The former Arsenal and England international star Ian Wright was on the TV panel for the Gunners´ opening Champions League match away to Dinamo Zagreb, and if anyone thought that meant that Arsenal would get an easy ride they were very much mistaken.
Wrighty may be an Arsenal fan and can often provide a more optimistic and positive response to our club than the usual anti-Arsenal bias we get from the likes of Michael Owen, Carragher and all, but it also makes him feel our pain more and there was plenty on offer as the Gunners crashed to a shock defeat in Croatia.
As reported by The Telegraph, our former striker was not impressed with Olivier Giroud and he thinks the French forward has a big problem at the minute, as nothing is happening for Giroud. Wright thinks that Arsenal´s first choice centre forward is now clearly Theo Walcott.
The pundit also got stuck into Arsene Wenger for what he sees as the arrogance of making six changes for an away game in the Champions League.
He said, “I get a lot of stick from Arsenal fans for comments I make but I’m not going to sit here and say Arsenal can make six changes against Dinamo Zagreb and win the game. We’re not good enough to do that what we did tonight.
“I would have started Walcott, just because he played and scored against Stoke. He has the momentum but at the moment, Giroud doesn’t seem to be in the right place. He got booed off for France and it’s not quite happening for him. This is Theo’s time.”
Another former Arsenal striker Charlie Nicholas also got stuck into Arsenal, although he placed the blame for last night´s horror show firmly at the feet of the players, telling Sky Sports that the boss was right to have expected a lot more from the likes of Arteta, Cazorla, Debuchy and the Ox.
He said, “It was really, really poor.
“There were six changes and although that’s a bit over the top for me, I still think it should have been enough to get a win, never mind a point.
“After 20 minutes I thought it was going nice and easy, but then I started to worry around that period of the game when Arteta and Santi Cazorla slowed it down and a leisurely, horrible slowness crept into their play. All of a sudden they were punished.
“There’s nobody left to blame but themselves. For the first goal, Debuchy pushed in too deep when he didn’t need to and Oxlade-Chamberlain switched off. The second goal was an absolute shocker in the second half.
“Maybe six changes is a bit over the top and people think Wenger is arrogant or is taking it easier than he should, but these players have got so much trust and belief from their manager.
“Every time they fail the manager will get caned because of the changes he made. Some of these players don’t turn up when they are given an opportunity, so why should he trust them as much as he does?
“They are responsible at the end of the day for their performance. It’s not tactics, commitment or anything like that. You are a better player than them, so perform – and they don’t perform.
“Giroud’s red card was silly.
“The second yellow card was a soft one, but he was arguing with the referee after the first one. You’re away from home, walk away.
“You’ve bundles of experience. Why do you want to get involved in this little mish-mash with a referee because he ain’t going to listen or pay attention to you? He finds that you’re being childish, so stop it.
“He ended up red-carding him because of a clumsy, silly little soft free-kick.”
Hopefully the Arsenal players will be reading the papers and looking at social media today because they need to wake up and smell the coffee. Do you expect a good response at Chelsea on Saturday?
Giroud’s silly mind is the most annoying of all.
I don’t know how we will do well this season with Arsene still in charge.
Theo misses loads of decent chances. But his goalscoring record is actually very good. At top level, anything above 2 goals every 3 games indicates a world class striker. Walcott has 11 goals in 11 starts. I’m not for one minute suggesting he’s world class and the answer to all of our problems, but that’s a very good run of form and should earn him a starting spot above Giroud at least.
Walcott misses loads of easy chances, but he’s very mobile and quick, so he gets a load of chances to score anyways and you’d hope he’ll score at least one of them. Giroud isn’t mobile at all, he’s much more difficult to create chances for, so what chances he does get he has to score, and at the moment he’s not doing that. Doesn’t deserve to start. Persist with Walcott until either his form drops or we can find a better striker. With more experience, Theo will learn his role better, and from that you’d hope that 2 things will happen. 1: he improves his positioning to get even more chances. 2: he becomes more clinical. A Walcott with even better movement and better finishing is a very good striker.
Make that 12 goals in 11 starts now. Since he didn’t start yesterdays game, he came off the bench so its 12 from 11 starts. See how stats are deceiving somtimes? If he keeps coming of the bench and scores it will always be xx amount of goals in 11 starts.
Walcott is a service player upfront. He doesn’t get involved in anyone else chances. But what can you do if your manager doesn’t buy CF. He is the best option right now, although I wouldn’t argue if Sanchez played CF.
Still on the Giroud topic??? Lol!!! It’s depressing. But Gibbs was a mess too, while Arteta was also messy. But the master mess was the messy French forward.
Against Chelsea, a front three of Sanchez, Theo Ramsey will do. Yes, yes I dropped Chamberlain.
I agree with Charlie Nicholas to some extent. All the 2nd choice players had a great chance to prove that they are good enough for the first team, and almost non of them were up for it. Ospina was maybe the best of the players that came in out of the 6 changes. He was erratic but saved us a lot of the time from it becoming an even bigger scoreline. 1st goal he is unlucky he makes the save but it then deflects of OX, 2nd goal is not his fault as three players had an opportunity to head it away and none of them did.
If only my FM game Arsenal line ups happened in real world.
___________Cech__________
Bell___Varane____Kos___Alaba
______LeCoq____Vidal_______
Mueller______Bale______Alexis
___________Cavani_________
Not sophisticated enough.
Please mate, give and dicuss your alternative fantasy arsenal line up.
Cuz, as long as mr.bean still in charge (see my new picture),
we can not raise our hope to see dream team like AC MILAN old days of van basten era.
Opinion?
Everyone will soon forget about this when arsenal win their next game. but regardless of what happen i will maintain that Arsene Wenger forfeited the league when he failed to make a striker signing.. I would prefer if he signed n we didnt win than dont sign n not win, one shows intent and ambition.
Next two games are hard in the league Chelsea away and Leicester away. Leicester joint top scorers with City, but they have defensive instability. If we take 6 points from those two games, it would be very promising, Since City will have to go to those places as well.
We must have an aerial threat for set pieces and corners. OG is one of the best if not the best in the air. If OG is there guarding the near post like he usually does It is a 1-1 score line. I still am waiting for Theo Alexi and Olivier to play together. We need each of them to produce goals and I don’t see Ramsey doing that from the right.
You’re right there about Giroud guarding the near post. But there was three players in that corner and none of them headed it.
Truth be told, our set pieces attacking wise are so awful you hardly see the CB’s get a good chance to score from. The best corner taker is Walcott. He floats it in the right area albeit lacking power. Cazorla, Ozil and Sanchezcorners don’t even go to teh danger zonea. The free kick form which Giourd score in the weeked was short as well from Cazorla. But it works with free kicks to sometimes do that.
My lineup for Saturday
Walcott
Sanchez Ramsey OX
Cazorla Coquelin
Monreal Koscielny Gabriel Bellerin
Cech
This game is well suited to Ramsey. His drive, ambition and great runs will be vital against the Blues. Having him in the #10 role is also necessary because we’re a bit light up front with Walcott as #9.
To get the best of Ramsey he should be alongside Coquelin as b2b.
I don’t agree with OX, not efficient enough. Right wing Sanchez, left wing Ozil and Cazorla as AMF, although I would’ve dropped Cazorla as well if there was another player to replace him.
Please tell me I am seeing things? Is this article for REAL? How old is the writer? Were they an Arsenal Supporter when Wright played?
You have written an article about Ian Wright being unimpressed with Giroud.
Giroud had a bad game because he was given a second yellow card and ONE of them for mouthing at the ref. Had he played 90 Mins, I am sure the result would have been different. Not just because we would have 11 players on the pitch, but because Giroud would have put at least one goal away.
Ian Wright was a selfish media hungry male equivalent of Paris Hilton. Forever trying to make the headlines on the back page of Newspapers. It was rare to pick up a paper the day after a match without Wright being on the back page for the wrong reason.
Ian Wright’s specialty was to goad referees into booking him. He was a specialist at it and he did it often to get on those back pages. Giroud got one yellow for mouthing the ref …. Ian Wright the specialist would have a yellow for mouthing the ref, then be BEGGING the ref for a second card by mouthing AGAIN!
In every one of those games Ian Wright would have likely scored and the result would have been different.
The absolute most unqualified person to criticise Giroud in this game is Mr Wright, it is absurd, so completely mind boggling.
Then I read this article and there isn’t a hint the writer is aware of any of this. Ian Wright was incapable of shutting up during the games, we hated being a goal down and then seeing him make a 40 yard sprint at the Ref on the 20 minute mark, then again on the 30 min mark and get a yellow, then the 40 min mark while still a goal down, then every twice more in the second half, then he’ll score an equaliser. Then we are literally waiting for his second goal which wins the match …. and have to see him running at the ref time and again to mouth him with a sneer before, begging for a second yellow before he can win the game. So how can nobody be mentioning this after Wright critcises Giroud for having a bad game for reasons he specialised in?
@Arsenal1Again, U have a problem with Ur thinking, maybe age is getting on U. Mr Wright has every earned right to murder Ur favorite brother Giroud bcos Mr Wright as a center forward has his records there for U to see.
If only Giroud would be half as good as Wright was to us, with d midfielders we have now, we would be unstoppable in any competition.
The problem of Arsenal is Arsene Wenger and his French players sentiment. Bcos of Giroud we didn’t buy a Striker, Bcos of Coq, no dmf. Why do we have Flamini? Rene-Adelaide is too young… Do U now get my point?
As long as Arsene Wenger continues as Arsenal manager, we’ll continue straight struggle. We’ll win one or two games but it won’t make any difference.
Wenger Out, Arsenal Lives On!!!!!!!
Yeah Mate.
ME (BEAN) OUT.
see my new picture.
Well OKAYBLACK, you and others have a problem with reading.
Ian Wright obviously scored goals and gained a record, but my comment has nothing to do with goals or records.
Comment simplified because it obviously needs it:
Ian Wright got a yellow card in most games and sometimes two for MOUTHING at the ref.
Giroud get’s the first yellow card of his Arsenal career for mouthing at the Ref.
Ian Wright OF ALL PEOPLE criticises Giroud for Mouthing the ref.
= Pot calling Kettle black.
= Hypocrite.
= Narcissist Personality Disorder (slagging of people who have done what he regularly did WITHOUT ANY SELF-AWARENESS he was 1000% worse at doing the same thing – to get the attention focused on him).
= Author of the article not being an Arsenal Fan when the Narcissist Ian Wright played for Arsenal.
Yes Wright is an Arsenal legend, he scored goals, he got a club record and he is the last person who should be critcising Giroud for getting sent off. Giroud is a current player, he is low at the moment, he is our ONLY striker and so the last thing we want is ANYBODY saying hypocritical crap about him to make him feel even worse.
Giroud in any game has 10x the chance of scoring than Walcott as a striker. Giroud is a carbon copy of Alan Smith (yeah another player you aint ever seen play) and our season hinges on Giroud …. but knock yourself out, go on BLINDLY and IGNORANTLY backing the gobbiest ex player in Arsenal’s history, a publicly admitted Crystal Palace supporter who rarely has anything nice to say about Arsenal … Just because he was a prolific goalscorer and record holder (Glory hunter mentality). I was supporting Arsenal years before Wright was even at Palace, when Terry Neill was manager …. and when people like me back current players because they deserve it and teach you things about ex-players back in the day – learn instead of having an orgasm about a stat “Ian Wright Record Goalscorer 185 Goals”.
Many heroes in history have been pedos, murderers and rapists and so were the Kray Twins who were all of these things … and I am guessing when the Tom Hardy film ‘Legend’ is released and leaves all this out … all the 20 Something supporters who are ‘experts’ on Ian Wright will no doubt be buzzing about those ‘well cool proper little diamond gangstas’.
A good advice to all gunners for this weekend… Pls keep Ur hearts open in d Chelsea game. Mourinho will use d Champs Lge win to try to get d confidence of his team back, and winning Arsenal will truly fire them back. But Arsene Wenger doesn’t have it in him to raise the team confidence after a loss and a lot of criticism. And now facing a top team Chelsea away. He’ll find excuses, yes he WILL.
so keep an open mind… Don’t hurt urself. We all Luv Arsenal though Arsene Wenger doesn’t respect us…
#Wenger Out#
The Chelsea Games are like Cup Final matches. The players SHOULD NOT need to be lifted.
The best ones available just need to be on the team sheet and not be played out of position because Wenger is having one of those days when he thinks he is a tactician.
Our strongest team in my opinion is:
Cech
Bellerin Gabriel Koscielny Monreal
Coquelin Cazorla
Walcott Ozil Sanchez
Giroud
If Wenger picks a different team than this in the upcoming Chelsea game, then I cannot defend him any more. Who could?
I like Gibbs a lot, he’s English and came through the ranks, but Monreal is the better player today and we need our best players in their right positions against Chelsea.
My missus used to say she is leaving home if Chelsea beats us, I hate losing to them as much as the Spuds, but being a calmer supporter today, I see losing to Chelsea as the biggest guide we have for judging the manager and the heart of individual players. If any of them play like they’re playing a routine game against Stoke, they have no business being at the club.
Abou was eternally injured, great player but never strung enough games together to win us anything and he would have done – but I never cared whenever he was given a new contract … he kicked John Terry unconscious and he’ll never be forgotten by me for that one legendary act. The homesick whiner Jose Reyes was a disappointment, but I’ll always remember his brace against Chelsea and therefore him. I can forgive an Arsenal player who ‘allegedly’ sucked off Grandmaster Flash, but not for meeting Mourinho in a hotel room to engineer a move to Chelsea … of for texting after an England game, “I hate the English.”
The current players have to step up to the plate in this match and do me proud. I also admit Giroud being sent off against Chelsea and causing us to lose would be unforgivable.
For me asene wenger is to be blame, the plays are all good. Wenger in his position should know who’s fit in arsenal squad. Most of the players in our squad should be playing in the championship clubs. Wenger should do something fast about recruiting the arsenal team.
For me asene wenger is to be blame, the players are all good. Wenger in his position should know who’s fit in arsenal squad. Most of the players in our squad should be playing in the championship clubs. Wenger should do something fast about recruiting the arsenal team.