As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
SteveO 35 wrote:Just read Wenger's post match comments and again, credit where it's due, he has not ducked the issues this time round (ditto the defeat in Milan). He has highlighted the issue of commitment and that was so desperately lacking, especially in the attacking third yesterday. I actually agree with him as well saying we were too open - the way they scored both goals was very slack
No nonsense about blaming the pitch or the ref either - long may it continue.
See I have some really mixed up opinions on this - yes I much prefer some honesty in his post match interviews instead of his usual b***s**t excuses but the commitment issue lands firmly at his door for me. I remember two seasons ago he gave a similar remark after a defeat at fulham and the question now is the same as it was then....whose job is it to motivate these bloody players ? If he cant motivate them then it suggests a lack of response from the players to him and/or reflects the fact that he is no longer able to motivate himself anymore and the players are picking up on this. Of course if we had a bigger and better squad then these lazy arsed c**ts might be more inclined to bust a gut for fear of losing their places but in a squad like ours that is not a possibility At the very least the players should fear the wrath of wenger but it is clear from so many passionless performances that it is simply not the case and a few gutsy showings lately does not cover for the last 18 months imo
I think yesterday's game shows the lack of strength in depth in the squad.
For me RvP looks shattered - yet we do not have any options to turn to
Whilst we have numbers in terms of midfielders, we just seem to have a random mix of players. We need some more players capable of bringing real width to the team. Aaron Ramsey is not a left-sided midfield player for example.
Going to be a difficult run-in now, although we may be playing City at exactly the right time
richpye wrote:I think yesterday's game shows the lack of strength in depth in the squad.
For me RvP looks shattered - yet we do not have any options to turn to
Whilst we have numbers in terms of midfielders, we just seem to have a random mix of players. We need some more players capable of bringing real width to the team. Aaron Ramsey is not a left-sided midfield player for example.
Going to be a difficult run-in now, although we may be playing City at exactly the right time
Doesn't he just.....that was by far and away his worst performance yesterday and not just because he didn't score because he didn't at Everton but contributed a lot more. The guy started to look lethargic against Villa and really did look tired yesterday, and this is where Wenger and the Exec team are collectively guilty, in that the whole world realised that the Camel and SQ Park couldn't be trusted at all and that RvP would need to play every match. Nobody is capable of doing that in a league of our intensity week in, week out. The guy has been fucking amazing this season, without him we'd be doing a Liverpool or worse, but as we enter the most crucial few weeks he is showing fatigue and a bit of wear and tear.
The team have rallied to the best of their abilities in the past few weeks, but where the top four could well end being lost was in the two disasterous transfer windows. When we get five full backs injured and people moan about the lack of strength in depth, I can take Wenger's view - nobody can cope with that and its a bit of a freak situation. However, when you only have one PL standard striker in the whole squad and you fail to address the problem, it is totally unacceptable. I posted an article on here a few months back saying that our reserve choice strikers were as poor as anyone else's in the Premier League (possibly Wigan apart) and I'm afraid the two jokers posing as strikers wearing 9 and 29 have shown nothing to make me change my mind. The pair of them need to go and to be honest I couldn't give a flying fuck about the money - let them go for free and get £5m or so off the wage bill and give it to a truly world class player capable of separating the club from scratching around for 4th to a team capable of winning things
When you regularly go to games, you build up an ability to decipher the tone of the game early on. From that, you can normally predict the result......
It was clear from the off that we didn't fancy it. QPR closed us down quickly and didn't give us time or space. Mike Dean allowed them the niggling fouls that we would be penalised for (and were penalised for... ) What followed was a predictable display of large amounts of possession in the middle of the park, with nothing incisive in the final third. Van Persie looks devoid of confidence to me.... and all this seems to have occurred since he missed that chance against Milan to make it 4-0... As for Vermaelen. The guy seems to have adopted the David Luiz approach. In other words he tries to do everything on the field apart from his own job, which he was miserable at on Saturday.
Tactically Wenger also got it wrong. Ramsey is hopeless at the moment, but he is also being played out of position. If you'd taken Ramsey out for the OX, the result might have been different. Our bench also let us down on Saturday. Gervinho is so easy to handle. You just jockey him out wide and he loses the plot. Chamakh to be fair to him ran around a lot and put himself about. But I could do that.
I just hope this isn't the start of a collapse, but i get the feeeling it is.
richpye wrote:I think yesterday's game shows the lack of strength in depth in the squad.
For me RvP looks shattered - yet we do not have any options to turn to
Whilst we have numbers in terms of midfielders, we just seem to have a random mix of players. We need some more players capable of bringing real width to the team. Aaron Ramsey is not a left-sided midfield player for example.
Going to be a difficult run-in now, although we may be playing City at exactly the right time
Doesn't he just.....that was by far and away his worst performance yesterday and not just because he didn't score because he didn't at Everton but contributed a lot more. The guy started to look lethargic against Villa and really did look tired yesterday, and this is where Wenger and the Exec team are collectively guilty, in that the whole world realised that the Camel and SQ Park couldn't be trusted at all and that RvP would need to play every match. Nobody is capable of doing that in a league of our intensity week in, week out. The guy has been fucking amazing this season, without him we'd be doing a Liverpool or worse, but as we enter the most crucial few weeks he is showing fatigue and a bit of wear and tear.
The team have rallied to the best of their abilities in the past few weeks, but where the top four could well end being lost was in the two disasterous transfer windows. When we get five full backs injured and people moan about the lack of strength in depth, I can take Wenger's view - nobody can cope with that and its a bit of a freak situation. However, when you only have one PL standard striker in the whole squad and you fail to address the problem, it is totally unacceptable. I posted an article on here a few months back saying that our reserve choice strikers were as poor as anyone else's in the Premier League (possibly Wigan apart) and I'm afraid the two jokers posing as strikers wearing 9 and 29 have shown nothing to make me change my mind. The pair of them need to go and to be honest I couldn't give a flying fuck about the money - let them go for free and get £5m or so off the wage bill and give it to a truly world class player capable of separating the club from scratching around for 4th to a team capable of winning things
Isn't Hugo Rodallega on the bench for Wigan at the moment - would do a job I reckon
richpye, you've just given an example of a player struggling to get into a relegation threatened side that is better than our two jokers. The shittiest team in the division Wolves have Steven Fletcher, Kevin Doyle and Sylvain Ebanks-Blake - all of whom are better than Maryanne and SQ. I'd also rather have Zaha from Crystal Palace or Jordan Rhodes from Huddersfield than either of our two utterly inept donkeys
richpye wrote:I think yesterday's game shows the lack of strength in depth in the squad.
For me RvP looks shattered - yet we do not have any options to turn to
Whilst we have numbers in terms of midfielders, we just seem to have a random mix of players. We need some more players capable of bringing real width to the team. Aaron Ramsey is not a left-sided midfield player for example.
Going to be a difficult run-in now, although we may be playing City at exactly the right time
Agree.
Stating the obvious but imagine if we had the following replacements (not exactly like for like but a general idea)?
Just a moan but why in gods name is mr wenger talking about an overrated Taraabat on our ARsenal website should have enough worries of our own side than to talk about him
As much as it pains me to say this I have always been of the thought that how can I question the tactics or knowledge of AW who has spent 15 years managing in the PL when I haven't even spent a day in the position.
However, Saturday was the first time I have truly given up trust in his tactical ability to change a game plan. Ramsey was never working out on the left yet he continually refuses to change until the 60th or 70th minute of a match. To bring on Gervinho before the Ox or even Benayoun was negligent and the fact that Chamakh came on with 10 minutes to go was a travesty. I'd rather Santos have been stuck up front, I know how absurd it sounds, for the last 10mins seeing as he has shown more goal scoring form and creativity in the past 6 months as opposed to Chamakhs 14 months of nothingness!
While Wenger is a solid manger who consistently acheives top 4 finishes (and hopefully another this season) he continues to fail to make the correct decisions( i.e.have a plan b) when games aren't going our way or when the team is under sustained pressure during a match and is why we will continue to fail to win a trophy until this weakness is resolved.
Completely agree with augie. I'm sorry, it is all well and good accepting that the players were lacking in commiment, but given the position we are in at this stage of the season it is simply unacceptable and the manager has to take all of the blame for that. We hardly are sitting comfortably and finishing outside the top 4 will be disastrous in the manager's own words. We have to match and surpass the commitment level of the every team we play against this season whether it is the relegation threatened QPR, Wolves and Wigan or Citeh and the Chavs. No one should talk about things like mental strength, it is something you show. The more you talk about it, less likely that you have it.
And what adds insult to injury is that the lack-luster performance was on the back of these pre-match comments from the manager: "I see us fighting like mad on Saturday to win the game. That's all I see, I don't see further. We are focused on QPR, believe me." Obvious not done his job properly, yet again!!
I Hate Hleb wrote:And what adds insult to injury is that the lack-luster performance was on the back of these pre-match comments from the manager: "I see us fighting like mad on Saturday to win the game. That's all I see, I don't see further. We are focused on QPR, believe me." Obvious not done his job properly, yet again!!
IHH, you and I both know, that the quicker we get Abou Diaby back fit and in the side the better. The passing was so laboured and mechanical on Saturday that it was crying out for that touch of class that others just don't have.
I have a strong feeling that Abou is going to come back and rescue this season and there will be a long queue for the humble pie counter on this forum....
I Hate Hleb wrote:And what adds insult to injury is that the lack-luster performance was on the back of these pre-match comments from the manager: "I see us fighting like mad on Saturday to win the game. That's all I see, I don't see further. We are focused on QPR, believe me." Obvious not done his job properly, yet again!!
Wenger has been "talking the talk" recently buoyed by some good results, and has once again started believing his own hype, as have many on here.
The fact remains he is a bullshitter, a liar and tactically naieve. It will be very interesting to see where we finish this season, having hauled ourselves up to third in the table, to allow that to slip away and miss out on clge football next season, would be a further damning indictment of Wenger's management and more proof (as if it were needed) that he should go.
At the very least the players should fear the wrath of wenger but it is clear from so many passionless performances that it is simply not the case and a few gutsy showings lately does not cover for the last 18 months imo
) What followed was a predictable display of large amounts of possession in the middle of the park, with nothing incisive in the final third. Van Persie looks devoid of confidence to me.... and all this seems to have occurred since he missed that chance against Milan to make it 4-0... As for Vermaelen. The guy seems to have adopted the David Luiz approach. In other words he tries to do everything on the field apart from his own job, which he was miserable at on Saturday. 
