The legend that is Yaya Sanogo made an impressive appearance during the closing stages of the 2-1 defeat to Swansea earlier today. The celebrate this fact, here’s a wonderful tribute which compliments the skills, passion and desire he brings to Arsenal.
Lord Bendtner has nothing on Sanogoals:
Only Arsenal can repeat the same old stupid mistakes time and time again.
No-one does farcical like Arsenal do.
Against Anderlecht, we were cruising for the first hour then the Belgian champions scored a fortunate goal (as it was offside). Any other team in that position would have made sure they didn’t concede another as to give the opposition any hope and a chance to get back into the match, but what followed was a joke.
Arsene Wenger is the only manager who can’t see how the game is progressing and is unable to make the necessary changes to see games out.
The team went forward trying to score the fourth goal and we were punished big time. The basic mistakes Arsenal are making and how the team are playing is the direct responsibility of the manager.
The bottom line is that he is clueless.
And so we come to Swansea today.
The first half was poor, and Arsenal hardly created anything. The second half was better, and Arsenal managed to open the scoring on the break. A good Arsenal move resulted in Danny Welbeck playing a square ball to Alexis Sanchez, who finished with aplomb.
In a tough away day in Swansea, in the pouring rain, a massive and precious goal.
But like on Tuesday night, Arsenal capitulated in spectacular fashion.
Swansea equalised from a well-taken free kick by Sigurosson, and shortly after conceded from a header by Gomis (sound familiar?). Arsenal clearly have defensive frailties, especially in the air and too many times we concede goals from headers and set-pieces.
Arsene Wenger bemoaned the awful defending against Anderlecht and I’m sure he’ll blame the defending again after todays farce.
The problem is, our defensive problems are all of his making.
Our back four is threadbare, and we have Gibbs (who isn’t fully fit), Mertesacker, Monreal and Chambers. Of our first choice defence, only one is fully fit. We sold Vermaelen and lost Bacary Sagna and instead of adding even more numbers to put ourselves in a stronger position we only replaced them. We were always one or two injuries from a crisis and this is where we are.
The whole situation is completely ridiculous. With all respect to Anderlecht and Swansea, they are average teams and yet we’ve conceded five goals in two games, after leading in both. And all of those goals that we conceded have come in the latter stages of games.
You can point to the players for defending badly but it is completely down to Arsene Wenger for the personnel he fields. We’ve only got two injured defenders in Debuchy and Koscielny, and yet we’re in a defensive crisis. Most of the teams in the Premier League have one or two defensive injuries but aren’t in a stage of complete panic like we are.
The player you really feel for at the moment is Alexis Sanchez. The poor boy is literally carrying Arsenal and in any other team, he would be star of the show. He is the only positive with Arsenal at the moment and instead of basking in the glory of a fantastic performance against Anderlecht and scoring the opener against Swansea, he’s reflecting on how awful his team have played and wondering why the hell Arsenal have managed to throw away not one, but two games in the space of five days.
Sanchez must be wondering where the hell he is. He’s used to playing with Lionel Messi at a world class team like Barcelona – and I bet he’s wondering what the f*ck is going on at Arsenal.
I’ve been a massive fan and supporter of Arsene Wenger, the man is a complete legend and has transformed the club in magical fashion, but even I believe that Arsene’s career at Arsenal should come to an end.
He’s become stale, and too stuck in the past. He’s too stubborn and can’t see the weaknesses in the team – how else can you explain the refusal to bring in defensive reinforcements again and again?
The last couple of weeks have really exposed Arsene Wenger and his flawed ideologies. He was quoted recently saying that football hasn’t changed much in the last 10 years.
Excuse me?! That is possibly one of the most ignorant things I have ever heard.
Compare that to the attitude of Jose Mourinho. There is no doubt the Chelsea manager is a monumental twat, but he’s a successful manager who knows what he’s talking about. When asked if Chelsea can remain unbeaten for the entire season, his response was that when Arsenal did it it was in a different era, and today’s game is completely different.
So which opinion do you think makes the most sense?
Arsene Wenger has lost the plot.
Last season, we won the FA Cup – but only after trailing 2-0 to a Hull City team which, let’s be honest, are a mediocre side. We got there in the end but only after Aaron Ramsey nicked a goal in extra time.
What would have happened if it went to penalties?
Who knows!
And this season hasn’t been much better in terms of performances and results.
In too many games this season we’ve been lethargic and devoid of any spirit. We’re coasting through games, defending poorly and bar Sanchez, are showing no fight.
And that is down to one man:
Arsene Wenger.
The players have clearly had enough. They’re not playing for him anymore. The team is playing badly and we’re not winning games against the poorer teams in the Premier League.
And tonight, we threw away a 3-0 against a side which only has 2 points to their name in the Champions League this season.
Sky Sports mentioned it tonight – in the previous 101 games that English sides have lead 3-0 in the Champions League/European Cup, in all 101 games the English teams have gone on to win the match. Arsenal’s 3-0 was the 102nd time an English team had lead 3-0 but they are the first to lose the lead and not win the match.
Arsene Wenger is a man who has lost the plot.
In the post-match interview he was clearly angry, and blamed the awful defending from the first minute to the last. That may be the case, but Arsene you are the manager! At 3-0 against a very average side, it’s your job to make sure the team holds on for the win. If you knew we were defending poorly, then why not put on another defensive midfielder? Why not play deeper instead of flying forward and trying to score another goal?
There are literally a million things that Arsene Wenger could have done from the bench to see out the game and he did none of them.
He could have brought on Theo Walcott to stop the Belgian champions coming forward time and time again. He could have brought on midfielders for attackers to keep possession and kill the game.
How a supposedly top manager can’t see out a 3-0 lead is beyond me.
Arsene Wenger has been a great manager for Arsenal, phenomenal in fact, but his methods are dated and he hasn’t caught up to the modern game.
With Arsene Wenger as Arsenal manager, we simply can’t progress to the next level.
What do you make of that?
It was the same old story for Arsenal fans – a game that we dominated in terms of possession, but couldn’t win. We took the lead early on with a Sanchez goal after 13 minutes but after that, we lacked urgency, desire and passion which is a far too common theme in these home games. If we’re not at the races, we simply go through the motions and it happens far too much.
Hull had a game plan, like most other teams visiting The Emirates have, and were happy to sit deep and get us on the break. You can’t blame teams for setting themselves up for that when the come to Arsenal because quite frankly, it’s a tactic that works well – and we have no answer for it.
Hull City were fortunate to equalise after Flamini looked to have been fouled and then they took the lead straight after the break and from then on it was all Arsenal. We had the vast majority of possession but couldn’t do anything about it. Apart from the equaliser from Welbeck and the late late chance for Gibbs at the death, I don’t think the Hull keeper had much to do.
The passing in the second half was pedestrian, which was worrying considering we needed an equaliser. Cazorla and Sanchez tried to make things happen but we didn’t have the urgency to players willing to shoot.
We pressed and pressed and pressed and finally, got through on 88 minutes. Sanchez waltzed his way through about 4 players with a clever dribble and picked out Welbeck with a fantastic through ball. Welbeck controlled the ball well and his finish was excellent.
After that, the fans were well behind the team and there seemed like a real chance that we could actually nick all 3 points. We had the ball in good positions but we couldn’t find the right final ball to take advantage of scoring the late equaliser. Kieran Gibbs had a late chance at the death but it was asking a lot for him to score from something which wasn’t even a half chance.
In the end, we manage to salvage a draw but we all know that when it comes down to it, that is not good enough.
The former Sheffield United striker Ched Evans was sentenced to 5 years in prison in April 2012 and has just been released after serving half of his sentence for rape.
Reportedly almost 150,000 people have signed an online petition urging Sheffield United not to re-sign him, but Blades boss Nigel Clough revealed that he had already held talks with club officials over the possible return for Evans (via BBC).
He has always maintained his innocence, and public figures have come out saying he should not get a second chance in football, and are generally outraged.
The terms “role model” have been banded around, as well as “sending the wrong message”. The problem is, people seem to forget that football is on a completely different planet when it comes to decency and morals.
Ched Evans, providing he can prove his fitness, will be playing football again, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
I don’t profess to be any kind of law expert and have no idea whether he was guilty of those charges or whether in his words, it was a “complete miscarriage of justice”. But he’ll be back playing again before you know it.
Football is a sport that does what it wants. If Sheffield United don’t sign him, another club will. Look at players like Joey Barton for instance. If he wasn’t a professional footballer then he’d be in jail for a long time for the things he’s done.
And it’s not just violent attacks. Look at John Terry’s antics, and how about Wayne Rooney. Role models? You have to be joking. They are players who could literally do anything and they would still have thousands of fans supporting them and screaming their names on a Saturday afternoon.
Football is an extremely fickle game with absolutely no morals. The only thing that matters in football is money. And if Ched Evans can help a team win games and help them earn more money then he’ll end up with a club.
Look at Joey Barton, Lee Bowyer, Jonathan Woodgate, Eric Cantona, Tony Adams, George Best, Lee Hughes, Marlon King, Jan Molby and Jermaine Pennant. All of those have been in prison for various offences but I bet you couldn’t even name what half of them did to deserve a prison sentence. That’s because in football, we easily forgive.