No, it's not a knee jerk reaction at all. As a team we continue to make the same mistakes season in season out. The players have changed, the assistant manager has changed but yet we are still a mess when it comes to defending. Also this season as a creative force we have declined as well. Wenger is not fixing these problems in training and there seems to be no signs of him changing his ways. The defeats to Braford and Blackburn were shocking and both those games just summed everything that is wrong with this team.
I don't think it is a knee jerk reaction, that would imply an over-response to an isolated incident. In my case I just feel slightly uneasy when even SJW10 who is quite level-headed usually claims that "As a team we continue to make the same mistakes season in season out". The way I saw this season is we started out very solidly and our defense was one of the best in the league. Problem was, we were not scoring enough goals. So we got more adventures and so started leaving some gaps at the back. We have the best away defensive record in the whole of the PL though. My own view was that we could have played a Juventus (or a George Graham) type season this year, but I think we would have dropped a lot more points to the (so called) lesser teams. So, I don't think that, a few games aside, we really have been a shambles defensively. The problem is when we play at home, almost every team we play is content with a 0-0 draw and have no interest in attacking. Do we just stick with a 0-0 draw or give it a go? I really don't know what the answer is but I do think it is a problem with the attack rather than the defence. We need 8 in attack to break down the 8 man defences we play against at home. That is going to leave a few gaps on the break. So while I don't think that the anti-Wenger sentiment is a knee-jerk reaction, I just haven't heard a decent reason why he should go. My own view is that I think that the chances of success with Wenger are still greater than if we get a new man, but that is what we are talking about here. The difference between a 10% chance of winning something and an 8% chance. This isn't a reason to get angry. There is not going to be an Earth-shattering change, either way.
A few points id like to respond to. First, I think teams have realised the best way to get a result agasinst us is draw us forward and hiit us on the break, its not settling for 0-0, just effective tactics. We also need a DM imo. If we're going to have 8 players attacking I want a DM to be the deepest of the attacking players for three reasons - if we lose the ball they can break up/slow down the break, have a chance to being the first to the ball if its cleared by the defence and as an outlet if the attack is not working and other players need to play backwards to keep the ball. And lastly I dont rate Giroud, just imagine how many goals we would have got against Villa if we had Drogba as our striker, someone who will make a big target of himself and attack the ball like his career depends on it. There were too many times Giroud went the wrong way to try to find space and then was in a position where he could not be found. He does work for the team and track back, but a central striker is there to score first and defend second. Just my opinion.
