Arsenal’s Usual Weaknesses Were Visible

By JimC Published: 14th December 2009

fabregas03092008

by JAMES CURTIS – Despite victory against Liverpool, Arsenal’s usual weaknesses and recent constraints were visible: Manuel Almunia’s incapacity to make good decisions, a shortage of firepower in attack and Arsene Wenger’s misjudgment that the performance was worthy of champions.

The Pink Panther Strikes Again

Manuel Almunia’s flap which led to Liverpool’s goal must surely be his last for the season. The deep free-kick sent above the rising heads would have been gathered up by the world’s best goalkeepers – not Almunia.

No doubt the Spanish keeper was flustered by the nearest player Lucas and all he could do was palm the ball down to Dirk Kuyt who cushioned home. More maddening was Almunia’s typical look of clulessness by what had just happened, making him appear more like the incompetent French inspector he already facially resembles.

Like Inspector Clouseau, Almunia’s shambling around is time and again the root of Arsenal’s destruction and his buffoon attempts to solve the problem only leads to further misfortune for the Gunners.

Before Almunia is allowed to cause anymore Clouseau-like chaos in Arsenal’s box, Wenger must take his badge. And somebody please move the bust of Herbert Chapman to a safer place away from the goalkeeper’s clumsy hands.

The eager Lukas Fabianski is waiting for his chance and now is the time. Even if Fabianski makes a few hiccups perhaps expected of a young goalkeeper, they will be none more than the annual gaffs demonstrated by Almunia. By playing him now, the Polish keeper could be fully ready for next season.

The darker side of Wenger

Clouseau’s direct superior is Chief Inspector Dreyfus, often found in the state of a homicidal psychopath when Clouseau’s clowning around becomes all too much. Yesterday, uncharacteristically, Wenger took up this role at half-time, reporting to have unleashed some rage on the players apparently undeserving to wear the Arsenal shirt.

This was the most significant moment of the day, and possibly the season if Arsenal are to taste any real success from here on. Cesc Fabregas explained he had never seen Wenger so angry before and raised a smile when adding perhaps he should do it more often.

There would be nobody opposed to that. Of course though, the real question is why hasn’t Wenger lost his rag before with a group of players who more than on the odd occasion come in at half-time dirt-free?

Regardless of injuries, playing in an unfamiliar position or even if the team you’re playing against just happen to be weaving together one heck of a performance, the least any footballer must do at whatever level is compete in the course of battle.

Quite pathetic this time was Arsenal’s reluctance to risk a limb in the tackle compared to the passionate Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano. Arsene had lambasted them for losing every even challenge and on this occasion it joggled Arsenal into tightening up in the second half. Better yet, it installed in them enough belief that they could come from behind to win at Anfield for the first time in six years.

Beware the crocodile’s smile

Thomas Vermaelen collected the man of the match award for another rugged performance. In the first-half neither he nor William Gallas could handle the movement of Fernando Torres or Gerrard. Post Wenger bashing, the two became a more solid foundation and reduced Liverpool to no efforts on goal.

Going forward Arsenal managed to get more bodies ahead of the ball and forced Liverpool to defend deeper. All of a sudden Pepe Reina was dealing with more shots and crosses, eventually leading to Liverpool’s downfall.

The first was a Glenn Johnson own goal after a cross from the bye-line. Arsenal had finally worked out that Jamie Carragher has the balance of new born calf and Liverpool are only settled when defending the ball in front of them. The second came again when Johnson misjudged a cross and the Russian wizard Andrey Arshavin nipped in to fire high past a rooted Reina.

During his post-match interview, Wenger’s grin was wide and his teeth sharp. But beware his wryness bound up in the warm sensations of victory because deceivingly Arsenal collectively lacked quality.

Theo Walcott remains stifled by the tactical requirements of Wenger. Attempting anything imaginative or risky is past Brazilian back-seat passenger Denilson. Eduardo and Carlos Vela – Arsenal’s last recognised forwards – remain on the bench. A team goal was beyond Arsenal then, and therefore only the individual mistakes of Liverpool, punished by the solo brilliance of Arshavin could rescue the day for Wenger.

Credit where credit’s due

Some praise must be given though to Wenger’s judgment to buck the trend at half-time with an iron fist. It must have been a difficult choice for him given his usual tactfulness when dealing with the mental state of his precious stars.

It worked, it was needed and it was the management required to keep an under-strength Arsenal side breathing down the necks of Manchester United and Chelsea.

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{jcomments on}

JimC

Tom the Gooner

DOOOOOFFFFUUUUSSSSS

Denilson was fantastic.
Dan The Gooner

Song was arsenal’s man of the match. He was everywhere!! Thomas was good also but was too attack minded when we was 2-1 up.
Denilson also played well. He is slowly becoming the player we all hoped he could be.
Tom the Gooner

Denilson did a lot more than Song.
james

The problem is Denilson great attitude but the guy is such a waste of space as Ive said many times before. This guy just gets outmuscled of over the park how many times was this little weakling manhandled by Mascherano? Did he even pas the ball forward ones yesterday or was everything sideways as perusal? Song has made good progress, his all round game has improved but yet still we could get better Song. He’s definitely not a top class DM I don’t care what anyone says u can clearly see this when he comes up against the bigger teams. I’m still waiting for that monster DM player who can take control of the CM and give Cesc more of an option to go forward, AW is killing Walcott how long have i been saying this guy is so not a winger? Walcott is playing on the wing because he has lightening speed and this is wrong. u can clearly see Walcott is not technically gifted enough to play on the wing its just way to predictable hes just looking for space to run into by beating the fullbacks.
james

OMG “Denilson was good yesterday” LOL are u guys insane? please please guys watch the game again, u idiots clearly wasn’t paying attention.
zigzag

I think Song is consistently outstanding and I can’t praise him enough. Nobody works as hard neither, perhaps if they do we’ll get all the trophies available.
Caknucklehead

James, first of all learn the basics of English. Secondly, become a coach and prove everyone wrong, or maybe just hoe right you think you are.Blind-eyed no-good!
(What does “sideways as perusal” even mean? I’m confused!)
Caknucklehead

haha my bad…how not “hoe” but it somehow seems fitting!
Tom the Gooner

trolls
dennis

why is everyone so obsessed by denilson passing siddeways or backwards. no one ever complained about gilberto doing it or makalele. there is nothing wrong with keeping possesion. however, i don’t think he is strong enough in the tackle or powerful enough when running with or without the ball to compete with the likes of essien a few weeks ago or yesterday against mascherano and gerrard. on the other hand i don’t think diaby is good enough either and against the smaller teams i would like to see nasri play there alongside cesc with song behind. we do need to buy someone in this position because when song goes to the acn then we have nobody good enough to play in the defensive midfield. also agree that we should give fabianski a chance. even if he makes some mistakes with the experience he gets from a run in the team he will get better.
dennis

song was probably our second best player after vermaelen. and he has been our most consistent player all season
Danish Gooner

This Arsenal side finally showed some mettle but for Wenger to suggest we are title winning material is ludicrous.We will never be able to do what is neccessary namely grind out these very important victories against teams that grinds against us,we seriously need to repplace Van Persie otherwise fourth will be dropped.
james

LOL “Hoe” Crackhead your even more of a idiot Ur so funny mate. Yes Hoe does seem fitting, fitting to your m…..
robert

i don’t think walcott was “stifled by the tactical requirements of Wenger” he just isn’t very good. alot of pace but not much else. he gave the ball away almost every time he got it and was even worse in midweek. maybe i’m being harsh. he has just come back from injury and needs time to find his form but until that time i would much rather see eduardo on the pitch even though he is off form as well. and vela is off form. what is going on with our strikers. we’re joint top scorers in the league and none of the fit ones (ie. not rvp) seem to have any confidence. i know it was a wonder goal by arshavin but he has been poor recently and most of the time has not even looked interested.
Caknucklehead

James, it is sad to think that that is probably the only word you understood.
As far as Denilson goes, he works his tail off, and he hasn’t been back for long. Give him a chance to find his feet and he’ll be fine. I don’t think he was ever a natural dm but Wenger seems to know how to mold them. And he is still just a kid, gotta be a learning curve. He will come good I think.
james

Walcott is a special talent and this will be proven AW is just using the same tactics as he used with Henry when he first came to Arsenal as he believes the two can be a similar type of player. The process will just take a bit more longer as Walcott hasn’t got the capabilities to become a wide player, hes a striker this u can can clearly see like when he drops inside tying to beat the CBs for pace and he has quite good movement playing as a forward man and as we all know walcott can finish. Trust me on this one Walcott is a ruff Diamond this i had put my trust in AW 100% but now is fading due to the lack of opportunities Walcott is getting to prove what he can do. I believe hes ready now he believes hes ready now and while hes playing in a position where he’s not able to show his real class he is now getting criticism from fans which is not fair.
Caknucklehead

Now THAT I can agree with!
certified arsenalhol

I thought the post was crap, untill i got to the Denilson bit, that confirmed it!
certified arsenalhol

Walcot is a sprinter not a footballer!!!atleast not yet(hopefully)
Berg10

Agree on Song.
Denilson for me was off the pace although he is still gaining match fitness.

New keeper required, Akinfeev or Lores?
Exiled Gooner

None of the pundits or blogs seem to have picked up on it but it wasn’t just Wenger losing his rag that changed things round. First half Liverpool had 5 midfielders to our 3 every time Cesc got the ball he had Lucas and Mascherano all over him. Second half from kick Wenger weny 4-4-2 Walcott moved inside alongside Arhavin giving him support and Nasri dropped into midfield. This allowed to immediately take control if the midfield and we won the game from there.
harper

Wenger finally put Walcott in a position where he can play at his best.

And Arsene getting angry at his players (and showing it) is not as unique as many believe. His players in Japan said his rages would terrify them. I don’t know if it was Adams but one of his veteran players once told the story of how Arsene flew into a rage in the dressing room after a loss to Man Utd. Arsene screamed obscenities and threw things at his players.
TJ14

Maybe that is why Arsene has gone for smaller players now. He can actually pick them up and throw them at the other players.
sam

wenger put walcott in his best position ???

lol…fuck it.. hes not at all effective in the winger position..

the big fuckin mistake is allowing almunia to play in the squad.. fuck this lazy dumbfuck.. he is a big let down in the big matches.. better give fabianski the chance..

we need a strong DM and well built striker…we require these players very badly
lordgunner

agree with certified arsenalhol crap article ,anyone who critisise Denilson in yesterday match is pure blind hate .He was the best player on the 90 mn.Also Traore was excellent again.
But i agree on the GK issue , we need better one.Hope Wenger give a run to Fabianski.
Jim

James, I whole heartedly agree with you on Denilson. He is such a passenger. In all these games I can only think of a couple of long shot goals he has scored.

consider that denilson played 50 odd games last season and didnt get a nomination for young player of the year. anonymous to all !!
Jim

robert, yes perhaps walcott is more poor technically than tactically but i still see so many faults in his game about where to be and where to move.

he seems unsure of the tactical side of the game although this (as always) is down to his age. some mature faster than others. walcotts’ pace is the fatest part of his development.

how do you think he would fair as a forward in a 442?
Jim

Consider all those games Denilson featured in last year and he never even got a mention for young player of the year.

What I don’t understand is how he walks into the team. Especially last year. He practically came from the depths of Arsenal and I still can’t tell you what he brings to the side … Anybody could replace him.
agyness

yea, agree.
i guess ramsey can replace him as well.
i’d really like to see that.
NashIsArsenal

We’ve just won at Anfield man.. how many teams come from behind to win there. Although I feel like I sound like the boss, that shows great character.
harper

LOL, TJ! Love that image!
harper

STOP LOOKING AT DENILSON AS A DM, THAT IS NOT NOT NOT HOW AW SEES HIM!

AW is grooming Denilson into what we in Brazil call a “transitional midfielder” (which is how Dunga uses Felipe Melo in the national team) – it is a very difficult role to learn and requires a lot of intelligence and understanding of the game, of teammates and of one’s own game. Denilson is a half Cesc/half Song. He has qualities both have but he is not a specialist, he is not as good as either one in their roles, but he serves as a good link between them.

It’s no mystery as to why that kind of midfielder doesn’t get recognized, they never do.
harper

maybe you’re right and it wasn’t his best position but it was certainly better than the one he started in.
james

Harper when we u stop deluding yourself? Denilson offers nothing, cant pass cant shoot no speed and far to weak. Hes a complete waste of space all hes good for, is a short pass sideways I’m even Dam surprised hes Brazilian i think hes that bad.
nabildanial

Song is fantastic!!!
Bob

How can such a light weight like walcott play in the centre forward position?Dont you guys think that every team’s heart of defence is central thus needind stronger attackers from the oppositions?
TJ14

can’t shoot? Everton away, AZ at home?
TJ14

Is David Villa a strong attacker? Michael Owen? Jermain Defoe?

Do you think someone like John Terry would rather play against a big lump, or against pace? He would choose the big strong guy every time.

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