A bad end to another bad week

An end of term report



A bad end to another bad week

Pat Rice: Has to step down


We only have ourselves to blame. In the first 20 minutes we should have wrapped the game up, but as the old saying goes, if you don’t put the ball in the back of the net when you’re on top you will be punished, and that is exactly what happened.

I admit two of Chavski's goal were a bit dodgy, but it’s now as clear as daylight that the current crop of players are just not good enough and two hidings in a week plus another potential hiding on Saturday against United would be enough to convince the most ardent Gooner it’s clear that things must change - but not Le Boss.

When Chelsea went one up, the game turned into a glorified friendly. The heads dropped again, mistakes were being made and we played into their hands with only Nasri coming out of the game with some credibility. The club as a whole needs major surgery in the summer. It’s evident that we don’t need one or two experienced heads in the squad, but maybe five or six.

As for the Board, I think they are scared of Arsene. He says he doesn’t interfere in the boardroom but I bet he does. The Board don’t have the bottle to turn round and say to him sort it out or get out. Wenger says jump and the Board say how high?

I saw at the weekend that Liverpool where planning a summer clear-out and half of them are players Wenger tried to buy, so why not go back in for them. If its money he’s so worried about they won’t cost as much a the scousers paid for them all. The ones that stood out for me on that list were Babel, Alonso, Skrtel, Riera and Agger. These four would be just what we need to start with. Then should Newcastle go down, young Sebastian Bassong - who to me has been one of their best players this season - would be ideal cover along with Abdoulaye Faye of Stoke. He used to terrorise us when he was at Bolton. He’s in his early 30's and is there to do the dirty work. Pape Diakhate from Dynamo Kiev would provide the muscle we need in defence and I would see him and Bassong as natural successors to Toure and Gallas.

Also, with the inevitable changing of the guard yet again at Stamford Bridge, shoot me for saying this but why not go in for Drogba or Anelka or both, should we sell Adebayor, or maybe even Solomon Kalou. Drogba may be brash and arrogant but he has balls and he’s a bully. I’ve also rated Alex from when he was at PSV. They all have great scoring records against us in the past so why not persuade them to join us. It would look like that we are going Pompey style and recruiting cast-offs from rival clubs but the difference being we could realistically challenge for trophies with these players.

Finally, why not ask Thierry Henry to come back on loan at least for one last crack. We never really got to say our au revoirs and he’s back to his best now. Regarding departures, I think we should loan Rosicky out once/if he does get fit so he gets some game time and slowly bring him back in. Senderos should be moved on as he’s too inconsistent and his performances in Serie A are just as bad.

I also reckon its time to change the goalkeepers. Almunia is good in parts but not a trophy-winning keeper. Fabianski I think has a bad case of the Alex Manninger syndrome, brilliant first season, absolutely pants the next. He had a run in the side and didn’t perform well but the defence didn’t help matters either which brings me to my next item.

Silvestre - good to bring on when you’re 3-0 up and cruising otherwise shouldn’t be anywhere near starting. Denilson - good first two seasons but doesn’t look anywhere near a Premiership midfielder, looks to have forgotten all that Gilberto taught him. Diaby - since that injury at Sunderland, he’s a shadow of his former self and a squad player at best. Alex Song - too inconsistent. He’s improved a bit in the second half of the season but is not a first team starter. Bendtner - good as back up, effective from the bench, but needs a pre-season learning how to score properly.

Finally, I think Pat Rice has to step down. I’m not saying kick him out of the club completely but I’m sure there’s another place for him in the club. We need an assistant who’s younger and has new ideas and is not afraid to stand up to Wenger. Maybe Tony Adams, Martin Keown, or someone like Dennis Bergkamp or Marco van Basten. That way, Wenger could groom them to become the next manager.

If all these players I’ve mentioned start to moan as to why they are not playing regularly then I would sit them down and show them a DVD of this season. The introduction of the players I would like to see at the club would keep them on their toes and they could actually learn something. They’ve had four years to show that they are good enough but have come up short.

Targets for the new term:
Good pre-season, making sure we have no big injuries.
Instill more fighting spirit into the squad by way of new players.
Manager must use the chequebook a lot more.


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