way beyond a quick fix. This could well take years to rectify. I’m just not convinced that the board have the first clue as to where to start.
Rudderless from the very top.
Thank you Holic for making a balanced post from what was a difficult night. I didn’t see the game since it was aired at 2pm local time. I saw the 3-0 scoreline in the morning and thought to myself, two 3-0 wins in a row! Get in! How wrong was I…
I just want to say that the blame for our poor run of form lies squarely with the manager and the players, not Kroenke. We’ve been saying for 4-5 years that we have a good squad, but we only needed that little bit extra, a couple world class players to take the team to new heights. And Wenger has brought in Ozil, Cech, Alexis, and Mustafi on top of other players like Xhaka, Lucas, etc.
Look at the team now – our British core has stagnated and regressed, the young players (Iwobi, Bellerin etc) lacks any confidence in this situation, and the players we believed were world class simply looked annoyed and frustrated most of the time. The players must share the blame, but the buck really lies with the Manager.
To me, sadly Wenger just seemed incapable of reinventing himself and his team one last time. The team we had since Cesc left was happy with fourth place, but the quality of players we have now are not. This is why I think attitude problems are starting to show on the pitch.
The Club, the fans, and Wenger himself deserves more than this. Truly hope Le Boss sees it’s now time to go – with dignity and respect all still in place.
Chris
There is about a 2% chance if us beating Citeh. It is a big match on a big stage and needs big players who relish that situation. We have only Cech, Koscielny and Sanchez who fit that bill. I watched our second half level with our back four and observed Mustafi closely. He is a totally headless chicken. I’m really not certain how we could spend £35 million on him. Rob Holding is in a different class as is Mertesacker who must come back. Hector is playing while not fit but we have two full- backs at the club who Wenger doesn’t trust. I would play Coquelin there. The midfield is utterly rudderless without Santi. Upfront we have some quality but not many fighters. They are a team of pussycats.
As I said last night White Hart Lane could be agony. This lot can’t turn it around.
As for Wenger he needs to put an end to this. He shouldn’t be able to decide his own fate it’s gone beyond that now and he’s just damaging his legacy beyond repair – which given what he achieved is so so sad. If he agrees to leave at the end of the season he would regain respect but this interminable saga needs to have an end. And Kroenke needs to realise he doesn’t know how to run a football club with this board
Sorry but the blame for this lies totally with Kroenke, Gazides and the board. The failure of everything else below them is a consequence of their purposeful and deliberate inaction. They either don’t know what to do or don’t care. I hope it’s the former for our sakes for they can at least bring in people to change things. I fear it might be the latter but that makes no sense as they will start to lose money.
They need to tell us the decision this week and start acting as proper leaders of this great club, not acting like utter cowards. We can then address who is going to manage the team and which players to keep and which to replace.
I thought I was going to get up this morning and find the world had ended overnight. Instead I woke to a nicely cold, brilliantly sunny, morning. It looks like it might turn into a really nice day.
PS – Wenger out.
🙂
Don’t know what’s more depressing – that this can and probably will get worse, or hearing what someone said above that Kroenke routinely takes his clubs into mid-table obscurity.
I don’t think I can go on like this, knowing that!
*starts search for new sport to follow*
Just had a quick look in Twatter. Proof positive that the emptiest vessels make the most noise.
We’ve had some lows under Wenger, some real lows. Waking up the day after all of them have sucked, but I’ve always felt like there was a chance of a brighter day around the corner, that there would be an upturn. There always was. I like to think that i’m a glass half-full type of bloke. Right now I couldn’t feel lower about everything related to our club. I can’t see things improving for a very long time.
I feel sad that Bellerin, possibly one of the least-deserving players to receive abuse, copped it last night. And yet i’m not sad at all, the fans weren’t getting at him as such, they were using one of their few outlets to show their seething anger. Had Mother Teresa been out there in a yellow shirt last night she’d have copped it. The players deserve to know what a disgrace they’ve been and deserve to be made to feel uncomfortable. If a few snowflakes leave the club because they don’t feel as cosy then so be it, they aren’t the types this club requires.
The saddest thing is Arsene. A lovely, honourable man going out with such indignity and humiliation. He so desperately wants to turn it around and will work as hard as possible to do it, he’d work 25 hours a day if he could. And yet we all know that he can’t from here. I knew for sure that he couldn’t when the players didn’t turn up for him at Old Trafford last Spring, nothing’s changed since then. And yet nobody at the club has the guts to put him out of his misery. He’s being paid £8m to be the sacrificial lamb and the club know that he won’t walk. Cowardice from the very top.
So sad.
Save yourself ‘holic, Twitter is not the place to be at a time like this. The sun’s shining, Easter weekend is coming, i’m planning which country pubs i’m going to forget The Arsenal in this weekend – it’s the only way. Until it all starts again on Monday…
Embarrassing capitulation last night. What I saw was completely untenable – the tactics (or lack thereof), team selection, performance, and evident lack of desire/motivation from nearly all the players. If they haven’t already done so, any owner/CEO worth their salt would be intervening and escalating a quick contingency plan for ushering Arsene out at the end of the season. I honestly cannot see how the club can present AW surviving into next season.
So many nonsensical things I saw on the pitch last night. Agree with TTG about Mustafi. He isn’t a centre-half. He’s too small, too impetuous, continually gets caught out of position, frequently leaves Hector exposed, and he’s got a kamikaze air about him which is the complete opposite of what a good centre-half should be.
Xhaka still leaves me underwhelmed. He’s a good footballer and has a nice left foot, but he isn’t great defensively, he lacks dynamism and he can’t tackle to save his life. Weirdly, when we play Ozil, we almost have two of the same type of player with him and Xhaka (aggression aside): very left-footed players who are good passers but are ever so slow in their build-up play, can’t really penetrate or get past people. As for Ozil, I am desperate for us to move him on in the summer. I’ve enjoyed having him at Arsenal, but we’re not going to win the Premier League with him as our #10. He doesn’t have the will of personality or arrogant desire you want in your prestige playmaker, and the juvenile sight of him and Alexis passing to each other for much of the night (even when other players were better positioned) was embarrassing.
Completely agree with Chris about the farce of selection at centre-forward. Welbeck isn’t a top class CF – he looks hopeless with his back to goal. He’s much better using his pace and link-up skills from a wider position. Likewise, Alexis is wasted out left. All he’s left to do is cut inside or to scoop crosses into the box against heavily-packed defences. I often think I’m missing something that AW must be seeing in training, but I’m growing more and more convinced that after 21 years in charge, AW has run out of ideas and simply can’t “see” things anymore. He doesn’t know how to rotate/manage/select/install fear in modern millionaire squads, and he can no longer coach teams to the finer detail that the modern, tactical, technocrat managers all do.
Good posts Gus and Gregoire. I’m confining myself to this bar. At least we have people with a sense of proportion here. But it still hurts . Thanks for a haven of sanity ( and passion) Holic?
Gregoire, I must say that I feel a little sorry for Mustafi for two reasons.
1. He’s woefully out of form and has been since he returned early from that hamstring in December. His performance at Bournemouth was one of the worst I’ve seen from an Arsenal centre-back. He should have been taken out of the firing line a long time ago and it isn’t his fault that he hasn’t been.
2. He’s basically playing as both a tucked-in right-back and a centre-back because Bellerin is posted so high up the right flank. He’s frequently exposed because he has too much of the pitch to cover.
That said, some of his tackles have been very lucky not to have resulted in red cards.
“I think the weaknesses of Arsenal have been defensive, because they leave Mustafi and Gabriel really exposed, Monreal and Bellerin play like wingers, they come inside with the centre forward, and the defenders are just left on their own.” Allardyce last night. Probably the most embarrassing post match comment ever made after a football match by a victorious manager. Embarassing for us, not him. Exactly what everybody has been saying for years, from dogs in the street, fans in the stadium to, yes, all those evil keyboard warriors. A failed footballing philosophy. It certainly isn’t Stan’s fault if we play with two at the back now is it ? Anybody ? I wonder how a/ Steve Bould feels listening to Big Sam and b/ How poor Bouldy will ever get a job again in football. COYG, our Gooners, not Wenger’s.
Thanks Scgooner I was just about to ask if anyone watched Big Sam’s post match interview where he gave his analysis of our tactics and talked about how he countered it. I recommend others to watch it and note how simple and straightforward he makes it seem and anyone watching the game last night would realise that he’s done his homework. Begs the question of why Wenger and all his coaches haven’t been able to see this themselves despite spending so much time with this team. You can’t put these tactical and technical failings on Gazidis or Kroenke or the board.
This might get long but I hope it’s worthwhile.
I have thought for years that Arsene Wenger should go and have never bought into the “greatest manager we’ve ever had” myth either, because at heart we have been a very weak and complacent club under him. Even when we were successful, we had this habit of cruising through (we played a little bit with the handbrake on) and I don’t think even his best teams, stacked with world class players, achieved anything near as much as they should have done.
Because the manager lacks two vital things in his own personal makeup.
Wenger has always relied on his players to organise themselves and sort out problems. He’s admitted as much in interviews over the years. This works when you have a Tony Adams in your squad, who can see things falling apart around him and does the manager’s job for him and gets hold of the dressing room to tell them it just isn’t fucking good enough.
It works when you have big personalities to carry that side of the job for you. Thierry Henry, Vieira, Lehmann, Campbell, Keown, Dixon, Winterburn.
It shows the flaws and weaknesses in your ability as a manager when you no longer have that in your dressing room. It becomes glaringly obvious, even to the most loyal Wengerite, that leadership isn’t a quality this manager has in him. That he’s not actually a very good technical coach either.
His own weakness shows itself in this current squad in the following ways.
Goalkeepers. Why has our best goalkeeper not been playing in THE prestige competition? Why is our best goalkeeper only considered for league matches? Wenger has never thought goalkeeper is a vital position and that is muddled thinking from a football point of view, with his inability to pick a number one a weakness of personality. Bob Wilson – a Wenger man through and through – has always been of the opinion that Wenger doesn’t think the goalkeeper is important. It’s crazy to think way for a supposedly great, modern, coach.
Hector Bellerin. Young Hector is being fed to the wolves by his own manager. Many on this board have been of the opinion that Hector is unfit, I personally think/thought his head had been turned by Barcelona but … if he is unfit his manager is playing him and putting him through the grinder to the point where we have a very young player bearing the brunt of fan abuse. Again for me this very weak by the manager.
Wenger likes to chant nonsense to himself about stats and red zones and all that stuff that makes him look like he’s a highly technical coach with his finger on the pulse, but you do not need stats and red zones to tell you that Hector Bellerin is fucked and should be out of the side. This is rank failure of management yet again.
I can’t be fucked to go on with this actually because there so much to go into, from tactical ineptitude to substitutions that are by the book, with weak tossers like Ozil* immune from being subbed whilst others are guaranteed to get the hook. Indulging players like him and Ramsey and Giroud is weak as well but I’m not going to bother.
He should just have the guts to go (but lacks them)
* I can accept players playing badly, what I cannot accept is players not trying, and last night was it for me with him. Losing the ball and almost walking after the player he’s given it to repeatedly is not on. Players like Welbeck and Walcott might not have played well but they at least tried to. He didn’t. Sanchez was awful, he looked interested in trying to be better than that but couldn’t do it. Ozil? Well he’s the ultimate comfort zone player and it’s time he was dug out.
I think that’s a good post Cynic and you’re asking the fair questions about his legacy, issues we would have given him the benefit of the doubt about over the last 12 years if he’d only had the decency to manage a proper transition over the last 5 years and not just try to continually save his own a*s. Very, very sad. He never enjoyed working with the strong leaders and personalities in his first ten years (most of whom were inherited) and when leaders and personalities emerge, grow and evolve, he disposes of them. It’s a quite massive personality defect in the man.
Oh dear, Sky… when you’re doing an analysis of Arsene Wenger’s record at Arsenal you really shouldn’t include the Charity Shield as a trophy. It’s a pre-season friendly.
So he didn’t win eleven trophies in his first ten years, he won seven and he didn’t win four in his next ten, he won two.
If you want to be a silly arse about trophies and numbers…
In his 20 years at Arsenal he has won one title more than in the previous 20 years for the club and he may have won four more FA Cups than in the previous 20 years, but we also have two league cups and a European trophy in the bank before he rocked up.
So for all the hundreds of millions spent on players and wages (both his and player wages) in his 20 years, we are …. two cups better.
Woo and yay
Well done, Holic !
Gus Caesar @47. – very nicely summed up. And again @51.
First of a few days off for me. Too tired to waste any more of it on the fiasco developing before us.
There is no need for any more words than Walcott had the nerve to utter in abject defeat last night –
“They wanted it more than us. You could sense that from the first whistle”.
That was your Captain speaking. Please pass me the sick bag now.
“It’s all about a response”, he said.
It was. About two and a half months ago, Sonny.
Your pointless words on endless play and repeat are an insult to those of us paying a fortune to cheer you on every week.
Our greatest manager is locked in a time warp – convinced that the present bunch of players has the nous and substance to recreate the feats of his early years. They don’t. They are not schooled in how to defend. They cannot maintain any shape in defence or attack. They randomly pass the ball around in the vain hope that opponents will become mesmerised by their skill and outdated reputation. They don’t.
We have an owner and a board who should have the ambition and passion for the club to drive it to succeed. They don’t.
The only benchmark of success for them is the size of the cash balance at the bank. They will not be getting any more of mine to add to it.
Thank you, Mr Kroenke.
I can only hope to develop an indifference to match your own as I spectate from afar.
Cynic,
Have to read yours a bit later.
It’s not worth it, Trev.
And whoever the captain was yesterday would have been unable to say anything after that defeat that had any meaning, so it’s unfair to slate Theo for what he said in my view. I actually thought he was very honest and pretty damning with what he said and he was far more honest than his manager
Take a break, Cynic 🙂
Gus Ceasar@48: If you’re getting up a party, plenty from this bar ready to join you. An Easter weekend of country pubs and forgetting football sounds a grand plan.
I have said this many a time, the board should take the ultimate blame for this mess. Arsene Wenger is extremely powerful at the club but end of the day he is accountable for his actions. He does not deserve a contract and should not be offered one. His greatness or ineptness can be interpreted by everyone their wish but for me he is our finest of the modern era. The board should come out now and say, thank you Arsene but it is over. Also, he should be given no roles at the club than a life long season ticket. Again, nothing to do with him, just that he has done his time here and he should be done.
The players are a farce. Except Alexis, albeit selfish, no one deserves to play in the 11; maybe kos. We have a bunch of weaklings who do not want to be touched, cant tackle for their life and have no understanding of playing for The Arsenal. We rather play the kids than have these crap representing us.
We are done this season. We will finish around 8th and no we cannot win the FA cup barring divine intervention. This season has been a disgrace and if no one is still held accountable for it, then it is farcical.
Vinay,
He may not have been great but I wouldn’t fault Nacho for his performance yesterday. Both iur fullbacks are doubled up on all the time because opposing managers and players know that our wingers do not get back to help.
TTG,
Nice post above. I do have a certain anount of sympathy for Mustafi. Yes, his tackling is rash. He does, however, have a bit of speed about him and I like the fact he tries to get tight quickly onto opposing forwards.
He may well have looked like a headless chicken but I think I probably would in his position as well, with a fullback who is often far too far upfield and little or no protection from his central midfielders.
How many times is he – and Koscielny on the other wing – forced to be slide tackling opponents on the touchline cos there is no-one else there.
How much better would he look playing alongside a Lee Dixon with a Gilberto Silva in front ?
His long passing is, however, of a Calvin Klein standard.
Cynic,
It started off interesting – shame you gave up on it. I think we were sharing a few thoughts on past and present players there.
It does all get to feel a bit pointless in the end though, innit ?
Just get upset all over again and for what ? No-one is listening ……
Sanogo and Santi are out of contract at the end of this season. Macey, the Corporal, the BFG, Ozil, Gibbs, Alexis, the Ox and Ramsey have contracts running to end of next season; Debuchy, Theo, Ospina, Gabriel, Welbeck, Cech, Montreal and Ollie G to end-June 2019; and Perez, Elneny, Kos, Iwobi and Holding to the end of the 2019-20 season, So it is going to have to be fire sale prices to clear out any or all of those.
Make of this what you will but all Mustafi’s World Cup appearances for the World Cup holders (selections that do suggest he has some talent) have been at right back.
We would easily find buyers for all of those and not many would go on the cheap IMO. They may feel cheap, if we sold someone like Xhaka for his true value (as an example) because we massively overpaid for him in the first place.
The British players would probably only interest English clubs, which works to our advantage because English clubs have no brains when it comes to buying British players generally.
The older players like Mert and Cech can be let go on frees.
Why did we sign Perez on such a long deal for a big transfer fee when the manager doesn’t want him and never has? Question for the day.
Dybala is some striker. He is tearing Barca a new one. We don’t attract players of that quality and that probably is due to Wenger as Dybala was linked with a move to us but Juventus moved quickly to tie him up.
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