our strongest asset , our midfield , was sliced and diced , that way lies madness. Arteta just IS NOT good enough for us . And with it coinciding with Oxo having one of his hot flush days , we were screwed from the get go.
When Fat Sam can outplay Maureen for a draw and Wenger goes and gets his side HUMILIATED... you know that Wenger's time after 1000 games should probably come to an end.
Try reading the thread before you make silly comments Absolutely abject today right across the team. They played marginally better in the second half with ten men, but it doesn't hide the fact that we got an absolute pasting today. Simply not good enough.
I've got a strange gut feeling that Roberto Martinez can do things for us, he's not a big name, but he understands football, and crucially, isn't afraid to try different formations and tactics.
I think games like these demonstrate that we still need a defensive midfielder. As much as I like Flamini, who should have started, we still need to add somebody like Lars Bender to give us some solidity in the middle. Arteta for me is no longer of the standard we need. He slows the game down too much and his passing has been wayward. As mentioned at the start of the thread playing Arteta and Ox in the middle was a huge gamble against Chelsea.
Martinez is tactically astute but not sure he's ready to take over at a massive club (which we still are in spite of today).
Its basic common sense , you CANT play the same way against every team . Wenger has NO flexibility ,........no wait , scratch that . When we play at HOME against united we play defensively , where its not even needed, and drop 2 points . Then AWAY we play a high line against Chelsea , until we are 4 down ...THEN think about some defensive play .
There's only one way to find out. I don't mind 1 season outside of the top 4, as long as the long term vision makes sense, 1 average season followed by lots of good/great seasons is better than lots of mediocre seasons.
Starting to like the idea of Wenger going out by winning the Cup at Wembley. He goes out on a high and we can turn to someone new. Sadly, he just does not have the nous to win these big games anymore.
Martinez would be a massive gamble. You might think it could be one season outside of the top four, but realistically it could be years in the wilderness. Look at Utd, they've gone from Champions to struggling to qualify for the Europey.
Difference between Moyes and Martinez is that Moyes is a dinosaur who has offered nothing for years. Martinez is an innovator and a thinker. Someone who is prepared to gamble in order to achieve. Wenger has become a victim of his own success. Football has changed over the last 10-15 years and he's not moved along with it.
Another difference with us and United, is that Wenger will leave us with a very good team, unlike SAF who left Moyes with a sack of ****.
Mariner should be banned at least from PL games for the the rest of the season . Sure it was a pen but , the ball was going wide . He didnt call a pen , the fourth official didnt call a pen , he bowed to player pressure . Then send the wrong man off EVEN when Oxo and others TOLD him . shocking performance .
Both good points. Remember Martinez keeping an abysmal Wigan side up by using a 3-5-2 formation that nobody expected?
We were already 2-0 down before the sending off so the ref had nothing at all to do with our crap performance today. Why is it that we always find ourselves a man down in important games, eg, the likes of Bayern, Barcelona etc. Pathetically frail mentality against top sides.
