Daily Bits and Bobs

Undeserved Praise! A Night Out Without Arsene Might Do The Trick!!

Posted on by rico

Morning all.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m sick of hearing/reading about how good David De Gea was on Saturday night. He wasn’t that good and he certainly wasn’t great as for most of the game, all he had to do was catch the ball and to be honest, if anyone has good eye/ball co-ordination, they could have done what he did.

We made it so easy with our crap shooting skills and once Ollie blasted one out of reach, it found the back of the net. I still wonder what would have happened if perhaps Ollie had 30 minutes on the pitch with Podolski.

Neither Welbeck or Sanchez were at their best but there’s a reason why. Both have been played week in week out and then Alexis had a long haul flight to deal with…

Arsene Wenger has to start rotating, he really does. Yes we started well on Saturday, in fact possibly the best we have in a long while but players faded in the second half and that has to be down to their bodies being tired and that’s down to one man, the manager.

Look at the players we have waiting on the sidelines just desperate to play, I don’t include Flamini as he’s been playing:

Lukas Podolski, Tomas Rosicky, Joel Campbell and even young Hector Bellerin. Actually, that’s about it baring Yaya Sanogo.

The rest, Theo Walcott, Serge Gnabry, Mathew Debuchy and Abou Diaby are either not quite fit enough or never fit enough. Then we have young Isaac Hayden (injured) and Chuba Akpom.

We have seven games in just four weeks. Arsene Wenger has to start using these fringe players, he must start trusting them and to be honest, what has he got to lose as we are hardly playing consistently or well. We are certainly not winning so change it now, mix things up a bit and it might just work. If he doesn’t, he’ll be the one moaning and blaming more injuries for our further decline.

Captain Mikel Arteta has been talking about Saturday’s game:

I am shocked we did not win this game, I cannot believe it still.

I think we played our best game of the season, in terms of what we demand from ourselves with the quality of our attack, how early we won the ball back, how consistent we were throughout the game, the number of chances we created, and all that considering the opposition we were playing against.

I can’t believe it and think it is a shame, not fair for the players and the fans. It is very frustrating.

We were controlling the game and hammering them. Afterwards you have to take more risks, to chase the game. I feel so sorry for the lads and for the fans as well, because they were terrific and we don’t deserve it.

When you are inside the box, and you cannot manage to score in that many situations, you cannot expect to win a football game. On another day, we would have won the game very comfortably.

We cannot forget [what we have done well] because it creates a lack of belief and confidence if you take a lot of negatives. Everybody is disappointed, but you can take many many positives from our performance. I was very proud with what we have done and I am shocked.

He’s right of course. On another day IF players had their shooting boots on we’d have won but they didn’t and we lost but we made it easy for Utd. All the time we fluffed our lines and they soaked up the pressure we offered, they knew that it was only a matter of time before we got impatient. LvG admitted that he told his players to play the waiting game and then hit us on the break because having watched videos of us playing, he knew how we’d play and possibly better than Arsene Wenger does.

We do the same old thing, headless chicken, all ten of them bombing up the pitch in search of a goal instead of being patient, organised and remaining disciplined. We have midfielders and forwards for a reason. Defenders should play the ball out from the back, pass it to the guy further forward and that defender should get back into position.

No, ours pass the ball and too many times follow the ball and even if Wenger could drum it into them not to do that, we’d improve but all the time they are allowed to do what they like on a football pitch, we’ll continue to concede goals.

Arteta might be shocked we lost that game and I can understand why but he is the captain, he is the man who needs to take control on the pitch and keep the team focussed and organised but it’s clear he doesn’t. Mertesacker is the vice captain yet he’s one of those guilty of bombing up the pitch in search of a goal – well not quite bombing but you get my point no doubt!

Both players are experienced enough to know what’s required on the pitch and perhaps they need to get the players out for an evening/afternoon and away from the manager. Go for a pizza or something, thrash it all out between themselves and finally put right what is going wrong.

Oh, and see if Martin Keown wants to join them…..

That’s it for Monday…..

rico

146 thoughts on “Undeserved Praise! A Night Out Without Arsene Might Do The Trick!!”

  1. Nickie says:

    Good Post thank you.

    Morning everyone,

    I still can’t get over the fact we’ve only won 4 games. A team like ours, the players we have, 4 games. Well and truly pants.

  5. Nickie says:

    Also unbelievable is our record against Chelsea, Man U and Man City. I’d rather put my money on Burnley beating one of them than Arsenal.

  8. escapecontrol says:

    I had the exact reaction about the Spanish keeper… NOT great! There are PLENTY other keepers ahead of him. We just shot straight at the potato! Cheese burgers, I wish Welbeck could kick either side of the keeper, or even UP! His shots were totally weak. And Wilshere… the reason he’s f*****d is because he doodled on that ball! Should’ve passed it immediately on the break! Too many poor decisions in the final third. THAT’S why we lost the game, not because their keeper was good. Chamberlain was my man of the match!!

  9. Wavy says:

    Morning all. Lovely crisp cold, bright sunshiny day here. Proper winter weather, at last! sick of the rain.
    Rico, agree wholeheartedly with the post. Arteta has a point. I think we battered manure, (mmm, battered manure! Do you think it might catch on, in Manchester perhaps?) they were shocking, bar a couple of efforts in the first half they were just making up the numbers, we, on the other hand played good flowing football, but with absolutely no end product. We lost, firstly when Gibbs unwittingly turned the ball into his own net. They really didn’t look like scoring any more than we did. The second goal, well, the old one reckoned his team of hand picked players were naive! I should like to ask him who has encouraged 9 out of 11 players to venture up field attempting to score/chase the game with no thought of defence, at least 2 players should have been on the halfway line, one of whom should have had some pace! Was it that the senile one has forgotten how to impress on a few simple minded footballers that a little caution, even when the situation looks promising for us going forward, does not allow them to abbregate all responsibility and fly forward like a pack of lemmings! Suicide is the only possible outcome! And so it proved.
    That defeat had its outcome firmly based on the training ground. The lack of common sense training is flabbergasting in its absence! Is it Bould’s fault, I doubt it, he has little or no say. It’s all down to old Mr megalomaniac! Time he learned how to delegate. A bit late in the day, after 30 years doing the same stuff it’s hard to change his ways now, but he has to, if only to save his reputation. At the moment he is heading for the scrap heap and eventual vilification!

  12. escapecontrol says:

    Rico, I was referring to when his ankle got a beating!! That was on the break where we had a 3 on 2 or something, but because he held onto that ball so long, he got a foot onto his glass ankle and the rest they say is history. And now just as he is starting to play some good footy, the lad is out for a good couple of weeks again!

    FML

  17. Joaquim Moreira says:

    morning all
    The first goal was a clear offside and a clear fault.
    we had dropped many “stupid” points.

  19. Wavy says:

    Thanks Rico. I just wish I could find something a little more positive to say! I’m sick of being so critical of the club I love and the manager whom I so respected and admired. Sadly the latter is coming to a sorry and probably sticky end!
    See, got a negative in again!
    I think I’ll go and find some happy pills.

  21. ozgunner says:

    tactically Wenger has not been at the game for years. It’s his total lack of hunger that gets me, we hear all the time i work harder now than ever before, i want this, i want that. One look at him motionless game after game on the bench (other than when he’s whining at 4th officals) tells you a very different story. Sales pitches used for years again in real need of question. Our players lack the killer instinct, the win at all costs mentality. They face big sides, even faded ones like United and despite lipping it all over the net to anyone that will listen, they know they will loose, why? Because this is Arsene FC 2014 and its just the way it is now. We have odd days in the sun but overall we’re a soft centered reflection of what might have been.

  23. Lee says:

    It’s repetitiveness of the on field mistakes that’s so boring…. Groundhog Arsenal.
    Which top flight manager goes into a PL (or equivalent league) season with six defenders?

  27. Lee says:

    Arsenal will have to do without Olivier Giroud on Wednesday night as the Frenchman is ineligible to play against the Germans.

    Making his return from a broken ankle earlier than expected, Arsenal did not register the forward in their Champions League squad as they believed they would have to do without him until the New Year.

    This also means that he will miss out on their game against Galatasaray.

    To be fair to Arsenal, it is such a rare occurrence for a player to come back early from injury rather than three months later than predicted, that they could not possibly be expected to have foreseen this situation.

    With such a serious injury it would be unlikely that Arsene Wenger would have wanted him to play to much of a part in the game on Wednesday anyway.

  28. ozgunner says:

    the most lethal finisher i have ever seen says Wenger – the player says apparently “I have to try to talk with Arsene Wenger. I want a fair chance.

    “I love London, I like the club but I do not like the situation.”

    confused yet?

  31. ozgunner says:

    was never going to end any other way but we all know my thoughts. You have to keep up, you have be open to new ideas, new ways of doing things. You need quality lieutenants you can delegate authority too. You have to be humble and accept your mistakes. Wenger has shown for years he has little or none of these qualities, it was always going to end this way

  34. escapecontrol says:

    @Lee, I wonder if the manager lives in HOPE that Sanogo will start scoring as freely as he does for U21? Even still that said… I believe that Sanogo is another liability in a team that doesn’t need anymore!

    We needed a finisher on Saturday with all the changes we had. Yet, Podolski sits on the bench! 🙁

  39. Danish Gooner says:

    Wenger and his players have used the same old tired excuses for YEARS.How on earth can Arteta be shocked with the loss ??? we havnt actually come from a 30 game winning streak.At the moment we lose more often then we win so how on earth can he be shocked unless he just want to sound stupid????And when will we heard the tired old “We have learned our lesson” or “We will bounce back”???How much bouncing back can you do in one season,it is pathetic rhetoric and a disgusting way of placating the fans,no one never owns up and tells it like it is always this or that excuse.

  41. ozgunner says:

    its the process we have to go through Adam – once the wave is big enough the false prophet will be unseated. Kos and Theo will cause a minor upturn first to those clinging to the memories but a team of Arsene brought players ruling England let alone Europe, never on your life. I am so sick of the opening the net to find our players said this and our players said that, they embarrass themselves daily, wonder where they get these inflated ego’s from? They need to shut it and actually do something worth ranting about. I would press ban the lot of them.

  43. ozgunner says:

    on a good note – how good was Gooner Hamilton last night – double world champion and still so young. The Mercs kicked ass this year, really enjoyed seeing him come through against the odds.

  46. ozgunner says:

    awesome sums it up Rico – it was catch me if you can right from the off. He really is a special driver and could well be our greatest ever one day

  47. Adam says:

    Lee. And what he says is interesting . But I get the impression that the louder the criticism, the less Arsene will listen. In fact I imagine it will suit him to become even more entrenched in his ways.

  48. Adam says:

    Hamilton’s car is so good that any of the top F1 drivers could do a job in it. He has been lucky in this first year of the new regulations. Alonso would have blown Rosberg away.

  49. ozgunner says:

    I don’t think he was lucky at all, he knew exactly what he was doing switching camps that was clear. He made a career move based on information he had been given and went for it. He was right. His car also wasn’t so good early was it? He fought hard for that and held his nerve superbly, one of the great wins in my book.

  51. Adam says:

    Oz. We’ll have to agree to differ there.
    Brudder. I am still as fed up as I have been for a couple of years now but doubt that Wenger really gets the fans concerns at all. I just watched his press conference and he looks like a man in complete denial to me.

  64. Lee says:

    She was in some two Bob group… “The Pussycat Dolls”… also in loads of reality t.v and shite t.v adverts and all in all a turd of a woman! imho that is.

  66. Adam says:

    Rico. I don’t think he is a Gooner. He always used to support Man Utd. He is actually the F1 World Champion.
    I think Usmanov, in that interview, spoke more sense that I have heard anyone outside the traditional fan base speak for a long, long time. Get in there Jabba and offer Kroenke twice the value for 25% of the clubs shares.

  67. rico says:

    Adam – saying any top driver would have beaten Lewis is like saying we’d win the PL if we signed the right players….

    We didn’t and we won’t, other drivers didn’t have the car, but Lewis did and he won despite Rosberg driving him out of one of the races after hitting cars…..

    Alonso? He’s like the footballer, past it… 😛

  69. ozgunner says:

    he was at the city game recently – they showed him on TV then he took snaps with Theo and the lads, he’s a gooner alright. He went to school with Ashley Young

  77. allezkev says:

    Graeme Souness ‘Liverpool Great’ as the blurb goes, has made the stunning observation that ‘Arsenal never learn’, which is quite rich coming on the same weekend as his old club lost, what was it, their 4th game on the trot…

  80. Micko says:

    rico, not convinced any of our mob could even arrange a pish up in a brewery at the moment let alone book a pizza.

  81. Lee says:

    Micko did you see someone in the crowd threw a cheeky glass of Bordeaux over members of the manure bench…….only at the Emirates!

  86. scottfromoz says:

    Aaaahhhhhh Usmanov, the one time Manc fan and sole shareholder asking for dividends.
    Sorry, but I still nowhere near sold on him.
    Is he better than Stan?
    Well, that would be no great achievement, so maybe, just maybe it’s worth a go.

  88. potter says:

    With FFP the Usmanov ship has sailed as far as pumping money on to the pitch goes However the man talks a good game and infers an ambition for the team to win things and this is where he differs from Stan and his puppets on the board. There is little doubt that should he gain control there would be a shake up in the boardroom which probably would be no bad thing and his business acumen makes it unlikely that the club would be run badly as an effect. Bringing in a will to win at the top is something that we have needed for many years and I can’t see Josh Kroenke being that particular answer.

  89. rico says:

    Morning Scott, Potter and all…

    Good article Wath..

    I’m sure Usmanov would find a way to sneak some of his money into the team… lol

    Seriously though, like you say Potter, he’d bring change, and perhaps a bit more ambition and passion. Something which is seriously lacking under Stan…

  90. tsgh says:

    Morning Scott, Rico and all

    Hopefully, AW can show why he is still revered in some quarters tonight.

    We face a BVB outfit whose form in their league is even worst than ours…
    Maybe in the UCL they seem to be flying but they are 15th and their fans want Klop out too…
    A good performance will lift the fans out of this ‘November blues’…

    Last year we were lucky not to go through our annual November slump but this time it has come back even harder…

    Come on RRRss…

  92. tsgh says:

    Marco Reus is out until January… is this the right time to swap Poldi for him since AW lost interest in Poldi when he ‘hung’ with frimps before Frimps moved? lol
    Obviously if we can over lok his diving antics… 😉

  99. bradster says:

    Hi All,

    BVB seem to play so much better in Europe. I feel it’ll be so difficult tomo if they press us again.
    We are so poor when we can’t control the tempo of the game.

    I see people are expecting Europe cups to become a single league set up. Imagine trying to have a squad big enough to play twice a week in two demanding leagues.

  101. tsgh says:

    My bad we are not tonight…
    Schar is a top defender… but will he be another Senderos or Djourou when he joins us from Switzerland. 🙂

  102. Adam says:

    Morning Rico, Lee and all. What Usmanov would bring would be a certain ruthlessness and a high level of accountability. He certainly would not have let things drift as Kroenke has I would imagine. I liked his statement about strengthening everywhere. He has obviously watched Gibbs closely. 🙂

  103. tsgh says:

    Hi Brad, hope you are well? I was in South Africa for the first time in my life. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see much of the land. Worked in Denel Overberg for a few days… 😉

  105. Lee says:

    What fucked me off about Saturday was that we actually played pretty well, just another defensive clusterfuck oh and the ability to get the ball in the back of the opponent’s net! 😉

  106. bradster says:

    Hey ts all good thanx, you well too?, I hope the weather treated you well when you were here.
    i have a friend that designs aeroplane wings for Denel.

  107. Lee says:

    “Arsenal thump Inter Milan” was the headline BBC Sport went for on that wonderful night in the San Siro on this day way back in 2003.

    Seeing that headline, along with an image of Thierry Henry, arms spread, celebrating with a fist-pumping Ray Parlour made me beam with pride, even today – I know over a decade is a long time but, in footballing terms, doesn’t it feel A LOT longer than eleven years?!

    Inter Milan were still regarded as one of football’s finest sides when Arsene Wenger’s squad made the trip to Italy, which makes the hammering our boys gave them even more impressive and enjoyable.

    Naturally, it was Thierry Henry who opened proceedings when he gave Arsenal the lead midway through the first-half, however, the Italian giants responded through Christian Vieri via a wicked Sol Campbell deflection.

    I can still remember thinking as a wee 13-year-old at half-time, when the score was evenly poised at 1-1 that we were going to comfortably win – I’m not sure why, seeing as the same Inter Milan had smashed us 3-0 at Highbury only a few weeks earlier – but I just knew it was our night.

    Four minutes after the restart, Freddie Ljungberg put Arsene Wenger’s side back into the lead. Our third goal didn’t arrive until Henry took matters into his own hands in the 81st minute with that iconic solo goal, however, between Ljungberg’s goal and Henry’s second we were dominant.

    With Henry’s moment of magic, Inter finally crumbled, enabling Edu and Robert Pires to wrap up the game late on and to complete one of the finest night’s in Arsenal’s history.

    from Arsenal Mania.

  108. rico says:

    Is Gibbs that bad though, or is he just told to bomb up the pitch far too much, same on the other side with Chambers or Bellerin.

    Monreal is the same when he plays….

  111. tsgh says:

    Our FB’s are the harders working players in top tier football… certainly in Sagna’s case he was…

    AW provides our FBs with no protection but still expects them to provide the width…

    There is no problem with that principle so far as you have better/efficient strikers who will convert the chances that are created or 2 top DM who can cover the full backs when they bomb forward.

    AW can’t have a hollow middle with kamikaze FBs and still expect a win against teams who would rather win against us and lose the following week to a potential relegation team.

    The likes of Pep, and Ancellotti get around this issue with attacking fullbacks by instructing only 1 fb at a time to attack.
    When AW had Ljunberg, Hleb and Parlour chipping in with defensive duties it was no problem but having the likes of Santi plus a new AR16 who has forgotten what made him great last season (when he was leading defensive tackles in the whole of Europe at one time) puts too much pressure on the team dynamics…
    I have always believed that even if we have PV04 in for MA08 without the likes of Ox and Sc19 offering no defensive support we will still be vulnerable…

  112. tsgh says:

    Weather wa snot too bad Brad; Denel generates loads of revenue for your government.. its second only to the U.S- Nevada for that kind of stuff currently… 😉

  114. tsgh says:

    Of course Rico..

    Same as when AR16 was averaging more than 4 tackles per game last season we were doing well and he was doing well too; but he is doing less than 2 this season as he has probably been told to try to score more goals; which is neither helping himself or the team…

  115. scottfromoz says:

    Morning all.
    Rico, we all know Wenger is responsible…..that’s how Stan and the biard likes it 🙂 🙂 🙂

  116. Adam says:

    Rico. I don’t know what Gibbs is or isn’t told but if you take a snapshot of the game at any one time he is invariably too far up the pitch. This is in my opinion obviously. As we have no cover behind him we get exposed time after time. For me he is dreamy and lacks defensive ability. He really plays as a left winger. Without a proper defence and defenders who can defend you won’t win very much. It’s a symptom of the modern game though and Gary Neville’s summation several weeks ago chimed exactly with my thoughts. Our defensive shape has been shocking for about 8 years, perhaps more. Add a weak midfield and you are asking for all the trouble we are currently getting.

  119. Adam says:

    You could see Ramsey, on Saturday, trying to keep it basic but the bloke has two left feet at the moment and shouldn’t be anywhere near the team in such a big game.

  122. Wavy says:

    Ramsey’s loss of form is due to the increase of his facial pubes! When he was beardless he played good football and always scored on a Saturday night! Now he is scoring every night and has no time to shave! He is Samson in reverse! Delilah Ramsey needs to tell him to remove the fuzz and then maybe he’ll focus on ‘soccer’ instead of other diversions!
    It his strange though, how his form has slumped since he grew a beard?

    Another cold crisp day, morning all

  125. bradster says:

    My take on Ramsey is that he feels he has arrived and should be like Fabregas who also left his defensive duties and tried funny back heels in important games.

  126. rico says:

    For sure Scott, but he is responsible for tactics…

    Adam, I kind of agree but if the lad is told to get forward, he’s going to do just that. He needs to be told to defend first and foremost and yes, adding a weak defence and midfield into the equation and alarm bells ring loudly..

    But everything these days with AW seems to be based on attacking rather than defending…

  128. allezkev says:

    Morning All….

    Maybe the problem Gibbs has, is down to the defensive coaching and organisation at the club…

    Jenkinson seems to be doing quite well at West Ham…
    Yes, it’s only West Ham, but then Allardyce does seem to have a grasp on defence and organising a defence..,.

    Just saying!

  131. allezkev says:

    Tony Adams and Co didn’t become the defenders they were, by accident…

    It took hours and hours of coaching and drilling them to do things by second nature…

    Coincidence or what???

  133. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Morning mates.

    Bongu habib.

    The reason Ramsey is not scoring these days is because he is undecided on which famous person is going to die next.

    Or maybe there is no one left.

    Or worse still he does not want anyone to die.

    just saying.

  137. Adam says:

    Rico. Get forward yes, but the edge of the opponents box might be considered a bit too far. 🙂
    As for Ramsey? I agree that cover is bare bones stuff and whose fault is that?
    All this criticism of Wenger and the ongoing stuff in the papers will only harden his stance I believe. He is not the future, even his supporters must agree that.

  138. rico says:

    Morning Kev. I’m with you, the way we defend comes from the training pitch… Agree re Big Sam too, he’s even got Song looking disciplined….

  139. Lee says:

    The balance of the squad is totally wrong that coupled with Wenger not having faith in the fringe players leads to our current situation.

  141. tsgh says:

    consider he was a top CB in his time…

    Bould at u-18 had a very poor defensive structure; Yes it was not top tier players but he was playing against identical teams/level.

    I have never been sold Bould is not allowed to coach as is puroprted whenever we lose.

    Ceratinly looking at team photos he seems to get involved…

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