Wenger defends them but Arsenal players let him down AGAIN

Blame Arsenal players not Wenger by Sam P

I know that a lot of Arsenal fans will be furious with Arsene Wenger tonight, after an awful first half performance and then allowing Liverpool to score an extra time equaliser to deny us a valuable away win against a big team and a vital three points.

But I don’t think it was the tactics of the manager that made us so bad today, it was the poor play of almost every Gunner on the pitch. I suppose you could say that the manager’s failure to sign another defender and a defensive midfielder in the summer left us short of options, but you would still expect better from players like Flamini, Mertesacker, Welbeck, Gibbs, Chamberlain and of course Alexis Sanchez.

I don’t think that Wenger’s tactics were wrong, it was just that the players failed to compete or even keep the ball and pass it as we know they can. Why on earth did we sit back when Liverpool went down to 10 men? What was Mertesacker thinking when he ducked out of a corner in extra time to give Skrtel a free header to equalise?

Wenger refused to blame his players as he always does, but I hope that he gives them a real rocket behind closed doors. It is about time they stepped up to give their manager the same backing he gives them.

Tags Alexis Mertesacker

73 Comments

  1. Mertesacker is a joke. I genuinely would prefer Monreal playing instead of him, at least Nacho gives his all.

    1. Yes Mertesacher is farcical beyond belief. Unfortunately our manager did not think we needed another centre half. Once again everyone was right and Wenger wrong. A midfield that turned up would help. What tiny technical midfielder who is too soft to compete will Wenger sign this January?

      1. I said that before the game and got the stick. Mertesacker should not play again once Kos is back. The man became a liability after the WC. Seriously, he’s world champion, he should buckle up or retire. Right now I would field even Squillaci instead of Mertesacker. So awful is he these days.

        1. I am gonna take your role and defend the team.we should not put all the blame on Merte,the entire team was poor,even Sanchez.
          The problem is that we need a Holding midfielder to protect the back four and to coordinate our fragile midfield group.
          Merte paired with Kosh is not so bad.
          We need aDM and a solid CB to pair with Mert or replace him him once Kosch come back
          flamini,merte ,Arteta ,Chambers on the bench.

          1. How many times was theback four exposed for want of a midfielder in tge entire 99 minutes? Goals conceded had nothing to do with a DM so I fail to understand how that becomes an issue in a discussion of this match.

    2. Isn’t it just crazy that when big teams are playing poorly, we still find a way to be worse than them when we play them every time!

    3. Been saying this for as long as I can remember. Mertesacker is simply not elite.

      Not his fault, he’s a bit part National team player, never played for a top team until 26. He just simply represents the quintessential backup CB that every top team needs. But still, there are things Per could do to improve his game. We know he’s not quick, so be immovable, be strong as fuvk, be a physical obstruction. He’s not, he’s a complete wimp that only serves well when he has a quick CB partner to cover his deficiencies aka Kos.

      Yet the biggest fault with us is that Wenger has decided to make him integral, and a starter (even vice-captain!). Absolutely playing to the tune of “we accept mediocrity”. NOT ON.

  2. Time to replace Per Mertesacker. He’s been retired since the World Cup.

    Liability all season. No leadership. Flamini should be gone too. Hasn’t played well since Spurs last season.

    1. I get it, but stop with the gone nonsense. No point selling Flamini, just replace him with someone better and you have a top drawer DM with Flamini doing what he should be….filling in vs lesser teams and generally being a backup.

      Same mantra with Per and Arteta. No value in getting rid, but plenty in replacing their spot in the first team with someone of real outstanding quality. Per, Flam, Arteta are plenty good enough for 80% of the teams we play. Problem comes when we expect those players to be the architects of wins vs Bayern, Barca, or closer to home with Chelsea, City.

      They’re squad material and no more.

      1. Ever heard of the squad size rules? We are already over the limit for the champions league and bang on the maximum for the epl. If you don’t get rid of some you will have to delist them meaning they can’t play anyway.

        1. Gee thanks for that. But maybe, just maybe, Flamini and the like would replace the current depth players like Sanogo and Campbell who play no minutes….leaving us with a better first 11 and better depth. Just a thought.

  3. Probably one of the worst displays I have ever seen from an Arsenal side. No fight, no control, no spirit and running scared of a team that before the game was low on confidence and ultimately went down to ten men. Disgusted.

    1. 100% ares with you. It’s funny, we always say that was their worst performance, but they somehow manage to play even worse. Just god awful

    2. At least we saw Flamini clap his hands together, shout, and point a lot…..cos you know, that’s leadership apparently.

      Highest ticket prices in Europe….lolz

  4. How can you not blame the manager.???
    The players can only do what they are told to do.. Wenger picks them and asks them to do a specific job.. He subs the players he wants..
    He was tactically inept today regardless of the players! These are the same players that beat newcastle 4-1
    Wenger hasn’t a clue on substitutions and NEVER gets it right.. It’s happening too often – something’s fundamentally wrong with the way our club is currently ran and headed!!!

    1. You so funny. The squad we had was the best you could field today. And this squad has a lot of quality and yes, they don’t really need a manager to play good football, so good they are.
      So you genuinely believe Wenger is telling Mertesacker not to defend or not to jump. Or Wenger tells Chambers to stumble on the pitch like a drunk cat. I thought there was only one deluded around here.

      1. Wenger has signed them!!!!!!!!!
        Clearly not good enough you imbecile ..!
        The players aren’t good enough .. So YES it is Wengers fault!
        How simple is it for a simpleton???
        It’s Wengers fault we are fielding poor players NOT good enough to win the premiership!
        Deluded…? There’s only one deluded person and that’s wenger ..

        1. Why not blame his mother too because she gave birth to him, eh? And while we are at it why not blame player mothers too. You see, if they were not born, Wenger wouldn’t sign them in the first place.

          1. @ Budd, let me explain this to u in a nutshell. You are given a job, your boss/bosses expect results from you in order for their company to achieve its target. When you constantly fail to deliver, in normal circumstances the boss/bosses give you the boot. Same principle in any business/industry in this world.
            In relation to Wenger, he wouldnt have lasted any job post 2007!!
            Now if you struggle to understand this, please enrol yourself in an adult college and educate yourself 🙂

              1. Budd, seriously get to college asap!! Football managers will only ever be asked to deliver results on the pitch!! If you cannot comprehend this then yes you need to be a little more savvy Budd!!

                1. These were the same players that beat Newcastle 4-1 last weekend with one of their best displays but did not bother to show up against a liverpool team that are sitting 10th place and gave newcastle 3 points… Why blame wenger?

                  …and you’re right football managers have one task, to deliver results but dont forget that our beloved Arsenal stopped being a football club for years now.
                  – We sold our best players and replace them with bargain buys (until recently)
                  – We have the highest ticket price in europe
                  – We fight for fourth place to make money for qualifying UEFA.
                  – Injuries have been a problem for years but havent spent money to see whats the problem.

      2. Prob not. But why did we just visit Anfield and play a sh1t Liverpool team that’s just been booted out Europe, thrashed by United, and is generally getting outplayed in every game this season only to cower away as if they’re top of the league and flying?

        That’s managerial, and that’s where Wenger has lost it for me. We were beat before a ball was kicked. As one lad mentioned on here, we go to top teams and regardless of how they’re playing we manage to play worse and make them look better. United, Spurs, Liverpool, Everton, City THIS season…NO WINS despite facing none of them when they were playing well. Awful United Team, bad Liverpool team, poor City team early on this season, Everton are patchy, Spurs are Spurs. We have 4 points from those 12.

  5. If Skirtel hadn’t scored his header, we would have been praising the team for a smash and grab victory. I only blame Mertz. In addition, Sanchez and Welbeck didn’t do anything at all 🙁 Hopefully, we sign a senior CB in January to pair with Koscielny.

    1. Hurts to see Welbeck coming back to his good old days at Manure. They probably congratulate themselves for the money they got.

      1. It’s hard to disagree with you on current performances.. But it makes you wonder if it’s not Wengers fault for playing him so many times.. When he plays for England he’s on fire.. Yet for arsenal he’s a headless chicken.. Is it him or is it wenger..?

        1. England didn’t had yet a real opponent. Wait. Just wait until they play someone like France or Portugal to name just a few. I dare to say that even Iceland is going to beat England.

  6. This team seriously lacks some fighting spirit. Mertesacker & Flamini are past it, bring in some fresh blood who will be ruthless like Schar & Schneiderlin. Sick and tired of watching our team get trumped by teams that actually try to cause us problems. It’s all well and good when we play teams who come to us with a mentality that they can’t win (i.e Newastle/Gala) but when a team is determined to cause us problems we look like a bunch of school kids.

    Sanchez looks like he needs a rest, the poor lad hand his hands on his knees midway through the first half. The last thing we need is another Ramsey situation on Boxing day.

    1. mert,flam : too old
      chambers : too young.
      prob the only thing they all have in common is that tehy are cheap to get (flam was $0)

  7. If Skrtl doesn’t have a running start that ball will not beat the keeper. Just mark the player or 2 that is most dangerous to score. Sorry Arsene was spot on with the subs as they were attackers off and defenders in to prevent a late goal. The players could not see the game out.

      1. “ze zonal marking is our principle – we will not abandon our principles” ( meaning we will not adjust)

  8. Mid-table team assemble by Mr Wenger. Feel sorry for the away fans spending so much money watching this horrible, awful team. Fed up with Wenger excuses….never gets the SUB right, he is becoming the worst manager in Arsenal history.AKB my a….

  9. Mediocre players have let Wenger down time after time but for some reason he still buys them so who’s to blame?
    Being realist have to accept that finishing 3rd or 4rth is most this team can achieve in the league.

    1. Agree
      Wenger signed Sanogo park squid bendtner Kallstrom santos Jeffers chamakh etc etc the list is endless.. Mediocre players brings mediocre position in the league that can never actually win the league!
      Wengers philosophy has gone from invincible to invisible.. Kroenke is either holding the purse strings or Wenger is as deluded and senile as we all thought …

  10. Wenger pull your finger out your a** and do the following to save your grace!!

    Defenders needed (2 from the following):
    Fabin Schar
    Benedikt Howedes
    Winston Reid
    Matija Nastatic

    With Kos injury prone, BFG being absolutely poor all season and Chambers way too young to be relied on, a new duo is needed to take the team forward.

    Midfielders needed (2 from the following):
    Morgan Schniederlin
    Luis Gustavo
    Marcelo Brozovic
    Moussa Sissoko

    Wilshere out long term, Rambo one and off all season, Ox still not good enough to be relied upon, Flamini needs to go, Arteta may as well go since he cannot play more than 45mins a month and Diaby, lets leave it there!!

    One natural winger from the following:
    Xherdan Shaqiri
    Pedro
    Konoplyanka

    Walcott cannot be relied upon as injury prone, Gnabry gone AWOL, Oxlade too inconsistent, Campbell and Poldi not good enough for this squad.

    1. Haha people who click on thumbs down when its blatant this team needs improving are absolutely clueless fans and shouldnt even be following football. Stick to supporting your fave X factor contestant!

      1. Personaly my reason for thumb down is :
        1. Because of the players you suggest i dont think Benedikt Howedes, Winston Reid, Luis Gustavo and Sissoko is not top shell. Personal i don´t think they are the kind of players we need to be beat Chelsea and Mac C. I think we need better players
        2. Your opinion of Wallcot an OX, I don´t agree.

    2. Kos ain’t injury prone, he’s just had an injury typically mismanaged by our mob of training staff dinosaurs who think a cold sponge is how you treat every injury. We need worthy partner for him, that’s all.

      Kos and Howedes/Schar/Ranocchia (doubtful in Jan) with Per and Chambers backup is good cover at CB, then maybe Mings in the summer and have Chambers/Mings grooming to take over. But then we without question need a proper midfielder who can sit, Schneiderlin AND Wanyama are better than what we have. Then we can see about sneaking a poldi/joel out pedro in deal, but that’s the last thing to address.

      If I had the power I’d bully Basel for Schar, tell Southampton one of Schneiderlin or Wanyama are coming to the Emirates, THEN try and tie up a deal for shaqiri/pedro. But for a perfect window we need to shell out about 40mil NET.

  11. The poor performance was down to the players not Wenger. However, the fact that we still can’t defend set pieces properly is the managers’s fault. Even with the crappy performance, we still should have won that game. How many times have we seen that zonal marking is not the best for us. It has failed us time and again buy yet Wenger chooses to stick with it. We had numerical advantage so I don’t see why every single Liverpool player in the box wasn’t man marked. If there are obvious flaws in a system, for f**k’s sake change it. Hey, but that’s Wenger for you.

    1. The players are good enough, the poor performance was down to the style of play
      – Szczęsny kick everyball he received long straight back up the pitch to Liverpool, possession lost by Arsenal.
      – Liverpool played from the back, Arsenal did not close them down quickly collectively and effectlively.
      These are the two principle reasons as to why Arsenal struggled against Liverpool, Swansea and Everton. Besiktas played from the back against Arsenal at the emirates we lost control in that match and almost got knockout of the Champions Leage.

      Arsenal only plays good football in the final third, not all around the pitch.

      Mr Wenger has not address this problem.

      1. you really have to wonder what our players are doing in training sessions. Honestly every game its the same thing. Horrible passing, minimal creativity, one player in the box at a time, weak from all free kicks, no physicality. These are ongoing trends for several seasons and they are the same mistakes today. I just don’t get it. Any top side we are horrible against. And Liverpool isn’t even a top side this season, but we made them look like gods today. Just dont get it.

        1. if u look at press photos of training, they’re all smiles and joking around. the weekend performances don’t seem to weigh too much on them. as long as we have ze camaraderie and ze spirit.

  12. Not enjoying watching Arsenal this season. They are an embarrassment. Wenger’s fault, he has to go! Wenger out!!!!!!!

  13. This just in Ronaldo & Company successfully grabbed there 4th title of the year with a victory in Morocco @ some World Club Cup. 4TH FREAKING TITLE, and Arsenal is a BIG CLUB. LMAO.

    Eat a Big D Wenger and the Board!

  14. The core our team are a bunch of bottle jobs and spineless pussies.
    This inability to win a game against any big teams started in the 12/13 season prior to that we often beat liverpool, chelsea and mancity (when they were good).
    We’ve had soft arsenal teams in the past but this current crop of bottlers are something else.

    1. @th14 you are absolutely spot on!!
      Arsenal Players that wouldnt cut the grade for a top premier side:
      Monreal
      Merts
      Flamini
      Arteta
      Diaby
      Coquelin
      Rosicky
      Campbell
      Poldi

      Replaced by:
      Fabian Schar
      Benedikt Howedes
      Morgan Schneiderlin
      Moussa Sissoko
      Marcelo Brozovic
      Xherdan Shaqiri
      Wilfred Bony

      A mix of young and experienced with European competition experience and much more dynamic than some of the crap we have atm!!

    2. You do realise that Wenger has never ever beaten Mourihno?
      The problems go deeper than the players, our coach is simply not good enough.
      we had issues long before 2012/13

    1. a lot of people have been saying bad corner kicks have been an ongoing trend around the league. Players aiming for a nearpost flick or something. In reality it never works and just gives the opponents a better opportunity to counter. Im ALWAYS more worried about the other team scoring when we take corners.

  15. Mertesacker was such a letdown today. Him and Flamini were useless! But oh, at least we have our God Wenger, who only wants to get a defender if we find “the right player”, which we all know is his excuse when he doesnt buy anybody. So SICK of the same shenanigans every single season. We’re a joke because all of these jokers stuck in our club. Old, crusty board with no ambition, and only care about making a profit. I’m sick of it! Why is our team always half complete! Why are we always one or two players short! And why does nobody from the club, besides for fans seem to even care? We are miles away from being a top club.

    1. zere are not many defenders on ze market at the level of defenders we already have.
      we have to be careful not to buy ze dud otherwise ze quality of our team will go down.

    2. I don’t think much of Flamini as a player but I don’t blame him for this because he was the only recognized CM in the team so basically covering too much of the pitch. Ramsey covers a lot of ground, Arteta reads the game very well and the Ox is a winger learning how to play in CM. Your team is bound to lose something when the three best CM (adding Wilshere) are out injured. Possibly the four best if you include sicknote Diaby who, if anyone can remember, is a lot better than Flamini when fit.

  16. Have been thinking it for a long time, then heard Niall Quinn say it – the only way we can succeed with AW in charge, is to bring back David Dein – how many bad signings did we make when he was in charge of recruitment compared to now? It’s an absolute joke that he hasn’t been asked back.

    1. Bloody hundreds, stephanovs, tavliridis, luszhny, warmez, Richard wright, papadopolous, caballero, diawara, Leighton, helder, and there are tons more crap players signed under David dein.. People make him out to be some sort of footballing god, yet if he was that good, why hasn’t any other club signed him up?

      1. And also don’t forget that it was David dein who signed arsene wenger and David dein who in august 2007 advised wenger not to resign as he was the best man for the job, cue another 6 years of trophyless football to add to the many others wenger had already endured. Let’s not forget that wenger has had 18 seasons in charge, winning trophies in just 6 of them.

        1. David Dein has said that the only Premier club he would work for is Arsenal. David Dein was a close friend of Wenger, and when he left in 2007, it was only hearsay that Wenger wanted to resign as well, and Dein convinced him not to. Dein was in the Usmanov camp and Wenger in the Kronke camp – that was the reason for the split. Only a couple of those players you mention were regular first team members, unlike today. There is no denial that that the team has got worse since he’s left, the stats say it all, and the stadium building argument just doesn’t hold water now.

          1. What do you mean “the stadium argument doesn’t hold water now” ? That is BS. For 10 years Chelsea and City had a net spend of £50m per season compared to Arsenal’s £5m, they still field many of those signings and they still spend more. Is it any coincidence that this £450m difference is roughly the cost of the stadium ? Some people have no understanding of what sacrifices are required to raise around £500m.

  17. Just got home from anfield….

    1. No koscielny in the team, we are useless at the back.

    2. Flamini? Not quite sure what he gives to this arsenal team but you can always rely on him for a yellow card. That’s it

    3. Mertresacker stands 6ft4 and he gets beat in the air 90% of the time ( hence the second goal)

    4. 2-1 up and we sat back further and further, inviting pressure then bang 10 man Liverpool equalise in extra time(naive)

    5. Our passing today at times was utter diabolical. As for corners I’m lost for words…..

    1. Agree with you except for point 4. If we had have gone after it and they scored it would’ve been “why didn’t they protect the lead?”. Can’t win sometimes.

  18. Mertesacker was never an Arsenal type player. Arsenal is a free flowing side he is too slow and lacks any form of creativity. It will not change until we get the centre back situation resolved. Even Wenger is beginning to realize this. Liverpool should have taken all three points.

  19. Brilliant at home against Newcastle then woeful away against Liverpool a week later with only one change, how can this be ? I think it’s psychological and if they’re scared of Liverpool sitting mid-table that doesn’t bode well for the real powerhouses. It’s a bit annoying that the press is full of comments about how Liverpool deserved to win, fair enough, but when Arsenal were even more dominant at home against United there was no talk about how Arsenal were unlucky to lose. Anyway, what’s properly upsetting is that the team isn’t playing to their potential against teams that have thrashed them in the past. Fair enough Ox looked like a duck out of water in CM and one of Arteta, Ramsey or Wilshere would’ve made a big difference but still disappointing. Particularly as I had to stay up til 3am here to watch it all.

  20. On another matter interesting that Arsenal stole Sanchez from under the nose of Liverpool, after they lied to us about Suarez a year earlier. Potential showdown with United coming up in January over a world class CB. Question is do we want Hummels, playing for a team second to bottom of the Bundesliga ?

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