They need a talker in the side. I was listening to a podcast last night and Darren Fletcher (the BBC 5live Commentator not Man Utd's Scottish midfieler) said he spoke to a Spurs player after their 3-3 draw with Arsenal the other night and this Spurs player said he has never known a side so quiet on the pitch.
---------- Post added at 11:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:54 PM ----------
I think they are being slated because of the way Wenger goes about his business mate. At the start of the season Wenger's targets would be to win things not come close again. Its also easy to see where the problems are at Arsenal but Wenger is being a stuborn old man. Like i say for most teams what they have achieved this season would be tollorared but this is Arsenal and 7 years without one single trophy is not good enough.
The way he goes about his business? He should be celebrated for it...he's being careful with his spending (unlike the other clubs in the world, who are engaging in unsustainable practices, not to mention will be punished by the FFP in the future), not constantly criticized. If I were a neutral, I would much rather criticize the club that spent 70 million when they had a drop in form that didn't win trophies as opposed to the club who didn't spend anything.
Anyway, few people thought Arsenal had a chance at winning things at the beginning of the season, they just aren't quite as good (or as deep) as ManU or Chelsea, and they missed a few extremely key players that couldn't be missed (their imposing CB leader for the whole season and their one scorer, not to mention their best player and captain had an off-season). So he shouldn't be criticized for no meeting these targets. His targets were to COMPETE in all of these competitions, which he did. Winning them would have been a big bonus, but it would have surprised a lot of people. And he could have won competitions had luck been on their side.
People keep on talking about this leader CB, but first of all, who is he? Can someone name a CB that would instantly become this leader? Arsenal already have one, it's TV5. He's their Vidic (though obviously not as good). They have another imposing CB in Djorou who has improved dramatically and is emerging as a great player. Kosc is getting better and is a good 3rd choice CB. And Squillaci was very disappointing and didn't adjust well but we all know he's good, tall, and experienced. Honestly Arsenal does not need another CB. And for all of those recommending that they get one, who do you recommend? I hear Samba and Cahill, but neither of those players is going to transfer Arsenal. And I don't think you can just show up and be a leader.
The point is that those psychological problems need fixing. Look at Bolton, they got absolutely hammered by Stoke and picked themselves up and played superbly against Bolton. Hence why the general consensus is that they need a leader/commanding CB/GK.
I don't think you can slam Arsenal for what happened. I agree things would have been better with better leadership, but come on, that was the roughest week in football any team has had that I can remember. Losing one competition they desperately needed (to stop the "no trophy" competition) against a weak opponent by a terrible mistake in the last minute is extremely tough. Then they lost another, and then another where they played well but couldn't finish in the final 3rd. The final two were very, very tough matches that I don't think we can blame them for losing. But the point is it is **** hard to recover from a week in football like that. I think that even a team with great leadership, like ManU, would have struggled a lot after that.
I've seen a bad week destroy a football team before. It happened in the Apertura 2008 to Independiente, my first season as a fan. We were beating Estudiantes comfortably in the Copa Sudamericana and fell asleep on a set-piece in the final minutes that tied the game. We then lost in a penalty shoot-out. A few days later, in the Superclasico against Racing, we were winning and they scored on a set-piece in the final minutes to tie it. It basically took everything out of that team, and several other last-minute goals cost us many points and it snowballed. We went from title challengers the previous season (and looking strong at the beginning) to being absolutely unable to win. I went to 7 league games during the Apertura and they never won any. They basically had to completely rebuild the team after that and most of the players were sold. In the Clausura, the effects still lingered and the team was very inconsistent, leading to the dismissal of the manager that replaced the one fired in the Apertura. After the Clausura the team was re-built by Americo Gallego and after a few games turned into a very strong team and a title challenger (another reason why he is one of the most underrated managers in football).
So yeah, I've seen it happen before, and I don't blame Arsenal. They are just really unlucky. Yeah they haven't won a trophy in 7 years, but the other clubs that have (other than ManU and Chelsea) are all worse than them and much less consistent. Arsenal is on a ten-year plan to create a great team while paying for a new stadium, and during this time they never fell out of the top 4 and competed in all competitions. That's fine, and the ones bothered the most by it are bandwagon fans and other Prem fans that love criticizing them. Honestly I think it has something to do with the fact that it's always been a team full of foreigners led by a French manager who is a purist and criticizes English route one football. I can't think of any other reason Arsenal and Arsene would be hated so much. Why not hate Chelsea, built by foreign money? Or Liverpool, England's second biggest (and formerly biggest) club? Or ManCity? Or Tottenham? None of those clubs generate nearly as much hate as Arsenal, even though Arsenal has tried to pay for their stadium the right way. People should be rooting for them, not constantly criticizing them and taking so much joy in their trophy drought.
