A massive pile of work and a bit of speechlessness kept me from posting after the last two horrific games...
India submitted meekly to the Safs... At least Sreesanth and Pathan gave the crowd a bit of fun towards the end, but it was shocking how the end had come in just 3 days. This has been one of our worst losses in years! You know it's all gone wrong for the selectors when India's best batting performance of the match comes from Irfan Pathan [Yes, Ganguly scored more... but test batting(especially this test) is about staying at the crease, and Ganguly couldn't do it. ] and the Indian seamers took 2 wickets compared to the South African seamers' 19!!
Somehow, Arsenal has put on a similar showing over the past month or two with 8 pathetic points from the last 7 games. With Manure dropping points this weekend, it looks like the title could even end up in Chelsea's hands! What an insult that would be to Arsene, that Jabba the Hutt, in his debut season, after copping the kind of flak he has, could end up winning the league, when the Arsenal manager backed by the "Arsene Knows" brigade will be left with nothing for the third year running.
How much does that say about Arsenal? Are we a top flight club that believes that it deserves to win major competitions every year? It seems more like the mentality of a mid-table club where a manager is praised for pulling his team into the top 4, defying all those naysayers etc etc
It's really no better than a club like Newcastle, or dare I say, Tottenham...
What on earth is wrong with Arsene Wenger? Can't he see that all we have is 13 or14 first team players worthy of playing in championship-winning side?
Let's look at the team... It's my first Arsenal post, so maybe you should know what I think of them.
GK
Lehmann: Still capable of the odd brilliant save, but no longer an invincible.
Almunia: Popular within the team. Merely an average goalie by Premiership standards.
Fabianski: Haven't seen enough of him to make a judgement. But he's Polish, and that counts for something if you're a goalie.
CB
Gallas: Seems to embody the spirit of the fans. World class, but slowly and steadily losing pace.
Toure: The African Lion. Arsenal in his blood. Strong, fast CB, with a great tackle.
Senderos: Decent cover at CB, but wouldn't make the bench at Man U or Chelsea.
Djourou: See Senderos.
LB
Clichy: Incredibly fit. Classy LB
Traore: Just a kid who likes to show off. Has the physical presence of a feather. Would make the Chelsea Reserves if he was English.
RB
Sagna: The best player to come in this season, and one of the biggest reasons for our early success.
Hoyte: What is he really? CB? RB? How enigmatic :-/
Eboue: I'll come to him later.
CM
Fabregas: Quality through and through. Stays relatively injury-free. World class, with a massive future (hopefully at Arsenal).
Flamini: The new Gattuso, a revelation this season. Great partnership with Fab. Is he going to stay at Arsenal next season? We'd like him to... Juventus wouldn't.
Gilberto: Once part of the Invincibles, but ever since he decided to take that break after captaining Brazil at the start of the premier league, his career has been on the decline. For all the experience he has, the only thing he could teach Fab and Flam now is the Samba. Time for him to take that walk into the sunset.
Denilson: Carling Cup specialist. Potential (well, he is Brazillian), but has had nothing to write home about this entire season, apart from maybe one long-range deflected goal. Can he possibly replace either Fabregas or Flamini? Not at this level.
Song: An utterly useless player! Sometimes played at CB, where he's hopeless, and sometimes in midfield, which I'm guessing is his position. But he's just so bad, I don't know what Wenger sees in him. Probably costs nothing. He played well at lower levels but has been unable to do anything this year.
The Other Midfielders (You never know where they might play next!)
Hleb: Usually RM, CM, or CAM (in the hole). On his day, brilliant touches, skills, through balls, winning penalties.. But when it's not his day, you'll find him falling down all on his own, getting tiny little injuries, giving the ball away, and passing to the wrong people.. Luckily for us, he's usually good. However for a midfielder of his class, it's amazing how poor a shot he is. It's like he freezes in front of goal, and can't seem to get off a decent shot unless he has 10 seconds alone on the ball. I would never let him take a penalty. How good is he exactly?Well, Barca want him.
Rosicky: We used to have this player, Rosicky.. He had the speed, the powerful shot, and of course fit right into his slot in the Arsenal's perfect passing game. He was picked as replacement for Pires, coming in just as Robert left. Nowadays you can find him in hospitals, doctors' waiting rooms or on the physio's table. Nowhere near a premier league game, though.
Walcott: Billed as "the next Henry" when he came in. Sizzling pace (100m in 11 seconds when he was 14) and had the skills to back it up. After more than 2 years with Arsenal, this 19 year old has made it to the England team, and makes a definite impact every time he comes on as a sub. However, I don't think Wenger does him justice with the number of starts he gets.
Eboue: If it wasn't for Wenger, there was no way in hell any manager would have allowed Emmanuel Eboue to make it to the Midfielders' section! He's an athlete, that's for sure. He's got pace, stamina, and aggression. However, he has no brains. And he really really can't shoot. Gives away the ball too much these days, and somehow manages a start almost every time. Makes some really bad tackles. Most likely to be voted out by Gooners, he is the man seen to be keeping Walcott out of the team. Might be considered a decent player at Portsmouth.
Diaby: When he came in as a 19 year old, Wenger thought he had found the next Vieira. In fact, he probably thought he had found Vieira. He was great at the start of this season, and had come back nicely after a horrible injury similar to Eduardo's. If you see him playing lately, there's nothing he really has in common with ol' Patrick except for that red card he got in the last game.
ST
RVP: The Flying Dutchman. He does it all. Free kicks, corners, powerful long range shots, neat finishes, even some good defending on corners... Arsenal's talisman. Can't seem to keep him away from the injury ward for too long though. Not match fit right now.
Adebayor:
2007: "Adebayor Adebayor! Give him the ball, and he will score!"
2008: "Adebayor Adebayor! Give him the ball, he'll miss a barn door!"
After his tremendous surge to the top of the goalscorers charts, he cut his hair and was never the same again.
Eduardo: World class finisher, with pace, power (yes, refer to his League Cup goal against Sheffield) and a bag of tricks. Sadly had his leg broken in two by a brutal tackle. (We hope Taylor recovers well)
Bendtner: Chosen over Sebastian Larsson to graduate into the first team, while the latter was sold to Birmingham. An imposing physical presence, a great target for set pieces but seems to have ego problems with Adebayor in particular. Was wanted by AC Milan, but he would have been nothing but a bench warmer there.
So that about covers it for the first team. Let's look at what we've really got now for the remaining games. The premier league is over for us, but Wenger will keep persisting, trying to win it, and by doing that he is putting our best players at risk, jeopardising the only real chance at silverware this season -- the UCL.
So what is this great championship-deserving side we have? An average goalie. 2 CBs: old, but a decent pairing. One good LB. No one at RB. Toure tried and we all saw what Gerard did with him in the first leg. A horrible RM in Eboue. A class partnership in middle (Fab & Flam) that is growing increasingly fatigued with lack of cover. Hleb wasted on the left, or Diaby wasting the opposition on the left (and thus getting sent off). Adebarndoor and Bendtner up front.. a volatile partnership at best. Walcott wasted on the bench.
Is this team expected to mount a serious challenge for any silverware at all? Agreed many of the players are qualite but the reason we have been unable to sustain our style of football over the length of the season is that there isn't any quality backup for these players... and when you don't have backup, you end up overworking the noes you have, leading to further injuries than you would normally expect.
Now, Wenger laments the loss of Eduardo, RVP and Rosicky, saying that IF we had all 3, we would be top. The only way we would be on top with all 3 fit, is if we had more players on the bench, and better players on the bench. Can you imagine what would have happened if Clichy had been injured? Gallas or Traore would have to switch to LB, and what a disaster that would have been! Sagna left for just one game when his brother died, and we immediately felt his loss. In more ways than one. Wake up, Wenger!
It will be Fabregas who burns out soon if nothing is done about this. Nobody wants change the core of the team, but do bring in some class players... and rotate, for God's sake! Gilberto has to go, and Eboue is no RM. At RB, being cover for Sagna, there's a basis for his continued existence as part of Arsenal, but otherwise we're better off selling him on the cheap.
India submitted meekly to the Safs... At least Sreesanth and Pathan gave the crowd a bit of fun towards the end, but it was shocking how the end had come in just 3 days. This has been one of our worst losses in years! You know it's all gone wrong for the selectors when India's best batting performance of the match comes from Irfan Pathan [Yes, Ganguly scored more... but test batting(especially this test) is about staying at the crease, and Ganguly couldn't do it. ] and the Indian seamers took 2 wickets compared to the South African seamers' 19!!
Somehow, Arsenal has put on a similar showing over the past month or two with 8 pathetic points from the last 7 games. With Manure dropping points this weekend, it looks like the title could even end up in Chelsea's hands! What an insult that would be to Arsene, that Jabba the Hutt, in his debut season, after copping the kind of flak he has, could end up winning the league, when the Arsenal manager backed by the "Arsene Knows" brigade will be left with nothing for the third year running.
How much does that say about Arsenal? Are we a top flight club that believes that it deserves to win major competitions every year? It seems more like the mentality of a mid-table club where a manager is praised for pulling his team into the top 4, defying all those naysayers etc etc
It's really no better than a club like Newcastle, or dare I say, Tottenham...
What on earth is wrong with Arsene Wenger? Can't he see that all we have is 13 or14 first team players worthy of playing in championship-winning side?
Let's look at the team... It's my first Arsenal post, so maybe you should know what I think of them.
GK
Lehmann: Still capable of the odd brilliant save, but no longer an invincible.
Almunia: Popular within the team. Merely an average goalie by Premiership standards.
Fabianski: Haven't seen enough of him to make a judgement. But he's Polish, and that counts for something if you're a goalie.
CB
Gallas: Seems to embody the spirit of the fans. World class, but slowly and steadily losing pace.
Toure: The African Lion. Arsenal in his blood. Strong, fast CB, with a great tackle.
Senderos: Decent cover at CB, but wouldn't make the bench at Man U or Chelsea.
Djourou: See Senderos.
LB
Clichy: Incredibly fit. Classy LB
Traore: Just a kid who likes to show off. Has the physical presence of a feather. Would make the Chelsea Reserves if he was English.
RB
Sagna: The best player to come in this season, and one of the biggest reasons for our early success.
Hoyte: What is he really? CB? RB? How enigmatic :-/
Eboue: I'll come to him later.
CM
Fabregas: Quality through and through. Stays relatively injury-free. World class, with a massive future (hopefully at Arsenal).
Flamini: The new Gattuso, a revelation this season. Great partnership with Fab. Is he going to stay at Arsenal next season? We'd like him to... Juventus wouldn't.
Gilberto: Once part of the Invincibles, but ever since he decided to take that break after captaining Brazil at the start of the premier league, his career has been on the decline. For all the experience he has, the only thing he could teach Fab and Flam now is the Samba. Time for him to take that walk into the sunset.
Denilson: Carling Cup specialist. Potential (well, he is Brazillian), but has had nothing to write home about this entire season, apart from maybe one long-range deflected goal. Can he possibly replace either Fabregas or Flamini? Not at this level.
Song: An utterly useless player! Sometimes played at CB, where he's hopeless, and sometimes in midfield, which I'm guessing is his position. But he's just so bad, I don't know what Wenger sees in him. Probably costs nothing. He played well at lower levels but has been unable to do anything this year.
The Other Midfielders (You never know where they might play next!)
Hleb: Usually RM, CM, or CAM (in the hole). On his day, brilliant touches, skills, through balls, winning penalties.. But when it's not his day, you'll find him falling down all on his own, getting tiny little injuries, giving the ball away, and passing to the wrong people.. Luckily for us, he's usually good. However for a midfielder of his class, it's amazing how poor a shot he is. It's like he freezes in front of goal, and can't seem to get off a decent shot unless he has 10 seconds alone on the ball. I would never let him take a penalty. How good is he exactly?Well, Barca want him.
Rosicky: We used to have this player, Rosicky.. He had the speed, the powerful shot, and of course fit right into his slot in the Arsenal's perfect passing game. He was picked as replacement for Pires, coming in just as Robert left. Nowadays you can find him in hospitals, doctors' waiting rooms or on the physio's table. Nowhere near a premier league game, though.
Walcott: Billed as "the next Henry" when he came in. Sizzling pace (100m in 11 seconds when he was 14) and had the skills to back it up. After more than 2 years with Arsenal, this 19 year old has made it to the England team, and makes a definite impact every time he comes on as a sub. However, I don't think Wenger does him justice with the number of starts he gets.
Eboue: If it wasn't for Wenger, there was no way in hell any manager would have allowed Emmanuel Eboue to make it to the Midfielders' section! He's an athlete, that's for sure. He's got pace, stamina, and aggression. However, he has no brains. And he really really can't shoot. Gives away the ball too much these days, and somehow manages a start almost every time. Makes some really bad tackles. Most likely to be voted out by Gooners, he is the man seen to be keeping Walcott out of the team. Might be considered a decent player at Portsmouth.
Diaby: When he came in as a 19 year old, Wenger thought he had found the next Vieira. In fact, he probably thought he had found Vieira. He was great at the start of this season, and had come back nicely after a horrible injury similar to Eduardo's. If you see him playing lately, there's nothing he really has in common with ol' Patrick except for that red card he got in the last game.
ST
RVP: The Flying Dutchman. He does it all. Free kicks, corners, powerful long range shots, neat finishes, even some good defending on corners... Arsenal's talisman. Can't seem to keep him away from the injury ward for too long though. Not match fit right now.
Adebayor:
2007: "Adebayor Adebayor! Give him the ball, and he will score!"
2008: "Adebayor Adebayor! Give him the ball, he'll miss a barn door!"
After his tremendous surge to the top of the goalscorers charts, he cut his hair and was never the same again.
Eduardo: World class finisher, with pace, power (yes, refer to his League Cup goal against Sheffield) and a bag of tricks. Sadly had his leg broken in two by a brutal tackle. (We hope Taylor recovers well)
Bendtner: Chosen over Sebastian Larsson to graduate into the first team, while the latter was sold to Birmingham. An imposing physical presence, a great target for set pieces but seems to have ego problems with Adebayor in particular. Was wanted by AC Milan, but he would have been nothing but a bench warmer there.
So that about covers it for the first team. Let's look at what we've really got now for the remaining games. The premier league is over for us, but Wenger will keep persisting, trying to win it, and by doing that he is putting our best players at risk, jeopardising the only real chance at silverware this season -- the UCL.
So what is this great championship-deserving side we have? An average goalie. 2 CBs: old, but a decent pairing. One good LB. No one at RB. Toure tried and we all saw what Gerard did with him in the first leg. A horrible RM in Eboue. A class partnership in middle (Fab & Flam) that is growing increasingly fatigued with lack of cover. Hleb wasted on the left, or Diaby wasting the opposition on the left (and thus getting sent off). Adebarndoor and Bendtner up front.. a volatile partnership at best. Walcott wasted on the bench.
Is this team expected to mount a serious challenge for any silverware at all? Agreed many of the players are qualite but the reason we have been unable to sustain our style of football over the length of the season is that there isn't any quality backup for these players... and when you don't have backup, you end up overworking the noes you have, leading to further injuries than you would normally expect.
Now, Wenger laments the loss of Eduardo, RVP and Rosicky, saying that IF we had all 3, we would be top. The only way we would be on top with all 3 fit, is if we had more players on the bench, and better players on the bench. Can you imagine what would have happened if Clichy had been injured? Gallas or Traore would have to switch to LB, and what a disaster that would have been! Sagna left for just one game when his brother died, and we immediately felt his loss. In more ways than one. Wake up, Wenger!
It will be Fabregas who burns out soon if nothing is done about this. Nobody wants change the core of the team, but do bring in some class players... and rotate, for God's sake! Gilberto has to go, and Eboue is no RM. At RB, being cover for Sagna, there's a basis for his continued existence as part of Arsenal, but otherwise we're better off selling him on the cheap.
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