I’m not even going to bother with the ‘best manager we’ve ever had’ disclaimer as this doesn’t exonerate him from criticism. And even if people do choose to criticise him, that in no way indicates that they don’t appreciate everything he has done.

Losing your job. Being dumped by the love of your life. Living in Milton Keynes. All of these things are actually less depressing than what has gone on at The Arsenal over the last seven days. This is going to be hard to write…

North London Downbeat

What a wonderful decade the noughties were. In the ten year spell between 2000 and 2009, the North London derby was something of a formality. A wonderful decade of dominance when we’d be gutted to come away from these games having only won by a single goal margin. On a really bad day we may even have drawn but were usually comforted by the fact Bobby Pires or Patrick Vieira had scored an equaliser to break the poor little hearts of those over-excited spuds. Recently, things haven’t been so peachy in these games, culminating in the abortion at Highbury 2 last weekend.

Naturally, nearly a week on, I’m still downbeat about what transpired as the rest of you. The circumstances and the manner of the defeat were the worst imaginable resulting in easily my lowest point as a gooner. I was barely about 11 when Nayim scored THAT goal in the 1995 ECWC final and cried my eyes out like a newborn child fresh out of womb country. I’m not ashamed to say I was pretty close to tears again on Saturday.

One of the worst things about the whole mess was the fact that it felt like so much more than just another defeat. Make no mistake about it, this was symbolic. Arsenal losing at home to Tottenham for the first time in 17 years is a big deal. No longer are we a vastly superior side to our Seven Sisters neighbours. We may still be ‘better’ but as many have pointed out, they are catching us up rapidly and IF any gap still exists between the two sides, it has narrowed dramatically.

Most worryingly, it’s not simply down to their improvement but our decline too. To put this into context, this was their second consecutive league win over Arsenal having gone close to 11 years without even one! Arsenal have also only won just the one of the last five league encounters. The writing was on the wall with a previous capitulation in this fixture two years ago in that terrible 4-4 draw. All of a sudden we’re not laughing at Tottenham so much anymore.

Leads Labours Lost

Yes, we’ve seen something similar to this before. Two goals to the good with barely enough minutes on the clock to boil an egg and somehow still allowing them equalise. As Squid Boy pointed so poignantly pointed out earlier this week, holding onto a lead has been a fundamental problem for Arsene Wenger’s team for a few years now. Yes, of course they don’t throw away leads in EVERY game but it clearly happens far, far too often.

People wonder why the team seem to have that mental meltdown so often when ahead, switch off and concede ridiculous and crucial goals. Naturally the first place to have a look is at the personnel on the pitch. While Koscielny is currently looking as good as the miscarried love-child of Pascal Cygan and Igors Stepanovs, he’s not solely to blame for all the defensive problems. Everyone can name a top class defender they’d love to see at the back but stick Lucio, Vidic, or Puyol in there and I doubt much will change. I don’t think it’s necessarily about buying for the sake of buying. Wenger has brought in three centre halves in the last two summers and they can’t possibly all be shit. The problem lies primarily in the organisation, discipline, tactics etc. A praise and criticism of Arsenal is that they only know how to play one way; attack. But the team need to learn how to adapt to different situations. That is one of the basics of the modern game. I love watching open attacking football at it’s best but you can’t look at this as the only way to play. Games like Saturday shouldn’t be the sacrifice made for constantly trying to being positive. There needs to be a balance between attacking and defending. This can only be understood through the correct coaching.

I’m loathe to use cliches like ‘grit’ and ‘steele’ but until Wenger cottons on and this team starts showing something by way of resilience, it’s going to be the same story for as long as he is in charge. Saturday was hopefully the Ludovico Technique style eye opener for both the manager and the team. If they don’t learn from this, we may as well all pack up and go home.

Braga BS

There’s nothing like bouncing back from a morale-sapping defeat against your arch rivals than with a comprehensive win in Europe against a piss poor team…. oh!

Tuesday night was pathetic. A poor, uninspired shambles where the team got exactly what they deserved. Nothing.

Arsenal have apparently never won in Portugal and had no better chance of changing that statistic this week. Some people say that there are no easy games at this stage but come on! Braga are a mediocre side currently floundering in mid-table of one of Europe’s least competitive leagues. They have no players that you would give a second thought and cant even build a proper stadium! What they are even doing in the Champions League is anyone’s guess. Yet they still managed to get a result.

Arsene’s excuses unfortunately don’t fly either. To say we were ‘kicked off the pitch’ was a slight exaggeration. A bad tackle saw Eboue stretchered off but the rest of the game was not even close to what the team has experienced domestically. Going down to 10 men for the last few minutes shouldn’t have really been a problem given the gaping chasm in ability between the two sides. We can talk about the penalty decision all we want but let’s face it, this is the only thing we can try and cling onto. One shot on target just about sums up the performance.

Ultimately, Arsenal were undone by two goals on the counter attack which for some bizarre reason Wenger tried to present as some sort of crime. Why should Braga be criticised for this? It seems to be lost on our manager and most of our fans that playing to whatever strengths you have, no matter how limited, is how football matches are ultimately won. The constant complaints about the opposition setting their stall out to defend has become tedious. It’s about time Arsenal figured out how to combat this.

Sad Arse-dreaded Fault

Collectively, the team has been an utter shambles this week. However, individuals should not escape censure. What was Fabregas was thinking for that handball? Chamakh did it too! What was going through their heads? …Koscielny is looking so out of his depth at the minute I’m tempted send a deep sea diver to Highbury 2 to rescue him. …I suggested weeks ago that this new marauding Alex Song is not a good thing for the team and never was this more brutally exposed than in the second half on Saturday. If he had the discipline to simply sit and protect the back four rather than thinking he was Johan Cruyff then we might not be sitting here talking about a loss against f*cking Spurs! As the only recognised defensive midfielder in the squad, he needs to defend.

Bendtner looked about as reliable as a fishnet condom in Portugal. I have no problem with him mouthing off like he does if he actually delivers when given the chance. Against Braga he just embarrassed himself and any point he tried to make about deserving to start lost all credibility. Next time he pipes up, he should watch a DVD of performance on Tuesday. Denilson’s ‘defending’ on Tuesday was simply a rumour but then again, this
is Denilson we’re talking about.

There were clearly others at fault too. People will say that it is counter-productive criticising the players but why should it be? It’s partly their fault for the predicament they find themselves in and it’s not unreasonable that dedicated supporters should be allowed to voice their displeasure. These guys aren’t infants. If they perform badly in their jobs they should be subject to the same scrutiny as anyone else.

Football Moan-ager

Of course, while I think it’s totally fair to chastise the group of muppets masquerading as professional footballers in Arsenal shirts, some blame also needs to fall at the feet of Arsene Wenger. As I stated, Saturday’s humiliation was the ultimate low point in all my time supporting the club and I’m sure many others feel the same. This has led to a vociferous outcry from many fans calling for the manager’s head.

I’m not even going to bother with the ‘best manager we’ve ever had’ disclaimer as this doesn’t exonerate him from criticism. And even if people do choose to criticise him, that in no way indicates that they don’t appreciate everything he has done. Past achievements do not make him immune and you’d be insane to suggest otherwise. If you can’t even comprehend that he might be getting it wrong and start throwing around words like ‘irreplaceable’ like you finally just discovered the ‘I’ section in the dictionary, then there’s no hope for you as a fan of football. Like it or not, he will leave one day.

Personally, I wouldn’t even entertain the possibility of him leaving the club ‘early’ until we finish lower than 6th in the league but you have to understand the frustrations of the Arsenal fans who keep seeing a man failing to rectify the same obvious problems over and over again. Yes, it is easy to say that “None of us know what goes on in training” but I think it’s obvious that defensive coaching is an afterthought – either that or Wenger is not quite the managerial messiah we think he is. No-one who is “taught” anything properly could ever do it  badly as Arsenal defend even if they were mentally retarded. It becomes frustrating seeing a team so good going forward piss away silly points thanks to the ineptitude and lack of organisation of the defence/goalkeepers.

It also becomes quite patronising when Wenger repeatedly comes out with the same excuses after each loss (lack of focus/we must learn etc etc) yet does nothing about it. To say you “don’t understand” how Arsenal repeatedly lose games does not fill me with confidence. Arsene has built a successful team before and I’m convinced he can do it again but if by repeatedly ignoring the obvious, it wont happen in this lifetime or the next.

Injuries

Cesc is out for 2 weeks again. Recurring hamstring blah blah blah etc. As has been said more articulately elsewhere, if he’s hurt, let him rest for as long as is needed. Constantly rushing him back when he’s not ready is only going to lead to more tweaks.

Eboue is out for a month.

Aaron Ramsey this week returned from his long lay off completing 45 minutes against Wolves reserves but no sooner was he back in the famous red and white of Arsenal was he shipped off to Nottingham to pull on the famous red and white of Forest. Many are perplexed by this move but as I said on Twitter (amidst a lot of other garbage) I think it will work out well. People are worried about the rough and tumble of the Championship but a couple of kicks here and there will hopefully toughen Rambo up and when he finally does eturn to Highbury 2 for first team action he’ll be mentally strong enough to compete and not follow the sad and tragic path of Eduardo last season who looked a shell of a man at times.

Looking ahead

Villa tomorrow. Wigan next week in the Carling Cup – which all of a sudden looks all the more appealing as a prospect of success this season. The always insightful @Orbinho on Twitter has pointed out that coincidentally after last week’s horror show, Arsenal’s last defeat at Villa park was after surrendering a 2-0 lead back in 1998 and of course we all know what happened that last time we faced a Wigan team of any description this past April. Not the kind of thing that fills you with confidence if you’re the superstitious sort.

Arsenal simply can’t lose three on the bounce and a much improved performance will be expected given how badly the the last 135 minutes of football have gone. Personally, I’d take a win however it is achieved. Amidst all the doom and gloom, it cannot be forgotten that Arsenal can go top of the table with a three points at Villa, albeit for a few hours. Hopefully, that can be something of a motivator and spark the team into life. It may be overoptimistic to believe that the squad have been working on defensive drills non-stop for the last 48 hours but stranger things have hap… oh, who am I kidding?

In any instance, I REALLY hope I’m sitting here next week talking about the gunners being top of the league and in the semi-final of the only competition we have a pretty good chance of winning.

COME ON THE ARSENAL!!!

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