Mick Appleton
Let me start by saying, I, like every other Arsenal fan, hope that we will be parading the Premiership trophy around Islington in May. But I cannot convince myself that this will happen this year or in any other May in the near future if changes are not made at my beloved club. Recently my weekends have been purgatory, the midweeks were not much better before we crashed out of all of the cup competitions, as we staggered from one unconvincing display to another. Even when we do win it has not been with the style or ease to which we have become accustomed under Arsene's leadership.
We find ourselves glorying in beating the world's best side after being outplayed for large spells of the game, having to content ourselves with scraping through in the cups against lower league opposition & in the case of the Champions League, losing to substandard, second rate teams who were summarily dismissed at the E******s. I feel sick to the stomach after watching another insipid performance when AW comes out to tell me "the team showed great character & fight". I have allowed myself several weeks since my last post to digest our recent demise & this is my summary of the problems & shortfalls as I perceive them in the cold light of day.
The current squad is just not good enough regardless of what Arsene says. As soon as we have injuries to any of our main players we find an average player has to take their place. To be fair no one has two players of Cesc's quality in the same position in this country (Barcelona are the only one that springs to mind in world football). Early in the season Nasri did a good job covering but the bottom line is we are not as good when Cesc doesn't play. Jack has had a great season but is at least one season away from being able to fill the void created when Cesc doesn't play. Could someone explain to me how a player is fit enough to sit on the bench but is not fit enough to start? Cesc should have started against Blackburn & no excuse can cover that up. We also have no suitable replacement for Alex Song, the two options AW regularly tries are both woefully short of what is required. Denilson kills the momentum of every move he is involved in, he has no idea how to pass forward, is slow & cannot tackle. Diaby has tons of talent but has a dead battery, like Denilson he is a momentum killer & his lethargy is infuriating.
RVP is world class but you cannot build a team around a player who is out as often as he is. The alternatives when he is unavailable are well short of what is required. Chamakh started the season well but faded badly before Christmas & he hasn't really recovered his confidence or energy since. Definitely not good enough to play in a 4-5-1 system. Bendtner just doesn't have what it takes, he is a legend in his own mind but is nowhere near being good enough to grace our shirt in reality. He can control the ball further than most can kick it & his occasional moments of brilliance are far outweighed by his woeful finishing & poor general all round play. Carlos Vela is never going to make it in this country, he is the new Aliadière, you keep wondering if all of a sudden he will kick on & become a player but it never happens.
Now we're into the more serious areas. The Vermaelen situation has been handled very poorly & it stinks of the same farce that was Tomas Rosicky's mysterious injury. After admitting that he would need a centre back in the January window, Arsene got some brownie points back from me but it was a false promise & the predicted season long lay off for TV followed. This was made worse by the subsequent injury to Djourou which left us with exactly what we dreaded, Cygan & Stepanovs 2, Squillaci & Koscielny. Both have looked ok when partnered with Djourou (yes I remember the debacle at Wembley) but are an accident waiting to happen together. A ball winning man mountain was required in the summer but we got more of the same, players short on stature, confidence & gravitas. The full backs have also been poor in spells this season, with Gibbs I feel we have one side covered but we have no cover for Sagna & Eboue must go.
Lastly we must discuss Arsene's biggest blind spot. In descending order we have an inexperienced kid as number 1, a confidence free zone as number 2, an absolute joke as number 3 & a nowhere man at 4. Mark Schwarzer has his faults but we would be clear in the league by now with him & would probably also have the League Cup in the cabinet. I think Chesney is one for the future but we will never return anywhere near to the 2002-2004 vintage without a proven keeper. If we had swapped our four keepers for Van Der Sar in August we'd be home & hosed by now even with playing Bendtner in goal when Edwin was injured. This cannot continue. The mistakes Almunia is making are like daggers in my heart & I'd rather have a retired Jens than him anytime. At least Jens is vocal enough to get the defence to do what he wants.
I have loved & revered Arsene in his time at our club but someone needs to sit him down for a long talk followed by a good shaking to make him give up on his quest be right, especially when it's to the detriment of Arsenal. He needs to spend the money they say we have to bring in the players we need, experienced winners, not kids or untested nobodies. He also needs new backroom staff with new ideas or he needs to tell us why he isn't doing this. Is it because the money isn't there! Failing that he needs to admit his latest experiment has failed & change the club’s direction or just quit. Whatever he decides to do, I for one am not sure I can take much more of what we're getting at the moment. If we play badly or without passion at least have the good grace to admit it & stop treating us like idiots Arsene.
(Ed’s note – For those of you following the Gooner gambling scheme, check back on Saturday morning when we should have the latest instructions ahead of the Blackpool game)
