Apologies for not having written for a while, a new job means I've had little time.
Yesterday I was at the Emirates to see us comfortably torn apart by Manchester United, we lost 3-1 but to be fair, had we been beaten by 6 it wouldn't have flattered the visitors. Going into the game I genuinely felt we had a decent chance of winning, Utd had a more or less second string defence and if I'm honest I don't really fear Utd like I did when they had Christiano Ronaldo. The game was quite even up until the first goal went in but there was always that nagging doubt that we would collapse and that's exactly what happened. Even when the scores were level there appeared to be no sense of emergency amongst the players, the lack of desire was evident and I suppose that's what really hurts. I can forgive the boys if they gave 100% but there were clearly some players who didn't.
So why can't this current Arsenal side beat their nearest rivals? There are many reasons, mainly to do with personnel within the team.
We seem to give away goals far to easily and this is because we have an absolute liability at left back. I for one felt that a couple of seasons ago Gael Clichy was the best left back in the league, now he is a shadow of his former self and at the age he is that is very worrying. His form has been very poor for two seasons now, his defending for the first goal was bad enough but the second was of the standard I would expect to see in the playground. Yes there were men over and if he had gone to Park, he probably would have squared it to Rooney but to let him have a clear run on goal was nothing short of disgraceful. The other main problem is Denilson, a player I have constantly said that is not good enough to don the red and white of Arsenal. The Brazilian is the sort of player that wouldn't have looked out of place in a midfield with Hillier, Selly and Morrow - he's a drawback to the abysmally poor midfield we had back in the early 90s. As a result there is no protection for the back four because Song has to do the work of two midfielders, Denilson can't pass, can't shoot, can't tackle and NEVER EVER tracks back - his lack of attempt to run after Rooney for Utd's second was shambolic and we've seen that time and time again this season.
Probably the biggest problem is that we have the worst top flight goalkeeper I have ever seen, I don't blame Wenger for much but in this instance he has got it wrong - Fabianski has to start at Chelsea, he definitely won't be worse that Almunia and he can kick a ball which is already an advantage.
The fact is that we do need a striker, I still think Bendtner can do a job but we can't rely on a guy that's been out for three months. I'm really sick of all these doom and gloom fans, yesterday we got beaten by a rival, it was a poor performance but was not a reflection of our side this season. Yes we are a little short of our challengers but let's not forget we sit third in the table and in my opinion we are in a unique band of one - not quite as good as the top two but better than the top 4 wannabees. This suggests that a few tweaks to the squad in the summer could see us return as a better team next season. The transfer window is now closed so there's no point going on about we should have signed him etc. We now have to do with what we've got and going to Chelsea next week could be exactly what we need at this moment in time but one has to suggest that a defeat and a heavy one is looking all too likely.
To people who say we haven't improved as a team since last season is wrong, we were out of the title race in October!
Player ratings:
Almunia 1 - That's being kind.
Sagna 5 - Solid, everything came down Clichy's side.
Gallas 6 - Was okay, at least he tries.
Vermaelen 7 - One of the few that came out with any credit.
Clichy 3 - He has no future at the club, Gibbs will be the first choice next season.
Denilson 2 - Like Clichy his Arsenal career should be over.
Song 7 - Has to do the work of 2 midfielders, great to see him back and he tried his heart out.
Fabregas 7 - Can't do it all on his own.
Rosicky 5 - Was poor, one must conclude that 2 years out of the game is too much for any player.
Nasri 4 - Thought he would kick on this season but has been poor.
Arshavin 7 - At least he put in effort, could and should have scored a couple.
Walcott 4 - Another who has no future at the club.
Bendtner 5 - Little impact.
Eboue 6 - Better going forward than Sagna.
Yesterday I was at the Emirates to see us comfortably torn apart by Manchester United, we lost 3-1 but to be fair, had we been beaten by 6 it wouldn't have flattered the visitors. Going into the game I genuinely felt we had a decent chance of winning, Utd had a more or less second string defence and if I'm honest I don't really fear Utd like I did when they had Christiano Ronaldo. The game was quite even up until the first goal went in but there was always that nagging doubt that we would collapse and that's exactly what happened. Even when the scores were level there appeared to be no sense of emergency amongst the players, the lack of desire was evident and I suppose that's what really hurts. I can forgive the boys if they gave 100% but there were clearly some players who didn't.
So why can't this current Arsenal side beat their nearest rivals? There are many reasons, mainly to do with personnel within the team.
We seem to give away goals far to easily and this is because we have an absolute liability at left back. I for one felt that a couple of seasons ago Gael Clichy was the best left back in the league, now he is a shadow of his former self and at the age he is that is very worrying. His form has been very poor for two seasons now, his defending for the first goal was bad enough but the second was of the standard I would expect to see in the playground. Yes there were men over and if he had gone to Park, he probably would have squared it to Rooney but to let him have a clear run on goal was nothing short of disgraceful. The other main problem is Denilson, a player I have constantly said that is not good enough to don the red and white of Arsenal. The Brazilian is the sort of player that wouldn't have looked out of place in a midfield with Hillier, Selly and Morrow - he's a drawback to the abysmally poor midfield we had back in the early 90s. As a result there is no protection for the back four because Song has to do the work of two midfielders, Denilson can't pass, can't shoot, can't tackle and NEVER EVER tracks back - his lack of attempt to run after Rooney for Utd's second was shambolic and we've seen that time and time again this season.
Probably the biggest problem is that we have the worst top flight goalkeeper I have ever seen, I don't blame Wenger for much but in this instance he has got it wrong - Fabianski has to start at Chelsea, he definitely won't be worse that Almunia and he can kick a ball which is already an advantage.
The fact is that we do need a striker, I still think Bendtner can do a job but we can't rely on a guy that's been out for three months. I'm really sick of all these doom and gloom fans, yesterday we got beaten by a rival, it was a poor performance but was not a reflection of our side this season. Yes we are a little short of our challengers but let's not forget we sit third in the table and in my opinion we are in a unique band of one - not quite as good as the top two but better than the top 4 wannabees. This suggests that a few tweaks to the squad in the summer could see us return as a better team next season. The transfer window is now closed so there's no point going on about we should have signed him etc. We now have to do with what we've got and going to Chelsea next week could be exactly what we need at this moment in time but one has to suggest that a defeat and a heavy one is looking all too likely.
To people who say we haven't improved as a team since last season is wrong, we were out of the title race in October!
Player ratings:
Almunia 1 - That's being kind.
Sagna 5 - Solid, everything came down Clichy's side.
Gallas 6 - Was okay, at least he tries.
Vermaelen 7 - One of the few that came out with any credit.
Clichy 3 - He has no future at the club, Gibbs will be the first choice next season.
Denilson 2 - Like Clichy his Arsenal career should be over.
Song 7 - Has to do the work of 2 midfielders, great to see him back and he tried his heart out.
Fabregas 7 - Can't do it all on his own.
Rosicky 5 - Was poor, one must conclude that 2 years out of the game is too much for any player.
Nasri 4 - Thought he would kick on this season but has been poor.
Arshavin 7 - At least he put in effort, could and should have scored a couple.
Walcott 4 - Another who has no future at the club.
Bendtner 5 - Little impact.
Eboue 6 - Better going forward than Sagna.
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