Personnel Problems

Two games played in the last week and two games that exposed the already obvious personnel shortcomings in our squad. In the Anderlecht game, it was a combination of having no proper holding midfielder and playing a backup left back at centre half. Sound like a broken record much? The fact that not many Arsenal fans, or anyone else for that matter, was terribly surprised that we blew a three nil lead says it all really.

We are supposedly the fifth richest club in the world and yet started the season with only two established centre halves, a right sided midfielder converted to a holding role – whose legs have gone – and a headless chicken that we picked up on a free transfer. At 3-0 Anderlecht, didn’t have to do anything complicated, it was direct and it was effective. Granted the first goal was offside but the momentum of the game had already shifted at that stage and you would have fancied that the Belgians would have got the breakthrough anyway.

The penalty and equaliser came about because of route one balls targeting Monreal. Perhaps if we had a more effective holding midfielder or our advanced players weren’t still charging forward looking for another goal, Anderlecht wouldn’t have been able to play the balls in that exposed Monreal. The fact is though that we seemed incapable of stopping them.

Against Swansea, the warning signs had been there in the first half. Calum Chambers struggled badly to cope with the pace of Swansea winger, Jefferson Montero. It was obvious that the Ecuadorian had the beating of Chambers, and beat him he did, time and again until Swansea were eventually rewarded with the winner. Our goal was a classic example of how we should be playing away from home, with the pace and talent we have in attack.

It was a great counter attack which is what makes the proceeding capitulation all the more galling. How at 1-0, did we find ourselves in a situation where our left back was pursuing a Swansea midfielder through the centre of the park? Why was Gibbs in such an advanced position? Gibbs did the only thing he could in the situation, which was to give the free kick away. The result being Sigurdsson levelling the scores.

Credit where it’s due to, Garry Monk, because unlike Wenger he recognised that Chambers was struggling with Montero’s pace and substituted the tiring Bony with the six foot plus, Gomis, to target Monreal. Low and behold, Montero burnt Chambers one last time and Gomis’s first touch was header into the back of the net having “outjumped” Monreal. Chambers was roasted numerous times in the first half and inevitably picked up a yellow card in the second.

The obvious solution, would have been to bring on Bellerín as he has more pace and can’t have struggled any more than Chambers did against Montero. We could’ve then sent Chambers to centre half, as it’s unlikely that he would have struggled as badly in the air as Monreal did. Bellerín should have been on at halftime but Wenger doesn’t make substitutes before the sixty minute mark. Chambers was booked after 61 minutes and we scored after 62. Why wasn’t Bellerín brought on when we took the lead?

With the issue Chambers was having and given the fact that he had already been booked, one of two things was bound to happen. Either he would get a second yellow or Swansea would eventually be rewarded for Montero’s endeavours. In the end, it was the latter. Wenger probably thought that by leaving Chambers at full back he was showing faith in him but all that happened was, Chambers was left on to suffer which can’t have helped his confidence. In the end he was substituted for Yaya Sanogo, a player who has never scored in the Premier League, at a time when we were to chasing the game instead of closing it out.

I really like Calum Chambers and think he’s going to make a very good ball-playing centre back for club and country. However for a team that plays as high a line as us and with a midfield that offers the defence very limited protection, full-backs with pace are not optional, they’re a necessity.

Mutual Cluelessness

Paul Merson’s comment post Anderlecht, that Arsenal were clueless was blunt and general, but ultimately deserved. His assessment incurred a pretty barbed response from, Arsene Wenger, to the effect that, Merson, as a man who had never managed wasn’t qualified to make these comments.

Firstly, Merson, has managed albeit unsuccessfully and further down the leagues with Walsall. Secondly, Wenger’s fatuous pivot shows either a man backed into a corner or a man who feels he is above criticism from 99.9% of the people. Merson, may not always hit the nail on the head but he cares about the club and is only saying what is (A) blatantly obvious and (B) being said by a lot more people than just, Merson.

The Muddy Waters of Transfer Funds

At the AGM, Ivan Gazidis, attempted to dispel the idea that we have a considerable transfer fund sitting untouched. It’s possible that he’s downplaying the fund so that we’re not held over a barrel when it comes time to negotiate with other clubs. This is a very logical and reasonable approach.

It’s also possible that he’s protecting Wenger from criticism for not utilising the fund. Or it may well be true that there’s not as much money in the fund as has been calculated by others. Personally I think it’s the first one but let’s say for argument’s sake that the last is true. Why did we spend so much money on a luxury player when our squad had such rudimentary weaknesses?

I’m delighted that we have Sanchez. In my opinion he’s our best signing since Bergkamp, but at the beginning of the season every man and his dog could see where our squad was thin. Ultimately Wenger is responsible for signing players, and there are glaring issues with squad balance, so he has to wear any criticism for transfer failings

If the first scenario is the actual situation, then there’s no excuse for the state of our squad. We simply should have spent the required money to recruit another centre half and a defensive midfielder. We have missed an opportunity to really push on this season. Chelsea are starting to look uncatchable, but it didn’t need to be like that.

It’s unlikely that we would’ve had enough to finish above them even if we had signed the two players needed but we would have put up more of a challenge. It’s also less likely that we would currently be sat behind Southampton, Man City, West Ham and Swansea in the league and staring at another second place finish in our Champions League group.

A second or third place finish, in the league this season, would have represented progress for us but we look destined for our usual fourth place at best and as such it’s hard to argue that we’ve progressed. If scenario two is true and Gazidis is in fact trying to protect Wenger, then surely the time has come to hold him to account for the embarrassing situation that’s been allowed to develop with our squad’s imbalance.

Rory

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1) The team will want to make amends for the disgraceful performance mid-week.

2) Wenger will want to prove he’s not tactically naive and maybe he will react in-game.

3) Monreal isn’t that bad at CB, he isn’t that good either tho.

14) Theo must finally be ready to start a game.

5)  Swansea have only won once of their last 7 Prem games.

6) If we win we will move into 4th…

17) Alexis Sanchez, someone may finally clock on and join in with his tracking and chasing and general work ethic on the pitch.

8) Ramsey is Welsh, the game is in Wales, he might start showing some form, if picked. (yes i am running out of reasons)

9) Jack is back from an illness, one of the few players who seems to have some passion all the time.

10) Wenger knew –

My Starting 11 –  Chesney, Bellerin, BFG, Chambers, Gibbs, Ox, Jack, Flamini, Theo, Alexis, Welbeck

COME ON THE ARSENAL !!!

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Dear Arsene,

I find myself writing this letter not out of anger but out of frustration. As a fan (not customer, fan) of the Arsenal I find it hard to get angry with the team’s performances these days because to be frank, nothing surprises me anymore. I have seen it all before. Arsenal are, to some extent, masters of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

So why am I writing this? As I have touched upon above, it is a letter borne out of frustration. Frustration that the club, run by you Mr Wenger is in a never ending cycle of mediocrity when things can be so much better given the resources at our disposal. If you love Arsenal as much as you say you do, please do the best for the club and accept you have taken it as far as you can, resign and allow another manager to take the club forward. You can enjoy your legacy of revolutionising English Football and enjoy the fact you had a hugely successful first 10 years at Arsenal.

No doubt you will read this and think “what does he know? he hasn’t worked 2 minutes in football or won the FA cup” and you are quite right, I haven’t. That doesn’t make my opinion any less valid, nor does it prevent me from having one. I am a pragmatist, to me, to flourish is to adapt, to be questioned, to be challenged and in top level sport, to win.

Since you have managed the club your style and philosophy hasn’t changed, hasn’t evolved but English Football has. Failure to adapt is costing us dear. Failure to address obvious weaknesses within the squad, the failure to bring in adequate or superior replacements for those players departing. Failure to address the lack of discipline in the team, not from a fouling perspective but from a tactical one, 3-2 up at home and we have 5 players in an advanced position against a team who by your own admission are excellent on the counter attack.

It isn’t just this week’s capitulation against Anderlecht that prompts this letter it is a culmination of events throughout your tenure. The team do not learn lessons; the defence still make elementary mistakes. Blaming the players is the easy option but was the back four the same as last night when we conceded 4 against Newcastle at St James Park, 8 against Manchester United, 6 against Manchester City, 4 against Tottenham at home in 2008. No they weren’t, was the manager the same. Yes. That isn’t bad luck; it’s a trend, one you haven’t addressed over the years.

There is no doubt you are stubborn, can that work to one’s advantage? Absolutely but it can also be detrimental if left unchecked, unfortunately it seems the latter is true. So you won’t resign, what is next? How do we change things? How can we ensure mistakes are not repeated? May I suggest the following?

* If Steve Bould isn’t coaching the defence, let him, if he is then perhaps it’s time to delegate that away from him or bring in some ex-players who know a thing or two about defending, Messer’s Keown & Adams would be a good starting point.

* Address the team’s obvious defensive weaknesses, accept the Wenger way may not be what’s best for Arsenal FC, not Arsene FC and purchase accordingly. There is a good reason the saying “you get what you pay for” exists and in most cases, rings true. There are some excellent defenders in the Premiership who would love to represent such a prestigious club like the Arsenal. Winston Reid was a good example.

* Bring in a tactician who can be a pragmatist as an assistant manager, someone who can offer a different opinion, challenge you and can set up a team according to the opponent. That’s not to say attacking football to which we are known for is compromised, it’s a pragmatic approach to ensure a good solid defensive foundation is built enabling the attacking players to express themselves.

* Bring in an external party to evaluate the training methods & playing surfaces in order to better understand why so many of the players suffer muscular injuries. Shad Forsythe is an excellent addition; let’s focus on prevention rather than cure / rehabilitation.

* Play players in their natural position, this sounds simple and it is, a number 10 (Ozil) is played as a number 10, not as a winger players who aren’t performing are taken out of the limelight to regain form (Ramsey) and players who are in form are played regularly not because they are a favourite of the manager. (Sanogo over Joel Campbell / Lukas Podolski) Now that may not be the case, but looking from the outside in, that’s the impression we get.

* Make substitutions based on the needs of the game. If a player isn’t performing, be a manager, break your loyalty to that player and take him off at half time rather than the 70th minute. Be pragmatic, again, using Anderlecht as an example, if we are 3-2 up, don’t bring on attacking players, get on the touch line, organise 2 banks of 4 and if you absolutely have to have an attacking player on, use Walcott to hit them on the break and / or run into the channels to hold the ball up and keep possession.

* Have a plan and listen to counsel – Identify the teams weaknesses, identify replacements and start doing the ground work as much as you can (within the rules of course) before the transfer window opens. Pay the asking price, using the Arsenal brand to sell to the player, get the deal done, the player settled well in time for pre-season as Manchester City & Chelsea have done in the past to their benefit. As a manager it is your job to identify the players you and your coaching staff think we need, not to negotiate fee’s or argue on what you think a player is worth. That is for the Chief Executive and Finance Director to worry about.

I have decided not to mention the issues at board level, I wanted this letter to focus on what can be changed on the field and training pitches. This is not a personal attack; it is to raise concerns, to point out flaws, offer constructive solutions. It may not always seem obvious but the fans criticise because they care. We like you Arsene, love Arsenal FC. Let’s either see a change of manager or a change in approach. Being challenged and admitting mistakes isn’t a weakness it’s a sign you are prepared to change, prepared to evolve and hopefully be as successful as you were in the first 10 years as manager of this great club.

Yours,

Paul G

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