If you do some careful thinking Plan B is something very simple to implement for this great Arsenal team. Now picture this. The recent liverpool match was in my opinion a battle of ?grit vs flair? and grit won 2-1. Pool knew that man for man they don?t have the natural ability to cope with us and their list of injuries didn?t make anything better. So they went in for some grit. And what grit they showed! If you noticed in the 1st half, they stopped Pires effectively and not one of his passes reached an Arsenal player. Even one of this throws was intercepted neatly by a pool player.
I remember a few years ago when the flowing football superlatives from papers were not coming in as thick & fast as it came until a few weeks ago, Arsenal were considered quite a gritty team. We used to grind results when we were not playing well and the same was expected on Sunday. However when you have a team made of Pires (who jumps when tackled, clearly doesn?t have the guts to go into a 50-50 tackle after his critical injury three years ago), Reyes (who is easily muscled out and of late loves mother earth more than running at oppositions or making simple dribbles or pass when you can?t get past), Vieira (the most grittiest player until the madrid saga, who now can?t defensively head balls, goes missing at times, though the second half performance was the best I have seen for some time now), Fabregas, Lauren, Henry (I still don?t understand why every goal kick is aimed at him as he is always out jumped by opposition defense), one can?t expect much of grit.
Plan B for me is to bring back the grit into the game when we cannot play our natural game. If teams decide to play ugly then so be it, let?s scrap it out with them, with bruises and kicks and when we get an opening our quality will enable us to score at least one goal and let?s defend that lead as if our lives depend on it. You see, once we start winning a couple of games 1-0 using plan B, we can then slowly bring back plan A, as opposition will realize that playing tough will not work with Arsenal. Also as we have discussed numerous times, a few wins is all we need to get the invincibility back, as football like any other sport is extremely a mental game.
If one can recollect the 49 game unbeaten sequence, there would be at least 20 or more games in that sequence, where the opposition had lost the game 5 days before kick-off. Because it was that psychological. When Chelski went to Charlton, I was beaten mentally even before the game started. I thought no way Charlton can beat them and it will be a good result if they can restrict them to 2 or 3 goals. At one stage it looked more like Chelski were playing them at home as the crowd was pretty silent and it looked like they were already looking forward to the next game. They had given up. In fact most of them had even before they took their seats at the Valley. Now this is what happened for the 20 odd teams that faced Arsenal during our unbeaten run.
So let?s get back to the grit, use that as plan B and show some character. This is what I expect from AW. For the next 10 games, lets forget about flowing one-touch football and focus just on winning the ball and pass. Everyone will be expected to run, slide, block, get-up, pass and run, slide, block, get-up??. Let?s work on our stamina and let?s win ugly. Let?s just ignore the papers, the pundits and the commentators for the time being as the superlatives can wait, at least for the next 10 games or so.
Ed. Note - Yes, but can a horse change its spots (to mix a metaphor)?
34 Responses to “The Plan B”
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November 30th, 2004 at 7:33 am
The Editor’s note is the issue!
The GRIT game we used to be able to play, had Ray Parlour, Sylvan Wiltord, the old PV4, sometimes Martin Keown, Gilberto Silva….
These players have left or are injured in Gilberto’s case. I am not so sure that we can play the plan B style that you seek any longer. That will be the issue. Do the players want to get their knees scraped and dirty? Will they?
Perhaps Plan B is to buy back Ray Parlour and bring in Robbie Savage in the transfer window!
(yes, I am joking to some extent)
Not sure if we can change what Arsene has TRIED to establish as our team, our style of play. I DO believe its down to the players PLAYING better, harder, with more determination. Perhaps Wenger has shown too much faith in the 11 or 12 he starts every week… its down to the players now…. he has shown the faith in them… they must repay that faith with SOLID, DETERMINED, DOGGED effort.
November 30th, 2004 at 7:44 am
I have said it and will say it again under Wenger Arsenal don’t have plan B.
In particular the draws against West Brom, Palace and S’hampton, teams Chelsea and United overcome with relative ease tells you that we don’t have plan B then Wenger intoned the same mantra and excuses. The boys are tired. Please Wenger we all knows that. Cause you playing the same guys each week damn it.
When asked if he should rest Henry, He replied bluntly I can’t. Well this is a team work and if you can’t rest one player I’m sorry Arsenal can’t be called a great team sorry. Also I have said it and will say that a again. Great teams don’t depend on one or two players. United won the CL without their top 2 midfielders and during their days on top Alex used his squad not just the so-called big name. Liverpool did the same.
F. Ljungbury is God and said what lots some ppl have been saying all season. We lack the spirit, passion and all forget about playing sexy football.
November 30th, 2004 at 7:51 am
Is not down to the players my friend. Is down to the manager. He select the team and not the players. Too many players are in a comfort zone at Arsenal knowing they will play next week even if the play shit the week before.
One thing I loved about Sir Alex. It will never happen under his watch. You play 2 or 3 crapy games that is it. You then have to prove yourself in the reserves or come on from the bench.
November 30th, 2004 at 8:02 am
But Wenger has a problem, if Henry & Vieira won’t scrap because they’re carrying injuries, who can he bring in that will? There isn’t anyone, because Wenger has dispensed of all those type of players, or they’re injured.
You could put Flamini in for Vieira and Lupoli in for Henry, but what happens when they win the ball? They haven’t necessarily the talent to damage the opposition.
Wenger is too preoccuppied with filling the team with softies who play superb football but bottle tackles all over the pitch. Injury or no injury, Pires is a disgrace and completely worthless in this type of situation.
For now I would put Reyes left and replace Fabregas with Flamini. Van Persie should play up front with Henry. Drop Bergkamp and Pires.
If we have the money in January I would like to see Wenger go for a centre back, striker and versatile midfielder. We also need a new right back and keeper, but that can wait.
November 30th, 2004 at 8:47 am
Pires is a disgrace?
That might be a “little” harsh.
We don’t need 11 Roy Keane’s on the pitch… you can have a blend of finesse and aggressive players. Robert Pires is the teams 2nd best scorer after Henry EVERY YEAR. He has been the same player he always was. (Baseball analogy: You can’t ask your defensive minded shortstop to hit for power!!! )
Pires is what he is… a fantastic scoring winger.
I wouldn’t put Reyes on the reserve team in his current form.
November 30th, 2004 at 8:49 am
Love G… I simply do NOT agree.
The manager doesn’t play the matches. The players do. They are responsible for their play, their actions on the pitch. Without alot of options, due to injury / suspensions coming up…
it is down to the PLAYERS.
November 30th, 2004 at 9:10 am
Wenger is a good manager but need to start thinking and stop all the whining and excuses. His excuses are one of those reasons the team are playing bad. Always blame it on someone. Now you even have players coming up with excuses. Cesc, Robin, Flamini, Hoyte, Quincy were the boys who humiliated the old pros of Everton and Man City so don?t tell me Arsenal don’t have a plan B, is the Manager. These youngsters need to play as simple as that. Don?t wait till one is injured. What is teamwork in French?
We should have sold Vieira when the prize was right and used the money to buy Gerrard and a defender. Reyes, sorry was a waste of money. The guy can?t pass the ball and spend more time jumping like he had been shot. Vieira dived like the whole world was f8cuking on his back. Pires gone to the dogs and Henry, Mr. can do no wrong is coming up short. It has to be said. I love my team but can?t stand some of the girlies we have. Where is the Arsenal gone? Wear the kit with pride.
Ray Parlour was a legend for Arsenal as was Keown because they got stuck in and did what they had to be done. Show me one player apart from Cole and Ljungbery who will do the same today. All girlies.
If I run an Airline and know two of my best pilots are not well, do I allow them to fly and crash a plane before I look for someone else or gave them a well deserve break and call on someone else.
November 30th, 2004 at 9:15 am
Good article, and something which I’ve been saying for years now. Arsenal do not have a plan B - Wenger does not have a plan B. That’s why we always come unstuck against the better European teams. They know how to disrupt our patterns and therfore nullify our main threat.
Although we have a fluid 4-4-2, too many teams are now flooding the midfield. They know this works against us. Liverpool did it perfectly.
Why the hell do we not change to counter this. Instead we try to play our normal passing game in midfield and cannot get going, because almost every pass is intercepted.
I’m worried that Reyes and Henry are incompatible. Myles Palmer said it and I agree. Vieira still hasn’t returned fully from Madrid. With Parlour now gone, we a missing a tiger in midfield ala Davids, Deco, Gatuso.
The club have been blowing their own horns about how financially strong we are now - show us!!
Strengthen the team in January.
I’m positive though that Wenger knows what needs to be done… Wenger knows.
November 30th, 2004 at 10:00 am
You can have all the Parlour’s and Keown at aged 38… I will take Pires and Henry… as is. They have not changed the way they play… nor should they. You don’t ask you stewardess to fly the plane…
November 30th, 2004 at 10:12 am
They have to change a bit. Of course I know both guys are in their mid 30’s but we need players like that to show some fighting spirit.
True I may call on my stewardess knowing the world will forgive me if they were ladies that crash the plane instead of some tired girlie men.
November 30th, 2004 at 10:38 am
I don’t think its fair to ask two of the top players in the WORLD in their positions to “change their game”. Their game was just fine when we went unbeaten last year. Its up to Wenger to surround these types of players with the Parlours and Keowns of the world. Sometimes you need Roy Keane or Robbie Savage on your team… I understand that… but obviously there is room for Pires/Henry. Just have to mesh the physical gritty players with the finesse. I don’t think you ask finesse players to change how they play.
November 30th, 2004 at 10:46 am
and by the way…
Both Patrick Vieira AND Thierry Henry have solidiered on, game after game after game with injuries they could easily have sat out …
Vieira has played all season with an ankle injury, and Henry has an achilles problem.
This shows both PHYSICAL and MENTAL toughness on their part.
I would hardly call their performances those of girlies.
November 30th, 2004 at 10:50 am
Well said..
That is why the manager should give them a break and rest them. We all knows that apart for Wenger. He thinks they can play in every game which they can not.
November 30th, 2004 at 10:53 am
I understand you too.. So that why we need a plan B. like you I loved my team but need some change. Change is very good.
November 30th, 2004 at 10:54 am
Also let me add this.
You can see the difference between the girlie men and the old bulldog fighting spirit. Example Henry and Ljungberg. One is coming out with the same excuses like his manager and the other is talking about was most fans knew about Arsenal ages ago. No heart, Pride or fighting spirit.
Support your team but let be honest and stop living in denial. That is why we love you Freddie!!!!!. You are a Gunner Through and thou!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 30th, 2004 at 2:11 pm
Well reasoned, Stagg. And to be honest, I would be MORE than happy if we bought Robbie Savage. Like Keane, he is the guy who always shakes up the opposition, creates scoring opporunities out of sheer will, and makes the rival fans crazy.
But unlike Keane, he does it with a smile. I remember his taking a free kick when I was at highbury in the lower North bank and the Highbury faithful were given it to him. He was laughing a bit, knowing full well that much of what he was getting, he’s deserved. And then he took the kick, and got back into the game. Well spoken fella, too, which shows he can think.
November 30th, 2004 at 3:51 pm
Grit is going to be tough to come by with our injury-prone squad, but I still hold out hope that once everyone is healthy and our youngsters get the experience in the CC that they need to break into Wenger’s first XI, we’ll invent our OWN brand of grit. And our big guns will have their proper chances to rest. Remember, this is a process. No sense tipping our hand just yet.
The Arsenal do things their own way, Wenger’s way, and certain players will find that the way they can help this team the best is by being “that kind of player”. Right now, we need all the able-bodies we can get to just get the ball forward. The Parlours and Keowns are likely to be in the bud on the reserve training ground, or in the bodies of our first XI who will lose some of their top-notch skills eventually, but will be valuable with their wealth of experience in the twilight years. Again, we’re in a strange, injury-borne transition stage.
As for Team B, Simek and Karbassiyoon are slated to be at OT, as are names that I’ve barely heard of before (Djouron, Cregg). The real good news is that Clichy is once again healthy. I’m sure we all remember how important he was to us in a few of those games where we needed cover in the gut of the season. As far as I’m concerned, the more players who played in our immortal season, the better the sprit.
And good point about our intimidation factor, Greengunner. I think all it’ll take is one good Arsenal clock-cleaning. In the meantime, let’s let them get healthy and scrap?the Arsenal way? this spell out.
One last thing…the Euros. What kind of bug was going around in that French locker room (Although Wiltord seems to be doing okay).
November 30th, 2004 at 4:52 pm
This animal has to change its spots if we are to come around. I find myself agreeing with most of this posting. We have been beleaguered by a combination of loss of form, loss of intensity and injuries. Too many excuses from Wenger have given the players an out for their mediocre form.
More intensity will result in a re-emergence of form in my view - and it’is up to each and every player to examine his commitment level for himself. It also wouldn’t hurt if Wenger did shake things up a little bit by dropping those are just not trying hard enough.
Finally, I think we should go into the market in January and get a hungry, accomplished and down-and-dirty midfielder. Scott Parker for example (if he were available). If Senderos is as good as they say, he’s ready to be first off the bench at centre half.
November 30th, 2004 at 5:45 pm
Senderos.
As good as who says? I have heard mixed rumors on him… Including a nightmare match in the Carling Cup… and that he lacks speed. If he were half decent, Wenger would have tried him instead of Cygan…. I simply don’t see it happening for Senderos.
November 30th, 2004 at 7:07 pm
Some have mentioned it, and I will repeat the mantra. Freddie said in an interview in the Guardian we are letting other clubs out challenge us. He seemed like he was talking about Pires in particular. Bottom line is we are lacking belief. We did plan A the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half and we scored a goal. Nothing wrong with plan A. No one could beat plan A for 49 games. When we get beat playing Plan A, then I’ll go for a plan B. Part of Plan A is our closing down the opposition and not letting them string passes together. We didn’t do that v. LFC.
November 30th, 2004 at 7:56 pm
Stag… I agree with Love G on this. Managing a team of footballers is no different from managing a bunch of guys in our day to day jobs. Sometimes when one of your sub-ordinates don’t perform, it maybe because he is not motivated enough, or doesn’t feel threatened about his position, or well setlled in his comfort zone or simply needs his a*se kicked. However it’s all down to the manager who has to find the right solution to make him perform.
Humans are complex. AW’s methods of absolute loyalty will work most of the time, but depends on the person he is working this on. Sometimes the person needs a lil’ bit of fear motivation and AW don’t have to go as far as the hair dryer treatment, but get someone to replace the fella (if we had that someone, which I believe we have at least up front). In my opinion the best manager is one who uses a good mixture of loyalty and fear.
November 30th, 2004 at 8:21 pm
Reyes and Henry are incompatible…. I agree with this. But does that mean that Reyes is a no good player? I wrote that Reyes is going down to ground too easily and of late I don’t see him running around asking for the ball. Why? I blame 2 people. AW and Henry.
Henry thinks he’s God. Mainly because of all the plaudits he was getting for the last couple of years. In some games when he really has the mood, I agree that he’s even higher than God. He’s a team player and quite unselfish. But he’s got a massive ego, chickens out in big games, and does not want his stardom affected by Reyes or Van persie. I remember the 1st 10 games or so Reyes played alongside him last season and he was totally ignored. Now and then a customary pass will be provided to him by Henry or Pires, but if you had noticed carefully, would be either short of length and intercepted or too much to it and will run out of play. Not that this was done on purpose, but not with greater care.
Of late when things were going well, they looked finally like understanding each other, but I was wrong. Henry will have to understand at one stage that he will be required to do the Bergy role and pass the stardom & the getting of goals to Reyes & Van Persie. AW should make him understand. And he should stop waving hands or showing disgust when Reyes or V.Persie go for goal themselves and misses. This is not a healthy practice and will encourage opposition defence when they see that there is not a great understanding between our strikers. Disagreements can always be sorted out in our dressing rooms and not in the middle of the pitch.
November 30th, 2004 at 10:34 pm
Well Green… I have never been motivated by fear at my job…
and… what fear would a star player for the Arsenal Football Club truly have? You can’t be serious…
If Arsene says “Hey Thierry, you’re on the bench, and if you don’t do X,Y,Z… you’ll rot there… there would be 100 teams around the world willing to pay him whatever he wants to play there.
Same goes for just about any of the other star players… Vieira, Pires, Freddie, etc etc… its not 1970… the star players are not motivated by fear of losing there starting position.
If I were as skilled in my field as a top flight footballer…. and my boss tried to motivate me with fear…. I’d laugh at him. Its a different era, a different world…
I am simply not buying into it being the managers fault… at some point the players have to play better…
November 30th, 2004 at 10:40 pm
Green, nothing against you mate….
but I disagree again… Reyes failure to play well recently is nothing to do with Henry! They were quite magnificent together in the beginning of the season…
Henry has the most assists of ANY striker in the league, year in, year out…. he’s UNSELFISH…
Now, people want the players to play with passion… and when he shows it… people complain about it??? can’t have it both ways…
he was actually standing ALL ALONE in front of the goal v. Liverpool, and VanPersie chose to shoot …
I’d have been a bit miffed too…. ummm… i was actually… he is the best striker in the world!
November 30th, 2004 at 11:47 pm
Stag, lets look at this in another way. Last season, I saw Henry in one game trying to around the keeper on a one-on-one situation. But Reyes was with him and if he had squared the ball, it was a simple tap in. He didn’t do it. Reyes just shrugged and continued the game. But if it was the other way around, I am sure henry would have been extremely agitated.
I will not complain about going for goal. But you cannot show ill-feelings about your mate in the pitch. Sometimes I see players applauding his colleagues’ effort when they send a long ball forward and it goes out of play. It is a poor ball, but the receiver applauded. What’s he’s trying to say his, “good try mate…next time will be better”.
Now this is what seniors should do to the juniors. Encourage them. If they feel that they need to be encouraged by losing their temper, do it in the dressing room. That’s all I am asking. Trust me.. this will work wonders for the team spirit and building the confidence.
About the passion part, yeah we want passion, in the game, in the tackles, not against your own mate (even when’s he wrong) in the middle of the pitch.
December 1st, 2004 at 12:03 am
Good post, Greengunner.
Considering the attractive football enabled the Gunners to go unbeaten last season and also attracted many fans to watch them, I think what is needed is for the current crop of players to defend better as a unit. It is extremely difficult for our two central midfielders to try and cope with teams that play 5 across the middle of the park - it is a no contest when our strikers and wide players do not recover quickly enough to fight for the ball whenever we lose it. So often this season, we have seen our midfielders like Viera, Edu and recently Fabregas losing the ball in midfield and failing to recover quickly as a team to win the ball back. I remembered last season our players played with grit & determination when the passing wasn’t working well to grind out results. This season we have players like Pires and Reyes not doing more to help out in defence though I have to say that Ljundberg is the standout player in this respect so far.
So in reality, the Plan B you are refering to should be to have off-form players rest (bring in fresh players to create some competition within the team) and ensure that the players on the field are fighting for the ball whenever we lose it. Also a bit more variety in attack will help - like having a tall striker with good heading ability to play alongside Henry (read van Persie who claimed in an interview that his strength is in the air). Otherwise the crosses from Lauren or Cole or Ljundberg will go to waste. And for Reyes, before he becomes a 17M pounds failure, is to beef him up physically further to withstand the rigours of EPL - he is on his way to replicating his La Liga record to be the most fouled EPL player. Maradona may be short and have a better left leg than Reyes but he also had legs the size of tree trunks which are difficult to hack down.
So there you go, no magic formula. Just tackle harder and fiercer to win the ball, defend as a team all the time and have more attacking options. I am sure Wenger knows.
December 1st, 2004 at 12:16 am
Greengunner
That example u gave about Henry is really a one-off because more often than not, Henry *will* pass to another player in a better scoring position. The part which I do agree with you is that he tends to show his annoyance when players do not pass to him when he is in a better scoring position. Remember the Lauren-Henry tiff in last season’s game against Manure. Showing that fit of anger against a teammate in the open was not needed. Maybe he is a perfectionist and expects others to be the same. I don’t know. But I think the other players may not take kindly to such ‘prima donna’ outburst for long. I am sure Wenger knows and would have spoken to him.
December 1st, 2004 at 5:26 am
Stag, at which point they will play better? what’s the motivation for them to play better? Knowing that his place is guaranteed week in-week out and knowing that the manager will protect him by saying that he’s injured, not fully fit, will come good one day, referee’s fault, tired etc., will not motivate him to perform better.
There maybe 100 teams where he can go and play, but can he achieve satisfaction? Can he get medals if he goes to lesser teams (there would be pressure to perform in bigger teams and manager might use fear to motivate)? If he wants to be in the best team but sit in a comfort zone, how will the manager motivate him to perform? Loyalty alone cannot be the answer, like I said before, humans ain’t that simple. He needs fear motivation like there is someone in the tubes ready to pounce on his place if he does not perform, or he will get transferred to another team and will have to start to perform or the manager will give him a bashing etc.
But like explained before it is not the complete solution. Managers will have to use it only when absolutely required.
December 1st, 2004 at 5:34 am
Josereyes, I agree with you that he will always pass to another player in a better scoring position. However I cannot say it’s really one-off. Even in the recent PSV game, before we equalised, he robbed the defender and shot it at the side netting. Freddie was lurking around nearby and he didn’t lay-off. Fred was not in a great position like the Reyes example, but he could’ve laid it but still took the shot.
Nothing wrong with that. It’s only his agitation when the roles are reversed. That’s all. I think we agree on that part.
December 1st, 2004 at 5:44 am
AG, I agree that it’s all about belief. Why couldn’t we do plan A in the 1st half? What happened to our first touch? Nobody could beat plan A for 49 games because we had that belief.
But when we lost, we tried plan A in several games and it didn’t work. Remember Chelski played plan B for the starting 8 games or so and now they have the belief. Papers are now drooling about their game and some players who looked average at the start of the season are bloody playing good football. How?
So let’s start winning again, by whichever means, and right now the only choice left for us is to win it by fighting & scrapping it out.
December 1st, 2004 at 5:52 am
Josereyes, you are right. That is exactly what we need to do. Either get the off-form players to show grit or replace them with whatever options we have (not much at this time though).
When you say AW knows, I never doubt that line. He’s a fantastic manager, brilliant, a perfectionist and the best thing that ever happened to Arsenal. However can we win back to back titles? what about the CL?
AW should know that we have to lead the way to the rest of the EPL teams by beating chelski. If we draw or lose, it’s really going to complicate things, until the transfer window opens. However it maybe too late also, as far as the championship is concerned.
December 1st, 2004 at 9:19 am
We’ll find out today how good he is, I reckon.
COME ON YOUNGUNNERS!
December 1st, 2004 at 9:37 am
Good points. And I know it sounds like more Wenger excuses, but nearly every single player on our first squad is carrying an injury, which is highly fatiguing. Plan A requires that perfect touch that at the moment comes and goes depending on pain and energy. We just can’t get it going with any regularity or rhythm right now. Frustrating, but we’re going to have to be patient and try not to drop too many points until we’re healthy.
As for Chelsea…well, they’re really in their own league. I mean that literally. Yesterday I was listening to BBC coverage of their CC tie with Fulham, who were unlucky to lose. But the announcers couldn’t say a single positive thing about the West Londoners without also mentioning the money issue. We’re struggling with our centre half position when Sol is out and trying to get him back into match form (meanwhile Cygan is out for today and Saturday), and they have TWO worth 20 million! And that’s just the first team! They actually said yesterday that Chelsea have TWO TEAMS! Robben went off for the second half after being extremely dangerous and helping Duff get that first luck-is-on-our side deflection. He sat him! More rest, and quality experience in one day. If we shelled out cash for Drogba (28 million), he would play the entirety of every game. Yesterday he was taken off and stuck his toes in a whirlpool. When you have all that cash, you can rest and mix and match at minimum discretion.
Chelsea SUBBED in three players yesterday worth in excess of 50 million. Jumpin Jesus on a handtruck. There are so many options on the pitch at any one time and on the bench that you just have to hope they get bored for a short spell so teams can nick one. Let’s not forget…they dropped Mutu without so much as a pat on the back. He cost them almost as much as Reyes cost us and they just flushed their investment down the toilet. If he were our player, we’d certainly have gone further to see what we could do. We’d have to.
There are two leagues in one again like last season, but this year it’s not about quality pulled together from a combination of a brilliant manager, his brilliant finds and a brilliant youth system. Your don’t read the kinds of accolades in the papers for Chelsea this season like you did last season. They had better win, and everyone knows it. Its like running a race with a car that has more gas and doesn’t need pit stops. Just point it at the finish line and don’t do anything stupid.
Let’s get healthy, find our hearts, and give them and everyone else the kind of spirit that Fulham showed yesterday. They had no business coming that close to beating Chelsea in their current form, and they nearly did. And we’re better. And we can.
December 1st, 2004 at 9:49 am
It does sound that simple. But when you’re entire squad is trying to heal (Pires thinking only offensively cause our attack needs it) or under 19 (Edu, Gilberto, where are you?), its tough for them to track back and do the kinds of scrappy things that could help us make the difference. Personally, I think what we need to do is put a less remarkable, lesser known squad on the pitch as often as we can, give them experience, and hang on to as many points as we can until our big guns get healthy. If Henry plays the first half and comes off, that works for me too. Give him 45 minutes to push it as hard as he can and then get his feet up. Otherwise, we’re 50-70% for the rest of the season. And that’s if we’re lucky.
But right new Wenger seems to be playing the people he is playing because you can’t look at your unbeaten superstars and tell them they can’t go back on and find their form. We’re not getting blown out, and to everyone including many of us here, it seems like we’re that ONE special game away. Five points behind with the rest of the table up our arses is close, but not close enough to push the panic button. I think the closer we get to the Rosenborg match, the more we’ll see baby faces on the pitch in League games.
When your a Gunner, and your passes are working for five minutes straight, and you feel dangerous every time you get the ball rather than that niggling pain, form recovers, confidence recovers, and points start adding up. When you’re not worried that Cesc is getting thrown to the wolves so you’d better keep an eye out for him, you can concentrate on being the best midfielder/captain in the game again. When Gilberto is consistently frustrating the side attack to the point where they need to space out some more, the openings appear and the brilliance flashes yet again.
Time, Gooners. Hang on.