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Ouch. That Hurt...But It's Been Coming
Lordy lordy, I'm one angry Gooner right now. There is no...let me repeat NO...excuse for the kind of spineless capitulation served up by our shambles of a team. I could rip every player to shreds but, as much venting pleasure as it would give me, it would make too longer mail - so I'll focus on a few and then finish with a cresciendo of bile about the whole team, club set-up, manager, owners...yada yada yada.
Mr Vermaelen vocalises how he is fed up of playing LB and wants to move back to CB...which is fair enough, right up until the point that he gets moved back and produces his worst performance in an Arsenal shirt. Mr Sagna, Mr Gibbs - if we'd extended the game by 24 hours, there might have been, you never know, a few seconds when you were postionally in the right place. Sir Chesney...if I stay alive long enough...your kicking might improve from its woefully low level and you might actually save a few. Walcott finally got what he deserves...the hook at half-time - one year left on his contract, puuuuurlease Liverpool - you love an overpriced Englishman!! Liability Djourou, Mr 'was I on the pitch??' Ramsey, Tomas 'I almost hit the corner flag' Rosicky...I could go on and on and on.
Bottom line is that this is the team and squad that Wenger (The Deluded One) built and it is, basically, s***house. As Arsenal fans we have to brace ourselves for the forthcoming misery...and there's gonna be shedload of it to go round. Out of the FA Cup on Saturday, getting tonked by Spurs the week after, losing fourth place to either an exceptionally poor Chelsea, or an extremely lucky Liverpool...and seeing Van Persie run away in the summer (and I don't blame him). All this from the fifth richest sporting franchise on the planet (see the Forbes list) and the club with the highest ticket prices in the PL (my season ticket is currently £1250)...and yet, fans of other clubs wonder why we moan!!
Pablo 'ah, that was another example of our famous mental strength' Eagle
...Outfought. Outthought. Outplayed. What else is left to say? The defeated look on Wenger's face said it all. And that defeated man has nothing to offer but sit quietly and watch a sinking ship go down. One of the heaviest defeats in Europe as well as domestically this season, he has lost the squad and as much as he'd wish to prove critics wrong, his own players have let him down despite his belief in them.
The concerning part is, how much more time will Arsene require to prove to the world that he was right about Walcott and to a certain extent, Ramsey? How much longer do I have to endure watching the likes of Rosicky and Djourou offer nothing but mediocrity while I support my club? Over the last few years I've accused Arsene of having to deploy too many similar players who created a lot but barely put their chances to bed. This season they can't even create chances and a 7-1 thrashing of Blackburn, a side that is fighting relegation is not a good indicator.
These players have been babied and protected too long by Arsene at his own expense and the club's expense, which is damaging the reputation of the club. Will anyone blame Van Persie for leaving under such circumstances? I won't be surprised if Milan spank us in our own backyard. It's so sad that I can't even expect a fight from the club I support. Atleast Liverpool have that spirit. They may be below us in the league but atleast they have a fighting mentality.
The club has needed a new direction for quite some time because the disconnect that exists between the manager and the supporters will only grow. Sometimes I think it's better to hope for the worst just so that Arsene finally caves in and admits he cannot go further.
Carl (This is going to end like a Rafa situation.), AFC
...Well that was truly embarrassing, and we were taught an absolute lesson. Firstly, some thoughts on the game: The starting XI was odd. Whilst I could see why Wenger started Rosicky ahead of Oxlade-Chamberlain (or anybody else), I don't think he told them what formation to play. Was Rosicky part of a front three? Was Ramsey 'in the hole' behind Van Persie? I couldn't tell, and I don't think the players knew either. I also think the wrong players were taken off (boooooo!!!) At half-time, taking off Walcott was not the right change. We needed more pace and more width in the second half, and although Walcott's touch had let him down a bit before the break - I think Oxlade-Chamberlain should've replaced Rosicky or Ramsey.
Our midfield hid, not one of them showed any true battling qualities. Ramsey was too slow when trying to move forward with the ball. Song pussy-foots too much for a true defensive midfielder - it kills me to think Scott Parker was available in the summer and Spurs got him. Arteta even struggled. The passing from all of them was dreadful. Rosicky is not one of my favourite players, but I do try to be positive when he plays. However, enough is enough now. I know what he's going to do before he even starts one of his 'runs'. He picks up the ball, cuts inside and beats a man. Then, just as things are going well, he approaches the area and tries a slide-rule reverse ball. I think he's tried it 150 times this season; I am yet to see it produce an assist, or even a chance.
The defence was arguably our 'first choice back-four', but it was the first time they'd all been available and it showed. Gibbs looked a unfit to start with but grew better, whilst Sagna was unusually poor. As for Vermaelen, I don't think he's ever played so badly. His positioning, his hesitancy, his passing - he was awful. Koscielny was his usual excellent self, but of course by being our best player, he was automatically qualified to be first injured. Djourou is a donkey - and not even the good kind like Adams. What a f***ing goal. Seriously, even I wanted to cheer. It was outrageous technique from Boateng, though it shouldn't have counted as it didn't touch the net!! I cannot believe he's the same guy who was at Spurs - they were crap then and he couldn't get a game! Mental.
I really hate Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Really passionately. You can tell him n'all. So now what, where do we go from here? With this squad, there is no use playing in games like this where we are out of their depth so badly. This was our 'reward' for winning our group remember. A year out of the competition may well do us some good, maybe we can rebuild a bit, and get rid of some of the deadwood. If Arsene Wenger wants to strip the squad down and start again (with a spine of Szcz, Kos, Wilshere, Ox, RvP) then he MUST do it this summer, otherwise maybe it's time for a change. All that said, without Champions League football there may be no Van Persie, and no 'big-name' players attracted enough to come to us. Van Persie must've looked around tonight and realised he is never going to win the Champions League (or anything!!) alongside these players.
If I was him, I'd tell Wenger that unless dramatic changes are made before August, then I wouldn't be signing a new contract. It's going to be Samir Nasri Mark II, just with a nicer bloke. So to sum up: we need the Champions League status, we could just do without the games for a while!
Joe, AFC, East Sussex
Not An Awful Lot Of Love For Ramsey
I am a Gooner from the Fever Pitch era and have stood in the freezing rain on Wednesday nights with 17,000 others at Highbury during the terrible Don Howe days, so I have paid my dues. So, could someone please tell me how on earth Aaron Ramsey is playing for Arsenal, let alone starting? What does he bring to the team? The boy doesn't tackle, never wins a ball in the air, fails miserably with attempted through balls consistently - often missing by yards, has little composure in the box and has zero pace; in fact, he makes Denilson look like a Roy Keane tackling machine and Mertersacker look like an Olympic sprinter!
He, along with too many others in the squad is one paced, lacks the necessary aggression and is simply not good enough. I don't expect Arsenal to compete with the Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Barcelona etc., for top players, but here has to be better, quicker, more committed players out there who would give their all in an Arsenal shirt. Why didn't the Ox start? What does the excellent Coquelin have to do to get a game ahead of Ramsey? What must RvP be thinking right now? What must Henry be thinking after playing with all of those great players in the past? What has Wenger been thinking for the past six years? Next time someone mentions the six seasons since Arsenal won anything, let's remember that we were very lucky not to come away from the Millenium Stadium (I was there too) without a spanking much worse than last night, so the rot has been there for longer than the trophy cabinet shows!
Gooner Brian (another one losing faith in Arsene)
Does He Still Know?
So, if, as iIkeep being told, Arsene knows, do you think he knows how crap his team is? Still, on the bright side, surely Theo has finally done enough to be dropped? My dog is a more intelligent footballer than him, and as I type this, I see him out the window cocking his leg up the gate. My dog, that is. Not Theo.
Mark 'it's been a great 12 years. Let's move on' Johnson
The Biggest Summer Of Arsenal's History?
Having watched that shaming experience last night and then reading Nick Miller's autopsy this morning I am in total agreement with every word he said.
Us Arsenal fans have to accept the fact our time is over at the top table of European and even domestic football. Fourth spot flatters to deceive our form this year, it's just that Chelsea have regressed even more.
Last night highlighted many of the points people have stated about them in recent years, no leaders, too many young kids, too many mediocre players etc. I'm glad Nick Miller did point out that occasionally Arsenal can roll back the years (goal against Man U and I would argue games away to Wigan and some of the attacking away to Chelsea) but on the whole we are finished as one of the big boys for a long while at least.
This summer will be a huge point in Arsenal's history - will they accept this constant regression and fall into a sixth or seventh-place side or will they invest, radically change the philosophy on who they buy and how they play??? They say Arsene Knows, I seriously hope he does...
Lee 'WTF was that all about' Lisno
Three Things Arsenal Do...
Okay, so I'm sure there will be more than enough people moaning about Arsenal's performance so I wanted to touch on something a little different that annoyed me during the match.There were three things that Arsenal kept doing, and have been doing for years, that just make no sense.
1. Knocking a free-kick to someone to take a long shot. Especially when their run-up is about ten yards. All this does is let the defending team charge the free-kick down. It may have worked in the past when it was relatively new but nobody falls for it these days. Please stop wasting free-kicks like this.
2. Floating corners into the box. Again, this doesn't work. Corners need to be whipped in with pace, otherwise the defence can easily position themselves in the time it takes the ball to arrive into the box. Even if they don't, when there is no pace on the ball, the attacker's job will be much harder if they manage to get their head on it as they have to direct it and put power into it. Surely you can find a professional footballer that can whip a corner in.
3. Passing it around the back four then when there is no easy pass on, passing it back to the keeper to boot it out. In this situation why doesn't the defender boot it out? They are closer to the midfield and attack so more likely to be accurate and if they mess it up, at least they are further up the pitch and the situation can be redeemed. And less time is wasted if you are behind and trying to get back into the game. Passing it back to the keeper is even more dangerous on dodgy pitches like the one last night. Paul Robinson will tell you all about that. Basically, if you're going to boot it anyway, do it early and do from a position where less danger can happen.
Arsenal certainly aren't the only team to do any of this, and I'm not suggesting it's the reason we lost, but it won't have helped. If I can spot that all the above don't work and I'm just some bloke that watches football (and writes in about every now and again) then why can't the top coaches in England see it? When people say that we are stupid to question top managers because we have no experience of the game at the top level, the above list shows that these supposed experts don't know as much as some people think they do.
Adonis (Arsenal lost a big match. Surely everyone is used to that by now?) Stevenson, AFC
When Did Arsenal's Decline Begin?
Watching Arsenal last night I had a sort of epiphany of where I believe the rebuilding project began to go wrong for Arsenal. I think this realisation came because Arsenal were playing Milan and it was clear how the direction of this match was so much the polar opposite of their previous knockout encounter with them. I believe the last truly competitive Arsenal side was in 2008 when their central midfield was headed by Fabregas but more importantly he was partnered by the tireless foil of Flamini who was quick, competetive and tenacious in the tackle but most importantly a techincally and tactically proficient player seldom caught out of position - something one cannot say about Song.
This was the season they were supposed to come unstuck in Europe and fail to qualify for the CL, instead they were title contenders, were highly competetive in the CL with Flamini a revelation in the centre. They were very much a young side abut the extra maturity would surely have followed to build upon their remarkeable first half to that season. I think in truth Wenger had stumbled upon this central partnership accidentally due to injury so by this time Flamini was in his final year after several seasons of being used primarily out of position (victim of his tactical discipline I suppose) so when he finally got to play his favoured role (and consequently improved the team) there was no emotional bond to tie him to the club that would mean he would continue to favour the Arsenal project.
Who knows if this was mismanagement or not (board/manager/agent) but what I do believe is that the Arsenal midfield has never been as dynamic or solid since. What do other Arsenal fans think?
Red Tom (Man Utd) The Netherlands
Laughing From United Fan
"Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, David Cameron, the Tube Underground staff, Osama Bin Laden, The Sun, Sky Sports, the Daily Mail, the Daily Star, the Falklands, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Harry, Jay-Z, Piers Morgan, the Wenger Knows Brigade, the In Arsene we Trust Brigade, News of the World, The Express, the Telegraph, the Sunday Supplement, Sky's Super Sunday, ITV, Big Ben, Thames Valley, Canary Wharf, Proponents of playing football the right way...."
Your guys took one hell of a beating!
Worst Premier League defeat - Check
Worst Champions League defeat - Check
Most Deluded Manager in the Premier League - Check
Out of the title Race by January - Check
No Trophy in seven years - Check
Out of the FA Cup by Saturday - Ohh Wait.
If the Arse is out of the Champions League now and if the Manchester massives proceed in the Europa League, would any Gooners still think that Thursday nights on Channel 5 are not an attractive propostition?
Western (No brackets is the rage!) Tsogorani, Amsterdam
Match-Day Rituals That Work (If You're A United Fan And They Usually Win Anyway)
My weird matchday rituals, weird but works.
Yes the following are my matchday rituals and most of the times it works.
I dont cut my nails, hair on match days deemed as bad luck.
I dont eat pizza on match days the last three times I did was 2006 season where we lost 3-0 at Stamford Bridge and the 3-0 defeat to Milan 2007 at San Siro.
If I am watching at home I change seating positions if United are playing badly.
I dont take a pee no matter what until it is half-time or full-time.
No food in between the game either.
Ajay Vishwanath
Doing Away With Penalty Kicks
Watching Zlatan Ibrahimovic score his much deserved goal from the penalty spot last night I began to think about the importance of penalty kicks in the outcome of football matches (obviously not in the case of last match - Arsenal nowhere near good enough). Around 90% of penalties are scored (according to this: http://penaltyhq.com/) suggesting that the award of a penalty kick is not far short of the award of a goal. In a sport of few goals it seems particularly severe to punish many of these infringements with a nine out of ten chance of a goal. For example players running away from the goal, but still in the penalty area being brought down. Or perhaps a handball that is nowhere near the middle of the goal.
Then you have the issue of diving. This can be seen when there is no contact from the defender, but also increasingly when players force some sort of contact on the defender (eg 'leaving a leg in') so they can justify the dive in post-match interviews. Referees are asked to make split second decisions on these moments, which are often still unclear in slow motion replay - and the award or non-award of a penalty kick can be vital in the result of the game.
My suggested improvement? Do away with penalties. Introduce mandatory yellow cards for infringements in the penalty area. Indirect free kick award from the position of the offence so that fouls near the goal area are more heavily punished, anything within six yards of the goal to be taken indirectly from the edge of the six-yard box. Red cards will still be awarded for professional fouls as the 'last man'.
It's not perfect but I think it's better than what we have. Thoughts?
Jim
