Major changes need to happen this summer if Arsenal are to move forward by KM
Hello fellow Arsenal fans! So the most expected thing in the world happened as we lost to a Barcelona side who played in second gear I must say. But with the job done in game one, they just had it too easy.
Our defending was really poor on their goals, without underestimating their supreme quality, we just made the same mistakes again! But Arsenal football club has become about repeated failure so it’s nothing new to us. We were so focused on piling players in the middle, we left the flanks exposed too much and we got punished as you would expect from the champions of Europe.
I was really disappointed we failed to deal with a cross for the second goal, not that it mattered. I was also disappointed Joel Campbell is just being ignored by Arsene, although I was happy with Iwobi. I was overall happy with the performance of the starting eleven, but here’s a few key points from the game from me.
Mohammed Elneny is really settling into our midfield. The guy is just dynamic, good on the ball and loves a shot! What a beauty that was! He likes to shoot, a quality we miss, and if we pair him up with another solid CM he could be a real treat! Our forward players tried to do what they can despite the obvious lack of a real CF quality, but the effort was there.
Speaking of that CF, Theo and Giroud are really heading for the exit door. I mean, having them around for another year will be one year too much. They had zero impact and I felt they were introduced so we can spare some of our forwards for Everton. Regardless though, Welbeck is our main striker right now, with the rest just not being any good.
The summer exodus doesn’t stop there though. Aaron Ramsey is also on the list of players given enough chances. He had one season where it finally looked like he’ll be a player of worth, but he can’t rediscover this form and I doubt he’ll do it again, plus all the injuries. You could question Wilshere too on that front. A good player, with lots of heart and spirit but if you don’t play you’re effectively another Diaby.
Moving on. The next obvious major changes are Arteta, Flamini and Rosicky who you’d have to be blind, not to see why they need to be moved on. Last but not least is Per Mertesacker. I love the guy, but if we are to win trophies he’s gotta go. That will free numbers 4, 7, 8, 12, 14 and add that to the vacant numbers 2 and 9, those are all important squad numbers that are missing from our squad.
Wenger doesn’t like change though and I hardly see us moving on all those players, but the reality is we’ve seen enough of them. I had a friend come over on a surprise visit from the US and he said that Arsenal are turning into a mediocre club and I can’t help but agree.
Roy Keane said that there’s a “weakness throughout the squad” and I can’t disagree there either. The problem comes from the insane power Arsene has. Keane said we don’t have players with character, and he’s spot on, but we don’t have them because they will disrupt Arsene’s dictatorship.
Maybe we can introduce a director of football? Someone to force some good transfers, maybe go to Ibrahimovic and say “look we need a top striker, we’ll give you the money, just come over here and lets win this title”, someone that will do the deals and spend the money when a player is good enough to improve us, and boy there are enough of those!
I hardly see such a person coming in, but it’s hard to imagine Arsene will leave seeing how he defends his record of CL failure in successive seasons. The saddest story is that summer will come and we’ll start hearing how we can buy “anybody but Ronaldo or Messi” and for a lot of people that would be enough to get a season ticket, roll in the money for Stan and the Arsenal wheel will keep on turning just like every other year.
If you watched Bayern – Juventus, it was an immense game. It highlighted how far away we are from the elite. Bayern played bad, plain terrible, but with 15 minutes to go and 2 goals down they did it. They created their first clear chance in minute 70 and still managed to go to 2:2.
Something we couldn’t do against Watford, they did against one of Europes best defences. Even Atletico – PSV showed more tactical awareness and determination than I’ve seen from Arsene’s team in the past decade. Saying that the fact we played Barca and Bayern is why we’ve failed to reach the quarter finals, is practically admitting we’re not good enough to beat the best.
And the sole purpose of elite clubs being in the CL is to fight with the best. We’re there for the money. In the bible, even Moses the saviour himself died before the Jews reached the promised land. Point is that when you have been part of the problem, you’ll hardly be the solution.
The way Arsenal is run though, there is no problem. We earn money, we don’t spend on trophies. Looking at our goals, we’re a constant success. Only the fans seem to have a different view. But you can’t force the fans to protest, make banners, make noise or express themselves. It has to be their own choice to do so, because at the end of they day they sacrificed part of their live to see the Arsenal.
It’s hard to get excited about Arsenal, when next year will be just like the past 10. Six years in a row we didn’t learn our lesson, despite Arsene always speaking about how the mistakes will not be repeated. Go through the league and it dates to 12 years.
The yes man line and the chain turning the wheel the same old way need to break.
Konstantin