A thought on Arsene Wenger by KM
What was expected is what happened. They stole my shoes! Can you imagine in the 21st century they’d take your shoes from your doorstep? Now that was unexpected, but the game at the weekend ended as predicted. Chelsea beat us 2 – 0 and Wenger lost another game against Mourinho. Wenger cared about this game. The Arsenal boss really wanted to make up for last year and did some homework. Sadly Chelsea did their homework in the summer and we didn’t.
It’s easy to blame from the side. I get a lot of stick for my anti-Wenger comments. Kenny Dalglish put on an interesting statement that Wenger wasn’t given enough credit for what he did. I think Wenger gets enough credit for what he did with the stadium move and the top 4 finishes, maybe even too much because the Arsenal board also had part to play in the move and gave Wenger a lot of support.
The Liverpool legend’s words can be backed by the fact that Liverpool and now United did find it a struggle to get to the top 4. A spot in the CL is not guaranteed whoever you are and we all acknowledge it. What we want is better tactics and preparations for the game. Addressing of the fitness issues and some transfer activity, not papering over the cracks. The sad thing is we have the money some teams don’t and we are not putting it to a good use. We have obvious issues in the back, we need a DM and a proper forward. None addressed.
We concede far too many, we are predictable in our style of play and we are easily outmuscled. Since Gilberto left we really miss a player like him. City and Chelsea have Fernando, Fernandinho and Matic. We really need players like them because Flamini just won’t cut it. Another thing I don’t get is Ozil on the left. It doesn’t work. Ozil and Cazorla meant we were too slow in moving the ball. And why did the OX not start is beyond me really. We should’ve hit them with pace on the counter.
One good thing was that Wenger cared about this game. He tried to change the tactics and let them have the ball more. The full backs were a lot more conservative about going forward. All good, but Chambers received zero help from the midfield and really struggled against Hazard. Again the highlight of a no DM and Ozil on the wing…
Wenger really wanted to get something and you could see the disappointment in his face. He even went to push Mourinho which was not good. I mean Cahill’s tackle was a straight red but, either way, going to push a person means you are powerless. I don’t think we can question Wenger’s desire but our faith in this game was pretty much obvious.
We should put a reality check on ourselves and stop dreaming of titles. We will have a struggle to reach the top 4. Maybe we’ll do it, but I don’t think there’s much more we can do. To be honest I’d be happy if we just start playing our football. Arsenal need to put a few wins from a good run of the games coming after the break. Hopefully we will come back with some cool heads and start working on putting together some good performances and some points on the board.
Konstantin Mitov