As I'm posting this, we've just conceeded another goal away to Benfica. Yet again, we took the lead. Yet again RVP was a crucial element in the first half and as soon as he'd gone off, the whole team turned to complete crap. Our pre-season has been unacceptable. Both on the field and off of it. The only game we have kept a clean-sheet in is in the first game against the Malaysian XI. Even Hanghzou Greentown managed to score against us... In every game, we've relied upon RVP and Gervinho as attacking threats. No one else has stepped up to the plate. Defensively, we look frail whenever Squillaci, Djourou or Bartley come on. Our strength in depth is worrying! Gibbs also doesn't look ready to take the left back position, in my opinion. Off the field, we've had to deal with stories of our best players leaving and nothing has been settled. It's like we're looking to sell, before we buy which means that we have very little time to get quality in. I am very worried for this season. If Fabregas or Nasri (or even both?!) leave and we don't get any quality replacements in, then we're going to have a long, disappointing season. Ideally, we need a left back and a more reliable centre back, but is Wenger gonna sign 3 players? We're lucky if he even gets one.
agreed. i was pretty much about to type a similar article. this is my first post and at present, all i can really say is that i think we're gonna be in for a long ol' season. As soon as we take RVP off, our game just falls apart. My faith in Wenger, as a manager, is slowly fading.
Each season my expectations lower and my opinion of Arsene (and this crop of players) becomes more cynical. Since the CC final, our pattern of play was: RVP scores, miss a shedload of chances, bring on Eboue, Chamakh, Squillaci, concede 2 inexplicable goals. It's happening all over again in this pre-season. Plus, the fact that we're potentially going into another season with Rosicky, Fabianski, Chamakh, Diaby, Squillaci and Almunia is disheartening.
It's a bunch of friendlies where mass substitutions are made, do you think Liverpool fans are dooming over some of their side's pre-season results (which before today were pretty awful).
Who could really blame fabregas and Nasri for wanting to flee this sinking ship as soon as possible. Wenger's experiment appears to have backfired spectacularly and I'd be surprised if he or any other manager can repair the damage. mid- table scrap for the eufa cup I reckon is the best we can hope for this season and lots more after. Not a happy gooner. Not at all...
A fair assessment of the game was that we played well in the first half, Gibbs did really well and RVP and Gervinho looked really dangerous. Rosicky played well too. Enter Squillaci and the mistakes started - then we conceded. Fabianski got nervous and then made a bad error getting beaten at his near post. 2-1 down It's clear we still need quality throughout the squad.
By the end of this month, we would've played Udinese twice, Newcastle AND United away and the Scousers at home. I expected us to take pre-season a little more seriously because of how harsh our August schedule is. We haven't made alot of signings, so nobody is having to adjust to new tactics or new players. We can't play like we did at the Emirates cup against United and Liverpool, we'll just be embarrassed.
Arsenal draw some friendlies after loads of changes - terrible, going to get relegated, sack everyone Liverpool get hammered in some friendlies - LIVERPOOL ARE BACK, TOP 4 ATLEAST IF NOT TITLE WOOO LIVERPOOL ARE AMAZING
Would not take much notice of the result today. We played well with our first team against a team that has already plaed 2 serious games in the CL. The 2nd half we brought on a lot of kids and lost the shape. Also they brought on the some class players from their first eam.
Importance of pre-season rslts: Spurs in 08 = WWDWWWWW – season starts – LLDLDLLL. Chelsea in 10 = WLLLL – season starts – WWWWW
Same problems of last year. Loosing first half leads. To be honest, I wasnt angry or shocked when we lost. .... Im kinda used to it now. We are only getting what we pay for...........economy class!!
Worst Pre Season I can remember. Our defence is ****ing awful and our best midfielder/club Captain is leaving.
Didn't see the game but it seems like same old. I fear for us next season. At the moment fourth place is what we are aiming for.
Results don't matter in pre-season. Look at the performances of the starting XIs. Bossed Boca Juniors, bossed NY (both teams in peak fitness due to seasons running at different times to ours), were the better team v Benfica (who have already had a couple of competitive games). The big worries are of course the CBs. But Wenger has stated we are going for at least one new CB. I really believe we will sign someone. The other big worry for me is Chamakh. He has looked awful since November and has done nothing in pre-season to suggest he will be an effective replacement for RvP. People point to the beginning of last season as indication of his quality, but all I saw was a player benefitting from a team playing well. He scored goals in games we were comfortable in, won a few penalties and got a few sent off. Just a thought to leave this debate with. Chelsea had an awful pre-season result wise last year, and then started the season on fire...
If we do well in the league and win a trophy this season I could not give a hoot about how badly we played in pre-season.
I really wouldn't worry about pre-season if I were you. We've had a woeful pre-season on the whole, with 2 x 3-0 losses against Hull and Galatasaray, 3-3 vs Valarenga, 4-3 vs Guangdong, 6-3 vs Malaysian XI. Lots of us were panicking about our defence, and why they were just leaking these goals. Of course there were a number of factors such as not regular starters, different keepers, hot climates etc.. Then yesterday we played a full strength Valencia, we were missing Gerrard and Suarez but still managed to beat them 2-0. The best thing about the game was possibly the clean sheet. Lucas and Kuyt came on as subs and all 3 of our outfield signings were making their Anfield debut. Just to show how quickly things can change. Just wait until the season starts, because I've found pre-seasons are so unpredictable that it's not even worth worrying about who wins. Man Utd beating Barcelona is case in point, if this was in the Champion's league then Barca would win easily. Marseille beat Man Utd 8-2 the following week.
