Categorized | Champions League

Are Arsenal’s problems ones that money can’t solve?

Posted on 25 October 2012. Tags: , ,

Written by: LadyArse on October 25, 2012.

It’s two defeats. In a row. By rights, to the more optimistic amongst us, it shouldn’t feel as bad as it does, but it’s more than that. Losing to Norwich and Schalke in the way that we did is indicative of a deeper problem, one our decent start to the season was supposed to have put to bed. This was supposed to be a new season, a new defence and a new attitude but instead, what we’ve been served in the last two games is, well, simply more of the same and patience has been stretched to breaking point.

Schalke are a very good side, but they weren’t at their best last night. The reason Arsenal lost was not so much to do with them but, once again, ourselves and our ability to not so much shoot ourselves in the foot as to blow it off then use it to beat ourselves repeatedly around the head with it.

I’m not one of those who think that Andre Santos is the worst fullback in the world, but last night he was simply atrocious. He received no help, that’s for sure, left isolated, finding himself against two, sometimes three Schalke players and the fact that around two thirds of their attacks came down his flank in the first half (I didn’t see the second half stats) shows that they knew that’s where our week link lay.

Up front we were as toothless as we’ve been in my recent memory. One shot on target and that came in the last minute from a seventeen year old sub who was reading from a different script than the rest of the team. We’ve had fewer shots than any other team in the Champions League this season, and while our defence will always concern us, to see an Arsene Wenger team unable to create chances is even more worrying.

Gervinho played as if he’d never met a football before, completing not one of his dribbles, and while Cazorla tried to do it all himself, eventually that got too much even for him. I could go through the whole team, but, quite frankly, it’s depressing. Vermaelen and his rash tackles, Ramsey and his back flicks, Podolski and his supposed ankle injury, corners, crossing, empty boxes, and clueless minds.

After the match Steve Bould spoke about the side being ‘jaded’ and not knowing why and that is frightening. October is not even out and we have Manchester United a week on Saturday. Jaded. About what exactly? Before the international break we were riding high, and while the performance and result at Carrow Road was shambolic, these are highly paid professionals who should be able to pick themselves up after one setback.

Not so it seems.

People, this morning, are complaining about the amount of money that we have sitting in the bank as if just rushing out to buy someone will cure all that ails us.  Can it really be that simply? Or does this mental problem reach so deep in to the side that money won’t cure it?

Two matches may not seem like much but it is a self-destructive cycle. Defeats erode confidence which make it harder to pick up the win that is needed to help restore confidence.  We are, once again, a side fragile of both mind and body, and while some will make the most of the players we were without, most of those players have been out all season. Losing Theo [who has spent most of the season on the bench] and our left back, should not have this sort of effect on us.

No doubt the internet will be largely Gooner free until the weekend when we face QPR in what has seriously become a must-win match. Must-win. Against QPR. Can you believe we are saying those words?  Gooners had been in hiding since Saturday and if any are peeking their heads above the parapet today I have no doubt that it will be to do some serious ranting. As one who can normally find a silver lining, I don’t blame them. Of course, there are some who take it too far, but this morning anger, frustration and disbelief are the core emotions most Gooners are waking with as the open their eyes and remember watching a side who, for the last 180 minutes have been a total shambles.

It’s the AGM today and that’s likely to get lively. It’s not, however, likely to change a single thing.

[sorry for being so negative]

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  • Adnan

    You weren’t negative, its absolutely spot on!

  • Bob A

    What baffles me is how a team 4 weeks ago played very well suddenly with a couple of players injured turn in to no hope’ers. If Walcott does make the confidence different even thro he on the bench why for the sake of another 5-10 thosand a week pay him. If on the other hand we need stronger back up get them. I think Giroud given 10mins in both the Norwich and lasts game is a joke if you wantsomebody to come on and make a difference you have to give them 25-30 mins minium.

  • Kralik

    Vermaelen is the captain but he did not act like one last night.. he should have run to Santos and told him to get his act together and told someone maybe Pod or Coq to help him out… but it all started with poor team selection.. 2 forwards on the bench and a winger as a forward… winger as a forward and a CMF as a winger.. the horrifying thing was they didnt fix the defence at halftime. Then changes came too late.. then they took the fullback who was having a good game off and left Santos in… glad AW will be in charge next time…

  • Jed

    You are right. There is something in the mentality of the side that needs freshening up. I hoped Bouldy would provide it but for whatever reason its not working. Tactically we are slow and predictable which makes the opposing coaches job a lot easier. Change is required.

  • Elly

    I think most of us are feeling like this. I’m not angry, I’m depressed. Its as you say, more of the same – and much as I respect Arsene for what he’s achieved with Arsenal, he has to shoulder at least some of the blame here. Not talking about buying players, but more the insistence on playing people out of position, stubborn refusal to adapt the system in any meaningful way and this blinkered insistence on sticking with certain players that everyone can see just aren’t cutting it for whatever reason.

  • Pero

    Money can solve everything! For 8 yrs now the standard has been getting poorer. Replacing good players with inferior clones to save money. Buying 2 or 3 quality players could change everything but we are always that 2 or 3 players short because Wenger refuses to spend

  • Kralik

    Oh and I dont think throwing money around is the answer.. it comes down to making the best use of the players you have and AW is too much of a loving fatherly figure to them.. SAF would kick his teams ass on the game night and twice the next morning if they played like this… AW needs to be tough.. Verm needs to lead and be more talkative on the field.. and please stop adapting and using players out of place… Chamakh looks like he’s passing a stone every time he is left on the bench and not played… we have 2 forwards… use them!

  • The Crimson Avenger

    We have treated Wenger like a Messiah and it is papering over the cracks, we buy useless players because they are French, the team is not fit, they run out of steam worse than any Arsenal side I have ever seen. Every player that leaves Arsenal talks of how much better/harder the training is at other clubs. Wenger must be the worst man motivator in the league. We might not like it but Pullis takes much worse players and gets more out of them, they play for the badge, and the manager. We simply dont see that at Arsenal

    Wenger is the highest paid manager in the prem, not for his football skills but because he makes money for the owners, lets not forget he does that by taking that money out of our pockets to line his and Ivans pockets.

    When you pay the highest prices in the world you should have the best team in the world, in Germany they pay about 1/4 of what we pay, yet they perform and do well.

    Wenger is reported to say nothing at half time when the team performs badly, refuses to shout instructions when players are on the pitch. We used to think this was somehow smart and cerebral but now I think it is just stupid and petty stubourness.

    We have forgotten the dynamic play of 10 years ago, lighting fast, box to box, lots of energy, causing fear in the teams we played, Was this Wenger or was it players who were genuinly talented and knew how to play the game. I watch our game now and it is boring, pass, pass, pass, pass, no pace, no urgency, no shots, no pressure .. We are a mediocre team with some very good players.

    I think Wenger is the problem now, he is the direct reason we will not win anything, His tactics do not work, he does not see terrible problems in the team (4 years with no decent goalkeeper while good ones were sold for next to nothing). No defensive training, (thats what past players have said) when it was clear that was our biggest problem. 70 minute subs no matter what was happening on the pitch (remember the days when he would put on 4 strikers if we were losing!

    Wenger has become content with 4th place, I am not content with that and I want to see speed, passion and commitment in our team.

    We need a change at all levels of the club apart from most of the playing staff, get us a good manager who can get passion from this team and we will do alright but that is not going to happen with AW.

  • Niko

    ” this morning anger, frustration and disbelief are the core emotions most Gooners are waking with as the open their eyes and remember watching a side who, for the last 180 minutes have been a total shambles.”
    Couldn’t put it better

  • Ganesh

    To be really honest, the source of the problems – lack of motivation, handbrake performances – points to Wenger and Wenger alone. We struggled with picking up matches from the scruff of their neck even with Cesc and van Persie in the side. I’ll still give Steve Bould some time to sort out the defense, it’s not fair on him that he comes in for criticism with just three months into a repair job for a damage that is easily ten years old. A lot of blogs point out to the lengthy wage bill and the recent flight to Norwich where it seems the team still had their seat belts on, on the pitch. It’s an easy life at Arsenal for a lot of players who are on the fringes of the first team and who are simply not good enough. But would getting good players solve that? Not completely.

  • Kralik

    I think Podolski should have played as forward and Gerv on the left wing.. Gerv takes the ball wide every chance he gets and looks to pass.. even Santi as forward would be better coz he looks to shoot.. Gerv on wing would have helped Santos too.. Ramsey should be benched after Diaby or Jack come back.. and give Theo the money he wants!! Look at all the RvP assists Theo made last season and the impact he has when he comes on!

  • Kralik

    I really want us to beat QPR… I can’t stand Mark Hughes.. he’s a smug a-hole and I really want us to shut his mouth.. this team better show up!

  • pop

    With Wenger in the stands he was seeing everything we see yet nothing changes. Very upset with our performances and especially Gervinho, he just can’t control a football. Santi is starting to loose his smile with the shambles of a team around him. It’s painful to watch.

  • intelligence

    Replace Arsene Wenger with Pep Guardiola?

  • dando

    Agree with Ganesh first sentence, the only common denominator over the last 6 years is Wenger. Whatever his coaching philosophy is, it needs changing and fast. It doesn’t matter who we bring in, after the first few games where we see them playing in the style they have been used to (and looking good), it all turns to custard as the newcomers becomes “Wengernised”. Remember Chamakh, when he first played (as RVP) was injured) he was good, scored goals and was certainly worth his place, then as he became acustomed to “Wengerball” (or rather he couldn’t get acustomised to Wengerball”) his form dropped and we all know the result. The same thing is happening to Giroud only sooner. Why do we continue to buy players then don’t play to their strenghs but instead turn them in the Stepford wives. I love my team and when Wenger first arrived and we played that brilliant fast attacking football with a solid defence I thought we were made for a generation. Unfortunately, Wenger breaks up teams too early and has changed his strategy to pass, pass,pass and pass again. The common denominator has to go

  • MarkJFine

    I’m not jumping on the Wenger Hardship Tour just yet. There is something else amiss here. Through the first 6 PL games, Arsenal defended well and swarmed to the ball. We’re no longer seeing that. They also attacked the box and scored as a team. Now we’re seeing individual efforts and crosses into open space. The common denominator is communication and teamwork in all phases of the game-there isn’t any. I’m not for running Wenger out of Islington just yet, but I think he and the coaches need to fix this problem and fix it real fast.

  • Mohd Isa

    I think Wenger has taken the gunners as far as he can.He has beengiven more than enough time to turn the gunners around but sadly I must say he has outlived his usefulness.Once upon a time his methods could work but not anymore especially with regard to the purchase of wc kids like Denilson,Brenfther,etc.Sadly it did not work
    Tactically he has lost it . You just look at the regular losses to Chelsea when Drogba was around and then MU.
    You look at some managers. If Drogba was such a dangerous player why wasn;t a plan to stifle him. I believe there was no plan because Clichy said the gunners did not do defnce drills in his time. Wenger could do worse than ask some of the more defensive minded bosses for tips. But he is too arrogant and believes his way will be vindicated. The proof is in the results. Frankly the gunners could at most hope for a fourth place and a place in the Europa league.Having said that eitherthe present squad aint good enough or the tactics need to be changed to make the gunners harder to beat.
    It may not all be doom and gloom but the omens aint good unless Wenger embarks on a spree to get wc guys. That will be most unlike him.

  • puppyguts

    alot are over complicating the problem with arsenal…… imo we only have one problem this season, we don’t have a proven PL goal scorer. I am still baffled as to why wenger was willing to gamble everything on giroud this season? he should know by now that success in this league can only be achieved with having a prolific goal scorer. its a shame because the rest of the team has immense quality in every position (bar the goal keeper) which tends to get overlook when we fail to score

    bottom line is wenger is punishing this great team by not providing them with a goal scorer and benching theo who was last seasons assist king

  • Jagger

    There is something truly amiss in the squad since the international break. Wenger should bring in behavioural analysts and sports psychologists to work out what is going wrong. There is quality in this squad, as pointed out by the more than deserved draw an Man city and the way we dispatched Liverpool. May need one or two more additions in January to freshen everyone up but buying will not alleviate the problem we are facing right now.

    Wenger is still the man to lead us forward, though he me need to increase his repertoire of man management skills. One does not simply win so many trophies based on a talented squad as demonstrated by Chelsea’s abominable Champions league run last year. The mentality, discipline and drive has to be there and replenished every time you play a game. That comes from the manager.

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