Something must give by Twig
We have come to the point this season, as we have every season since 2006, where radical intervention needs to be made in order salvage our season. The result against Chelsea wasn’t surprising, after all, how many teams go to Stamford bridge to get a point? And did we not also beat them 3-0 at the Emirates? However, the gutless performance as well as the loss to Watford a week earlier, were simply inexcusable. If we had beaten Watford, as we should, the loss to Chelsea would have been more tolerable. The talent and variety in this Arsenal side is clear for everyone to see. However, the truth is our top players have failed to deliver when it mattered.
Something has to give tomorrow and for every game for the rest of the season. Cech made an uncharacteristic error which led to Chelsea’s third goal, which killed off any chance we had of securing a draw. Perhaps the error could be excused as a one-off, but if you consider Cech hasn’t made a single penalty save of the 7 he has faced this season, coupled with his less than accurate ball distribution in recent times, you begin to wonder if a shakeup isn’t required between the sticks. In fact, a shocking story carried by the Daily Star has it that it might be Ospina and not Cech who will be in goal this afternoon.
Mesut Ozil began the season in thumping fashion, showing more intent to get into goal scoring positions. This saw him grab a hat trick against Ludogorets scoring an impossible 10/10 in Whoscored rankings. However, although Ozil was scoring, he didn’t seem to be getting enough assists as he was the previous season. In recent games, Ozil has looked a shadow of his earlier season form. It is clear Ozil needs competition, but unfortunately that is unlikely to happen with the number of injuries we have this season.
Shearer recently enthused that Aguero is the only world class player in the premier league! Curiously, Aguero now finds himself playing second fiddle to a 19 year old kid! If Aguero could be dropped, then why are the likes of Sanchez, Ozil and Cech guaranteed starts week in week out? As Giroud will undoubtedly agree, bench time is sometimes required to get the best out of a player. Today, we need a morale boosting win against Hull if we aren’t to take a demoralised squad to Bayern Munich next week. If the EPL is lost already, we can at least still win the FA cup and better our quarterfinal record in the champions league. Wenger must make radical changes to his team starting from today, if Arsenal’s season is to be salvaged.
Twig