well fans, with the upcoming fixture v. PSV on 7 march, we will have the dubious opportunity to officially be eliminated from 3 cup competitions in the span of 11 days…. we had been experiencing a nice run of form since the new year, prior to that lackluster champions’ league leg 1 yawner last week. then came the carling cup fiasco. you have got to hand it to chelsea, (he says with much sarcasm), they eked one out with a full strength side in defense of two straight EPL championships versus a side that virtually needed similac at the half just to avoid proverbial nap time. the gunners then followed that up with and even more nondescript tosser against a team that specializes in over-the-kit rape while the refs politely look the other way like the bar patron onlookers in “the accused.”
i apologize if i seem a little bitter. it’s just that i never thought of myself as someone who would actually care about the carling cup. we who have lifted the EPL trophy and/or FA cup with regularity over the last several years, and who came within a short curly of the champions’ league crown less than a year ago….
to quote magnum p.i., “now i know what you’re thinking, and you’re right,” neither loss can be attributed to our inability to deliver a victory while fielding a full strength side. but that is neither here nor there- the cold, hard fact is that we are facing another season with no silverware.
i agree with wenger’s decision to field the youth side for the cc final, and i even brimmed with optimism when theo opened his account to give us the lead. but i was not surprised when drogba took advantage of senderos like a drunken frat party freshman coed to steal the win. oh wait, there is the small matter of the “brawl” to discuss. what a chuckle. calling that a brawl is like calling “howard’s end” a vibrant, raunchy sex orgy of a film. a little pushing, alittle shoving, and cesc’s got fat frank in a headlock. three red cards later, and we’re seriously strapped for the next match. adebayor didn’t even deserve a card, but evidently howie webb thinks all black people look alike so we lose him to suspension as well….
so that brings me to the blackburn match. we were without 11 (or 12) first team players through injury and suspension, and the stats are as follows:
we have 12 shots, 5 on goal. 0 goals.
they have 6 shots, 2 on goal . 1 goal.
they have 29 fouls, we have 11.
we have nearly 60%posession throughout the game.
they go on to face man city, while we go home to lick our wounds.
we are out of the EPL title race, already on two cup exits, and wednesday’s match looms large in the hearts of all gunners. i just hope we can pull out a roster miracle and field a side capable of extending our champions’ league run until we can bring back the heavy hitters. at least the future looks brighter than any other clubs’ prospects for the next few years….
REGARDLESS,
up the arse
kiss the crest
keep the faith
41 Responses to “Arsenal for the unprecedented treble….of cup exits, that is.”
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March 1st, 2007 at 9:09 am
The blackburn game, just like anyother game we’ve lost 1-0 this season, is the same story - we overplayed in the box and missed simple chances, while our opponents played direct football when they had the 1 or 2 shots and made it count
Making shots count is more important than putting shots on goal just merely for the statistics. For the 12 shots on target we had against blackburn, 3 or 4 of them were the result of poor first touches that gifted the ball into the hands of Freidel. There were only 2 or 3 quality shots from Baps/Ali that actually warranted a save.
McCarthy took a long ball down, and ran Senderos down for the shot and got a goal. Nade (Sheffield United) took a long ball and duped Toure and drew Lehman out for the chipped in goal. Both occasions we were in a game where we did not convert our chances, and it comes to bite us in the arse.
Doesn’t matter which team you are, if you don’t convert shots into goals, you’ll either lose the game, or at best draw.
If you think about the 5 or 6 draws we had this season, we were wasteful in front of goal and then fell behind after our opponents took the lead. We were only able to come back and draw.
keep in mind we did draw those games after leading - we came back just to salvage a point. Consider ourselves lucky no to have 5 fewer points and 10 losses for the season.
How is this different that last season’s 11 or so losses?
March 1st, 2007 at 9:09 am
I think Arsenal are in a bad way at the moment. I thought next season we could push on and really go for the title, but I’m starting to have my doubts now. Players like Hleb seem incapable of performing consistently and there’s not enough goals coming from midfield. Henry’s future is up in the air, not that I think he’ll leave or get sold, but he’s going through a period of “mental and positional adjustment” and I’m not sure how it will pan out for him.
The striker situation is worrying, Baptista is adjusting slowly but there’s no guarantee he’ll be kept or is even up to the job. Adebayor is a good purchase but he needs to score more goals, I love his work ethic and it’s effect has a big impact on the team, BUT he also has some obvious technical negatives. Aliadiere is hopeless, Bendtner is a big head who may well be overrated, Lupoli is going - so there’s no kids coming through up front - except Carlos Vela, but he’s only 17. Van Persie is great, but even he’s not a 25 goal a season man, and we need that if no-one from midfield is chipping in regularly. Wenger has to buy quality in this position, and Eto’o has already spoken of how much he loves Wenger and Henry, and there’s a lot of trouble at Barcelona so why not use the money we get for Reyes towards buying him? Or will Chelsea just thrown ?40m at him?
I think the injuries are going to cripple us soon as the kids will get tired and a lack of confidence will set in if we get knocked out of all these cups in succession. I really wouldn’t be surprised if we lost our first game at the Emirates against Reading on Saturday, and if Senderos plays against PSV he’s bound to f*ck up a couple of times and giftwrap them a route into the quarter finals.
I thought we could definitely score a couple in that game and go through, but without Van Persie and Henry injured - even if he does play he’s out of sorts - I think we’ll struggle to get to and I have no confidence whatsoever of Arsenal keeping a clean sheet.
I think at least one of those games will be a disaster for sure. If Arsenal get through both I will hail our resilience and think things are back on course, but at the moment I feel dejected about the future.
March 1st, 2007 at 10:09 am
Danny I know we’ve had our differences in the past, but I agree with you that Bendtner may be overrated. Plus, I personally don’t like the fact that he was quoted saying something along the lines of “life is about booze & women.” (paraphrased)
If that’s true, he’ll be on his way somewhere else like Pennant & Cole & all the other nightclubbers.
March 1st, 2007 at 10:21 am
I understand your point of three cup “exits”, but that’s not completely fair - the Carling Cup “exit” was in the championship game…
Having said that, your hope to extend our champions league run - my biggest fear is bigger than that - I think 4th place in the EPL will be an accomplishment looking from where we are now and how we’re playing and what our squad looks like…
March 1st, 2007 at 11:01 am
Danny, there's been much you've written o?n ArseAm that I've had significant differences with.? I agree with every word you've written above.
March 1st, 2007 at 11:04 am
Even though the 2 Cup exits back in 2004 were in a different situation, it feels like one of those gloomy weeks. Three years ago, things looked pretty grim after Arsenal got knocked out of the F.A Cup and Champs League in a span of 4 days. And then worse, the title seemed on the ropes after Liverpool took a half-time lead at Highbury. But Henry lifted the gloom with his super run and roared champions for all to hear.
Three years later on, can such a performance be mustered? Can someone step up, hammer a few emphatic goals and ensure the remaining few months don’t go downhill? Still one leg of hope to stand on.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:23 pm
With Gallas, Toure and Djourou, I am not too worried about our defence. It’s our constant inability to convert chances into goals and our constant inability to vary our game when things don’t go our way that worries me a lot. The second should be solvable by signing a proper winger (something people have crying out loud for the whole season). The first is a complicated problem.
We have lots of strikers, but none of them is an out and out goal scorer. Henry has been performing that role until last season. RvP is a great talent but it is still not sure if he can score 20+. Ade, for all his effort, is pretty poor in front of goal. Bap and Ali are struggling to make a mark.
What will AW do? Personally, I would love for AW to once bring in some big names like Eto’o and Ribery. Let’s see.
As for the cup exits, I am not too hopeful of going past PSV, and if we don’t, I would really like us to focus on finishing 3rd. I know 3/4 is not much of a difference from CL point of view, but it is am improvement over last season’s finish and I think it will be a psycological advantage (I hope).
March 1st, 2007 at 12:27 pm
I agree. Here is some thing funny, I was looking at our stats this year and they don’t look all that bad:
25 wins
10 losses
10 draws.
81 gf
39 ga.
I say these numbers don’t look that bad because i believe the Arsenal is in the middle of an obvious rebuilding phase. The worst part about these stats are the EIGHT count’em Eight times we’ve been held scoreless. But on the other hand we’ve kept 16 clean sheets.
I guess this year the Arsenal is nothing if not INconsistent. lets just hope our luck doesn’t run out and we finish 4th in the league with a little more hope for the future than we have at the moment.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:28 pm
I don’t disagree with anything you’ve written, DannyT. However, I am not quite as gloomy as you (perhaps because I haven’t had to see Flamini, my pet peeve, play for the last few games.) Also, I would say that this season is NOT a disaster so long as Arsenal can finish 3rd or 4th in the EPL. Like you, I also think Wenger should/must purchase a striker that can convert with regularity as well as a winger who plays on the wing and not down the middle. The remaining need is goalkeeper and I think Wenger has got that sussed out somehow. I really hope he does not try to muddle through with Almunia next year. Those are 3 significant purchases. It will be an interesting summer. I will be surprised if Wenger does not do something about all three needs.
March 1st, 2007 at 3:15 pm
One area which is definitely an Arsenal weakness is long range shooting. I don’t think Arsene trains the boys for long range shooting. The try from Helb from the left wing was a joke as he almost hit the corner flag. And often we complain about Cesc shooting the ball straight at the keeper but never away from the keeper to force a save. Only Henry has the track record of scoring from distance but that has not been the case this season. Contrast that with Chel$ki who probably scores the most goals off deflections. And ManUre who has Ronaldo and Rooney who can shoot from distance at the end of a run.
Maybe something for Wenger to work on next season?
March 1st, 2007 at 5:07 pm
I agree on the lack of long-range shooting - as long as it is not over done - you can’t score if you don’t shoot. Having said that, I thought Baptista’s attempt last night was a great, solid attempt that looked like it might sneak in the upper right corner had the American GK not made a quality save.
March 1st, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Agreed - if all we do is qualify for the CL next season by finishing 4th, the season is not a disaster. Just below expectations (whatever those are). However, even with 2 games in hand, it is a long way from a far-gone conclusion that we will qualify. Personally, I think it is better than 50-50, but not much better.
March 1st, 2007 at 6:08 pm
Arsenal are definitely missing another goal scorer’s touch, especially from midfield. I for one, am definitely missing Pires… no one seems to mention the loss of Pires and his goals. That guy was a born scorer and had a strike rate most forwards would die for.
I agree with the lack of long range shooting, but I think that our fortunes could change. First of all, Rosicky is feeling more comfortable in the offense and he can definitely belt them from distance. He is a bit unlucky not to have a few more goals. I also think Cesc will start pouring in more goals. Remember he is only 19. He is getting stronger and stronger, and this season, he has provided many more clean, powerful drives (albeit most have been directly at the keeper) than last year. I think he’s also been a bit unlucky to not find the net. I have my fingers crossed that as he bulks up his shots will get a little more venomous. If he could score half as many as Lampard, he would be 2x the player.
March 1st, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Its the same, exhasperating story, week in and week out. Playing the better football and drawing or worse yet, losing to the wonder strike. No one on Arsenal seemed capable of producing magic last night but somehow you just knew when McCarthy cut inside Senderos he was going to bury it….
Improving the Gunners is a complicated problem that has been addressed in other comments, but I for one would like to see some improvements in set pieces. For as many fouls that are committed on us (more free kicks than opposition) and for as much posession we dominate (we generally always get more corners), we hardly ever make the opposition pay on set pieces. Even if we made no roster changes, think how much further up the table we would be if we could convert a few set pieces and improve our woeful defending on them.
March 1st, 2007 at 6:50 pm
As I said ages ago, this current Arsenal team is Wenger’s vision in its rawest form. I also said I was extremely skeptical that this ideology of Wenger was ever likely to produce silverware. Even in 2004 we had the influence of Ray Parlour and Martin Keown, both in the dressing room and on the pitch. Sure, injuries haven’t helped the situation, but I get the impression sometimes that it doesn’t matter what team we put out, we’re still never going to achieve the consistency to win a league title. It goes back to the lack of improvisation in our play that I mentioned earlier.
Arsenal’s fortunes seem to veer dramatically within weeks, whereas before we had dips every three or four months. I’m not sure this bunch has the resolve to do pull themselves up again, and even if they do, how long will it last?
Unless Wenger seriously invests in the summer, and stops placing too much faith in players patently not good enough, he could find his vision permanently blurred amongst a flawed idealogy of playing that unfortunately fails more often than it delivers. At least when it comes to the crunch.
March 1st, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Just splash the cash on a top class forward in the summer. I say bring Fernando Torres at the Emirates. He fits the bill perfectly, he is young but already is experienced player. He would be a big hit at Arsenal. And he may come cheaper than we all think. As the things are at the time I think that the swap deal between Reyes and Baptista won’t happen, and we should offer Reyes plus cash to Atletico for ‘El Nino’. Atletico were interested in Reyes in the summer, so I think it might work out.
March 1st, 2007 at 7:27 pm
One can only wonder what would have happened if Gallas, based on his form last night, had played on Sunday. Also, I wonder why not play Fab last night as he’s a bit better conditioned to play two games in quick succession than Denilson and save Denilson for Saturday. He apparently looked a bit jaded and we seemed to need a bit more sharpness last night. Who knows?
Regardless, it’s not all doom and gloom yet, boys. I know it’s been a tough few weeks but we can get back on the right track on Saturday. That’s going to be a tough game as Reading are playing good soccer but we’ll have a few players coming back. Djourou should come back for Senderos as he’s had a bad week. We’re not playing poorly, just lacking that cutting edge a bit.
We’ll have even more players available for Wednesday and we play both games at home. We can beat Eindhoven with our back four playing together for the first time in many moons. Wenger will play his strongest side. We’ll miss RvP in this battle but we should have a very good game on Wednesday. This season isn’t over yet.
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:10 am
In principle, I like Torres but they want to play Torres and Reyes together. Atletico won’t let him go unless they get paid very well.
I’d prefer Darren Bent because even though he’s English, he’ll probably be cheaper than Torres. It all depends if Charlton go down or not. Also, Bent’s already familiar with the league and we know he can score in the EPL whereas Torres is not a certantity. There are many players, including our very own Baptista, that scored a bunch of goals in Spain but not in England, to include Forlan and Kanoute. Torres isn’t even a top scorer in Spain.
March 2nd, 2007 at 4:46 am
True enough, I like Darren Bent too, he is a goal machine, something we lack at the moment.
Torres not a top scorer? Well I see on that thing like this, he plays for Atletico Madrid, team that doesn’t score the same amount of goals like Barca, Valencia, Real Madrid… Arsenal. Samuel Eto’o had worst goal record than Torres when he was at Mallorca, has gone to Barca, team that plays attacking football and the results are 25+ goals per season. All I’m saying is, if Torres plays for some big club who scores more than his beloved Atletico, he would score more goals too.
And he will leave Madrid this summer, so I think we have a good chance of getting him.
March 2nd, 2007 at 7:58 am
Yeah, the only good thing about PSV is that it looks like it will be Eboue, Toure, Gallas, Clichy for the first time ever - although defensively Eboue still has a hell of a lot of improving to do.
Up front is worrying, it’s up to Adebayor and Baptista to come of age and bury some goals, otherwise we’re out - plain and simple. An early goal is vital. It will be interesting to see who Wenger plays left midfield with Van Persie and Rosicky out - perhaps he’ll play Diaby there. This highlights Arsenal’s need for a proper left winger.
In the fantasy that is my mind, if I was Wenger in the summer I would at least attempt to spend ?40m on seducing Eto’o, Ribery and a centre-back. Raise the money by selling Senderos (?4m), Ljungberg (?4m), Reyes (?8m), Aliadiere (?2m), Hoyte (?3m) - the board can come up with the other ?19m. I’d get a top notch centre-back to rotate with Gallas, Toure, Djourou and sometimes play Toure as right back instead of Eboue.
March 2nd, 2007 at 7:59 am
Torres is too lightweight for the Premiership and isn’t having a great season whenever I watch him.
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:08 am
torres is not the answer to anything! i watch a LOOOOT of spanish football and i have watched torres in over 10 full games and he is a bit overrated.
we DONT need another 22 year old striker sorry. we need a 25/26 year old GOAL MACHINE. strong, fast and who delivers when the crunch comes. the only person i can think of now is Eto’o. Eto is 26 and in my opinion is the best pure striker in the world. he ALWAYS scores in the big matches, the crunch times.
and i think we can even get him for less than torres.
lets stop playing around …we NEED to challenge for the title next season. we DO NOT need another 22 year old kid who for all we know will turn out to become another reyes.
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:20 am
Fred, I think we had a conversation about Torres and Eto’o in the summer and we seem to have different opinions for Torres but he is not lightweight, sorry, you are wrong on this one.
Also there is no chance Eto’o to be cheaper than Torres. With Chelsea in the mix, 50 mil. pounds are little to get the man you want. So let them splash the cash as always, and we can bring a pure #9 for less money, with Reyes included in the deal.
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:55 am
as i have said before, i watch a looooooot of spanish football…infact i watch far more of the primera liga than of the EPL (in england i only watch arsenal).
this season i have watched torres in over 10 FULL games….and he is NOT exceptional. sorry. do you actually watch the liga or do you base your judgement of him on the highlight reels. u know everybody looks good in highlights.
in my view, torres is LIGHT weight. i have a number of spanish chums at work who support betis, sociedad and athletico….and they mostly agree with me in saying he is quite overated!
if there is any spanish striker we should be looking at it should be david villa. but then again he will probably be expensive…so we could as well just settle for Darren Bent.
as for eto’o….nope, chelsea are NOT going to buy him. they already have two very good strikers. drogba is on fire now…while sheva is abramovichs boy so he is going nowhere. u think eto’o will sign up for a bench spot? nah, dont think so.
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Well, I watch fooball for 10 years and not only Arsenal and EPL, I watch La Liga and Italian Serie A as much as I watch EPL. I watch the French and the German leagues too, but not as much as the three above. And when I say watch that means I spend my whole weekend watching football and that includes the Spanish league too.
David Villa is excellent player, but still he plays for a big club like Valencia. They score goals man. Put Torres in any of the big teams and he will flourish. He scored 19 goals in La Liga at 19 years of age and that speaks for his potential. He just needs some change. And don’t say he is kid. Although he is still young he has five years experience in top flight competition and World Cup behind him where he scored three goals. He scored as much as Henry, Van Persie scored one and Ade didn’t even get on the scoresheet. He is class player.
If I have to choose between Torres, Eto’o, Bent and Villa I will definitly choose Torres. But that’s only me. You have your thoughts.
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Why not try Walcott as a striker on Sat against Reading?
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:32 pm
crazy… this time is not the best but we'll get through it.
as far as new players coming in I believe we should get HEITINGA from Ajax and VAN DER VAART from Hamburg… they are more than solid players.
I am getting tired of Senderos honestly, he's young and stuff but the Charlie Brown look-a-like has messed up royaly too many times… it's not his first season either… 3 seasons in europe and england… plus the world cup….
come on you gunners !
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:35 pm
AW has just come out and said that he has 14 players to choose from. I think he missed Cesc out so thats 15. That means that the team he puts out has got to do the business no dependency on the substitutes.
BTW Diaby’s back so the knock he took wasnt too serious thankfully. I was getting horror thought about it being busted again.Hope the kid is mentally strong enough.He’s been through so fuckin much in a year or so.
As for our need for strikers..If Henry doesnt go anywhere you really think AW is gonna buy Eto’o or Torres or anyone??? Sorry to disappoint you..but that is not happening unless AW does a Vieira again.
The most we will get is JAR coming back , getting sold, Baps back to RM and some young left winger with blistering pace.Maybe we’ll get Gareth Bale
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:39 pm
OFFTOPIC: I think I’m jinxed .. can someone write tomorrow’s preview? I got it hopelessly wrong at Blackburn
. I’ll write again after the CL game 
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:15 pm
He also left Gilberto Silva out.
March 2nd, 2007 at 4:59 pm
As Wenger said, Bale is an exceptional talent and I think he will go for him in the summer. He said he is happy that Bale didn’t leave Southampton because now he still has a chance to sign him. All I can say is, Bale will be Wenger’s target this summer, will we get him it’s another story.
Also on the new striker “coming in”. Doesn’t need Henry to be sold to buy a new striker. If we sell Aliadiere and Baptista goes back to Madrid we are with four strikers left, Henry, RvP, Adebayor and Bendtner. But we still don’t know what will Wenger do with the young Dane, so it’s normal to start talking about new strikers coming in.
My wishlist for the summer: Akinfeev, Bale/Pedersen, Torres.
The defence is good if all the players stay fit, we need a GK because Lehmman might leave in the summer, we lack leftsided goalscoring midfielders - Pedersen fits the bill perfectly and a new strikers, because the ones we have seem to know how to miss, not how to score. The other areas are well equipped I think.
March 3rd, 2007 at 9:57 am
ManU beat Liverpool with a typical smash and grab display. More incentive for Arsenal to get to 3rd place.
Walcott starts up front against Reading!!
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:06 pm
once again we nearly f-ck it up near the end….however we held on due to goodluck and jens lehmann.
and AGAIN wenger plays senderos at RB! and guess where readings last chance came from? from an attack on senderos and a cross! doesnt wenger learn???
anyways, am just very grateful we have the 3 bloody points. we are now 1 behind liverpool with two games at hand. at this rate CL football should be secured for next year very soon.
Diaby is F-CKING MASSIVE!!! that boy is GOOD!
denilson is mouth-wateringly good as well.
generally it says a lot about senderos that gilberto is always preffered at CB to him. anyways at least for the CL game Toure and Eboue will be back.
ps: anybody noticed that Alex Song is bossing things at Charlton. lol. he had two assists today and seemed to play a blinder. that relegation battle seems to be suiting him just fine!
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:12 pm
well, u still didnt answer the question! how much of torres have u actually seen? i bet not much. etoo is not in the same league with torres. and villa is surely better. bent is already used to the EPL. so of the 4, torres would be last IMO.
anyways, i say torres is USELESS, you say we should get him. well lets just agree to disagree. there is a high probability wenger wont even buy a striker.
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Maybe Song is perfect for relegation candidates.
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:35 pm
I mentioned Pedersen last January and was told that we didn’t need any left-sided players. Things obviously changed pretty quick over the last fourteen months.
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Yet again, we concede a goal. Thankfully, we had scored twice before that. I am happy with the win after three defeats. But it showed why everyone is so scared of not going past PSV.
Lots of things to comment about the game. But the thing that struck me the most is Hleb. He REALLY needs to change his attitude. He gives away a needless ball; results in a corner; he is replaced by Senderos; bang! we concede. No wonder Lehmann was shouting at him. Contrast Hleb with Ljunberg. One has tremendous skill and talent but not much attitude. The other is struggling with pace, skill and shooting but always shows commitment.
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:39 pm
We haven’t won a game and keept a clean sheet since 13 Jan (2-0 at Blackburn). Not a good sign for the PSV game.
March 3rd, 2007 at 1:53 pm
I have seen him play many times, not only this season, I have watched him for the last five seasons. And for me he is better than the other three. Villa and Eto’o are scoring goals because they play for teams with great midfield players who are creating chance after chance for them. Put Torres in that kind of team and you will see the real Fernando Torres.
And yes, you are maybe right, maybe Wenger won’t buy in that department in the summer.
March 3rd, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Also, there’s no way that Bale will be signing for Arsenal. Do you honestly think Bale is better than Clichy?
While I think we need cover for Clichy, Bale’s asking price will be too high, especially for someone who probably won’t start.
March 3rd, 2007 at 7:23 pm
I don’t know if Bale is better than Clichy now, but I think he has the potential to be the best left back in the world. His left foot is wicked man. Also, they both could play at the same time, they are both good going forward so one of them can play as a leftsided midfielder. Yes, Bale’s asking price will be high but I think Wenger should take a risk.