http://www.onlinegooner.com/exclusive/index.php?id=711
usual thread starter… to take the title of this piece, I can – two seasons ago at the Cottage. But you had confidence that that was an off-day rather than symptomatic of decline. Irony of ironies, Alex Song comes on in 2008 to rescue the situation…
Is he the best option to partner Cesc? Suddenly doesn’t seem like much competition now really…
I can’t remember a more gutless, insipid performance (23/8)
What happened?????????
Some people make things happen.(Cesc, RvP,Clichy)
Some watch things happen.(Wenger,Theo)
Some people wait to see what happens.(Almunia)
And some wonder what happened!!!! (the rest of em.especially Gallas and Eboue)
We ve got 8 days to sort this farce out because, (having seen 3 displays of nobody taking accountability) if we don t this could be a long embarrassing season.
Get Barry in asap and find a thug who will roll up his sleeves and ballack the rest of the team when they all hide away. The team we played in the second half at Huddersfield had more passion and desire!!!
Also as long as Eboue is in our team, at 37 i will never give up the dream to play for Arsenal. I ll bring my own shirt, (its got my name on), and boots, and you won t even have to pay me a "below industry wage" to play, simply because I will want to!!!
Some watch things happen.(Wenger,Theo)
Some people wait to see what happens.(Almunia)
And some wonder what happened!!!! (the rest of em.especially Gallas and Eboue)
We ve got 8 days to sort this farce out because, (having seen 3 displays of nobody taking accountability) if we don t this could be a long embarrassing season.
Get Barry in asap and find a thug who will roll up his sleeves and ballack the rest of the team when they all hide away. The team we played in the second half at Huddersfield had more passion and desire!!!
Also as long as Eboue is in our team, at 37 i will never give up the dream to play for Arsenal. I ll bring my own shirt, (its got my name on), and boots, and you won t even have to pay me a "below industry wage" to play, simply because I will want to!!!
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meatflowers
- Posts: 13
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Re: What happened?????????
what exactly has almunia been doing wrong? in this game and all last season he was not to blame for anything really. i wish people would get off the fucking bandwagon and give the guy (who's doing a good job if you bother to watch arsenal) what he deserves- some respect.midaboss wrote: Some people wait to see what happens.(Almunia)
seriously song only played 10 minutes but he really did look very good. i'd start him alongside cesc against twente and see how that goes. if all seems good maybe he should be starting, if not, then well, he doesn't have to.
Just got back. £48 to watch an Arsenal performance where, according to Wenger, "Fulham wanted it more" 
I honestly would rank that amongst our worst league performances under Wenger. No passion. No guts. No determination. No leadership. No cohesion. Just useless
Denilson and Eboue simply lost the midfield battle. Not only that, but I'm hard pressed to think of a crunching tackle made by either of them. They showed little steel, and were totally out fought by Murphy and a very accomplished performance by Bullard. Denilson not only had little appetite to battle, but his passing was atrocious! at least Eboue can point toward a few positve runs forward, but the game simply passed Denilson by.
Then we have Van Persie now, I think I'm right that he's injury free, isn't he? he played at the Euro's and arrived for pre season injury free. He played during pre-season (albeit woefully) and has started the season in such poor form, it's untrue. He looks lightweight, unfit and he must have left his shooting boots on the plane from Holland, because today, he couldn't hit a donkey's arse with a banjo. He was simply awful, and yet played 90mins..which says a lot about the state of our squad.
I've had time to calm down, and I have to say, Wenger's commetns have angered me all over again. "Fulham wanted it more" - what the hell does that mean? that we didn't fancy it today? we didn't want to battle? Id really like to know, because if we're going to win the league, and if I'm going to spend a crazy amount of money travelling all over England to watch this shower of shite, then I'd really like to know before hand, if they are "up for it", or not.
Lastly, I caught the goal on MOTD. At the time, I wondered how the hell we conceded such a poor goal...well, the answer was Gallas. Our captain.
Awful performance, and I'm fuming about it.
I hate knee jerk reactions, and I'm sure we'll improve, but if we're struggling for motivation on a pleasant afternoon in Fulham, then how are we going to play at Blackburn and Bolton next month?
Not impressed one bit
I honestly would rank that amongst our worst league performances under Wenger. No passion. No guts. No determination. No leadership. No cohesion. Just useless
Denilson and Eboue simply lost the midfield battle. Not only that, but I'm hard pressed to think of a crunching tackle made by either of them. They showed little steel, and were totally out fought by Murphy and a very accomplished performance by Bullard. Denilson not only had little appetite to battle, but his passing was atrocious! at least Eboue can point toward a few positve runs forward, but the game simply passed Denilson by.
Then we have Van Persie
now, I think I'm right that he's injury free, isn't he? he played at the Euro's and arrived for pre season injury free. He played during pre-season (albeit woefully) and has started the season in such poor form, it's untrue. He looks lightweight, unfit and he must have left his shooting boots on the plane from Holland, because today, he couldn't hit a donkey's arse with a banjo. He was simply awful, and yet played 90mins..which says a lot about the state of our squad.I've had time to calm down, and I have to say, Wenger's commetns have angered me all over again. "Fulham wanted it more" - what the hell does that mean? that we didn't fancy it today? we didn't want to battle? Id really like to know, because if we're going to win the league, and if I'm going to spend a crazy amount of money travelling all over England to watch this shower of shite, then I'd really like to know before hand, if they are "up for it", or not.
Lastly, I caught the goal on MOTD. At the time, I wondered how the hell we conceded such a poor goal...well, the answer was Gallas. Our captain.
Awful performance, and I'm fuming about it.
I hate knee jerk reactions, and I'm sure we'll improve, but if we're struggling for motivation on a pleasant afternoon in Fulham, then how are we going to play at Blackburn and Bolton next month?
Not impressed one bit
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matty_yooh
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couldn't agree more with this article.
not only are we unable to pick up maximum points against these teams (or in aunconvoncing circumstances, WBA), we can't even create chances anymore.
the sooner the Joy of Cesc returns the better, but the midfield needs more than just cesc back...walcott and co. (minus nasri) need to sort it out ASAP. denilson has managed to detoriate in terms of performance by about 2 seasons, since the Carling Cup Final.
simply shocking.
not only are we unable to pick up maximum points against these teams (or in aunconvoncing circumstances, WBA), we can't even create chances anymore.
the sooner the Joy of Cesc returns the better, but the midfield needs more than just cesc back...walcott and co. (minus nasri) need to sort it out ASAP. denilson has managed to detoriate in terms of performance by about 2 seasons, since the Carling Cup Final.
simply shocking.
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stearmaster
- Posts: 5367
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- Location: ENFIELD, N.LONDON
It's a bit harsh on Theo. I came away from the West Brom with the words that a young Anelka said when he left Arsenal, that his team mates "didn't pass to him". Theo could quite easily say the same. He was making the right run and didn't get the ball, when he did get the pass, it was either behind him or too far in front. Today at Fulham I hardly recall him receiving a good ball that will utilise his pace and skill, yet he easily had the beating of their left back. Henry had Bergkamp, who's Theo got?
Last week Eboue flattered to deceive. Up against an experienced Premiership midfield he looked helplessly out of place. Denilson looked, well I can't remember what he did in the game today?
Maybe Arsene is playing a smart game with the board, as in naming the youngest midfield and bench in the Premiership in a bid for them to release the cash they keep telling us about.
I wouldn't expect miracles when Cesc returns as he's not quite at the stage where he can totally dictate the game from the midfield as Vieira used to, he still needs a good minder alongside him. Unfortunately Song, Eboue, Denilson or Djourou are too inexperienced to step up to the mark.
We've got 7 days left to get the right player in to help Cesc. It's down to Arsene and the board to get him.
Last week Eboue flattered to deceive. Up against an experienced Premiership midfield he looked helplessly out of place. Denilson looked, well I can't remember what he did in the game today?
Maybe Arsene is playing a smart game with the board, as in naming the youngest midfield and bench in the Premiership in a bid for them to release the cash they keep telling us about.
I wouldn't expect miracles when Cesc returns as he's not quite at the stage where he can totally dictate the game from the midfield as Vieira used to, he still needs a good minder alongside him. Unfortunately Song, Eboue, Denilson or Djourou are too inexperienced to step up to the mark.
We've got 7 days left to get the right player in to help Cesc. It's down to Arsene and the board to get him.
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bigreddave
- Posts: 333
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 5:35 pm
I Totally agree with this article 100%. This was a complete pile of shite! No passion, no commitment and let's face it folks, with this current side we'll be lucky to finish 4th at best! What the hell is Wenger doing to our team? Anyone with half a brain can see that our midfield is weak as piss, theo contributes nothing, Eboue and denilson are a joke in the middle together and nasri doesn't look too clever out on the left either! at the back we have two blokes who will never gel together and as a result this is'nt helping our wing backs at all, and up front we have two blokes who could'nt hit a barn door! I honestly haven't felt this downbeat about an arsenal performance for a long time, this was simply pathetic, GOD HELP US!
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QuartzGooner
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- Location: London
Mid week internationals played a part today.
We looked tired rather than lacking passion.
I truly think Denilson just had a very bad day at the office.
That said, we need to by a top notch central midfielder to be a minder for Cesc.
We also need to look at playing 4-5-1 in games like today, by adding a Song or Djourou to central midfield we will be better at winning the ball and be physically stronger.
Theo? At least he ran at space the few time she had the ball.
Also thought Adebayor was heavily marked, but he needs to learn to lose his marker.
We looked tired rather than lacking passion.
I truly think Denilson just had a very bad day at the office.
That said, we need to by a top notch central midfielder to be a minder for Cesc.
We also need to look at playing 4-5-1 in games like today, by adding a Song or Djourou to central midfield we will be better at winning the ball and be physically stronger.
Theo? At least he ran at space the few time she had the ball.
Also thought Adebayor was heavily marked, but he needs to learn to lose his marker.
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proudtosaythatname
- Posts: 678
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mistergourmet
- Posts: 2
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What's really ironic is that Denilson was the only outfield player (along with Almunia) that Wenger had in training last week while the rest of the squad was away on international duty.
No wonder he didn't make his usual excuse about the players being tired after their midweek exertions!
Denilson has been given a big opportunity to stake a claim to become a first-team player - by accident, rather than design, following the injury to Diaby (and the sale of Flam and Gilb) - rather like Flamini last year.
You have to conclude, reluctantly, that he is not now, and never will be, good enough for the job. But you never know...
Look at Alex Song, who was so bad in the corresponding Fulham fixture two years ago that Wenger hauled him off at half time - the only time he has EVER done that to a player, to my knowledge (even Stepanovs stayed on for the Old Trafford hammering of 2001).
He's been playing his way into form at the Olympics for Cameroon, where he plays as a more attacking creative midfielder, and looked superb when he belatedly came on for Toure.
It seems clear that central defence is not his preferred or best position - clear to everyone except Arsene, apparently - so surely it's time to try him out in centre midfield. He can't be worse than Denilson there (or Eboue).
Wenger seems to have a peculiar penchant for playing people out of position.. and it rarely seems to work.
No wonder he didn't make his usual excuse about the players being tired after their midweek exertions!
Denilson has been given a big opportunity to stake a claim to become a first-team player - by accident, rather than design, following the injury to Diaby (and the sale of Flam and Gilb) - rather like Flamini last year.
You have to conclude, reluctantly, that he is not now, and never will be, good enough for the job. But you never know...
Look at Alex Song, who was so bad in the corresponding Fulham fixture two years ago that Wenger hauled him off at half time - the only time he has EVER done that to a player, to my knowledge (even Stepanovs stayed on for the Old Trafford hammering of 2001).
He's been playing his way into form at the Olympics for Cameroon, where he plays as a more attacking creative midfielder, and looked superb when he belatedly came on for Toure.
It seems clear that central defence is not his preferred or best position - clear to everyone except Arsene, apparently - so surely it's time to try him out in centre midfield. He can't be worse than Denilson there (or Eboue).
Wenger seems to have a peculiar penchant for playing people out of position.. and it rarely seems to work.
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proudtosaythatname
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