Arsenal’s moment of truth: Evolve or suffer
They say you should never kick a man when he’s down - however, it’s an equal travesty to not consider the reality of the situation, so hear me out before you start screaming.
Arsenal are 16 points behind Manchester United, 13 behind Chelsea. They have a game in hand, but that advantage will mean little when they play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge - on current form, they’d be lucky to get away without conceding more than 2 goals.
A 20 points gap between Arsenal and Manchester United going into January is possible, and likely. You don’t win a league with the injuries and poor start Arsenal had, and you sure as hell don’t win by playing like Arsenal did at Fulham.
Arsenal have, so far, spectacularly failed this season. They’ve failed to match their own standards, they’ve failed to match the expectations put on them by Arsenal fans, and worst of all, they’ve refused to accept that they’re going about it the wrong way.
A manager’s job in front of the media involves protecting his players, so it’s understandable that Wenger prefers to avoid criticising Arsenal in public. But the reality is that Arsenal’s ‘pretty game’ is worth shit - teams have learned how to counter it, and that, coupled with a sensational drop in confidence in the Arsenal camp, has meant that Arsenal are now fighting for the 3rd spot with 5-6 other teams instead of pushing for the title or at least appearing like favourites to end 3rd.
Ferguson has gone through the same period with Manchester United, and him and the club came out stronger for it. It’s not right that Wenger should be dismissed because Arsenal are stuttering - the league is now much more competitive and you pay heavily for your mistakes.
Arsenal’s moment of truth was Fulham - when they finally had to face the reality of playing like a shit team instead of the title contenders that they can be.
Wenger’s moment of truth will be in January, when he’ll need to bring in reinforcements. His moment of truth revolves around clearing out the cruft in the squad and making sure the core of his team - the young gunners - are strong enough, and fit enough, to mount a challenge next season.
Gallas, Toure, Eboue, Lauren, Senderos, Djourou, Flamini, Fabregas, Rosicky, Hleb, Baptista, RVP, Walcott, Diaby, Adebayour - These are the players Wenger will rely on in the next 3 years, and it is important that this lot is uninjured and well-rested next season.
Gilberto is over, so is Henry - I’m sorry if that offends you, but it has to be said - Arsenal need to evolve, and players like Lehmann, Henry, Ljunberg and Gilberto are not part of Arsenal’s future.
See you next year.
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Discussion - 5 Responses
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I totally agree with you. I have been saying it now for a while. Henry is getting past his prime and the prem is passing him by, plus he is just too soft and over-stylish for the English league to be of any threat to defenders. The league has changed so drastically in the past few years and Wenger and Arsenal are just too obstinate to be able to evolve with the league. What justifies his obsession with his current style of play if he is not getting results and we’re in danger of not qualifying for Europe this or next year? I’m not saying TH14 should be offloaded, no rather he should be benched a whole lot more than he is and be replaced by the likes of stokes & bendtner. I’m also not saying AW should be sacked, but he must borrow a leaf from Mourinho and try a little, nay a lot more pragmatism in his style. Then maybe we will start having a little bit more success.
Hmmmm, bold statement about Henry. I agree and disagree. He may be past his prime, but he did lead the league last year with 27 goals, and you never know when he’s going to turn in a hat trick.
The likes of Walcott and Van Persie are definately the future, but Henry can pass, and he can still score. I’d like to reserve judgement for now, but he certainly seems off his form a bit this year.
I have said it for awhile now, and I’m glad people are catching on to it. Henry is done. He should be rested a lot more now. Freddie is done. Gilberto is the worst passer in the premiership. (It used to be Sol).
I’m beginning to think that Tour should be playing Gilberto’s role. Flamini is simply not good enough to start for Arsenal. Arsene raves about Baptista. But why isn’t he giving him a run. He’s certainly not the only good player to sign to play in the Premiership this year. Baptista could have started yesterday in place of Song.
And for goodness sake, Arsene let Freddie be a squad player.
Sometimes in football things do not goaccording to plan, live with it. Arsenal are a great team with great players. With too many variables it juat did no go right. For 37 years i suppported them thru think and thin and god I read the fairweather supporter comments above and just feel like crap. 8 weeks without dream football (and that be no goals i guess) and you want to break down the walls. Something tells me that you would all be happier in the centre of the walls of that horse back stabbing. So piss off back to Chelski and leave the beauty and grace of arsenal. All i read above is give or talke about years of support (in all 3 people making comments). So agian let me reiterate - go oss and support American football because you are cleary in the wrong place. Thta is the good the bad the ugly. It is a pity you dont realise that. Anyhoo enjoy supporting Clelski (or maybe Man U??) - if it fails it looks like Dallas might make the superbowl. Football is all about being uppredictablity so live with that.
Sorry Dear Ahmed Bilal, to continue and not as you say don’t kick someine when thye are down - BUT there is a very close line between madness and genius. I think our footbball is genius - now if you told me that against football it was madness - yes. Poor Senderos is match short and we miss the Genius that is William Gallas. Give them time….