The players need to buckle up and take responsibility
Hello gooners! Hope we are enjoying the international break? After a winless streak of many games, this is a time for us to sit back, access our performances so far, and get ready for the games ahead, after the international break.
If we are to be honest with ourselves, we will realize that this season has not been a good one in terms of on-the-field performances, and some of the blame should go to the players. Yes, the coach has a lot of work to do in getting the team to play and win games the Arsenal way, but when the coach is stuck, the people to help him are the players themselves. Unfortunately, this has not been the case with Arsenal football club.
Can you imagine a team like Barcelona having issues, and a Messi or Suarez not doing anything significant to address the issues, at least on the football pitch? A Messi may be powerless off the football pitch, but on the pitch where he earns his money, he makes sure his impact is felt and could probably rally his team mates to a hard-fought victory. Enough of Messi; let us analyze the contribution of our players in halting the decline on the football pitch.
Before I continue, I must confess that some of our players have tried using their individual skills to bail the team out in tough games, but how far the skills have taken the club, is what I am here to talk about.
We have had games this season where all that was needed was a little extra effort from the players, but such effort has been hard to come by and this is my opinion, is what has contributed greatly to us having a bad season. Usual suspects like Xhaka and Ozil have been made scapegoats while pointing out the problems at Arsenal, but apart from these two, don’t you think other senior players should take some responsibility as well?
Mesut Ozil has often been blamed for going absent during big games but, apart from Ozil, who can we say has really been there for Arsenal in the big games? Nobody, I sadly posit.
Nicholas Pepe was bought last summer to add more bite to the already deadly Arsenal attack but so far, he has fired blanks! Apart from a few games where he scored some wonderful individual goals, he has largely portrayed himself as a player who will have it difficult settling down in the Premiership. Sadly, from the little we have seen from Pepe, he may not make it at a club like Arsenal. It is still early days to judge him, but if he does not start making things happen for Arsenal on the football pitch, he may as well forget about playing for Arsenal beyond two seasons.
Pierre Aubameyang was brought in to bang in the goals for Arsenal. So far, so good, he has taken responsibility and lived up to his billing but in recent times, he seems to be playing like he has lost all motivations to play for Arsenal. The club may be having issues, but the players are still being paid their wages and they just have no other option but to give their best for the club, on the football pitch. If recent reports of him not being happy with the way things are in the club are to be believed, then our top goal scorer needs to change his mind set and start playing like somebody being paid to do a job.
Granit Xhaka has no business in an Arsenal team again and why he was not sold last summer, is a mystery I am yet to understand. He was made captain against all odds, yet he never played or acted as a captain. His latest misunderstanding with the club fans woudn’t have happened, if only he was mature enough to understand what is expected of him, as a professional sports personality. I am really hoping that the last game he played for Arsenal was actually his last! I may sound harsh, but this is how I expect things to be done at Arsenal.
In essence, all I am trying to say is that a lot of players need to start taking some resposibility, playing for the club, and start earning their money. What do you think gooners?
Sylvester Kwentua
“Sit back, assess our performances and get ready for the games ahead”
2 weeks isn’t long enough!! 😂
Agree
If the new regime is stricter than the previous one, they would put Xhaka and Ozil into transfer list in January. And Aubameyang too, if he is unwilling to sign the new contract
If this current regime is really strict, Emery will not be our coach till now
The problem of the squad now is getting the best available 11 players for every position.
Get a plan A formation then fix the best available 11 players for that formation without sentiment but with merit.
Well it is an easy but difficult task, cause of the dicotomhy of life with different people with different perspectives.
Look at the current league leaders, Klopp has found the right balance with his first 11 players and formation a master formation that he believes can defeat any team in this world.
I have my own best first 11 players based on my own perspective and I will stick to it no matter what.
Leno.
Bellerin.
Chambers.
Luiz.
Tierney.
Torreira.
Guendouzi.
Martinelli.
Lacazette.
Pepe.
Aubameyang.
Finally that is the million dollar question. What is your best 11 players for every position?
Do you really fault the players for continually changing tactics?
Do you fault the players for playing to the strength of the opponents instead of theirs?
Do you fault the players for playing out of position?
Perhaps a little off of the subject, but there is an interesting article in the Independent of an interview with Santi Cazorla. In the interview he gives his view on the current Arsenal squad and a bit of an insight as to where he see the problems lie. Worth a read.
Put it this way, a good trainer will have a dog jumping through hoops. An excellent trainer will have a dog leading the blind. Yes, some dogs are better at doing certain things than others but, all dogs can be trained to work harder for a nibble (prize) in return. My point is, maybe there isn’t much of a “nibble” being offered at Arsenal? If you are being told 4th will do every season then where is the drive to do more? After all, you can be paid £350,000 a week and sit on the bench. That is a great advert!!
Sylvester Kwentua does a point about the players but, I don’t agree that they are to blame though. The Club and the manager are to blame for miss-guided professionalism on and off the pitch. Mistakes have been repeatedly made for years with contracts and delayed potential summer signings by haggling over pennies and missing out on the very best we could have had!? The club have been lazy and and most often to inactive to solve the issues that have blighted the club for years. Is it any wonder the players show less interest or are not motivated enough when they see how the club is managed?
Leicester, on the other hand are showing why they are increasing in awareness and in revenue. They have a club and team that are fully focused and “very well managed”. They play for a cause and belief. They are on the up.
Arsenal as a modern football club have lost their identity. The brand of football has dwindled too. We needed a “proven” manager to bring it all back. We got Emery! Don’t blame the players!!
It is unfortunate, that the player are not fighting enough to win matches. All I see that they are not fan of the very club they are playing for. Leicester players are not better than the players in Arsenal is just that they’re more determine than those in Arsenal.
Exactly, that is my point. Imagine how our players would be if better managed!?
It’s not a question of players accepting responsibility.No the problem at Arsenal is the basic lack of real quality at centre back and in midfield.Until we bring in upgrades in the spine of the team even top Manager’s like Klopp and Pep would struggle to turn us into a successful side.What we need in these areas are players with, strength, pace energy and skill which includes football intelligence.Sadly I cannot think of any of our centre backs or midfielders who ticks all these boxes.
The players have to take some responsibility, they can either play to the tactics and formations or they cant. Im sure if and when they talk, they all have their say and discuss what goes wrong and what goes right. Players have more power now than they ever did, its a team, the players and the coaches. I cant see the players just sitting or standing there and not haveing zero input or say. The final say has to be Emerys but im sure he gets plenty of feedback from players at half time, full time, training and meetings. Tactics are also only part or the problem, silly, stupid mistakes and not tracking players is basic stuff, that requires players to manage themselves on the field. Top players must be able to go out and limit mistakes all by themselves and not need coaching to tell them not to pull shirts in the area, not give stupid fouls away when there is no danger and to handle situations better in their own space, there and then. The players have to be able to think for themselves better.
I have been saying for many years and way before EMERY – even though his tenure has made things far worse still- that we lack fight and commitment as a squad. With a few notable exceptions, this squad is too soft, too timid, too lazy and too physically frail and short in vital positions. Wherr Liverpool and City MOST leave ALL the other clubs and esp us far behind, is that there players bust a gut every moment they are on the pitch. Some of ours are so afraid, that you think they may worry about busting a fingernail and start crying. We need PROPER MEN ; not frightened boys!