Oh Arsene
What can you say?
It’s hard watching this Arsenal side. We’re not a bad one. In fact in many ways we’re a very good one. In fact we’re probably a squad who a fair few managers could add a couple of players to and turn into Champions.
But right now something is missing.
Something is not right at the back…
The marking for the first goal was a joke. Nobody took Terry, nobody took Drogba and Gael Clichy left his post and went on a bizarre run to nowhere. But really it’s not so much about individuals. There is some kind of imbalance about the team and whereas we can simply put more goals past lesser sides, it’s always going to be a lot harder against the likes of United and Chelsea.
The galling thing is that yesterday’s back four, coupled by Song and Diaby is not a bad defensive shield. Yes, the keeper needs replacing, but as we saw yesterday he can’t be blamed for every error.
As for the second goal…
We appeared petrified of Frank Lampard running with the ball. Enough said really. Drogba got lucky with the ricochet but there was no doubting his determination.
Our attacking play…
Was not terrible given the situation. Arshavin didn’t do a lot wrong for his chance. But at 2-0 down at Chelsea, it’s going to be tough. Especially when you’re lone forward is 5ft 7ins or something like that…
So why didn’t Bendtner start?
I accept the man may not yet be 100 per cent fit. But is there no room for compromise at all? Surely after two sub appearances you could at least give it a go? If he got knackered, I think everyone would understand. As it was, the lateness of his substitution was utterly predictable.
Had we been creating chance after chance just before the break then fair enough. But who can honestly say they were surprised that all we managed between 45 and 64 minutes was one opening for Nasri? A complete waste of 19 minutes. Bendtner is not perfect and he will sometimes screw relatively simple looking things up. But he gave Chelsea something very different to think about.
What really annoys me…
Is that the vast, vast majority of our players ARE good enough but that we seem to have a manager who has become such an obsessive that almost any sense of pragmatism has departed our dealings. I say almost because Sol Campbell was clearly a very pragmatic signing. But he is the exception.
For the past three years or so we only seem to have got players who are perfect fits for what Wenger wants. And while everyone goes through good and bad spells, the likes of Vermaelen, Arshavin, Nasri, Eduardo, Sagna, Gallas etc are good players. Good enough too in my mind.
But it’s the players we haven’t signed that are killing us. The midfielder the summer before last, the goalkeeper this summer and now the striker we clearly need in light of a very bad injury list in that area of the team.
I fully appreciate the perfect player at the perfect price was not available. But would compromising just a little not have been worth it?
So we’re out of the title race…
Probably, but not definitely. We’ll know a whole lot more at 10pm on Wednesday night when us, United and Chelsea all have less than routine fixtures. United and Chelsea both have potentially tough away games, though just as Liverpool have run into form, how annoying that Everton and Villa appear to be running out of it?
The referee…
Why was it that on 68 minutes when Bendtner was chopped down by Carvalho and no yellow card was forthcoming that I was able to confidently turn to the people I was with and announce there would not be a single yellow til gone 80 minutes and that after that at least three would follow?
It’s because I’d seen it all before. Referees, particularly in the big games, seem to predetermine the disciplinary pattern of the game.
It’s either:
a) I’ll book the first foul of any vague gravity and keep going on that vein.
or
b) However bad the tackling I won’t caution anyone. Then on 80 minutes I’ll get card happy as to prove to everyone how well I’ve done to keep a lid on the game for so long.
It’s pathetic frankly. Just referee what’s in front of you. Book Malouda for constantly going in a bit over the top. Probably book Song too. And certainly book Carvalho (hardly renowned as a clean player!) for his foul on Bendtner.
Seriously, for 80 minutes you could do whatever you wanted out there, but so much as touch anyone in the final ten and that was your name taken. For the record Mike Dean booked four in those last ten minutes, including two Chelsea subs for presumably their first offence! Totally inconsistent and yet so predictable.
John Terry
There was something very wrong frankly about the badge kissing pledges of loyalty and commitment at the end. You kind of wonder if he gets it.
For the record, my take is Capello’s decision was undoubtedly right. Had Terry simply hit Wayne Bridge for no good reason, he’d have shown himself unsuitable as captain. Given he’d repeatedly slept with the mother of his child…
Perhaps more importantly though, he’d undermined Capello’s otherwise impeccable judgement. By Capello doing what he has done, the damage to the manager’s authority has been limited.
One other thing that must be said at the end of this quite rambling post is…
That Didier Drogba is an excellent footballer full stop but against Arsenal he really has hit some great heights. Fair play to him.
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