I normally hate capital letters being used to show shouting or a raised tone of voice. That title isn’t so much shouting, more bellowing through a mega-phone.
It’s hard to know who is at fault for yesterdays pitiful and frankly disgusting result and performance, the players – certainly. The manager, probably.
Don’t you think it gets annoying when you really sick up for a player, time and time again but are eventually let down? Showing your support even though there are fans just waiting to get stuck into that opinion and declare the player the next Ali Dia before listening to a bit of reason, or at least the other perspective.
One player is Emmanuel Eboue. I still remember the sound of those boo’s a couple of seasons back. It was out of order but understandable at the same time, looking at it now he is playing even worse than he was back then but at least he used to display effort and actually try. This time a lack of effort is certainly a factor in his performances and the same can be said for more than a few members of that team out there last night. There is not just an overwhelming feeling of being let down but also anger due to the team not learning their lessons.
How many times has attitude been an issue in the past 12 months? Far too many. Once is too many, but if it occurs you can shrug it off and hope the players learn, but for a team that is supposed to be one of the most intelligent about they learn remarkably little. They are, it seems, just plain thick.
Nicklas Bendtner and Andrey Arshavin didn’t have the best of games either, and that is an understatement. Bendtner had no supply, but didn’t make up for it in work-rate and Arshavin is having a massive crisis of confidence and it is quite sad to see. He is a player capable of the extraordinary but he has to have the confidence to try it, to put it simply it just looks like he has no faith in his ability right now. I hope it returns but there are no signs it will. He did declare at the start of the season that he was in woeful form and his stats to this day beg to differ with that, his performances however back it up no end. He is homesick, I know that, but I do wonder if a change in body language would just pacify the fans just that little bit more. In yesterdays game it did look to me like he worked that little bit harder than usual and early in the second half looked a threat until he got within shooting distance, and that is where you could see the doubt. His reaction was that of a man who simply wanted the ground to swallow him up.
It is down to the manager and the other players/captains/leaders to gee him up, make him feel better and put their faith in him. Where are these eleven captains on the pitch that Wenger talks about? I ain’t seeing them, where is the captain putting an arm around his shoulder and telling him to believe in the ability that got him to this level anyway? That isn’t having a go at Cesc, its more aimed at the manager actually. Arshavin looks lost, unhappy and doubting his ability to play with the 10 team-mates he has on the pitch, he needs support and it looks like he is getting none at all.
I am a great believer in the manager instilling a mentality into a team. The mentality of this team is shocking. Big time charlies who have not got many achievements between them at all yet all have it made for them. They go to training and everything is laid out for them, they go back inside and their dinner is cooked for them, they don’t have to clear up the footballs, cones and goals they have used. They are like royalty. This breeds complacency and its down to the manager to cut that out, stamp it out and kill it before it spreads, it is like a virus. The Arsenal strain of complacency is a virulent, strain of the worst kind. The couple that seem unaffected are not enough.
In a conversation I had recently we wandered onto how footballers are spoiled and it was heartening to know that in his first training session Ryo Myiachi went round and collected all the cones, footballs etc. How nice is it to know that somewhere in that training complex lies a youngster with his feet on the ground? It shouldn’t damn well be like that, there shouldn’t be upstarts who haven’t kicked a first-team ball poncing about in McClaren F1′s, pink boots and acting the next big star – it is everything that is wrong with the game, and this team, and its attitude.
Despite not liking Sir Alex Ferguson much, but respecting the man immensely, one thing that is so noticeable about every single one of his teams is the mentality they have. They are rarely complacent and nearly always get the job done. This Arsenal team are the exact opposite and I’m sorry but a lot of that must come down to Arsene Wenger and him not imposing it on his training staff (to pass onto the youngsters) and his team.
What is worrying for me is the lack of money being spent to supplement the squad, I am not calling for big signings or us to go toe to toe with Man City, I simply want to know where all the profit is going. It really is a matter that is starting to rankle with me because one of the main benefits of the stadium move was to put us on the financial footing to challenge the big guns when it comes to cash. Ok, Chelsea and City have come to town since then but there has been scant investment compared to the profit made and that worries me a hell of a lot.
There is so much to play for this season, yet if the players wanted it that bad they could put so much more into it. The managers pleas of tiredness are a total and utter kop-out. These are athletes and if they were tired from a similar performance at the weekend they shouldn’t have been played at all. You know what Arsene? Why don’t you actually use substitutes to try and change the game back into your favour, recognise the situation developing before it happens and make a change to prevent the worst? Simple management, a bit like the simple mistakes that this side seem to make in every game and fail to learn from. It runs throughout the whole club.
United have a worse team than us this season, yet sit unbeaten. That isn’t through chance or luck, it is down to the mentality, not taking their position for granted and always giving 100%. This team, man for man, are superior, however the bit between the ears is lacking – and not just a little – it is a mile off where it needs to be.
Even last season after a game like this you could be confident we would turn over Ipswich at home after being a goal down in the first leg. Last season we went to Porto and got beaten, I knew we would turn it around and we did. This time however I am not so sure. Defeats to West Brom and Newcastle saw to that. This is the Carling Cup we are talking about, the bottom side in the Championship.
Something is wrong, very wrong and this post has been in the making for some time. The fans reaction to the players was particularly strong according to some eye-witness accounts. The players came over to applaud the fans (something you don’t tend to see all that often) and there were V signs flicked and backs turned. Apparently the fans were all to quick to get onto the players after small mistakes but these are the fans that travel countless miles every season to see the team. They put the effort in and why isn’t it reciprocated? Last season the players treated them to the mother of all capitulations at Wigan where the players had a laugh when Silvestre scored. They weren’t laughing 30 odd minutes later.
Something just seems rotten. The attitude stinks and the man that is paid £5 million a year has to sort it out, and fast. If a player needs ditching, fine, but performances like that are going to change opinions and the more of them there are, the more drastic the changes of opinion will be.
Arsene et.al. You have been warned.
A sick and tired gooner who has just cancelled his barcalona away trip as if they can,t be arsed why the fuck should i
Good article. Am so pissed off with this lot, scoring 1 pen in 2 games v lower league club is not on.
Hurry up Ramsey and take Denilson role but quick.
NB52 had a shocker, AA also.
He will lose the away support and home if this continues
What really got me after last nights game is that only 2 players, Walcott and Eboue, can over to applaud the fans. The rest disappeared down the tunnel as quick as possible.
I am a sick & tired gooner. I am afraid there is only one person responsible that is arsene wenger, all you here from him is we have the quality & the believe.
Well you can’t win matches if you don’t shoot. All the teams we play know that we don’t shoot from outside the box,so they just pack the penalty area. We relay on own goals & penalty’s.Bendtner, Arshavin,& aboue would not get in any other team. He says his looking for another defender, well he will probably wait till the 29th of Jan put in a stupidly low offer and miss out again.
Yours Unhappy
I’ve been to only a handful of away games in recent seasons but our away support has always been brilliant. Judging by what I could hear on the TV last night they were loud throughout the match as usual and quite frankly if they want to show their indignation by turning backs and making the odd jesture then I can understand, not overly constructive but better than booing.
Rarely do I get too worked up when we lose but I found myself visibly angry and I turned off the TV for fear of putting my foot through it when Arsene rolled out the usual rubbish about us not being sharp enough. In my mind the guy is the right man for the job but he needs to tear a strip off some of those players and look at himself.
How our attitude can be so visibly different from game to game is not short of criminal.
a “spark”was missing he says-well,this lot need f***ng jump leads on their testacles!
Good article. Agree with it all. The buck stops with the manager. If any of Utds players consistently played with that “couldn’t be arsed” attitude they would be out the door.
Or we’re not as good as people seem to think. because there have been a lot of excuses over the past years, mostly on our mentalty, that we messed it up. Maybe, it’s that we’re not as good as we think and the other teams are not as bad as we think. Just because we won over Chelsea, doesn’t mean we’re as good as they. We have been bad against them and most other teams for many years now.
STAY AWAY FROM THE NEXT HOME GAME,LET THEM KNOW YOU ARE NOT GONNA TAKE THIS PISS POOR GAME THEY PLAY.
thankyou Lord!!now truth has dawned on us and i am very very happy!in the book,21 irrefutable laws of leadership,John Maxwell says if a team is not performing, you sack the coach.we can talk about defenders,holding midfielders, bendtners,asharvins,smiling Africans,brainless flying wingers,et al but before end of any day,pliz remember the buck stops with the person who is supposed to motivate,encourage,admonish,instruct and even banish them that are of negative attitude!finally John Maxwell will still say that a leader who is 6 out 10 in the leadership scale cant improve another person to become say a 8 out of 10.WHY?you all know why now coz Arsenal fans are very intelligent.good people when you find a rotten fish remembers it started with its head
Its right what you say, where is the leader, Its nice to shout “weve got Cesc Fabregas” but where is his influence when were loosing? I never see him get his head down, shout at his team mates, gee them on when they do something good! You only see any of this from him when were winning, if were not 2-0 up within ten minutes then he starts acting like a scorned schoolboy whos been given detention! We need a new skipper someone with commanding authority, Fab needs to concentrate on playing football as for all his talent he just isnt a leader!
As always, we cant stop being disgruntled because our players always fail to do their work. What i watched yesterday was a complete disadster in performance and i hope we can rise to the occassion in return leg.
@ gooner – if you’ve cancelled your away trip to barca, can i have your ticket?
I hate to read what you say, but agree with every word!
I just cant understand why players paid thousands can be tired after the amount of hours they work; I cant understand why players are not inspired when they get the chance to play; the lack of a tony adams on the pick to pick people up,give them support or a rollocking and get them going is missing;the ability to read the line in defence and also pick up a player rather than let him go then trot back and let another defender take responsibility; maybe thats it as no one wants to take responsibility and to be fair cesc is no captain as you need someone who talks as well as walks the game on the field of play;what happened to defensive coaching at arsenal?! and finally if we cant get work permits for players erm why dont we scout more at home and look at the lower leagues (ian wright was late into the game from greenwich etc and there is a lot of talent about). Ahhh thats better got it off my chest!
Arshavin is paid 75000 pound a week to score goals ,for his employer so what other motivation could he possibly need to get the goals ,any idea Martin ?
100% agree with everything you say Martin. Top work fella’.
It is absolutely down to Wenger to sort this out. We are mentally weak and are not up for the scrap of English Football. This is all down to Wenger.
The fact he was smiling after the game in a patronising way when shaking hands with his opposite number says it all really. He clearly assumes we will brush them aside at home. Well unless we score 3 or more goals that won’t happen as Ipswich will get 1.
Wenger needs to motivate and convince his players they are winners. In the past he has had characters that have done that for them. Adams, Bould, Keown, Parlour, Freddie, vieira….
Now he has a team of spineless boys who are very talented but you need the mental side of the game to be winners. Not one of those players gave a to$$ if we lost last night and that is what hurts most.
Totally agree I have less confidence this season than last season. I hate to say I am not even confident we can turn Ipswich over in the home leg. I dread Barca game on some levels. Although I think we will see all the big time Charlies coming out to play in a ‘Big’ game.
lets credit those who really have had good seasons too (i know youre not saying everyones been bad), im just saying we even had some decent performances last night. djourou again. chesney, walcott, gibbs, wilshere was ok. but yeah the rest were shit and rather than the performance its the shit attitude which bothers people.
like when we have a 1 goal lead we often sit back. who told this player we can defend 1 goal leads should be fucking shot, but so many fucking times we look comfortable then piss it away. its good to have confidence and arrogance in yourself but only if it causes you to fjght to maintain your rightful place at the top. in our case we go the reverse and think were the best and dont need to fight
Wengers tactical knowledge is well gone now and he might be on the training ground but his only skill is for his masters is his accountancy. Continuing profits from supporters that fill the emirites purse each week is keeping his masters quiet! The danger is he runs the whole thing and he cannot find the stars for minimum money anymore but he wants you to believe in him. His motivation to players is ‘ I believe in you’ You can manage like this if you have Man Utd players that have great ‘bottle’ even tho weakness’s are there but they play with their’hearts’ for the club and indeed some lower wages.
i think the problem is and has been for some time the praise that is constantly heaped on these players and the blindless faith in their ability (even if they have none) that they receive from the management.
it seems to have created a sense in some of the players that they ARE Arsenal football club and it is there to provide them.
If we brought in some full blooded players that love to play the game and win and for the current batch to appreciate that there are other players that through sheer will and passion would perform better than our boys last night they might finally get a kick up the a*se that is so depserately needed.
They shouldnt believe that selection and ongoing praise is a given and start to earn their place and the right to wear the famous red and white.
I am a fan of Wenger and will always love the club but when that love is not reciprocated it just works to disappoint the fans who turn on players who then fall more out of touch with the club, its a vicious circle that needs to stop. how? cut loose some dead weight, bring in ambitious players who want to win and not just be mollycoddled.
By playing like that they show no respect for the club, our history and perhaps most importantly the fans.
Is embarrassed at Arsenals performance tonite no passion no comitment team didnt give a stuff tonite fact well done ipswich, wenger half the team need a rocket up their backside because we was quite simply woeful and at this moment in time is ashamed to call myself a supporter and over paid ive seen my gran play better than Arshavin and bendtner wenger get them gone
rant over grrrrrrrrrrr
This team is better than united man for man?
Are you NUTS?
Cesc is the only one that could get into united right now.
I suppose you also think arsenal are on equal grounds wtih barca too? Or do you think you’re better? Deluded. Vidic and Ferdinand are one of the best center backs in the world, van der sar the best goalkeeper, evra one of the top 2 or 3 left backs, rafael would have ebou for lunch. Carrick, fletcher, park, all more disciplined and hardworking than the entire arsenal teams. Scholes would school your midfield. Nani is a GENUINE winger, unlike theo who can only run fast and nasri who’s anonymous on the wings and drifts center. Rooney on form is top 3 players in the world, maybe 5. Berbatov and chicharito are better than any striker arsenal have right now and would each be first striker if they were at arsenal. Even united’s backups like smalling would be first team center backs at arsenal.
@Ryan, I’m sure u watched a different match! Szceszny (flapped abt 5 times & was almost caught out by a brilliant lob frm almost halfway line!), Walcott(was pants thruout), Gibbs(too many basic errors yestrday & kept losing possession). Martin, I agree with this particular post but why did u single out Eboue in ‘that’ paragraph? Denilson, Bendtner, Arshavin played worse yestrday & Eboue wasn’t even the worst, or second worst, player of the back 4 yesterday imho. Those titles shld belong to Koscielny & Gibbs. Personally, I don’t rate Bendtner at all. Denilson, maybe, bt he does too many a simple thing when the game bellows for that little bit extra!
can someone tell Denilson to retire from football?
Infidel, get back to your MU forum.
To all you sick and tired Gooners…
Fuck off and support the spuds!!
All I’ve seen is everyone angry and ripping into the manager and players. Yes I’m pissed off, but bad results happen. That’s life. Nothing is all rainbows. Look at any team in the premier league, and tell me one team that has it much better than us? I see Man Utd fans moaning about poor performances and getting stuffed in the carling cup, Chelsea on their worst run in years, Liverpool doing a Leeds, Man City and their negative football vs us.
What I notice more, is that the biggest moaners are not true fans of the sport. Maybe they don’t play, maybe they just don’t know anything. Everyone in the world will lose games they shouldn’t. That’s why football is do great.
I’m pissed off about our loss, but sack the manager? For who? Sell all the players that played poorly? It’s not football manager, it’s real life. I can’t think of one played that played well, so you want all 11 sold? Get real. Don’t pick on one or two players, it’s a team game.
Instead of moaning, I have a crazy idea, support the team and ALL the players! That’s what you’re meant to be, a supporter. If you continue to moan, I’m sure the Spuds will have you.
Finally, Danish Gooner, stick to football in your own country. Telling our fans to boycott the next game? That’s ridiculous. Or is that so a plastic fan like you maybe able to actually get a ticket? You’re no fan of Arsenal.
i agree with Tom. this backlash should be contained and any team will go through a curve in form.
but i must say that a club of such stature should have some sorta of fire and identity in the form of team spirit and dominance. confidence, let alone is low now and there should be someone who will smash some furnitures and unleash his fury. think ferguson.
i remember wenger having a go at the players during half time and they went out to win the game. fabregas said the gaffer was mad like he has never seen before. maybe wenger should risk his blood pressure more. if not, a leader of some sort should stand up now.
get behind the players and the team. they need us now. imagine reading such tirade and then having to go play 90 mins. they are professionals, and more of a human.