Arsenal provided one of the worst performances in victory that I can remember for a long, long time with a 1-0 win over Udinese tonight doing little to ensure a place in the Champions League for the coming season.
The Italians, who finished 4th in Serie A and sold most of their best players over the summer, came to the Emirates and played all the football, and were unlucky not to get any reward for it. The Gunners, unusually, had their goalkeeper to thank for keeping out an away goal. We’ll be very lucky if the young but talented Wojciech Szczesny can live up to his role as number one this season.
Elsewhere, however, there are worries, arguably all over the pitch; Gervinho and Chamakh were terrible, and while I’m willing to give the former some time to adapt, I cannot believe we are keeping the latter whilst desperately trying to offload Nicklas Bendtner. With new captain Robin van Persie more than likely at some point to pick up an injury that keeps him out for half a year, we are not at all equipped to deal with his absence. Gervinho might improve, but going on Wenger’s recent transfer record I am not holding my breath.
In midfield, Rosicky was dreadful, as he has been for well over a year. Hopefully Wilshere will be back soon and we won’t see much of the burnt out Czech, but with Ramsey also struggling to fill Cesc’s boots, signings are definitely needed in the middle of the park. Why we didn’t push for Thiago Alcantara as part of the Fabregas deal is beyond me; he is young and wouldnt’ve commanded an actual transfer fee, something Wenger would surely be into.
In defence, we were opened up too many times, and as I’ve already said, only Szczesny saved us in that department. A new left-back is needed, as Kieran Gibbs, not a particularly special player anyway, is incapable of staying fit for more than a couple of games. It probably isn’t his fault, as Djourou’s injury in the same game showed; 9 minutes on the pitch replacing Gibbs, and he limped off with a similar injury. How have the club not done anything to fix the fact that we have had the worst injury record in this league, and probably the world, for the last six years?
Overall, this was one of the most depressing victories I’ve seen. The stadium was silent, as the fans watched an increasingly young and poor team playing in a game they should’ve been good enough to avoid last season. Home games in Europe have always been entertaining in recent years, but this was poor and if we play like this in Italy we will not go through.
In recent times, our players have always thanked Wenger for being such a positive influence in their careers, but I can’t see that being the same for this group; they’re brought into a club where, through no fault of their own, none of the fans really want them, and are groaned at for performing poorly in a game they’re not good enough to be in anyway. Not a great way to start their careers, and obviously not a great way to keep the fans happy. No one wins.
Sad times, and not long left for Wenger to sort it out.
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