Arsene looks so out-of date in the modern game… by KM
Hello fellow Gooners. Straight to the point of Saturdays fixtures. We barely managed to beat Southampton, being literally gifted a penalty and spared by Shane Long. It’s going to be a really tough season and I hope people understand that before they get brought to the ground when a team takes the chances we gave away today in another game.
There was much hype as both new signings came on for the game and both didn’t have the perfect game. Mustafi failed to intercept Southampton’s attack leaving Monreal to make a reckless challenge that cost him a yellow ,and Cech was unlucky as the free kick bounced off his back and into the net, but honestly we were not good.
Southampton enjoyed a good amount of the possession in the first minutes, but we equalized through Koscielny who scored a great acrobatic shot after a corner kick mayhem in the Saints box. That concludes the first half, but in the second we didn’t make too many chances either and Southampton forced a double save from Cech where on the rebound Long spared us as he did when he was 1:1 with our goalkeeper.
At the end we were awarded a lucky penalty to be honest, because Koscielny had a head injury which referees should stop and after that I wouldn’t be too happy if such a penalty was awarded against us. We have to be honest, we didn’t deserve the win, but Santi slotted it in the middle to give us three points we just couldn’t afford not to get.
Lucas Perez didn’t excite me as much as I was hoping, but let’s not rule him out after one game. Still I wasn’t happy that he spent so much time on the wing, rather than in the box. Sadly Giroud is the only striker we have that really wants the ball in the box… So overall we made changes due to internationals and having PSG in mind too, but we again we arrived late for the game. I don’t know what is going on when a break comes, but after that we are so slow with our momentum, just like at the start of the season.
For me though, the biggest conclusion after watching that game and United vs City is how far behind Arsene is. The way the Citizens dominated United at OT was spectacular, because this is not Van Gaal’s United anymore. More interesting is the fact that apart from Nolito and Bravo, it was same old City players playing an entirely new game.
This is entirely down to the manager. Sterling looks a beast, after two consecutive difficult seasons. The passing was sublime and too good for United and City missed Aguero, let’s not forget that. Pep talked to the players, explained his vision and it’s working out. With us, it’s same old Arsene with the same old Arsenal fragilities. If we had failed to beat Southampton, that would’ve been their 4th consecutive undefeated game against us.
They are one of Arsene’s many bogey teams and we’ll suffer this season. Our squad is not that inferior to the Manchester clubs and Chelsea, but our manager is. The talks about his successor don’t just lurk around for nothing. We’ve given him years of complete freedom and it hasn’t worked out.
I’m not sure Eddie Howe is the man, because United gave us a prime example with David Moyes and why a top club needs a top manager. Apart from one good half against Watford, we’ve been plain terrible and PSG will be a tough game, you can be certain of that. Arsene doesn’t learn lessons, he’s above such things. I’m hoping that PSGs rocky start might help us to a lucky point, because performance wise I’m yet to be impressed.
Konstantin