We all know there are a lot of idiots following our club. A lot of people who believe everything they read in the press. A lot of people who make ludicrous statements to suit an agenda.
Now old Piers has a lot of followers on twitter. He thinks he is some type of super fan who is a proper representation of real Arsenal fans. He isn’t.
Most of his followers are foreigners who do not have a clue about his previous actions, and do not realise that it is his type of upper-middle class tosser that is killing our game.
Anyway, I digress. Today the plonker tweeted:
Giroud can’t play vs Dortmund this week because we forgot to register him. If anything sums up Arsenal’s clueless management…
This tweet has then developed into a massive story, with many people, wrongly, thinking Piers Morgan is right, that Arsenal ‘forgot’ to register Olivier Giroud.
They did not.
When Giroud picked up his injury in August in the match against Everton, his expected date or return was January, at the earliest.
Taking into account Arsenal autrocious record of players returning from injury on time, there was no expectation of Olivier Giroud to be seen before Santa Claus.
So when it came to Arsenal submitting their squad for the Champions League at the beginning of September, Giroud was deliberately left out. Why register a guy who was not going to be fit enough to play?
And imagine the uproar in September, had Wenger announced he was going to include Giroud in the squad, despite him being out until January.
“Comical Wenger” we would have cried.
Olivier Giroud bucked the trend. He has come back 6 weeks early.
If you are following in Piers’ foot steps and using Giroud returning early and Arsenal not registering him as a reason to moan, then you can go site with Piers in idiots corner.
Giroud returning should be a positive. His goal on Saturday was class. Let’s grab hold of some positivity and get this season moving forward.
Arsenal did not forget to register Giroud. He was not supposed to return to fitness as quick.
Arsene Wenger should have left the club a winner as he bought us huge success. Last seasons FA Cup triumph was the perfect opportunity for both the board & Arsene to part company on a high. It would have left the club in a great position on and off the field. Instead he was offered 3 more years at a huge expense. Not talking money either.
Arsenal should be competing at the very top and 100% should be challenging for the top trophies. I have felt for some time that Wenger can not deliver us that.
He was once was a great manager. One that could compete. He was rightly worshiped around Highbury by many. He is now derided by most around the Emirates.
We are currently a club without leaders. We have no one that the players can look up to in the dressing room no one that commands success. The dressing room is a playground of jovial social media pictures at best.
Arsene has not changed and will not change & that there is the sole problem. His ability to adapt to modern football & its philosophy he is now tactically inept.
Arsenal is no longer a football club that commands success. We are a business that if we are lucky enough might win the Christmas raffle from time to time (Fa Cup).
Is it all Wengers doing? No
The board had the opportunity back last year to move Arsenal FC on to the next level. The failed to take it. The reasons I can think as to why they failed is that they banked on future success on the back of a fa cup win, but failed to remember the previous 8 years.
We will continue the season winning the odd game playing good football occasionally, then January will come & go with the usual hope of who can buy & then be palmed off with “we never had enough time.”
We will possibly retain the cup ( big ask ) and be knocked out the CL as usual.
Can the board ask the question to Wenger? Can they demand he does better? No.
By asking thos questions, they would be questioning themselves. Arsenal have 3 more years of ups and downs. I for one know where I stand. The future of Arsenal success will not be with Wenger at the helm. Mr Glen Townsend
Another brilliant performance by Jack Wilshere last night. His 3rd Man of the Match in a row in an England shirt. His 3rd whilst playing defensive midfield. And it is much deserved. He ran the games, looked a class above, and is finally showing his mad potential that we all noticed when we all watched the youtube video of his performance against West Ham.
I have long been a critic of Jack Wilshere, but this season he seems to have matured, stayed injury free and is developing into the player we all knew he could become.
One thing is for certain, however, he is not a defensive midfielder.
Over the last few days, I have seen him compared with the likes of Xabi Alonso and Andrea Pirlo. Whilst it is true, that he shares similar attributes to these, strong in defence, good on the ball, brilliant vision, the fact is, neither he, nor Alonso or Pirlo, are defensive midfielder’s, in the truest sense.
A defensive midfielder’s job is primarily to defend. To protect the back four. Think Claude Makelele, Gilberto Silva, Javier Mascherano. The primary job of Alonso and Pirlo is not to protect the back four, but to get play started from deep.
They pick the ball up off the defence, or off their fellow midfielder, and begin the attacks. The ability to play short passes and move through the pitch at the same pace of the ball, or notice space behind the ball and play it forward quickly. In the over complicated world of micro positions, you would describe them as deep lying play makers. And that is what Wilshere could become.
When you look at both Pirlo and Alonso at their best, they always played with someone next to them, a player with stronger defensive tendencies.
Andrea Pirlo arguably created the deep lying play maker position. But he always played with someone more defensive beside him. for his entire time at AC Milan, that man was Gennaro Gatusso.
Gatusso would do the dirty work. He would run the hard miles. Put in the challenges. Win the ball. Then pass to Pirlo. It worked. Whilst Pirlo added the extra next time him when more defending was needed, Gatusso gave Pirlo the license to move forward, join the attacks, create goals.
With his legs going, and a move to Juventus, Pirlo moved deeper, but he still had someone next to him who put in the hard yards. In fact, Jventus went further. To get the best out of Pirlo, they played him in a 3, alongside Claudio Marchisio and fellow new signing Arturo Vidal. Both of these provided the defensive wall, allowing Pirlo to get up the pitch and neglect defensive duties when required.
Even for Italy, where his deeper position is often more highlighted, Pirlo has been partnered with someone more defensive. Whether it be the previously mentioned Gatusso or Marchisio, or Roma’s Daniele De Rossi.
Deep lying yet, but Pirlo is certainly not a defensive midfielder.
Xabi Alonso has a similar history of playing alongside someone more defensive throughout his career. At Liverpool is was Dietmar Hamann, Javier Mascherano and Lucas Leiva. When he moved to Real Madrid he partnered Lassana Diarra and Sami Khedira, and now plays in the middle with the likes of Javi Martinez and Phillip Lahm at Bayern Munich.
It is the same story for Spain, where his regular partner has been Sergio Busquets.
So what does this mean for Jack Wilshere?
He can emulate what Alonso and Pirlo have achieved in their careers. But to do so, for both club and country, someone more defensive needs play next to him.
At international level, that man could be Jordan Henderson. He is more naturally defensive than Wilshere and covers more ground. Putting him at the base of the diamond, or alongside Wilshere, will allow Jack to drive forward when necessary, freeing him up to play the sort of pass which set up Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for England’s opener last night.
At club level, Arsenal do not currently have someone who can play that role. We all know we need a defensive midfielder. We need to buy one. Jack Wilshere will not be the answer.
At club level, if we get the defensive midfielder in, Wilshere will then be freed up to join the attacks. He also has the steel and defensive ability to assist his partner if the backs are against the wall.
With a new defensive midfielder, and Mesut Ozil at the top of the midfield 3, it becomes a straight shoot out between Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere as to who plays between them. Both have similar, and different, attributes. Both also have a tendency to pick up injuries, meaning both can be accommodated.
The future is bright in the middle of the park for Arsenal. But it will be even stronger once we get the defensive midfielder in. And that defensive midfielder is not Jack Wilshere.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 