Another day, another lackluster performance from Arsenal. Just what the hell is going on here? While it’s painfully obvious that missing Sol leaves a gaping hole at the back, I however offer another possible explanation. You see, it’s all Rick’s fault. He used up all his mojo rooting for the Red Sox, and now we’re left holding the bag!
In all seriousness, a drop in form was to be expected, but a game like today’s seemed tailor-made for confidence building. Granted, Palace are hitting a nice streak of play, but Arsenal - you would have thought as recently as this morning - are a superior side. Well, as Chris Berman says, “That’s why they play the game.’
Jose Reyes’s form has taken as sharp a dive as VanNistlecheat’s protege, Shrek, took at Old Crapford a few weeks back. Even before the match against ManUre, his shots were going wide, and there was just an overall lack of sharpness on his chances. Teams have figured out that he can be knocked around, and have used it to good effect lately.
I suggest giving Robin Van Persie a start up front with Henry next week against Sp*rs. He seems up for it, and may not be as easily felled as Reyes. Don’t get me wrong, I think Reyes is an amazing talent, and hope he gets things going again really soon, but when the stakes in the Premiership are as high as they are, and matches against Sp*rs, Liiverpool and Chelski coming up in the next few weeks, this is the worst possible time to be struggling.
42 Responses to “The Craptastic Voyage Continues”
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November 6th, 2004 at 2:54 pm
You see who needs to be benched I see it, but does Wenger see it?
I was warning about this, lack of squad rotation. Reyes should be dropped. Vieira was the most sloppy player on the pitch. Fab was tired and unable to handle the physical demands. Only Kolo, Henry and a few others performed with any credit.
Team is jaded. How can you expect the same players to play three games a week, and not expect dip in form? It’s not humanly possible. We use one of the least number of players, and this is a team in Europe.
Well Chelsea is numero uno. Still a long way away, but to be honest I won’t bet against them. If they had nicked our one goal, that would have been the end of it. We have so many talented youngsters who can at the very least give something different, even if not better. We’re becoming predictable. Teams have figured out how to beat us. Remember the St. Louis Rams, when the just got Kurt Warner, the greatest show on turf? They racked up touchdowns like going to the 7-11? Then teams figured out how to beat them. Same thing with us. We’re jaded, and Sir Alex has probably emailed his notes on how to play us all over the internet. Don?t ball watch. Crowd them out. Get physical. Catch them on the break.
November 6th, 2004 at 3:09 pm
Yes, dismal. Reyes at least worked hard. Paddy very poor; Pires, Freddie, Cesc and Henry looked to be flagging. Mental jadedness - loss of confidence? - and physical fatique are obviously affecting us. Shocking displays alas from Cygan, and Lehmann was careless: if we’d been playing a better side than Palace, a side with more striking options, we’d have lost, and deserved to have lost, by a mile. What to do without Gilberto or even - though I hate to say this - Edu as defensive midfield backup when Paddy simply isn’t functioning as himself? Flamini looked a bit anonymous to me.
Man of the match: Toure. The only excellent, effortful performance (on our side) on the pitch.
November 6th, 2004 at 3:27 pm
Don’t think Henry was that bad, did what he normally does, just with no assistance Pires was played out of position. Reyes was on the left…or was he? Freddie ran about as always, but he’s never one to lift the play of the game. The midfield engine was rubbish. Far too many sloppy passes mostly from Vieira. Wasn’t he responsible for losing the ball for the equalising goal?
And to think this was a lucky game. Palace should have beat the living hell out of us, even managing to miss a sitter from the 1-yard line.
Kolo was the man. No doubt about that. He made an interception to stop an almost certain goal. Even going forward he looked the most assured.
November 6th, 2004 at 3:32 pm
Performances like today’s are becoming annoyingly familiar. I wonder if the best days of Vieira and Ljungberg are behind them - I hope not, but Vieira really hasn’t got going yet this year, and we’re nearly a third of the way through and Freddie looks lost out there these days (though he did have a hand in the goal).
I thought the defence played well, and would not fault them for the goal Palace scored. Vieira dithered on the ball just outside the box instaed of thumping it away and the rest, well that’s how it’s been going lately.
Agree with others’ comments that Reyes needs a rest (I’d also consider resting Vieira too - no I haven’t taken leave of my senses). Pires? Ineffective. Henry? A better game than his previous few, but his sulking is beginning to get on my nerves. Wenger? Right now exuding negativity from the bench - look at his body language. He needs to lead the way here. I thought Cesc and Cole were our best players today.
It’s no good saying we’re second in the league and second in our Euro group, so what’s the panic? It’s not panicking to say that one win in the last six games is not good enough, the team is playing mediocrely and the hunger and vibes just aren’t there at the moment.
Time to sit some people down who think their place in the team is uncontestable. Best done now when there’s still plenty of time to deliver a message and hopefully turn things around.
November 6th, 2004 at 3:44 pm
MikeK
Agree with u that van Persie should start in the next EPL game. He made for himself 2 chances to score and both times needed good saves from the Palace keeper to keep them out. Reyes seemed lost today and not able to get away from his marker - clearly going thru a bad patch.
This must be one of Viera’s worst games I have seen - giving the ball away too often, one of which resulted in Palace’s goal and another almost letting Palace get ahead. I wonder if he is still carrying that ankle injury from the Villa game.
Henry’s goal was well worked between Ljundberg & Fabregas but other than that, Palace defence held on very well. Also the corner kicks and freekicks awarded to Arsenal did not cause Palace any problems.
Defending the lead - that has been Arsenal’s achille heels during the games against Bolton, Rosenborg, Panathinaikos, Southhampton and now Palace.
November 6th, 2004 at 4:38 pm
I thought Pires was in his normal position, the left, and Reyes started up front, which doesn’t suit him so well. You’re right about Henry: he was OK but it worries me that he can’t score when the opposition defends even minimally well. What hope for the CL when Henry is rendered ineffective by Palace, for god’s sake, packing the midfield! Yup, it looked to me as though Vieira was responsible for their goal - he gave the ball away several times. What on earth are we going to do now he seems to have lost his old fire? I feel Wenger is right to ease Cesc in very gently: we shouldn’t really be playing him regularly in the premier league and CL, esp. not when he’s got a Carling Cup game on Tues. He looks completely warn out and the unrelenting pressure could spoil him for the future. Freddie? I’m beginning to think we should be making a move for Shaun Wright-Phillips - which it looks like we are doing? - though not, as I’ve said elsewhere, in place of buying a proper right back. Poor Lauren! He was OK today, I thought, but he can’t be expected to play every game in every comp throughout the whole season. Wenger has announced he’s only buying one player in January. If we’re to believe that, who/what will it be? A right back, a keeper, a central defender or - my guess - Shaun Wright-P?
November 6th, 2004 at 4:43 pm
Agree, we should start van P. He can’t do any worse than Reyes or Dennis at the moment, as both look tired or semi-injured or are just going through a bad patch. Besides, we need to van P to begin to establish a partnership with Henry up front, so Reyes can play in his best position on the left. The sooner those three develop an understanding the better we’ll be. No time to lose.
November 6th, 2004 at 5:15 pm
Henry did score….remember?
November 6th, 2004 at 9:16 pm
Vieira stunk in that match, he was crap. Maybe he should sod off to Real Madrid, as he looks half the player he was 3 or 4 years ago.
I fear a little for this Arsenal team. I don’t mean to overreact but certain players aren’t doing it anymore. Pires has never been the same since his injury, sure he gets a few goals, but he can’t beat people anymore, and he’s still lazy at tracking back. Ljungberg just doesn’t do enough throughout 90 minutes offensively. Bergkamp has a few good games and everyone goes barmy, in truth he’s nothing like the player he once was.
Cygan is a joke, and Wenger has been very foolish not replacing him in the Summer. Bad management that.
Reyes is still immature as a player, needs a season or two more. Too many weaknesses at the moment, we could really struggle to get it going again, but I think we’ll be ok before long.
Unfortunately, I think we are no nearer to winning the Champions League since the day Wenger joined. Mainly because of Cygan. Lehmann, Lauren - none of them CL quality, will always get caught out. I also think Chelsea can easily win the title, in fact, I think we”re second best. It could change, but I don’t think so, I fear for the team, it’s starting to go backwards.
November 6th, 2004 at 9:39 pm
Vieira stinks… Pires has never been the same since his injury… Ljunberg doesn’t do enough… Bergy is nothing like he once was…. Cygan is a joke…. Wenger managed bad in the offseason… Reyes is immature…
You don’t mean to over-react???
OK… back in reality… yes, we drew with Palace and it wasn’t a quality performance to say the least…. but COME ON!!!!!!!
We didn’t even lose the match!!!!
Palace played 10 men behind the ball for 75% of the match…
Please, instead of giving a litany of problems on a team thats just come off 49 games unbeaten… tell me what you would do?
Pires was 2nd leading scorer on the team last year, and they are playing him out of position. Freddie runs his socks off every match and set up Henry for our goal. Bergy played 20 minutes… and you are blaming Cygan for the goal??? What is our alternative… play 20 year olds???
SOLUTIONS!
GIVE ME SOLUTIONS instead of whinging…
we are NOT that far off from being the same amazing team we were ummmm??? A FEW WEEKS AGO.
Henry played a good match… ran his ass off out there… Freddie did as well. Pires should be playing on the right side, where he EXCELS and Reyes needs to be watching.
Who do you want to play for Vieira? Flamini and Cesc in midfield??? that’d be a bit lightweight. Cesc taking 30 yard attempts at goal…
Alot of factors coming into play… but the answer is not ripping the players to shreds. They are giving a good effort out there… I can’t name anyone that I thought didn’t run and track back and give good effort. If I did… THEN I’d be worried.
November 6th, 2004 at 9:41 pm
Palace should have beat the living hell out of us???
What match did you watch?
They didn’t have an attempt ON GOAL until they scored!!!!!!!
They played virtually the whole match with 10 men behind the ball and thumped it forward for Johnson!
November 6th, 2004 at 9:45 pm
Palace played with 10 men behind the ball… we had all the possession… all the attempts at goal… They didn’t have an attempt on goal until they scored… and it was a good goal.
Pires is out of position. He needs to play on the left… and Reyes needs to sit and come on late.
Henry and Freddie ran all match long… The defense played decently UNTIL they scored, and we were in shock / panic mode. There can’t be alot of changes made… we dont have 10 options because we have many injuries… (Edu, Gilberto, Pennant, Sol….etc)
November 6th, 2004 at 11:44 pm
You’re always true to form, can read your postings even before I click on them. Are you in denial? Even Wenger conceeded that the chance they missed was easier than the one they scored. What other chance of note did Arsenal create? And what about Kolo’s interception?
November 7th, 2004 at 12:38 am
I mostly agree with you here Stag. Viera did look lackluster, and he may be harboring a long term injury that is keeping him below par. He hasn’t been more than 85% of the old Viera this season. The comments about Pires not being the same since his injury are rubbish. Pure rubbish. He started slow last year, and he’s starting almost as slow this year, with the exception of his goal scoring. He just needs to get his blood to a boil. Surely you mean he should be playing the left, right Stag? Freddie has been playing the right for as long as I care to remember. Ljungberg looked good today, and always runs his ass off. Don’t even look wrong at my man Bergy. Nobody passes the ball on that team better than Bergy. Nobody. Still, I don’t object to giving Van Persie playing time in the center.
Cygan frustrates me. Too many times this year he has looked like a fish out of water. I hate that. He did today too, but he also saved possession several times today by coming forward. The problem is that his talent level is insufficient to allow him to track back quickly after those forward runs. He was nearly burnt today. Reyes looks tired. Rest him, play Pires. Platoon those two all year, no matter how hot one of them is.
Overall I think we should rotate a bit more, but as you mentioned Stag, our injury situation limits some of those opportunities - though not all. I don’t think anyone on our team is a total dog. I just hope the players aren’t pointing any fingers at each other. Do you suppose Lauren had an assertive chat with Viera after the latter’s lackluster performance today?
November 7th, 2004 at 12:41 am
You’re very funny to read sometimes Miranda. You want SWP in an Arsenal kit so bad you can taste it.
November 7th, 2004 at 5:36 am
One thing I was glad to see during that Palace match: Wenger was so damn frustated, angered, at lost. Seems that he had finally, secretly, pushed the panic button, as much as he tried to calm us down. You better do, Sir.
I wanted to offer solutions instead of just criticizing the team, as Stag said. Seriously though, how am I going to explain why our captain now fall down to challenge almost as much as Reyes did last season and gave away possesion almost like Edu often does, for example? Okay, I exagerate. PV was not that bad, but he was so poor I couldn’t believe it was PV playing.
Given that all our players are fit, I would dare AW to rotate PV with Gilberto (am I crazy? Yes!! Our captain apparently need to understand that he too must perform to keep his place), Freddie with Pennant (simply because Freddie need to rest, he had worked so hard so far), Bergie or Reyes with v. Persie or Ali to partner Henry.
Too bad on the left sector, both Pires and Reyes has been off form, can’t do anything about it. And as for Henry, we know we can’t replace him for may reasons.
I wouldn’t touch the defense. We don’t have better option and it is a no no to play around with your defense, even if you are a Chelsea.
November 7th, 2004 at 5:51 am
I think I have said enough lately. Just wanna add a few points here:
1. First, I think Henry’s goal was one of his BEST goals he had scored for us. Not one for highlight, but he DID GET INTO THE BOX to receive the cross from Ljungberg. That’s what I been talking about - WORKRATE. It’s as simple as that, it didn’t take a genius footballer to score a goal like that, but a goal is a GOAL. It always counts. Henry’s work rate yesterday was very good in my opinion. Thierry was one who got some fire in his belly last night.
2. If I were Wenger, i would give a few youngsters a chance the next game. Not that I think our current starting players are not good enough, but lately we been desperately short of inspiration. If our youngsters could beat Man City away, why not giving them a chance. I”m sure they would show the first teamers what it means of the HUNGER and DESIRE. Just to fresh things up a bit. if only just for ONE game. What do we got to lose? The way things going, we might not be able to get 3 points the next game with the first-teamers anyway.
3. Following the departure of our last old guards Keown and Parlour, the Arsenal SPIRIT was gone. At the past, after an upset against Man U, with players like Adams, Keown, they would be dying to win the very next game and bounce back right away. To be able to bounce back right away is the ture CHARACTER of a winning team. We always got it at the past. So does Man U. And we wonder how Chelsea reacted after their first defeat this season? They won their next game 4-nil. Where are our spirit and character now?
November 7th, 2004 at 7:14 am
Yep, I’m totally besotted, I admit it, after Ronaldinho, he’s been my favourite for years. After the last Carling game I thought Quincy looked as though he might become a similar sort of player. Fingers crossed he’ll do it again on Tuesday, though against this weirdly successful Everton I don’t hold out much hope that the kids, including an exhausted Cesc, will manage a win.
November 7th, 2004 at 7:59 am
OK, we’ve hit a bad patch, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it cost us the league, but maybe it’s not such a bad thing if it forces us to do some rethinking? The injuries to Sol and Gilberto are not that unexpected - injuries are what you get, always, and if you have a small squad and suffer from tiredness, you are bound to get more. (Actually we’ve been pretty lucky on the injury front - how would be manage if Henry was out for a long time?)
As lots of people have pointed out, we can no longer play the same side in every game. There are now too many games and the opposition is too wised up to our weaknesses. We have to start rotating (which obviously means spending serious money on one or more defenders); and we have to learn to play more economically and strategically - like Chelsea, I guess. That doesn’t mean playing defensively but, unless the defense is dependable we are not going to get anywhere - not in the CL, nor even, I’m beginning to fear, this year in the league. A rock-solid semi-rotating defence is essential. Not simply because we have to stop conceeding unnecessary goals - obviously lethal in the CL - but, more important, to give the attacking players the space, freedom and confidence to get on with their job. All this frantic rushing about trying to repair the damage after an equaliser - it’s exhausting and undermines our self-belief. How long will Henry/Reyes, etc. be able to go on scoring if the side’s confidence continues to suffer these blows? Strikers thrive on belief. If we’re to restore that belief we’ve got to provide them with a proper defence.
November 7th, 2004 at 8:12 am
Wengers problem is that the squad isn’t big enough. Vieira should be dropped, but there’s no one to replace him at the moment, and would Wenger have the balls to drop him anyway? To say he is carrying an injury is crap, because the problem with his game was sloppy passing, he was getting a lot of tackles in but giving the ball away every 5 minutes. He reminded me of Ray Parlour.
Too many players are sitting in the comfort zone, playing week in, week out with no pressure on them to perform at their best. So we need a bigger squad, and obviously there’s nothing we can do for now.
The biggest problem is at the back, which is having a negative flow on the whole team. The players are frightened to express themselves because they know if they lose the ball that Cygan and Lehmann cannot be trusted. Even Toure has been at fault positionally for a number of goals.We need much more competition all over the park, including Henry. If he’s having a bad day, rare admittedly, get him off and put someone else on.
November 7th, 2004 at 9:39 am
A-G… they didn’t create much the ENTIRE MATCH. You can’t debate that. All the play was in Palace’s half…. this is fact.
November 7th, 2004 at 9:42 am
Yes, Ice… of course… PIRES on the left! where most of our offense used to come from before Reyes was put there!
Lauren… oh yeah… he played very well too!
November 7th, 2004 at 9:43 am
I have to admit a lot of the comments made me laugh. A month or 2 ago a lot of you would have said we were the best team in the world ever and now we’re complete rubbish. Both are way off the mark. Yes yesterday was a dissapointing result but to say Palace outplayed us is crazy. I think the stats up to the goal were 15 attempts by us compared to 0 by them. True we only got one goal from all those attemps but that’s another story.
I thought the defence including Cygan did well but they seemed badly exposed for the Palace goal and the easier miss. This has got to be down to the midfield. Everyone is now saying we need Gilberto back but I bet after he’s back a few games probably partnering Vieira we’ll all be be complaining because Cesc’s not in the team. Vieira is the key. Yes he covered a lot of ground but his passing was poor and giving the ball away put immediate pressure on our defense. We need him back to his best because we have no replacement.
I don’t know whats happening with attack. Henry was the best yesterday, scoring the goal, tackling back to win the ball. The rest looked very average. I don’t know if the constant tinkering of the front line to try to find the best spot for Reyes isn’t confusing everyone. Pires especially has been in and out of the team and hasn’t been able to get any consistancy in his play. I think he needs to always start on the left when fit. Reyes needs a break and I think alternating him with van Persie would be smart.
Anyway lets not be too down. The premiership is a marathon not a sprint. It’s only November and there’s a lot of points to win and lose. Wern’t Liverpool top at Christmas a year or two back.
November 7th, 2004 at 9:49 am
I think their keeper had to make a few good saves from Toure, van Persie and others. All Lehmann had to do was pick the ball out of the net.
November 7th, 2004 at 10:05 am
Amen… watched the same game as you… with the same stats. For right now… the players we have need to perform like they have always performed. With our injuries, the line-up isn’t going to change too much… just our play needs to change.
November 7th, 2004 at 11:24 am
We did it again…lifted our opponents performance, got them chugging about and invigorated them, and came away with a point. If I’m any other team in the league right now, I can’t wait to play us because we’re going to bring out their best and come away with points against the Champions.
Chelsea hold on to a 1-0 lead. How miraculous. Forget 49 games unbeaten, it seems like doing that is the new impossible dream.
Wenger says we’re still in a hangover over the ManU game. Makes us sound like a bunch of spineless gimps. We get kicked around and come out the next FIVE games rattled??? Cripes. We’re playing the football equivalent of rocking in the fetal position in a corner. Maybe we should forget about signing someone for the back in January and look into a club shrink.
So disappointed. This has NOTHING to do with all those things that are causing lesser teams a struggle. Its 100% mental bullocks, raising the game of every team we play.
Wenger: “The goals don’t come easily and we get nervous.” For Chrissakes, Professor, where does your team think they are? Division Three? My advice is to take a week and watch every single Chlesea game from the beginning of the season, cause if the goals aren’t coming, there’s plenty more you can do to win until they do.
November 7th, 2004 at 11:39 am
We are justified to moan, even if we are over-reacting; teams do go through bad patches every season. Two seasons ago we have four 2-1 loses, then faded at the end when ManU nicked ahead to win the Championship. Last season we slumped a bit towards January when ManU took over at the top, and a bit towards the end but were able to pick up with Liverpool.
But it?s one thing when a team plays you fair and square and you drop points like in our draw with Bolton. It?s another when we keep shooting ourselves in the foot with sloppy passes, inability to defend set pieces, throwing away leads, goal keeping errors, and freak deflections. The way Arsenal play our full backs go forward a lot. That means if the ball is lost in midfield there is very little cover at the back. It?s not even like our opponents are winning the ball we are giving it away.
In many ways Arsenal is a team in transition. So many players are new to the team. But it’s the same core as before.
I think we’re still lucky, because I have no idea how Palace missed from the one yard line when it was far easier to score. And most of our chances were half chances. Very few clear cut. I don’t think we’d have come back if we?d gone down.
I think tiredness is a problem. The games are TOO many. Dennis is 34, and 34 is 34 no matter what you say. PV4 is not yet back to his best (if ever). Cesc is too young for so many matches. That’s why we say rotate.
In the larger scheme of things, is still not that significant. Even is Chelsea opens up an eight point lead, the title will by no means be over. But we can’t keep dropping points to lower level teams like Palace and Southampton. What happens when we play the ever improving Newcastle and the likes of Liverpool?
You can’t keep changing the team when they hit a rough patch, look what that has done at ManU, but players are human, if they are tired or the coach sees them to be tired mentally or otherwise, they must be rested. That’s where rotation comes in. Don’t wait for the slump to give a rest here and there. I’m still haunted by the Chelsea game last season when we were completely outplayed due to tiredness. You seldom see Arsenal being outplayed, even when we lose. That game we had no gas in the tank. You just knew there was only one way the game was going to end.
November 7th, 2004 at 12:01 pm
Good points, AG. We’re in transition in a number of ways. Youth working in with so much success is something that The Arsenal more or less originated in the league with our current buying power being what it is. In many ways, we’re the last of a dying breed: a top contender that must work within a budget to achieve success.
There is another transition that came to my mind when I read your post?the one of a team that just went unbeaten. This a blessing/curse in many ways. While remarkable, its something of a dubious honor. The way we’re playing lately seems to have been fostered by the extension of such an honor. And you can only “kiss your sister” for so long until it starts getting you in trouble (sorry about this analogy.). We haven’t won in five, but gave up leads and are unbeaten since we got hacked half-to-death at the Theater of Dreams. But dropping to second in the league means our ability to stave of the big L has lost its lustre. Its about W’s now.
For me, its mental. What happens to a team who’s core went unbeaten and now has lost to a hated rival in the way that we did? We’re finding out. I’ve been tough on them, but once my initial bluster is purged, I just don’t know what they’re going through. The sinking feelings are zapping us from the inside out and are why we are tired…maybe we should get that shrink.
The prognosis looks bleak, save one thing: now that we’ve lost the streak, the lead in four games, the lead in the league, and nothing is really clicking, Hell is not far away. A big game was really needed, and we blew our chances against the mighty Soton and Palace. We may be experiencing lows of a heretofore unheard of variety.
But when you hit bottom, you have a choice. If they can find the nerve to stare all of this disappointment in the face and use it to their advantage, they will be STRONGER and more likely to retake the title and other trophies. If they don’t, they might hit bottom and start digging.
Time will tell.
November 7th, 2004 at 12:32 pm
Not quite true that people have suddenly changed their tune. Many of us - e.g Ice Otter, Shini Chan, Andez, me - have been nagging about the potential defensive weakness since preseason. Why would you play Reyes up front when, according to Wenger, it’s not his best position - so much not that AW actually experimented with Pires up front a couple of weeks back. The experiment failed, dismally, so alternating Reyes and Pires on the left now seems pretty inevitable, which in itself is OK. Trouble is, unless van P shapes up really fast there’s no obvious striking partner for Henry. I agree Henry is still playing well but the problem is, even opposing teams in the premiership are now cleverly packing the midfield, so there’s no space for him to get hold of the ball. The lack of width yesterday was very noticeable, as it often is in the CL.
November 7th, 2004 at 12:43 pm
and neither did we.
November 7th, 2004 at 1:53 pm
The defence is a concern even though we had the best record last season. Sol seem so injury prone these days that I think we need two new top quality defenders. The problem is we can’t afford them. Senderos may turn out to be a great player but we don’t know yet and we won’t know until he gets about a dozen games. That needs to start soon but not next week against Spurs. Also like I said before a big part of the defensive problems are beginning in midfield.
When Wenger bought Reyes he quite clearly stated that his plan was to convert him from a wide player to a central striker. It’s still very early days but that hasn’t quite worked yet. I think to help him get settled in the team Wenger has played him in the wide position he knows best but as a result of that we’ve disrupted our best attacking combo of Cole, Pires, Henry. Don’t get me wrong, I think Reyes is a great player and has a great future at Arsenal but for now we need to revert to our best formation and that means Pires in the left.
November 7th, 2004 at 2:32 pm
Well Reyes hasn’t done ANYTHING for a while. Pires is a PROVEN commodity…. Pires needs to play on the left… If Reyes can’t play up front, then he doesn’t have a position… You don’t sit your second best scorer (that’d be Pires) to try a youngster out in his position.
November 7th, 2004 at 2:37 pm
Ummm yeah…. let’s watch and copy Chelsea… because they’ve won so much over the years. Matter of fact, they beat us so often that Chelsea is our Daddy. (see: Pedro)…
Please. We are not Chelsea… we don’t need to copy their brand of football… we have different players and different strengths and different weaknesses. Its November… they haven’t won crapola…
November 7th, 2004 at 2:44 pm
Agree about Henry-Pires-Ashley on the left. I think Reyes’s best position would be in the hole, Rooney-style, but that option doesn’t fit into our system so it’s hard to know what to do. But in the short term I’d like Reyes to have a brief rest.
Are you sure we can’t afford two defenders? I tend to assume we’re poverty-stricken, but remember during the summer we seemed to be making offers for players - even a midfielder - as though money’s no object?
November 7th, 2004 at 7:57 pm
Again, I applaud your stalwart defense of the team, Stagg. I would surely want you in my tunnel whne the food starts flying. Still…
…Chelsea of this season is a different team then any team fielded at Stamford Bridge. What happened prior to this season means zilch to me. They’ve got the finances to pull it together and as much as we want that philosophy to fail, it is working.
What looks to be happening is they’re playing more like us, more attack, more creativity offensively. But they watched their back before coming forward. They built a solid foundation before starting the penthouse suite. Conceding 4 goals in all competitions is a statistic worthy of immense consideration. This new Chelsea is formidable, regardless of what the old Chelsea have or haven’t done.
And I’m not even going to mention their getting further in the CL at our expense. Or their manager’s proven formula for winning it. Let’s face it, they have a Plan A, B and they’re seriously getting together a C.
I’m sorry, but I can’t wrap my head around the deep funks that find us. Palace! Another lead snuffed! Teams get beat all the time, but so many of them find their footing and at least scrap something together eventually. What have we done time and again? Fallen back on that one stinkin’ gear that we have ingrained in our heads from 03-04: playing not to lose…or win apparently.
We’re the Champions. We should be able to pull it together between the ears. As I’ve been saying, I sincerely hope it doesn’t take a major catastrophy before we do.
November 7th, 2004 at 8:55 pm
Even when we were still unbeaten, it was the press who talk about us being the best side in England, or even Europe. Even if we won the Palace game, I would still criticize the way we play. Nothing to do with the result.
Are we overreacting, considering we did not even lose the last 2 league games? No. We all know three draws is only as good as one win and 2 lost. This season is tough, with Chelsea being so formidable. We need to bounce back like the old Arsenal would. I know WE CAN.
Please, the unbeaten run is over. Arsenal are only as good as their last game. If some players stink for too many games, rotate them!! If no good backup available, buy them!! Wenger has the money. He just doesn’t quite believe he need to invest much for the defense. He thought he can always find bargain players like Kolo. To be fair, he did splash money to buy Cygan. Sigh..
And please don’t dismiss other team just because they were such a crap in the past. Chelsea KNOW how to protect their lead, and how to search for a lead while protecting their defense. What’s the point of pushing our back four so high up the pitch if we have no confidence in making a chase when we are counter attacked? And seriously, I did not find Kolo or even Lauren’s forward run are that fruitful. Lauren did give us some corners. But you can see from the Palace match even Wenger admit we are crap in corners. good to see him changing our corner instruction into what I blieve is better than just swinging the ball to the box for a group of players who don’t know how to score with header.
November 7th, 2004 at 9:50 pm
Scotty!
There you go… they ARE playing more like US!
So, you want us to play more like US! right??
We aren’t going to have the plan C and D that they have, because they have spend a GAZILLION British Pounds stockpiling talent to rot on the bench for a rainy day or injuries for that matter!
We do not have that luxury… and I personally don’t think its the best formula for success. Maybe it will be… time will tell… but that time will be over the course of the next 6 months, not 6 days or 6 weeks. I have some concerns about our current form and injury list. I am not that blind… I just have thick Arsenal Red Glasses!!!
If we have our starting 11 out there… all healthy… they don’t beat us… we just have to get thru the period of injuries… and our patch of bad play. I don’t believe its going to last much longer. We controlled virtually the entire match yesterday… we will get thru it…
Now perhaps the question is what is Mr.Wenger going to do come January’s transfer window? and when will he be getting Robert Pires back into his normal position on the left… and Reyes onto the bench for a spell. Hopefully soon!
November 7th, 2004 at 10:04 pm
Scotty… I hope you are on the trip in December!
Now… Wenger most DEFINITLELY was going for the WIN yesterday in the late going. We DID push up the defenders at the end of the match going for victory, rather than settling for a draw. I have to give him credit for that. I don’t mind us playing more offensively at times, pushing forward. Obviously, that is our strength… especially with Sol out injured. We are not Chelsea. We are not going to adopt their style of play… the Moron-ho style of all out defense and get a goal late. We don’t copy teams… we are copied.
I DO agree wholeheartedly… that at times we need an alternate plan… PLAN B, if you will. But, you cannot be serious if you think we will be altering our style of play because of 1 loss and 3 draws. We got certain players to perform in the beautiful game mode we have come to love. When we were on a 49 game tear and winning the league last year, there didn’t seem to be too many objections!! So, please… don’t tell me you think we should abandon our philosophy. Its not going to happen… nor would I want it too.
-We need to get SOL back. He sures up the defense the way most SUPERSTAR defenders do.
-We need to work on set-pieces defensively… thats apparent.
- We should be looking for a defender (or 2) as cover in the January transfer window….
- Wenger should get Pires back to where he excels… and Reyes up front or on the bench. If he can’t play up front, as someone suggested, then he has no position on the Arsenal… at least not for a few years!!
- It appears VanPersie can play… lets get him into the action a bit more. But we can’t just throw the kids out there for 90 minutes, every game. Cesc is 17… he can’t be expected to play every match…
I am fairly certain things will straighten themselves out… because in case you forgot, the team is known for its togetherness… band of brothers… team spirit… Wenger lauds them for it… Champions overcome adversity… so there is currently some adversity!!! Bring it on… I think it will only make us stronger in the long run…
November 8th, 2004 at 9:43 am
I think you put it perfectly, I want The Arsenal to play more like The Arsenal. But there’s a plus in there…I want us to have the mental focus and fortitude to clean sheet against the bottom of the table regardless of who is healthy.
And bad patches happen, but we’re consistently dropping points in big games. That’s called folding under pressure. Where is that gear that fights to the death?
Middle/Bolton. Ray Parlour looked fantastic. Made the goal in the 90th minute happen, as his rocket nearly killed the keeper and fell for the on-rushing Boateng. He did it all game. Those who have said that his leaving robbed us of spirit are spot on, I think.
November 8th, 2004 at 9:56 am
Can’t make it in December, which chaffs. But if I could, Stagg, I would immediately send you out to have your urine analyzed cause you got reserves of optimism that Jersey drinking water has apparently all but rotted out of me.
Perhaps something to be learned here. As much as I find the cloud in the silver lining, you bounce back. Maybe these exchanges are perfect examples of what needs to happen. I ruminate about how we fold in big games, even during the streak, how every other club were either loising their feet or trying to find them throughout and we took advantage, how chances seem to go begging because we’ve taught ourselves to perform rather than win.
Admittedly, I suck. But I come from the tough love school of competition. You sulk, you sit. You shrug, you sit. You lose your game face, you sit. And if you sit, you feel like a loser. Fear of this often had me discovering a way. Not all the time, but the answers came. No coach ever praised me after a bad performance, nor did I want him to. It was discipline and no excuses. It worked. I’m a head case now, but it worked then.
Wenger knows football. Let’s hope he knows human psychology, cause that’s where we’re hurting.
November 8th, 2004 at 10:07 am
I am not sure we ALWAYS drop points in big games… but your point is well taken.
We could use Ray Parlour right now, couldn’t we!
I’d have never thought I’d say that.
November 8th, 2004 at 10:15 am
Hmmm… well…
I am VERY optimistic about the Arsenal, because I have witnessed the levels we are capable of playing at. When we are playing “that way”, I have not seen another team on the planet that can beat us. We still have the same players that played at that level, so I am optimistic that this is a blip.
I love our team. I also have an appreciation for just how freaking good they are and can be.
Being a Life-Long Boston RedSox fan… I have always had my PESSIMISTIC outlet. Always thought and believed we would choke… and we always did. UNTIL THIS YEAR. I was actually positive for most of the RedSox season, and it all worked out. I am sticking with the positivity!!!
Add to that, the fact that we are not really playing “that bad”… we have only lost one game… and these same folks moaning today were freaking out about us drawing against teams last year. OH MY, we drew with Leicester… the sky is falling. Take it all with a grain of salt. Its a long season, and we will work it out. We have the players and manager to do so. I used to be a pessimist. I still scream at the TV when we play. I still fear every ball crossed into our area currently. I still live and die with our results. But as I have stated repeatedly… I still believe. I believe in this team and these players and this manager.