Tag Archives: Arsenal

Three key questions Arsene Wenger must answer

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After the weekend defeat, there is a lot of anger swilling around Arsenal again, and I can fully understand why.

We came up short against a top side once more. Chelsea played poor, we played poorer. They beat us comfortably once more without having to get into top gear.

This season, we have played Spurs and Manchester City at home, and chelsea away, gaining a total 2 points from 9. This despite being up against a very poor Spurs side (who we now sit behind in the league) and a Manchester City side who were without Yaya Toure.

Yes, it would have been a tad unreasonable to expect 6 points from those games, but to come away with just 2 is under whelming. To win the league, you need to beat those around you at home.

And that is where we have let ourselves down over the last few years. Results against the top sides. It is a well written narative, but the results are shocking:

  • Arsenal are now 14 Premier League games without a win against the previous seasons top 4
  • In the last 10 years, Arsenal have faced top 4 sides 62 times. W 15 D 19 L 28
  • The last time Arsenal beat a top 4 side was 2011/12
  • From 12 meetings with Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal has lost 7, drawn 5, and won 0
  • Arsenal have not scored in 4 games against Chelsea
  • Since winning 5-3 at Stamford Bridge in 2011, Arsenal have scored just 2 goals in 7 games against Chelsea, Chelsea have scored 14
  • In the last 12 games between Arsenal and Chelsea, Arsenal have scored in just 4 of them, Chelsea in 10
  • Over those 12 games, the aggregate score is Chelsea 25 – 6 Arsenal

It is clearly not good enough. How do we expect to finish above our rivals, if we can not beat them. We do not even get close to beating them.

It is a worry for all fans. I look at travelling to Manchester, to Liverpool, to West London through the eyes of a small side these days. Knowing that you are going there and unlikely to get a win. We are Arsenal, we should be looking at going to these places and winning.

Arsene Wenger has often got his tactics wrong in these bigger games. Enough has been written about it by many, so I will not cover old ground. But no matter the tactics, it still comes down to the 11 on the field. And the 11 we put out more often than not are inferior to our opponents.

Looking at the sides Sunday, if you made a ‘combined 11’ it would line up:

Courtouis
Ivanovic Cahill Terry Gibbs
Matic
Cesc Oscar
Hazard Costa Sanchez

In that brings me to the key point. Why did we not spend to the best of our abilities in the summer. With upwards of £60m in the bank unspent, Arsene Wenger has a duty to the fans to answer 3 questions:

1) Why did we not purchase a defensive midfielder in the summer?

2) Why did we let Thomas Vermaelen leave and not buy a replacement?

3) Why did we wait until deadline day to buy a striker, despite pursuing one all last summer?

Whilst we are not short of numbers, we are short of quality numbers. Would Cesc Fabregas have improved us? Yes. Would William Carvlaho have improves us? Yes. Would Loic Remy have improved us? Yes. Would any of the hundreds of centre backs who moved in the summer have improved us? Yes.

The problem also comes down to the loyalty of both Arsene Wenger and us, the fans, to the players. We have a tendency to put our players on too high a pedastool.

When we decided not to buy Fabregas, the narrative was that we had Ozil. But the fact is Cesc is better than both Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey.

Over the summer, we were looking for a third choice centre back. Yet last year we conceded 41 goals. Do we over hype Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny too much? One is slow, which often puts us in trouble with balls in behind, the other gives away a lot of penalties. Should we not have been looking to buy better than these?

Even in a position such as left back. I love Kieran Gibbs, and were he to stay fit, he would be one of the best in the world. He is now 25 and is still suffering with injuries. Whilst our heart says keep him, our head’s say we should cash in on an injury prone player.

The same with Jack Wilshere. A brilliant talent, but we are starting to sound like Spurs & Liverpool fans in the 90s with Darren Anderton and Jamie Redknapp. Yes, its great they are extremely talented individuals, but you can not affect a game if you are in the medical room more than you are on the football pitch.

We have the money to make big changes in the squad. Out need to go the players not good enough, the players who are always injured, in need to come better, fitter players.

The question is, does Arsene Wenger have the desire to spend? Is he too loyal to too many of our players? Can he answer the 3 key questions from the summer?

Keenos

 

FFP, Away day woes and Martinez for Ozil ?

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Juking the Stats

There was a lot of entertainment this week at the sight of FFP having knock on effects for Manchester City’s attendances at Champions League games. However fans of all clubs would be wise not to mock as this represents a wider issue.

As the club widely reported to have the most expensive tickets it has been obvious for a while that largely speaking our attendances have been down since the early days of the new stadium. The club has come in for much derision at quoting attendances as being near capacity when anyone could see swathes of empty seats.

Whilst administrators at the club may point to those seats having been sold, the fact remains that the demand for those seats has not actually been there. The club can quote whatever figure they like but as the release recently of police reports on actual numbers through the gates has shown, the truth will out. Premier League clubs have just reaped the rewards from their bumper television deal, it’s the most watched league in the world and the Premier League feels like it has the sporting world by the cojones. And here is why I urge caution: In the early 90s the Serie A was in the same situation, their clubs had mega rich subsidisers like the Agnelli family – owners of Fiat – at Juve and of course one Silvio Burlusconi at Milan.

I saw a quote a couple of years ago attributed to Burlusconi circa the early 90s – I unfortunately couldn’t find it for this – when he recognised that it was essential that for television purposes Italian football kept its stadia full to create a sense of atmosphere and tension. Through a combination of hooliganism, corruption, catenaccio, decrepit stadia with chasmic distances to the playing surface – which only diluted the atmosphere further – Italian attendances dwindled as did their global share of the television market. Whilst international audiences looked to the swashbuckling Premier ?League with its newer looking stadia and fans on top of the action creating a greater sense of atmosphere.

The Bundesliga has received a lot of praise in the last five years or so for the standard of the football, 50 + 1 ownership rule which prevents any one person or company owning more than a 49% share in the club and the fact that it produces so many German talents. One of the things English fans seem to admire most aside from 50 + 1 is the effort to make match day tickets affordable, something that has seen attendances grow to the point where a ticket in Dortmund’s south stand is one of the most desirable in world football.

The Bundesliga is currently desperately chasing down the Premier League in terms of global viewing figures, yes at the moment they’re a fair way behind and yes at the moment English attendances are as high as they’ve been since the sixties but as the malaise of Serie A has shown things can change quicker than you realise.

I hope senior people at Premier League clubs – and here’s something I never thought I’d say – are of the same mind as Silvio Burlusconi and recognise how important it really is that they keep stadiums full if they want to continue cashing in on the television market.

Away Woes

I’m sure a lot of people noticed this statistic in a BBC article quoting Joey Barton as saying we lacked a spine:

“Arsenal have won just once – and lost 16 times – in their 20 away matches against sides who have finished in the top five in the past five campaigns”.

I was flabbergasted as I knew our away record to big sides was bad but I hadn’t realised quite how moribund it was. Really something has to change, there are no excuses for a record like that.

Round Pegs, Round Holes

On Sunday we started the Chelsea game in a 4-3-3 formation with Flamini in the holding role, Wilshere and Cazorla just in front, Özil and Alexis left and right advanced positions and Welbeck up front. It has been noted ad nauseam that when Özil plays anywhere except the number 10 position he looks either “uninterested” or “misused”, sometimes both.

When Özil plays at number 10 and has movement around him he looks devastating. To that end, of the formations we play, 4-2-3-1 is the one which suits him best. I can understand Wenger starting with 4-3-3 against Chelsea given our away record at the top sides last year. The aim was not to get swamped in the centre of the park and get a foothold in the game, hoping that we could then nick a goal. But it does present an issue which is what’s the plan with Özil.

We spent £40 million on him and so far opportunities in his preferred role have been intermittent. We started well against Chelsea on Sunday, we competed and we moved the ball from midfield to the final third very fluently. However when we got to the final third we hardly created any clear cut chances and didn’t manage a single shot on target. We have players at the club better suited to playing in wide positions than Özil, Oxlade-Chamberlain for one.

When you make a player your most expensive player of all time, it’s not unreasonable to expect that player will be a fulcrum for your side. It has been reported in the football gossip columns that we’re preparing to return with a January bid for Özil’s friend and compatriot, Sami Khedira, and if true – who knows? – he would be a perfect fit for our midfield given the obvious lack of presence.

There has however been another rumour that Bayern are sniffing around to try and sign Özil. If this is true and if we aren’t going to play him as a number 10 then we have a decision to make because there were whispers from Bayern at the beginning of the season that Javi Martinez – a truly world class holding mid – wasn’t happy that Philip Lahm was being preferred for big games in the holding role.

It’s not inconceivable that we could lose Özil, gain Martinez (and some cash) and come out of it as a stronger team. Personally, I hope we bite the bullet by signing Khedira and giving Özil an extended run as a number 10 to do what he does best which is create unencumbered by defensive duties.

Rory

One man’s struggle to support the current Arsenal leadership

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I am finding it harder & harder to support our current regime.

As positive a fan as I am, I will always favour the good than the negative (see my previous posts on www.facebook.com/shewore), however, I can no longer accept our simple tactical errors against big sides.

Now I for one believed we were capable today of winning. Of delivering 3 points. Ok, it was not a strong belief, more just hope. What I can not understand is the change of formation this season. The tactics we used yesterday.

Mesut Ozil, when played inside or in number 10 roll, Arsenal scored 7 goals in 2 games. Not all to do with Ozil bit his contribution was there to see. He was influential.

Going back to Borussia Dortmund, who have been more than average in the league this season and were missing key players – the performance again was frustrating.

Jurgen Klopp set his side up to do nothing but press and run, press and run. Reason I mention this game is because he knew he would be out passed or even outplayed due to missing players so he set up a side to perform exactly how he wanted. In the end we couldn’t get close and lost convincingly.

Roll on Chelsea away… Wenger would have been fully aware of his abysmal record against Jose Mourhino but still set up a side that was never no different to the last 12 times. How many times can you continue with the same mundane tactics, the same errors.

This is Arsene Wenger all over. Completely stubborn in his approach . It’s his way and his way only. That’s fine when it works but we should want and should have the class to beat a top 5 side. The record last season I think was 1 win against top 4 sides.

His stubbornness not to change goes right through the club.

Transfers. We only signed Danny Welbeck because of a late unfortunate injury to Giroud, that in itself is complete negligence when you consider we were in the market for Suarez & Higuian.

His stubbornness to continue to have faith in players that really can not perform from one game to the next or are simple just average is shocking.

Why has Joel Campbell not been given a chance? On loan at Olympiakos and in the World Cup he looked the part . So much more the complete player then Sanogo would ever be.

Why does Podolski get cameo rolls?

It’s clear Wenger has his favourites. That’s fine. But it’s about time he adapted his teams to beat the top sides. It’s all well and good getting the odd win & trouncing a poor Villa side . But even then we should have pushed in for 5-6.

For me after 2005 the club was in a great place. We just needed to take the next step, on the field (not financially).

Arsene Wenger deserves his accolades for his achievements, no one can ever deny. You could make a very strong case that he should even get a statue or a stand named after him. But for the good of Arsenal Football Club he needs to say “thank you I cant take us any further”. Keep him at the club as an ambassador, or in some advisory role, but it is time for him to stand away from 1st team duties.

Arsenal will not win a league title or the Champions League again while Arsene Wenger is in charge. Harsh that may seem but it’s true. If you are happy with 4th and the odd domestic cup then his you’re man. Not me I want what was promised when we moved. TO COMPETE AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. I have yet to see that .

The great retire at the top in football, the others get moved on. At this moment in time his ruining his legacy he built. The FA Cup and Community Shield, along with the signings of Ozil & Sanchez should have been a start. But it is only half a job done. If you look deeper then the money spent you will see the problem lies with one mans stubbornness not to change.

It’s simple in my eyes. If Stan Kroenke wants a successful, winning, profitable football team, and not a profitable football club (huge difference) , he should move Arsene Wenger on, if the great man is unwilling to do the honourable thing and resign.

That will then leave the door open to get in the next manager. Someone who is forward thinking. Someone who is ambitious. Someone like Jurgen Klopp.

Until that time, expect the odd great win maybe the odd domestic cup. To be the best you need to adapt.

*GT*