Arsenal were unlucky but short on confidence

The famous Arsenal winning run at the end of the season seems to have petered out, and it looks like the third season in a row where the Gunners are spectacular for half a season and then rubbish for the other half. This is our third defeat in a row in all competitions for the first time since 2010, and the confidence of the players looks shot to pieces.

Olivier Giroud either hits weak shots straight at the keeper or hits the bar, and has now gone ten games without scoring. Alexis Sanchez has also lost his mojo and he doesn’t seem to have a first touch any more, if he still had it he would have had two certain goals last night.

This is now the fourth season in a row that we have failed to beat the Swans, and Arsene Wenger thinks that we were unlucky. “It was a very unlucky defeat because we created many chances, we were unlucky in our finishing and they only had two shots on target which were both goals. It’s a very disappointing result. The players are very down but we have to respond to that.”

And he was asked the obvious question about if our players had lost their confidence, and he mumbled: “It looks like it a bit.” A bit! A bit! Thanks to Leicester drawing and Tottenham losing at West Ham, Arsenal are still in the title race, but can we really see them going to White Hart Lane and causing a shock defeat on Tottenham? Wenger is still hoping for that famous “bounce back” that never seems to come any more. “We focus on our job and come back reminding ourselves that we have some quality as well. Of course we have to analyse it as well and bounce back. We have a big game in three days.

“At the moment I am worrying about our results. We just lost three games and that is always a very disappointing moment for the team. At the moment we don’t dream. We have to be realistic and come back to what we do well, the basics.”

There is nothing wrong with the basics Wenger, what we need to do is start putting the ball in the back of the net. Joel Campbell was a breath of fresh air and his finish was spectacular to put us in the lead, but why couldn’t the rest of the team put one of our other chances away to finish the game off?

Tags Campbell Swansea tottenham Wenger

38 Comments

  1. If you’re 5 points ahead of Leicester and end up 1 point behind United you’re not unlucky. We are complacent, arrogant and lack the leadership to win the title. We do not deserve to be crowned champions with our mentality.

    1. The best one
      There is no one in the market who can improves really.

      Not surprised that after old Trafford, they went public with the 75 million available for transfer trick.
      They pull off that trick every year or whenever they are under pressure.
      Just wait until summer when Wenger goes and buy a superstar we do not need , overpay for 4 kids who will never make the cut and a spent geriatric.
      About there were no players to better than what we got .
      Mahrez
      Ighalo
      Dinny
      Payet
      Sakho
      Shakiri

      1. Aubameyang cost Dortmund 10m, Lewandowski cost them 5m, Wenger and the club have no excuses about not finding enough quality in the forward department.

  2. unlucky?? hahahaha, wenger, i am pretty sure that you are very lucky, 10 years without a silverware and still ahead of arsenal…. please go ASAP.. you do not deserve nothing more.. you really lost all the respect from all the pasionate fans…

    1. Culture of mediocrity
      His mentality is just wrong
      Imagine giving massive contract to perpetual crocks.
      Not small or medium size contracts
      Massive ones to players who will never be better than average.
      Who does that ? Is Arsenal a charity ?

  3. This will be just like the Arsenal of a few years ago. Throw away all hopes of the title. Get beat by Tottenham. Produce a very good away performance in the Champions League but still get knocked out, having thrown it away in the first leg. Go on a very strong winning run in the league to make the fans a little happier before the summer and be under less pressure to spend on transfers, but still not win the title. Head into the new season with Wenger saying he doesn’t need any new players and expects he can still win the title.

    Sound familiar? It’s exactly what happened in 2013.

    1. However we still celebrate St. Toteringham Day that time huh? This time, prepare for undercover or summer trip to Timbuktu.

    2. I actually hope we finish fifth, just so Kroenke can get upset a bit. Maybe we even see the back of mr Wenger.

  4. For those who are just now realising that Wenger is not the man to take arsenal to the next level, i’m glad your eyes are wide f****** open. And For those of us who figured this about 5 yrs ago, it’s time to engineer a change. Boycott ticket purchases, and merchandise. You see we have the power, and we can do this. #dennisberkamp for manager

    1. Please engineer that change at the end of the season. The chances of Arsenal winning the league are very slim but right now what Arsenal needs is the support and unity of the fans. I wish Arsenal can play the rest of their games all away from home, it will be less pressure on the players.

  5. Anyone see Coquelin yelling all game long? He was constantly exposed, left alone while people ran up the pitch and we’re complaining about ONE blown call?

    I don’t have anything else to say, this team won’t win at WHL on saturday. Now we lost Cech and Kos going into our burial day.

    I would like to see banners at this game demanding AW resignation from the club on saturday.

    1. I suppose you will be happy to be right on Saturday. Save your banners for when we are completely out of the race or at the end of the season. Right now Arsenal needs proper support.

  6. Hahahahahahahahahahaha, oh dear ,someone please answer me, Is wenger even among the top 10 tacticians in the league?

    1. Financial tacticians? Yes. He is on the very top in that respect. I didn’t see him use tactics in any other field of his work for a while now, so you must have meant financial tactics, right?

  7. How low will we have to go & how long will we accept this??!! Hard not to be a bit emotional when you see your team wasting chances after chances to get back into a race that seems to be extending its hands.
    No heart, no discipline at the back & no leaders when things get tough! We know Wenger ain’t going nowhere but how about the players showing some pride and say enough is enough!! When I get into that locker room at half-time & hear that our “greatest” rival who by the way are in front in the table losing I come out with that extra motivation playing like a Lion hunting the pray!
    Look bottom line is there’s still 30 points to play for but our schedule is no joke…performance wise we’re fighting for our top 4 finish (t’s over for the title) but mathematically the glimmer of hope is there…they got to wake up!
    And by season they can’t accept a player being paid hefty cash and not perform: Campbell was great today should’ve stayed & don’t be afraid to take out some of your “star” player if they’re playing bad!! Welbeck could’ve come on but not in his place but maybe Giroud’s would’ve make more sense!! Walcott on an outrageous contract!! Send messages when they’re not performing (we have as they say a prestigious academy & great scouting system) get Chambers out there, he was good when he came on last time, sub out Ramsey & put on Elneny! Stop putting blind trust!
    Sometimes you need to shock your players for them to wake up!!When they’re too comfortable it opens the door for a culture of failure…and it surely looks that way.
    I mean will it have to come down to us boycotting games and marching outside of the stadium in protest (60K fans marching that would be something the club probably never thought about). They would certainly have to do something if it gets to that!

    1. I said basically the same thing, and got thumps down. That is the only way to force change. Take away their bottom line, and see how fast they act. Sometimes a step back is several steps forward. These board has taken fans for granted for far too long

    2. My friend I understand your frustration and demand for a bit of fight but if this team wanted tobe champions the fight would have started weeks ago. They simply don’t have it in it.

      As long as the manager is willing to blame luck the players will not take complete responsibility.

      1. Look man I hear you but I mean objectively not because we’re fan of this club…on paper overall we have a better team than Spurs & Leicester, we have more overall talent but fail to produce that is the bottom line…Always the same issues come up & we’re talking about it over and over on website & youtube channels like Arsenal TV.
        I mean a club without fans is nothing…we have power, power to show enough is enough & we’re fed up of those excuses of we were unlucky & bad refereeing: the truth of the matter is if you play better regardless 9/10: you score more, you defend better & you WIN except for that odd game.
        If and really I mean hypothetically if we as fans who pour our hard worked money into this organization & do something shocking to show our disagreement & frustration with the players, the coach & upper management (for how everything is managed & handle on/off the pitch), they would have to take notice & do something of there own!

        1. Could not agree more. I think it was Bayern fans who boycotted the first 5 (or more?) minutes of the game at Emirates in protest against the high ticket pricing. Can you imagine the signal it would send if our fans would boycott the first 15 minutes of the next home game? Protesting the lack of investment in the squad?

          I also agree that we should see more of Elneny and Chaimbers, instead of Flamini etc.

          Wenger ruins players. Andre Arshavin was ruined by being played out on the left wing. Chambers is bought as a right back (who could possibly play CB), is moved to CB, then out of the team, then groomed for DM back-up then watches the Man U game in the stance with Shaw!!! What is Wenger doing with him??? He always breaks players confidence and rhythm. Walcott was promised the central striker role, when did he get a fair run of games? Giroud is useless, a striker only 10% more efficient over the last 10 games and we would be level with Spurs or better, but somehow Wenger stays with him and Giroud knows it. No pressure on him.

          His excuse for subbing Campbell was that he had not played in a while. Who’s fault is that??? Was Ox playing the lights out? No, he was out of form badly. Was Walcott shining on the right wing?? No, he also barely got game time. What had Campbell done wrong to not be played more often???

          Half the players that have lost form are because they get moved around the pitch to positions not their preferred, lose there place for no apparent reason to out of form players, or over played (Sanchez).

  8. Guys..take a deep breath and RELAX. We are only a game behind Spurs( who we can tie if we beat em next) and two behind Leicester who can slip up anytime. The league is far too early to start crowning champions now..even if you ask Leicester or Spurs fans ..they don’t consider themselves winners already. As every experienced winner always seems to say, this is a marathon not a sprint. Start worrying when people rack up 70+ points and we are still 6 points behind..as for now just support the Campbell subbing manager and the team.

    1. unfortunately your logic also goes for the teams fighting us for 4th place. At the moment we are more likely to lose the race for 4th than win the race for first. Time to wake up to reality.

      1. So you’re saying if we were in Leicester’s or Spurs shoes right now you would be making orders for the Champagne already? My friend the league is normally won with around 80 +points…there is still a long way to go. Yes united and Chelsea may catch us but we may also catch Leicester.. So why the insistence on looking behind you rather than in front? I admit I don’t see too many champions who have lost over 5-6 league games but this year is a special year you must admit. It’s not over till it’s over. If you thought winning the league would have been a smooth ride like PSG’s then think again..this is the English premier league…hard doesn’t even start to describe it.

        1. No I am not saying that. I am saying football is a game of momentum and consistency we have backward momentum and are at the moment only consistent in being inconsistent or in poor performances. I don’t see any urgency on the pitch from the players to show they understand this is the time of the season you win or lose the PL, these last 15 games or so. I see very little acknowledgement from the manager that the performances are not good enough, instead he blames luck and other factors. I see the squad make the same “naive” mistakes over and over again.

          To me the fans and the manager who only talk about the next game and about mathematical possibilities to win the PL, without being willing to see the reality of the last game are part of the reason the players don’t feel the need to show some fight and backbone on the pitch.

          There is often a reason history repeats itself and until that reason is acknowledged it will continue to repeat itself.

    2. Nice comment. I am disappointed by the loss but I will support my team and continue believing that we can still win the league, no matter how slim the chances. I’m looking forward to Saturday, at least its away so that might help the players low on confidence.

    3. Your not wrong I mean for all we know we could find ourselves celebrating a huge win on Saturday & go on to WIN our last 10 games & finish top but all the signs don’t point in that direction you can also than understand why we are so frustrated with all this…

    4. With all due respect @quantic dream, majority of the fans have seen this movie for the last 10 yrs. You see, this is not just a one time occurence, like what happened with chelsea. There is a history, and Wenger’s record is out there for everyone to see. we fans are not overeacting.

  9. There was an attacking intent. There was real effort at the start. There was a wonderful goal. There were chances galore (yet again).

    and then…there was the woodwork. There was that all too familiar defensive brain-fart. There was a nervousness. There was mild panic. There was a confidence and belief leaking away. There were lots of headless Red&White chooks running around.

    What was sorely missing…intelligence. The calm maestro to build intelligent purposeful attacks…we didn’t have one. Ozil didn’t seize the game. Ramsey didn’t. Sanchez didn’t.

    So where were these “leaders in every position”

    Intelligence and thought seemed to be absent on the touchline as well.

    With 30 minutes left, score is 1-1 and still all to play for we needed to go for the throat with an attacking substitution. In my opinion..the attacking move would have been to take Ramsey off and bring on Welbeck. Play Giroud and Welbeck up front. Leave Campbell on and then sub him off for El Neny when he ran out gas.

    When a team is defending deep, even an in form Walcott would have been impotent, leave alone this impostor of a player. Walcott should never have stepped onto that pitch, Walcott should not have made the bench, for that matter. Iwobi should have been on the team sheet and NOT Walcott and while we are on that…Why on earth would AW have both Flamini and El Neny on the bench?

    Gab has to improve his English??? Well his German and Czechoslovakian ain’t that flash either…how about he improve his defensive work first.

    And seriously, Cech..you take 1 run in the whole game and you get a muscle problem? Fark me!

    Can’t wait for the trip to WHL…sure going to be a very entertaining affair…let’s see how many red cards we can pick up.

  10. You know we can actually discuss our problems throughout today.here is another one..How many teams can we beat now??
    We now have too many bogeyteams
    ManU, Chelsea, Soton, Swansea,Everton etc…
    How do people Leicester to lose two games?when they only lost 3 all season.If u watch their game against Westbrom you will know beating Leicester is not an easy thing.We are now in the race for top4 not the title

  11. Wenger should resign if he has any dignity left. Pls Wenger, U are a REAL SPECIALIST IN FAILURE. U are a Mediocre. He should have changed to a 424 formation when he brought in Welbeck. just keep Ozil and Campbell in the midfield while Sanchez plays in front of Ozil. I said that in the case of Sanchez, he should not be in the wing for now. Play him beside Giroud. Him and Giroud in the box. Sacrifice the wing. he would have had to run less and take advantage of the space Giroud creates. yesterday, Wenger should have made an early sub by taking off Ramsey and replacing him with Welbeck.

    Cow Ozil

    Sanchez
    Campbell Giroud Welbeck

    Ozil playing close to Coq with a specific instruction to take long passes to the wing for Welbexk and Campbell. Sanchez instinct to shoot. The more shots you take, the more likely you are to score. Mancini used this approach when playing Tevez behind Aguero some seasons ago. When you get the goals and safe, you can then take off Campbell for a centre midfielder like Flamini and Elneny. football has changed Arsene. Stop hurting the fans with your mediocrity. enough is enough.

  12. The interesting is that, we will only truly bounce back when:
    1)We lose at Nou Camp and eventually go out of UCL,
    2) When finishing in the Top4 is under serious threat or we slip down to 5th, then you will see magic turn around
    The team can’t win the title not majorly cos of talent but it is mental too, and above all Wenger

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