To be fair, with the slipping, there must have been at least 45 slips today, no exaggeration...our pitch is shocking
Wouldn't mind seeing someone like GG as a defensive coach, but I'm not sure he'd either be offered or take the job. I think he'd want more of a say, in a more managerial type of role and I don't think it would work. I certainly wouldn't want him in charge as he's shown that he's not got a great judgement on the abilities of some of our players. I think his influence could be be more damaging than constructive. I think Bould is the the obvious choice for an assistant manager / defensive coach role. (If Pat Rice retires)
BTW...RVP should have been flagged offside there. Horrendous miss by the lino...a good yard offside!!
TV IMHO got rattled and bullied by Zamora. It happens at times but he should perhaps have risen above it. Easier said than done and easier said by one who doesn't play of course but then again I'm not getting whatever it is he's getting a week to play. I just hope this loss won't hurt us chances of 3rd place since Spuds have an easier on paper run than us to the flag.
Ok, I apologize...I skim read the comment and didn't read it in context Now that I understand GG would eb a great defensive coach, but the question is would he be conten with being just that?
He would never come back as a defensive coach. The point was he would be just what we need as our defensive coaching team seem to not know what they are doing, but I don't think for a second he would come back.
For a side that as I said elsewhere aspires to be winners they sure leave the back door ( by which I mean defence ) open for loses. Under this management we'll never have a defensive side like the famed back four or five that was the toast of our successful seasons of the near distant past.
You are right - Wenger doesn't seem to be able to get the team to defend properly. He needs help but gets upset when its mentioned and goes on about his years in management. Too arrogant I think.
Prior to today the defence only conceded 2 goals in the whole of March, so it's not true that Wenger can't get the team to defend. What costs us in games is when we haven't got the right urgency and determination. That then invites pressure and the defence are pressed into making mistakes. I've said all season, we lose games because of our own mistakes, not because we are particularly outplayed. However, as demonstrated by our seven game winning streak, the solutions are also within our own grasp.
Once again you forgot the vast majority of the season!!! We have conceded 41 goals already this season - it's not good enough and it hasn't been good enough defensively for some time.
It's about consistency, urgency and determination, which we lacked yesterday. Wenger has proved that he can get the team to defend as demonstrated by them only conceding 2 goals in the whole of March.
Firstly we conceded more than 2 in March. Secondly - you are right it is about consistency - and we have been very inconsistent for years. Especially in defence, where Wenger has clearly shown he has a weakness. The fact is we have conceded 41 goals - not good enough - and taking a single month of the season (and even excluding the last day of that month) as some kind of proof that we are consistent defensively is poor logic.
So we didn't concede 2 in March then And what about the rest of the season - does that not count? You can't just take a few recent games and use it as a sign of consistency. Competing to win this league means being consistent the whole way through. Our defence over the last 2 years has been the worst it has been in a long time.
read my original quote again 'Prior to today' Even conceding 4 goals in March is still not a bad defensive record.
Yes you have a point in that conceding 4 goals in a month is not a bad record. However, letting 41 in is and it does not compare well with the defensive capabilities of any of our main rivals. Of the current Top 10 EPL teams, only Newcastle at 42 have conceded more than us. Even Sunderland has let in less and Liverpool too though the latter have trouble scoring as well. Having a leaky defence is no way to go about winning anything though as I'm sure you'll agree and this is an aspect of our game that need to be addressed though I do recall discussions here having been there before too. Then again and sadly, not much changes at Arsenal. Not much under this management and MO, IMHO.
