Those of you who have read Arseblog down the years will know that I am a pious, abstemious person who cares not for the effects of alcohol. Yesterday, you will be shocked and dismayed to hear, drove me to drink. Can you imagine?
A truly miserable afternoon’s football. We gifted City their first goal when Clichy and Sylvester played ‘Who can fluke it into the path of Stephen Ireland best’. Then Denilson van Persie lost possession, City cut us open like we were a schoolboy side and Robinho’s sublime chipped finish put us two behind. Late on a dubious penalty made it 3-0.
Sometimes you can look at a game and think the scoreline is one that you didn’t deserve but yesterday was not one of those days. City had a goal disallowed for offiside, which was a very generous decision from linesman, Robinho had another cleared off the line by Djourou and created any number of chances. It could easily have been 5-0. At the other end our efforts were weak, Bendtner missing a very good chance and van Persie having a goal disallowed for taking the ball from the keeper as he was kicking it out but beyond that we rarely troubled the home side.
Arsene’s talk afterwards about how the score flattered City was pure bluster. He’s desperately trying to keep his squad’s spirits up because he does not believe that. Pictures of him sitting on the bench, stoney-faced, looking at the game make a lie of his comments. He knew we were outplayed, outclassed and outfought by a City side that had taken just one point from their last four league games.
Is this a crisis? It’s a word that’s bandied about all too often but this time it’s well and truly appropriate. This Arsenal side is in the midst of a real crisis. They are rudderless, struggling and lacking in quality. I felt sorry for Gavin Hoyte, thrust in to make his debut at right back due to the Gallas situation. It was a mistake to play him although it’s hard to suggest that the alternative would have made that much difference. But if you’re going to play a footballer as average as Alex Song does it matter where you play him? We might have been better with Song at the back, Djourou at right back and Ramsey, who has obvious craft and quality despite his age, in midfield.
Ahh, midfield. What a disaster. I’m sorry but this is the worst Arsenal midfield for a very long time. Denilson had a shocker. He might well turn into a decent player but he’s not ready now. Alex Song will never be ready for Arsenal. Just not good enough. And Diaby, what talent he has, but talent counts for nothing if you coast through games as if you’ve been there and done it all. He’s done nothing in his career to justify the kind of lazy, disinterested performance he put in yesterday. Oh for Gilberto.
Ultimately though you can’t blame a poor player for being a poor player. You have to blame the manager for picking him. You have to blame the manager for allowing his squad to become so poor. You have to blame the manager for letting Flamini and Diarra go without replacing them. You have to blame him for allowing Gilberto to leave, having already let the other two go. I know Gilberto wasn’t everyone’s favourite but can any of you honestly tell me now you wouldn’t have him back in a heartbeat?
I wrote a couple of weeks ago about how this Arsenal side makes me sad and I stand by that today. I texted someone yesterday to say watching this Arsenal team was like looking on helplessly as someone beats up your dad. It’s upsetting. I look at this team, this group of players, and I can do nothing but shake my head. It is the poorest team of Wenger’s reign, no doubt about it. It’s incredible how we’ve gone from being a team that just needed a couple of decent additions to make it a serious title contender, to one that is going to struggle to make 4th place this season. Yesterday was a day when we could have made up ground on the leaders. Chelsea, United and Liverpool all drew. We had the chance to close the gap and we blew it, spectacularly.
Of course some of the problem is confidence and the lack of it. It’s hugely important and average players full of confidence can do wonders. Average players with none give you days like yesterday. But if and when it is restored the manager needs to address the problem of quality. The team badly needs new players. At least one central defender, at least two central midfield players and possibly a wide player. He has to accept that some of the young players he has put so much faith in are either not ready or simply not good enough. He also needs to think about whether or not he’s serving them well by expecting so much from them. He must start thinking about what is best for Arsenal Football Club and not what is best for these young players. They might be Arsenal players but they are not Arsenal.
It was a brave experiment (to use Arsene’s own word) to go down the road of youth and one which most us supported given the manager’s track record. Now though it is clear the experiment has failed and he must correct it for the club to move on. His transfer policy must change and new players must be bought in January. If he doesn’t buy in January then very serious questions must be asked about his future at the club.
I said it last week that his constant assertions about how buying players might impede the progress of youngsters is a fallacy. The cream will always rise to the top. A young player as good as Fabregas will always make the breakthrough but a young player like Fabregas is a rarity. They’re not ten a penny like Wenger seems to think they are. We have some very talented and special young players but you do them a disservice by expecting too much from them too soon. A blend of youth and experience is a good thing, when all you have is youth you get found out and that’s blindingly obvious now.
At every level of football that’s true. I remember when I was playing football in Spain. Our team was ‘experienced’, shall we say. A lot of players over 30, particularly at the back. None of us blessed with much pace, we weren’t the most mobile but we had experience and a couple of good young guys who could run all day long. A new team joined the league and I’d say their oldest player was 22. They were young, fit, fast, and eager. But we beat them every time because we knew a bit more about the game. We knew how to commit those niggly fouls, we could read the game a bit better, and while they charged around at 100mph we coped and won the games quite easily. It’s a strange comparison, I know, but it fits. The blend in this Arsenal team is wrong.
Unquestionably this is the most difficult period of Arsene’s Arsenal career. We’re in very real danger of imploding, if we haven’t already, and every team in the league will be licking their lips at the thought of playing us. The idea of Chelsea next weekend is absolutely terrifying at this moment in time. How he turns it around between now and then is anybody’s guess. The team needs a lift from somewhere. Perhaps the appointment of a new captain will do that (again that’s something I’ll come back to in another blog, tomorrow maybe).
But yesterday was a day when even the most staunch supporter of Wenger’s youth policy had to hold their hands up and admit it has failed. There are young players in the Arsenal squad who will come good, there are those that won’t. But those that will need to be brought through properly. The manager is failing them and the club at the moment. He has January to make things right, or at least get things going in the right direction again. There are those who say that buying in January is more difficult. They’re right, but if you choose not to buy in the summer then that’s the cross you have to bear.
I sincerely hope that Arsene will do something about it. I want him to win trophies again with Arsenal. I want him to succeed. I hope that he can swallow his pride a little bit and make things better. The alternative, in which he ‘keeps faith’ with this group and does nothing to address the problems we have is unthinkable.
The manager refused to speak about William Gallas yesterday but said he does have a future at the club. It’s hard to see it. I maintain Arsene has done the right thing despite the fact we are short of players at the moment. If you have to take a hit in the short term to make things better then that’s what you have to do. The big picture is important.
Chairman Peter Hill-Wood says that Gallas has a ‘problem’ and the board will back the manager in whatever he decides to do. To me that sounds ominous. Meanwhile Lee Dixon said that Arsene considered taking the captaincy away from Gallas in the summer but decided against it because he felt the player would be badly affected by it. I think that’s what they call molly-coddling and speaks volumes for the character of Gallas. Again it comes down to the manager thinking more about what’s best for these players than what’s best for the club. That he had those thoughts about Gallas in the summer and did nothing means he must take responsibility for what’s gone wrong since.
That we don’t have an obvious leader in the team to take over is no reason not to make the change. Again that’s down to him. This squad of players is 100% his. If you don’t have a leader then go out and buy one.
Overall it’s a difficult time for Arsenal fans. All credit to those who travelled to Manchester yesterday. We heard you loud and proud on the radio and on the TV. Nobody is enjoying this. Not those who had faith in Wenger, not those who had their doubts for longer.
But this is football. You have peaks and troughs. Good times and bad times. It’s just the way it happens. You don’t stop loving the Arsenal just because times are hard. To man/woman we all want the best for the club. We might differ on how we think we can achieve that but ultimately we all have the same goal. You can criticise without dooming, you can point out problems and it doesn’t mean you don’t support the club.
At the moment the club needs our support and I’m sure they’ll get it. But at the same time the club needs to address the issues that are troubling it. You can’t expect blind faith forever. There has to be a time when someone says enough is enough.
Yesterday was enough.
