october 16th
Twice in recent memory this Arsenal side has gone through a campaign without losing away. This time around we can’t win away for love nor money. I didn’t see the game, only the goals, but we had plenty of chances apparently. We weren’t helped by losing Freddie Ljungberg who joins the mile long injury list with a hamstring strain that will keep him out for 2-3 weeks.
Having taken the lead with Philippe Senderos’ first goal for the club they equalised through old boy Kanu, isn’t it always the way, and on 76 minutes Darren Carter hit a rocket of a winner.
Afterwards the boss put the defeat down to a lack of maturity and experience. He said “I feel overall we played well with a good spirit but we were punished, a little bit lack of luck but as well a great performance from Kirkland and mainly I feel a lack of maturity. We had a little bit too much inexperience to take advantage of the situation we created.”
And with the injuries mounting, particularly to the experienced players, this looks like something we’re going to have to suffer for the coming weeks unless the players learn very quickly from games like this. Of course the young players were always going to have matches where things didn’t go well and the lack of experience would show but, while there are no easy games in the Premiership, West Brom is one you’d look at the fixture list and think anything less than 3 points would be a disappointment. No points at all is not something that you’d consider and that’s not being arrogant or anything, just realistic.
But what to do? When we’ve got our first XI fit I think we’ve got a very good team. Where we’re suffering is the lack of depth to the squad and an injury list that nobody could have foreseen. Hleb out for two months meaning there’s no pressure for Robert Pires to improve his increasingly limp performances, Freddie out so our right back goes to right midfield and a true rookie comes in at right back meaning we had two inexperienced full backs in the back four yesterday, Thierry’s out and the goals have dried up, Robin van Persie who always looks like scoring is out and José who works so hard and tries for the whole 90 minutes just hasn’t been able to contribute in the goalscoring department. Some defensive mistakes go unpunished, this season every tiny error we make seems to end up being a goal for the opposition.
My opinion is the problems we’re having are 50% down to a lack of personnel and 50% down to bad luck. Yes, I think we need to improve the squad in January but I think we’re just plain unlucky at times as well. I don’t think it’s as bad as some people think. I think when we get our players fit again we’ll consolidate and results will improve. We need to start scoring goals though.
As well as that the manager has got to think long and hard about how far he wants to take the experiment with youth. For my part I was quite happy to go with his decisions this summer despite the fact I wanted us to bring in players. He’s been manager for 9 years, we’ve never finished below second, he has earned the right to our support because we know that he’s always had the best interests of the club in mind. He felt giving these players experience this season would stand us in good stead in the seasons to come and I’m sure he still feels that. The players will learn from days like yesterday. What is obvious though is that the balance is wrong and that some of the more experienced players aren’t doing enough to help counteract that.
Come January I think he needs to be active in the transfer market. He needs to spend some of the money everyone knows is there. The squad needs some fresh faces. People need competition for places. I love Cesc Fabregas, I think he’s an exceptional talent, but he knows at 18 that he’s going to start every game. Now, I’m not suggesting for one second that he’s culpable or that he’s been slack in any way, I’m just saying that some competition in midfield will give everybody – Cesc, Gilberto, Flamini – that little bit of edge.
Giving young players a chance is admirable and it’s something I support, as regular readers will know. But, at the end of the day, the best players will play no matter how old they are. If we add to the squad and the young players push for their places and take their chances when they’re given then that’s all right with me as well. We have a lot to live up to this season. This is the last one at Highbury, we’re moving to the Grove next summer and that stadium without Champions League football just doesn’t bear thinking about. When we’re looking to renew the contract of probably the world’s best striker next summer we simply have to be able to offer Champions League football. That’s why in January, if the manager buys, he can consider the players he purchases as long term investments, not only in the team, but the club in general.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. There’s still a long way to go this season and I do believe there’s enough quality in the squad for results to improve in the coming weeks. It means working hard though, it means experienced players helping the young players, it means some of them need to get their heads up and not just go through the motions because they’re near the end of their careers. It means we as supporters have a role to play as well. The 38,500 at Highbury can help. Yesterday I watched the first half of Chelsea against Bolton. At half-time Chelsea were 1-0 down and as they went off the pitch there was a ripple of boos. Not too many, but enough. This is a team that’s won 8 on the trot and their ‘fans’ booed them because they were losing at half-time. Don’t be like them.
Yes, Arsene Wenger has set high standards for this club over the years and watching us fall below those standards is not easy.
I’m not suggesting that everyone sing and dance and hold hands and have some kind of love-in for the team. The internet is a great place for everyone to vent their spleen and armchair manage but at the games we need to get behind the team. What good will boos do? The players and the manager are intelligent people. More than anyone they realise they shortcomings and the last thing they need, especially the younger ones, is more pressure. The pressure should come from within. The pressure should be competition for places and from the manager.
Over to you, Arsene.
