We all cheered at the first and early goal by Oxo I'm sure and then again when we went 2 up and looked to be cruising. I doubt if we would let down our guard like Pat Rice and proclaim that we had turned the corner but 2-0 up in the space of 20 minutes reminds one of the stuff of The Invincibles. If only it were that straightforward of course since our rocky form dating back to March which can hardly be far from one's memory constantly suggests caution when things look for once to be comfortable. Last night, 7 minutes after our second goal we were brought back down to earth when Olympiakos countered with their goal from a set piece while our back line it was reported, stood still. It could so easily have been a draw and Heaven forbid an away win for the Greek side thanks to an off the line clearance by Mikel Arteta and some pretty nifty work by Szcsesny. All this led me in the cold light of day to wonder what it would take for Arsene Wenger to finally admit that we needed to bring in some badly-needed defensive coaching. It's not as though we lack the means or the opportunity since apart from Martin Keown and dare I say it others who we could bring in, we also have Steve Bould on the payroll. So what do you think it would take to finally force Arsene's hand my friends? A drubbing at White Hart Lane or perhaps at Stamford Bridge in the coming month? Even then would I expect he will come through with excuses in his time-honoured style perhaps laying the blame on a midweek European match or our continuing list of injuries or perhaps both. He would probably add to that a deficiency of character as he rambles on in the monotonous tones we have all heard before. Would a comprehensive defeat this weekend do the trick? I know it may sound less than faithful to be even thinking of this, let alone committing such thoughts to the screen but something has to give, hasn't it? Nothing will be done to improve this area of weakness otherwise. Only something catastrophic would pile on the pressure. Yes I would love to see Arsene do his next water bottle trick because if he doesn't do anything about our defence, he will have to come up with a succession of similar techniques and that my friends could herald our absence in Europe for the next few seasons. Arsene's overwhelming concentration on attacking styles is commendable. Who amongst us does not enjoy the sight of attacking football and indeed how can you hope to win without scoring? However I put it to you that how can you expect to win if you let in as many goals as we do? We are in the sixth game of the season, having lost three matches and nurse the ignominy of a negative goal difference. So my friends, painful as it may seem, would you be prepared to take a hit now for salvation in the longer term if it means it will force Arsene's hand in bringing in defensive coaching?
Problem is he has already come out and dismissed the idea out of hand. Also the press and fans have been calling for this coaching for the whole season so if he does indeed bring someone in then it would look like Wneger bowing down to the pressure and it will undermine him. His ego will not allow such a thing so i can't ever see Wenger changing his coaching staff without the guys in that set up calling it a day on their own accord.
You have a point Super J Now I know why Arsene felt so much affinity for Nicklas Bendtner. They are both birds of the same ego who flock together.
But not this weekend eh friend? Super J's comment on ego gives cause for concern since we have a manager who in going on record with his views is essentially placing his ego before the welfare of the club. Sounds like a lack of duty of care to me......
Name any other team in the PL that has a defensive coach Or some mention of a player saying the defensive coach has helped him.
The players themselves have asked for defensive coaching. Arsene's reply to them is to do it themselves. Several observers have called for this. I have placed links on these discussions in the previous weeks. Are you saying we don't need it, despite our frailties at the back? Have you not seen that our back four is largely incapable of dealing with set pieces for a start?
Name any other team in the PL that has concede 12 goals in 2 games this season. Martin Keown was brought in a few years ago to improve the defence and we went on a record run of not conceding. how we could do with that now.
Wiki though this is not the most reliable of sources, lists Martin Keown as being a part time scout and coach for us as well as his work on television. However I don't think he is doing any coaching at the moment.......... So you see Mr N, Arsene is almost spoilt for choice but the man simply digs his Gallic heels in and says ' Non '
But surely as professional defenders who (in some cases) have played and trained together for atleast a year should know how to defend and not need someone to tell them?!
No, it's because other teams defences have worked out how to defend set pieces and deal with crosses unlike our defence which can't deal with a dolly varden.
Mertesacker this week in the newspaper said they had spent a lot of time focusing on defending and that confidence is growing !
It doesn't work like that. Individuals do not make defences .. it takes the group to defend as a unit. No point the CB stepping up to play offside when the full back is behind him. You can only defend well when you know what the others are doing, this is why George Graham's defence was so strong, they had their roles DRILLED into them. I remember reading once that Graham spent more than twice the time working on the defence than the attack. When you have a well oiled defensive unit, the defence will be solid. Our defence are not working as a unit and this is what is causing our problem. This must be coached.
Interesting point about George Graham Mr Head. Now just looking into the future, do you think he could make a return? Indeed does anyone?
Robin ... I can't see Graham ever coming back to be honest, the bung and ultra boring football would never be accepted. We need a combination of things, defensive solidity of Graham, fluid football of Wenger, clinicalness of someone we haven't had yet, because Wenger's teams are not clinical. In close tight games we normally lose and we dominate possession .. and lose, we have to learn to take our chances.
We don't need a defensive coach, what we need is to devote some time in training to work on defence, there should be set schedules made of what is going to be done during the week in training (the same as a teacher has a scheme of work) and time must be set aside to work on defending. People are talking about bringing back George Grahame, we have one of his coaches as our assistant manager, surely he can organise defensive work on training, he is just not being given the time to do it by wenger.
Thanks Mr Head. Been a while and I had forgotten about the 'electrifying' style of Graham's football. The other matter was more than unfortunate and yes you're right, George Graham is unlikely to return.
I'd take a hit this weekend if it forces Arsene's hand. It seems the man is in need of shock treatment before he is galvanised to do anything beyond his narrow focus.
