There’s Only So Much Arsene Wenger Can Do…
Arsene Wenger has come under a lot of pressure from Arsenal fans recently but after watching today’s performance against Newcastle it’s hard not to see that some of the players who put on an Arsenal shirt are just not upto it, or worse believe their own hype.
The only player who I thought had a decent game and tried to make things happen was Gael Clichy - and he’s our left back!
We know Arsene won’t throw tea cups or even shout at his players but it’s clear this current Arsenal squad doesn’t have enough winners. Players who will fight on the pitch and have that fire inside them to win.
I’m not sure that a lot of these players have this winning mentality.
Too many off these players have no problem in motivating themselves for games against Manchester United and Chelsea but they’re not interested if it’s against Everton, Newcastle or Sheffield United.
They only perform in big games because they know that’s where the glamour is. There’s no attraction or headline-making stories when you beat a Watford or Charlton Athletic.
Okay, we’re fourth in the table and don’t have anything to play for but Bolton Wanderers and Everton aren’t exactly a million miles away in threatening the final Champions League spot.
And if Arsenal don’t start winning then our fears of playing UEFA Cup football alongside a team like Spurs could become a frightening reality.
Wenger has installed a beautiful football ethos throughout the club, from the youth teams to the reserves and straight through to the first team.
We know what Arsene will and won’t do.
He won’t buy big name players with reputations.
He hasn’t changed his style of play for ten years and he won’t start now.
But what Arsene will try and find is players who fit his system and style of football. Unfortunately the players he has brought in and he has at his disposal don’t look like being enough.
But what can Wenger do once the players enter the pitch as start the game?
He has to hope that the players listen to him and perform like they can do.
Unfortunately over the past few games the players have let him down.
The away performances against Liverpool, Everton and Newcastle were lacklustre and absent of any urgency, motivation and passion.
And despite a poor result against West Ham at least the players looked motivated at the Emirates but the players have to perform - or at least try - in every game.
There’s not much Wenger can do looking on from the touchline - the players have to put their acts together and start performing.
April 9th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
A point at Newcastle isnt a bad result per se, Manutd got one and pool got beat, I was expecting to get done so I suppose it could have went worse today.
What is worrying though is the complete lack of anything like a performance and a lack of fight. Toon were flying in for every challenge and we were doing the opposite, they need to realise that yo have to win the right to play your football. This was something PV and EP and EDU and PARLOUR knew and we used to monster most midfields until they almost gave up.
As soon as the line up was announced you just knew what was coming. Hleb,Forrest,Ali and sadly Fred are just not good enough for us / suited to our style and no amount of coaching will change this. They are picked every week though and I would love to know what dirt they have on Wenger to be untouchable like they are.
Get Toure in m/f with AD, get djourou next to Gallas and lets start getting stuck in in the centre eh. It seems AW is trying to destroy Cesc by playing him til he drops dead on the field, the kid is 19, has admitted he wants a rest and is thrown in again when he is dead on his feet, it is not far short of abuse.
Did anyone really expect a goal, and if they did who was going to score it? Hleb - no, Forrest - no, Fab - no, Fred - no, Ali - no, Beast - no, Diaby - maybe,at least the kid was trying ffs. We have 2 strikers injured and we dont look like scoring, this is a joke for a club the size of AFC. AW has brought these players in and Fab and Diaby apart has to swallow his pride and admit they arent good enough and get rid of them when the season ends.
It is clear that we have far too many passengers in this team for various reasons and if AW doesnt address this in the summer then he is not doing his job as manager.
April 9th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
There’s Only So Much Arsene Wenger Can Do??!!!!
Who buys, develops, trains and picks these players who put on an Arsenal shirt and ‘are just not up to it, or worse believe their own hype’?
For crying out loud can you please stop this, Arsene Wenger is God, and therefore above criticism nonsense.
April 9th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
I couldn’t agree more with TL. Wenger has replaced all of our power and thrust with a team full of small, lightweight players. There is no force in this team. No penatrating play. No physicality. I can hardly even watch anymore. We went from Bergkamp, Adams, Parlor, Pires, Vieira, Campbell, Keown and Lauren to this?
Wenger must accept much of the responsibility for incapacities of this team.
April 9th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
George, are you just copying and pasting your response on every Arsenal blog?
April 9th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Lol George.
April 9th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
I believe all teams try to play like MU of the match when the gunners lost thier unbeaten record.Since then the teams have denied the gunners time and space to play their beautiful soccer.
Until this is sorted out be prepared for more disappointment.
April 9th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Youre right there is only so much he could do
and he failed to do it in the January Transfer window, it seemed at the time that 99% of gooners around the world knew that Van Persie was out, Henry was not looking good and Theo needed surgery and yet he failed to buy in or loan some cover.
My big concern is that we don’t have a lot to spend and will 10+ million of that be on Baptista, I think we have given him long enough and if he does not get a start when the 3 strikers mentioned above are injured, how can you justify that outlay on a Reserve player. Please MR Wenger don’t be stubborn about the mistake and try and make it work, send him back to Madrid and put the extra towards a Etoo or Klose, I would rather bring back Reyes he gave more to us and didn’t even want to be here.
I think we really do need to ship out the following, Aliadiere (not good enough) Baptista (not good enough) Ljungberg (starting to lose it and getting paid far too much for it), Hleb (Wenger is being stubborn on him, he is not good enough). I don’t want an American takeover but we really do need to find the cash to invest in some experienced world class players this summer, we have been stripped of a lot of experience in the last three years and I think it has hurt us in situations like these.
I just pray we keep that 4th spot as I think Ribery is a banker for next year
April 9th, 2007 at 9:35 pm
agree cesc looks half the player he did in the first half of the season. he needs a rest. we have denilson who can play in his place and give the midfield a bit of energy. But Diaby and gilberto could look after midfield.
Where was Rosicky today? Injured again? FFS.
also agree that AW could see a striker crisis in Jan, and also failed to re-call Bendtner.
April 9th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
oh yea “Ribery” what is it 5 goals this season in the French league ? What is another tricky winger going to do ? We need pace and forward movement in around the box not playing in front of it where defenders can stand back and close the gaps.
April 9th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Miroslav klose could solve our problems….available for around 5-6 million.
Will he sign him….will he bug…….!!!!!
April 9th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
our season is over, we all know it, limping in… no henry or rvp = there nobody to score, will we finish 4th? would be a miracle now… if we do then arsene has done it again… we all know and i guess so does arsene know we need a lot of very expensive players, a goalie, a centre half, a wide goalscorer and 2 finishers, thats £75m worth, its not going to happen… there is no money.. so thats that!… thats the reality - we have to wait for these kids to get better and hope for some new players… maybe i should have hung my season ticket up when we won the league at the lane unbeaten
April 9th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
I feel that the nucleus of our team is getting there but what is obvious at the moment is the team are completely lacking in confidence. I dont care who you are, when your confidence is low its very difficult to do the things that otherwise come very easy to you. Our problem is, we dont have one or two players lacking in confidence we have the entire team. Its very difficult for Arsene to install the confidence into his young players at a time when there is so much pressure on them to achieve. Having said that he should of foreseen this before allowing most of our experienced players to leave. I have serious question marks over certain players mental strenght to play for a club the size of Arsenal.
Up until now I considered Arsene to be a great manger and had faith in what he was doing. However some of his decisions need to be questioned.
I think we have lost allot of our penetration, power and strength from midfield. Its obvious we need more killer instinct in front of goal and surely more work needs to be done in terms of our defending as a unit. I think we need to be more compact and harder to score against.
I feel with a few more signings and maybe another season possibly two to get the team and shape right we will be challenging on all fronts. But this could mean an uncomfortable ride for the supporters in the mean time.
April 9th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
ARN is a disgrace. I THINK ARSENE SHOULD DO WHATEVER HE WANTS TO DO. IF HE DOESN’T FEEL HE HAS TO SIGN ANY PLAYER THEN LET IT BE. EVEN ETO’O WILL NOT BENCH RVP AT ARSENAL; THE FORMATION WILL HAVE TO BE CHANGED 4-3-3. ALL I AM SAYING IS THAT THIS TEAM NEEDS A BREAK AND WE NEED TO GET BEHIND THEM INSTEAD OF BLAMING THEM. THIS IS THE SAME TEAM THAT STARTED THE SEASON AND WHEN YOU ARE MISSING PLAYERS LIKE HENRY AND RVP, THEN YOU WILL STRUGGLE.
ARSENE IS A GENIUS HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING. THE VERY GOOD PLAYERS ARE TIRED. I DON’T THINK WE NEED ANY PLAYER SIGNED YOU KNOW.
NOW WE KNOW THAT RVP IS BETTER THAN ADEBAYOR. HLEB NEEDS A STEADY PARTNERSHIP WITH EBOUE. CLICHY NEEDS TO WORK ON HIS SHOT. TOMAS WELL WHAT CAN HE IMPROVE? CESC NEEDS TO SCORE, GIBERTO NEEDS TO STOP GIVING THE BALL AWAY, BAP NEEDS TO WORK ON HIS CONTROL; IT IS A DISGRACE. DIABY NEEDS TO START FIGHTING CESC AND GIBERTO AT MIDDLE OF THE MIDFIELD. ALIADIRE NEED MORE CHANCES MAN, HE COULD BE SOMETHING SPECIAL, HE IS QUICK AND ALL HE NEEDS IS GOALS HIS FIRST TOUCH IS GOOD AND HE SOMETIMES REMINDS ME OF THE WAY RVP PLAYS DROPPING DEEP GETTING THE BALL AND PASSING IT AND GOING FORWARD. IF HE SPENDS MORE TIME WITH RVP ON THE TRAINNING GROUND THEN WE COULD BECOME A VALUABLE SQUARD PLAYER NEXT SEASON.
LASTLY A WINGER WON’T BE A BAD IDEA. IF ARSENE MAKES ANY SIGNING IT WOULD BE A GOOD STRIKER AND A WINGER. BUT WE CAN MANAGE. ARSENAL CAN MAKE £200MILLION THIS SEASON; ARSENAL CAN PAY THE MONEY FOR THE STADIUM BY 2009 IF THEY WANTED…BUT 20 YEARS IS LONG.
ARSENAL ALSO MADE £50MILLION PLUS LAST SEASON MORE THAN ANY CLUB (CHELSEA, MAN UTD).
April 9th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
AW needs to admit to have sold too much physical power too fast. Paying Lauren’s wages for 9 injured months only to sell him as soon as he recovered is just poor management. Eboue was already showing mental weakness before this and we needed one of the fiercest, nastiest players in Arsenals recent history back.
AW should focus the entire summer budget [including revenue from selling Alliadiere, Freddie and even Adebayor] on a proven striker. Good player are lured by AW’s taste for fliar and he shouldnt shy away from pursuing: 1. Villa, best striker in Europe with Drogba 2. Tevez, Hammers will not hold to him even if they survive 3. Simao, loves the flair and that is why he dissed stiff Rafa.
Last but not least, move Kolo to the middle and give him the armband he deserves and we all so desperately need reassigned.
April 9th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
Did I watch a different game to everyone else??
Diaby was pure CRAP and i have no idea how people still continue to rate him!!
April 10th, 2007 at 12:01 am
Yes unfortunately Wenger can do nothing before the end of the season, Our team is just simply not good enough. Our midfield needs a total re-shape, we dont have enough physical players there, our wide players are central players, we need to sign 2 new midfielders and let afew go.
Flamini, Senderos and Baptista seem to be leaving which is good news
Ade is not consistent enough & he’s showing now why he’s 2nd choice, Hleb for two seasons has offered nothing but afew great games in Europe, We could do with an improvement. Rosicky can alternate with Cesc.
If Gilberto leaves this summer we will be in big trouble next season, the last 2 seasons we are closer to the likes of Spurs, Bolton and Everton than the top 3 which is embarrasing even in a so called transition season
April 10th, 2007 at 4:39 am
DIABY WAS AS BAD AS CESC TODAY, HE PLAYED IN A STRANGE POSITION. HE WAS BEHIND ADEBAYOR. DIABY IS A TOP PLAYER. HE HAD A BAD GAME BUT HIS QUALITY STILL SHOWED.
GUYSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS IF YOU ARE THAT DEPRESSED GO WATCH PAST GAMES LIKE 2004 SEASON OR 1999 SEASON.
April 10th, 2007 at 6:45 am
I guess the easy solution is to always look to “buy” new player ain’t it?
We often forget, that success on the field depends A LOT on what goes on in training and behind the scenes - things we as spectators don’t get to see.
Spectators always see the players who are on form, and salivate at the prospect of them playing for Arsenal (same for all other fans). It’s an easy route to “buy success”.
Let’s now forget about training methods, the style of play etc.
Also, one thing lacking this season is fighting spirit - and that, IMHO comes down to the fact that we no longer have English players in the squad (other than juvenile Walcott & the squad player Hoyte).
1999 & 2004, we had some spinal & core players who were English. Adams, Keown, Parlour, Campbell, hell even Cashely Cole etc. Granted they were not always the most skillful of players, but they were always 101% committment.
I’m sort of feeling we’re lacking that grit in our play this season. We hardly see the players sticking it in this season - always prefering to grace over tackles, pulling out, skipping/jumoing over etc.
You can’t buy these things…
April 10th, 2007 at 6:47 am
Also, I heard our dressing room ain’t exactly the warmest places to be these days - with more than half a dozen nationalities from German to Czech to Spanish to Afrikans…
I read on some sites our players don’t even have the odd meal together…
I play in a small club - team spirit is 90% of the team. It motivates others to fight for you, to cover for you, to die for one another…
If that’s lacking… then the team will always be lacking too…
April 10th, 2007 at 10:40 am
I don’t buy the “English core” argument. Players like Vieira and Bergkamp, Wenger-era legends both, had that physical commitment, bravery and edge (read occasional nastiness) that you need to express your technical ability in a fast-paced and difficult league. “Earning the right to play” as the cliche goes.
So did Lauren, Edu and others for that matter, and the Invincibles were no more an English side than the Unwatchables. Yes, Pires often shirked defensively, or otherwise went AWOL, but it didn’t matter because he was so damn effective at the other end of the pitch.
And, no, I don’t believe buying is the “easy option”. Putting the same misplaced faith in too much underachieving mediocrity for yet another season is the easy option. Despite some great memories of last season’s CL run, including Paris (I was there), I almost wish it hadn’t happened, as it seems to have unshakeably convinced AW that a number of those players are way better than they really are.
We have bought only two senior international players in the 3 years since Reyes was signed (in Hleb and Rosicky), and only one (Rosicky) is good enough. We have lost eight senior international players over the same period. That is not the transfer business of a team with any realistic title pretensions.
April 10th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Arsenal to do a Leeds - GET IN! All you gooners need to wake up and smell the coffee, you are nothing but a small club in decline that had a nice little spell of top flight Euro football, that is now coming to an end and you will soon be where you deserve to be - league 2! Heck, I reckon your so crap, you wont even finish in forth this year and Spurs will be laughing all the way to the bank when a vice-versa happens this year and they take the last CL space on the last day of the season! Ha ha ha ha ha
April 10th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Glo - so its all about making money then is it…..idiot!