Here's the space where we come to bury Arsene Wenger, to piss on his 15-year tenure in charge of Arsenal, to question if the persnickety Frenchman has any clue whatsoever.
Actually, as much fun as it is to delight in the failures and foibles of Wenger, let's get a little perspective for a second -- yeah, admittedly not as fun. In the high-stakes game of
Would anyone expect, after losing captain Cesc Fabregas the team wouldn't miss a beat? Did I see a single preseason table prediction that had Arsenal in the top three, let alone winning the league?
And maybe what's transpiring at the Emirates isn't necessarily a bad thing, long term. Since last winning the league in 2003-04 Arseanl hasn't quite bottomed-out. Wenger has kept the team competitive, flashing glimpses of brilliance and most importantly in the top four meaning the Champions League. The grand plan to win the Premier League through a stylish young team helmed by Fabregas didn't work, so the club is now stuck in a weird, limbo-like transition stage, much to the consternation of its fans.
Perhaps now we're seeing the bottom for Arsenal, which translates into -- gasp -- a possible fifth or sixth place finish. The revenue lost from missing out on the Champions League -- still a possibility this season pending Wednesday's match at Udinese -- would hurt the checkbook, though with the sales of Fabregas and probably Samir Nasri, the Gunners shouldn't be too hard hit, not with a 60,000+ seat stadium. That's got to go over well with a bean-counter like Ivan Gazidis, who it must be said seems more concerned with the red and black ink of the bottom line than the on-field product.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's the old adage for a team like Arsenal, that it can't rebuild, it has to reload, but a year away from the Champions League and away from the pressure of winning the Premier League might actually help a young team grow and prune some deadwood in the process, first and foremost Andrey Arshavin.
It's ironic, isn't it, the Russian was the hottest property coming out of Euro 2008 and was the one big name in Europe Wenger opened up the checkbook for to outbid everybody else. Saturday vs. Liverpool had to be the ex-Zenit man's nadir. In the attacking third he completed just 11-of-18 passes and only went 1-for-4 trying to take people off the dribble.
It probably didn't help that Robin van Persie, drifted so far away from the center of goal that Arsenal at times was playing a 4-3-1-2, without a center forward.
Right now, the on-field product for Arsenal is a mess.
Again, the irony here is that the much-maligned goalkeeping and defensive issues haven't been the culprit. Thomas Vermaelen and Premier League debutante Ignasi Miquel made Andy Carroll look like he was playing with a hangover -- very possible. The first Liverpool goal -- off Aaron Ramsey and a weird deflection -- was a quirk and the second, the game was over by then. The backline, with teenager Carl Jenkinson, was solid against Udinese in the midweek, too.
It's Arsenal offense, or total lack thereof is frightening.
Aside from van Persie, assuming Nic Bendtner is sold, the only other option up front is Maroune Chamakh, unless you want to convert Theo Walcott to a center forward or consider youngsters like Ryo Miyaichi or Joel Campbell (work permit). You can pass the ball around forever, but somebody has to score. If you're going to emulate the Barcelona 4-3-3 system, you need a clinical, consistent finisher like Lionel Messi or David Villa. Wenger is putting a lot of faith in Walcott -- his best scoring output is nine in 28 League games last year, or hoping Gervinho can score his share from the opposite wing. If Nasri is sold to Manchester City that's a further 10 goals Arsenal has lost from its sums from last season.
Emmanuel Frimpong in the midfield had the bite of a would-be Roy Keane and the misplaced swagger of an upcoming rapper from the suburbs. Love the fire, but tone it down a bit. People watching the game on Mars saw that second yellow coming. Henri Landsbury, too.
Not sure where these teenagers get that sense of entitlement on the field? It shouldn't be that difficult to preach discipline? Then again, with the entire team full of youngsters with big paycheck and a bigger egos, maybe it's not too crazy to expect. (This would scare me too, Arsenal fans, who is the presence in the locker room to tell the kids to knock the crap off?)
How does Arsenal fix this?
Considering Wenger's lack of enthusiasm for big-buys in the transfer market -- and really who at this point is he going to find to offer immediate assistance? -- this type of game is going to be emblematic of the year, another of growing pains. Barring a massive City/Chelsea splurge, what choice does Arsenal have at this point?
Do you still have faith in Wenger?
I certainly would, even with this current "crisis" on hand at the Emirates. Name a viable replacement? Until then, the talk about getting rid of Wenger is as shortsighted as it is silly.
Unless you're going to replace him, well more specifically the Arsenal shareholders Stan Kroenke, et al, with a rich, free-spending Arab oil baron who'll casually spend $80 on a Kun Aguero without batting an eye, then the gap between the Gunners and the two Manchester clubs is going to consider to swell. That's the issue, when you boil it down, instead of fighting with Chelsea, Manchester United and (at times) Liverpool, the Gunners now have the spending largesse of City to cope with, which might have pushed them farther from the promised land regardless of Wenger's transfer policy.
Arsene Wenger might have done a lot of things wrong the last seven years, but it's not his fault Manchester City was purchased by one of the richest men in the world, now is it?
A Thought on Liverpool:
It goes without saying, it sure must be nice for Kenny Dalglish to be able to bring on Luis Suarez and Raul Meireles in the second half, as Arsenal was wearing down.
Liverpool remains a work in progress, so I'd remain bullish on them since there's lots of talent. That talent, at the moment, doesn't seem on the same page.
Carroll, as noted before, couldn't win a header and kept drifting offside. There seems to be a total lack of chemistry between Stewart Downing and the rest of the team, as he seems to want to go 1-on-1 and launch long shots very often or cross unsuccessfully.
And Charlie Adam? Maybe when Steven Gerrard comes back they can come up with a system where they can swap Adam on to take free kicks and corners and let Stevie G do all the other running.
Dire straights:
Right about Everton could certainly use some, "money for nothing" with its perilous (and humiliating) financial situation -- quick way to make some cash, find a stadium signage sponsor with a little more clout than Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer. Not much to say about the Toffees limp, uninspiring and lifeless showing in their 1-0 loss at Goodison Park to QPR, which were much improved and confident in Week two of the Premier League.
If there's anything for Evertonians to take heed to, it's that the club are notorious slow starters and always peak toward the end of the season under David Moyes, assuming they still have any players left by then. [The last 48 hours certainly helped explain what I wrote over the summer about the club.]
And, hey, all the folks in England are tripping over themselves to praise Ross Barkley. Is it too cynical to think Moyes played him on Saturday in hopes a team with money might consider a last second bid for him?
Chelsea Remains:
Chelsea were, ahem, Chelsea beating West Brom 2-1 on Saturday after falling behind 2-1 on an early Shane Long goal, taking advantage of a gaffe at midfield by Alex. (Doesn't it seem like ex-Reading players make the best transition from Championship to Premier League?)
Never for a second did you expect Chelsea not to win that game. There's still the remnants of that never-say-die team, which always founds a way to get three points at Stamford Bridge.
Not sure what Juan Mata is going to do on his arrival in West London, aside from sit on the bench in an "JM" embroidered track suit. This would have to be marked as another move meant for the future, along with the Lukaku move. That is, unless Salomon Kalou's time at Stamford Bridge is finally over.
That or Roman Abramovich had a hole burning in his pocket until the Luka Modric saga ends on Aug. 31 around midnight.
Around the League:
Bolton put up a good showing, losing 3-2 to Manchester City. Owen Coyle's team looks slick on the ball and should be immensely better when Stuart Holden replaces Nigel Reo-Coker in the midfield. ... Arsenal, Fulham and Swansea are all scoreless in three matches. ... City took care of business and scored all three of its goals with Carlos Tevez off the field -- hello Edin Dzeko. Don't think Roberto Mancini fully needs Samir Nasri, but he would give him an alternate to Yaya Toure in the center of the field. If Gareth Barry starts scoring crackers from outside the box again... City go to White Hart Lane on Sunday. ... I ragged on him last week, so typically Gabriel Agbonlahor scored a pretty sick goal vs. Blackburn Saturday in a 2-1 win. The lone Rovers goal from from my old pal Gamst. Glad to see that. ... Small sample size, but the only club not to allow a goal yet, aside from Spurs who haven't played, is Newcastle United. ... Wolves are 2-0-0 and have amassed a competitive first choice XI who have a general understanding with each other. Who's to say they don't enjoy a Fulham-like season in the top half, though Wayne Hennessey worries me in goal.
Fantasy Team O' the Week:
Again, the official Prem website is having massive issues every time I go to check, so a shout out to my Internet pal @hazemeyer who placed first in week one. Good dude.
Darke Chocolate:
Early into the second half of Arsenal/Liverpool Ian Darke and Steve McManaman somehow started talking about player nutrition in the modern game, triggering Darke to mention how in the 1950s the Chelsea players would, "walk across the street for a roast supper with apple pie and custard."
This delighted me to no end.
And made me quite hungry around 8:42 a.m.
Fox Soccer Zoned:
Not too be too cynical, but the best endorsement bounce Abby Wambach could snare after the Women's World Cup was a painfully embarrassing, low-budget ad for magicjack.com, which aired about 15 times on Fox this weekend?
The less said about FoxSoccer.tv's inability to work for much of Saturday the better.
This evisceration from The Gaffer on EPLTalk.com sums it all up.
One Other Thing:
Everybody loves a good, power saxophone solo, the ones that were so popular in nearly every movie montage of the 1980s. Naturally, leave it up to a French electro band -- M83 -- to bring it back. Don't care if you like the song or hate "bleeps and bloops," from the 3:01-mark onward it's pure, powerhouse, hot, buttered sax.
Labels: Arsenal, arsene wenger, English Premier League, EPL, Monday recaps, Soccer
Good article but awesome pic/caption!