Arsenal heading for a fall after pre-season positivity?

Arsenal in danger of over-confidence by DN

Although I have enjoyed seeing Arsenal blast through our pre-season preparations after picking up where we left off last season, I do still have a little bit of concern that the success in recent weeks and the relative ease with which we have achieved it, could actually leave Arsenal unprepared for when the serious business starts in a couple of weeks.

Winning is a habit, so they say, and of course it is a habit that is nice to have. When you add in scoring lots of goals and letting hardly in, that is a recipe for success. And if you look at the last six games the Gunners have played (4-1 against WBA, 4-0 against Aston Villa, 4-0 against Singapore, 3-1 against Everton, 6-0 against Lyon and 1-0 against Wolfsburg) you can see why the manager and the players are feeling really good about life, especially as we have lifted three trophies from those games.

But seeing what Arsene Wenger had to say after the match yesterday, I was struck by how completely positive he was. When we lose or struggle he always looks for the positives and so should Wenger not be trying to temper the enthusiasm a bit and keep those players´ feet on the ground.

Confidence and good team spirit is great but there is such a thing as over-confidence and you still have to earn the right to win games. Teams can sometimes think they only have to turn up to win. I have a feeling that Arsenal have perhaps not been tested enough yet but at least that should not be the case next weekend in the Community Shield against Chelsea.

I think a tough encounter on Sunday could be just what Arsenal need. What do you guys think?

Tags Chelsea Wenger

49 Comments

  1. Every team we have played were quality. You can say these were just pre-season friendlies but nowadays there is a lot of emphasis on winning these games. You will get your game against chelsea if we win it i know you will come back here again to say that it was just another friendly and when we will beat west ham you will say it was just west ham. Why cant you believe in you own frickin team!

    1. Well Sanogo scored a hattrick against a quality team last pre season. Arsenal defeates ManC in the friendly game. But look what happened to Sanogo’s and Arsenal’s season. What makes you blv it will be different this time. Delusional. Lol.

        1. seriously guys we are talking about over confidence We have a Maneger who have 16 pre seasons under his belt and a first team who have atlast 2 preseason under their belt and still say sanogo last year this and that.
          Wenger knows what we and what not. Its another ques that he is going to buy or not bt i know he knows the team better than anyone of you.
          so i am not saying that you should not show your concern bt again n angain sanogo sanogo its just not the way.. THank you
          COYG!!

      1. Everyone is pointing at sonago and last season. Just get over it. Shittt happens. Man city just weren’t up for it. This year is different, Chelsea will be up for it and it will be a big game. I think we still need a couple vof new faces before the season actually starts. It doesn’t look like we are going to get anyone and its really pissing me off. Still I support my team and wish them the best for the coming season.

    2. Out of topic but: I want to see this team v Chelsea. Terry and Cahill can easily defend against Giroud so Walcott should start up top and I believe Bellerin is in better form than Debuchy. Ozil can drift in so we really only get wing play from the Ox and Walcott. Walcott/Ox/Ramsey/Santi/Ozil can get us goals as all these offensive players can interchange positions and there will be no target man for the chelsea defence to mark.
      Cech
      Bellerin Mert Kos Monreal
      Ramsey Coquelin
      Ox Cazorla Ozil
      Walcott

      Subs-Martinez Gabriel Gibbs Debuchy Arteta Wilshire Giroud

      1. We are presently lucky to have 2 very decent options at RB. I was at the game on Saturday and was particularly impressed by Debuchy. We are all blown away by what Hector did last season but I think many on here are underrating MD – Hector is the future no doubt, but right here, right now MD is the better defender. I don’t want to go in to our first real test of the year and start off with the old “lets try and blow them out of the water with our fire-power game”. Haven’t we all identified that as a weakness and something that Mourinho hardly ever tries to do?

    3. This site can be hilarious. We are in pre-season and there is no permutation of performances, score-lines, quality of opposition, Wenger sound bites that could possibly occur where someone could not find the negative. Give me any set of results you like and I will get creative and spin the negative. If you have your agenda set out in your mind nothing will sway you from continuing to pursue it. Whatever the result or performance next Sunday, many on this site will find a way to unearth the downside, showcase the individual errors of their fave-hate players and will still be crying about the transfer window. If we win it will be irrelevant or Chelsea “didn’t show up”, if we lose it will relevant and the usual Wenger/Mou narratives will be trawled out.

    4. The match against Chelsea will define our season I think; winning will be more than just about the trophy at stake, it will be burying the Chelsea and Mourhiino hoodoo whilst at the same time laying down the gauntlet. Its a psychological battle we have to win, do that and we will go into the season with a lot of confidence

    1. It is required for manager and players to say the right things in media. What do you expect them to say then?
      This year, Wenger has gone out more and be positive about our title chance. If we don’t have the belief in ourselves, how can we win it? Every strong team will have a bad day in the office once in a while, the belief help you to keep your confidence and bounce back strongly. What I see is the team that is confident and focus, not careless or underestimate their opponents. We will go far this season.

    2. Are we going to sign anyone???what’s going on???we need a striker and if Wenger is counting on Theo then we need a winger. I don’t understand why we are not spending. I’m very disappointed by our lack of transfer activity.

      1. Cech
        Bellerin mertesacker koscielny Monreal
        Coquelin cazorla
        Welbeck ozil alexis
        Walcott

        Ospina
        Debuchy chambers Gabriel gibbs
        Arteta ramsey
        Chamberlain wilshire rosicky
        Giroud

        Are these 2 x1s so bad?

        And we still have Martinez, hayden flamini (currently) bielik zelalem crowley iwobi adelaide Wellington campbell gnabry

        1. Arteta is getting slow, and Ramsey is not a DM. We need a backup DM – it is highly unlikely Coq will be able to play all games this season.

  2. It will be the perfect yardstick to measure our progress it will also wake the old Man up and push him to buy the two quality players we need to compete I hope after chelsea wins Mourinho will start to brag and that will be the final straw for wenger to go out and buy.

    1. It is not like the old man does not want to buy.
      There are no better striker in the market at the moment, we increased our bid for Benzema, whether Real want to sell is out of our hand.
      And I can’t believe a fan wanting their team to lose, are you supporting Arsenal or just want to see more shopping?

      1. We both support and want shopping…its our right to ask for new players. Firstly cuz we need new faces and secondly cuz our rivals are buying quality players. I’m hearing we are serious about reus, hope its true. Reus would take us to the next level. He would be the best player we can actually sign at the moment. Hope it happens, fingers crossed

        1. Wenger need to be ruthless, he need to buy. Think most of the fan here will agree.
          But I will be disappointed if we bring in the like of Llorante, waste of money and waste of space – even Martinez, Mandzukic – the highest profile forwards moving clubs this season are not better than Giroud/Walcott – watch them play don’t watch their Youtube compilation, Giroud looks brilliant there too.
          It is kind of taboo but the best striker that moved this transfer window for me is Van Persie. Doubt Man Utd will ever sell to us, or Wenger even consider buying, but he is the type of striker who can improve our first 11.

          1. Van pusssy would have been a great buy but I think Wenger Didn’t even consider him.us fans wouldn’t welcome him back.he’s history for us.sorry but I rather have bentdner than van pussssy

            1. I will never forget how he celebrated that goal against us. Players don’t do that against their former clubs. Specially a club which supported him so much when he was out injured. I will never forgive him for that celebration, totally unnecessary

            2. Maybe he celebrated later but very the 1st time he played against us at Old Trafford when they won 2-1. He showed us respect but some idiots failed to respect his decision and continued to abuse him ignorantly. I would do the same too. He is a human being. Maybe some Arsenal fans need to learn respect. This was the guy who if we wasn’t there for the 2011/2012 season, we wouldn’t have made top 4.The best footballers want to win and have ambitions and given that he was 29 and at his peak it was the right decision. Also Arsenal didn’t do enough to keep him. They could have promised him top quality signings were coming and maybe nearly matched the wages United were going to pay him OR just simply saying NO like Liverpool did with Suarez.
              His decision still is right because we have not won the EPL or CL yet since he left. Most players that left Arsenal have won major titles. Fabregas, RVP, Clichy, Nasri etc.
              Do you really think Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil will want to stay here for a long time if we don’t win the EPL at least very soon? I highly doubt it. Look at Ramsey head already being turned by Barcelona.
              Would I take RVP back now? You bet because I think he is world class at his best, will fit our style of play better than Giroud, will do the job upfront and definitely better and is proven than anyone else we have upfront. We could have signed him on a two year contract and he wouldn’t have cost a lot either. We have seen what he could do in an Arsenal shirt and also at Man Utd.

      2. Thats a weird statement so how did juve did it? Atlético? Etc. These clubs signed strikers we need a defensive midfielder your gonna say none is available too. Listen arsenal is the best run business in the world if only a balance sheet and financials could win us trophies.

  3. ‘Confidence and good team spirit is great but there is such a thing as over-confidence and you still have to earn the right to win games. Teams can sometimes think they only have to turn up to win.’

    This last statement I feel is mixing confidence with complacency… Complacency is the killer, it’s not a matter of over-confidence, more a matter of under-estimating the opponent and thinking it’ll be ok to play in first gear. I don’t have a problem with the team believing they can beat anyone as long as they put in the required determination and effort to back it up. I don’t think Wolfsburg are receiving the plaudits they deserved for their performance. They tested us, and if they’d had Kruse instead of Nicky B leading the line I personally think the final score would’ve been a bit different…

  4. better to win naturally , but preseason means little.

    if this will middle of champions league campaign an we played lyon u think it would have been 6-0 lol

    sanogo scored 4 against benfica – thats lewandowski levels…but as it was pre season game.. soon as sanogo faced a proper game with galacticos west bromich albion he grabbed his black an white cat, his postbag an did a shift …

    1. cant deny wins in any context are positive, an u can see the feel good factor amongst the team.

    2. Sounds a bit daft to say it – but we weren’t generally that great against Benfica last year – certainly didn’t dazzle, and were pretty lousy against Monaco. Hadn’t we also just lost to an MLS team and drawn against a conference side in early pre-season. Appears from a distance that we started last PL campaign where we left off in pre-season.

  5. As far sanogo goes, if ajax take you on loan you cant be that useless and before you state bergkamp and marc crap even for them their club comes first and then their relation with wenger

    1. lets face it gnabry/akpom/rene Adelaide/iwobi all are ahead of him + we are also interested in signing Rolando Aarons from nufc while sanogo at 22 unlikely he will be at arsenal next season

  6. Preseasons are of great importance to a club, last season after finishing 5th everton lost all their preseason games and you can see how it affected their season

  7. need a striker & a cdm ASAP which will define our season if not benz move to next target like reus or higuian

    for cdm sven bender/Kramer/lars/kirchowaik there are options but wenger needs to open his eyes we are 1 injury away from arteta & giroud can’t score more than 20 goals

    1. if i had to pick between a striker an a cdm…crazy as it sounds i would pick a cdm.

      cant see wenger getting both…hope he does

      1. can happen benz is difficult but not impossible cdm plenty of options there some have buyout clause with strikers we don’t have much options out there

        1. All our transfer budget should go for striker first.
          The left over can go for a CDM
          After this pre-season we can clearly see that all Ramsey, Carzola, LeCoq deserve to start – one will end up on the bench and have every reason for not being happy. It is not like in FIFA/FM Arsene has tough calls to make all his star players happy. That can be a reason he skip on Scheinderlein who clearly will demand a starting spot for decent amount of games as well.

          1. Everyone says that, but Schneiderlin is going to be doing a lot of bench warming with Schweinsteiger around, AND he wanted to join Arsenal as he preferred London to Manchester, and the French connection. Wenger just wasn’t interested.

        2. I would be happy if we only get reus!!! He’s what we need. Reus and Sanchez on the wings with theo\giroud down the middle. Wow

  8. All these baseless articles does nothing but teases fans.
    You can wine & complain when the transfer deadline day becomes yesterday…its not like Wenger reads these anyways.

  9. very true! But a long journey must start with a step and the step is overconfidence. this sets our standards higher than average. its normal after all lets wait for boring Chelsea

  10. Positivity is great. Measured positivity is better.

    Wenger took a side from a winning streak at the end of one season into a season long unbeaten run. Confidence was high, positivity was flowing. I don’t say this because I think we’re at that level, but rather because you should have faith in the boss that he is speaking confidently to the press but he will be ensuring his team take each match seriously and do their homework still. It won’t just be “we’re the best, lets keep winning”.

    I think alot can be said about performance as opposed to results from this pre-season. We do look vulnerable at the back without Coquelin, and even with Coquelin we look like we’ve got cobwebs. Up top we are clearly sharp but we’ve been playing against high lines who are letting us run in behind them. That has long been a tactic that has been abandoned against Arsenal for fear of losing – you might press fast but only once Arsenal get a certain distance up the pitch. Why do I point this out? Well it shows the results are definitely not reflecting us suddenly becoming dominant 4 goal winners every week. They show that we beat some good opposition who didn’t prepare to play us.

    If we were to take the performances, however, we can garner some great positives from Ozil, Ox, Rambo, and Theo. Ox has been the standout for me and he looks on fire. Ozil looks like he’s enjoying himself, he’s making more runs off the striker and generally seems more comfortable. Theo seems like he is back to his old self and is making good runs in channels and behind the defence, while having a decent strike rate for finishing. Add to this composed pre-seasons for the entirety of the squad and I’d say we are in a positive position. Ignore the results, the fact is we’re playing reasonably well with room for ironing out issues. There’s a fortnight left till we start, I’d say we’re in a decent to good position 🙂

  11. I think one of the formulas for success in football is elf belief and extra confidence also. I remember viera during the trophy presentation after the leiceter match in 2004 at highbury talking to a reporter-he said and I quote: ” the biggest factor that has made us go the whole season unbeaten is that we approached every game expecting to win it.”. Call that cheeky or arrogant if you will but that kind of attitude made arsenal play 49 league games without losing. So don’t be paranoid or worried when our players feel that confident. They need it! Now………Just one or two new faces and I am betting all my money on the arsenal. Watch the space son. Never been this optimistic in a decade.

  12. I was impressed with our play – we were closing down, moving fast, and not doing too much passing sideways, backwards or lingering around on the edge of the penalty area too long and losing the ball.

    Having said that all our play hinged on Coq, and the fact that Wenger has been so pig headed when it came to Schneiderlin, when the guy clearly wanted to come to Arsenal and we have more than enough funds, makes me angry, as it is a huge risk and extremely likely that Coq will not be able to play all games this season for whatever reason.

    If we again rock up 3rd or 4th (or worse) this season, because of Wenger’s pigheadedness, the board should remove Wenger from transfer activities and reinstate David Dein, who was clearly better.

  13. They say goals will be distributed from midfielders to strikers, lets say:
    Alexis scores 20, Walcott 20, OG 20, mid scores around 20, thats 80 goals, and we all know OG wont score 20 plus, Chelsea won with 74 goals, but their defence was so solid that they didnt need more goals, while our style demands goals, if we dont score in first half, our players are starting to panic, something like against Swansea last year, we were better but they won, to win those type games you need someone to produce something special, OG simply cant do it

  14. Just get freaking Benzema or Cavani and let us become the best EPL team again. Di Maria signing clearly opening door for Cavani, and Muzzi Ozcan is Cavanis agent (someone here said it, dont know is it true) so considering facts than Cavani could play for Arsenal next season wearing nb 9

  15. reus or grizman would be big improvement for us….thought wenger said he would consider quality additions….we have money…or will he just hide behind the potential of a 17 yr old kid … same old same old am sorry to say … id be happy with reus and the marseille DM… 55m surely we have that kind of money

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