Wenger putting everything on cup? Groundhog Day
Still not beaten Arsenal
By Boris Mellor
February 1 2009
As soon as the team was announced a friend messaged me from the other end of the stadium, "Van on the bench! Wenger must be on fucking drugs." I replied, "Suicide note". It was clear we would not now win the game. Without van Persie's goals and assists this last month where would Arsenal be?
Wenger argued that RvP mustn't be overworked, that if he is overplayed he will risk injury. He has a point, but surely it is against Cardiff he should be rested, then he would have over a week to the next game. By not playing RvP two points were thrown away on a day when Villa also slipped. Yes RvP finally came on, but the Hammers had a stranglehold on the game by then. Does this mean that Wenger is saving everything for the cup? Wouldn't Ade and Nick make more sense in the cup?
Groundhog Day
Arsenal started brightly, but it was powder puff football with little real threat. Once again the midfield balance was wrong as Nasri started on the wing. Once again the buildup was too slow to take the opposition by surprise. Once again the finishing was too poor to have any effect.
Once again the ball was spurned unless it came directly to a player's foot. If a pass is a yard wide it might as well be 50 yards wide. Once again Diaby picked up a yellow for a clumsy tackle. Considering the bloke rarely starts he has picked up his five for suspension in double quick time.
Bendtner is too slow on the wing, nor does he want to run long distances; Adebayor's first touch has gone to pieces, once he could manage one correct touch out of three, now it's not at all. After 15 minutes the pace dropped the usual lackluster first half.
In the second half the crowd finally convinced the team it was important to try harder. Now the tempo stepped up and for long periods the West Ham goal was under siege, but the ball couldn't be forced in. Nor did the Hammers keepers have to make that many saves. The best chances were hit wide. True a good Toure shot was headed off the line, but clear cut chances were few. There were only five Arsenal shots on target in the whole match.
Arsenal did improve when Vela came on for Eboue, and when Nasri finally came into the middle; why does Wenger persist with Eboue? Yes he is ok as backing for RB, but he is an ineffective midfielder. It is time for Vela to become a regular. Even RvP was off target, everyone remembers Ade missing a sitter, but so did RvP. He skewed a ball across the goalmouth when it would have been easier to put it in.
First league goalless draw at Emirates
With Fabregas, Walcott, Eduardo and Rosicky missing this team is mainly made up of ordinary players. It is no use berating the team's effort, the defence was ok, but the midfield was unbalanced, Bendtner can't play in this formation, and Adebayor needs to find his confidence. The buildup is laborious and predictable. The team just isn't good enough. This is the first Premiership goalless draw at the Emirates, if you had to pick a team to achieve that then it is the one selected for this match - purpose made. I suppose the one good point is the clean sheet.
Wenger claims Villa will slip up, but as I pointed out in my preview so will this team. If we had won today the draw at Everton would have been a good result. Instead four points have been dropped in less than a week, and it has been demonstrated that without RvP we are even more mediocre. No more rubbish talk form players about winning the title - they will overachieve to get fourth - unless there are some radical changes in the lineup. Only new blood or rapid recoveries can sort this out. Hard work might help, but it is not the full solution. Unless the balance and personnel change Groundhog Day will go on and on.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:02:07:19:07:23 by Padre Pio.
Theodore roosevelt - In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.
Wenger hasnt done his job for me. Hes had the whole summer to strengthen, so he cant use the "i couldnt predict this" excuse. Now hes had a whole month to rectify it, still he persits I believe purely because of his stubborness.
Time and time again, we play exactly the same football, no cutting edge, no one willing to get into the box for a cross, just like he created Wengerball, hes now created a new brand of football, Wengerball II, he needs to change things round maybe that will give the team the spark it needs.
Maybe playing Uefa cup football isnt the worst thing in the world but hes set his own high standards and he has to live with it. After all you cant deny that if we had maybe 2 or 3 quality players in addition to this squad we would probably be right up there near the top.
Quote:Padre Pio
Well it made Leeds bankrupt
Sure Bloody did !
In a way mirrors Arsenal for the past few years since we moved to the new stadium and the quality of the team/football has gone down since Wenger's arrival in Highbury.
We had that physcological fear. Teams fear playing us. They were beaten before the game started. Vieira, Henry, Pires, Freddie, Adams, Parlour, Petit, Bergy, - to every opposition it must have felt like they were a tiny village (not Gaul) facing the full might of the Roman empire.
These days, I don't even feel that when I see the team troop out, we will be winners after 90 minutes. I can bet that most of the fans agree that we don't ever feel as relaxed as we used too.
People say that Man U have just been lucky, but every time I see Man U on the pitch I have the feeling that they won't get beat, that they'll somehow find a way to win it. Sure, they lost to us and Pool, but other times, when I watch them and am rooting for their oppenents to beat Manure, I then quickly get that sinking feeling that they won't.
These days, when we get a good result it is more of a relief that we were able to eke out a win over the 90 minutes, and more often than not, we hold our breath until the final whistle. AW needs to realise that the past for all its glory, is just that - the past. Much as I love the man, sometimes I feel he is still in love with the whole romanticism of the invincible era.