POSITIVES *Afobe looked bright, he's certainly better than Vela *Rosicky was very sharp, nice assist, decent set pieces *Another goal for Van Persie *Sagna, Vermaelen and Kos looked good...despite not really being tested at all NEGATIVES *Rosicky lost the plot as soon as we scored runing around giving needless free kicks (ala Newcastle last year) *Gibbs can't defend *Ramsey won't track back..AT ALL!! *Eboue is still here *Vela offers us nothing *That goes double for Chamakh *Another day passes with the Cesc & Nasri situation unresolved
Another p**s poor display by the defence. If it isn't obvious to Wenger that he needs a CB or two he should resign, NOW.
They stewards should give out idiot boards to the fans that sit behind the goal, so that when raised they spell in big letters "SHOOT!! Yer Moron!". Lots of posession, little penetration. Everytime we had someone get behind teh defence with a cahnce to play the ball into the box he either dithered, or had no one to play it to, or just fired it blindly to no where. Even without any signings, if I had seen a keaner, hungrier desire to pepper the opponents goal with shots and make the keeper work I might have said that was progress. This lot will struggle to break strong defences down , and will create frustration in RvP and Gervinio.
Perhaps it was nervous laughter. Really, he has the solution in his hands........ or perhaps he doesn't
FAR FAR too much tippy tappy stuff when we get near the goal, why wont some people just shoot for christs sake. They must practise shooting im assuming, why is no one out there prepared to have a go, it was all very good passing football but no end product and in the end arsenal paid the price for not getting the second goal. Slightly concerned. T here were some postives to take away, afobe looks like he could be very useful put himself about and wasnt afraid to get down the wing. Van persie had a good game and seems to be getting back to his good old self, hope he stays fit. Not the end of the world by any means but the issues we suffered from last season seem to be cropping up in pre season. Oh and watching ESPN with guest commentators Martin Keown and that knobber Robbie savage, who seemd to think shouting loudly was a good answer to any question, laughed my ass off
All style and no substance ... Again! This system is doomed to failure as it is so easy to defend against and counter. Wenger is the best thing that ever happened to arsenal but I wish he would go over the tapes of his past seasons. The pace of the attacks in the past was phenomenal whereas now it's not so much an attack as a meandering canter to the edge of the opponents box where it gets too congested and dies. The team needs to revert to 442, sit deeper, allow the opposition onto us more and then hit them hard an fast. The high line we play is a defenders nightmare so it's no wonder we leak so many corners, freekicks and goals. We have the pace, technique and guile to be successful again but I believe it's the system holding us back, not the players. Wenger should watch cool runnings and learn from it. We cannot be Barcelona. We're arsenal. And we should do it our way. We've shown we can... Stop with this failed experiment ffs! Rant done.
Postivies: Rosicky played a little bit like he did in his good years. Kos was a boss again. TV gets another game under his belt. Gervinho is direct which we need because we have too many who pass on the responsibility. Negatives: Vela with another pointless cameo. Chamakh has lost the plot and no longer knows how to play as a forward. There is something wrong off the pitch,the guy does not even look interested anymore. Again looking clueless when a team parks the bus. The injury to Wilshere. The atmoshpere at the ground. Again booed off the pitch and the relationship between the fans and the team is growing apart every game.
Rosicky would have been my man of the match. In previous years, if we'd have been a goal up and passing it around on the half way line there would have been cheers of 'ole', this year there were boos. I worry that there is a lack of confidence on and off the pitch (and in the stands). If we take this form into the new season we are screwed. I really do worry about the Champions League Qualifiers, if the home leg is still 0-0 at half time the crowd will turn and even in pre-season friendlies we have seen how that leads to heads dropping on the pitch. Wenger needs to do something to raise the spirits at the club - and that means signing a proper centre back.
A bit concerned with Wenger's comments after the game about CB's. He said that both played well against RB (they did) and that he's happy with the CB's we've got. I know we've put a bid in for Jagielka and I hope we go back with an improved one. I'm beginning to fear that Wenger is not going to add any more signings.....
re piskie - Yeah, comments like that are usually the sign of him back-tracking on promises. He promised to add height to the squad and improve the defence. So far he has failed on both counts. We have shown the same issues in pre-season as we did at the end of last season. It looks like we are going to take our form from the end of last season into games against Liverpool and Manchester United with Champions League qualifiers sandwiched between them. The transfer deadline isn't until after those games and I can see the futures of Nasri and Cesc still being up in the air - I can also see Wenger stalling on signing a centre back in the hope of saving a bit of money. Our season could be over by the end of August with defeats to two of our biggest rivals and being dumped out of the Champions League by a supposedly lesser team! That is my biggest fear.
If he doesn't, then I fear there is every chance that this year could be his last and that itself would be a sad way to draw a conclusion to the most successful manager we have had. Arsene seems to be caught in a quagmire by the way his decisions have backfired, this beginning with the collapse in the final runup to last season. I'm assuming he had his finger on the pulse then and that being so, his decisions have yielded nothing. The promise of being active in the transfer market has shown up little, to leave one with the impression that at last, plans are being put in place to right our deficiencies and return the club to it's former winning ways. With the summer drawing to a close, Arsenal has very little time in which to put a lot of things right and if as it appears not much is forthcoming then I move to suggest that Arsene's time at the club too may be counting down.
