Not Again!
Jan 12th, 2011 by 'holic
One nil to the Worzels. I’m starting to take this personally!
Sorry, but tonight of all nights I have to make a little light of this game. At the end of the day we are one down at half-time and should still come out on top, but we are most certainly doing it the hard way.
It would also be wrong of me not to salute the better side tonight. I know most Arsenal blogs will focus on our lack of a performance, and our very apparent attitude problems tonight. Yet for every Arsenal negative there was an Ipswich positive. We don’t beat smaller clubs without first matching their work rate, organisation, and determination. Then we can make our technical superiority count. That didn’t happen tonight. The tractor boys played better, and worked harder in every aspect of the game. Well played.
From an Arsenal perspective the second-leg now becomes far harder than it should have been. It is a fair bet that if the big clubs had their way this semi-final would be a single tie rather than a two-legged affair. Now this big club will have to play the strongest available side to turn around the mess they find themselves in at a time when five matches have to be squeezed into seventeen days. But thank goodness it is a two-legged affair and we have that little problem to solve. If only the transfer window were open and we could address our clear shortages. What? It is? Oh!
That is a little knee-jerk, I know. Herbert Chapman liked a bit of knee-jerk now and again, and he knew a thing or two about the game. In 1933 his Arsenal were embarking on the first of three consecutive title triumphs, but lost a third round FA Cup tie at Walsall, regarded for so long the biggest shock in FA Cup history. Chapman sold the player he held responsible, one Tommy Black. No names, no pack drill, but I can think of a couple of modern day Tommy Black’s who could be subjected to similar treatment by the big man, I reckon. Tonight may be Arsene’s Walsall, and success may yet follow. Don’t lose sight of that.
Anyway, I’ll leave the real wailing and gnashing of teeth to others who seem to enjoy it far more than I. We could be in a far worse situation than one down with ninety minutes to go. I’m more concerned now that we get the likes of Sagna, Clichy, van Persie and Nasri back to plunder three vital Premiership points from West Ham, and let the likes of Eboue and Arshavin find their form in a reserve team that seems to need a bit of strengthening after shipping ten goals to Villa’s kids.
We should still be celebrating a Carling Cup Final appearance in a couple of weeks, but don’t take the outcome of either the second-leg or the potential Final for granted. I’m sure the real Arsenal will turn up for those. Tonight though they have deservedly been taught a harsh lesson. Well played you bastard yokels!
No Hammers Preview
Apologies in advance. I make the trip back to the South West on Thursday to say a final farewell to ‘holicdad on Friday. Obviously that will make a preview of Saturday’s game impossible. I will try to post the ‘holic pound once I have heard the injury news on Saturday morning. I know how much the serious punters like to avoid my gut feel. You’ll be sorry!
177 Responses to “Not Again!”
Cheers ‘holic
Get some malt in. I drink to forget!
Some reinforcements in defense for me please, ‘Holic. No… Oh well, I’ll take a Guinness then.
Sagna still suspended for West Ham I think, Eboue to continue to frustrate at RB. JD on ice please!
All the best for Friday too. Well in Iollie.
I would like to cut and paste my response after the Wigan loss last season.
Sagna’s banned on Saturday.
Long live Eboue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good call Jonners. Fuck, that means Eboue again.
Not good.
Saddest part is that , I used to previously blame Wenger for not taking these games seriously – but he looks to be really serious about it this time around.
But unfortunately looks like the players cannot be arsed – to play for their shirt.
WTF was that from Eboue,Fabregas, Bendtner,Theo etc.
Only persons I cannot think of blaming are JD, Kos, Arshavin (yes, he was at least shooting FFS) and Gibbs.
Id hate to even start talking about the rest.
I cannot believe Eboue has been given a bigger and fatter contract. What has he done to deserve it ?
Did you see Keown on Al Jazeera?
Do you mean Johann Djourou on ice, Jonners?
Doesn’t Sagna face a ban in Europe too? So it will be Eboue against Barca too.
Definitely need it to be alcoholic after that shower of shit so no Pooner, it may need to be a triple too!
Francis Coquelin can play RB , iSnail, if we can pull him back early.. better option than Eboue imo.
Don’t go there iSnail, don’t go there. I’d rather play without a right back
Snail. You are making me very sad š
Let’s look on the bright side, ……….. nope can’t think of one. Bugger
That was awful. AWFUL. All credit to Ipswich, but this was unbelievably bad from our boys. I was going to write a long piece about everything that we did wrong but that would only wind me up even more. We don’t seem to learn anything at all from losing to supposedly inferior teams – we just repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Will we turn this around? Well let me just say I am FAR from convinced we will.
Goodnight everybody, see you tomorrow.
Sorry chaps, but I don’t make the rules.
Don’t think you can blame LJW for tonight. He relies on movement ahead of him and around him to make his passing work and there just wasn’t any.
Spot on Holic
Yet again we made a Championship club look good!
I’d rather AW try a different formation altogether against BarƧa than have Eboue go against Villa.
On tonight’s game: there’s one thing that never fails to astound me: how can this team show so little desire when most of the players have t haven won fuck all during their time at the club?
Is Arsene too nice with them? Do they not fear the hairdryer treatment from him?
Win a trophy and THEN you may appear to be less hungry, not before.
If only I had time for more booze…unfortunately, I have to wake up in 4 hours.
Well come on Arsenal anyway. Come the fuck on Arsenal!!
Read your great post – then noticed the 0 drinks. Whiskey with a drop of ice, please, ‘holic.
I think I should cut and paste what I wrote about the Leeds game.
Recently, it seems that if the pitch isn’t like a bowling green and the opposition keep their shape, then Arsenal seem to struggle.
Are the squad physically exhausted, despite Arsene rotating the squad?
Denilson, Eboue, Arshavin and Bendtner …. mediocre
Cesc seemed not to be sharp today … maybe a lack of movement in front of him.
At least Liverpool have now lost to Blackpool twice ….
A pint of cheap vodka please.
@sajit
cant believe you backed AA. he was dreadful,
along with eboue, bendtner (utter disgrace who should never play for us again) wiltshire hardly found a man. fabrecas? well, jeez what a crap performance.
our best players were the c/b’s ffs. i have never seen a collective so spiritless. surely the penny has dropped for wenger now. if anyone says IAWT i will shoot them
we have won 2 of the last 7. this is not a one off. has anyone thought that perhaps the days we play well, are the days we excell, and that the plain ordinary performances are the real face of this team. i dont think i can watch the barca games
Jez, agree about the usual suspects, but did you not think Cesc and Jack poor tonight as well? I’m aware it is unusual for them, but don’t we need to acknowledge all who didn’t do it for their manager tonight?
stan, are you Sarah Palin’s speech writer?
Cesc looked like he was carrying an injury.
Jack was ok but I think the lack of movement around him and the slow tempo of passing was a factor.
We play well when the front three switch positions and pull the defence out of shape. That didn’t happen tonight.
Brillant blog once again! Thank god for this blog, arseblog and gunnerblog…all the rest are vile!
It seems when we play the 2nd team we just aren’t up to it…shakhtar away, brags away, Ipswich away (all lost)…Wigan away, Leeds home (draws). I know tonight was a stronger lineup because cesc played but some home truths must be hitting somewhere. The sooner bendter, eboue are moved on the better…eboue walking to get the ball near the touchline in the 1st 30 seconds summed it up really!
Thank god nasri will be back on Saturday!! I’m sure Leeds would have got a fair bit of confidence out of that game.
C’mon the arse! Coopers green please!
Sajit you must have been watching a different game to me. Giving props to two centre backs caught square time and again by punts upfield, with a lone striker to handle? They were hopeless all night.
Not an unfair point R. If I look I think I will find something I wrote in pre-season about Koscielny looking good with the ball in front of him, but terrifying if it was behind him. I haven’t changed my view.
Where do you start. It was poor from start to finish, and we were hustled out of it by a team that were first to the ball. Defensively we were beyond poor and I thought Szczesny was left exposed. Fabregas showed a surprising reluctance to shoot, Bendtner was apalling, Arshavin was missing as usual and only Walcott looked a threat. Things only improved after the introduction of Song, and only AW knows what difference bringing on Vela was likely to make.
So we are in the market for a centre back are we? My belief is that AW will hold on to see how Sqillaci`s hammy progresses before moving for anybody, by which time the cupboard might be bare. I read in my paper that as Sol wasn`t getting games at the toon, we might me interested – I hope not. Of course Matty Upson is another possibility, who also wouldn`t be my choice. What we don`t want is to have a situation where, for instance, Djourou gets a knock and we have to move Song back to cover.
It seems that opposition teams are starting to find it fairly easy to play against us.
We have the ball and pass it sideways and backwards whilst they all retreat to the 18 yard line and wait for the attack. As soon as one of our players tries to get through the wall of players 2 or 3 of them surround our player and cause another backwards/sideways pass or we lose possession and the ball is cleared upfield to their one attacker, who proceeds to attack us and maybe gets a corner, brings a save from our keeper or on one occasion scores a goal (well taken btw).
We started well enough, lively and bright and put together a few half decent moves, then we seemed to shrink back into our shells and never really got out of them again. It is essential that players without the ball move into space or at least move around in order to create space for team mates who can then receive the ball. So many times our players seem to stand and wait for a pass – easy to defend.
There were some bright spots; JD and Kos are getting better (notwithstanding a mistake or two), Gibbo continues to work hard and make progress, Chesney looks sound in goal but too many of our players looked uncomfortable with the roles they had to play/disinterested or were downright mediocre.
I find it difficult to understand, I watched Norwich City tear Ipswich apart a few weeks ago and our team of players tonight are a far better side than Norwich. Is it a lack of confidence? I doubt it. Is it a lack of desire? Possibly. Is it complacence or hubris? Quite possibly. Maybe they are just too comfortable, what with Arsene always talking them up and saying how good they are, perhaps they believe it too much and think that to win games against ‘Inferior Opposition’ all they have to do is jog out onto the pitch and the opposition will just roll over (especially bearing in mind the result involving Chelsea last weekend). The importance of the work ethic can never be overstated and the basics shouldn’t be forgotten – tackling, closing down, movement, pressurizing the player with the ball and so on, like we did against Chelsea the other week; and perhaps most important of all, never underestimate the opposition.
Anyway enough of that, if I really new a lot about football I’d be a top manager earning a darn site more than I ever did whilst I was at work and I feel confident that we will do enough at the Emirates to get to the final, but we have made it very hard for ourselves and first we have an important game against West Ham. It is just a little bit worrying to me that some of our players look to be more than a little bit short of what is required.
Sorry for the length of this post and that it is less positive than usual.
How does one even begin to describe the horror show that was tonight’s game. I can’t name a single Arsenal player that was not absolutely awful and some were so bad that it really beggars belief. We’ve been slipping towards these sort of performances for some time now and I can’t see things getting any better under Wenger and I write this as one of his biggest supporters. For me, the ONLY thing that really matters is whether a player is doing it on the pitch and Eboue, Bendtner, Denilson and Arshavin, though not e only guilty ones, were and have been indescribably bad for simply ages. Giving Eboue a new contract is total and absolute madness. What has he done to deserve it? There simply must be dozens of available right backs who are better than him. His constant cheating and feigning injuries are irritating enough but on top of that he is an awful footballer. I can count the amount of decent games that Denilson has had for Arsenal on the fingers of one hand and if ever a player looked like he wanted to be somewhere else then it is Arshavin. And for me the tragedy of all of this is that we all know it ain’t going to improve. Wenger will stick with these guys and mouth platitudes about lack of spark, mental strength and all the rest of the usual stuff when what is called for is action, decisive and real-world action. The transfer window is open and Arsenal have some money. But, I am living in clod cuckoo land aren’t I? Nothing is gonna happen is it? Perhaps Upson might arrive (oh joy) and everything will be ok until he gets injured in the first week.
Evening ‘Holic and ‘Holics,
Happy belated birthday, boss and much love as you embark on your solemn journey.
Many of you will not want to hear this, but we can not and should not expect much from this team because it is immature. I don’t know whether Wenger has spoiled them or whether we fans have spoiled them, and I don’t know if the proper remedies will be applied. For several years now, and all this season, we have generally played to our competition. We play down to the teams who are our “inferiors” and raise our level of play on bigger stages (not always to right effect, however).
As a young ‘un, my high school football coach played our junior varsity team against our rivals starters because we “superior” starters had been fucking of in practice and scrimmages. We were trounced and the coach took a lot of criticism, but we won 28 straight after that…
In handsight, perhaps Wenger should have made all the “starters” watch our academy boys get it handed to them on this first leg?
‘Holic
Yet another terrific write-up with the vital ingredient of humour still in place, how do you do it?
Yes, beaten again by those pesky, bastard worzelese speaking yokels. This is definitely personal :-).
Fair play to them, they played like they wanted it much more than us and as you say they were full of fight and discipline. How many times has that beeen written about Arsenal’s opponents this season by the way?
Anyway, looking forward to next week when we have a great opportunity to finally vanquish those tractor driving demons and to take Aunt Sally up The Arse… so to speak.
Norfolk
Some fair points, you/we have every right to feel less positve than usual this evening.
Would a drink help to numb the pain?
I have just got in from Portman Road. My journey involved trains and cars. The one positive I can take from the evening is that I have beer in the fridge. I can not think of anything else. Quite frankly I am getting really pissed off with some of these twats.
Where do I start? Well, for me to make the journey to start with I have to take half a days leave. Cars, trains etc and I get to the ground. Sorry, just found my 2nd positive. The little tea hut sells Adnams.
The away support was again tremendous. Vocal and fully committed as always. Sadly, those who had travelled in their thousands, nearly 5000 according to the Ipswich PA system were treated to nothing more than a total shambles. That has to be about as embarrassed I have been in ages leaving an Arsenal game. We were shocking, Our passing was dreadful, we had no ideas and created very little. The stats that I have just seen say we had 79% of the play but only managed 5 shots on target. How the fuck does that happen? Honestly, I ask you?. I must admit that quite simply I am bored stiff with the excuses. None of them are valid. Not one.
Same old mistakes for me. Lack of players who can grab a game by the throat. No leaders. Width? How many more times do I have to say it? A midfield packed with quarterbacks and not a winger amongst them. We therefore play very narrow. Stop me if I have mentioned these points a million times before?
Eboue, Den, Cesc, Bendtner, Arshavin, Theo all dreadful. The rest were only semi dreadful. Theo, what is the point on playing wide right and trying to cut in all the time on your weaker left foot? If you want to do that then play on the left and let Arshavin play on the right. Just one of many criticisms.
Individual performances were dreadful all over the park. We looked dreadful at the back. Shaky and very unsure. The midfield created nothing. I think most seemed to forget that we were in yellow.Up front there was little or no service. Really really poor. If I thought it was a one off I would be half inclined to put it down to a bad day at the office. Unfortunately there have been far too many bad days at the office for me to make this remotely acceptable. But as long as we have Ā£56 million in the bank keeping warm then I guess we should all be happy????? We all have faith in what we have seen tonight. All of those that managed to escape the games against Newcastle, Spuds, WBA, Sunderland, West Ham, Wigan, Leeds, Braga, Shakhtar etc etc. I could throw a few in from the end of last season but that would be sheer gluttony on my part.
The ultimate insult came for me at the final whistle. With the exception of Theo and Eboue everyone else just fucked off down the tunnel. That infuriates me more than anything. The lack of respect shown by certain players after a performance like that beggars belief. I find it incredibly insulting and lacks class. Someone needs to get hold of some of these multi million pound superstars and remind them of how those of us in the real world live. Everyone who has taken the opportunity this season to bemoan the fans both home and away please take note. I will get the raging arse with anyone who tells me as a fan that I have certain responsibilities towards the team and making them play. If this lot can not come over and acknowledge the crowd after shite like that then they can get fucked.
We should still qualify and all the smart money will be on us winning the beer cup. Whoopee do. I must confess it does not fill me with massive joy or optimism I must say. But do not let this mask the abject shite we were served up this evening. It is sadly all to frequent and in my very humble opinion completely unacceptable.
The biggest barrel of beer you have available holic. I bloody need it.
The statement below was taken directly from The Arsenal web site.
“Arsenal has established a long-term strategy for identifying the best talent from around the world.”
“This process has worked well in the past with players such as Carlos Vela.”
Am I the only one slightly alarmed?????
lonestar gooner
“Many of you will not want to hear this, but we can not and should not expect much from this team because it is immature”. maybe emotionally but i for one am fed up of everyone banging on about “we have a young team, when we mature….” i have said before we need perspective. we beat (with hindsight a very poor) chelsea and we are worldbeaters, best young team in the world (how ever one defines that). we are not. we have a good side that play attractive football but also tolerate too many pretty boys who would not get a look in under mourinho, ferguson for two. we score first and we are great. we don’t and we have no plan B
if we would rather have wenger than jm or af, then that’s fine, but stop complaining when his flaws are borne out by a team that has the nous to counteract us and won’t let us play as we want. i would cut TW, NB, MC, AA, BS and GC. oh an denilson. they all love the glory and the flag waving “we are going to do this or that” but actually don’t want to work for it or realise what a privilege it is to wear that famous shirt. i won’t go into centrebacks – they have other issues.
rvp cesc jack and sn, and possibly song, you could mould a team around. but not sure aw knows or has the will to do it. elephant in the room, boys, elephant in the room
The root of our problem is that we are an attacking team that can’t score goals at the moment. Time and time again we come up against so-called lesser teams that put nine men and a goalkeeper behind the ball. We have to work doubly hard to get attackers behind those defences so balls can be played through to them. Everyone has to run to pull defenders out of position and open up the gaps. We didn’t do that against Ipswich. We looked enervated. They were up for it tonight. We weren’t — and this was a cup semi-final.
Still, 90 mins to put things right.
A glass of your finest claret, if you would, ‘holic, to toast the better days you see ahead.
@north bank ned.
not sure what you mean by put nine men behind the ball – every team defends form the front these days, even barca. i assume you mean park the bus ? well leeds certainly didn’t and neither did ipswich much (and who could blame them if they did after a 7-0 tonking at w/e). united didn’t (admittedly at old trafford) and neither did newcastle or west brom at the ems. only city really did that i can recall. ans all “top teams” face this these days.
the issue is that when we don’t get a breakthrough there is no plan B. they know we almost certainly won’t shoot from outside 12 (maybe 6) yards so need to get men out of the box. and cesc (some days samir) apart no-one seems to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and make it happen like drogba, essien, rooney, nani, etc.
I’m too depressed to drink, ‘holic. How about a liter of Stoli for the diminutive Andre (it might pep him up– or, failing that, stun him into a spasm– something being better than nothing) some aquavit splashed and lit on fire on top of the insufferable and inanimate NB528 and some intravenous Lafitte for Arsene to give him the courage to make some serious upgrades. Put it all on my tab.
Great post considering the circumstances and top comment from Norfolk Dumpling@35.
Steve T: that barrel is on me. Please keep pouring bartender!
The contrast between the Worzels’ attitude and ours was the most painful for me. They may not be technical wizards but they were simply superb off the ball, really aggressive in the good sense and very well organized.
On the other hand we were individually and collectively devoid of any intent. Whether some players are sulking because they don’t play enough or aren’t motivated against minnows is hard to say but besides the back 3 and Woj everyone else looked like they didn’t want to be here. We are blessed with fewer injuries than past seasons and as a result we have a bigger roster of available players who don’t seem to grasp what internal competition is about. Arsene has a certainly a tough job managing all these egos but I don’t think the way he rotates the team is the most efficient, it looks like his rotation policy with massive changes which amount to establishing a hierarchy with a “lower” B-team is draining their will to live out of the B-players. Even Bendtner (admittedly still recovering from a long spell on the sidelines) looks like he’s lost his legendary self-belief. Eboue is back to his worst and Arshavin sinks deeper in the abyss. Even Cesc looked like he did not want to be there.
Time for a clockwork orange-like treatment perhaps? Or a more balanced rotation policy…
West ham can’t come soon enough..And Barca…Oh well..How can I even muster some hope against those C*nts?
Anything that contains alcohol, please.
our first 11 is a good side,but after that it’s very very ordinary,bendtner,denilson,eboue,arshavin,rosicky,diaby,squillachi, flappy just NOt good enough.new experienced players must be brought in in the summer as it’s too late for this season as there is not much out there of top quality to bring in before end of the month. experience is the key word here,waiting on young hopefuls to come good is just not good enough for a club of Arsenals stature and the manager has to look at this and admit the ones he was hoping would turn out top class players have failed him bigtime.we are in with a chance to win this league with our first 11 only because the rest that are in with a shout are very average also.
Gaz, of the 8 players you say are not good enough only 4 of them were playing last night.
I see that Arsene has blamed fatigue but how can Bendtner,Denilson, Eboue, Chesney and Gibbs, who have hardly played at all recently and Koscielny, Fabregas and Wilshere who have had some time off be fatigued? I know the modern game is fast and furious but I still don’t understand this ‘fatigue’.
Recent policy seems to be not so much rotation as wholesale team changes, perhaps this is part of the problem. It must be psychologically difficult for players like Denilson, for example, who have been almost a fixture in the side in the recent past to fine themselves relegated to second or third choice. I am not making excuses for them but I think it may be a factor, and if the manager can’t sort this out with the players concerned then he will either have to review his methods or move the players out.
They may be a young team in terms of age but most of them have at least two years PL experience now and should know and understand what is required of them, so we can no longer fall back on this excuse and if they don’t know and understand they should be moved on.
It seems to me that the players are just too comfortable and overconfident or complacent and that perhaps the manager is too close to them and some distance might be beneficial. I don’t know what goes on at the club and in training of course and I have no credentials to tell the manager how to do his job, but that does seem to me to be a possibility.
Too late for this season? Maybe you’re confusing us with Liverpool. Also I love the attitude that when we’re shit, we’re shit, but when we’re doing well, it’s because everyone around us is shit.
Anyway very poor last night, bewilderingly so and we’re lucky in both domestic cups we have another 90 minutes to turn things around. By the end of the month we might well be in a final, a last 16 and still in the title race, in which case this sort of stuff will be quickly forgotten. On the other hand by the end of the month we might just have the European Cup left (stop laughing now everyone), it’s anyone’s guess what will happen with this team. I’m going to save getting pissed off until we’re definitely screwed anyway, it’s less effort than doing it on a twice weekly basis at the moment.
There’s at least four games left this month (hopefully five if we can beat Leeds), just have to try and win them all. And a draw between Man Utd and Spurs on Sunday as well please!
I agree with Matt in regards to the very strange rotation policy. I was thinking about this as I tried to fall asleep last night and I don’t like it one bit. Not only does it establish a “you lot are not as good as this lot so your job is to do the less fancy games, now off you go chop chop” hierarchy, constantly speaking about the need to rotate is also wrong in my opinion. It’s basic psychology – if you keep banging on about how tiring it is to play many games on the trot, guess what will happen? Yes, you will subconsciously start to go “hang on, am I not a bit tired? The boss said I would be so I must be” and as a result you will feel (sometimes much) more tired than you actually are. Just look at Chelsea when they were at their absolute best a few years ago, they hardly ever rotated. Drogba, Lampard, Terry and all those other twats played virtually every game of the season. You don’t have to go to that extreme, of course, but I feel that Wenger has taken his rotation too far.
Cup of tea, please.
Tomorrow, I will be thinking of ‘holic and not of the Arsenal.
Minewill be your finest scotch, barman!
Thanks.
@Charlie: well at least Liverpool will go down with a manager they like and from some comments it looks like some Arsenal fans would rather have us win nothing with new players.
Haven’t had a chance to read the drinks, so sorry if I repeat what others have said.
My tuppence worth;
1. Credit to Ipswich. Can see why there is hype about Wickham
2. Caveat; I love this team and will support them through thick and thin.
HOWEVER – they are a fantastically talented bunch of bottlers. They are not winners. And won’t be until something fundamentally changes in their mental approach. It hurts to say this (really really hurts) but compare and contrast to this YOUNG Manure team. They have less individual talent, but they really do know how to win. Attitude is everything.
We have a chance to go top of the league – Bottled. We have a chance to win Champions League group – Bottled. We have an “easy” cup semi-final – Bottled.
I’ll have a soothing pint please (f#ck the detox) whilst I settle down to read the drinks.
Hej Lars
Some very interesting observations. Way too much psychcology going on in and around the team.
We have 11 players as an easily identifiable first team, rotate them when there is a clear need (i.e. injury), get them hungry and up-for-it at every game, score goals, keep the focus, defend, keep the focus and try 100% to beat any opposition set before us. How hard can it be? Really? It’s not rocket science.
Strangely, feeling more disappointed this morning than last night. Sleeping on it has not helped one bit.
I love my club, always will but I wonder which Arsenal will turn up on Saturday? And then next week? Who knows? I don’t think even Arsene knows….
Drinks of any description for anyone in our fine bar this morning please Barman.
It’s time to lift the spirits and think of positive things. We’re still in with a shout in 4 competitions. What an incredible season it’s been so far.
Matt
its not a question if win nothing with new players. new players (the right ones of course) will increase our chance of winning something. and to be fair to Gaz, i don’t think he was saying its too late to win anything, just that we have to do with what we have got. as he says it ay be god enough, given not a greta league this year but it also may well not be. any changes will have to wait for summer, given what may be available now and how long it will take them to integrate.
i have thought about this a lot and the problem it seems to me that there is no core to the team and hasn’t been since the invincibles. We have some very good players and one. maybe 3 vgood even great players but if you pick a team, who MUST be in it ? really only cesc. maybe SN. when teh other sides face us do they think “an arsenal team without chamakh , or arshavin or rosicky or wlacott or…gosh, that’s strange” i doubt it
you look at the top sides and they have a core, often that is also the spine , keeper, centre defence, midfield and forward. they play mist if not every game and you can rotate 6-7 around them. cesc is fantatsic but even he is not that sort of personaliity.
we think we are better than united or even chelsea . but if we face united we know they will will have vds, vidic, ferdinand, scholes. rooney. ass in nani and evra and the rest can move in or out. doesn’t matter that much as they are all strong – we may not rate park for example but he knows his role and what the core will do and fits in. same for chelsea, cech, terry, essien lampard, drogba. their support maybe not as strong but they all know what those 5 will do and most matches 1 or more step up big time. in fact looking at this the main reason why unites are not out of sight already is that they don’t have the keane,scholes at his peak. they are still hard to beat as the table shows. if anderson develops and /or they buy a bale or modric, then they are set for a while.
you could even go to city (hart., kt, yt, silva, tevez) or even the spuds (gomes, modric, van derv, bale although that core is a bit lopsided)
now who do we have ? as i say cesc but actually we would all have a view on the rest of the team. bs will be in most teams but i see him more as support type player. rvp possibly but gets injured a lot. so changing the team changes the balance because while most/all are talented they all have their own idea of what to do and all want to showboat a bot with the beautiful game while few/none do the fundamentals. and when cesc isn’t up for it or is injured who steps up ? SN often but he is also not a driving force. in summary we have too many that do the same thing and usually not well enough to paper over the tactical deficiencies.
what is strange is that AW understood this once – inherited a team with it and built another. so were the invincibles the anomaly or the last 5 years ?
Dr C
Trying hard to lift the spirits this morning. Just read you post. Sadly, I have to agree with everything. Maybe a win against WHUFC will help with the perspective.
Barman? Another pint and a packet of (low fat) crisps for Dr C and I’ll join him please. Detox is for winners š
The Worzels?
It gets even better! Hahahahahaha!
“We donāt beat smaller clubs without first matching their work rate, organisation, and determination”
Holic is there some way you could get the message to some of the lads before every game until it sinks in?
Holic@8 – What was that you said earlier about knee jerk? Lol!
Hey guys did anyone notice Cesc didn’t play well yesterday? He played the way he normally does whilst he’s nursing a Hammy strain. I hope I’m just looking into things too much!
By the way Ipswich have never lost a home Carling Cup Tie statistically the best we could have hoped for yesterday was a draw….and statically we should whip their Gummidge butts back at the grove!
Good luck with tomorrow Holic and you’ll be in my thoughts!
Hot cuppas all around!
TS-
My theory about Sat is that they will park the bus as they need to get themselves out of the relegation zone. Theyāll play for a point and try to hit us on the counter
With one goal in three games, it looks like the goals are drying up on our part. I hope the lads don’t get psychologically constrained.
As I predicted, teams are going to try to Citeh us as much as necessary, until we break the whodoo. Letās hope it starts this Saturday V the Hamsters.
My tip B52 to get a Hat-trick on Sat!
???????
You know whose fault it is?
Pat Rice. That’s who.
We need a good cop / bad cop routine. We have a good cop /silent cop situation going on.
Wenger needs a counterbalance to his paternalism with this bunch – someone to rip them a new arsehole when they perform like a bunch of pussies. It’s obvious Wenger isn’t able or willing to do this so let’s appoint a bastard to replace silent Pat.
Excuse my intemperate language Holic and Holics but I am still hacked off.
I’ll have a Grouse š
Yeah but why are certain players in the squad not playing well?
Is it because they are not getting enough games or is it because they do not want to play as squad members?
It could be a bit of both in some cases
Hey guys hereās another…
…did Arshavin sack Dennis Latcher (his agent) shortly after joining Arsenal?
If that is the case, how is it that there are quotes going around in certain sources that certain clubs are interested in signing Arshavin?
Like Wenger once said, “I want to sign Lionel Messi, it doesn’t mean I’m going to get him”
Aaaah! Dear!
…yeah, sorry quotes by Latcher!
Gt,
Yes, we certainly need to start finding the back of the net. When we score in the first half, the confidence always seems to spread quickly throughout the side and we begin to purr. Unfortunately, it doesn’t guarantee us a win (LWCs) but it appears that we need to go back to the basics – again!
Zico,
Like it ;-). Well Silent Bob (PR) is rumoured to be off at the end of the year. We could certainly do with some fresh eyes and a bit of new blood to bolster De Management. Someone with a decent hairdryer wouldn’t go amiss at times. I’ll join you in a lunchtime snifter if I may.
TS-
Yeah we were doing okay trying not to go one goal down as we seemed to find it difficult lately to overcome, much not scoring at all!
Z&TS – Didn’t AW say he reckons Silent Bob would stay?
What about Titi? I don’t think he’s done his badges yet come to think.
But yeah a Phillips Hairdryer would be a good start!
True Storey and i don’t know anymore: strange as it may sound at first, I agree with you both. We DO have an easily identifiable starting eleven bar maybe one or two positions, but we also lack a core or at least don’t have a strong enough one.
I think we can all agree as things stand now that with all players fit we would probably start like this:
Fab/Szczesny (don’t really matter who)
Sagna-Djourou-Vermalen-Clichy
Song
Wilshere-Cesc
Walcott-RvP-Nasri
You could perhaps argue that an in-form Arsjavin should play at the expense of Walcott, but that is not the important issue here. We could have the basis of a very strong core in the central defenders, Cesc, RvP and Nasri – but we don’t because they are all injured too often or, as of late, rotated in a strange way.
Goonertown: I didn’t think of that last night, but now that you mentioned it you may well be right. He looked exactly like he does when playing through an injury. I sure hope that is wrong and that he just had a stinker of a night.
Lars @#66,
Spot on, that’s my preferred team but with Kos at CB this season as we have no idea when Vermy will be back.
Minus Vermy, that’s the team that spanked Chelski at home and B’Ham away.
Boddies?
Gt @ #65
It’s a long time in football between now and the end of the season for all of us š
Boddies? Yes, please!
Lars –
Yeah Cesc having a stinker is 10 times better than Cesc injured!
TS@68-
I know we must do something about those buses and Citeh copy cats, soon as!
TS and Lars – That is def the team as we know it!
Bastard yokels? That is a classic.
Excellent entry on Arseblog today. I Second, third, fourth and zillionth everything he said there. Arsene has got to motivate this bunch better, even if it means putting the fear of God (or the hairdryer) in their hearts.
Barman, one bottle of Jameson’s when you’re ready.
RVP –
It’s not in his nature
RvP, can only agree. Arseblog is painfully spot on.
RVP –
It’s true but a leopard never changes his spots
Why not? He did it at Anfield not so long ago and we all remember how well it worked. Kids need that from time to time.
I remember reading a Rooney interview last season, don’t remember which game it was, but he had made a Gerrard-esque backpass that allowed the opposition to take the lead. He went on to score a hat-trick and that was the beginning of his great season last year. When asked about his performance that day, he said that he was simply scared shitless of his manager’s reaction had they gone one and lost the game because of him.
“Scared” of the manager’s reaction..
I have never heard any Arsenal player say that, and Henry knows the number of unacceptable performances we had this season already (West Brom, Spuds, Shakhtar, Braga, Wigan etc).
We are not doing badly at all all things considered, but maybe that motivation can be the difference between champions and also-rans.
But hey, what do I know?
lars
my point is that how many of those would an opposition care whether they played or not ? “oh good sagna’s not playing ?” unlikley. cesc yes, prob samir and TV and possibly rvp. the rest. not a hance. and cesc and samir and fvp are not essien/terry/drogba/rooney/vidic/keane characters that will drag a team over the line
RVP –
Totally agreed. Anfield was supposed to be the turning point. He should keep it going!
i don’t know anymore@77
RVP def is a finish line man and Cesc did for Spain!
But the best left-back of 07/08 is no push over either and should if he is not, be a concern to most left sided wingers, as he is on you 98% of the time. That is why when he lets one slip we are all like ooooooooh Saggy?
Essien is not as good as he once was, so I think we should be looking at Song as being as good a DM as it gets right now!
Cu’mon guys let’s not crush individuals. We are a team. As much as Holic and Arseblog spoke frankly about our shitty performance yesterday (there I said it), they didn’t start name dropping!
…Oh and Samir the 2010 french footballer of the year? After being left out of the French squad?
Lol! Give me a break?
im surprised you are so cheerful in your review. im still too angry to write anything more.
Hey Guys-
I’m assuming this is Fabregas’s own words…
…some may agree and some may disagree!
…I’m going to agree with our Captain!
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-23913770-ipswich-only-beat-arsenal-by-playing-rugby-says-cesc-fabregas.do?
No sooner than me saying Park the bus and Copy Cat Citeh teams- this drops on to my desk!
http://www.teamtalk.com/ipswich-town/6661106/Delaney-Town-will-park-the-bus?
Thanks Delaney. I hope the bus breaks down!
goonertown
i ahve respect for your opinions and the way that you express them but please. tell me you are not saying that song is as good as essien. essien is a beats – you would go to war with him. like vieira keane and so on.the issue is not whether he is playing as well as a diminished essien, the point is that he doesn’t scare anyone. neither he or rvp are going to change a match by the force of their personality. when was tke last they did that ?
lets not talking about destroying chelsea – that was a piss poor side as previous results indicated and subsequent ones showed.
i find the cesc interview in your 82 quote staggeringly arrogant, if indeed that is what he said, why is it only cesc p”lays football.” actuall cesc they were not playing rugby. that enables the use of the hands for one. they were playing football. it may not be a style that he wants to play (each to their own) but it is still football. why does he (or should we have the monopoly or even sole right) to “football”/ its bullshit and a large part of the mindset problem that we have. if i was aw i would say to cesc and the team “earn the right to play – why are you letting a team like that dictate to you ?”. stop whinging and do something about it. when did you last hear chelsea or united say “but they wouldn’t let us play football” . they just scrap foi everything they get and when they are ion top they play football. take their games against us in past 3-4 years. they wait for us to blow ourselves out and then stiff us . with great skill – why, because they sit back and wait for us do we think it is any less skillful ? if we scored the goal rooney scored on the break against us at the ems a year ago, we would be purring about it fora very long time. its about knowing how to win
for example i thought the inter team that won the ch league last year was a fabulous side. they were all i would want from a side when they beat chelsea and stuffed barca in the first leg, very strong and powerful yet skilful. barca’s bleating was much like our own. in fact i would unequivocally say i would rather watch them than barca.
how much football do you think vieira and petit and keown and campbell played in the invincibles ? hint . not very much. but by god they were good players who knew how to contain a team and allow others to play.
i have commented on parking the bus before. every time united or chelsea or barca or madrid play they face this, do we think we are unique . and ipswich are >35 place below us. lets say they park the bus. what do we expect ? maybe we need a new driver to move the bus on.
god it makes me so angry that all our team does is repeat the same thing.
i don’t know anymore@84 –
How are you my good arguing buddy. Nice to speak to you again!
Essien is not the same Animal he once was. Look at his performances this season. He’s been injured too many times in the past. Song and Frimpong are the new beasts of the premiere league. They are still building their reputations, but like Essien that will come. However Essien is still living more on reputation rather than in person. Once teams play the Chavs and get a positive result they walk away saying, “what was Essien doing?”
Song on the other hand is getting plaudits from pundits and critics alike for his performances week in week out. However, I will concede that he is still a work in progress. But one which shouldn’t be slept upon!
Out of all the players you mentioned who are playing at the moment, only Vidic can hold his head up at the moment. The others are either behind us on the league table, out of the beer cup or both!
Stats don’t lie!
RVP is a commanding player in the current squad! I don’t want to go too far, but trust me, if he thinks you’re not playing well you will sit on the bench. That’s all I’m saying!
I hear what you’re saying about Cescs comments and I see where you’re coming from and that’s why I still say the leagues in the UK are the most competitive, where you can thrash Chelsea one week and get rolled over by Ipswich the next (week or two).
Hopefully Song can help us steamroll the Bus in two weeks
Cu’mon you miiiiighty Reeeds!
Got to say I completely disagree with Cesc this time. Like IDKAM says – sort it out and earn the right to play.
Famous rugby story of Josh Lewsey (pretty boy back)on his England debut whinging to his big scary captain Martin Johnson at half time about some Aussie punching / kicking him. “so, what do you want ME to do about it? You sort it out.” was his response…
There’s no point Parker giving it all this big chat now and then they go and then go and park the 58 bus in fron of us come Saturday!
My guess is they will try to park the 58 for a point and hit us on the counter for 3!
The Swineās!
http://www.westham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=228143
Catalan – Cesc probably has the bruises to prove it!
Of course they will come back to The Grove and park the bus and try to hit us on the counter.
They will let us play the ball out defence put 10 men behind the ball and if we won’t find a way to their goal we will be out of this competition.
I have nothing positive to say sadly and I agree with Steve T this was unacceptable and please let’s stop all those excuses.
Why is it always us using exuses? Fatige, pitch, rugby tactics, ref and many others. Why can’t Wenger just say this was shambles and say his players weren’t good enough! I sure we would get a good reaction from them, a proper mental reaction for that matter.
They think they can beat Chelski once and they are (Invincibles), easy come easy go I suppose for most of them.
GT@88. I’m sure he does. Also pretty sure he knows how to take care of himself. Ipswich were not dirty at all. IMO
If I read you correctly, ‘Holic, my sympathies for your father. As for the Ipswich match, forgive the Wengerism but “I didn’t see it.” A snowstorm in New Jersey prevented me from getting on the bus and joining the New York Gooners at the Blind Pig and watching, as Arseblogger put it, that monster’s abortion of a match. Denilson’s gotta go, and I’m thisclose to saying Arshavin should do the same.
The author of Another Arsenal Blog thinks Ipswich “cheated” by slowing down the game, and there’s been discussion that Ipswich’s goal was offside, but even if those things are true, the performance apparently given by the XI that Wenger put out was pathetic and Ipswich were more deserving of a win. That sound you may hear could be Bobby Robson chuckling from the ultimate skybox.
Uncle Mike: the goal was offside but that is as you say really rather irrelevant, we played like shit no matter what.
Catalan et al: regarding the rugby comment by Cesc I think you are maybe reading a little too much into that bit. He said “rugby kick” about just the long ball, and twice he said “all credit to them” or something similar. What I did NOT like, however, was him saying “let’s see how they can do that at the Emirates” because that will only serve to get them even more charged up and it sounds more than a little over-confident.
I’m still really annoyed about last night. I hate to sound so negative, but I would not bet any money at all on us getting past either of Leeds or Ipswich. Boys and girls, brace yourselves for what may well turn out to be two of the biggest fiascos we have seen for many years š
Having said that, though, if we do get past Ipswich I am almost one hundred percent sure we’ll win the final as well because getting to the final will probably be an enormous relief for the whole team. We should not forget that the pressure on the team in this semi-final is massive and obviously we have not handled that very well.
John Smiths, please.
Lars – “if we do get past Ipswich, I am almost 100% sure we’ll win the final as well”?
Really, with this team? That sort of thinking is why we are in a replay with Leeds, have lost winnable games all season, and generally is the fundamental issue that we need to sort out. The players are complacent, and as much as I would like to think otherwise, you can only trace that back to the Manager.
The performance, tempo and hunger shown against Chelsea is needed in EVERY match – that’s what winners are made of.
‘The players are complacent, and as much as I would like to think otherwise, you can only trace that back to the Manager.’
Or you can trace it back to the players, why is it necessarily the manager making the players complacent.
Hello everyone,
Like I said before, I have an extra ticket for the away section on Saturday against West Ham. I’m selling it at cost price, anyone who is interested please email me at Snir_Geuli@hotmail.com or call me at +1-336-508-8310.
Charlie @ 94 – because he indulges them in my opinion.
Ferguson would not put up with it – someone above made the point that the players are shit scared of him – I tend to agree.
Where do you think the buck stops if it is just the players that ARE complacent then?
I am not a Wenger Out type, but I do think there a number of questions that need to be answered about the current squad and his inability to eradicate some fairly elementary problems – he currently has an excuse for everything and some of them are wearing thin from where I am sitting. I think the 5000 punters who schlepped over to Portman Road deserve better.
I agree with a lot of what has been said on here. Agree with Zico at 96 above. I am still really pissed off at the football I have watched over the last week. Complacency is a big factor for me. Bored with certain players just turning up with little or no pride and just going through the motions. I am also getting increasingly frustrated with the lack of respect shown to the fans. I am still fuming that only Theo and Eboue made any attempts to show any gratitude to those of us who made the journey whilst everyone else could not get down the tunnel quick enough.
I am bored with excuses, Very bored. I Can’t remember who said it above but it has been eluded to by others. We are The Arsenal. We are all the history that that brings with it. We play in the best stadium in the country. We have some of the most loyal fans in the league. Newcastle away for instance is already sold out. It is high time that those who earn more in a week than most of us do in a year grew a pair and realised just how lucky they are to play for this great club. If they are unable to do that then please close the door on the way out.
I have always been in the AKB camp, However, my patience is starting to wear a little thin.
RVP’s right foot. re; jamesons, I asked a barmaid in pub opposite Ipswich station for a jamesons and she informed me they didn’t do that one, they only done carling, carlsberg, etc, when I told her it’s a whiskey not a lager she went to check if they had any and came back to inform me they had run out and the best whiskey they had left was courvoussier( excuse spelling, not my normal drink). And to think some people say the yokels are thick!
Holic, a pint of Stella or jamesons for all in the bar please, whichevers got the best head on it please
Glennw. They had Adnams inside the ground. The only thing about the whole trip that brought a smile to my face,
Steve T, agree, wasn’t much to smile about after that game, did wonder what they had done to the pitch, looked like they had laid the turf over corrugated iron, no wonder both teams couldn’t string two passes together, hard to believe it was voted best pitch in the country not so long ago. A local told me it went down the pan when Real Madrid nicked their groundsman.
Glenn, if you’re paying, Jameson has the best head on it š
Agree re the pitch. However with our lack of use of it we could have been playing on the beach for all it mattered.
Holic,
Best of luck for tomorrow. Hope it goes as well as these things can do. My thoughts with you and your family.
Oh, and Glenn, Real took our groundsman…
Paul Burgess. Top, top fella…
Hello Steve, and thanks…
We will have improved their pitch no end with the large anount of shit we put on it on Wednesday…….
Our thoughts with you and your family ‘holic
RIP the ‘holicdad.
Sorry to hear about your dad, ‘Holic!
Will surely have a peg of the most special in his honor.
Hope you achieve closure in a good way soon.
My thoughts are with you and your folks Holic
Keep your head up your dad would be proud!
May the Holic Dad Rest in Peace.
All the best ‘Holic.
If Cesc’s reported comments are true, and remember that he is speaking in what is still a foreign language so he may have been clumsy in what he said, to say that what he said is unfortunate is a huge understatement. Whatever the actual truth about what he said and what he meant it displays an underlying attitude and state of mind that has no place in a winning sports team/man of any kind. Provided a team plays within the laws of the game, and the officials are there to see to that, a team can use any tactics it wishes to, and when the players in a team lack talent and technical ability compared to their opposition they will play the way that Ipswich played – contain the opposition first and look to sneak a goal on the break as the ‘better’ opposition increasingly come forward looking for a goal.
We have given Ipswich credit for what they achieved on the night and in fairness to Cesc he did in the interview but to repeat what I said earlier I watched Norwich City destroy Ipswich a few weeks ago and with the exception of Henri Lansbury, who is an Arsenal loanee, I don’t think one of the Norwich players would ever make it anywhere near the Arsenal first team squad. Someone said it earlier – to beat any team first you have to at least match their work rate and then you have to play better and/or more effectively, and sometimes you need a bit of good fortune as well. On Wednesday we didn’t do either and we didn’t get the latter but it is no good complaining about that.
There seems to be something fundamentally amiss in the squad just now, the team put out last Wednesday was better player for player than either the Ipswich team or the Norwich team that beat Ipswich those few weeks ago and it is odd that our team at the moment often seems to add up to less than the sum of its parts. There is a distinct lack of ‘Fire in the Belly’ and a ‘Can Do’ attitude there is also an apparent unwillingness to do the ‘Dirty Stuff’. It all seems too cosy and comfortable at the moment with the manager often making excuses for them when he should perhaps be verbally kicking a few arses – excuse the pun. It is well known that AW hates confrontation but sometimes it is necessary to look someone in the eye and tell them that their attitude and performances are not good enough, or even that they stink. If he is unable to do this then he must appoint someone else to do it. Good cop, bad cop I think someone referred to it as above earlier.
I am very firmly in the AKB camp and his achievements at the club are astonishing; the training facilities, the new stadium, the trophies won and the financial security of the football club. I doubt any other manager in the world could have done what he has done and I don’t want to see it all fizzle out with comparatively poor performances on the pitch, so perhaps AW should think about appointing a ‘Fire and Brimstone’ assistant to do what he doesn’t seem to want to do himself before it is all too late.
It isn’t all doom and gloom by any means. All the other teams in the PL seem to be shooting themselves in the foot as much as we are and as a result we are well in touch and there is everything still to play for, but if only we hadn’t dropped those 9 points at home.
Here’s to a good performance with a good result on Saturday to get us back to winning ways and then let’s beat Ipswich to get us into the final.
My posts are getting to be far too long, sorry!
Norfolk Dumpling – good post. My preferred assistant? Martin Keown. Then let’s see anyone trying shirk!
Steve T @ 108 – heh! Genius comment.
Pint anyone?
Catalan, Norfolk and all the Holic family
Greetings!
I saw another quote regarding Cescās comments.
In the Metro the headline is:
“We have to tackle ‘rugby’ teams”
the quote goes as follows:
“I don’t know it if it is long ball or it is a rugby kick but it worked for them…
…In England a lot of teams play like that and it works for them, they create chances and it is their football…
…we put the ball on the floor and try to play football, that is what we do”
Okay now as I said yesterday. I agree with our Captain and I trust him. Whatever is means, either way he is telling the truth. That above all is all I expect.
Yesterday’s misleading headline is an example of how easy it is for a quote to be taken in the wrong context. Even if Cesc claims the tackles against himself and the Squad resembled Rugby (which do not seem likely based upon the quotes above and Cescās character as a person from what I’ve seem of him over the last 7 years), then if he can back up his statement with facts, then who are we to question his opinion?
We all have opinions and that what makes us all great individuals within our own rights!
Aaaah! Green tea please Barman
Lars@92 –
Don’t take this the wrong way but Ipswich in comparison to the Arsenal side which walked out on to the pitch are admirers who were star struck! However once they settled they played well.
We fell for the complacency trick again!
I agree with Cesc. When Ipswich do come to the Emirates they will remember why they had so much respect for us to begin, as we did down at their place and they earned a goal. Wow!
At our place, if we have any North London Pride left in our bodies by then, we’ll show them what is good!
Up the Gooonneeeers!
Holic, sorry left bar before you asked if I was paying, yes I’ll buy a bottle for the bar so any visitors today can raise a glass in memory of your dad and you can have a dram when you need one. My thoughts are with you today.
Catalan: Keown? Sounds like a good idea. It can’t be a coincidence either that while he was at the club as a defensive coach we set a record (that still stands) for the longest consecutive clean sheet in the CL and we only conceded 31 goals in the league despite playing with a makeshift back four for most of the season. Sol was constantly in and out of the team due to injuries, Ass Hole was out for most of the season as was Clichy etc. I remember we even played a young Seb Larsson as left-back once.
Norfolk: a very good post and by no means too long.
zicoinexile@96 –
I totally agree.
I feel the issue may be that, the previous squads were very mature and experienced and were able to deal with Wenger, understand him very effectivley and Vice Vera.
With all due respect, Wenger has a lot of post- Adolescence to manage at the moment and if for the first time in his career, as well as juggling his own job.
The squad are of the highest Calibre in the country at their age and I am sure they try 200% to meet the managers needs. (see: Wilshire@twitter). But we are all human and I feel some are more naturally more prone to mistakes than others. Getting the balance right is a two way thing regarding the squad and the management team.
We all signed up for this project and I hope we al still support it. However I feel that what we are experiencing is what happens in a project like ours: Just ask Sir Alex Ferguson what he won in his first four years as Man United Manager. How he was facing the sack within his first year and how it took him six years to win his first league title with Utd. Everyone criticised his youth policy and it was Hansen, oh Hansen who said āyou do not win anything with Kidsā, during SAFās great youth invasion. Then low and behold, he was left eating his own excrement (surprise surprise)
Mistakes are going to happen guys. Granted we cannot keep making the same mistakes. Every player will tell you that when you play for Arsenal you have to win. Whichever one does not tell you that is either on his way out or no longer with us.
Every past player will tell you that Wenge is an unassuming character, however he knows exactly what he wants and knows how to let you know, before the game, during half time and after the match. At every press conference Wenger protects his squad but at the sma etime will not be belittled by anyone including the players.
SAF may shout at the kids, but didn’t Rooneh come out the other day and say that the club lacked ambition?
Wasn’t it Gerard Pique who said that nobody in the squad at United can actually understands a word SAF says?
Who knows? What do I know?
Onwards and upwards I say!
Up the Goooooneeersss!
(Starting with West Ham)
Holic-
I have put a tab behind the bar today for all Holics today in memory of your great father!
Here’s to Hoilc and Holic dad!
Cheers!!
GT.
My main problem with Cesc’s quotes was where he said; “they were lucky to score with a long ball” (you make your own luck) and “It is a bit disappointing because I think we were the much better team.” (deluded bullshit, IMO).
The rugby bit has got the headlines, but of course he was just talking about a couple of long balls, not tackles, so no problem with that from me.
A pint for GT, one for Lars as he’s in the bar, and a toast to HolicDad.
And a good luck pint to Snir for tomorrow’s adventure.
Norfolk @ 113 – nice one, I agree.
Wenger needs to reign in the excuses though even if he doesnt like confrontation he should just state that “we weren’t good enough” and leave it at that. To claim that we were “tired” on Wednesday due to the number of games played was pathetic. Arseblogger yesterday put that one well into touch.
Anyway, keep up the long posts š
“Put that one well into touch” – with apologies to Cesc Fabregas š
Holic –
Steve T –
I am in agreement with you about the players showing respect to the fans. it was Theo who said his wish was that the players showed the supporters, mainly the away supporters more appreciation after each game, win or lose.
However apparently some of the supporters booed Arshavin last Saturday – Unacceptable!
My guess is that the disappointment and embarrassment can overcome some of the players. At the same time a lot of the players may also feel intimidated by any adverse response from SOME supporters!
However I noticed it on Wednesday and not for the first time and it is something that the players and supporters need to sort out between us!
It is for the good of the club and everyone involved!
Up the Gooooners!
heh, Zico @ 124! Seems Cesc has been caught up in the media scrum.
Catalan – Thanks buddy!
I still feel Cesc was right. We were, are, always have been and always will be the better team!
Did we play like the better team or get the result we deserved becasue we are the better team?
Over to you Cesc!
Okay guys I’ve found the official quote from the website at least.
Make of it what you will!
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/fabregas-direct-style-worked-for-ipswich
I meant at last
More offical news!
It looks like our lads have been responsible!
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-will-not-ban-players-using-twitter
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/-we-are-confident-we-can-do-it-at-emirates-
Morning ‘Holic & ‘Holics
‘Holic, my thoughts are with you and your family today and for the following few as well. Similar memories are still fresh in my mind. Hopefully “Good Arsenal” will turn up over the next few games and provide a pleasant distraction from the personal grief.
I’d also like to put a large bottle a decent singe malt behind the bar for any regulars here today and raise a glass to The ‘Holicdad and better days both on and off the field.
Cheers all.
Dr. C
Keown would be a superb foil to Wenger. Then it would be fatherly cop and I’ll kick the crap out of you if you don’t perform cop. It could be a great double act.
I think the big man needs some help with this group of players. I suspect managing them is a little bit like herding cats.
TS –
herding cats? Lol!
Hi Gooners.
Chin up!
A few observations and one rant from a Town fan.
We had a game plan, we played a 4-3-3 with Kennedy sitting in front of the back four and unusually Wickham up front on the left.
You started strongly but once our defence got the measure of you and Wickham and O’Dea sealed up our left hand side with Edwards and Peters doing the same on our right you were mostly forced down the middle. This fell right into the Triumvirate of Norris-Kennedy-Healy and they had a field day.
So what of Arsenal, I was shocked that after half an hour we were the team looking the more likely to score and no Arsenal player had yet played in a killer pass or decent cross. Surely international standard players have the capability to think up something different. But no I was wrong, they didn’t. Fabregas looked good in patches, Wickham and Wiltshere almost (strange to say this) out of their depth!!! As for Arshavin I can see why my gooner mates don’t rate him, Peters let him out of his back pocket once.
Your goalie btw should have gone, he handled outside the area, what Atkinson making a mistake never!!! (btw we have a bad record with him as well)
By now the Rugby had changed, the ref missed loads, none of the throw ins were straight, Cescs drop goal from five yards didn’t bounce first and Ipswich played a couple of Gary Owens ( or up and under as Eddie Waring called them) There were three, one Priskin fluffed, one he scored from and one Edwards failed to capitalise on. But a Rugby match with no scrums and only one bit of handling outside the area is not Rugby.
Alan Ferguson, the groundsman who FIFA use to train other groundsman and ok all World Cup pitches (as well as turning down the Wembley job) had ensured that our tractors had ploughed the pitch as deep as possible, furrows of at least a nanometre in depth were evident all over the pitch. The crop of turnips was just starting to poke through. Thankfully the Ipswich Penalty areas were allowed a rest for most of the match.
Does Cesc not know how to lose gracefully without making ludicrous and deeply ignorant comments.
But most of all where was the fight, the desire, the power, my mate rightly called the Arsenal team lightweight. Compare and contrast with my team, I gave them all 10 on TWTD the first time ever I have considered doing that. I hope they have an 11.
I look forward to the game at the Emirates when we may have closer to our first team out and I suspect you may have different faces in your team. Will we park the bus? that will be up to Paul Jewell, we didn’t on Wednesday and I can see no reason we should do so then.
Hi Tim –
Your view point is greatly appreciated from a Gooners perspective!
When Song arrived on to the pitch the weight suddenly got heavier!
What more does Cesc have to say to sound graceful as well as give a fair criticism about the opposition as you have done?
if you choose to park the bus it’s up to you! If you guys feel it’s going to work it will be down to us to work our way around it!
Before I forget Priskin played well!
What are you drinking?
..good luck with Jewell too
Coffee and Lemsip until this evening then a couple of 8 real ales.
Any good real ale pubs near Emirates that are away fan friendly, Chelsea had the marvellous Sloaney Pony (White Horse Parsons Green)?
I am torn between wanting you to hammer Wet Spam and not so because of what that may do for your confidence.
Tim Regester: actually, the keeper handling the ball outside the area is, contrary to popular belief, not a red-card offense in itself. It is only a red card if it denies an obvious goal-scoring opportunity which was not the case here so it could never have been more than a yellow. And quite frankly, I think the ref was right not to call that one because there were no players anywhere near Szczesny and he did not gain any advantage from it. He may have handled the ball just oustide the area but had he taken just half a step backwards he would have been inside.
Pints all round and let’s lift them in honour of the ‘Holicdad.
You’ve got it!
Szhezzy’s foot was on the line!
An arm outside the line does not seem to count!
It was that close that not even the ref could call it!
Bottoms up lads
Cu’mon you rip roaring!
Maybe we should look to tomorrow’s game now, it’s a very winnable one (unfortunately it’s also a very drawable and very loseable one, like all our games really) and we really do need that victory. Not least because a win makes this a no-lose weekend with Man Utd or Spurs (or preferably both) guaranteed to drop points. Time to try and put this week behind us!
@ Goonertown why is it unacceptable to boo players? The fans who choose to boo pay the same money as you do and because you dont agree with it dose’nt make it wrong,free speech and all that me aul flower.I personally dont boo players adn was at the game when Eboue had his nightmare v Wigan a few years back and i did’nt boo him but i 100% understood why those that did booed him,it was their choice.As often on this blog views that dont conform to the regulars on here are looked upon with distain,the regulars here take the moral high ground and dismiss anyone with a different view,this attitude smacks of pure arrogance and why Le Grove will always outdo it for hits,cheers CHUMPS!!!
Hello Tim and congrats on a great result, you are in the lead at ‘half time’. Lars is right btw, deliberate handball is a booking not necessarily a sending off.
Catalan – I to would like to see the beast that is Martin K at the club again. I wonder why he left the coaching position before, does anyone know?
Gaz – the irony was intentional I presume? You criticise people who disagree with one point of view, and then insult all those who disagree with your view as “chumps”. Brilliant satire.
Charlie @ #142, I’ll raise a glass to that, well said! Per an earlier posting, let’s hope that “good Arsenal” turn up on Saturday. I have a feeling that WHUFC will suffer the reaction from our awful display against The B Worzels.
Some info for all ‘Holics that I picked up this morning from my gob-doctor who is, shall we say, well connected within the ranks of the LWCs. After the usual banter (VERY dangerous before a dentist starts his work) I gleaned that there is serious support at board level for the move to the site of the Olympic stadium – you’ve probably seen the stories in the press this morning. The fans are generally against the move but the commercial incentives on offer inc. the sponshorship/naming rights means that it has v.strong support from on-high. Imagine the improvement in air quality along The Seven Sisters Road? North London could be ours alone soon ‘Holics. Now there’s a thought that should raise the spirits.
Good question Norfolk @ #144. I’d be v.interested to know the answer to that one too.
Realistically though, the chances of Keown working alongside Wenger are………?
Gaz champions Le Groan? I’m astonished.
Is it ok to boo fellow posters?
Boo, Gaz.
Gaz, not sure about whether it is “unacceptable” to boo players but it certainly is counter-productive.
Don’t agree?
Boo, Zico!
@ zico boo all you like my friend,it is your right,as i said earlier free speech and all that.
@ zico the point i am making is that all fans are not the same,different people do different things,as different blogs have different agendas, if we were all of the same mind life would be very boring,so opinions are never 100% right or 100% wrong,they are opinions,open to debate. we all want Arsenal to do well,that (i hope) is the 1 thing we ALL have in common.
Gaz (god knows why I’m trying to reason with you though), the reason why certain people here get their views treated with disdain is because they mistake constructive criticism of the team and players for a chance to make inconherent rants stuffed full of hyperbole (anyone who uses the term ‘lost the plot’ is asking to be ignored), as well as the fact that some people are rather conspicuous for popping up after bad results only. Lots of regulars here have criticised the manager and players, but they do it in a measured fashion, that’s the difference. And if you think Le Grove is so much better, don’t let the door hit you in the arse on the way out.
As for booing your own players, it’s just not on. Yes you have the freedom to do it, and I have the freedom to think you’re a pillock if you do so.
Boo Charlie, you voice of reason, you. š
Gaz,
Sorry mate.
I thought the meaning of supporter was to be an enthusiast or a devotee!
If you do not want to supprt the player do not attend the game. Like wise if the player does not want to play for the team…
@ charlie ‘As for booing your own players,it’s just not on.Yes you have the freedom to do it,and i have the freedom to think you’re a pillock if you do so.’ That is EXACTLY the point i was making to Goonertown, because he says it’s unacceptable,which i take it he means he’s right and thats it,that my friend is not freedom of speech.And as for your comment (god knows why im trying to reason with you though) again that is EXACTLY the arrogant ‘im above him’ attitude taken here.I read many blogs and i will continue to read many blogs,so the door wont be hitting my arse on the way out as i will continue to read this blog as is MY right,and i will continue to read Le Grove as is MY right.Maybe you should take a look at it too as many different opinions surface there and people who dont agree with the writers of the blog are not looked upon in an arrogant manner as you seem to look upon people who dont agree with you.
my old mate goonertown. i can tell the weekend is here because you are losing focus. re 120
some selective memory going on here. he has post adolescence issues because he chooses it that way.
what does “highest calibre in cpuntry at their age” mean ? you make it sound like a good thing is there even another team that is so imbalanced ? i have previously posted that a) the united team that tonked us a year ago was only 6 months on average older than us and b) next year conceivably they will be close to our age on average (depends who plays but assuming vds is replaced by late 20s scholes neville and giggs by early/mid 20s as ferguson does not buy old any more). and of that line up many are stars AND WINNERS already (nani, anderson, rooney, evans, smalling, rafael (what a player that boy is going to be. i read that we nearly signed the twins but their mum (damn ) told them to go to united) ferguson isn’t letting the grass grow up there – he is moving on to the next team/ what makes us think that being good and young now is worth anything ?
ferguson took over a club that hasn’t won a league for 22 years and had a dressing room of alcoholics. he won the fa cup and cup winners cup in his first 4 years. yes sit took him six years to win the league (although they should have won it in 5) but we and scousers both very dominant . his youth project was successful in the first year ! hansen made that comment in august 2005 and they won the league (double in fact) in may 06. but how did he do that – he still had schmeichel, bruce. pallister, keane, cantona. now that is a spine. arsene’s project , by comparison is built on sand. i know you rate song, but 2 months ago this blog was baying for his blood. he will need a more than a couple of good games. winners do it week in week out relentlessly. who do we have like that ?
i don’t want to always big up united but i have so much respect for ferguson and how he has gone about the footballing side there. look at how many teams he has created and taken apart and created again. what he has now mastered is the overlap and that is why he has dragged a couple of more years out of vds, giggs and scholes.as as we sit here waiting for our dawn, lets not pretend he isn’t ready for us. the difference is he is pragmatic
I presume you mean 1995 and 1996, not 2005 and 2006.
I see little point in comparing Wenger to Ferguson – Ferguson is of course an excellent manager but he’s the last of a kind, the likes of which we won’t see again (which new manager will ever be given 5-6 years to start getting success these days) and comparing a manager to him is a bit like complaining that a footballer isn’t as good as Maradona or Pele. We’ve had success over the last 20 years or so that would have seemed crazy back in the mid-80s – so we’re (comparatively) not as successful as Man Utd have been? Who the hell is?
charlie. good catch. i am not comparing ferguson to wenger as such but pointing out what i see as flaws in goonertown’s logic. also making the more general comment that while we wait for flowers to bloom and assume future is ours, it ain’t necessarily so. in couple of years, nani anderson and rafale will be experienced heads an dhow much stronger will they be having won 2/3 4 titles already ?
and actually if we screw upin carling and don’t win anything else this will be 6 years for arsene. so why should he be treated differently just because he was successful once ? where is he logic in that ?
i don’t know anymore@155 –
Lol! Good to hear you’re back my friend. If you are right I stand corrected. But I thought it took SAF four year to win something, as in upon his 4th year. But I could be wrong, as you say it is the weekend and there is an important game tomorrow evening.
I don’t buy all of that stuff about United’s current team being head and shoulders above ours. They have a couple of good players but not many who will walk in to any team! We have a better starting XI at present than they do man for man!
But like myself my friend the weekend must also be upon you, as I do not recall schmeichel, bruce. pallister, keane, cantona playing for united in 2006! (Yardy yardy yah!)
I too respect the most successful Football manager in Premiere league history and admire his achievements before and whilst at United, but I respect Wenger more! Sorry!
My point was that SAF is also human and has struggled as much as our Wenger!
I love and respect both Managers and all Holics!
Bottoms up!
Safe travels on such a sad occasion ‘holic. I haven’t had a chance to get on the site and express my sympathy and sorrow for you at the loss of your Father, until now. All the very best and take care.
Carolyn
x
Thank you Carolyn, and all of you. Back to normal tomorrow, I hope.
Off to the airport. This is gonna be one hell of an adventure.
Cheers Catalan, serve yourself a drink of your choice on me.
Up the Arse!
@ Goonerholic RESPECT to you & your family
Gaz, we’ve had our fallings out because we haven’t met. I’ll ‘fess up that’s wrong. I’ll bet we hope for the same things for this club, but in different ways.
Cheers geezer.
Snir, have a great day. Take care though.
Cheers mate.
Time to Hammer Hard
Arsenal fansā heads are ringing harder than the Bow Bells being hammered by sledges of steel. Two games in a row against teams from the Championship, and nothing to show for it, but a home draw and the prospect of two more tough games to come, as the quest for the Beer Cup and the pursuit of Old Big Ears continues. No doubt Arsenal will prevail, but the pathway to shiny Cup silverware is more treacherous than a golden night out for the Pirates of the Caribbean in Crocodile Cove nearby Shark Bay.
Sandwiched in between these tough cup twins, like a sliver of steely stainless, is tomorrowās trundle eastwards for our annual visit to the quaint riverside village of Westhamma. The Premier League title is the chalice that Arsenal craves above all others this season. A win tomorrow is a must. Any lurch of the team charabanc off the beaten track to successful away wins, will surely put that whole shebang in the ditch for another year; put the young team (and the champagne) on ice for one more season, provide an opportunity for maturation for another twelve months of mental strength and an extended period of character building with the handbrake in neutral and the team bus parked in the garage for maintenance and improvement.
The descendants of the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, the one-time Thames Ironside FC are currently lurking lower than whale shit under the astute leadership of Some Motherās Do Avram. Despite their lowly order and apparent inability to beat anything in shorts, I Grant you thereās no doubt that West Ham will already have their irons in the fire for Arsenal tomorrow. They can be expected to be white hot up front, claret and blue in the middle and shining green at the back.
This is no cast-iron certainty for the Gunners and Arsenal will have to be on their mettle to avoid being lead like ore to the smelter and sent home in billets of black. Theyāll need to don their Iron Man suits and be prepared for lift off from the first whistle, to a higher orbit of foot-balling prowess than theyāve been able to demonstrate in the past couple of games, against lowly lads from Leeds and Tractor Land. If Arsenal canāt hammer hard on the anvil for ninety minutes and forge a victory, the danger that the Hammers will steel the points is written clearly in iron all over the stealy gray sky.
A last-gasp Alex Song belter was the difference between these teams in the home match this season. West Ham came then for a draw, hoping to nick the points on a breakaway and came close to fulfilling these goals. Theyāre likely to be more ambitious tomorrow, emboldened perhaps by watching lower league tiddlers belittle the mighty Arsenal.
Weāve only got one Song and heās a solid steel cert to start tomorrow with Cesc and Wilshere in the midfield. Sczezny in goal for the injured Fabi, with Eboue, Djourou, Kos and Clichy square across the back in front of him, should be enough to thwart West Hamās misfiring front line.
Nasri has demonstrated his mastery of the metallurgical arts, turning base metal into gold nuggets in the opposition net on several occasions already this season. I expect him to flow like white hot, moulten metal, on wings of mercury tomorrow. Heāll be the game winner supported by Chamakh and Van Persie up front. Impact substitutions of Walcott and rotation of Bendy and Gibbs for Chamakh and Clichy to provide game time, and rest weary muscles, would be my prescription.
The BtM crystal ball has lost some of its crystalline sheen over the past two games. Itās flickering AWAY WIN like a broken neon sign on the shop front of the Hammer Away CafĆ© on the A13 by-pass. There are three irons on the red side of fire glowing within, but none where the flame burns claret and blue.
Zola! There it is. Three nil to the Gunners with Nasri, RvP and Cesc inflicting the damage, and you can stake your family fortune on that (if you wish ā any dissatisfied customers should lodge official claims for recompense with āHolic @ Gonnerholicā!!)
Enjoy it Holics. Iām on the wrong side of the pond so Iāll see the game through a plasma lens tomorrow. Iām just back from a week in Motown so I hope your day is Supremes, that Arsenal stay among the Four Tops and that we donāt need Miracles to keep us in the hunt when the final whistle sounds to the refrain of “Move On Up”.
goonertown
charlie wisely picked up on the fact that it should have been 95 and 96. the point is you need a spine /base/core of strong characters. where are ours ? its not about who has the best players its about the gell as a team.
there is a lot of somewhat empty rhetoric we have the best this and that about i posted before after the united match i think what would the combined team be. imo its not pretty
all back 5 united (yes i think rafael ahead of sagna, no contest for other 4 spots). cesc anderson, song/fletcher/carrick (50:50, you need someone to break play up and while song offers more going forward he is not as disciplined, and not as good a passer as carrick. ia m assuming scholes is too old/injured as he would walk in otherwise, as would giggs) rooney, rvp, nani. before i get 100 apoplectic responses who do you disagree with and why. cases can only really be made for samir , sagna. so why do we think we are better man for man?
Haven’t had a chance to get involved over the last week for a variety of reasons, but what a week. I thought November ended ages ago.
However,
Steve T @ 40, Catalan @ 54, agree with every word, both of you.
Arshavin – totally disinterested, moaning about tax rates from day 1, now, I hear, complaining that training is too hard. Poor love. Might as well sell him now if any club is interested. After a brilliant arrival at the club, his efforts have degenerated into a series of utterly predictable failed backheels. Awful.
Eboue – well. . .
Denilson – vs Leeds, lazy, failed to mark or defend, as usual. Gave away a dreadful penalty. Shortly after Leeds’ goal, as they attacked again, in his afforts to “chase” back, Denilson couldn’t even catch up with the referee. Pathetic. Even BtM hasn’t suggested a starting place for him this week. Sorry BtM, love reading your stuff, but come on, please.
Bendtner – worst of the lot. Can usually be seen running to hide behind the centre-back any time a high ball is played up to him. He then watches as the CB heads the ball clear. Just dreadful. Oh no, sorry, he’s the best striker at the club and should start every game. Now who was it that said so ? Oh yes, it was Bendtner.
Common factor with the above-mentioned fab four ? Laziness.
Nobody condemns a trier who just isn’t good enough.
Nobody will tolerate those who could be good enough, but can’t be arsed.
Before I am condemned for being negative and uncommitted – I have missed ONE home game in the last 5 years, during which time I have repeatedly sung and shouted myself hoarse, supporting and encouraging the team. I have NEVER booed. I always have, and always will love the Arsenal. I am simply pissed off with paying through the nose to watch overpaid players who don’t try.
We will lose our best players out of frustration if the shirkers are not dealt with PDQ.
So, sorry about that.
It remains only to hope that a terribly sad day went as well for you, ‘Holic, as such days ever can.
By the way, has anyone got any ideas what we can call St Totteringham’s day, once they have become the Stratford Hotspurs ?
Apparantly, their own MP – a Spud at that – is going to take them to court if they move to the Olympic Stadium and try to remain as “Tottenham”. Brilliant!
seems like our team needs up a kick up the arse like many of you have said. @i don’t know anymore
first off, none of us know. from your post at 166 it seems like you have a real thing for those Man U players. (Rafael over Sagna?) maybe you should switch teams. Yes our past two or three games have been pretty low quality, but that comes down to a slow tempo and trying to pass through a 9 man defensive wall. I think i have watched every game this season and can only remember one or two goals coming from crosses (song to Chamakh within two minutes of the kickoff comes to mind) Our opposition has figured out that a team that possesses immense technical ability still struggles to pass through a solid, organized defense. I think we might need to add more width to our play, and throw in some crosses and hope for the best.
Bill
while i love the gooners, i try and take a detached view and admire top players whoever they play for. it does my head in to listen to one eyed supporters of any club who say “x is crap” just because he is a manc, scouser, spud, whatever. i detest liverpool but torres at his best is glorious player. same for spuds, modric, bale, vdv. etc
i embrace our team but it does not mean that i don’t recognise that some our players are not as good. mark my words rafael is going to be a big big name. he has it all going forward and is gradually learning the defensive bit (being brazilian that was probably never a priority). 2-3 years ago sagna looked the business but has gone backwards and now offers next to nothing going forward.
ok lets have your combined team. objectively
Hi all,
@Trev Agree with every word you said..Nice post
We have to hammer the hammers tonight.. No other alternative
Come on Arsenal!!
The quality of the players is not the issue.
Arshavin rescued single-handedly our season a couple of years ago. There was no luck involved in the 4 goals at Anfield.
Bendtner scored a goal a game before he got injured towards the end of last season.
Eboue was an excellent utility man last season and totally justified his inclusion in the starting XI.
Denilson marshalled the midfield for an entire season at only 20 and kept Barca’s midfield in check last season.
They all can perform at the level required to be champions. The real question is why do they do it only once in a while? And the answer is in their heads nowhere else.
They’re top sportsmen, train harder in a week than everyone in this thread in a year, I don’t buy the laziness bit, there is no way they could be where they are if they were lazy. The problem is clearly the lack of motivation, of willingness to give the extra push, the 110% in all their efforts on the pitch.
At this point I can only guess why each one of them is not performing. For Arshavin I’m at loss, he talks the talk and recognizes his own shortcomings in interviews. He did play like the Arshavin of old against Citeh. Is it his personality, does he have issues in his personal life, is he thinking he made enough dough in his life not to give a fuck unless we’re against a top team (and even then), I don’t know.
For the others it’s already more understandable. First they don’t play enough, at their age players need to play week in week out with a few breaks to be at their best and keep progressing. 20-30 games a season isn’t near enough, none of them have reached their real match fitness. Then they have been demoted to subs while figuring prominently last season. For a 23yo this is a morale killer, they’re competitors and it must be extremely hard to swallow, there is no doubt they must be ruminating it day and night, at top level this is killer for self-belief and confidence.
Eboue is Sagna’s backup now, there isn’t any room for him in midfield. This season he is playing less than half of last season and knowing his personality he gives up too easily and sulks instead of giving it all to reclaim his spot.
Bendtner had an excellent run of form in the second half of last season before he was injured for six months He barely started a handful of games, alternating positions. Like anyone else he needs to be given a run of games to reach form, the same he needed last year. Worse for him, returning from injury he found himself 4th choice behind RvP, Walcott and Chamakh. Even someone with his ego must start doubting, more so with fewer opportunities to prove his worth.
Denilson’s case is similar, after another long-term injury he went from automatic starter to subbing for an 18yo boy. His confidence his clearly shot and given the “support” he gets from the “fans” and the lack of playing time I fear it will only get worse for him.
Put any player on the bench after a good spell, add an injury on top and you’ll get the same results. Even without an injury that’s what’s happening to Chamakh too I’m afraid.
The worse part is that this morale hit is like a cancer that spreads progressively to the entire team, even Cesc was infected when exposed.
That’s why I think Arsene’s rotation policy is far from optimal. We shouldn’t have such an obvious B-team, it’s torpedoing the lot’s fighting spirit. It’s made even worse when we play A-team players out of position (in addition to making the better players ineffective). I wish Arsene would:
– drill in that every game is important by making all the players play in all kind of games instead of assigning tiers to both.
– sub earlier to balance the overall game time and spare the “fragile” ones.
– avoid to play players out of positions. Nasri has played everywhere ahead of the back 4 this season. Why not rotate him more where he perform best (at least not on the left)?
Pretty please Arsene?
As for the pound, mine goes to 4-0 at 20/1. If only I could…
Up the Arse!
A very good post, Matt. I was thinking the other day about the lack of game time for some players, and started wondering “what happened to playing with the reserves a few times after coming back from an injury”? Maybe it’s my memory being wrong, but didn’t reserve teams use to be made up of actual reserve/squad players and not 18-year old kids who have, at the most, sat on the bench once or twice for the first team as is the case today? If you want game time to get yourself up to speed, why not play with the reserves for a few games? It won’t be “real” games, but it will be games on a full-sized pitch with referees and whatnot.
Cup of tea, please.
Norning ‘Holic & ‘Holics!
Nice one (again) BtM @ #165, you’re a very fine wordsmith.
We’ve all been in the doldrums a little since the last two cup games (rightly so) and those seemingly disinterested performances from the boys.
We certainly need a cast-iron, nailed-on, work-hardened, smouldering result tonight. 3-0 would be marvellous. The same result as at The Ems would do us all just fine but I believe we’re better than 1-0 so let’s go and prove it.
Some really great posts here over the past couple of days with widely differing persepctives. Some I’ve enjoyed reading, others less so but they’re all valid opinions.
A toast to all ‘Holics and may the high standards in our bar continue. More importantly, here’s wishing ‘Holic and family a swift return to high spirits.
Cheers all!
PS: Trev @ #168, Stratford Hotspurs sounds perfect to me š Sorry but can’t can’t think of a good replacement name for St. Totteringham’s Day. St. Twitcheringham’s Day, maybe???
Matt @ 172. Excellent.
TS, cast iron it will be. Are you staking the family fortune on 3-0 to the team in red?
Matt@172 – I think you’re spot-on mate. Well said and very well put.