Will Arsenal give us 75% of a season?
After losing 1-0 at Sunderland, Arsene Wenger said, "We were not at our level. Some players struggled, really, to prepare, mentally, for a game like that. Because you know after an international break it's how well and how quickly the team can focus."
Watching his interview on Match of the Day, I was struck by how deflated he was.
Wenger is a great actor, as George Graham was, but here he was very, very disappointed with his team, or himself, or both.
As Mark Lawrenson said, he was very downbeat.
Sunderland was a big game, so this was a big defeat.
A Gooner pal, a season-ticket holder for decades, said, "I've never seen him so honest."
Today Louise Taylor, a northern reporter for The Guardian, said Wenger had claimed Sunderland had only one chance and scored, so he was "talking nonsense."
Louise, he's been talking nonsense for two years
He also said : at home, we’d have won that game. That is desperate stuff. Really, that is desperate nonsense. A ridiculous thing to say.
Arsenal didn't score for 71 minutes and keeper Fulop only made one save from Rosicky early on. Eduardo's chip just beat the post as it eluded Song's run. When Arsenal hadn't scored after an hour, Wenger brought on Arshavin for Ramsey, and when Bent scored, he brought on Vela and Walcott.
He is now comparing Vela to Robbie Fowler (!), while Walcott remains an injury-prone kid who has nothing but pace. Nasri wasn't tired, didn't play for France against Ireland, but he was invisible. Song and Gallas kept Arsenal in the game for 70 minutes, then Vermaelen let Darren Bent get to a corner and Bent mistimed the header abjectly. His header went flying towards the corner flag, not towards the goal, but when it rebounded back off Fraizer Campbell, Bent knocked it in from four yards.
A jammy goal by Bent? Yes. Very jammy. But Arsenal's defenders didn’t win the first ball and they didn't win the second ball into the goalmouth either.
Basically, Arsenal's style of play is too narrow, too samey, too intricate. Nasri was never in it, Rosicky is not scoring since his comeback, and Eduardo is a touch player who doesn't want to be touched.
Fabregas is similar to Ramsey is similar to Nasri is similar to Rosicky is similar to Eduardo and Vela. And Vela is a Mexican Eduardo. If the manager gives new contracts to Eduardo and Vela, thinking they will come good, he is still selling us the future. That is madness. Give that money to Arshavin ! Motivate him. The Russian has bottle. Arsenal need more power and experience in the team. If you have that, you can bring in kids one at a time to play with guys they can learn from. Kakuta can learn at Chelsea, Pato can learn at Milan. But if Arshavin has already left, don't start him.
Unfortunately, Wenger always buy the same kind of player, so his style is one-dimensional. He doesn't like crosses and flick-ons, he's more modern that that. He wants them to pass the ball into the penalty area. It might take 6 passes or 9 or 12, but he trains them to pass the ball into the penalty area.
When Arsenal don't score first, when they don't score early, when it doesn't click, the team is impotent, and every performance like the one at Sunderland gives their opponents a lesson in how to nullify their one-dimensional style and beat them. Hull did it, Fulham did it, now Sunderland have done it.
Luckily, most opposing managers are dunces and survivalists who are interested in damage limitation, so their teams give Arsenal the ball, go into their shells, defend the box, and inevitably lose.
Wenger's team selection, in difficult circumstances, was dubious.
Before the game Silvestre said there would be a red-hot atmosphere at Sunderland and we've got to be ready for that. Eboue said he'd be happy to play anywhere and pass on his experience to younger players (!). It sounded like both of them expected to start at the Stadium of Light.
On Saturday morning, the predicted team included Arshavin, Eboue and Silvestre.
Why didn’t Arshavin start? Because he was devastated after Russia exit from the World Cup in Slovenia. And he was carrying an injury.
Obviously, journalists don’t know the full backstage story at a training ground and their team predictions are guesses based on incomplete knowledge. In football, the eleven who run onto the field are often not the eleven the manager thought would be running on. All sorts of things can happen the day before a game or on match day.
On Saturday morning, I didn’t read a word of The Guardian sports section. I didn’t get to it until Sunday afternoon.This was their predicted team : Almunia; Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Silvestre; Fabregas Song Ramsey : Eboue Eduardo Arshavin.
That team might have won at Sunderland or got a draw. It could have lost 2-0, of course. That is hypothetical now. That is irrelevant now.
What matters is the next game against Standard Liege, a team who would not beat Sunderland.
Arsenal's foreign players are always up for the Champions League and always turn it on for the Champions League. In their minds and hearts, it's where they live. The Champions League can be won by non-champions and it's the trophy they all crave.
Arsenal need a point to qualify but the fans need a win, a statement.
In recent seasons, Wenger has given the fans three-quarters of a team and three-quarters of a style. A million Gooners are now wondering if this will be three-quarters of a season again.
PS The match-fixing involves over 200 games in Central Europe during 2009. Several Champions League games are suspect. Police have arrested 17 people.
Nov 23, 2009