Tuesday, 22 May 2012

The most frustrating team ever?

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Just finished watching our nervewracking 2-2 draw with West Brom and am left a little confused as to what exactly I should be feeling. Wouldn’t life be a lot easier if we could all agree that we were definitely just a bit rubbish? Wouldn’t it be nice to at least know where we are with this team, rather than continue this rollercoaster ride journey with this Jekyll and Hyde team?

For about 70 minutes of this game we saw the ugly side of Arsenal: shocking goals conceded, total lack of threat upfront, and no leadership from anyone. Then somehow we hit back with two goals in quick succession to grasp an unlikely draw, and came very close to a win. We didn’t quite pull it off, but for 20 minutes we at least did show some quality and character.

Sadly, we’ve dropped further behind in the title race as Man Utd scraped to a late 1-0 win at home to Bolton. It’s so sad to see such a bad team ahead of us, but the fact is they simply won’t put themselves under the kind of pressure we do by conceding the kind of goals we gifted West Brom today.

Still, I can’t help but feel they will drop points, and their performance today doesn’t do much to change my mind. The question is with us. If we improve, we can do it, but after the performances of Almunia and Squillaci today I just don’t think it’ll be enough. We’re stuck with them for the rest of the season because Wenger gambled stupidly on the fitness of Vermaelen and Djourou, and now we have to hope Jens Lehmann can perform something of a miracle in goal, because Almunia is just an embarassment.

One player that really personifies the frustrating nature of this team is Andrey Arshavin. What a fantastic goal today, but what rubbish for the rest of the game. What is it with him? He’s clearly so talented but these days can only show it in glimpses. Again, what can I say? It’s all a big bunch of ‘ifs’. IF Arshavin decides to hit form and score a few more stunners we have every chance, but if not we’re carrying an unwanted passenger for the rest of the season. Walcott is nowhere near as good as Arshavin, but I’d like him back simply for the threat he poses with his pace and running.

In general, players back from injury would be nice, wouldn’t it? If we have to have Squillaci and Almunia back there, it would be nice at least to have Song and Fabregas in front of them.

At least now it’s a rather long time until our next game, so plenty of chance for rest and regrouping, and hopefully less chance of more injuries happening.

{jcomments on}

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Mark Brus

I'm 23-years-old and currently living in Bristol, studying to be a journalist. I've been hooked on Arsenal since I was about 10, and as much as I sometimes wish I could stop, I can't give them up. Favourite player of all time would have to be Patrick Vieira for the sheer passion with which he played the game.

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  • james mc daid

    You get what you pay for,we really have a lot off rubbish players.

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  • Dobbi

    good come back, but Almunia??? ahhh forget it. we simply won’t win it with him in goals. Lehman? i say give him a chance. and we need fabregas back as quickly as possible and fit till the end of the season. maybe just maybe we can improve our performances and results to nick it off a real crap man u side who continue to get the rub of the green

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  • The BearMan

    A question I posed to Arsenal and Mr. Wenger when the January transfer window opened. Now I pose the same question to all Arsenal players. What is the ambition for this season? Is it that all connected to Arsenal be a total EMBARRASSMENT?

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  • Gunner4life

    Why we cannot understand that Arshavin is lazy but also a genious. The rest of the team does not make any runs in the box for Arshavin to play a clever pass or open more space for him to shoot. We played Barcelona and we did not learn anything. They constantly making runs in the box, quick one two’s, one touch football, total pressing, and penetration.
    Arshavin is the only one in Arsenal team that actually can drible his man and pass him with acceleration. What is with us and the sideway passes? We as team do not use the witdh of the pitch, instead we keep playing through the middle. WBA today had 10 men behind midfield line defending.
    I wish our manager could have not waisted 45 minutes with useless Denilson.

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  • Laspeyres

    Bunch of lazy, overconfident overpaid twats (except for Wilshire,Nasri and Sagna). I’m bored of hearing the self-appointed “true fans” saying that no “true fan” would criticise the team. That’s bollocks. These guys are being paid a fortune and most of them don’t give a shit. This is not the old days when players were modest and proud – these are mercenaries. Of course we should support them on the bad days, but only if they are genuinely trying. Its getting hard to support these lazy twats.

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  • Laspeyres

    Manuel Almunia has let in 5 goals from 7 shots on target against West Brom this season.

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  • ME

    The whole fault lies with wenger, boastful about winning since before carling cup’s flop.

    January transfer window, he kept talking the usual rubbish, will buy, wont buy, will buy, wont buy KNOWING FULL WELL DEFENCE IS TERRIBLY LACKING.

    Then again, he thinks he owns the club’s money, refused to spend on quality; Pennywise but pound-foolish, and bought cheapsale useless SQULLACI.

    Denilson, almunia?? They’re wenger’s pets. How on earth can a top team have such players?? Only wenger knows, so dont blame anyone else.

    Mental strength? forget it!

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  • dan

    more like the most SHIT team ever

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  • chicarito

    Man Utd was 1 man down, yet they still gave bolton some trying times and finally scored. 1-0. And we said they are a bad team.?

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  • jezz09

    You guys are unreal, United are not what they were 3 season ago, but to say they are poor/getting the rub of the green, you lot are as bad as the bitters. United deserve huge credit for being where they are with the central midfield they have, but with Tony V back o the right wing an Vidic back in the team, they are very strong in almost every position with the aforementioned exception of central midfield. To say they are a poor team is ridiculous. And by the way, they will be even stronger next year, as their flaws in midfield are so obvious that fergie will have no choice but to buy at least one top class midfielder.

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  • Dan

    So fallen behind in the league, the last chance we have of winning a trophy.
    All of the fu**ing AKB’s were bleating all week about us seeing the true Arsenal come out and demolish west brom and go full steam ahead for the league.

    Well we did see the true Arsenal today, a bunch of overpaid, under skilled, over hyped players I have ever seen.
    Arsene knows best? In Arsene we trust?

    I’m swaying towards IN ARSENE WE RUST.

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  • Billboy

    The really sad thing about today was that the only reason it wasn’t totally predictable is that we salvaged a point. I really expected a poor performance, defensive and goalkeeping errors, another abject performance from Denilson, Nasri wasted out wide and a defeat. 5 out of 6 right.

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  • seasonticket

    There has to be a point at which even the avid AW fan has to start asking questions. I believe today’s performance has to be the watershed for many an Arsenal fan.
    Once again we are treated to the ‘I am proud of the spirit we showed’ speech. And the ‘it would not have been over if we had lost’ rhetoric.
    How much longer are you going to treat us as fools?
    How much spirit and desire did we show by going 2 down Mr Wenger?
    Perhaps drawing today in itself wasn’t a disasterous result, but put it along side being 2-0 up at home to Spuds then losing, defeats against Newcastle and WBA at home, throwing leads away throughout the season, and the inadequacies of this team are clear for all, except the manager, for all to see.
    We don’t defend well, and clearly don’t possess the spirit the actually ‘enjoy’ defending.
    I feel that there must now be a change at the helm of the club.

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  • Scot_lass

    Is it just me or have we not won a game since Fabregas has been out injured…and people talk about lack of leadership if not being able to win a game without him is not some type of leadership I don’t know what is

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  • Ty

    This is the best comment I’ve read in a while.

    There must be a change at the helm. Totally agree.

    Wenger is the only person in football who thought we didn’t need to spend on a keeper and at least one top centre back.

    I’d even go as far to say he should have brought in a powerful centre mid as back up for Song, or perhaps someone to play alongside him. We look a shadow of a team without his presence on the pitch.

    Other than Jack, there’s no agression on the field. None whatsoever. Nobody gets angry, shows passion or command.

    Fabregas took the absolute p*** trying that backheel at the Camp Nou. Yet nobody in the team yelled at him or let him know about it. Same with the cup final mix up. Pure silence. Even today, when Almunia came steaming out and messed everything up, nobody said anything.

    To me this is the most worrying thing. Because the passion to win defeat should be the easiest part of football.

    Wenger wants all these technical players – but the Invincibles, more than anything, were all leaders.

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  • petdro

    Wenger please fuck off now! NO Dont wait till the end of the season just to say i need to make some changes!! Too many exuses from an average manager who cant outwit managers like bruce, pulis, mcleish, hodgson! So how will he ever out wit fungusbum!!! please tell me! Wenger go you are a shambles to the club i love! We must all protest to get this arrogant fool out NOW! When i go to the next match i am going to make my feelings known and i just hpe others will follow suit! IN WENGER WERE BUST!

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  • don howe knows!

    I agree, I was there arsh is lazy but has brilliance & yesterday not only scored a wonder goal bendy could only dream of, he made the 2nd and was our biggest threat, denilson was and is like 10 men or worse, the worse arsene player of all, squill & almunia are the 2nd & 3rd worst arsene players… Maybe with those 3 clowns you could say we did well to draw… The 2nd half we played well cos that muppet denilson was off, and we went 442 finally, we won the half 2-1 and would have won but for the other 2 muppets… Rosicky was a good player he must play instead of denilshit, lehman was a good player must play instead of the waiter, and miquel could be a good player must play instead of squishit, then we might beat Blackburn up next!

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  • don howe knows!

    Who is going to Change what fellow posters? Arsene is in charge, gazides is a corporate manager, there is NO one else on our board who have any say…. Kroenke put gazides in with arsenes blessing so he reports to arsene really not the other way round, fizman is I’ll & out the picture as is lady Nina, Dein & usmanov, think it thru arsene runs the club, hill wood is nothing at all just a spokesman for himself with no power for old times sake and legacy… The crap players holding us back we all know are the problem, arsene bought em in… All we can do is somehow let him know… Now how do we do that?

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  • Angelo1971

    Agree. 2.5 years ago he said he did not expect the team to win anything in that season. I was shocked for the first time with Wenger, but I forgave him. The watershed for me was the Tottenham fuck-up. Until then I was only blaming the players. I said I would forgive him, if he bought/brought on loan at least a central defender. He failed. I said I would forgive him, if he started to use tactics and he failed again. I start questioning his knowledge, because he has failed in everything this season (transfer market, tactics, motivation and psychology, humiliatingly stupid interviews after the matches all these is a total failure). The shit players destroyed the whole team’s morale long ago (I think we would see the former Arshavin more often under a new manager), therefore there’s no passion, still no proper tactics, stupid excuses (mental strength my arse). I still have not called for his head, but the time is coming. There must be an end to this misery with (or if he refuses to change) without Wenger. The problem is that I realized, if he wins somehow the league there might be no (or not enough) changes. I fucking don’t want to see Shitmunia, Shitachi, Denilshit, Fuckou Diaby, Shite-booe, Shitclass Wancker (Bendtner) and Roshitsky. And I did not even add to my list the players, who give me at least some doubt. These are Vela, Chamakh, Gibbs, Clichy, Koscielny, Arshavin and Walcott. We need to get rid of the first set of players. We need proper motivation for the second set of players. We can also raise funds from selling the hopeless from the 17 players we have on loan, so there’s money. We also need tactics. If Wenger does not change there will be a mini exodus and most of the shit players will stay and the good ones leave. If Wenger does not sell the crap at the end of the season and buy quality and start using tactics you will see me next season calling for his head. Monsieur Wenger it’s time to think or I will join the Wenger-out brigade. I am an in-betweener.

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  • Angelo1971

    Our medical team is also a fuck-up and some arses need to be kicked there as well.

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  • bombasa

    must say I’m getting a bit tired of wenger this days, at some point he has to admit his mistakes and move on. if we replace denilson, bentner and alumnia(,scillaci I can give a season more to prove himself), with some quality players I would say we have a quite promising team. but we have to spend, if wenger goes with a returned injured is like a new signing again I think we have hade it with this gentlemen, for the rest of the season the squad is to light and I think the train just passed even if united have a shitty team. At least thet don’t get nervous every time the other team have the ball! and if they are two goals down they at least run for the ball and fight!

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  • ARun

    A draw is as good as a defeat now as Manchester won…

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  • ARun

    They are our single biggest problem…i would say that they messed up with the Rosicky injury(a world class player turned into a parody)… and who knows how good Vermaelen is going to be when he comes back…will he be another Rosicky? Arsenal cant afford that to happen..

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  • Angelo1971

    You’re right. These animals can’t even cure people. I feel sorry for Rosicky, as I really liked him. Eduardo was rushed out, as he proved himself to be ok in the end, but he looked terrible after coming back.

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