On the surface of it, the comments from the Arsenal defender Gabriel are all about him and his team mates, and how they react to the disappointing and damaging Champions League defeat against Olympiacos, but I think that the Brazilian is also referring to the Arsenal fans when he calls for calm ahead of the crucial Premier League clash with Manchester United.
His English might not be great but I am sure that the 24-year old is well aware of the frustration and anger of the Arsenal fans at the result on Tuesday, and also about the manner of our performance and how we shot ourselves repeatedly in the foot with some shocking individual errors and all round team play.
Gabriel fully accepts his share of the blame for what happened but he also says in a report on the Arsenal website that the worst thing the team could do would be to panic and worry too much about it, with a massive game just around the corner. He wants the team and the fans to remember that we had just won two big games against Tottenham and Leicester and to draw confidence from that rather than dwelling on the calamity of Tuesday.
The centre back said, “It was a complicated night [against Olympiacos]. We were in a good place in the first half, defending well, we were happy. But the three goals were our own fault.
“We only have ourselves to blame for conceding them and now we have to rest, work harder, and then on Sunday come back and have a good game.
“We just need to be calm. We have to work hard and focus on putting in a good performance [against Manchester United].
“I am sad that we lost an important game at home. But we can still qualify. We have a very strong team, with some very good players. We now have to try to win the remaining matches in the group.”
Personally I am more worried about the Premier League and what will happen to our title challenge if Arsenal suffer another defeat on Sunday. Would that be one hit too many for this Arsenal team to recover from?
Finally someone steps up and accepts the blame. At times this is all the funs want to hear instead of excuse after excuse.
If Wenger really did blast the team for not showing enough passion during the last game as the media claims then I tip my hat to him, its high time those boys put in there all each time they wear our shirts. Every other team including our golden generation have/ had accidents but this team has so many of them!
No real warriors on that team, bar a few. Once Gabriel learns some English the lazy boys in our team should watch out because he looks as though he wants to punch somebody each time we concede.
Time for some tough love Wenger, you have pamper these boys for too long and now they are destroying your legacy. They should appreciate and respect the fact that they play for a big club like Arsenal.
Wenger brought every single player in this squad. If there can be one person to blame for this i know who it is…
Very valid point.
when a manager like Van gaal says to the public……..he would leave manure in 2017, but before doing that……..he’d win something major!……….i think that’s called “setting the Target”……….
Coming rom Van Gaal i take it just as i took the fact that he changed the keeper in the world cup.
ooooohhh people said…he is a genius.
Keeper was Krul.
Yeah…That Krul from Newcastle
We will be ok in the CL with 8 points. We need to set up a defensive game something Steve bold should no about. BM are good but so are we and we just haven’t found our feet yet. I think not playing the qualifying rounds has taken our edge away for some reason. Man U game is a must not lose game but again AW will send them out with the mindset of you score we will one more then you. Just park the bus puss them of get a player sent of anything to win and not lose. Guts and glory needed. Let’s face it Man U are not the team they were
I totally agree.
Listen I am sure we can beat BM and MU.
But Wenger didnt respect these two teams in my opinion. He was thinking of Che and Manu. He gambled and lost.
He should have known better that teams in UCL arent there by coincidence. Like us in previous years in qualifying rounds, they have fought for their place.
I just hope he takes every signle game seriously.
AND THAT HE THINKS OF THE NEXT GAME. not of the game in two weks, THATS what hit him to the ground
We don’t know how to bloody drive, let alone park the bus,his game is about possession he has know idea on tactics to beat a team ,he can’t substitute when it’s time and says resting players like Chec Monreal who aren’t that tired he should rest Ozil Sanches Gazola because they do more running, then in 60th time for change but he waits till 80th. Ozil is hot and cold,Sanches does to much Gazola again hot and cold. We need a player like Rosciky, Modric would be a great buy better than Gazola. CB
Glad to hear Gabriel step up and say that. He sounds more like a captain than Per, Arteta, or Santi. Only thing consistent about Arsenal is their inconsistency.
Wenger said team was good enough to compete without bringing in new players. Complacency > Cohesion so far.
Wenger and players brought this pressure on themselves, they are their own worst enemy. Alexis has to be thinking WTF?
Change hopefully comes about when PL reduced to 3 spots not 4. Losing that money will have an impact. Pressure will be on to bring in quality players. I’m hopeful for PL title; that looks more realistic than CL 16 round. Does a thumping by Bayern bring about serious questions about the direction and leadership of club?
He is not used to lie yet. and speak the things some certain ppl want him to say.
Juan Mata recreated Ozil’s assist for Giroud yesterday, only that it was so much better. Awesome player.
MUCH better than Ozil??? Please
Ozil is WC, so Mata must be Universe Class
Seriously, when other teams are are getting better results than us they always look better.
Ozil, Alexis, Koscielny, Cazorla and Cech are not our problem
We need a Top striker to take advantage of Ozil’s WC passes and a top DM
I was speaking of the pass and not the player. In any case, yes, I’d take Mata over Ozil in a heartbeat 😉
Cech, Bellerin,Kos,Gabriel,Monreal, that is currently our best back 5. Play them as much as possible together. Understanding and repetition is key for a defense.
Ramsey, Cazorla,Ozil,Coq only three of the four should play and all down the middle. When Coq is hurt and we need a DM – we just dont have one we can rely on.
Theo and Alexis are both in good form. Ox is not playing well although he can and should soon.
Giroud is a very decent sub.
So what are we missing? Yes Robert, just like everyone else exceptWenger and only except Wenger the truth is obvious to see.
We need an attacker, someone who can play on the wings and down the middle would work just as well as an out and out striker.
and we need a real alternative to Coq.
That is it on the players side. Then we need, better tactics, and training and motivation.
So not buying the right players to complete the puzzle, and not training them well, not giving them the right tactics and failing to motivate them is whose fault exactly?
understadding and repetition…exactly.
Thats wherre Wenger failed recently.
@Robertthegooner
Ozil WC….I dont know…WC is Ronaldo, Messi – yeah they have their bad days but they dont go missing as often and esp not when you need them the most…i like Ozil – he has alot of Talent – but he really needs to put more effort into it…Ozil needs to win us some big games (Man U , Bayern etc), not just be MOTM on a game against a lower league team…
Blaming the players when you dont give them the tools is not fair Wenger.
Per is too slow – it is so painfully obvious to see, in the first and third goals you can see him just not being able to catch up to the Olympiakos players. But he plays a high line and pushes up to mark his player with this extreme lack of speed. It just doesnt work. It is the manager’s job to make sure he plays to his strengths and not his weaknesses.
We dont know how to defend set pieces – you cant tell me that is the fault of the players. That is the fault of tactics and training.
Playing Ospina who is not getting many games, instead of inform Cech is again something that has nothing to do with players’ passion but manager’s mistake.
Not buying a good alternative to Coq, not having an other class forward, not having a defender better than Per, not calculating for injuries after all these years are also not the fault of the players but again the fault of the manager.
Heart and passion can only get a team so far, they need to be combined with quality, tactics, training,and motivation to create a winning team.
Arsene should put the blame squarly on his own shoulders.
but some people think they own the job…… They think they are the best man for the job………. They think they are gods …… Pride sets in……. Then they fall beyond rescue!
Exactly. Wenger is stubborn as F
It seems like saving money is not his only motivation. I think he wants to prove his way is the RIGHT way
We got rid of loads of players this summer through release, sale and loans. So we freed up salaries for any new transfers. And what boggles my mind is How he didnt get a single outfielder who could start or come off the bench in the 1st team. Jackson Martinez was screaming for years to get him, we could have gone after Kondogbia (especially after he destroyed us in CL) but we didn’t even go for cheaper alternatives (ie Khedira, Milner, Lacazette, Pedro, Etc)
He thinks he can do whatever he wants and still get 8 million a year
I forgot the cheaper alternatives are doing very well in their teams. They have justified their price well. Khedira has won Juventus many points, same as Milner for Liverpool, Lacazette is tearing apart the Ligue1 with his goal scoring records, Pedro has kickstarted his PL in similar fashion as well, he has helped Chelsea rising up the table….. And Kondogbia (who “destroyed” us in CL) has considerably done a fair job.
I’m glad to hear that wenger has grown a pair,
We should see a big reaction from the player’s as they are not used to seeing Wenger f’ ing and blinding at them.
hopefully we will see a more determined performance from the team on Sunday.
Let’s win some man u game please!!
I recently commented that Vieira had left us because (as I read somewhere) we didnt have any European ambition).
I found these stats with the lineups. For all people claiming some glory from the past (I asssume they are 20 yrs old) take a good look. And then talk about past glory.
Champions League – 25th Nov 1998
Arsenal 0-1 Lens: Seaman, Dixon, Adams, Keown, Winterburn, Parlour, Hughes, Garde, Overmars, Wreh, Anelka
Champions League Nov 22nd 2000
Spartak Moscow 4-1 Arsenal: Manninger,Luzhny, Keown, Adams, Sylvinho, Vivas, Parlour, Ljungberg, Pires, Kanu, Henry
Champions League 30th Oct 2002
Arsenal 1-2 Auxerre: Seaman, Lauren, Campbell, Cygan, Cole, Ljungberg, Gilberto, Vieira, Wiltord, Henry, Kanu
*this game followed by a 2-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund and a 0-0 with PSV. This was also the era of 2 group stages.
Champions League 24th March 2004
Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea: Lehmann, Lauren, Campbell, Toure, Cole, Ljungberg, Edu, Vieira, Pires, Reyes, Henry
Just goes to show how inept and lost Wenger is in Europe
Or how some people is lost saying…if Adams kepwn and Henry bla bla bla.
Bear in mind that before wenger we were not regulars in Europe buddy
We won the old version of the europa league when George Graham was the manager lol ?
A win is a win I must agree but if he is calling the wins against a Spud team and Leicester big games then that shows our mindset when we come up and fail against the real big teams….
Nice to have a player to admit his mistakes.
But Per often made mistake and often repeat it, and the next day he will talk that he will change the next game and become better.
Actually action speaks louder than words. We need proof in the field result, not the talk media public consumption.