Right, plenty to talk about this morning so let me get me grumble out of the way first. Yesterday, in his interview with the official site, Arsene Wenger said we were ‘very, very close’ to signing somebody on the final day of the transfer window, but obviously didn’t.
You know, I’d rather not know that. I’d rather believe that he thought his squad was strong enough to go win things and that a defeat to Manchester United, after an insipid home performance, didn’t make him try ‘all day’ to bring somebody in. To me that just says he thinks we needed a player – so if we needed the player post-United surely we needed him pre-United. Why would we leave it so late? He spoke all January about the need for a striker, yet nothing happened. To me it shows a lack of understanding about how the fans feel. Then he went on to say this:
At the end of the day we have two kinds of buys. One is the players we can get back from injury and the other is the players we can get from external sources.
This makes my head hurt. Arsenal is the only club in the world who uses its incredible injury list as some kind of positive. “When we get X player back it’ll be like a new signing!!!”. Head. Hurty. Let’s be really clear about this, the only kind of new signing is when you pay money to another club for a player that is theirs and who will become ours. That is a new signing. The return of a bloke who spends half of every season out injured is not a new signing, it is an injured player not being injured anymore. If I hear the phrase ‘like a new signing’ once more I may well go completely mental in the face.
Now, I’m completely down with the whole living within our resources thing, but not so much with the putting our resources under the mattress. I’m also cognisant of the fact this transfer window has been very quiet and very few clubs have been spending. That is because many clubs don’t have money. Perhaps I’m an amateur economist here but wouldn’t that make it easier for us to spend less on players, as clubs are short of a few bob and need to sell? I heard him talk about how it’s impossible to find players in January, yet the winter transfer transfer window in seasons past has brought Walcott, Arshavin, Adebayor and Diaby to the club. More difficult than the summer? For sure. Impossible? No.
For me it boils down to this – there are positions in the team that could have been improved by spending some money, the squad could have been strengthened. He chose not to spend, which is entirely his right. However, if Arsenal fail to win something this season, and we’re already being prepared for it with the ‘third is not a failure‘ stuff, then his decision not to spend will be the stick with which he is beaten at the end of the day. Rightly or wrongly that’ll happen. Remember, he promised silverware this season. He said we would win a trophy. His words.
Now, before I’m accused of all sorts, I don’t think third would be a failure this season if that’s where we end up. It’d be an improvement on last season for a start but I won’t sit here and lie to you – if that’s where we finish I’ll be disappointed given the position we got ourselves into. I don’t believe we have any right to silverware. I do believe we have a right to expect us to do our best to win those trophies. I find it hard to believe he couldn’t find a striker who could have come in early in the month, be well settled now and contribute to the rest of the season. I can’t believe there isn’t a goalkeeper in all of the world who would be better than Almunia. And it’s a rod for his own back that he’s made.
And without wishing to sound too PR savvy or Pravda-esque, I think the official site has got be more conscious of how stories like ‘We were very close to a signing’ or ‘X, Y or Z will be like a new signing’ go down with fans. If the manager didn’t buy in January we’d like to at least believe that it’s because he has faith in his players. A last minute attempt at a purchase, or a loan, smacks of desperation and does little but cause more anxiety. Anyway, Arsene was asked about that and fans frustration at his press conference yesterday, and said:
The best way to keep our supporters happy is to win games, and to turn up with good performances.
And that’s the inarguable truth. Nobody will give a shit that we didn’t sign anyone if we play well and win games. Simple as that. A win against Chelsea on Sunday would do wonders, as would a win against Liverpool, but at the end of the day, it’s an IF. I said after the FA Cup defeat to Stoke that it would not be an issue if we performed in the league. Since then we’ve drawn one and lost one miserably so naturally people wish we were still in the cup.
It’s now down to the manager and, most importantly, the players, to get things going again. This is the squad we have, these are the players who will have to win the games and put in the good performances. I realise we don’t know what goes on behind the scenes, that there’s a wealth of information and activity we don’t ever know about, but I have to say I found that stuff yesterday hugely frustrating to have to listen to.
Now, looking ahead to the game against Chelsea the manager spoke about our form in the last few games against them and United, saying:
I believe this team want to do well but because they haven’t won yet they make it harder in their heads than it really is. When we get close to winning we play with the handbrake on. The team is mentally strong and dedicated. I see them every day and wouldn’t defend them if they didn’t have the right attitude. But they do have to find that final part to win the big games.
Paraphrasing his interview with the official site he said something along the lines of ‘We want to do well so much we end up playing badly’. It had me scratching my head all right but clearly there’s some kind of mental block. In the P8, W0, D1 run of games against Chelsea and United I can only remember one decent performance and that was at Old Trafford earlier this season. And even then we self-destructed. The game we drew was at the arse end of last season with United already Champions (I think) and looking ahead to the Champions League final. A damp squib of a game. So, I think it’s fair to say we’ve underperformed in those games, or the opponents have been so well set up they’ve found us out and just not allowed us to play. Add to that individuals who have not done themselves or the club justice with their performances and you’re always going to find it tough to get a result.
Tomorrow’s game is absolutely massive. It’s not win or bust, for me though it’s certainly lose and be bust. That fact is not lost on the players. Samir Nasri talks about it, saying:
Defeat is forbidden. That would mean the end of our title chances. But any other result would leave us in the running.
Arsene didn’t share that view in his press conference yesterday, saying defeat would not be the end of our title hopes, but then I wouldn’t expect him to say anything less in public. He knows the pressure is on his players, he knows they struggle with the big games at the moment, so he’s not going to add to that. He’s a realistic man though and I’m sure he realises that defeat would leave us too far behind. Yes, Chelsea might well drop more points and they have to play all the other ‘big teams’ but it’d probably mean us having to go unbeaten and winning almost all of our remaining fixtures to capitalise – and that’s lot to expect.
As we keep saying though it’s all about the level of effort and workrate. Make no mistake, Chelsea are a very good team with excellent players but they don’t think they’re so excellent that they don’t have to put in the running. Any weak links tomorrow will be exposed. Anyone giving less than 100% could cost us a chance of a result and that’s what he has to address before we go out there. Anyone who isn’t willing to run so hard they feel like puking can fuck off and play mid-table football for some other bunch of cunts.
On paper I think Chelsea are stronger than us in every area. Thankfully games are not played on paper and if we go out there and really want it, concentrate, put in the hard work and effort, then there’s no reason why we can’t win the game, or at least come away with a draw. Slack off and/or make the same foolish mistakes we have been making recently and they’ll pick us off with ease. Can we learn from our mistakes? Do these players have pride in the shirt, in the belief the manager has in them? I hope so, we’ll find out tomorrow.
With regard the goalkeeping situation, AW has confirmed Manuel Almunia will continue despite his shaky form. Personally, I think the only reason he’s still in there is due to the lack of a viable alternative. Fabianski has been unconcinving, Mannone had an outstanding performance against Fulham but subsquently looked like the inexperienced young keeper he is. You can’t criticise him for that, but it’s the truth. I’d like nothing more than for the Spaniard to rediscover some of the form which made us think he was a solid, if unspectacular Premier League keeper, because at the moment he looks like the Spanish 2nd division player bought as back-up that he was when he first arrived.
The manager reckons criticism of Andrei Arshavin after the United game was ‘too harsh‘. I don’t really recall him being overly criticised, really. Yes, he was a bit selfish but at least he tried and he is one of the few players capable of something special to win you a game. I have to admit being a bit underwhelmed at his overall contribution this season but I don’t think anyone’s been really harsh with him. It was interesting to read Arshavin speak about playing up front though. He said:
If Arsenal want to become champions, how can they select Arshavin as centre forward? I am 173cm (5ft 7in) and it suits me, but next to the big centre halves of United it is very difficult to fight for the ball, especially in the air.
I know we’re all hoping that Bendnter will start tomorrow to give the side that centre-forward we’ve needed. Someone who can compete in the air with the Chelsea defenders and allow Arshavin to be more effective with more of the ball. However, AW was very cautious talking about him yesterday, saying:
Bendtner is … one or two weeks away from being fully available again but is not completely free in his movement. He’s not far.
Which sounds to me like he’ll be starting on the bench tomorrow. I hope I’m wrong, the idea of our forward line of eager jockeys starting against Chelsea doesn’t fill me with much confidence. With no Eduardo, no Vela and Walcott coming back more slowly than we’d like, I really don’t think we’ve got much choice but to play Nick and see what happens.
Right then, that’s about that. A bit lengthy for a Saturday morning but what can you do? A final preview of the Chelsea game and the usual Sunday waffle tomorrow.
