Arsenal Are A F*cking Shambles On And Off The Pitch!

Posted on by
29

Arsenal (1) – (3) Aston Villa
Giroud 6′
The Emirates Stadium, London
Barclays Premier League

It’s the morning after the night before and I am still absolutely furious.

What can you say about that? Before kick off this was an game that on paper we should have won comfortably – we were at home, against Aston Villa who struggled last season and even though we had a few injuries we had the quality in the line-up to really pick up the 3 points.

But what followed once the first whistle was blown quickly turned into a shambles.

I’m trying not to overreact but the emotions are still raw. So I’ll try and be as honest as I can about the match.

First of all, the referee was poor. Not that was an excuse for the poor performance and defeat, but it did make a difference. The first penalty decision was correct – Szczesny was far too reckless and got nowhere near the ball when Agbonlahor was sent tumbling and there is absolutely no argument with that decision. The second penalty decision however was incorrect. Alan Shearer may have the luxury of multiple action replays and slow motion but in real time, it was never a penalty. Technically it was a penalty but there’s no way in real time that the referee could have been 110% Koscielny didn’t connect with the ball first. Even the linesman didn’t give it. I try to base decisions on what the referee saw (and not action replays show) and I can’t see how he could have given that decision.

Then the Koscielny sending off. It was a reckless swipe but he didn’t connect with Weimann and for me it wasn’t even a booking even if there was a touch. The referee was far too eager to dish out the second yellow and he made a lot of mistakes in the match.

But would it have mattered? We can only speculate. The fact was Arsenal were sloppy, lethargic and didn’t deserve to win the game. Aston Villa may have parked the bus but they were decisive, direct and deserved all 3 points.

And that is indisputable.

And if we weren’t injury ravaged enough before the game, we managed to pick up even more injuries yesterday as well. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs all picked up injuries and it is unclear how Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere will be for next week. There are also concerns about Aaron Ramsey after he picked up a kick on his ankle.

And with Laurent Koscielny about to be suspended, we really are working with a threadbare squad.

If that wasn’t frustrating enough, Arsene Wenger said after the game after being asked why no money had been spent:

“I can return your question. Could we have won the game with the players that were on the pitch today? That’s for me the real question. And I say yes. After that, if we do not spend the money, it’s because we do not find the players.

“I’m not the only one to work on that. We are a team who work on that. We are ready to buy the players if we find that the players are good enough for us. That’s all we can tell you.”

Well clearly the players on the pitch couldn’t win the game could they Arsene?

You could ask the same question after we lost to Blackburn Rovers in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup last season at home? And how about when we lost to Bradford City in the Capital One Cup as well?

This is turning into one pathetic joke.

We don’t have any new additions to the squad, we’re making the same old stupid defensive mistakes (what happened to the solid form we had in the last 10 games of last season), the fans are increasingly frustrated and the players we do have aren’t performing at the level they should be.

After a decent pre-season, why did we look so lethargic against Aston Villa?

If anyone can explain why we are in this almighty mess, please enlighten me.

The post-match interview with Jack Wilshere was devastating to watch. Clearly upset, he urged the fans to back the team and see how they do over the next few months. But he, more than anyone, knows the disappointment all the Arsenal fans feel. He mentioned fans paying to see the team and it’s obvious that Arsene Wenger has let the club down. When you see Jack Wilshere desperate for quality players to come to Arsenal to make them real competitors then you feel for the kid, you really do. He deserves to be playing in a top quality team that can seriously compete for honours.

The only positive we can take from this, is that Arsene Wenger might get his finger out and actually make a fucking signing.

If Aston Villa can rip us apart in our own back yard, then what are Fenerbahce capable of?

It’s too scary to even think about.

The Start Of A Brand New Season

Posted on by
1

In a few hours, Arsenal will start their new campaign for the 2013/2014 season. All the talk is over and the football will begin. The summer shenanigans are over (well, for now) and the long season will soon be underway.

The only thing left to do, is believe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUcvPZyDphY

So how do you think we’ll do this afternoon?

Arsene Wenger Is AN ABSOLUTE GENIUS

Posted on by
175

After weeks of waiting for Arsenal to make a big signing that clearly isn’t coming, Arsenal fans are becoming increasingly frustrated as the transfer window rumbles on. And with the “injury crisis” at Arsenal, I would just be happy with three or four mediocre signings so that we don’t have to resort to using the tea lady in the Champions League qualifiers.

And look, in a way I understand why we haven’t bought anyone in so far. Arsene Wenger, more than any other manager, is extremely loyal to his players. We haven’t bought a midfielder because he believes that it is Aaron Ramsey’s time to make that step up in quality. He has faith in Jack Wilshere going through a season without suffering an injury – it’s the same reason why Abou Diaby has lasted this long at the club. It’s the same as we go through the squad – Olivier Giroud is in his second season now so Arsene believes that he will do even better this time round.

Players who play under him always say how much of an amazing manager he is – and mainly that’s due to him giving players a chance. After all, who else would have given a young kid by the name of Cesc Fabregas such a big role in Arsenal’s first team all those years ago? And you could say that about Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Patrick Vieira when he joined.

But with the number of injuries we’re suffering at the moment we go into tomorrow’s game with Aston Villa with a threadbare squad, no new signings and a lot of frustrated Arsenal fans.

But if you think about it, this is what Arsene Wenger wants.

He is an extremely clever man and knows that if we start the season with doom and gloom then he is in a position to become the saviour of Arsenal Football Club. Remember two seasons ago when we got absolutely thrashed by Manchester United 8-2? That was rock bottom but what happened? We made some signings, turned our season around and ended up finishing 3rd. And that 3rd spot was vital that season as Tottenham Hotspur finished 4th but missed out on the Champions League thanks to Didier Drogba and Chelsea.

So it’s happening all over again. Most Arsenal fans are frustrated, down and nervous about the new season. But don’t threat, Arsene Wenger will turn this all around in his favour, make some big signings before the transfer window closes on September 2nd and suddenly he will be the greatest manager who has ever lived!

Why make all of his signings early in the transfer window? That would raise expectation levels and put even more pressure on him and the players? By waiting, he has lowered expectation levels and given Arsenal a great platform to have a great season.

Does Arsene Wenger Want The Sack? Or Has He Lost It?

Posted on by
29

Tomorrow marks the start of the new Premier League season. We all know about all of the players we’ve released in this transfer window and that we’ve only brought in Yaya Sanogo, who will forever be remembered as the only signing we made in the summer of 2013.

Mikel Arteta, one of our most important and experienced players looks to be out for 4 to 6 weeks with a thigh problem. Added to that, Vermaelen, Monreal, Sagna, Ramsey, Diaby, Miyaichi and Sanogo are already on the injury table, Cazorla has a 10,000 flight from Ecuador and Bendtner, Park and Frimpong have minimal involvement in years gone by.

That means that we roughly have twelve “fit” players for the seasons opener against Aston Villa, and two of those are goalkeepers.

To say the squad is threadbare would be a massive understatement.

And if clubs came in for Bendtner, Park and Frimpong then they would have been allowed to leave. So our squad could have been even more “light” on numbers.

So what is going on?

We are well past the point of making a marquee signing to appease the fans. Now Arsenal fans just want some mediocre signings to make up numbers in our increasingly depleted squad.

Most teams aim to have two players per position but we are well below that. Injuries happen all the time and God forbid we had an injury to Koscielny, Mertesacker, Szczesny or Walcott. The concern isn’t so much tomorrow’s game against Aston Villa, it’s the two Champions League qualifiers against Fenerbahce.

You do wonder what Arsene Wenger is thinking. And what does he need to do to get the sack, because completely ignoring a £70 million war chest against the wishes of Ivan Gazidis, Stan Kroenke and the rest of the board is a good way to go about it. I’ve heard from various sources now that Gazidis and Kroenke are keen on Arsenal to stay competitive and have urged Arsene to spend, while the manager has dithered in the transfer market and made some very poor decisions – including dropping interest in Gonzalo Higuain for Luis Suarez. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but it was obvious from the start that Suarez is a mercenary who would jump ship from Arsenal if Real Madrid came in for him.

The strange thing is well is that Arsene hasn’t even done his bare minimum of buying cut price players from the French league. We’ve got Sanogo but no-one else. We haven’t even recruited many young Frenchmen this summer.

Many senior players such as Arteta, Wilshere, Walcott, Podolski and Ramsey have talked about how Arsenal need to spent to compete. But why is Arsene being so stubborn? Has he had enough and wants to get the sack? Has he lost the plot and thinks we can win the league with twelve fit players?

Or has Arsene filled his swimming pool with £50 notes? Who knows what’s going on.

There is a small part of me that still believes that the longest transfer window that ever was will end in a few signings before the hammer comes down on the 2nd of September.

Maybe, just maybe, Arsene is playing a poker game and waiting until the last days of August to swoop in to make the 4/5 new signings we need. Then again, maybe not.

Arsenal Lose Out Again… This Time Luiz Gustavo To Wolfsburg

Posted on by
9

What a wonderful summer it has been for Arsenal fans. At least Saturday will give us a sweet release from the nightmare that is the transfer window. Well, for a couple of hours anyway, as it doesn’t actually end until September.

Any excitement once the season ended has well and truly vanished into a sea of disappointment, resentment and depression. Sure, we should all support the club through think and thin, but after 8 disappointing seasons Ivan Gazidis (a name I cannot say without feeling sick) gave us fans the worst thing he could give supporters – a thing called hope.

Maybe it was just posturing, showing off, or possibly even real intent, but for whatever reason we haven’t spent a penny (apart from the £390,000 in compensation for Yaya Sanogo). With 2 days until the Premier League season is about to start, Arsenal fans are feeling anything but excited.

After checking online numerous times every day since the season ended to see if we’ve bought anyone, it always ends up the same way. The player we’ve been linked with moves to a different club. Higuain to Napoli, Jovetic to Manchester City, Luis Suarez to er… Liverpool and now Luiz Gustavo to Wolfsburg.

How does this happen? We are either penny-pinching to the point where we are losing out on all of our transfer targets or we have the worst negotiating team football has ever seen. We go back to the old adage about David Dein and whatever your views on him, he didn’t seem to have all of these problems in the transfer market.

Arsene Wenger is like me when I go shopping in town for clothes. I don’t like it and can’t be arsed. I see things I like but I dither around because I know fuck all about “what looks good” and end up not buying anything for the fear that I might look like Justin Beiber one of those kids from Wand Erection. My wife on the other hand has no such problem. Give her my credit card and she’ll buy things I never knew existed. So in that sense, Arsene Wenger needs to be more like my wife.

I am rambling slightly now so I’ll end it there. I will say though that even now, when all hope is almost lost that I would find it inconceivable that Arsenal didn’t make at least 2 signings before the transfer window ends. We have a good base (our form in the last 10 games of last season) so to not build on that would be absolutely criminal.