Arsenal’s problem not players but handling pressure

Arsenal buckling under pressure? by Sam P

When all the football pundits were dismissing Arsenal and our chances of winning the Premier League title a couple of years ago, it really wound me up, as we were top of the table and playing the best football. But we did not win that title after falling away halfway into the campaign.

I was convinced that our terrible injury problems were the main cause, and there is no doubt that it was a big problem, but after watching Arsenal freeze for the second home game in a row against Liverpool, I wonder if the accusation about the team’s winning mentality and not holding it together for a full season could be a factor.

I know that we can handle pressure because we have got ourselves out of a lot of sticky situations in the past. But could it be that we are struggling to handle the role of favourites or front runners? There is no doubt that our great form from last season and pre-season has deserted the players for some reason and I think that all the positivity and expectation could be the reason. It has got to the players.

At least the performance improved in the second half against liverpool and we started to look like Arsenal again. But the TV pundits instantly talked about transfers and I am not sure that this is the problem. Did we not hammer Liverpool with the same players last season?

It’s not the players, it is getting them to play. Wenger must have expected more from them tonight, so is that why he is not trying to sign anyone?

51 Comments

  1. I totally disagree, Arsenal has only one problem,and it won’t go away —-Arsene Wenger.

    We can all pretend that wenger isn’t the problem, but the whole world knows it. Opposition fans love him,because they know that for as long as he is in charge , Arsenal will always be a 4th place club.

    Those living in denial are going to thumb me down, but deep inside they know that Arsenal will be better off with a manager like klopp or ancelotti in charge.

    1. Yes indeed with Wenger at the helm we won’t win the league again,he doesn’t want to spend the club’s money to help us be a better team,he has no transfer plan just waits for pure luck,he got Sanchez when Barca signed Suarez

      1. Then get the players who can handle the pressure.
        It still goes back to lay luaren Mayer observations.
        There is a lack of intelligence in the team.
        Laboratory players (academy) will never be as good as those who learnt their trade on the streets where ,keep ball , feinting and dribbling is more important than running with the ball or passing it .
        The better ones are those who got exposed to both .
        For example, When you see a Jurgen klinmann ,Drogba or Diego Costa winning their teams a penalty , they are simply expressing their street instincts.

    2. I completely agree with you on all counts but not Ancelotti! He’s been sacked far too often and did not exercise loyalty towards PSG when Fake Madrid came calling! No, I don’t want him but Klopp will be very ideal.

    3. It would help if we played players in their correct places as well. It was no accident that we did did better in the last 10 minutes when the Ox came on to the right wing. Twice in the first twenty minutes Rambo failed to reach a ball passed down the right wing. Not his fault – he’s not a right winger and not fast enough. Any normal manager would’ve seen this and at least done the substitution early in second half, then again, any normal manager wouldn’t play players in the wrong places to begin with.

      Wenger has three central players – Ozil, Rambo and Cazorla for two central positions. Hence he can only play two of these players at any one time, a concept he doesn’t seem to understand.

    4. the sight of wenger on the pitch side gives me goosebumps………cluelessness is so written all over him!

    5. Agree. I’ve been a supporter for 20 plus years and I’ve never been so frustrated with our current situation. It’s clear what’s needed and it never gets addressed, to add to it, we play people out if position just to accommodate some players, we have a big squad, but too much average players whom they either kept and or renewed their contracts, younger kids who are showing promise may not see the pitch for the next two years, Wilshire will return so I’m fearing for the OX or Less Coq (because favoratism seems to rule). Sorry to say but look at Chelsea, they got crushed so they went out and got stronger (took them 2 days to get Pedro deal done), while we sit around waiting for players to fall from the sky, in the mean time Wenger contradicts himself by calling for an earlier close to the transfer period. I live in the States so I’ve only watched Arsenal live once (drove 400 miles ), so my support comes from me paying £75 for jerseys, I shall not buy another one until 1) Wenger approach changes or 2) Wenger is changed. Sorry for the rant.

  2. Giroud is a problem he’s been missing in the West ham game even the Palace game he scored but was missing

    1. …and Theo? A combined 55mins of being totally anonymous. Giroud is the best we have, not his fault he’s not the grade we need as our #1.

      1. I even forgot that Theo came on he’s useless with no football brain,he’ll never be a striker I’m still amazed some people on here say he’s better than Pedro,the OX did more in 15mins than both of Giroud and Theo combined

        1. Ox came on for 10 minutes. Was so frustrating to see him warming up on the sidelines for most of the second half when he should’ve been on. Could see his frustration when he played ball boy – he should’ve been put on in front of Theo.

          The only time Theo scores is when he plays striker like a winger. He seems to have no sense as to where to position himself as a striker. Would be a massive help to him, if he wants to be a striker to be taught by someone (like TH14!).

    2. @Dee@ease
      Fair enough Giroud is not the best of strikers but he was man marked to the core and didn’t get much service and any of our 3 league games so far..
      AW should not have subbed him – he was the one that pulled defenders…should played Walcott with him…

      1. That’s the problem with Giroud he depends too much on service,what we need is a striker who’ll make their own chances like when Aguero scored against Chelsea beating 4 defenders!

        1. Don’t compare the two. They are different type of strikers. There is no way Aguero creates the type of chance that OG gave Alexis yesterday. You need an aerial threat in the current game.

        2. @Dee@ease
          but its not fair to blame Giroud every time we dont score..How many clear cut chances
          Aguero has been given this season alone…
          Its not like he’s been missing clear chances – like the Monaco game.

          1. Aguerro scored but he missed a string of sitters before he did and because they won nobody cares. At city loads of other players chip in with Goals but for us Cazorla and Ozil are usually great passers and creators but their scoring records are poor. People go on about Walcott being on instead of Giroud but his success rate is woeful. Ramsey who everybody slates has a decent scoring record but is playing out of position and had a goal ruled out unfairly last night. Giroud is the scapegoat for the midfield not being good enough, not taking responsibility and not contributing goals.

            1. @FT
              EXACTLY….
              Man City have 8 goals this season (only 1 from the CF)…3 from defenders and 4 from midfielders..
              Slating Giroud is the easy way out!!!

  3. I think for us to sign a new DM, we would need to offload 2midfielders because if Mr wenger decides to buy a new DM, it would be an upgrade to the ones we have which will mean him(the new DM) being a regular. And considering he would be a starter would annoy alot of our midfielders because if we start with him and le cog that would leave all these midfielders;Ramsey, Wishere, Rosicky, Cazorla, and Ozil all fighting for the No.10 position. I didn’t Add Arteta and Flamini because i already said we need to ship-out two. Now if we sign a new Dm, who would you start and who would you bench?
    We would have a divided house in the dressing room. And please don’t tell me you want Mr wenger to play our midfielders as Wingers.
    We have alot midfielders please.

    1. Who cares about our other midfielders,this is a football club there’s competition where every player fights for their position no one should be guaranteed a spot especially this lot who are performing so poorly at Home it’s embarrassing!

      1. There isn’t a chance in hell that if we get new def mid, he will start alongside Coq. We are already trying to fit everyone in so I cant see us promoting a newbie ahead of Ramsey Jack and Cazorla. The more likely would be Coq getting dropped and the two of them playing away at che or something. If one comes in I expect him to take Flaminis place but could play his way into either starting or subbing for Coq.

  4. Whose fault is that? Why play ramsey on the wing? Chamberlain would have killed gomez. Ramsey’s best season was through the middle. Giroud cant move! he just cannot move! No wonder majority of his goals are off his first touch. The moment he takes more than a touch everything falls apart. Who is ozil supposed to pick out? Who is santi supposed to pick out? You play without pacey wingers( ramsey) and want to come narrow but have giroud as a striker whose main attribute is his aerial ability and strength. Just does not make sense to me. We need a striker and we need to drop ramsey santi or ozil. There are enough games in a season for all three of them to get enough game time. Three games in and we look out of it. 5 points behind city.

  5. “I think I have enough experience and intelligence to know when it’s right or wrong”

    I think the stats that matter is you haven’t won the league for over a decade now ?

    1. That’s typical Wenger all over. The man’s a fool and as they say, “a fool at 40, is a fool forever”!

  6. We need someone who can turn a game,it’s been said and said and said and yet nothing appears to be done and so far the excuses are already being lined up rather than the solution to the problems which are STILL defensive midfield and striker. Liverpool looked dangerous and so did we BUT Liverpool have added new players and may well improve, we don’t even look like a team that has half a chance of winning the league . Walcott was absent as already stated and group just isn’t good enough to turn things around I feel it’s disgusting that he upped his money before proving he was worth it , and you can all say “well he scored all those goals at the end of last season” but that doesn’t make up for seasons of being pretty mediocre in my opinion. Sort it out Wenger or get out!!! We deserve better than this, another season of f@ck all !!!! Oh sorry we’ll get the 4th place cup, maybe

  7. I’m assuming Wenger and the players will bleed our ears again on how we need to win the next game and bla bla bla…..
    meanwhile the whole football world tells us we need to buy a striker.
    oh and also a lot of canani rumors. This will be a tough week.

  8. I hope is it clear now for everyone that Chambers, Gabriel and Walcott are not first team material just yet. This is a game where we really missed Wilshere. Bash him all you want, this is exactly what we needed because Sanchez looked tired and out of form. Ozil was sublime. Glad that Cech can handle pressure and put behind him all critics. Watch this space.

    1. What has Wilshere ever done ?
      If a new coach were to arrive , Wilshere and Ramsey will be the first on the list to join flamini and Arteta on their way out.

      1. Wilshere plays with BALLS. He doesn’t take sh*t from opposing teams. If RUNS INTO THE BOX even when there’s 10men in front of the keeper. THAT’S WHAT WE NEED. SOMEONE WHO ISN’T AFRAID TO TAKE ON PLAYERS IN FRONT OF GOAL AND WIN PENALTIES !

    2. dude Gabriel? what match did you watched?? he did a Kos the boss yesterday, he saved our ass a few times and played perfectly

      1. You conveniently leave out the cross bar shot from Coutinho and the super save by Cech, all of them caused by him. Coutinho left next to Gabriel. Bellerin had to cover for both CBs yesterday.

    3. Were you seated behind the TV? OR you were busy with house chores buh comes to take a glimpse of the match every 30mins???

      Gabrieal was awesome!!!

  9. Our problem is Wenger, how can you keep doing the same thing every year?? the whole world knows it that we need a striker, everyone has sais it but almighty wenger the arrogant old man who feels everything he does is right won’t buy.
    ggggrrrrrhhhhhh!!
    being an Arsenal fan has been soo frustrating, Ramsey kept leaving the bloody wing he’s to play, searching for ball down sanchez wings, going after ball in his own players legs. God!! someone tell me how the hell its supposed to be a big season for OX if he stays on the bench?
    people abusing Chambers are wrong, wenger refuses to give the lad any run at competitive football, so he played a few pre season games and benched, all of a sudden you throw the young boy in there against liverpool? genius right?? Besides, the first half was a repeat of WH, the whole team was rubbish, in the second half tell m what happened to chambers?? all our bloody attackers Ozil was the best among them all, raising the game,picking out passes and them being wasted..peter cech=class

  10. August can be a cruel month… What now … It is absolutely clear we don’t have a team or squad to compete with best teams in Europe … That can’t be repaired in last 6 days of a transfer window … IMO it can’t be done under current leadership for reasons have been saying for 3 years … But what can be done realistically … To begin with ox and gab have to start … This is so blatant and so doable I think it’s fair to say that a manager who doesn’t do this should not be in the job come Xmas … Who should go … Wenger has done a half way decent job here in clearing out deadwood And Campbell may still go … Flamini still around is shocking management …. Walcott and mert have to go in winter or next summer, I would argue Monreal too he has improved recently but is not ultimately good enough … Who should be brought in … This window? I would have liked to see a big bid for griezman I doubt reus will leave a resurgent dortmund but he’s an arsenal fan so why not try at least and it’s still possible that cavani could arrive though I am not a fan so it’s more about planning for future…the two I would like to see are draxler and bender… Don’t quite cover what we need but they are available and draxler can be made in to a more attacking force.. 40 odd million seems reasonable … Maybe there is someone in Latin America on attacking front that it’s worth a punt on though a big risk .. the big question is can a leopard change it’s spots?

  11. Our problem is our clueless Manager! How long more this can go on before every Arsenal fan realises this? Even loyal TH14 is now in our camp albeit tactfully. Wenger is grown too old and comfortable in the job that he now believes he is invincible and therefore will not listen to reason. But fan power if united, will soon make him understand his mortality!

    1. I think the problem is that he is all powerful. The decline started when David Dein left, as he had sole responsibility for transfers – he didn’t answer to Wenger. Now Wenger is responsible for everything. Would we have got in our great players, like Petit and Viera, who seem like players Wenger wouldn’t even look at nowadays, had Dein not been there? I don’t know, but I think it’s time Wenger started to devolve power, for the good of himself and the club.

  12. Title is over…

    1 lost and 1 draw at home…..after 3 games

    A championship winning team will not lose at home….esp at such early stage

  13. thumb me down all you want but yes Gary Neville has my support, its arrogance, pure arrogance refusing to listen to people concerning what the team needs.
    lets be truthful to ourselves, we can’t win the league this season and the UCL under wenger except he turns a new leaf but i doubt that.. with wenger we’ll always be class by name but mediocre on the pitch. he needs more bashing!! before anyone of you hits at Gary, he said the truth and just want us to be better

    1. and the amazing thing was that wenger didnt realise his response demonstrated how arrogant he is… 20 years in the job and i know what is right and wrong!!! …couldnt invent this guy if you tried or the junkies who snort up this kind a sh**

  14. Is not about handling pressure! This is not the first time this group of players are playing together! 5 out of 6 home games this current Arsenal squad are not scoring! The main reason is due to the stubbornness of Wenger! He do not believe that spending money will solve the issues and insisted they will solve the goal scoring issues without spending! He stated that there are a few players who are currently out injure who could make a difference! I can’t believe what he had said! Arsenal need a top striker which I believe lot of Arsenal fans know this! This is ridiculous as Wenger insists Giroud will be capable of helping Arsenal to win BPL title! 2 home games, 0 goals scored and 4 points out of 9 points are unacceptable if Arsenal is counted as a title contender! Arsenal will also need a DM though Coquelin played well this morning! A top striker is a must as this will helps to bring Sanchez and Ozil to the next level. Giroud is too predictable in this movements as defenders know how to handle him. Although Giroud scored against Palace but after that he seems disappeared! Lastly we are very lucky to have Cech! Brilliant goalkeeping saves the skin of Arsenal! Wenger, please stop your stubbornness and arrogant as we need a top striker at least to bring the old Arsenal back and challenge for the title!

  15. The problem with arsenal is players playing out of position. ppl say Ramsey hasn’t done enough but i think cazorla has been wasteful in these early games.I would play ramsey over cazorla bcoz he has much more better distribution through the center. And ozil hasn’t toughened up one bit, he deserves to play in a less physically demanding league. like sell him to psg let him weave his magic elsewhere as he hasnt been doing enough gets easily dispossessed and no passion or drive for the club. I thought he would take time to settle in but he is taking it lightly i don’t see the passion in him for the club.And i would like to have seen ox played from the beginning rather than 10 effing mins.And theo is in the same class as giroud so i think we should have dropped ozil, played cazorla on one wing and ox on the other with Ramsey and coquelin in the middle and sanchez as false 9. Giroud is a good substitute quality that’s it nothing more.I don’t want to blame him for everything as tactically we were wrong.As far as wenger playing ozil every week it’s just Wenger trying to prove that he had bought the right player when we clearly see now Madrid mugged us off.And we do need a striker and a dmf ,ppl think coquelin is good but we need a better dmf who would make him work even harder to retain his position.

  16. WENGER PLAYS AGAINST CRAP TEAMS LIKE VILLAREAL BEATS THEM IN THE EMIRATES STADIUM AND EVERYBODY THINKS THAT WE ARE BARCELONA LOOLLL THEN THE SEASON START AND WE ARE IN BIG SHIIIT LOLL

  17. I believe wenger has the old tape of the “invincible era” and watches it every night before he sleeps,trading war of words between pundits and him is meaningless,it seems to make him more stiff and firm not to face the reality. We have officially scored one goal by our own player in three games,I remember our Arsenal manager saying he will rotate his strikers based on the opponent,last night’s game definitely called for walcot to start,but we have seen the same person for three games with three different opponents. Rodgers said something about dominating spaces,that’s what West Ham did,and this tactics almost worked for him if not for Cech,they made a direct attack and we chose to be going in circles and crossing to someone who can’t even win the first header.

  18. my starting XI
    cech
    bellerin-gabriel-koscielny-monreal
    ox-coquelin-ramsey-cazorla
    ozil
    sanchez

    don’t want ozil there but its better as i don’t like giroud up front, anything else is bettter than giroud upfront for whole 90 mins. Would remove ozil if we get a better striker and play sanchez on left and cazorla in am instead but its just my imagination:)

  19. the sight of wenger on the pitch side gives me goosebumps!……. Cluelessness is so written all over him

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