So Arsenal have now played three League games this month and gained just two points, for the simple reason that we cannot put the ball in the net no matter how many times we shoot at the opposing sides goal.
We had another 22 shots again last night at West Ham, to add to the over 50 we managed against Man Utd and Southampton, but yet again we were lucky to come away with a point. Wenger voiced his own frustration after the game. “There are some draws that are frustrating,” he said.
“This is one of them because we had a lot of the ball and we played against 10 men. It was 10 against 10 in the final third and we couldn’t find an opening, a little bit through the fact that they defended very well. They are in a highly defensive phase, focused on that at the moment and it works for them, but they did that against City, Chelsea and here.
“We lacked maybe a little bit of sharpness in the final third we had many different good opportunities where they blocked our shots. I think that’s where you see maybe if we played on Sunday and they played on Saturday it would have been different on that front because they had more physical resources to defend with a lot of decisiveness.”
He also admitted that we make many chances but we are on a 3-game winless run. “At the moment I don’t deny that, but it is a moment where our performances are not reflected by our results because against Manchester United we had 33 shots on goal but did not win the game and at Southampton we had a lot of possession and it was a similar game to tonight basically. It’s true, it’s a bit frustrating, we had to keep confidence in our game and we go through a patch where there’s a difference between what we create and what we score, but that will not last.”
But has he found out why we are not scoring with all the chances we create? It’s alright saying that it will not last, but have Arsenal’s strikers got a psychological problem about scoring? “I felt that the 33 shots on goal against Manchester United and the chances we missed had a little impact there, but we need to continue focusing on the quality of our game and not to focus too much on the fact that we are not ruthless at the moment. That will come back by not making too big a problem of it. There are periods like that where adjusted finishing is not right.”
Don’t focus on it? Don’t make a problem of it? Of course we need to talk about it. And not just talk about it. All our players need to do hours of extra shooting practise so they can learn to kick the ball away from the keeper and defenders and into the goal. We need to make it a problem because it IS a problem!
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Leicester before they sacked their manager:
8 matches, 1 win, 4 defeats, 3 draws. Points 6/24
After they sacked their manager:
9 matches, 6 wins, 1 defeat, 2 draws. Points 20/28
Everton before they sacked their manager:
9 matches, 2 wins, 5 defeats, 2 draws. Points 8/27.
After they sacked their manager:
8 matches, 4 wins, 2 defeats, 2 draws. Points 14/24.
Just wishful thinking…
It is the same reason Wenger didn’t want Keown to show defenders on film what they had done wrong – because it might damage their confidence!!!
Many of the shots last night should not have counted as shots since they were no-hopers from outside the box or no-hopers that were always going to get blocked.
And to say that the results don’t reflect the performance is only true if he admits we were lucky against Southampton and last night and that we deserved to lose to Man U.
We are going through s lucky spell, we could have easily lost our last two games. Possession means nothing.
He should also know that if you start Giourd you get this type of result if you continue to pass the ball into the box. Either you start Giour and play like big Sam lobbing the ball into the box in the hope Giour connects with one, or you play like City and pass the ball into the box but you play Laca or Sanchez as a central striker, not Giroud.
And concerning the topic, don’t you think every team park the bus against United and City as well? They still find a way to score goals. That’s why they score more goals.
Wenger has one approach to every single game. Walk the ball into the net. This has been the case for 7-8 years. Eversince he arrogantly thought he could make Arsenal play like Barcelona.
I reckon we will win against Newcastle and Liverpool. Then Wenger will come out talking s*** like he always does and then we succumb to the likes of WBA and Crystal Palace.
At the end we will finish 5th or 6th, Wenger will find his excuse for a great season. Maybe Final 4 Place in the Europa League, that’s his standard of success.
We’ll beat Liverpool??? ?
Don’t kid yourself mate, we will lose against Liverpool again. Liverpool play a pressing game nowadays and will force the predictable errors from our defenders regardless of who we line up. Plus they have clinical finishers like Salah and Mane who will score every half chance they get. Then we’ll talk about possession stats and shots superiority again.
Well we won against Tottenham when everyone expected us to lose. This gave everyone false sense of change, like we would be different this season.
That’s why I expect we bounce back against Liverpool (because we always do) and this will give Wenger few days of security when all the AKB’s come out loudmouthing.
When everyone expects us to lose, we often do well. When we are expected to win, we choke.
Oh and I think we are a far worse side than Liverpool.
I really can’t understand what is happening….
When we’re expected to lose…we win
When we’re expected to win…we don’t
All our best players come to the club to make a name then leave us when we need them most…mostly in search of trophies
Why do we do all the hard work of getting the ball to our opponents box then resort to sideways passing
How come all it takes is a little pressure and gile for our team to concede a goal…they have been playing together for years however same mistakes week in week out
Why are we the fans so fickle…a player can go from zero to hero to get rid to extend his contract all in a month
Why is it that the whole football world can see the areas where Arsenal needs to improve upon…but the club remain blinded
Why did we reject 60Million bid from Man City for Alexis…so far there has been no impact…We should have sold both Alexis and Ozil…I know…but will we replace them with same standard of players
Why do we have two billionaires in the club and still have a penny pinching mentality
I’m sure my fellow Gunners feel me on this…you must have loads more examples that are just mind boggling…
If Wenger leave Arsenal this season, then this season will be the most successful season in the last ten years.I will be soooooooooooooooooooooo happy.
Yes but sadly he will see out his contract for 18 more months. Then he may well be allowed to continue by Kroenke who does not mind not winning trophies as long as the numbers are good.
At this rate even Burnley would finish above Arsenal. 2nd season in a row without making top 4. Soon we’ll even begin to struggle to make it into the Europa league spots.
I hate to admit it but we do need to be moving in a different direction or admit we are now a mid table club.
Have we ever been this bad on the road before???
we are not good enough.Its that simple no movement no running no creativity just walking wi
th the ball amd sideway passing.
ozil xhaka and giroud all guilty of this
If we adopted a counter attacking approach we might do better on the road. We have the strikers for it, and our defence needs all the help it can get at the minute. Just let Ozil Laca Alexis and one more to do the attacking, then soak up a bit of pressure before springing counters. Or else try the city approach, the moment the ball is lost just descend from the front and force them into errors in dangerous places. Or cross the ball if you are gonna go with Giroud. Making the right decisions in the first place could also help. But Arsene will see our possession stats, along with accurate passes and the number of efforts on goal, and think we are doing ok so it must be something that’s out of our control.
I absolutely agree with you! We must sit back and bid our time, when the chance comes we score a goal and quickly lock up shop. Hit and run back to defend. That’s the only way I see we have become too predictable and easily outwitted.
I think Central Midfield is the answer.
Ozil isnt consistent and doesn’t have a Cazorla type player behind him.
If we had Goretzka and Seri with Ozil for example that would do it.
Xhaka is not worth £35 million and other CM are average
Honestly I don’t think it matters who we get in. 6 months with Wenger any beast will turn into cr*p. I think what we can do for now is develop a more defensive mentality. I think we should play defensively against the big teams and frustrate them into making mistakes the same way everyone frustrates us. We should try something different than attacking all the time.
I’m just so disappointed.
This season is going to be a complete and utter disaster…
Those 100 shots were only shy passes to the opposite goalkeepers. The truth is the players have no clue what they have to do: Monreal looks so lost playing out of any position, Bellerin looks like a young lady shopping at the mall, Koscielny is just clearing balls, Xhaka is missing almost all the forward passes, Iwobi runs with the ball 3-4 m and then looses it, Giroud is just waiting for crosses, Alexis thinks he is Messi but he is dribbling no one etc. This time, Wenger is blaming something else for his failures.