I have to admit that much like Wenger, I was fairly certain that it wasn’t going to be our day after the first five minutes. Straight from the kick off we were sloppy and looked well of the pace, needlessly conceding possession. It was also clear that West Brom were up for it, one has to say that it makes a refreshing change to see a lower league team come to the Emirates and try and play football. Let’s be honest here, they played us off the park for most of the match and fully deserved their victory.
Frustratingly most of the Arsenal blogs are already predicting doom for our season but I think it’s a tad premature to suggest that Arsenal will just be playing for fourth place this season. It’s a typical knee jerk reaction and one without perspective, however I have to admit that there were a few worrying signs that do need to be addressed if we are going to push on this season.
What I find absolutely infuriating is the reaction to Almunia’s mistake from the home fans, cheering sarcastically every time he touched the ball towards the end was shameful and embarrassing. Yes the Spaniard is useless and a number two at best but he was picked by Wenger and we’re stuck with him at least until January and thus denting his confidence even further is not going to do him or Arsenal football club any good. This is just another example of what our fan base has become since we moved to the Emirates; an expectation of perfection 100% of the time is just not realistic. Sometimes you have to go through the bad to appreciate the good, I don’t recall Arsenal fans ever booing the likes of Hillier, Morrow and Selly even though they were three of the worst footballers ever to play for the club and made up our midfield on many occasions in the early 90s. The reason we didn’t boo was because they played for the Arsenal and as true fans we didn’t boo those who wear the red and white.
Back to the game itself, the back four had an absolute shocker and when Gibbs is fit he has to replace Clichy as the left back has become a liability. What I find frustrating is that I’d thought Wenger had got over his playing Eboue in midfield, an excellent right back; he looks lost when he plays in right midfield. Though not Denilson’s biggest fan, I was surprised that he didn’t start with him instead of Diaby as he just didn’t look fit to me and inevitably had an absolute shocker. I understand Wenger’s decision not to start with Wilshere as he is still young and we don’t want to burn him out but the writing was the on the wall early and I felt that he should have been brought on at half time – we looked much better when he finally did make it on to the pitch.
The only player to come out with any real credit was Nasri who I thought was the only player that looked like he really cared, I suppose that’s the most worrying thing really – how can only one player out of 11 care if they lose or not? I still don’t think we should panic – unfortunately it was a VERY off day at the office and these things happen. West Brom played superbly and we happen to put in possibly our worst performance at the Emirates. Such a result is not without precedent for a title winning Arsenal team – I can remember us losing 4-2 at home to Charlton early on in the double winning season of 2001/02 and at one point we were 4-1 down!
So moving onto the Champions League game on Tuesday, the news is that Almunia has an injury and will not play which is alarming as however bad he is, Fabianksi is much worse. Therefore we will need to score a minimum of two tomorrow night to win the game as we all know that Flapianski WILL make a mistake which will lead to a goal. Having lost on the weekend, I think having a game a few days later is a positive as I’m sure the players will want to put in a decent performance and regain some of the credibility they are currently lacking. That being said, I don’t think anyone would be too upset with a draw tomorrow night…
Keep the faith.
Tenz
Frustratingly most of the Arsenal blogs are already predicting doom for our season but I think it’s a tad premature to suggest that Arsenal will just be playing for fourth place this season. It’s a typical knee jerk reaction and one without perspective, however I have to admit that there were a few worrying signs that do need to be addressed if we are going to push on this season.
What I find absolutely infuriating is the reaction to Almunia’s mistake from the home fans, cheering sarcastically every time he touched the ball towards the end was shameful and embarrassing. Yes the Spaniard is useless and a number two at best but he was picked by Wenger and we’re stuck with him at least until January and thus denting his confidence even further is not going to do him or Arsenal football club any good. This is just another example of what our fan base has become since we moved to the Emirates; an expectation of perfection 100% of the time is just not realistic. Sometimes you have to go through the bad to appreciate the good, I don’t recall Arsenal fans ever booing the likes of Hillier, Morrow and Selly even though they were three of the worst footballers ever to play for the club and made up our midfield on many occasions in the early 90s. The reason we didn’t boo was because they played for the Arsenal and as true fans we didn’t boo those who wear the red and white.
Back to the game itself, the back four had an absolute shocker and when Gibbs is fit he has to replace Clichy as the left back has become a liability. What I find frustrating is that I’d thought Wenger had got over his playing Eboue in midfield, an excellent right back; he looks lost when he plays in right midfield. Though not Denilson’s biggest fan, I was surprised that he didn’t start with him instead of Diaby as he just didn’t look fit to me and inevitably had an absolute shocker. I understand Wenger’s decision not to start with Wilshere as he is still young and we don’t want to burn him out but the writing was the on the wall early and I felt that he should have been brought on at half time – we looked much better when he finally did make it on to the pitch.
The only player to come out with any real credit was Nasri who I thought was the only player that looked like he really cared, I suppose that’s the most worrying thing really – how can only one player out of 11 care if they lose or not? I still don’t think we should panic – unfortunately it was a VERY off day at the office and these things happen. West Brom played superbly and we happen to put in possibly our worst performance at the Emirates. Such a result is not without precedent for a title winning Arsenal team – I can remember us losing 4-2 at home to Charlton early on in the double winning season of 2001/02 and at one point we were 4-1 down!
So moving onto the Champions League game on Tuesday, the news is that Almunia has an injury and will not play which is alarming as however bad he is, Fabianksi is much worse. Therefore we will need to score a minimum of two tomorrow night to win the game as we all know that Flapianski WILL make a mistake which will lead to a goal. Having lost on the weekend, I think having a game a few days later is a positive as I’m sure the players will want to put in a decent performance and regain some of the credibility they are currently lacking. That being said, I don’t think anyone would be too upset with a draw tomorrow night…
Keep the faith.
Tenz
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