Reaction to yesterday’s 1-0 defeat by Fulham has been universally critical of the team and the manager and it’s very difficult to try and find anything positive to say at all.
It was as poor a performance as I can remember, not even the 2-1 defeat at Craven Cottage a couple of seasons ago was that bad. Brittle at the back, feeble in midfield and toothless up front. It now seems clear that the manager’s faith in some of his players is misplaced and the best we can hope for from yesterday is that he addresses that and gets his chequebook out.
The goal came after 22 minutes, Bullard slung in a low corner which should have been bread and butter for the defence, but William Gallas let his man go and Hangeland scored what turned out to be the winner. It was pathetic defending and other players made a mistake that basic then he’d have been crucified for it – I don’t see why Gallas should be exempt. There were TV pictures before the game of Gallas trying to rally his troops and the troops looked disinterested and bored at the empty rhetoric he was spouting.
I said at the the time that it was a mistake to make him captain, it’s an even bigger one to let him continue in a job he is so obviously rubbish at. To my mind he’s a very average centre-half as well – he’s certainly nowhere near as good as he thinks he is.
In midfield we got well and truly found out. The manager has gambled this summer and the gamble has failed. I know we missed Cesc yesterday but the team missed a Flamini like player as much as anything. There was no drive, no energy, no commitment in the tackle. Denilson had the game of nightmares, his passes finding the opposition more than an Arsenal shirt. A foul throw late in the game summed him up and while the young man has done well in pre-season he’s out of his depth and this was only against Fulham. To his credit Eboue at least tried to make some things happen but again he’s not a central midfield player. Walcott was quiet again but got little of the ball while Nasri showed some good stuff but that too was mixed up with some bad.
Up front Adebayor hit the post with a header not long after they scored, van Persie put two decent chances wide and a series of free kicks nowhere near the goal. But Schwarzer didn’t have a save to make for the whole game really and we got exactly what we deserved from the game – which was nothing.
Afterwards the manager admitted the display was not good enough and while that is certainly true the bigger issue is that the squad is not good enough. You cannot go away from home in the Premier League, no matter who you’re playing, with a midfield as weak as the one we put out yesterday and expect to win the game. Compare and contrast, please:
Pires – Vieira – Edu/Gilberto – Ljungberg/Parlour
Nasri – Denilson – Eboue/Song – Walcott/Eboue
I know I’ve left Cesc out of the equation there but the obvious gulf in quality is there for all to see. Imagine if Cesc got injured for any long period of time. Sorry for making you poo your pants but it’s a pant-pooing scenario that. We simply do not have enough quality in central-midfield and unless we do something about it and quickly then this season is going to be a real struggle.
The manager talks about Diaby who will be a great central midfielder. The fact is Diaby is always injured and if he’s so good in the middle how come he’s hardly played a game there for us in two seasons? Denilson is a tidy young player but he’s so far from being ready to be the senior partner in central midfield it’s not funny. After that you have 17 year old Ramsey, 16 year old Wilshere and that’s it.
If there’s some kind of waiting game going on to try and drive down a player’s price then we need to get our priorities in order. You hear Wenger talking about how signing Barry at 27 means he has no resale value? I’m not especially keen on Barry but who cares about resale value? I care about getting three points at Fulham, not a scenario that might be an issue at the end of the player’s ‘long term contract’.
Yesterday was hugely disappointing and the main reason for that is that it’s a situation that could have been avoided. Diarra went in January and was not replaced, Flamini left in May and was not replaced, Gilberto left in July and was not replaced. We have known for months that we need a central midfield signing yet the manager has sat on his hands and done nothing about it bar buying a kid from Cardiff who he obviously feels isn’t good enough to play over a right back in that position. It’s almost dereliction of duty and at this point Arsene can derelict my balls. It’s massively frustrating to find ourselves in this position when the club is essentially in profit in it’s transfer dealings for the second summer in a row. The money is there, there is no reason not to spend it other than the manager’s apparent hauteur.
Hopefully this will force him to rethink and to get his priorities in order. Arsenal Football Club is not a creche and his job is not to develop young players. His job is to win trophies and at the moment he’s making that job very difficult for himself.
The only positive I can take is that Manchester United lost an early game last season, against City, I think and it didn’t mean the end of their title chances, obviously. With some money spent there’s no reason why we can’t pick ourselves and improve. In fact, it would be very difficult not to improve on yesterday, but the money has to be spent. If not then days like yesterday will become more and more common.
A quick round-up what else is out there this morning. Amy Lawrence has a fantastic interview with Cesc in today’s Observer. Read it and you realise what a special young man this is and unless we provide him with the kind of team that can win things we’re going to find it hard to hang on to him. He loves the Arsenal, he loves the fans, but he’s ambitious. Get that player in alongside him Arsene. If he wants Xabi Alonso, get him Xabi Alonso who wants to leave Liverpool.
Beyond that there’s not much else in the tabloids and really I can’t be arsed looking around too much this morning. The manager says we need to respond to yesterday with a top class performance against Twente in midweek. That would do but not as much as a top class signing.
Have a good Sunday.
