Wenger NOT to blame for Arsenal loss! by Sam P
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and most Arsenal fans have perfect 20-20 vision when it comes to looking back. But how many of us before the Champions League away game against Dinamo Zagreb last night really wanted Arsene Wenger to play his strongest side, with less than three days to recover before the more important away game at Chelsea in the Premier League?
Because of the scheduling, Wednesday night away and the early kick off on Saturday away, and the fact that Arsenal were faced with a long flight home while both of Chelsea´s games were at Stamford Bridge, Wenger would have been slaughtered for not resting some key players. We have not forgotten what happened when we travelled to Man City for the early Saturday game after playing away in Napoli the previous Wednesday have we?
Was six changes too many? Possibly, but that is why we have, supposedly, a squad with strength in depth. Players like Gibbs, Debuchy, Ospina, Arteta and Chamberlain are no mugs and they need to play. Perhaps they would not have looked so rusty if they had been given more playing time before last night but because Arsenal struggled at the start of the season, Wenger could not do that until the cup games.
Can we really blame Wenger because Arteta forgot how to play football, Chamberlain switched off and Gibbs chose not to bother going for a header? The fact is that these players have proven quality and we should be able to expect a lot more from them. They let us and their manager down, It´s as simple as that. Wenger was right to rotate in the circumstances and it was not arrogance because that Arsenal team should have been able to beat the weakest team in the group.
The Frenchman is not a fortune teller so can we just cut him a bit of slack please Gooners?
Yes only wenger praise is acceptable. You cant say anything against wenger.all hail wenger the 4th place master
Admin am not too pleased with your overprotective measures for logging into the account, i have been a fan of the site for years and this is the third time i had to register to be able to comment on here. I know you may want to find out if it’s an error from me but i must assure you i have other accounts and operated them longer than over here so it’s not any handling error but one can never tell please word press is not enough a means to reset account there should be other feedback measures just saying. Gooners for Life.
There is one simple feedback measure. If you can’t log on email me using the CONTACT page above. Seemples!
We can’t change what happened last night , let’s just get behind the team & focus on the three points we must win at Stamford Bridge , can’t wait for Alexis to get back to form .. In the mean time walcott is our best best for goals , he should start on saturday #COYG
Best bet*
Of course Wenger can be blamed. Two thirds from the users on this board already did it. They will do it again on the next loss. That’s because it is Wenger marking Pivaric and not Debuchy. Wenger is half jumping defending the corner and not Gibbs on an area probably defended by Giroud if he wouldn’t be foolish.
Wenger is fully to blame he’s the one who picked Debuchy and Gibbs who couldn’t mark or defend,he’s the only who continually picks Giroud who’s an awful striker!
Yep. That’s exactly what I wrote, can’t you read?
Hahaha ??
But you did come across as been sarcastic with Wenger half jumping for the corner ??
@Budd your loyalty to Arsene is getting annoying. It’s even more annoying than @hafiz’s ignorance.
This is Ozil’s 3rd season at Arsenal which means its been over 4 years since the financial bs has been a problem for the club. Four years and Nothing has changed.
2 FA Cups + 2 Shields. You came back from holiday recently?
@budd oh Sorry. I was suffering from short term memory from yesterday’s performance.
You know what’s annoying? Coming on this site and reading constant bleating negativity. Budd is one of the few rational voices here.
But buddy, wen get picks the players, weber buts the players ( or not as has been seen recently) weber sticks with those players when like Ozil last night, they don’t perform, so yea the players didn’t do what they should have BUT it’s wen gers fault that we didn’t have a mire clinical finisher up front who would have put away the chances that group missed , it’s wengers fault that Arteta and canola were Un able to play the defensive midfield role; it’s wengers fault that he didn’t buy backup for coquellin. Now it’s his fault we are on the back foot in an already difficult group. Cap refs aside this kind of result proves he SHOULD have brought in a striker and a DM . These are no one’s fault but wengers . Also did anyone see Ozil put in a 5ackle? Or track back? Cos I didn’t that too is wengers fault .
@ozzy afc
You need “spellcheck” dude…
It shows we don’t have a good squad at all,our team is just not good enough let’s stop deluding ourselves
No we can’t, because the very obvious deficiency was Arteta, and it has been known for a long time that Arteta simply is not up to handling the DM position for extended periods on his own, and that this is a position that we are very exposed on, as Coq will not be able to attend every game, through suspension, injury, or needing to be rested as was the case here – so WHY did Wenger not recruit for this position in the transfer window when plenty of people, such as Schneiderlin, had already expressed a preference to move to London.
Coq made a HUGE difference when he came on pitch.
Wenger’s behaviour is completely baffling and completely unacceptable – he doesn’t need to be a fortune teller when everybody on the face of the planet and his dog was telling him that he needed a DM and striker. I can sort of understand why he didn’t get a striker as he already had two first team members who wanted to play in that position, but then why did he play Giroud, when he is clearly having mental problems ATM?
It was Walcott who made the huge difference, the pace that came on frightened the life from them. Also as always fresh legs coming on will have an effect. The timing of the game too, the team leading usually will try and just hold onto it.
Yes. CDM was an addressable need. Arteta is way too slow. Wenger is too loyal to certain players. He needs to be ruthless at times. If Coq gets hurt, we are screwed.
Loser manager with his loser mentality. He’s become a joke and he’s turning this club into a joke as well. I think he’s got too much job security.
He’s become too predictable. Why would he complain about the referee? He was the one who underestimated a team who plays in the champions league and rested players who don’t need rest Meanwhile Bayern play their best team. If we lose or even draws against Chelsea, he should resign.
So if we draw against the champions away from home Wenger should resign? Do you honestly mean that? Not saying I’m happy, although I agree with the article that he was right to rest players, but let’s not go overboard.
Their current position is 17th in the league – if other teams have been able to beat them, so should we.
Meh, how come we were unable to beat West Ham??? My confidence is predicated on the team selection. I swear, everytime Giroud plays, I feel we are a man down.
I’d be the happiest if we beat Maureen, but I’m not gonna say it would be an easy game, just becuz of their recent form.
@gpurdey Oh yes, Chelsea the champions of England. Crystal palace did it so why can’t Arsenal?
Because Palace have a proper manager,
With tactics ?
We were lucky to beat them ?
Jesus Christ – now Pardew is a better manager??!! Please tell me this is sarcasm…
I am not saying we can’t do it, we should aim to.. but you’re honestly saying if we say draw 2:2 Wenger should resign? That’s ridiculous.
And when I Say he should resign, I mean at the end of the season and not after the game. After we get top four and stuff. we don’t want instability at this time of the season.
That makes more sense, even though I disagree.
Rotation was needed guaranteed because of the run of games. chelsea are playing at home to a much weaker team while we have to travel and we have another away game against tottenham on the horizon which is a must win for obvious reasons. The main issue is wenger not improving the squad so as to compete in all competitions. Why is arteta, flamini still in the team and why didn’t he sign a better Dm to rotate when needed, arteta showed us yesterday that we can’t afford to rest coquelin at all. Wenger should blame himself for not having adequate cover. Arteta, flamini , gibbs and debuchy should stop talking and sit on the bench cos they are not up to the standards.
I don’t think that is a good enough excuse,
The season has barely started, so there’s no need to be resting players,
some haven’t even gained match fitness yet ?
If we were in December/January then I would agree with resting players but not at this stage of the season.
You are forgetting that these are professional athletes that train like marines! With Stamina being their strongest feature.
The truth is that Wenger didn’t take last nights game serious enough!
There was no need to make 6 changes,
he should have at least kept with the same back line, including Coquelin and started with Walcott.
And saved Ospina, Gibbs and Debuchy for the spuds cup game.
Anyways, I think we would have won last night if he would have started with Walcott instead of Giroud and Coquelin instead of Arteta.
Arteta should change his name to “Eta”. He’s lost the “Art”.
the manager is to blame for all arsenal problems.
he is making arsenal play like barcelona with the tiki taka beautiful football thing.Sorry to tell you this arsene but none of our players are even half barcelona players apart from cech of course.
Benching players for very long periods hence making them lose form and confidence. Yeah I know players like chambers chamberlain and debuchy are all great but it doesnt help to bench them all the time.
now back to the point where arsenal play like barcelona. we play pass and run all over the pitch keeping possession this causes fatigue and exposure to injuries to our players. do us a favour arsene and be professional and dont make our players think they are so good they will get rude and expose our backline and be predictable in the final third.
if you can see this but i know you cant you will make arsenal more than just top 4 contendors
So you don’t enjoy nice football. You contradict yourself by saying that the cause for fatigue and injuries is because we try to play like Barcelona. I haven’t seen so many players from Barcelona being tired. Must be the way they play.
barcelona players have more footballing intelligence more instinctive are more skilled so it is easier for them to play that style. But if you take an average player and ask him to play at that level it will make him look awful
We haven’t come close to playing like barca for 5 years or more … Ozil carzola possibly wilshere bellerin and coz might get in to a barca no one else has the skills set to make it …so no we can never play like barca and don’t … We don’t have a style at all as far as I can tell .. Most games we don’t dominate possession …maybe 55 45 but sometimes win when others have more possession … Leaderless if and on the pitch … That’s wenger’s legacy
I don’t agree with running all over the pitch. Dinamo players ran more than Arsenal players yesterday. I know we had one player less, but even at half time they ran more distance than Arsenal. These days Arsenal play is all to static at times, too slow, especially teams that defend most of the game which wasn’t the case yesterday. Even at 2-0 Dinamo came forward which gave us space for our goal.
The Sanchez spark, energy and running has gone missing. What we saw in the first 10 – 15 games when Sanchez joined has suddenly evaporated! Most in this forum thought that the Alexis energy will rub on the other players but in this case the opposite has happened – the lethargy of other Arsenal players has rubbed onto Alexis. Hope he get back the spark we saw earlier!!
Six changes were to many. Can you name me another team that carried 6 changes over from their weekend fixture for matchday 1 in UCL? Maybe you will find one other. But even in matchday six, players like Messi and Ronaldo play whilst already having top spot secured. Yesterdays team should’ve played in matchday 6 or 5, not in the first 4. You get the points first then rest players if need be.
Having said that, the players didn’t even turn up, its the same game as Anderlecht away last season where we escaped with late goals to win, and the Monaco home match.
They don’t learn that you can’t just turn up on the pitch and expect to win easily against a smaller team.
Hmm Chelsea made six changes. Played youngsters and reserves and won 4-0. Watch out for the new Chelsea this weekend….
But they had better options upfront than us. We had a French liability as #9. I feel bad that Welbeck is injured. I feel VERY bad. You hardly heard Danny is injured and out for so long as he is now. Damn it!!!
Honestly I feel if Jack leaves Arsenal, he’s most likely not gonna suffer injury setbacks as much as he has at Arsenal.
Welbeck would have been no better, the kid has a brilliant work rate but as far as pulling the trigger in front of goal is concerned , he misses more that Giroud does
didn’t they all say the stoke win was a morale boost for ArsenaL?…………. Pre zagreb encounter….. Rumours came out zagreb’s manager was seeking advice from slaven bilic on tactics to use against Arsenal…..he even went on to state how many times he got to was Arsenal on tape…… My point being, we knew how Westham handled the situation against us….how were we not able to alter our game plans against zagreb(Evidence of bus parking was completely visible in that game)….. Even when we watched em parking the bus and man marking, our hopeless manager just couldn’t do a thing to correct the situation……. And to think it’s all bout policy and belief, he waited until the 67th minute to make subs in such critical situation……. When i say Wenger is deluded, please don’t take it with a pinch of salt!
Just Deluded?
You are far toooooo polite matey ?
We LIKE polite on here Fatboy….
do me a favour bro………fill in the blanks…….. Fill it with somethings horrible…….. U r blessed with the words!
Urrm, maybe FaTty should but “Daddy” is around and watching. Smh
To be sincere I had no problem with our line up, but I have problem with Wenger cause he is too slow to act……hold on leme explain before u crucify me:
1. we managed to survive the first half just one goal down, as a tactical coach u saw your Dm wone 0 tackle and u allowed him come out again from the dugout for the second half? that was suicidal
2. We had to concede the second goal before Wenger could act on what I projected even before the end of the first half, bring in Coquelin to block the middle and Walcott then use his pace……simple! and I’m not even a coach to see that! why wait till its over before u act, van gal withdrew Depay at half time, brought in Young and it worked! it’s not magic its mere tactics!
3. is Wenger the only manager not allowed to make a change before the 70min mark, Wenger caused us a point yesterday had d substitutions where made earlier we would have gotten a draw
4. Wenger is d only manager that can’t see Giroud is a waste, we were better with 10 men than when we had him, or do u wat to deny that?
5. why always bring in Campbell when we’ve almost lost or play the boy with useless players, is he a super man? or u expect him to perform magic?
Of course Wenger had to make some kind of rotations, but the fact is we cannot “afford” rotations because the rest of the squad is just talent limited…
He did rotated, but when we needed a goal, he was quick to remove the “rubbishes” and introduce the first team players… Gibbs was “so great” he even decided to play 3 at the back and remove what is may be the worse LB in the league (ducking on corner the little shite).
People are talking about Giroud not being “Arsenal quality”… What the f*ck does that mean??? “Arsenal quality” like they are talking about Barcelona or something… Who said we were a top club?? Who said that?
Sorry but we have what we deserved…
Like a pundit (in France) put it to Wenger… “The only world class player you have is Laurent Koscielny. He would be the only one Barcelona, Real M or Bayern M would be willing to buy… That is it”
And he was right… Ozil was sold because they did not need him (they won the CL without him) and Sanchez was not a first team at Barcelona.
We bought Chelsea number two GK and zero outfield players…
What did you expect?
On top of that we have a less than average manager, if he was, one day…!!
Wenger said that Giroud “should control his emotions”… I mean who is the f*cking manager of this team…???? Do your f*cking job for once. Why don’t you call the player side pitch and tell him to calm down…!!!
Those players have clearly no directions and no guidance. As soon as they enter the pitch they are left on their own because Wenger cannot help them, he does not know how anyway (Steve Bold is just useless and his presence is an embarrassment… Another “yes boss” muppet!)
Anyway, time to focus on Saturday game and hope for a result.
The lineup he played was more than good enough to win. How was he supposed to know that all 6 replacements would perform so horribly? As bad as we played, take away Giroud’s stupidity and we would have won.
Still gets us back to Wenger don’t it? He should know Giroud is not up to it, everyfackinbody else does yet still no outfield players were brought in during the summer if your gonna make a statement like Wenger did by NOT buying any outfielders then you damp well make sure the side you have is up to the task. Clearly it’s time for him to go, which we all know won’t happen as he makes the board a lit of money as he spends NOTHING .
The only problem Arsenal Fc have is Arsene Wenger!!!
If U get rid of Arsene Wenger then players like Gibbs, Arteta, Flamini and Giroud will leave Arsenal because then IT WILL BE SERIOUS BUSINESS….
in this team there’s no motivation, or urgency. The manager lacks ideas so the players just do whatever they like. Tell me, will Giroud be punished for letting Arsenal down? Yet he goes home with £130,000 weekly. As long as Wenger is d manager in Arsenal, we can’t be taken serious and we can’t be serious. Some deluded ones like @Budd, will continue to make excuses for him while the rest of us keep paying huge tickets for nonsense. I only pray for a Change soonest, I can only hope…..
I Love U Arsenal fc, I hate Arsene Wenger!!!!!!!
By your logic Chelsea should have rested their key players! They did’nt. Ferguson Never rested his back 4 and GK. So they obviously got it wrong then. Are you secretly related to Arsene? That’s it, you AKB’s are children of his sperm donor program. It makes creepy sense. OMG!
Chelsea made SIX changes last night! Maybe they didn’t rest the bench sitters, but they certainly gave them something to think about.
Arsenal slumped to another embarrassing European defeat last night, this time at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb.
Speaking this morning, Zagreb manager Zoran Mamic even went as far as revealing how his side comfortably beat Arsenal, simply by copying tactics employed by other teams.
“Arsenal is one of the best teams who ever played here and they did exactly what we agreed they would do,” said Mamic
“We thought it would be very important to close the middle, to stop the fast passes.”
“That’s what we did and it’s nothing new.”
“We have already seen other teams who beat Arsenal use the same tactics. This is a good way to beat them,” he said.
“Arsenal has top four top international players, and other top players compared to Dinamo, but they are not world class.
“We just concentrated in not letting them come to the ball. It was probably one our best games tactically.”
And when a mickey mouse manager from a mickey mouse team can say that about Arsenal, You know it’s time for a change at the club!
It really is time for wenger to exchange the managers seat for one in the Boardroom.
This is all nonsensical by Zaghreb manager. They only took advantage of Arsenal’s one man less situation! Perhaps this is where I blame Giroud for failing to be reasonable and getting a second yellow card. If Arsenal had kept parity in numbers we had a lot of chances to win the game. Perhaps Wenger should have dropped Arteta as captain at the beginning of the season so as to completely condemn him to the bench. Maybe Flamini would have done better we can’t know. I also agree that six changes were too many but then these are established players. Gibbs, Debuchy, Arteta and co are old professionals who anyone would have predicted to put in a good shift. Even Koscielny was not his usual self. However despite all that Arsenal would have won the game if it had not been for Giroud’s red card. Maybe this brings us to the other issue which is that Arsenal should always aim to score early so that in case of hiccups it will already have secured the points. The rest is really normal. Loss is as normal in games as a win is.
my observation, when Walcott play upfront, opponent’s back line looked loose… while giroud, tight & compact.