February 15th
This season really is fucking sickening. Another away defeat, another limp away performance and another late, late goal sealing the points for Liverpool. I’m not really going to go into a blow by blow account of the match as there’s not much point in me relating to you all the things Liverpool did. In the first half we really didn’t do anything but Jens Lehmann made two fantastic saves. One from a Senderos clearance which was looping in and the second from a penalty which our old friend Graham Poll decided to give to Liverpool for precisely fuck all.
There was one nice little interchance which saw Emmanuel Adebayor go through but he was given offside. I’m not convinced though but Sky fairly much glossed over it. From the replays they did show at the time I think we were unlucky as he looked just about level. In the second half Dudek made a save from Henry and Lehmann made another great save from Fowler. He saved from Kewell late on before making another fantastic save from Hamann but Luis Garcia was on hand to score even though again Lehmann nearly got to it. To my mind he’s been the best keeper in the Premiership all season and he certainly deserves the new contract that’s on offer. We had a late corner and that was it. Another away loss and another vital three points down the toilet.
Now, before I get to the next part let me just say that, despite harsh words sometimes, I love all our players. I love them because they’re Arsenal players. They’re wearing our shirt and I desperately want each one of them to do well in every game. No matter how badly they’ve played previously I want them to do well because they’re Arsenal players. It makes me feel bad when they don’t do well. Unfortunately some of players went missing, yet again, last night.
I realise we have injuries to players who can make a difference. That would certainly have been a different game if we’d have Lauren, Cole, van Persie, Reyes and even a fit and in form Sol Campbell available. That’s beside the point though. When we have those players missing there’s a bigger responsibility on the players who are there to perform and to give a little bit extra. For me the game was lost in midfield. Basically we only played with two midfielders and I’m being a bit generous there.
First we had Cesc who always wants the ball, who is always looking for a pass, always looking to keep the play moving. He worked hard, tackled and tried to create but suffered for the sins of the others. Then there was Freddie who, in the second half, worked hard, won some headers and put himself about after being a bit sloppy and lazy first half. There just doesn’t seem to be any end product to him anymore though and it’s mid February and he still hasn’t scored a goal in the league. For a player who was never the most creative that’s making life hard for us. You take the goals out of his game and he becomes a very average player.
The other two though were just horrible to watch. It makes me sad to see Robert Pires now. As poor as he was in the first half he was totally anonymous in the second and if all he can do when he gets the ball now is cut inside and play a square pass then we really have to question his worth to the team. I know he misses Cole bombing on ahead of him but there was one time last night he could have knocked the ball past Finnan, use the element of surprise as the Liverpool player – like us – certainly wouldn’t have been expecting it. Instead he cut inside, played it square and we lost the ball. I think the one year deal he’s been offered is about 12 months too long. It says so much about how bad he was that Hleb, who hasn’t exactly set the world on fire himself, looked far, far better in the short time he was on the pitch after replacing him.
Then we come to Gilberto again. So much of our play breaks down with him. He wasn’t as spectacularly bad as he has been but when we need performances, when we need someone to take the game by the scruff of the neck he’s hiding behind the sofa with a pillow over his eyes. He is a huge weakness in our team now. He gives the ball away so often I’m beginning to wonder if he isn’t some kind of double-agent. He can talk all he wants about stepping up and helping the young players and how we have to play to win in Madrid but his mouth does all the talking and his feet, which should be doing the talking, are wearing ballet shoes and he’s Swan Laking around the pitch. I know Diaby isn’t experienced but I’d love to see what he and Cesc could do in the middle. With two players so totally anonymous against such an experienced Liverpool midfield it was always going to be difficult. In this league you cannot afford to carry passengers. You’ll get found out and you’ll get beaten. Midfield has been weak all season long, it’s cost us games and it will continue to do so as long as the manager plays players whose contribution to the game is always minimal at best. It’s worth repeating that all of us can deal with a player playing badly when we know they’ve given their all for the cause. It’s when the play badly with such an obvious lack of fight that it becomes frustrating. And when they do it more than once it makes me want to pull what’s left of my hair out.
Then we come to the captain. Can you call it an off night? Once he was put through by Cesc but couldn’t control it. Once by Freddie but he couldn’t control it. There was another time a ball came from our left (can’t remember who played it) and he sidefooted it out of the ground nearly. I love Thierry. I love what he’s done for the club. I love the goals he’s scored, the way he’s scored them and the way he’s loved scoring them for Arsenal but as long as the contract remains unsigned there’s a nagging doubt that his heart isn’t in it and when you’re like that you can’t perform and he isn’t performing. Maybe the captaincy doesn’t suit him but how do you take it off him now? I want him to stay and I want him to sign a new deal because I think that will make a difference to his game. He’s not 100% focussed. I don’t want to say he’s not 100% committed because, although that’s partly true, it can be interpreted the wrong way. What I do think though is that at a time when we’re looking for leadership from our captain he’s dilly-dallying over whether or not to sign a new deal with us. When things are going well and the team is performing maybe that’s not such a big deal but when things are going as badly as they are at the moment I think it’s fairly obvious that it’s having a negative impact on things.
And even amongst all this hard to take stuff there’s some positives to be taken from the defeats and the late goals. I’ve said all season the young players will learn from this and I’m still convinced they will. This is going to hurt them, certainly more than a player who is deciding whether or not to go play in the sun for a year or two like Bobby, and that hurt creates desire and a hunger to win. They’re suffering from not being supported properly by the experienced players but they – and we – will see the benefits of it soon. Maybe not soon enough though.
Afterwards the manager trotted out the usual public phrases about the lads giving everything and sticking together but also said “We lost the ball tonight in some locations where we should not lose the ball and put ourselves in trouble because of that.”
Let’s hope he sees the reasons behind that and does something about it. Our next match is in 7 days. Against Real Madrid.
