Sure but our midfield is actually still decent. But it's a confidence thing.. when you have an RVP/Ade or Henry/Berkamp partnership in front of you you know you can hurt them when you go forward so you play with more purpose.
We don't even play good football anymore. At least a few years ago we were one of the most best teams to watch, now we're boring.
The crowds are pathetic. If we lose this they'll say another home loss, but this sounds nothing like a home game.
Giroud needs to be on the pitch. He would of scored the headed chance Gervinho had at the end of the half. And can the ref please stop ignoring the little fouls that are happening in this game, lots of little ankle taps etc.. Did you see the look on Walcotts face at the end of the second half where he got tripped over - hilarious.
Well that was pretty ****e. We need to press Swansea, when we do they make mistakes and give the ball away. We also need to press them better in the middle, we've been backing off and allowing them to pick out a through ball. When we do have the ball, we need to have more urgency. We're simply passing it around the MF with no movement ahead of us, the player with the ball is running out of options and then has to pass backward, and it's getting the crowd frustrated. If we can address these issues in the 2nd half, then I think we'll win. But my 3-0 prediction might have been a bit optimistic
Problem with having players like Walcott and Podolski is that they can't tuck into the midfield and help us keep the ball like the likes of Nasri,Rosicky and Hleb did.
Our best chances come from crosses into the box, and we've got Gervinho in there! WTF Wenger? In summary, our brilliant centre backs are keeping us in this: Szczesny = 7/10 - No mistakes, some good saves. Gibbs = 4/10 - Very poor. Some of it could be down to Podolski not tracking back, but some of it isn't. Rangel has him in his pocket. Mertesacker = 8/10 - Classy, composed, brilliant. Vermaelen = 8/10 - Some great tackles. Even found time to get forward. Jenkinson = 6/10 - Some good, some bad. Looks good enough defensively, but blunted in attack. Arteta = 5/10 - Poor form continues. Needs to work the ball quicker. Wilshere = 6/10 - Looks the most likely of our central midfielders to create something. Cazorla = 5/10 - Very poor by his standard. Misplaced passes, caught in possession. If this was Ramsey we'd be all over him. Gervinho = 4/10 - Ineffective, no final ball, no heading ability. Terrible. Walcott = 5/10 - Looks dangerous. One of the few players on the pitch making decent runs, but hasn't contributed much yet. Podolski = 4/10 - Didn't even know he was on the pitch until 15 minutes in. Not tracking back, doing very little in attack.
That's why for me Podolski either has to start showing he can play as a CF when it's required or be limited to very few starts. It's not like Gervinho where he's short of game time, he's been pretty average on the sides all season.
