Wenger – West Ham were better prepared than us

Arsenal have had their most successful pre-season for 10 years, winning every single game and even beating the defending Champions Chelsea at Wembley, so it was nothing less than a shock to watch West Ham outplay us at the Emirates yesterday.

All Arsenal fans could be forgiven for thinking that we would could continue our winning run into the new season, especially when Wenger said in the run up to the game: “I’m ready for a fight and of course motivated to start well,” he said. “One of our targets is to start strong. We had a good preparation and that should give us the needed confidence.

“The Premier League is a fight in every single game so we have to prepare ourselves mentally for that and come out of the blocks straight away against West Ham.”

So where was that “good preparation and much-needed confidence” yesterday? Apparently Wenger now thinks that West Ham were the better prepared team, after the Hammers had failed to win either leg of their UEFA tie against Romanian minnows Astra.

After our 2-0 defeat Wenger had changed his tune. He said: “I think our performance was not convincing. On the two aspects of our game, going forward and defending. Overall we were punished. On top of that, I feel we gave two very cheap goals away and they were at the wrong moments – just before and after half-time, with two minutes to go, and just after half-time. We gave ourselves a mountain to climb. West Ham looked a bit sharper than us, more advanced in preparation than us. In the end we wanted, but it was not convincing, not agile, not quick. Our passing was too slow and in the end we were punished.

“West Ham are a bit more advanced in their preparation than us. They’ve played many competitive games in the Europa League. I knew before the game it would be tricky game on that front. A big part of it was not to concede, even if we played for a 0-0. The way we conceded the goal just before half-time, with experience we have in our team, is difficult to understand.”

I think we are all finding this difficult to understand Arsene. You tell us we have had a pefect preparation for the season, then say West Ham have had a better one! Narrow wins over teams from Andorra and Malta and a defeat to a Romanian team is better than beating Chelsea in the Community Shield? This is not just difficult to understand, it’s baffling!

Tags Chelsea Wenger West Ham

41 Comments

  1. Just in from BBC-
    David Ornstein

    “Arsenal are lining up an audacious swoop to bring Luis Suarez back to the Premier League.

    Arsene Wenger memorably made a £40m plus £1 bid which was rejected when Suarez was at Liverpool and also made an offer before the Uruguayan joined Barcelona.

    Though Barcelona have a transfer embargo hanging over them, Arsenal are planning a huge bid to take him from the Camp Nou.”

    And if you are still reading my post after the first three lines than you need to stop smiling now.

      1. Arsenal fans please relax. This result may portend something good. Remember the 2013/2014 season. We lost our first match to Aston Villa, audaciously brought in Ozil on deadline day and where topping the league by the end of December.

        1. We simply need to buy a few players. A DM,winger and striker. We have to spend the fkin cash just like our competitors. Still not late, hope this defeat ringed a bell for Wenger.
          1. We can’t keep on playing Ramsey and cazorla on the wings. Just bring in a proper winger
          2. Lecoq did great last season, but he’s not the WC dm we need. We need a matic type of player. Someone who can start our attacks with clever passes.
          3.,giroud is a good striker to have on your bench, we need a WC striker who would bring fear to defences and could do something special. A benzema or zlatan even

          If we improve in those 3 key positions we would be real title contenders

        2. …and where did we end up on the log..could you remind me now??
          The truth is we need a leader to inspire this players on the pitch even when we are behind..Arsene don’t ever help matters by shivering on the bench rather than being there for the players to raise their spirits..
          Poor Arsene do evolve that aspect of your management…..IT IS A TRADE MARK OF WORLD CLASS MANAGERS…E.G MOURINHO..LEARN TO INSPIRE THIS GUYS…

        3. @Yengooner

          We may have improved after that opening day defeat, but where did finish in the league and in Europe…4th and last 16 again. Not good enough, every season!

    1. the funny thing about that game is that, the same shit has started happening again…. instead of a strong start, we are now hoping to bounce back… its shameful…. That display wasn’t convincing at all… Ozil was marked out of the game by a 16yo….. secondly, we played too many predictable passes so they closed us down

      1. we had too many wayward passes. Cocquelin all of a sudden started to complicate his game by trying long range passes. That is not his strength. He has to keep his game simple and make 5 yard sideways passes to Cazorla or other team mates. He should remember that his strength is or should be to intercept and disrupt the other teams possession. And his tackles should be flawless. Ox lost the ball before the second goal but Coq missed a crucial tackle after that. He did not do that so often last season. Let’s hope like the rest of the team it was a one of.

        Problem is the Arsenal most of us know have too many off days. If you want to win the PL you can’t have too many.

        1. Lecoq should simply be our second choice DM. Wenger who has managed at top-level for years should realise that by now. I completely blame Wenger for the defeat. Our team needs improvements and he doesn’t want to do so. It’s unbelievable how stubborn this old man is.when will he learn from his mistakes?

    2. in response to ur earlier comment bernd leno is 23 years old & not 33 & yes he is better than scz/ospina

      don’t know what some fans see in scz had a poor game for roma as well in last game

    3. We always start the season slow. It’s starting to become a habit. Anyways I was very negative yesterday but woke up today with a little hope. If we manage to sign a proper WC DM and striker we have a chance to shine this season. Also we are in need of a proper winger if Sanchez picks up a knock or gets banned.we obviously lack a decent winger.ox is great but he likes to hold on to the ball for way too long. He dribbles everywhere. That cost us the second goal.we lack 3 quality players to complete our team

  2. I have said before yesterdays game that we need a top class forward and dm to challenge having watched yesterdays diabolical performance i feel we need to ad a out and out winger to the team playing ozil or carzola out left is not working pedro would have been a fantastic signing but looks like he is going to man u. I thought coq passing yesterday was terrible we need someone who can do both jobs sit in front of back 4 but when in possession have the quality to make things happen coq lacks the 2nd part by a long way.

    1. I agree and Schneiderlin could have been the DM you are talking about, Coq could have been a perfect backup to Schneiderlin. And if I have not missed too much Carvalho could be an upgrade as well despite his current injury.

      I credit Coquelin with our 3rd place finsih last season. For me there is no doubt that with either Arteta or Flamini that would not have happened. But perhaps to gamble our PL quest on Coq and Giroud is foolish.

      We have too many central midfielders of solid caliber but really only one DM.

      1. We def need an upgrade on the coq! He’s great defending but poor in passing the damn ball. I’m still upset we didn’t go for Morgan. He would have been the perfect signing.still a number of top class DM available. Let’s not waste anytime and get one. I hear we are linked with Lucas Silva. He is pure quality and I hope this news has some truth in it.as I said many times before the need for a WC DM is top priority!!!

        1. You never know with Wenger since he seems so scared to talk truthfully about his transfer intentions, but I don’t see him signing a promising DM or a striker.

          Although the persistent rumors about Benzema give a little hope. If indeed Benzema arrives, it would make Wenger’s denials look a bit weak and pathetic IMO.

          On the other hand the British press is a little sick in the head when it comes to reporting baseless transfer rumors. Read the German, French or Dutch sports press and you will read a lot less “Wenger will buy Lewondowski” or “Arsenal target Draxler …”.

  3. A lot of people aren’t saying on here that West Ham played a very good all round game, which we had no answer to on the day.

    You can lay the blame for that in many places, but sometimes that is just what happens.

    And of course you need some luck, which they had with their goals. Another day, that would be a draw at worst.

    Until they scored I felt we were playing quite well, and wasn’t concerned…I’m still not concerned, but it is a wake up call, and we will bounce back, for sure. Benzema would be a nice addition, but I tend to think we have deeper problems at times. Our lack of flexibility with tactics for one. I was pleased to see Wenger throw on some subs for once though!

    Onwards and upwards!

    1. Wenger made a pretty noticeable change at the half when he sent Ramsey wide and Cazorla deeper centrally. The team did seem to click. We had our opportunities but we just couldn’t bury them. The second half goal was a complete anomaly against the run of play. Cech does have to be better there but that was a careless giveaway from the ox.

      Once we had two proper wingers on there with Alexis and theo we did look dangerous. Alexis was rusty otherwise he could’ve had two or three himself.

    2. Hammers were amazing.
      Their defense to attack
      transition was electric
      Our transition was ponderous.
      and we always had 9-10
      defenders in front of us.
      Not going to bag any one.
      Would like us to use longer quicker
      outlet passes maximizing the speed
      of Walcott Chamberlain and Sanchez.
      We can win the next three.

      1. Yes don’t take away the fact that west ham were awsome on counters, payet is a great player. What is he doing playing for west ham??he is a better player even compared to santi . it was a poor day for us.this happens to every big team once in a while. We have to bounce back and beat palace.we need to dip into the transfer market right away. A dM,winger and striker are the answer to our problems. Hope Wenger knows now that he can count on coq doing a job for an entire season.and stop playing midfielders on the wings and try to sign a goal scorer who can score from half chances.

    3. sure without a doubt West Ham played well and were the better team, but for a team with our talent on it and with our ambition, that sounds like a painful reality, putting to shame our ambitions.

      I am not happy about losing but I am concerned about the fact that we deserved to lose and looked out of shape and jaded. That reeks of not being ready for the season physically and mentally.

      The game we last to Villa two season openers ago we looked in it and a bit unlucky, this game it never looked like we would come back in it.

  4. Better prepared? Ahh when you are a player on the books of Arsenal we expect you to be ready at 2am in the morning to put on a jersey and play 100% for our club.

    Better game plan, yes. They knew exactly how to hurt us while our players were still busy on holiday in their heads.

    Poor team selection, poor tactics, no game plan and no ambition is what I saw from a team in red and white yesterday. And to think fans were laughing at Man U and Chelsea the previous night who played even tougher oppositions. I was laughed at the whole way from the pub to my home.

    Can only hope for further improvements, one thing I liked though was how Ozil was trying to make things happen in the 2nd half, Ozil of the past seasons would have given up though yesterday I saw him chasing balls when his another team mates looked disinterested to.

    1. Not saying Özil was any better than anyone else, but he did make few key passes to Ramsey, Giroud and Walcott at the edge of the box. As I recall those chances were quickly dusted by bad first touch.

  5. don’t worry about who we are going to buy the whole team laked a lot of g @ d ,guts and determination you should treat every game like we are playing chelsea for christ sack . you players beleave some games are walk overs this premier football. wake up.

  6. we will concede more goals unless we buy a top quality cdm some fans seems to think that coq after last season if the best cdm out there & then we need a new striker

  7. It’s bad enough for the fan’s to suffer that kind of result at home…. It has totally depressed the f### out of me,
    But what makes it worse is the bull ? excuses that wenger keeps coming out with ?

  8. You know weeks ago Bilic predicted this. I wish I could find the interview but he said West Ham would be fitter and better prepared than Arsenal but in my mind there is absolutely no excuse. When we had CL play offs it was all about fatigue but West Ham who played Europa League on Thursday were fitter.

    As for everyone going after Cech, both bits of defending up to the goals were terrible. The defensive line for the set piece was awful. Secondly where was the pressure for te second goal. Chamberlain lost the ball and Zarate was surrounded by not one but 5 Arsenal players and NONE of them made an attempt to close him down.

  9. nit prepared?ooh yes..you will never be then.if preparing means praying Europa games in adora and Romania then we in trouble.
    you play midfielders as wingers and expect miracles? you ignore the fact that arsenal have been in need of a DM and STRIKER since 2012 and think manner will come down?
    nonsense wenger.i no longer trust in him..NOT ANYMORE EVER EVER.i respect his ability to identify and develope talents but not managing a top level team to trophies..give him arsenal under 21 team and find a replacement before it gets more worse.
    look.he is making world class Cech look like Almunia. give him messi and he will create a Bedtner out of him.Ronaldo will be made to look like a ARSHAVIN..enough is enough..give another middle class coach this very same team and he will win titles with right tactics,less arrogancy and right players fielding.
    give Wenger a team like WEST HAM and he will struggle to play in championship after early relegation in the league.
    TIRED OF TRUSTING IN WENGER.10YRS ARE SO MUCH FOR A TEAM LIKE ARSENAL FC TO FIGHT IN VAIN FOR EPL..

  10. Look..he never learns..trying to false players to adapt in wrong positions just to accommodate his favourites. Not even ashamed to lets our rivals strengthen with the very players we need..we need q winger..PEDRO is an answer but Wenger is not interested..he will flourish at manutd. bang goals for them and score against us..its also rumoured that man city have tabled a €70 for Benzema..its said they may swap him for Aguero rather than loose them both .
    Wenger is at the wrong team

  11. Sometimes Ozil forgets that he’s in a much better position than others to score a goal……..excess of everything is dangerous…..!!!

    1. We will bounce back in style.we needed the kick in the arss to get going.hope we dip into the market now

  12. Even attempting to side-stepping the now regular side-mouthed gibberish being spewed by the muppet of a manager, his utter stupidity doesn’t fail to smack you right in the face. In essence he has tacitly admitting to failed to prepared the team? Or is does the English language now have french shorthand? Good gracious! He should just tender his resignation as save himself the embarrassment. All that unrefined french sophistry can be directed at a new victim–preferably, in a far away land.

  13. @truegunner12.
    Spot on. The media and some fans have jumped on Cech to blame, but for the 1st goal he only came off his line as he saw no Arsenal player was challenging, (he saw this too late to get there). The 2nd goal he’s probably used to the likes of Matic, Terry and Cahill putting themselves in harms way by throwing themselves in front of the opposition. Our players either didnt move or turned their backs, (over to you Petr!).

    If I was Cech I’d be ruffling some feathers of the other players!

  14. more bs from the master….he said 3 days ago that we were better prepared than ever to bid for title and then three days later we arent even prepared to take on a mid-table team….the man has been clueless for over a decade or more …just keeps doing the same old sh** so time for the men in white to cart him off to the funny farm

  15. I don’t believe he meant that they had a better preparation to the season but simply that there fitness levels and our are not the same: There season per say started earlier because of high pressured Europa league games. But that doesn’t sit well with me as an explanation simply because the reason why we pushed last season so hard to finish in the top 3 was to avoid having to play AGAIN CL qualifiers and be fresh come 1st game now we go the other way to explain WHY we lost. The simplest reason is that West ham was simply the better team with the better tactics; Wenger’s one wasn’t completely wrong but there’s worked wonders against us. Also it has nothing to do with lack of signings really (not that I wouldn’t want Wenger to go out and spend an extra 40m or so and get an extra player). The team that he chose could and should have won; the talent was there & the lack of excuses also.

  16. Going 2 goals down in a Match with 35-40mins to go is not good, for the Manager or players, but then at that moment it’s not a lost battle till the final whistle comes on.
    No matter how professional a footballer is, he’s still human. Being 2 goals down can be psychologically overwhelming, but then when you turn to your Manager for some encouragement and motivation, you see a Man wearing a ‘loser’ mask.
    How can Wenger appear so drained and frustrated on the bench and expect something positive out of the game.

    It was a disappointing result, but I think Arsenal played well, aside from scoring, The lads gave a good account of themselves, We’ve
    won Matches we didn’t play as good as that. Without taking credit away from Westham, Arsenal weren’t lucky enough on the day.

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