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Thursday, December 30, 2010

Wigan 2 Arsenal 2



This wasn’t quite the encore we expected after that magnificient win over Chelsea on Monday night, but in view of our defeat at the same ground last season, it was a step-up of sorts. Too many changes to Monday night’s line-up clearly upset the team’s configuration and it showed last night. Only Fabianski, Koscielny and Sagna retained their places and it was a while naturally before we found any sort of rhythm.
We fell behind to a penalty in the 19th minute after the pace of Charles Nzogbia unsettled our defence and forced Koscielny into a rash challenge. The setback woke us up though and we laid siege-after-siege on the Wigan goalmouth. An alert Andrei Arshavin scored the equalizer with a delightful volley after the Wigan goalie had parried a fierce shot from Bendtner. By the 44th minute, we were ahead after Arshavin (again!) fed Bendtner with a through ball and the big Dane slotted it past the goalie. 
We couldn’t build on our lead in the second half and despite the sending off of Nzogbia for a foolish headbutt on Wilshire, we allowed them to claw their way back into the game with a clueless own-goal from Squillaci off a cornerkick. Two minutes later, there was a strong appeal for a penalty of our own after Tom Cleverly handled Samir Nasri’s penalty in their box, but it wasn’t given.
So we dropped two vital points in what is turning out to be a cut-throat race at the top of the ladder;  thus leaving us in third spot behind the two Manchester teams.

Pick it up...Fabianski does the ball-picking routine twice on the night
Below are the ratings
·         Fabianski (5/10) – His inconsistency came to the fore once more as he failed to deal with the corner that resulted in the own-goal from Squilaci for their equalizer. He was actually called into action much more in this game than against Chelsea the other night, which was a direct consequence of the myriad of changes in our side. Fabianski has to share the blame for the outcome of this game. Not good enough on the night.
·         Eboue (5/10) – Didn’t impress at all, all night. He could be spared some stick given that he was played out of position on the left flank, being not a left-footed player. Someone of his experience ought to have been able to cope better with Nzogbia, but he did not as the Frenchman skinned him over and over all night.
·         Squillaci (5/10) – Very poor game all round by the French veteran. He is surely the weakest link in our defence and there is now no reason for him to be considered ahead of the calm and younger Johann Djourou. He was caught out of position so frequently you would think he hadn’t played a game in England before. Was targeted by the direct running of Nzogbia and Hugo Rodallega as well and he couldn’t cope. The own goal he scored simply summed up his horror-showing on the night.
 Clearly now, it must be apparent to Wenger that Squillaci must always play second and third fiddle to Djourou and Vermaelen when the latter returns. End of story.
·         Koscielny (7/10) – Didn’t put a foot wrong apart from the foul on Nzogbia that drew the penalty in the first half. He recovered well though to put in a fine display and help keep the tepid Wigan at bay. I recollected at least five one-on-one tackles he made to stop them coming face-to-face with Fabianski. Can’t wait for his partnership with Djourou to return as the season unfolds.
·         Sagna (7/10) – He was his usual bucaneering self. Credit to Bacary; he hardly ever has a bad game. Gives 100% always and last night was no exception. With him around, the likes of Eboue will always sit on the bench. Keep it up, tough guy.
·         Denilson (6/10) – After being frozen out of the team for so long, Wenger clearly wanted the likes of him to get a game and do away with the cobwebs. Initially he struggled, but as the game progressed he found his feet and dished out meaty tackles. He is no Alexander Song, but at least he isn’t found wanting either.
·         Diaby (4/10) – Did nothing of note for the 20 odd minutes he was on the pitch before he succumbed to his latest injury and departed for an early bath.
·         Arshavin (7/10) – On account of his superb volley and the assist that allowed Bendtner to score our second goal, he deserves creditable mention. He upped his game for this one and ran at their defence at every opportunity. Second half though he suddenly reverted to his now-familiar disappearing act and went missing. Was substituted unsurprisingly late in the game and he looked angry about that decision. The Russian is gradually losing his first team place.
·         Rosicky (6/10) – The Czech stepped in for the suspended Fabregas and in fairness to him, he tried his best. Put in a hardworking shift and his exquisite pass to Arshavin in the 7th minute was a delight for all purists of the game. Was prominent in our attacks all through the first half but like Arshavin, he faded badly in the second half.
·         Bendtner (6/10) – He, along with Arshavin are almost now definitely squad players and it showed why. He lacked control and his snail-like movement slowed things down upfront. Took his goal well and I stand to be corrected, that ought to be his first of the league this season. Completely fell apart in the second half and it was his lack of form that contributed largely to us not increasing our lead. Surprised that he lasted the entire 90 minutes. I can’t see what his beef is about for not making regular starts. He doesn’t deserve to start and the earlier he’s shipped off as he often threatens, the better indeed.
·         Chamakh (6/10) – Did his best on the night and though he didn’t score, I believe the multiple changes also affected his rhythm. No reason why he shouldn’t start against what should be stronger opponents, Birmingham, next Saturday.

Substitutes
·         Wilshire (7/10) – Came on for the injured Diaby in the 20th minute and held his own despite all sorts of intimidation and harassments. One of those strong-arm tactics by Nzogbia in form of a senseless headbutt, led to the latter’s dismissal in the 77th minute. He was himself substituted in the dying minutes.
·         Nasri (5/10) – He was thrown on after they got their equalizer but it was too little too late to weave his magic and salvage anything. Ought to have won a penalty though after a Wigan defender handled his freekick inside the box.
·         Walcott (5/10) – Came on for an ineffective Arshavin but time was against him.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Two things that changed our season on Monday night


End of an era? Drogba, Lampard and Terry ponder the future after Monday's capitulation
A big, big win like the one over Chelsea will always do wonders for any side. It will change the dynamics now both in the heads and minds of all Arsenal players and in the English premiership. Of greater concern to me though is the state of mind of Arsenal as a team. The psyche of this great, great club.
A huge win like this not only takes the monkey that Cheslea has become this past five years off our backs. It broke a hoodoo that has shrouded the club like a dark mist for the past five seasons. It does wondees for the spirit.
The fact that Arsenal has not been able to sniff the premiership title since we last lifted it in 2004, has been due largely and significantly to the emergence of Roman Abramovich’s supremely , richly assembled coalition of stars at Chelsea. Man Utd has also played their part in denying us, but the role of Chelsea has been much more pronounced.
All the while, the likes of Frank Lampard, John Terry, Wayne Bridge and that man, Didier Drogba took turns to dish out punishment and humiliate us. It was a simple, straightforward case of “might is right”. Drogba in particular was always like a bull in the ring, stirred by the sight of a red flag anytime we lined up against them. His record of 13 goals in 12 games against us was a banner of derision, waved in our faces at every slight chance. But like all good things, they ultimately come to an end.
Well, last night changed all that. The missing ingredients in Arsene Wenger’s perennial youth project – belief and pressing – emerged Monday night to complete the brew and deliver a resounding victory that by all ramifications, has severely damaged Chelsea’s interest in the title race
Remember those two words – belief and pressing.
It was belief in the first place that laid the foundations of our game on the night. As the match kicked off in front of a boisterous full house at the Emirates, it was apparent what Chelsea’s gameplan was. Their tactic, which has served them so well against us in the past, was to soak up all the pressure we could offer and then hit us on the counter at the slightest chance. With Drogba on the pitch and prowling around our defence, it was a tried and trusted approach.
Remember again. Belief and pressing.
As the match unfolded and the intial opening skirmishes settled down, we gradually exerted control which wasn’t too different from what Chelsea expected. Their chance for a breakaway counter attack came in the 24th minute when someone - I think it was Lampard – hit a long ball upfront for the dangerous Drogba to chase. Surely he did and engaged Koscielny in a mad sprint for the ball. The younger Frenchman took him on and actually won the race inside the 18-yard when he edged ahead to kick the ball from the boots of the Ivorien. First blood? Yes indeed but this time it was to us.
Rewind back 21 months ago in March, 2009 when the same Drogba was hit with a long pass out of midfield against us at Wembley in the FA Cup semifinal – the game where Wenger left in-form Andrei Arshavin on the bench until the game was eventually lost.
Back to the Drogba pass. He duely chased the ball down and almost casually brushed aside the half-hearted attentions of Mikael Silvestre. After just five strides, he was face to face and alone with a hapless Fabianski in goal. With all the time in the world, he coolly picked his spot before shooting sweetly into the net for what was to be the winning goal.
Then, as had been the case in all games against Chelsea and Man United, we lacked belief and pressing.
On Monday night, the equation changed at last and to good measure.
By the midway point in the first half, it was becoming clear that we wanted it more. Players in red were flying into tackles and refusing to be pushed off the ball. Song, Fabregas and Wilshire stood up to John Obi Mikel, Michael Essien and Lampard, while though starved of service, Robin Van Persie kept plugging away and switching positions. It may have been Fabregas’ words last week that our problems in big games were psychological and mental. Whatever it was, there was a zip and determination not to yield to Drogba and Chelsea this time around.
Which was what gave Song – of all people – the conviction to roam forward in the 44th minute (a period in games when players’ minds are already in the dressing room) and switch passes with Nasri and Wilshire before receiving the ball and blasting it past Cech. Belief did that to him.
Belief and pressing also gave Walcott the strength and presence of mind to chase down the ricochet from Essien and lay it on for his captain for the second so early in the second half. A minute later, pressing allowed Walcott to intercept and nick the ball from Essien before feeding Fabregas, who, a master of such situations, calmly waited for Walcott’s timed run to return the ball to the Englishman who gracefully blasted the third goal that knocked the stuffing and the fight out of Chelsea.
For all the careful and painstaking planning that Wenger has put into his ‘youth project’, the two ingredients of belief and pressing remained the missing links for so long. They were qualities that no coach can teach any player as they are basically mental. Has the coin finally, finally dropped in the minds of our players?
Fabregas himself explained it after Monday night’s game by declaring that the difference between a good team and a great team is actually very, very small. It’s all in the head.
For all his glittering goalscoring prowess against us, Drogba found no space or time to weave his magic on the night. All the years and years of pain inflicted on us at will and often with arrogance came to a fiitng end because on the day and on the occasion, our players threw away their fear and trepidation of their hoodoo and forced the hand of history.
Belief and pressing have added something new and formidable to Wenger’s youth project. He himself put it in the best words possible by stressing cheekily that, “it is no longer boys against men”.
About time too.

Arsenal 3 Chelsea 1

This game can be best described as a watershed; a changing of guards; a statement of intent; a marker. This clash of titans in all honesty was decided in the space of nine minutes. It repaired years and years of hurt inflicted on us by ‘big, bad’ Chelsea and last night’s response was not only fitting but very well-deserved. So many positives emerged from last night’s win that it is safe – almost – to conclude that if sustained, we would surely be coming to the end of our prolonged and much-hyped trophy drought.
Arsene Wenger rung the changes as we filed out to kickstart our hectic holiday programme. All of those four of those changes truly gave us a much-needed adrenalin shot that laid the foundation for this big, big win.
Back to the nine minutes that changed our season. Alex Song started it in the 44th minute when he began and completed a sweet move that involved him, Samir Nasri, Jack Wilshire and marginally, Cesc Fabregas. Song’s left footed shot into the corner of Petr Cech’s net was no less than we deseved after steadily revving up our control and domination of the match.
Eight minutes into the second half, it was game, set and match. Fabregas combined with Theo Walcott to first score the second and lay the third on for the marauding Englishman. Cue delirium at the Emirates as all Gooners must have been pinching themselves just to make sure they were really witnessing us stuffing the Chavs and leading them by three goals!
Ivanovic’s headed response brought us a bit back to our senses but we did a professional job all round and denied Chelsea up onto the final whistle.

Lift off time..Song leaps with ectasy after smashing the opener
Below are the ratings on a night to remember for all Gooners.

*Fabianski (6/10) – He was largely untroubled and despite facing the ‘dreaded’ Didier Drogba and the returning Frank Lampard, he endured a very hitchfree night. It must have been a measure of how well our tactics worked, because Fabianksi – apart from Ivanovic’s headed goal – hardly made any save of note all night. Nonetheless, it was clear that his confidence levels was much higher and we are now seeing a very different goslkeeper from last season’s nervous wreck.
* Clichy (6/10) – I witnessed for the first time what most fans have been bleating about all season long – Gael Clichy’s patchy form. He was caught out a few times with poor positioning and indecision. Thankfully, his mistakes didn’t prove costly as his co-defenders were up to their very best on the night. Clichy hasn’t suddenly become a bad player. Mehtinks its just a mental thing.
* Koscielny (7/10) – I still rate this guy very much inspite of all the barbs that have ben directed towards him in his very short Arsenal career. Critics seem to conveniently forget that he’s been with us for just five months. Last night though, he was ontop of his game and that largely involved keeping the feared Drogba quiet. Thankfully there was no fear in his approach to the task as he shackled Drogba comfortably and kept the big Ivorien under wraps all night. The only time Drogba managed to escape, he did it from a deadball, where he fed Branislav Ivanovic to head home a riposte in the 57th minute. All in all, Koscielny passed his big test in flying colours.
* Djourou (8/10) – The more I see of this bloke, the more I love him. He has truly emerged as a class act in defence for us this season. His huge, domineering presence works wonders and belies a sharpnes and high mental alertness. He bossed things at the back with panache and the adjectives are just endless in describing his performance. Personally, I see no reason why he shouldn’t be an automatic starter. He’s matured; he’s focused and I lost count of the number of headers, tackles and blocks he made all night. He particularly was the big reason why Fabianksi had so little to do in goal. Keep it up Johann.
* Sagna ((7/10) – Did his usual bit on the right side of defence. Handled anything Chelsea could conjure and pocketed his compatriot, the slippery Florent Malouda. Malouda’s 60th eventual substitution was a consequence of Sagna’s dominance of him as the Chelsea man was clearly not firing at all. Sagna’s overlapping runs also kept Ashley Cole in check and denied the Chelsea fullback any space for his trademark surge on th wings. Very steady work from Bacary.
* Wilshire (6/10) – Didn’t enjoy the latitude to showcase his repertoire of talents, but Jack wasn’t overawed either. Did his best on the night and never tired of running. Gave as good as he got.
* Song (8/10) – Did a yeoman’s job on the night. Apart from his goal, he ticked all the right boxes as he tackled, blocked and kept up a very high standard of play in the middle. It was nice to see that against the combined strength of Essien, Mikel Obi and later Ramires, Song wasn’t out of place at all. He has become very spinal and vital to the way we play. And for his goal? It was borne out of tenacity and it came at a very crucial time of the game, which forced Chelsea to come out of their shell in the second half. It won’t surprise me at all if he ends up with double figures at the end of the season. What a turnaround his game is going through!
*Fabregas (7/10) – El Capitan was in the mood last night and alot of the good stuff we did went through him. On such nights, he is almost unplayable and for someone so young , it is frightening and mindboggling what he will be at the apex of his game. What a fine player he is! What an astute leader of men! It was such a relief to see the smile back on his hairy face.
* Nasri (7/10) – Didn’t score this time, but he was a threat all night long. Never afraid of running at their defence and gave Ashley Cole, Ferreira and later Bosingwas a torrid time. Almost scored with a beautiful chip in the 40th minute which Cech had to stretch to punch clear. He will always be a good outlet for our attack for sure.
*Van Persie (5/10) – Led the attack in the absence of the rested Chamakh and it was good to see that we have options in the team when needed. Didn’t get any room to do his stuff but got involved a lot. It was also apparent to see why he gets injured so often as he still puts himself around recklessly and often needlessly. Hopefully he stays injury-free for rest of season. Hopefully.
* Walcott (8/10) – Along with Song and Fabregas, he was among our men of the match. Troubled the Chelsea defence with his running and bravado. Despite being marked by arguably the best left fullback in the world in Cole, he still skinned the Chelsea man to first set up Fabregas for the second goal and a minute later, scored a beauty himself. Full of goals already this season and he justified Wenger’s decision to start him.


Substitutes
• Chamakh (5/10) – Came on for Van Persie and held up our attack as the game petered out and Chelsea were throwing everything at our defence.
• Diaby (5/10) - Made his entrance to replace Walcott and almost scored as he got on to the end of fine, Wilshire pass. It was his first game in almost three months and as we head into a hectic period, his versatility will come in handy.
• Rosicky (5/10) – Replaced Fabregas and did nothing else expect hit the post late in injury time.

Friday, December 24, 2010

What's coming in from the cold for Arsenal in 2011?

In the year of the World Cup, where the England national team crashed woefully and failed to live up to the hype of its overpaid footballers, one of the factors identified for that abysmal performance was rectified.
Five months after the 2010 World Cup, in which a lack of a winter break was mentioned as one of the reasons why England does poorly at international tournaments, that anomaly was corrected. By nature.
Everyone and anyone who owns a tv set or a radio at home would know by now that over the past fortnight, a blanket of snow has fallen over most of the United Kingdom, bringing normal life as we know it to a virtual standstill. For football fans allover the UK, life cannot be more normal than watching your favourite team play over the weekend and losing yourself in 90 minutes of indulgent passion. Last weekend however, mother nature took away that part of normal life for all football fans, along with huge chunks of the daily life that most British people have known.


Winter blues.....has an unprecedented break changed the equation for Wenger and Arsenal?
For the British football fan however, a weekend without football is as unheard-of as a Christmas without snow. The unthinkable happened last weekend finally – except for fans of Sunderland, Bolton, Blackburn, WestHam, Everton and Manchester City. Those six teams apart, every other team in the English premiership saw no action whatsoever. Including of course, Arsenal.
So, inadvertently, on account of mother nature, the ‘major malaise’ of the English game – a gruelling nine-month season without break -  was remedied.
It may have been unplanned and unforeseen, but coming at the time it did, many of the sides that benefited from this ‘mini-break’, would surely have welcomed it.
At Arsenal specifically, as Arsene Wenger has now revealed, the break allowed more troops to be added to the team. Cesc Fabregas, Abou Diaby, Lukasz Fabianski and even Kieran Gibbs used the opportunity of the break to get over injury woes and work their ways back to the team.
With the prospect of us playing six games over the course of the next two weeks, we will need all hands on deck, literally. So thanks to the ‘mini’ winter break, everyone has rested now for two weeks, before the mad fixture pile-up starts, which traditionally is a period that determines the fate of most teams in the premiership.
By the time we file out against Chelsea at the Emirates on Monday night, it would have been 14 days since we last took to the pitch – enough time to do some soul-searching amongst players and coach. In the hurly-burly world of football where time vanishes in a whirlwind of constant training, travelling and playing, those two weeks must have been heaven-sent.
It remains to be seen which side makes maximum use of that ‘mini-break’.
For Wenger and his troops, the first hurdle is to beat Chelsea on Monday night – pure and simple. This time no excuse can suffice. All the emotional baggage and psychological burdens of previous defeats to Chelsea cannot hold water anymore.
An opportunity to redress past errors has been further smoothened by the unforeseen hand of nature. A two week break in the middle of a season of so much upheaval and inconsistency, is almost too good to be true.
It’s like an insurance policy after a car crash. All the old frailities that have creeped back into our game since the start of the season and cast doubt on the team’s ability to deliver cannot be allowed to persist henceforth.
Because failure to deliver this season, will cast huge question marks on Arsene Wenger’s own ability as a serious, top flight manager. With a potential Carling Cup final within reach now and second place in the league, another trophyless season by May, 2011 will only mean one thing – the beginning of the end of Wenger at Arsenal.
Already, more rumblings have emerged off-field in the boardroom, where the gloomy, looming shadow that is Uzbek magnate, Alisher Usmanov. He has re-emerged to declare his intention to acquire more Arsenal shares. I’m sure it was his statement of intent that forced the hand of Danny Fiszmann to transfer his as well into a trust fund. Not too much of a financial wizard myself, I can only see the recent award of the 2018 World Cup to Russia as the catalyst behind such a move by Usmanov. Imagine what huge public relations coup it would be for the Russian oligarch if they could be controlling the largest club in Europe’s largest city by the time World Cup finals kicks off in Moscow in the summer of 2018. A club where they could call the shots; hire and fire the coach at will; buy any player they want; and still use it to launder their image among its millions of fans around the world.  Imagine that!
For Wenger and the board of Arsenal, events are about to take a turn for the unknown.
All the years of toil, careful planning and sensible house-keeping, along with the legacy Wenger has built in his 14 years at Arsenal will count for nothing, if nothing is added to the team’s trophy cabinet at the end of such an open and unprecedented season. Because success on the field of play will definitely strengthen the hand of this current board and with the considerable weight of American billionaire Stan Kroenke behind them, they all just might be able to withstand the Russians and keep their jobs at the club.
Failure to win though and only God-knows-what will become of the present structure at the club.
The ‘mini break’, welcomed as it seemed, has left very little margin of error for Monsieur Wenger.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

If Wenger’s quitting, watch out for these signs


Punch drunk? The signs are growing

The body speaks a better language than the mouth. Just another way of saying actions speak louder than words.
This will be the case as regards Arsene Wenger, who is so many things to Arsenal football club. All through this season, which he described as a very important one for his ‘young’ team, he has watched as this bunch of players he’s probably invested the biggest amount of faith, have see-sawed between sublime football and implosion.
Arsene Charles Ernest Wenger – the wearer of many caps; the most successful manager of Arsenal football club; the builder of Emirates Stadium; the man behind the careers of scores and scores of fine players like George Weah, Jurgen Klinsmann, Victor Ikpeba and Glenn Hoddle to name just a few; the maker of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp; the Titanium Man (ala Myles Palmer); the beginning and the end of Arsenal’s youth project.  All those accolades and much more belong to this 61 year-old Alsatian whose German parents migrated to Strasbourg in France at the end of World War II.
His story and football CV are all well documented. How he emerged from little-known Nancy, to take  unheralded Monaco to the French title in 1988 and later all the way to the semifinals of the Champions League by 1992. It’s like taking Bolton Wanderers to the semis of Europe’s richest showpiece.
This was after Wenger accused Marseille of bribing opponents to throw league games in order for it to win the French Ligue. Those days, Marseille was the be-all and end-all of French football and despite going on to lift the Champions League with the likes of Marcel Desailly, Ghanaian Abedi Pele and Didier Deschamps, Wenger persisted in his one-man crusade that eventually led to the indictment of Marseille, their suspension from Europe and relegation to the second division. It was a classic David- Goliath story in football terms.
Wenger has built a career on punching above his weight. Taking on the big guys and challenging the establishment. Marseille was the establishment. At least in France. Since their tainted Champions League win in 1993, no other team from France has won it. Only Monaco got to the finals in 2004 where they lost to a rising star, Jose Mourinho and his FC Porto.
Almost a pariah in France after the Marseille scandal, Wenger emigrated to Japan in 1995, where he became the manager of another under-achieving side, Nagoya Grampus. Once again, he weaved his magic and led them to the Emperor’s Cup – the Japanese equivalent of the the FA Cup.
It was while there that he became friends with David Dein, the Jewish-born British aristocrat who also happened to be Vice-Chairman of Arsenal FC. When in 1996, Bruce Rioch was fired from his job as Arsenal manager, Dein had only one candidate as replacement.
So returned Arsene to the mainstream of European soccer. To the newly-formed English Premier League which was about to take soccer by storm and change the face of the game forever.
Once again, the Alsatian was coming to an under-achieving side which was playing second and even third fiddle to establishment teams like Manchester United and Liverpool. A team that romantically shares first name with him. It was a match made by the gods.The rest as they say, is history.
Arsenal was transformed so rapidly and astutely that it became a colossus in England. Winning three premier league titles, playing a brand of football pleasing to the eye which delighted all purists of the game and maintaining an almost-permanent stranglehold on the title with Manchester United in a see-saw duopoly. The achievements of his Invincibles, who famously went on to complete an entire league season without defeat remains the crowning glory of his managerial abilities. It’s something that will probably never be repeated again in any of the big leagues across Europe for a long, long time to come.
Since then however, things have not exactly gone according to plan for the Titanium Man.
Yes, he delivered an impressive stadium in the heart of Europe’s largest city. Yes, he has made millions of pounds for the club, which today stands as the second richest in the world behind only Barcelona.
But it is on the pitch, not outside it, that his legacy as a coach will ultimately be judged. And it’s on that same pitch that things seem to be going pear-shaped. The famed youth project hasn’t metamorphosed into the dream squad he hoped it would. Players in whom he has invested years and years of patient training and careful nurturing have not matured into the gladiators he would have wanted.
People bang on about our lack of silverware year after year, but is it any wonder that Wenger still refuses to splash out and buy the experienced and capable players that will end that drought? Doing so will simply mean that the young players on whom he has staked his name and reputation have failed.
To help the growth of his ‘gunnerlings’, he bought Andrei Arshavin who at that time was the most sought-after European player. But the Russian, to say the least, has gone backwards since he came here more out of disillusion with the calibre of players that surround him.
So after all the false starts on the pitch and perpetual humiliation at the hands of the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United, methinks Wenger may have had it. Looking at him all season long, he conveys a feeling of enough is enough. A feeling of , “I can’t do this anymore”. A sense of resignation.
The childlike, unbridled joy that he always expresses when celebrating Arsenal goals are suddenly missing. It would be almost correct to say he doesn’t care anymore, but let’s spare the man that label.
Ivan Gazidis, Wenger’s hand-picked CEO of Arsenal must know, just like Gooners everywhere have known for years now that this team, these players, this style of play and this present structure under Wenger would not deliver success on the pitch for the next millennium. The league that Wenger came to meet in 1996 has changed. The Chelseas and Manchester Citys have redefined the landscape. They have re-drawn the map. They have raised the bar.
In our last 11 matches against Man Utd and Chelsea, we have lost 10 times! In that period, we only managed a draw, scored five goals and conceded 23! Not too long ago – pre-Mourinho days that is – the same Arsenal had never lost in 17 games to Chelsea!
Playing catch-up may have now worn Wenger out. You can almost see it in his body language.
Now, we are doomed to another punishment at the hands of Barcelona next February when the Champions League resumes and a repeat of our 6-3 humbling last season is again on the cards. Because nothing has changed with Wenger’s team since that defeat. Yes, four, five players have been added to the team but the balance is still not right and the attitude remains one of a defeat-always-waiting-to-happen.
To bring matters to a head, this might also be Cesc Fabregas’ last season. The apple of Wenger’s eyes. The most-promising product of his youth project. It surely must be all too much for one man to accept after years and years of logic-defying toil.
After fourteen years of rolling with the punches at Le Arsenal, even a polymath like Arsene Wenger has limits to his ability. No one knows when it will be, but whenever that limit is reached, watch out for the body language to tell us that the great man is about throwing in the towel. 


Monday, December 20, 2010

The problem with Arsenal – By Cesc Fabregas



Not happy at all...El Capitano
 In the aftermath of the Stoke non-event over the weekend; the first game at the Emirates to be knifed by a snowstorm, it was a golden opportunity for the players, the bench, Arsene Wenger the polymath and the press that feeds off his hands at every opportunity to take stock and look at what we’ve done well and what has been lacking in the season so far.
The Stoke game would have been our 18th of the league and one match later, we would have reached the halfway mark of the league season. That game is against none other than Chelsea – the rolling juggernaut created by Roman Abramovich in 2004 – who have contributed more than any other club to knock us off our perch and keep us trophyless for the past five seasons.
So, what better time to take stock of where we are at the the halfway mark of the season before the business end of things kickoff in the New Year. And who better to put things in perspective, than our skipper himself.
His interview over the weekend very much belled the cat and brought to the fore, issues which Wenger, in his calculating manner and keen sense of double speak, would never mention in a million years.
An intense and passionate character, Cesc laid the blame for all our recent reverses against the likes of Chelsea and Man Utd and lack of progress in the silverware department, on fear. Read him:   
“Sometimes we seemed scared of losing these big games – we don’t really go for it and we’re tempted to drop back and see what the opposition does. We look to see if we are capable of beating them by what they are doing and how good they are on the day. Instead of us going forward, causing them problems and dominating the game ourselves”.

His comments highlighted what can easily be described as a psychological problem that has afflicted the team since Wenger’s youth project started about six years ago. It’s all in the head, Cesc was saying.
He is definitely spot-on in his assessment. Success breeds success. Lack of it leads to self-doubt, uncertainty and ultimately unbelief in your own methods. The lack of success of the youth project has planted great swathes of doubt in the minds of the very players on which the success of the project itself depends. No one knows what Wenger tells his players in training and the control freak that he is, no one outside London Colney will ever have a clue.
Whatever it is however that he feeds them on, the message doesn’t look to be getting through. Because despite the worldwide acclaim that the team often enjoys when they brush opponents aside with often lopsided scorelines, they immediately forget all of Wenger’s tutorials and freeze like rabbits when the likes of Chelsea and Man Utd are lined up in front of them. Add Barcelona to that list as well.
Is it an inferiority complex? Or a second class citizen thing? Methinks that is exactly what Cesc is saying in very diplomatic language.
Wenger’s bunch, contrary to what he keeps telling them day and night, simply cannot believe they are as good as the Drogbas, Lampards, Terrys, Giggs, Rooneys and Iniestas. They cannot believe they are occupying the same pitch as those exalted names and automatically lose confidence in themselves when these names turn up.
Cesc, who along with Andrei Arshavin and Samir Nasri are the only genuine world-class players in Wenger’s team, drives the point home:
“I’m realising more and more that football is all about confidence and mentality. Sometimes you do the right thing, but if people tell you it’s not right, you start believing them even though you were right the first time”.

Because Wenger’s bunch haven’t won a nickel in five years – which for a club of Arsenal’s stature is an eternity – they have slowly lost the belief in their own abilities. Wenger’s tutorials and remonstrations which they are fed on daily, are only good enough to pummel the Blackburns and Blackpools of this world when they get it right. Against the big, battle-hardened brigade from Chelsea and Man Utd, those tutorials become meaningless.
 Wenger of course knows all this but will never, never admit. Faced with a revolt at the June 2009 Supporters’ Forum, where an enraged fan described Mikael Silvestre as ‘geriatric’, Wenger boasted that his youth project would surely deliver at the end of 2009-2010 season. “Don’t judge me now”, he said then, “judge me at the end of 2010 season”.
He was of course forced to eat his words at end of last season, when Arsenal again ended the season empty-handed. His response? The likes of Silvestre were released from the club, while he immediately signed-on Marouane Chamakh as an experienced, hotcake purchase – on a free.
Yes, Chamakh has so far gone onto justify his goalpoacher reputation in world-record time, but he remains just a drop in an ocean of mediocrity. Just like he did with Arshavin two-and-half seasons ago, Wenger dilutes his acquisitions with cheap imitations, which eventually overwhelm the gems he bought. Sooner than later, the gems see no point in fighting and dishing out their best as their efforts eventually amount to little and the team makes little progress. Surrounded by artisans, a genius will ultimately look like the rest of the crowd. Gradually, the lack of success afflicts everyone in the team and therefore where the artisans naturally fail to perform, the genius in their midst loses the motivation to take responsibility and drag the rest through matches.
Cesc himself, despite his 23years of age, has done a lot of dragging-of-the-rest especially since the captaincy was forced upon him exactly two years ago. That task has obviously wearied him, particularly as he’s got zilch to show for it.
Like I said earlier, success breeds more success. Lack of it just creates a poisonous atmosphere where everybody accepts that they are just not enough. It is that feeling of negativity that is currently plaguing this team. That feeling which makes Wenger’s bunch freeze like mice caught in a blaze of lights.
Speaking just days before we meet Chelsea, Cesc’s words are very well-timed. It is now left for his mates to digest them and take a second look at themselves. Otherwise, el capitano will keep casting admiring glances at the likes of Barcelona.
Arsenal football club deserves better than this constant humiliation at the hands of Man Utd, Chelsea, et al.