Mar 31
A “horrendous” performance sees the Gunners embarrassed by a Peter Crouch hat trick as Liverpool pasted Arsenal 4-1 at Anfield this morning.
Not one player showed up today. Not one. It was by far the worst performance yet this season. Yes, even worse than Sheffield Utd away.
62 Responses to “Liverpool 4 - 1 Arsenal”
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March 31st, 2007 at 10:15 pm
Well, we played crap and deserved to lose, but I’m not to worried about this defeat. Why? Well, our defence was horrendous, like Wenger said after the match, but what would you expect from them when this was their first game together and on top of that we were playing without Gilberto who is protecting the back four tremendously well this season. Also you just can’t beat Liverpool three times in one season at their stadium, it’s just too much, and maybe we were unlucky with the chances of Adebayor. And in this kind of match Wenger needs to play Senderos, against players like Crouch, not against Drogba and Bellamy, I think he could have done a great job in this match. All in all, I think it was an expected defeat and we need to forget this match as soon as possible and set our minds for the upcoming games. Remember, we still have a game in hand and if we win against Man.City we are back in the 3rd place.
March 31st, 2007 at 10:36 pm
It was a very sad performance.
I was puzzled to see Diaby starting wide. When Cesc is tired, why not play Diaby + Denilson?
Where did Liverpool’s goals come from? All from wide positions - 2 each from Aurelio and Pennant. And what is it that Arsenal lack? Oh yes, a winger. Enough said.
Despite the lack of service to the strikers, Ade went close 3 times, twice hitting the post. Bap missed the only open chance we had. Enough said.
Forget signing Bap, we need a goal scoring wide player. I will be happy if we sign just one player like that in the summer.
Funny how our first choice defence concedes the most goals. We made Crouch look like a super-star, although his first two goals were well taken. I am concerned at how our defence can’t keep a clean sheet unless our attack scores.
Funny how Liverpool play PSV mid-week and still turned up for the game while Arsenal have no game till next Sat and were absent. I am concerned that the team is lacking winners. Y’day, only Lehmann and Gallas were fighting. Diaby to some extent. Even the usually dependable Toure was missing. Players like Rosicky and Hleb, though talented, don’t come from winning teams and hence may lack a winning attitude. Wenger needs to arrest the slide. Forget 3rd place, 4th place may be in danger otherwise.
March 31st, 2007 at 10:42 pm
What can you say except… we’re in trouble. What looked like a LOCK on a top 4 spot and a CL berth for next season… isn’t so certain any more. Not based on that type of crap performance.
Look, we have ONLY the league spot to play for… so if we can’t get up for that match, then WTF are the players doing? Pathetic display, in which you have to start to wonder about some of the players in the team going forward. We had more players at our disposal than we have had in quite some time. No fatigue issues… just ROTTEN play.
Perhaps its time to jettison some of these players, because it looks like we aren’t good enough. Are we even capable of being in the EPL race next season? Perhaps, but perhaps the pretty football has run its course.
I’d like to see a few players in with some grit, toughness, and fire… and perhaps a bit less finesse. Cesc has frankly been mediocre for more than a few weeks. The lad has probably hit “the wall” after playing way too much football. The strike force isn’t very good without its top 2 guns. They aren’t going to create a thing without a lot of help from the midfield. Ade would be a good 4th striker. The Beast… be gone. Ali not even on the bench. Hleb has been piss poor lately. And “THE BACK 4″ that we would likely want to play regularly, was POOR. Crouch scores a hat-trick against you??? You need changes and help…
Feckin’ rubbish football today from the Arsenal. A win or draw v. Liverpool would have put us in the driver’s seat for 3rd place… with an effort and performance like that, you have to question whether 4th is wide open now. Where are the goals going to come from?
I might consider taking back some players Arsene!!! Something you never do.
But perhaps Sidwell, Anelka and Pires would help quite a bit!!!
I’d take Tevez in a second… but I am sure we’ll sign a 16 year old… and one or two other finesse players we’ve never heard of… or that aren’t proven at this level. The time for that is about OVER. We need a few PROVEN players… because the time in-between trophies is growing… with the current group not likely to end the drought next season… based on some UGLY football of late from the team.
April 1st, 2007 at 6:32 am
Take back Anelka? What planet are you on? Why not bring back Ian Wright, he might be 45 but he was good 10 years ago.
No it wasn’t pretty, but there’s no point complaining too much. I said we lose 4-1 to Aston Villa, I was partially kidding - but I felt that one day a big striker, like Carew, was going to paste us on set pieces and crosses. It was Crouch instead.
Arsenal is in trouble, because we should have lost that Villa game, we were incredibly lucky, and so it would have been 3 defeats in a row. And there will probably be more misery next week against West Ham who will fight tooth and nail for a result.
The kids are kids, Diaby and Denilson are just not ready for these types of games, Fabregas is shattered. But you have to play the other too because they need games, simple as that.
The biggest problem yesterday was the full backs, they need to start cutting crosses out.
Lehmann - had no chance with any of the 4 goals (5)
Eboue - again, decent coming forward but defensive awareness is poor (4)
Toure - one of his worst games for a while, let Crouch dominate him (3)
Gallas - the better of the defenders but looks fed up (5)
Clichy - worst game he’s ever had, terrible passing/crossing, outmuscled too easily, hopeless defending (2)
Hleb - usual fart arse crap (3)
Fabregas - shouldn’t be playing, he’s knackered (4)
Denilson - neat and tidy, these games will be good for him (5)
Diaby - showed lots of promise, needs to scrap a bit more (6)
Baptista - completely hopeless, nobody would buy an on loan player on this form (3)
Adebayor - best Arsenal player by far (8)
Subs:
Hoyte (5)
Ljungerg - Arsenal looked more aggressive when he came on (6)
Rosicky (5)
April 1st, 2007 at 8:41 am
DannyT, you have a point about the fullbacks.
For the last 2 seasons, the solid blocks that were Cole and Lauren have been injured or gone. Meaning that in the last two seasons, FAR TOO MANY crosses are NOT being cut out! In a way, no matter how good Clichy and Eboue are they are just quite not there positioning-wise and are quite piss-poor in cutting out crosses. This means that our defensive duo plus the keeper (who are all horrible when it comes to aerial balls in the first place) have even far more pressure than usual.
The factor that made Flamini a success at leftback was mainly his consistent cutting out of crosses…..that coupled with the extra man in midfield helped us get to the CL final…….which these days is looking more and more like a fluke. Infact it is not “looking” like a fluke…it WAS a fluke if we are to be honest to ourselves.
Our wingbacks are: Eboue, Clichy, Hoyte and Traore. None of these four are that good defensively and none of them can cut out any crosses.
If we dont solve this problem we might not challenge for anything again next season.
April 1st, 2007 at 8:50 am
Wenger has a lot of soul-searching and decision making to do……i think he has a season to turn things around. No, not to win the league….but next season we should be in contention or at least 10 behind the leaders (over 20 behind is just ridiculous). Either this or at least a domestic cup to play with.
we are quickly losing status…and that is what i fear the most. A strong negative jolt might boot us out of the top four and i seriously fear if we leave the top-4 now we might not be able to come back in that easy.
throughout this season i wouldnt have given a rats ass if henry stayed or was sold. NOW? i think it is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to keep hold of henry. it is now obvious he is our ONLY world-class player. infact his presence at arsenal is the only thing differentiating us from 4-th place Palermo in Italy and Osasuna in Spain (both relatively mediocre teams).
infact if henry leaves we could be f-cked seriously. as i dont think gallas or rosicky would stick around..
April 1st, 2007 at 9:19 am
There are far too many players with a lazy and “loser” attitude and mentality in our team…..and the chief of them all is: HLEB.
he will never show up in a match that matters, he will never work hard enough, he will never win a match for you, he will not track back, he always gifts possession and stupid freekicks to the opposition at the worst time possible, he will never score more than 2 or 3 goals in any given season.
These are some of the things that one can be rest assured of when it comes to Hleb. Ljunberg might be a past it player….but seriously guys, he probably can be counted on more: at least apart from the lack of goals aside, he doesnt share any of the other negatives i mentioned above.
Hleb hardly creates much these days, he doesnt score and yet he doesnt put in the hardwork, and he loses possesion ALL the time. Isnt Flamini actually far more usefull than him. Flamini will not create anything BUT flamini will surely score more goals than Hleb in a season. Flamini will work and run at least 3 times as hard.
Can anybody remember those days when we used to win things? In those days, we didnt have anybody posing around Hleb. Everyone had a function….from Pires, to Edu to Parlour. This has nothing to do with skill level. Its what each actually contributes to the team. Hleb doesnt really contribute much. As he ever won us a match? Has he ever been consistent for 90 minutes?
We need LESS of players like Hleb!
There are so many things that we need to tweak in our team. And I think Hleb needs to be sacrificed for a pacy winger. We move Rosicky to the right. Bring in a PACY left-winger…..and move Hleb to the bench or to another club.
BAPTISTA: This guy is officially SH-T. he is in the same ranks as aliadiere. Infact he is probably worse, because he has far more experience and more playing opportunity. The chance he missed at 1-0….is the kind of chance even Aliadiere could have worked with. I would NOT pay 3 million for that guy right now.It would be far more beneficial to bring in Bendtner or somebody new. Those 4 goals in the carling cup were the greatest flukes ever!
as an aside: as people have noted, toure and gallas (our supposed first choice duo) were beaten to pulp by mediocrity itself (ie. Crouch). I guess from henceforth i would be a bit less critical of Senderos.
April 1st, 2007 at 9:46 am
While it is true that our full backs didn’t cut the crosses, it is also true that our full backs are expected to do a lot of attacking down the wings. In the absence of wingers and while playing 4 CMs in the midfield, Eboue and Clichy end up doing all the wing work for us. It is natural for them to get caught out of position and be less effective defensively.
As I said, forget Baptista or any striker or a CB. First and foremost, we need a winger, preferably a goal scoring one.
April 1st, 2007 at 11:13 am
Well its official. Baptista is crap and wouldn’t make it with Arsenal, and u don’t win trophies with kids. Nuff said.
April 1st, 2007 at 11:29 am
Obviously we played like shite and AW needs to stop this slide now or CL qualification will slip through our fingers…..So what to do for next year?
April 1st, 2007 at 11:54 am
I didnt watch the game. Was at work and decided to stop watching it online at 56″. Havent seen the replays either. I dont wan to. Coz it’ll probably show us being beaten in the air again and again. It’s sad…coz that back 4 we put out are very good on PAPER at least. Its our first choice. If they cant do it who can??
The team as a whole is probably demotivated completely and a loss like that is probably the only thing that will shake them out of dream world that all we need is CL qualification. The fullbacks were probably rusty and considering the way we play…if LB and RB are poor we have zero width and if they cant get back coz they’re rusty we will be murdered if there is a decent crosser and a CF who can head. Probabaly thats what happened..I didnt see the goals. Its harder for a LB or a RB to come back from injury and have agreat game..rather than a CB specially with the way we play bombing forward all the time. Still…I’m not giving excuses.
A frnd called up and told me that Gallas had scored for us. I just laughed. It was pathetic. Gallas…a CB has to score a scrappy goal from a set piece!!!! Its sad…that our backup strikers arent doing the job they are supposed to do. Yes Ade hit the post … which does not count..sorry. Ali n Baps have to go.
Ali is probably not good enough 4 AFC and Baps .. I think is under far too much pressure about his place at the end of the season to think clearly and he’s trying too hard. Probably thats why AW hates LOAN DEALS. Everything has to be perfectly in place for AFC to win unlike other teams who can win dirty.
We need to perk up and try and win 2 or 3 games in a row…someway to get the confidence back. Else we’ll go on a horror run which will see us being dumped out of CL qual. It probably wont happen because Bolton r dropping points as well …sad though.
However lets stick by the team…n back them to come out of this rut and start scoring. Who? How? I DO NOT KNOW…But someone has to stand up and be counted. Someone. Irrespective of that…lets back them 110%. Go Gunners!!
BTW AW blasted them in public…that shows you how bad it was.
April 1st, 2007 at 11:58 am
I didn’t catch the game but i’ve read a couple of match reports and y’all on here.
calling crouch mediocre is kinda funny. He is not world class by any means but he pops up with a couple of goals or a stretch of good form 3-4 times a season. It just so happens that he did it again today. Not a big surprise that a back four who played together for the first time all year and are not good in the air would struggle against a very tall and on form Crouch.
The arsenal have beaten Liverpool what 3 or 4 times this year? Thats an extremly difficult thing to do. Pool is a very strong well coached side.
there are maybe a dozen or so teams in Europe that at the start of the season can be honest when they set a goal of winning the CL. arsenal are one of those teams. So are the other teams in the top four in the EPL.
By far the 2 strongest leagues in Europe are England and Spain. Top to bottom.
So a difficult season or two is quite easy to understand. Injuries aside, Weather you want to believe it or not there is more parity in this league. this is a GOOD thing! We happen to support one of the big four. But knowing that teams like Shef U or Wigan Or Charlton could very well take points off us or the other big teams makes it more exciting…IMO.
Calling for more graft also amuses me a bit. Rosicky brings it, so do Diaby, Ade, Gilberto, and Toure. The one player who brings the most doesn’t start. When he does he regularly gets bashed by everyone here. Thats Flamini. He can play any number of positions and works his tail off. And scores goals when given a chance to play.
Wow I just realized how long this is! sorry
GO GUNNERS
April 1st, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Disadvantages:
- Is thick.
- Doesnt like England, weather or food.
- Doesnt get on with Henry.
- He is frustrating.
Advantages:
- He is OURS.
- He is extremely fast.
- He is frustrating YET he was our ASSIST-leader for the last 2 seasons. He has BETTER scoring ability than EVERYBODY at Arsenal apart from Henry and RvP. He is actually LETHAL the few times he plays upfront.
- He WAS our swift counterattack. Can you remember when we had lightning counter attacks….around those days he first came? Yeah. He was significant with that. Watch the videos.
- He is the BEST long passer of the ball in the whole club. His cross-field passes are pinpoint.
- When on form (like he was before Gary Neville and the Aragones sagas) he COULD destroy teams single-handedly! (Can you guys remember that Boro game when we were 2 goals down) and several others).
Now Reyes is considered a failure…yet compare his record to that of Rosicky, Hleb, Adebayor, Baptista, Aliadiere, Ljunberg in the past 2 years.
- Lastly he is STILL ours.
April 1st, 2007 at 1:14 pm
First, yesterday was awful, the worst performance of the season. Something happened yesterday that, even during the most frustrating moments with a Wenger tem, never occurs. Arsenal was outclassed.
The comments posted on this website are dead on: Baptista was abysmal, Hleb could have been Flamini for all the difference he made, Fabregas, in no way, resembled a player viewed as one of the best in the world under the age of 20, Diaby is NOT an winger, Clichy had his worst game as a starter by far, Eboue did not defend, Toure was very disappointing and Lehman is nuts (getting a yellow for spitting water at a fan).
I always thought the comments that Arsenal did not have anything for which to play after elimination from the FA Cup and Champions League were absurd, short-sighted and emblematic of an attitude that the only thing that matters is silverware. While this is true in an absolute fashion, it’s definitely not true for 80% of the teams in the EPL and not true for an Arsenal team that is missing its talisman and two leading scorers for the remainder of the year.
Arsenal simply was NOT good enough to win the FA Cup or the Champions League this year. Yet, that does not mean this year was a waste. We saw the emergence of Diaby, Clichy, and an unbelievable Carling Cup campaign that underscored what Wenger is trying to achieve. Moreover, there is unfinished business. Arsenal needs to qualify for the Champions League. I believe Arsenal is good enough to qualify for next year’s Champions League but it will take all of its healthy players banding together and playing with spirit and verve.
Wenger now needs to take the reins without the benefit of having his best player and most potent goal scorer there to reinforce the message. If that means not playing Hleb, Fabregas or Baptista because they are too tired, dispirited, or otherwise lack passion or fortitude at this late stage of the year, so be it. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not suggesting playing Flamini as a creative midfielder. I do suggest however that Wenger play to win, start Ljunberg, Rosicky, or Eboue instead of Hleb on the right if Hleb plays like he played yesterday. Also start Diaby instead of Fabregas and see whether the distribution suffers as much as when Fabregas did not play earlier this year but was replaced by Flamini.
The team needs to bear down, and we need to support it. We don’t need to bemoan the lack of silverware this campaign and demean how little was achieved this year, we need to get behind the team on the objective that matters now. The summer transfer season will tell its own story and, unlike some of you, I don’t believe Wenger is blind, he will not spend serious coin on Baptista, in fact, I don’t believe he’ll retain him at all. Wenger has not lost the plot, certain of his players have simply lost or never had the ability to read the script.
Let’s beat West Ham at the Emirates on Saturday.
April 1st, 2007 at 1:19 pm
I’ve watched autopsies that made for better viewing than yesterday’s match. This game does present Wenger, the pathologist, with an opportunity to dissect the remains of Arsenal. It is time for a pragmatic and flexible Wenger to reconsider this team’s ‘constitution’. The one thing I do know is that you can’t look at other teams’ star players (Berbatov, Ribery, Eto’o) and say we should get them to be our difference makers. It’s a useless exercise akin to fantasy soccer. That is not how you build a team. Our scouts need to expand their age criteria for one thing (<25yo not <16yo). They also need to add grit, determination and hunger to the technical abilities we demand. Then we will find the rarest of the rare, the new Arsenal player who can compete in the EPL and Europe. Capable of winning away at Sheffield United in a single bound, and who disguise as a mild mannered tricky little player, will eat the children of Barcelona with great relish. Bottom line is, I don't know who we should get because buying players is like buying a 'box of chocolates'. I'm trusting Wenger to think outside his 'box' and get it right.
Nobody has mentioned Wenger’s historic public ripping of his team’s defensive self-immolation. This coupled with his touchline displays this season are clear signs of that this season is getting to him. As MikeK indicated, he should not have not have stopped with just the back four. Wenger wrongly places ‘all’ the blame on the back line but not DannyT, who gets all the names and numbers of the miscreants. Now what is he going to do about it? That is the real question. Can he salvage anything out of Hleb, Clichy, Toure, Eboue, Baptista, Aliadiere, Senderos who have all been exposed this season as roadkill.
April 1st, 2007 at 1:20 pm
have u fcuking lost it wenger??????????????
if u havent then please answer these questions
1. why the fcuk do u pick that fcuking bastrd baptista???? < < big tits=no brains=fat ass=beast>>
2. why du fcuk didnt u pick rosicky,ljunberg etc. in da starting 11
nd y da fcuk do u use a player with supreme talent i.e. “diaby” on da left win instead of
centre midfield
3. nd lastly why da fcuk dont u go for a 4-5-1 formation when u dont have ny good strikers
atleast that wouldnt have lead to such an embarassing scoreline
4. why dont u bring bendtner and song back into the team right now!!!
April 1st, 2007 at 1:22 pm
there where many mistakes in this match
firstly , the formation alongwith the first 11 was completely wrong
secondly, playing the beast is like playing a team who has just got a red card <10 players>
thirdly, diaby and denilson should have been playing in the middle of the park with ljunberg/rosicky
as a winger in a 4-5-1 formation
fourthly, if benitez can make substitions as early as the 55 minute {and that is while leading the game with a 2-0
lead} then y cant u fcking substitute tomas/ljunbrg earlier
nd y da fcuk did u give that armband to lehmann it would have been better if u had it given to
either gallas or cesc
April 1st, 2007 at 1:24 pm
some suggestions : {[to MONSUEIR WENGER of course]}
11 please change your medical staff alongwith ur assistant coach right now!!!
22 pleaaaaaaasssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee remove baptista from the team right now .ban him from the training ground
emirates stadium and arsenal team
33 please play your best 11 nd not the 11 that u like, coz ur team selection is going from bad to worse
i still dont understand the logic of not starting with freddie and tomasz,
besides liverpool had 11 players who played in the qualifiers compared to arsenal’s 9
44 bring bendtner,muamba and possibly song back rigth now coz the have the required heigth and strength
to play in the premiership.i am saying this only becuse i think that denilson is a midget
and may never be able to impose himself on th english game.
when da fcuk will wenger understand that playing baptista is a complete waste.
he is an utter failure with no ability whatsoever if possible loan him out to my college team
so that atleast someone could learn something from this stupid oaf
and due to wenger’s generosity we have now lost bently and pennant who are right now working wonders for their respective clubs
April 1st, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Arsenal need Reyes more than Baptista
April 1st, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Completely agree with your analysis. If Wenger can convince Reyes to give London another chance, we can say adios to Baptista. That will give us the width we need on the left hand side and allow Clichy to stay back and defend. Yes Reyes can be frustrating at times but on his day, he has the speed and accuracy to break down tight defences. Wenger will also need to have a chat with Henry about his attitude and body language towards Reyes. No matter what happens to the Reyes situation, I pray that Wenger does not take on Baptista as he is frankly not good enough for Arsenal.
April 1st, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Congratulations Alex for posting some of the most thoughtless and illogical posts in the history of Arsenal America. You are clearly letting your frustrations get the better of you, my advice is, think before you speak.
To answer some of your points:
Why did Wenger pick Baptista? Because Van Persie, Henry and Aliadiere were all injured. He couldn’t bring Bendtner back from loan, because the loan deal stipulates he is Birmingham’s player until the end of the season and not recallable.
Why doesn’t Wenger go 4-5-1? Because he tried that early in the season and it was a disaster. Had he played 4-5-1 and Arsenal lost, you would be screaming for 4-4-2.
Why give the armband to Lehmann? Well why not? He did nothing wrong yesterday and has been one our better players this season.
Change the medical staff? Why? It is the same medical staff that went 49 games unbeaten. The medical staff cure injuries, they don’t make them.
Ban Baptista from the training ground? I don’t think so, not very good for team morale that - other players might think it could happen to them.
Bring Song back right now? Is this the same Song that everybody ripped into and booed off the pitch against Fulham earlier in the season? What makes you think he would be better than anyone we have got? Why not play your grandad?
Denilson is a midget who might never impose himself on the game? Well he’s a lot bigger than Mascherano and he ran the game, so your point is?
Bentley and Pennant working wonders? Oh yeah, they’re so great they can’t even get into the worst England team since year dot.
Do yourself a favour, think before you speak because your comments are preposterous.
April 1st, 2007 at 5:31 pm
You are all talking shite. How is Baptista’s fault that we concede four goals? You all just seem to be slating the strikers for the defeats, but the reality is that our defence is making mistakes as much as our strikers. How many times this season Kolo and company have made some amateur mistakes and you all seem to forget that or do not want to admid it. Just look at the Wenger statement after the match and you’ll see who was shite in Liverpool’s game. Oh, and I forgot, if Senderos was on the pitch instead of Gallas when Crouch scored his third goal, you all would have talking how he is not good enough, bla, bla, bla… but hey it was Gallas and you simply didn’t see that, right?
April 1st, 2007 at 8:44 pm
This is FUNNY stuff.
Alex is precious… do you do stand-up?
Anyone seen or know Andez? I haven’t seen a post from him in a while… and his ultra-positive feedback might be refreshing/interesting right about now.
I have to say I think we need some serious changes in the off-season… not that I think Wenger will make them… but if we don’t qualify for the CL, you might not have to worry about it, as players will request transfers. Making the CL is a HUGE thing for the Arsenal Football Club on many many levels.
Hleb is the newest scapegoat apparently… not sure how it was his fault that we let in 4 goals… he didn’t hit the post instead of scoring, or miss a sitter like Baptista… but somehow he is so bad that he causes the team to play so poorly… thats impressive from a winger.
April 1st, 2007 at 8:47 pm
yes, what we REALLY need is Reyes… a player who fell to the ground after every gentle breeze went by him, never scored goals, and DID NOT WANT TO PLAY FOR THE CLUB.
Yes, lets get players who don’t want to be in England or be at the club… that will go over extremely well in the locker room.
I’d rather Ray Parlour be back in the team than Reyes… in all 100% seriousness. At least he’d pull the shirt on with a bit of pride and passion.
Reyes can stay in Spain and suckle his Mom.
April 1st, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Spot on about Reyes..He took some of the best corners too, drove it in with power..All you had to do is just get your head on it, no need to power it..He was one of the main reasons why we made it so far in the CL last year..He played his heart out in the Real Madrid games. I didn’t like the fact that AW snubbed him in the final when he was one of the main reasons why we made it there. Great on free kicks too.
April 1st, 2007 at 11:39 pm
Nice post….I guess we as amateur managers suggest players that would fit “a hole” for our team as best as we can judge. We are not seeing all the players around the world every day like Wenger's or SAF's scouts so we are clearly at a disadvantage. But, as you have nicely pointed out, we have some serious shortcomings this season and it has been exposed by lots of teams. If and how Wenger will fix these deficiencies is going to make for an interesting summer. And as you say, we have to trust Arsene…..
April 1st, 2007 at 11:46 pm
I don’t think he is a scapegoat. With possible exceptions of Diaby/Denilson and Jens everybody played horribly yesterday…..Hleb is just bad and doesn’t contribute to the team going forward, makes poor defensive decisions, doesn’t work hard, and causes the entire team to play poorly. And this is his second season in EPL so it is inexcusable.
April 2nd, 2007 at 12:39 am
Exactly. No Winners. The team completely lacked a game changing player… Not a single player was capable of turning the game around or having influence on the result. Maybe Lehmann…
April 2nd, 2007 at 12:50 am
The biggest defensive blunder was playing Gallas and Toure at the same time against a very slow Crouch. He lacks pace so there was no reason for Senderos to miss out. Senderos should have played. Wenger seems to be forgetting his brain of late these days.
April 2nd, 2007 at 1:01 am
Arsenal is Arsenal no more. If you keep watching this sh*t you’ll go mad….
Baptista is so not a beast. He is far too over-rated.
Arsenal is so useless without Henry. Don’t be blinded by those games we’ve won without him. To be consistent Arsenal cannot do without TH
Wenger seems so absent minded. He is more of a spectator rather than a manager. Playing Gallas and Toure as our primary center backs simply doesn’t suite the EPL.
Maybe Toure should just be cancelled out of the equation. Basically he has no aerial intelligence or ability. All he does is run real fast and bump players.
The entire arsenal squad looks like they have given up. Not just this game but nearly the whole season.
April 2nd, 2007 at 1:07 am
Sometime when I brought up the Reyes issue I was nearly devoured here. Now that Arsenal can’t up their game the topic is resurfacing
April 2nd, 2007 at 8:54 am
He’s a CLASSIC Wenger player.
Good on the ball, creative, and doesn’t get stuck in.
That’s just FACT.
April 2nd, 2007 at 9:53 am
wenger needs to stop playing midgets. simple as that. he needs to play this team so at least we can then compete physically. i know alot of you guys will disagree but fabregas and denilson can’t cut in it he premiership. their bodies aren’t right for it. i prefer rosicky who is run at people.
—————Lehmann
Toure—-Gallas——-Senderos—Clichy
—————Gilberto
———Rosicky——Diaby
Eboue————————–Ljungberg
—————Adebayor
April 2nd, 2007 at 10:35 am
Stag, I am not posting does not mean I’m getting negative or lose faith in our team. Am I being ULTRA POSITIVE? Perhaps, but I am not the one to cry when things don’t go our way, I’d rather keep my mouth shut if I can’t find any positive to talk about.
The Liverpool defeat is disappointing. Not simply because of the performance. As Wenger said in his post match interview - some of our players appearred to believe they had done ENOUGH (in terms of securing the top 4 place). With this attitude, how were they going to win?
The things going lately been disappointed me big time. Not just the team’s result, but also the fans’ reaction. I remember vividly in the PSV match, when we conceded a late goal, with 8 minutes to go, half of the main stand seats were empty.
The fans seemed more concerned on beating the traffic than supporting their team. Sure, with 8 minutes left it’s very impossible to socre two goals, but what the hell is fans for?
I remember in the Leauge Cup victory over Liverpool, when we were up 6-3, their fans were still singing “you will never walk alone”.
And then I look at the reaction here… It makes me feel the sky is falling. Suddenly everybody in AFC are crap, the coach, the players, man even the physio. How about sacking the tea lady as well?
April 2nd, 2007 at 10:59 am
Well Andez…
I just thought I could use some of your positive energy… and hadn’t read anything from you in a while.
Glad you are still out there… and doing OK.
I don’t believe we are crap. I don’t think the sky is falling… we are missing our top 2 scorers after all.
But I think changes are definitely necessary. We don’t seem to have the right mix in the team.
We DID make the CL Final last season… so we aren’t suddenly piss poor… but losing Pires and Lauren … stabilizing factors in the team… PROVEN players who have played at the highest level…
that has had a negative impact on results.
You can’t always succeed just bringing in kids and replacing anybody over or near 30. How old are Giggs/Scholes?? Leaders in their team.
Cheers!
April 2nd, 2007 at 11:09 am
What a load of rubbish. Stop playing midgets. Ljungberg IS a midget and you’ve included him in your team. Baptista is a man mountain but isn’t in your team. Senderos is massive but plays like a midget.
Size might count for a lot in the trouser departments but not football. Look at Pires, 6′2″ but tackled like a girl, then Overmars, 5′nothing and took teams apart every week, then there was Roy Keane - hardly a man mountain, blah blah.
You might need a strong physical player up top to hold the ball up and some tall centre backs are always handy for headers, but other than that it’s more to do with attitude. Size and height really doesn’t mean squat, as Mascherano proved taking the ball off Diaby and Denilson every 5 minutes on Saturday.
April 2nd, 2007 at 11:14 am
dude, im talking in the sense as in weak. fabregas and denilson are midgets in that they are weak players. they can’t run at people, they can’t run past people, they are easily shoved off the ball. they aren’t very athletic players. they don’t have the energy required for the premierleague. ljungebrg and rosicky do have that energy. fabregas slows play down way to much. our game has always been counter attacking but since fabregas came along, other teams easily get 10 men behind the ball. our style of play has totally changed because of fabregas, and our results have shown that though our style might make him look like as a player, its clearly not working for our team.
April 2nd, 2007 at 11:53 am
Well that’s a better assessment than saying they’re midgets. You have to remember, they’re very young players, not even fully physically developed.
For me, Fabregas is a shattered player, I think he will come back very strong next season - the likes of Diaby and Denilson have only played about 6 or 7 Premiership games, we have no-one else to replace them so the more we play them the quicker they will acclimatise.
WAs I have said before, if Wenger has no serious money to revamp this team then he is doing the best job he can - and a good job - if he is sitting on ?30m and doesn’t spend it in the summer he’s being very foolish. But neither you or I know what the situation is, so you have no choice but to support a manager who has given us so much.
April 2nd, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Good to hear from you after a while.
Last Thu, Wenger admitted that he had made some mistakes this season and that it was a bad time in the season because this was the first time the team didn’t have anything to look forward to in this time-period. When I read those words, my worry was whether it would filter down to the players and result in a ho hum approach. Well my worst fear was realized…
The question now is whether the team can pick themselves up and respond? I still believe they can get 3rd place. But will they? Interesting point you make about the fans. With more success, do fans get spoilt? Wenger did point out that at one point Arsenal went 25 years without a trophy. Today though, things seem to be different. No doubt the quick success of some other teams might have made things seem more frustrating.
A positive end to the season is essential otherwise…
April 2nd, 2007 at 12:07 pm
This is good stuff guys. Very entertaining! Passion for our team.
The players have obviously lost confidence.
This is a mentally grueling sport, and going out of 3 cups in 2 weeks has got to be destroying the team.
No Henry or RVP the 2 players who can sigle handedly take control of the game with a moment of magic are out for the season!
Confidence and swagger are what make The Aresnal a top team. Those are the things that make our style of play work. Whith out those things they slow down and think to much, try to hard instead of using the fantasic ability we saw against ManUre and Pool’s earlier in the year.
So several players need to suck it up and go out and prove they are Arsenal quality. Quit second guessing them selves and take the game to West Ham on Saturday. If they do we could run off 3-5 victories in a row, seal up fourth place and challenge the puddin pops(er Liverpool) for third.
Then we can all go back to thinking Positive about next year instead of complaining that we need to clear out half the team and start playing a Bolton style of tactics.
Look at some of the coments below. That is what is being suggested.
So lets hope that wenger brings in a good new winger (Reyes keeps insisting he is never coming back) and hope the injury bug goes away and the supreme confidence returns for next year!
GO GUNNERS!
April 2nd, 2007 at 1:25 pm
True enough, but it doesn't make it any more true if you capitalize it. Hleb has skill on the ball but makes poor decisions in passing, doesn't shoot,? keeps the ball too long and once he loses it, doesn't fight to get it back. More ofthen than not, he slows us and stunts our forward progress. He is a classic Wenger player on paper, but honestly, on the pitch, he isn't very good. He has his moments, but over all not a very good signing.? I would lose no sleep if he left. We can do better than him. But he is not to blame for everything that's wrong with AFC these days; he is just part of a much bigger problem…..
April 2nd, 2007 at 3:19 pm
SachinG, of the fans’ part, i think we r just spoilt. Perhaps Wenger’s past record has lift himself a high standard which he himself finds it difficult to substain. But i m positive about our future. Simple fact - a good manager won’t turn into a bad one just because a few trophy-less season. Look Fergie, few years ago everyone thought he should has retired (including me), but look what he has done with United this season. And it was against the mega-million Chelsea. Amazing.
Stag, I have to hold my hands up and admit you have a point of the “experienced players being sold too early” point.
Previously i thought had they not being sold, the youngsters would not get the chance to develop their game.
On hindsight though, it could really be a mistake. Under certain circumstances, it would be nice for some old heads to offer some leadership to the young guns.
April 2nd, 2007 at 5:19 pm
I would like to reiterate that I like heavy metal, specifically thrash & death & also voluptuous women, preferably brunettes.
Thank you.
April 2nd, 2007 at 6:51 pm
The reason Arsenal lost on Saturday was down to a lack of leadership. No one was there that “refused to lose” and dared to make it a game. The leadership to win a game we’re losing must come from the midfield or attack, ala Boro or Liverpool in the unbeaten season.
The young guys need to be taught, by example, how to win tough games. But when everyone in the midfield is in their late teens/early twenties, who’s going to be the leader? Who’s going to put a foot in Hleb’s arse when he’s not defending? Who’s going to be the inspiration for these young guys to do what they do best? All they needed was a spark and they’re technically good enough to have ripped Liverpool apart. But without leadership, I don’t care how good they are, they’re lost.
Leaders have to be predictable. Hleb would know, without a doubt, that if he were not doing his job that Adams or Vieira would be in his arse with both feet. With Henry, it depends on his mood that day, ie. unpredictable. That’s why I didn’t want him to be captain. Lehmann is also a walking time bomb. Gilberto is more suited as a “team player” and not a true leader. Until Arsenal get a true leader, they’ll struggle to be a successful team. They haven’t won anything since Vieira’s last kick of a ball for Arsenal.
Some will say the Champions League was success but we simply matched up well against Madrid and Juve, especially with Jose Reyes in the team. Actually, we matched up well against Barcelona with Reyes in the team but for some reason Wenger, or maybe Henry (in an effort to get him to stay) picked a team that didn’t include Reyes. I know Barca’s coach was happy to see him on the bench.
To have Stephen Appiah available to us twice over the past two years for cheap and not snapped up is also disapointing. He embodies everything our midfield is missing. He’s a big strong lad who can tackle, pass, and has a shot from distance. But more importantly, he learned to be a champion early in his career and he’s a leader that knows how to win tough games.
One of our young guys are going to have to take a big step up and learn to lead and win like Appiah did or we’ll be hurting for silverware for the next few seasons. Considering all of the talent we have, that would really be a damn shame.
April 2nd, 2007 at 8:09 pm
Cesc is destined to be a leader. After Henry, I think he should be a captain, if he stays at Arsenal ofcourse. Denilson is also a leader, he was a captain in all Brazilian youth teams and I think he is capable of leading Arsenal in the future. The problem is they are too young and we need that leadership right now.
April 2nd, 2007 at 11:14 pm
There is absolutely feck all Reyes could have or would have done against Barcelona in the CL Final… except fall down to easily, miss a good scoring chance, or yelp for his Mom.
Add to that the fact that he DOESN’T WANT TO PLAY HERE… and he can go feck himself.
Why would we want a player not interested in playing for us or playing in England??
April 3rd, 2007 at 1:08 am
Reyes would have done the same thing against Barcelona that he did against Real Madrid and Juventus. Against Oleguer, are you kidding me? And guess who would have had to rotate over and help out against Reyes, Marquez; which means a 1v1 Henry against Puyol instead of 1v2 the whole game.
Would that match up have won us that game, who knows. I would have put my money on Reyes over the “in form” and “free goal scoring” Ljunberg of the past two seasons. In fact, if Reyes would have played, there’s no way Belleti, the match winner, would have even gotten on to the field that night.
Jose’s problem isn’t with Arsenal but with fish and chips. Regardless, he’s signed a contract to play here. He wants to play at Real Madrid, and I want to date Angelina Jolie. But if she doesn’t like my ugly assss, what can I do?
If you remember when Henry was out last season, who got accolades for holding the line in the 4-5-1? It seems we could have used his qualities in Europe this term as well. Me mentioning Jose was about match-ups as he was hard for anyone we played in Europe to match up against. But my main point was we lack leadership.
April 3rd, 2007 at 6:38 am
Howdy, English fan here, but I quite like this website and reading the opinions here.
I would definately take Reyes back if we can persuade him to put up with the English weather. As you said, he’s been one of our best forward options for his last two seasons (especially most assists, which we’ve really missed from the wings this season). It should also be noted that for all his falling over, last seaon he was also the most fouled player in both the Premiership and the Champions League. Anyone would struggle under those circumstances.
I’d also like to add however a comment on how useful he is defensively. Those of you currently howling with laughter, please watch the whole match, not just highlights. While on the left wing he was excellent at getting back and covering the fullback, and in my opinion was one of the main reasons we got away with playing a load of people out of position at leftback.
If Madrid don’t keep him, I’d definately bring him back rather than sell him for some tiny amount just to be rid of him.
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:15 am
sheed,
yes, the defenders are not keeping the clean sheets…..but how many goals have Aliadiere and Baptista scored??? And see how many chances they have got.
If we dont score, what chance do we have of winning??
Those two dont score, they dont link up play and they dont hold the ball well. So please explain why you are defending them.
Yes you can say that Baptista is “just” 4-th choice…..but he IS our second most experienced striker and is/was an international with major league experience. And this is NOT his first time at a major club or under a pressure situation.
So no excuses!
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:24 am
well, he would have done exactly what he did against real madrid and BURNT oleguer alive…..he would certainly have done twice more than Hleb and Ljunberg did in that match.
u dont have to overly biased in every single one of your comments.
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:26 am
sheed,
yes, the defenders are not keeping the clean sheets…..but how many goals have Aliadiere and Baptista scored??? And see how many chances they have got.
If we dont score, what chance do we have of winning??
Those two dont score, they dont link up play and they dont hold the ball well. So please explain why you are defending them.
Yes you can say that Baptista is “just” 4-th choice…..but he IS our second most experienced striker and is/was an international with major league experience. And this is NOT his first time at a major club or under a pressure situation.
So no excuses!
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:41 am
as someone mentioned earlier:
In our last two seasons, Reyes was BY FAR the most fouled player in BOTH the premiereship and the CL.
We might hate Alex Ferguson - but he is a wise and pragmatic coach - and he in his wisdom KNEW that he needed to stop Reyes. Unfortunately he succeeded. And almost every other manager has done so too. Now, if Reyes was such a useless player why would managers go out of their way to break him down.
Reyes helps very well DEFENSIVELY … he always had flamini back! infact with flamini and reyes on our left we hardly conceded on that side…ofcourse that helped us in the CL too. The only person I remember who scored against us directly from the left was Belletis winner in the CL….and Reyes wasnt on the pitch and Flamini wasnt in CM.
All said and done….Reyes is considered by some on this site as a failure….but even in his “failure” he contributed more than: Rosicky, Hleb, Adebayor, Baptista and ofcourse Aliadiere.
He was our ASSIST-leader throughout his stay at arsenal. And he was always our third highest goalscorer behind only Henry and Pires. And this is all despite not liking the food…and not getting on with Henry!
But the important thing is that he NEVER said anything bad about Arsenal. That is important. And as for the Henry problem, well, Andy Cole and Sheringham HATED each other….that didnt stop them!
All in all: Reyes is at least TEN times more valuable than Baptista. And we should not be tempted to trade him in for peanuts.
We need a “Cristiano Ronaldo” at Arsenal next season. And a successful Reyes fits the bill.
I say we bring back Reyes and buy Ribery as well. Bendtner becomes our 4-th choice striker. And that would settle midfield and attack.
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:43 am
I’m not defending him, but you all seem to blame only him for our defeats. You don’t blame anyone else except Baptista and Senderos, but the reality is that the whole team is playing poorly. Look at United, Rooney is having a tough season but still they are #1 this season, not only in England, but in Europe too. And when you are at the goals, well Baptista has eight goals so far, which is not a bad record if you look at his playing time. And yes, I will say that he is 4th choice and it’s good to have him as a 4th choice, coz you can’t have Eto’o or Bent as 4th choice. And I want to see him get some games when we are complete and on form, then we can see the best of him.
Looks like Hleb is the new scapegoat, but when he is on form we are cerating at least 5 chances a game. Once again, he can’t do the job on his own, the whole team must play better, then we will have a better results.
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:47 am
Completly agree with you on this one Fred, we need Reyes in this team, but if he comes back I can’t see Wenger going out and buy Ribery. It will be either Reyes or Ribery in my opinion.
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:49 am
Spot on brother!
UP THE ARSENAL!
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:51 am
“We need a “Cristiano Ronaldo” at Arsenal next season.”
Well my answer on this one is Ricardo Quaresma. He has the same ability that Ronaldo posess and can play on the both wings. He almost knocked us out of the CL on his own and I think Wenger should try for him.
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:57 am
suckle his mum, love it, love it!!! We start it now, bring back Ray-Ray with the flamming red locks to rule the middie, awesome!
Up the Arsenal!!
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:02 am
well, am imagining that Ljunberg would be sold this summer. That means we can bring in Ribery in his position. We can then move Hleb to the bench. If Hleb doesnt like that then he can go back to the bundesliga, with Eboue moving up to his position.
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:05 am
yeah, i like Quaresma very much too…and i think he can do the job that Ronaldo is doing but i fear we would have to go into a bidding war for him. And we all know arsenal dont do bidding wars.
the advantage of reyes is that at least he already has the experience of the premiership…and most importantly he is still ours!
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:45 am
Well this summer I can see a few players leave Arsenal and that means we need replacements. The players I expect to leave are Lehmann, Flamini(today he said that he wants to leave), Muamba, Ljungberg, Aliadiere and Baptista. We have a replacements for Aliadiere and Baptista in Bendtner. If Reyes comes back we have a replacement for Freddie too, if not splash the cash on Ricardo Quaresma. Replacements for Flamini and Muamba aren’t needed so that leaves us short only in the GK department. My wishlist for a new goalie: Buffon, Akinfeev, Hildebrand, Frey. Oh I forgot, we will see more kids coming too.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:37 pm
We need goal scorers, play makers and generally players that can help us score. Rosicky isn’t much of a scorer and neither is Hleb. They came with pathetic records from a much simpler bundesliga. Reyes is far far better judging from what I have seen. I don’t think either Hleb or Rosicky will ever be able to replicate Pires’s displays.
I hope Wenger has fully analyzed the team this season and a better team emerges.
April 3rd, 2007 at 2:43 pm
The disadvantage is that he has no intention of returning and you cannot force a player to play for your club if he doesn’t want to be there. It’s completely pointless. Wenger will have to sell Reyes and will sell Reyes, end of.
Anyway, Ribery doesn’t score many goals either, he is no better than Rosicky in that respect. He also cuts inside, not a traditional winger. So why spend ?13m on something we’ve already got when the club is already short of funds? Rosicky will come good, his first season has been stunted by injury, it’s very difficult to adapt to this league when you keep missing games intermittently. You just can’t legislate for injuries.
Arsenal desperately need a vocal organiser in central defence, or at least someone who leads by example. For me, this is priority no 1. If the back 5 is stable then the team can function with less fear. Toure should move to right back, he’s good coming forward and Eboue can be eased into the team - or even replace Hleb at times, why not - he seems direct in a way that Hleb isn’t?