Villa bring Arsenal back to square one!
Just where on earth do I begin I really don’t know, but the morning after the night before and it actually doesn’t feel any better. In fact it feels worse.
An embarrassing 3-0 loss to a rather reformed Aston Villa side should be no shock let’s be honest, they put seven past Liverpool and thank god it was only three past us, so I guess it’s not all bad if you look at it that way. Let’s put it this way; as an Arsenal fan if you don’t laugh at the disappointing losses and performances then you will cry. I would rather laugh than cry and although it hurts I can’t help but laugh.
I don’t know why I was so positive in the game, I don’t know why Arteta even bothers to rest his key players for the Europa League if they are not even going to thrive off the rest and perform well in the Premier League.
We know how talented our team is and we know how talented some individuals are but where is it going wrong? I tell you where, the team are no longer gelling, the team do not seem to want to play together any more. It is becoming even clearer that Arteta and his tactics have been found out, and the intense, excellent game plan he had in place just is no longer apparent and it didn’t take that long did it.
We know we can’t win them all, but with the squad we have it shouldn’t be where it is at with our boys losing and failing to score, and becoming even more inconsistent week in week out. Games we should be winning we are losing, and it is becoming even more frustrating to watch.
Arteta has clearly got some serious, very serious, work to do with this talented squad, so in some ways we thank god for the international break, we take a break out we recuperate and then we go again in a couple of weeks’ time – hopefully better than we have done in these past few weeks. Gooners?
Shenel Osman
The bug stops with the Manager
There is no cohesion. When I watch Arsenal play (and this has been going on for a long time), I get frustrated for a number of reasons..
1.) The movement off the ball is lazy and sloppy. How many times have we seen the ball threaded though for a winger or striker with the players not expecting the pass in the first place? That is possibly a lack of communication. Or, it’s the players not having the energy or intelligence to link up play?
2.) The work to get the ball back and to close players down look lethargic and labored. Again, a lack of energy? Or, a lack of desire?
3.) The passing has got better in recent weeks. But, we have Partey and Elneny now, who have improved things. It will take time for them to form a partnership though. Still, the passing in general is sometimes rushed out from the back with very little thought as to how to get it to the strikers.
4.) Crossing and set pieces are generally lacking in quality. To be this bad is just not possible? When you consider we now have Willian and Pepe with Tierney (Who is better that both the aforementioned) on the other side with Kolasinac, who can put a good cross in, but is pretty average in most respects.
I could go on and reel of a massive list but, it’s obvious that goals are lacking when the basics are simply NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
Where is the desire, passion and aggression to have the ball more than the team wants it? I haven’t seen that on a constant basis since over a decade ago! Is it the stadium? Does it not feel like home? Like the one place in the world that they should defend until the legs are dead. Where is the pride?
I can understand that goal droughts happen. Laca missing from three yards is the norm. But, when the camera panned to Dean Smith after Aston Villa’s disallowed goal, I could see he wasn’t that bothered. It was as if he confidently knew his team would score more goals. Maybe he was confident we wouldn’t have many chances? Every team in the land knows how we play. Where our weaknesses are. They have been there for years. Unsolved, festering and always likely to be a nuisance or stumbling block!
Here we go again then..
Shenel says “WE know how talented our team is…. etc” , as if he speaks for all of us! He does NOT speak for me, as I have been consistently saying that we still havefar to many player just not good enough -in stark contrast to Shenels foolish over optimism. We have i my long held opinion ony TWO good enoughoutfield defenders at the club in Gabriel and Tierney,. That leaves a load of sub par defenders needing to be picked all the time Hype of moderate players do our club no help.
I HAVELONG BEEN FRUSTATED WUTH FOOLISH HYPE FANS LIKE SHENEL WHO SIMPLY REFUSE TO SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE AND WHO CONTINUE FOOLING THEMSELVES.
IT WILL TAKE TIME AND SEVERAL WINDOWS FOR OUR EXCELLENT MANAGER TO PUT THINGS RIGHT AND TO SERIOUSLY CHALLENGE AT THE TOP.