Blackburn 4 – Arsenal 3: Same old Arsenal, Always Imploding

By: Darren_v | September 17th, 2011

Well what do you say after a game like that? It was remarkable and completely not unexpected, all at the same time. Coming into this game, all the talk was about building our confidence on two wins in row, and about building some consistency in our game.

We have to show consistency and attitude and quality

The last time Arsenal made the trek to the North-East, a calamitous but not all together surprising thrashing for Manchester United occurred. It was painful and shattering for anyone associated with Arsenal, but with the likes of Coquelin, Jenkinson, Lansbury, and Oxlade-Chamberlain playing we were able to console ourselves that we were ripe for the pickings and some new players would solve our issues. Coming off a win at home to Swansea and a hard-fought away draw to German champion’s Borussia Dortmund, and now armed with five new players all boasting of leadership qualities and international experience and an opponent in the dregs of the Premiership, Arsenal were sure of much better experience in Lancashire.

Arsenal started the game with a couple of changes to the squad that went to Germany, giving Andrei Arshavin the start over Theo Walcott in attack with Andre Santos getting his full debut in place of Kieran Gibbs. The game started with Arsenal attacking on the right flank with Gervinho and Sagna looking to give Givet a long afternoon with Junior Holiett not bothering to track back. Crosses came in, with Blackburn clearing them easily.

And then in the 10th minute Song found space in the middle and sent in a delightful through ball on the outside of Scott Dann and into the diagonal run of Gervinho who’s cut back shot left Paul Robinson rooted to the spot for a terrific goal, giving the Ivorian his first professional goal for Arsenal and showing us what we missed with his three game ban thanks to Joey Barton. Shorty afterwards Christopher Samba was all alone at the back post from a long Blackburn free kick but thankfully wasted it over the bar. A warning sign of things to come, if we needed more warning for a typical Blackburn attack. Immediately after that, Arshavin had a volley from 20 yards at left bottom post well saved which was followed by another Robinson save on Gervinho. Another corner had Blackburn breaking hard and fast which was only stopped by a terrific last man tackle courtesy of new recruit, Andre Santos.

Arsenal were dominating and it was massively disappointing when seemingly out of nothing Holiett sent in Yakubu all alone, and his one touch was sent into the back of the net and past an onrushing Szczesny. With Mertesacker caught rooted to the spot, Koscielny not tracking Yakubu and Santos doing his best Clichy-like impression of an offside trap, it was simple basic defending costing Arsenal. A few minutes later, another long Free kick by Blackburn showed some unsure keeping by Szczesny and the resulting corner had Samba heading over the bar yet again. Arsenal continued to dominate and with Blackburn not pressing at all, Song and Arteta were having loads of time in the middle of the park, picking out runners. This would lead to Arsenal retaking the lead in the 34th minute when another long through ball from Song down the right flank found Aaron Ramsey in the Blackburn box, who’s cut back pass found the onrushing Mikel Arteta all alone from 12 yards and he calmly side footed his shot into the top netting for his first Arsenal goal. In the dying minutes of the first half Arshavin broke down the left side from half, passed inside for Gervinho who cut in and had Van Persie wide open to finish off a lovely move… except he elected to hold on to the ball and have his own shot deflected for a corner. The look Van Persie gave Gervinho could have cut ice. Half time came with Arsenal looking good value for the 2-1 lead and Blackburn only finding any type of danger through Canadian Junior Holiett and free kicks.

Half-Time Stats

Blackburn    Arsenal
74% Pass accuracy 86%
70% Ariel duals 30%
4    Shots 6
1       On Target    4
34%    Possession 66%

Cool as you like

When the 2nd half began, it was obvious Blackburn had been instructed to press higher up the pitch and it paid dividends immediately, with Arshavin conceding a free kick near the left byline on the edge of the box. Rochina chipped the free kick into the box, RVP jumped for it and missed at the near post and the ball bundled off Alex Song into the back of the net for a harsh own goal and a 2-2 scoreline. Bacary Sagna would then be forced off through an injury occurring in the first half with Johan Djourou replacing him, and after Holiett’s shot was well save when played through by Koscielny, Djourou showed us why he should never play fullback by earning a yellow to avoid allowing Holiett to walk past him. And then in the 59th minute, Blackburn earned a corner that went over Koscielny missed header to the back post, giving Nzonzi time to bring down and flash back across the goal where Yakubu turned it into the back of the net. Yes he was offside, but you have to wonder why Santos was not level with Van Persie standing right in front of him yet again, and you could hardly say it wasn’t just deserts for Arsenal’s inept set piece defending.

The misery didn’t end there however. Blackburn had started to sit back to defend the lead and had been looking dangerous on the counter. From an Arsenal corner kick, substitute Martin Olsson broke down the right hand side and a very poor sliding tackle by Djourou had him break loose and into the Arsenal box, where he cut by Song and crossed to the middle of the box for Koscielny to turn into his own net for a 4-2 lead. Arsenal’s third own goal in five games, and stuff story books are made of, only this was non-fiction.

In a sign of desperation, Wenger brought on the in-form Marouane Chamahk who last scored in the Premiership November 27, 2010 switching to a 4-4-2 formation. Captain Robin Van Persie did his best to salvage a point with a couple of chances well saved by Robinson before sending in a delightful cross in from the left and Chamahk made every gooner eat their words at the sight of him on the pitch as he expertly headed home a terrific goal between two defenders, and gave life to the comeback. Injury time showed four minutes, and in those minutes Mertesacker header over at the back post from 6 yards, Van Persie had yet another attempt thwarted, Chamahk headed wide from 10 yards and Walcott fluffed his chance from a desperate long ball, but the game ended Blackburn 4 Arsenal 3.

Full Time Stats
Blackburn         Arsenal
71% Pass accuracy 86%
48% Ariel duals    52%
7    Shots          16
4       On target 9
31%     Possession    69%

Which excuse to use today? I could tell you Arsenal were cruelly unlucky, conceding two own goals. I could tell you Arsenal dominated the game and should have won had we finished off our chances. I could blame Gervinho for not laying that pass off to Van Persie to go into half time with a two goal lead. I could argue the defensive frailties are a cause of so many new players being integrated at the same time and they need to learn each others game. But in the end they are all excuses, and I turned the TV off not even being upset, and that’s probably the most damning thing I can say. Arsenal were unlucky, but we always seem to be, just like the two soft penalties given at Newcastle last year and don’t good squad make their own luck? Borussia Dortmund dominated Arsenal mid-week and didn’t win, and we claimed it a good point. Fact is, you can dominate and not win if you are not ruthless in front of goal, and Arsenal are rarely ruthless. We could blame the new players and needing time to gel, but those new players should have been bought in June and given preseason to learn how to play together. And even still, our defensive frailties are nothing new. Our back line right today was Sagna, Santos, Koscielny and Mertesacker, players who we would all say are good individual players. Gallas, Toure, Clichy, Gilberto, you name them, were all quality players, but the the problem has always been the same. We break down defensively, and are suspect to soft goals. Arsenal used to be a club that was absolutely feared week in and week out to be played against. Now clubs look forward to the name Arsenal on the fixture list. Blackburn were a club in disarray and their supporters wanting their manager sacked. They had won two of their last 18 games, and against Arsenal today they scored more goals than their first four games this season combined. Meanwhile Arsenal have only won three of their last 16 league games. In five games this season Arsenal have recorded 4 points and have conceded 14 goals, nearly 3 goals against a game. Arsenal have changed personnel, and tactics, and the issues remain the same. Sure, things may go well for a few games again, and we can talk about inane and unquantifiable concepts like ‘attitude, consistency, belief and confidence’ and how they have changed, but we will all sit and wait until the next freak game to shatter our faith in this club yet again, despite the warning signs in the games before. Again. There has only been one constant through this all, and even the most ardent lover of Arsene Wenger must surely realize it now.

Player Ratings:

Szczesny – 6. He made a couple good stops on Junior Holiett, but looked unsure in dealing with the long free kicks. Didn’t have the best of games, despite not being at fault for any goals.

Sagna – 6. Struggled a bit with Holiett, who was the only concern during open play for Blackburn, and combined nicely with Gervinho in attack. Injury forced off our best defender and one hopes it’s not serious as cover is sparse for the right back position.

Mertesacker – 5.5. Wasn’t commanding at the back, and out of position for the first goal and missed a wide open header to tie the game late on. Those who hate the big German will use this game to prove their point.

Koscielny – 5. Had a bad game all around. Was partially at fault for both Yakubu goals, and conceded an own goal. He slipped a few times on a slick surface and just plain struggled, which is a shame considering his outstanding performance midweek. Hope he bounces back quickly.

Santos – 6. This is a hard one, and I’ll likely take some flak for his rating. On one hand he looked rusty and out of sync with the rest of the backline, playing Yakubu onside for the first goal, and should’ve been 2 feet higher up the pitch for the 2nd goal, making it even more blatantly obvious Yakubu was offside. He really had no threat to deal with on his side, but he had a few very nice crosses and through balls. He completed 4 key passes however, and had a team high 7 interceptions combined with a clearance and the only Arsenal blocked shot. He wasn’t good, but he wasn’t as bad as he looked either. His work-rate better pick up.

Song – 6.5. Tale of two halves for the Cameroon man. Terrific the first half with lots of time on the ball, claiming an assist and a beauty ball for Ramsey to set up the second. Had five tackles all game, but in the 2nd half conceded an own goal rather harshly, and went missing in action, prompting Wenger to take him off for Chamahk in the end.

Ramsey – 7. Decent display coming off of an injury for the Welsh captain. Had a lovely assist and motored around the pitch nicely. Not a great defensive player however.

Arteta – 7. Pulled the strings in the first half and scored his first for Arsenal. Had four key passes and completed 94% of his passes and drew fouls well. Defensively was ok, with 3 tackles and 2 interceptions but seems to disappear when clubs press high up the pitch.

Arshavin – 6.5. A quite but decent game for Arshavin and basically what we come to expect from him now. Goes missing at times but pops up here and there with some quality flashes and some head-scratching giveaways. Ran with the ball well, wish he would be played centrally.

Gervinho – 7.5. He is a danger every time he gets the ball, and runs well off the ball. Scored a beauty goal, but his passing is very weak which is a concern.

Van Persie – 7.5 MOTM. I know a lot of people will not agree with him getting man of the match, and your arguments are likely valid. He was one of a few players that possibly could’ve had it. Partially at fault for Song’s own goal by missing the header, but he was one of a few making things happen when down. Without Paul Robinson making some terrific saves on RVP for the first time in his career, RVP would’ve scored a few. A beauty cross for Chamakh’s goal. Our best player gets isolated for stretches of the game, and that’s never a good thing.

Djourou – 4.5. I feel bad for him. Played out of position at Right back against Blackburn’s best player and got brutally exposed as a CB playing a position he has no business playing. It’s shocking to know that he used to be a defensive midfielder. Poor passing and crossing and looked cumbersome. He played so well last year, what in the world happened to him?

Walcott – 6.5. Decent spell coming on to help the attack. His crosses were good, and had a chance to draw at the death but couldn’t finish.

Chamahk – 7. He scored a great headed goal and missed another great opportunity. Takes a lot of flak from fans, let’s hope this goal pushes him on to more.

Next up, Arsenal v Shrewsbury in the Carling Cup, Tuesday September 20, 2011. Can’t wait for the next ‘remarkable’ game.

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Category: Arsenal News

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Andylowe14

defending starts with the midfield and i think we need to start defending as a team, the whole team phychology needs to be less aggressive because alright they were own goals, but the opposition has to get into a dangerous area to cause the confusion that creates the own goals. Having said that, if those bits of luck didnt go against us, we would be saying great performance considering we dominated the game in terms of possesion and chances created..
Orion

"Whatever you think of the current squad, they are better than 17th. They are better than a six goal defeat at Old Trafford and they are better than the Premiership`s bottom side. Yet for the last seven months, limited teams are time and again able to beat us with simple tactics. This means that the manager is currently not getting the best out of the players he has and hasn`t been for some months now. With every comedy goal concession and every boomerang result, we invite more pressure onto ourselves as teams face us with zest and confidence. They know that if we go ahead- even by as much as four goals- they have every chance of getting a result. I can`t pretend to know exactly what the problems are. We all wanted a big, domineering centre half. We bought a 6 foot 6 German international. We all wanted an experienced left back. We bought one. Defending is ultimately about more than just buying defenders though. It`s about more than just the back four and too many just aren`t taking the responsibility of defending from the front. I can`t pretend to know the answers. I don`t think any of us can. But the manager has to find them and sort them. Very, very soon. LD"

You can follow Tim Stillman on Twitter @LittleDutchVA:twitter
Tfyoung

At least we didn't spend 50M for Torres!
Gigi_man

i dont want to sound disrespectful and more important I dont want to put down the wrong people, but checking the official site to see the names of the physios and medical staff, so I could yell their names later, I looked for a def or midf or attack coach, there are non, no specialists,

However something interesting about Ben Knapper, his role is to tape and analyze and bring to AW the stats and performances and singning targets....he was born in 87.

Isnt he too young...?
Casimir

If he is the main guy, then I would say yes, since that is surprisingly younger than me and how the heck does a 24 y/o have the experience and knowledge to scout football talents effectively? As just a junior scout, sure, but if that's the guy pushing decisions, good Lord we're in a mess.
Gigi_man

i think we have quality we just dont know how to show it and thats a coach job.
i also think that we have the wrong attitude....coach job?
definitely consistent in poor defence

this was supposed to be a reply to someone talking about consistency and attitude, disqus must love Blackburn
formos

I'm shaking my head whilst watching Manure vs. Chelsea. I see the players we missed through being too cheapskate. My heart is beading seeing Phil Jones, Mata, Chris Smalling performing so well, especially Jones. He was exactly what we needed.

Could you Arsenal team with at least two of the mentioned? Or at least just Jones, players like him are very rare - I have no doubt that in few years he will become best EPL defender for years to come.

I think board need to bring someone who will buy players for Wenger and will do it decisively! Wenger would still suggest players he likes and would recognise weakness in his team, but actual negotiations would be done by someone else. I hate loosing on such players just because they ask few quid more!
Casimir

Can't blame us for being cheap when Mata has said in the media he chose Chelsea over us because he felt that was the better option to win trophies at. That is the perception of the club right now: a trophy-less one.
formos

Mata's response was a direct result of Arsenal club indecisiveness. Had they acted swiftly selling both Fabregas and Nasri (or offering Nasri contract way beffore to keep him in first place and telling Fabregas to come out clean and tell what he wants, also owner stating that he would not sell Fab's no matter what unless Barca cough up the money he is worth, like ManU did with C.Ronaldo), then adding Jones + another CD (Hummels, Mertersaker), proper LB, Gervinho, M'vila, Arteta.... selling Arshavin and other players that don't cut anymore at highest levels.... Mata would have seen Arsenal as a place to win trophies.
Now you are right, Arsenal is trophy-less :(
jturphy

How can you say Arshavin can't compete at the highest level? He has been one of the hardest working, best players we have had for the past 6 or 7 months.
Casimir

I wouldn't say hardest working, he still charlie brown walks too often, but he is still one of Europe's most creative forwards with flair. Russia wouldn't be half the threat they are internationally without him.
formos

I say this because his contribution at Arsenal seems hit nearly full stop. At national team he feels somehow rejuvenated. Reason for this might be position he is playing there or perception of him being the best player no matter what, it might give confidence. But at Arsenal he plays slightly of his favoured position, is not the best by default and it shows in his lack of delivery. I honestly think that Arsenal could be better without half-arsed-effort player sitting on 4+ mil p/y. He needs to step up, seriously.
Patoux21

I will receive the wrath of all Ashavin fanatics (so many here) here but he simply isn't a top quality player. He could be if he was more consistent and not just playing well every 5 games. And please at least be honest don't say he's a hard working player. Look at Rooney playing to see what hard and team work mean.
Gigi_man

AW is a great scout, he smells talent. I dont know if a good strategy wise guy he is.
I remember that UCL final, Henry had blocks everywhere and after Lehman being sent out he replaces a goalie for Pires, the man I thought could have done it for us.
Bad strategy.

We saw two teamsyesterday, and something happened, maybe the "father figure" spoke to the kids, instaed of the cold hearted bastard coach with calculated instructions.

Maybe AW needs to be the honorary guru to consult, leave at a post like that, but I think his days at the whels should be over.

AGAIN, unless they give me a world class coach I still say keep AW.

but I am clueless at how could yesterday happened, he recognized that defence was not focused, but they WERE! in the 1st half.

Arseblog is kind of in the Homey train today.

Attitude, mental, ...how to---? no clue..
GH

"We have to show consistency and attitude and quality", when a team lacks quality and attitude (I disagree that we are inconsistent, our defense is just consistently shaky), we are no more than an relegating team.

At one point, I just hope that we can defend like Blackburn did between 45 and 60 minutes of the game. Yet, we can't.
bobj canada

it was though, nice to see Chamakh get a goal
Gunnerlurker

The negatives are pretty obvious and I have nothing new to say. So we are not nearly as good as we should be and the only question is: Is this largely because we do not have enough talent or more because we mishandled the transfer window? Is this team is capable of challenging in current Champions league group, both cups, and also be challenging again for fourth in Premier league? My answer is to argue the talent is there.

Keeper: Wojo against Germany was outstanding. Fabianski pre-injury looked solid. I definitely wouldn't be looking for a keeper to fix the squad.

Defenders: Sagna obviously not a problem. Santos or Gibbs? Neither proven so some concern. In the middle two of Kos TV5, Djouorou, and Mert forming a successful partnership with a solid back up? I am actually entirely optimistic that this will happen.

Midfield: Arteta has played a couple of great first halves for us. I like him in an Arsenal jersey very much. Song great; Wilshire huge upside. Ramsey, Frimpong still "maybes" but maybe a big future for one or both.

Wingers: two of Gervinho, Arshavin, Benayoun and Walcott. All maddeningly inconsistent but lots of talent.

Striker: Van Perise and maybe we need one more. Don't know about Park or Chamakh.

Prediction: I am still the anti-Homey. Wegner leads us to a successful season despite the horrors of far. We all learn to love the creativity of the Wilshire/Arteta combo. Man U was the low of the old roster; Blackburn for the new. Many great Gunner wins over the next several months and no more "own goal doubles" all season.

Sorry for the length but I really want to defend the talent and potential of the squad as currently constructed.
Orion

Amazingly, I'm still anti-Homey too. Its quite a shock really; I rarely have any patience with anything that gets on my nerves. Anyway, I do agree with you. I do not believe we can fix the problem with a change in personnel. Every single player has shown a flash of brilliance in his Arsenal career, except for the new boys of course; its too early to judge. But I think that this downward spiral, or mess, or hell, or whatever we call it, has two plausable conclusions.

Either the team picks up some confidence, form, and hopefully with the imminent arrivals of Wilshere and Vermaelen, some results. Or, since those arrivals might be too far away, Wenger and company leave. Even though the board seems to be behind Wenger, I don't think that they'll settle for a mid-table finish. If they would still be against sacking the manager, then I believe they would heed to fan pressure at some point. How long this may take is another story.

I'm sure we would all agree that it hurts to see the team we love like this. I found it very difficult to bear the second half yesterday. Right up there with the United and Barcelona "episodes". It hurts more when we look at the league table and find ourselves in 17th place. But it may not be too late. Does the future look bleak, or promising? We can only wait, see, and hope.

Come on Arsenal.
Georgedb1

What could possibly make you optimistic about our defense is beyond me. Vermalean coming back from injury and learning to work with Mert is the only glimmer of hope, but hardly is it anything resembling optimism. But vermalean is not coming back for a while, in any event. Meanwhile AW is looking like he has no idea that defense is a part of football tactics. It's easy to say "no more own goal doubles" but the fact is that that's just wishful thinking! We might not get 2 own goals in a game anymore but we look like we have a promising future of defensive lapses and gafs leading to humiliating ties or losses.

The disappointing part is that you can watch mid table teams for years and only see 1 or 2 embarrassing own goals. But somehow at Arsenal, supposedly a top club, we barely score more goals against the other side. Simply unbleivable.

I suggest bunker down boys, because we have a difficult season ahead of us. If we're having trouble taking points from the likes of Blackburn and Swansea, thats never a sign of impending glory.

GOONS FO LYF!
Arsenal Fan

Don't worry about Wenger's security. The board will NEVER move on him. Kroenke will NEVER fire him. And he will never leave his $6 million annual salary. (Just sayin). It will be interesting to see what changes you recommend after our October 29th game against Chelsea and we have 8 points in ten games. Sure, let's bunker down boys!! It's just one bad year! 14th place! But next year when we lose RVP and are out of CL things will get better. I think. No mid week stressful matches. Let's just focus on top half of table for next year.
Georgedb1

I think you misunderstood my comments, because my comments agree with your premises and are supposed to be critical of "Gunnerlurker's" optimism about the current squad. I said "bunker down boys" because there is a long time until January, for which I'm willing to bet Arsene is already planning. Bunker down because we're going to have to take a lot of nonsense until meanigful change can come, and well, unless you're planning to jump ship, there is nothing else to do but accept that we're going to have to work with what we have for a while.
Arsenal Fan

Well, we can at least aspire to the "Magic of The Carling Cup". United, City and Chelsea won't take it too seriously. But, we still have Spuds and Pool to worry about. It's at least conceivable we could do it!

If we're looking for optimism, just consider that Chelsea in in 4th and The Arsenal in 17th are only separated by 6 points. 33 games to make up six points. Come on you Gooners.
Bertrand

I agree with you. Although we have been living on potential and talent for far too long.
bobj canada

Why do we have no focus, no consistancy? Why is no discpline; stupid penalties, stupid errors? Who brought in all these unfocussed, inconsistant, undiscplined players?
We are supposed to have one of the greatest managers in the world; why cannot he intstill some focus, consitancy, discpline into his players?

AW has done some great things for Arsenal but right about now they seem like ancient history; he is now turning us into a joke. Look at what we are; this is AW's team that he has been building for years. This is all his making.
SJGgumby

I think the question now is how much time Wenger deserves to turn this around. Does he get the full rest of the year? Does he get through December and then, if we (and he) still looks so lost, do we bring in a new boss and give him a quota of money to start re-shaping the team in January? Does Wenger's history earn him another year after this? I'm really not sure what the answer is - I think a lot of it depends on exactly what happens in the next couple of months.
Kas123

Gumby, you're discussing changes that would be made at any other club under similar circumstances. But Arsenal isn't any other team, and therefore Wenger will be given as much time as he wants. If he leaves, he'll be the one walking away and not Arsenal firing him. So either pray for us getting better or prepare for continued decline.
FredJacob

Djourou reaction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
FredJacob

Talking crap i blame him for the 4 goal that was the dumbest sliding tackle ihave ever seen
Patoux21

When you don't convert your chances at least you would expect to be strong defensively if you want to have a chance to win ... Conceiding 4 goals! If it was only this game 14 goals in 5 games
FredJacob

Dont even get me started on missing chances, Gervinho is one creedy bitch still can believe he didnt give RVP the ball, and when he does decide to pass he gave Arshavin the worsed ball ever
Bumblefock

the tv broadcast should put benny hill theme music over our defensive work
FredJacob

i Really hope we get our shit together before Tottenham next 2 weeks
susu kochicheril

heck yes.
FredJacob

How badly did Liverpool start last year after 5 games

they end up finish 6
Orion

They changed coaches midway through the season. Sold their star striker and used that money to rebuild that squad. With this current board, would you believe we sold someone like RvP (who's in his penultimate year in his contract) and rebuild the team? I don't think so. Liverpool's problem was in the squad. Ours is higher up.
FredJacob

No i wasn't talking about rebuilding, Liverpool started Horrible last year also so i just trying to figure out were we would finish if we eventually start to play like the real Arsenal
Orion

The real Arsenal is long gone my friend.
FredJacob

Nah i will never lose hope
_Bruce

Compare this team to the invincibles. Is there a single player in any position (even RVP :( ) as good as the players of that team? Arguably Szczesny is near the same level as Jens was. Who the F*&% all else?

Maybe the invicibles are once in a lifetime. But how could we lose so much quality in such a short span?
_Bruce

And the question is loss of quality, not loss of particular players.
yahoo-OWZQQTB5RNGGJB7SYWS2WG6PYM

This team will start to win games again, and then in about a month or so they will get hot, back to their usual form. The defensive talent is there, they just need more time. Wenger's fault for waiting till the last minute to upgrade the defense, but long term it will help. With Song and Gervinho back, we are a different team than the one that lost to ManU. Only thing we can do is move forward.
Gigi_man

Thx for the recap, generally agree with the ratings, I was betting on Santos..ouch- Feel rally bad for Kos what happened there?? and for Song...

over a year ago I mentioned that if we kept our way, we should remember Leeds and how they went to UCL semi finals to relegation in one season.
One reply was that they were in worst financial shape than us.
I dont know about comparing fianances, but I think , and hope not, I was being prophetic.

I am franlkly clueless, we had an excuse of a lacking players type, on that 8-2 , but today?, we had all our new boys, and we got this¿

Is it Mental? Traore is dewfending well now, and Clichy is keeping clean sheets¿¿ it IS mental or we do have a really awful defence staff, Keown please!!!!

Concusion, I am clueless, dont know where to look now for an explanation...its so sad...
Seriously?

Defending, scoring goals, and winning are all related to attitude. The attitude of these players is far too nonchalant. Is it Wenger's arrogance that makes them feel overconfident and entitled? It has a lot to do with it. I am a diehard supporter of AW, but having losses like this points to bad management, especially since the team continues to make the same mental mistakes. Every team knows now, press Arsenal higher up the field and you will get goals and positive results against the Gunners. No defending attitude during training translates to an inability to hold possession against pressing teams. The invincibles were able to hold possession in the greatest amount of pressure, and yes, they defended with passion, soul, and heart. Its also hard to keep possession or go forward when nobody moves. AW has not forced these players take responsibility. Unfortunately, if things don't change, I bid Monsieur Wenger adieu.
Gigi_man

i hear you,
and if whats been said that he treats players like a father instead of a boss, and that he hasnt learnt that he had two wayward sons even with that attitude and that he needs to chamge that....he is more stuborn than I thought
Seriously?

AW chooses players for Arsenal, so he can mold them. However, in this world of high stakes sport and high stakes football for that matter, players are in it to win or in it for the benjamins. It can't just be about finding the best talent for the money and hope they stay out of loyalty. Yes, there are a few exceptions, but more often in recent times players are looking for more money or more chances to pad their playing resumes. AW has got to evolve with the times like Fergie, although I hate to say it.
Kas123

How the mighty have fallen. The Arsenal we love is in a state of free fall that the manager and coaching staff is clueless on how to control or stop. Its funny, that we can say if we had signed this player and that player this or that season ago we wouldn't/couldn't be in the current mess that we're in today, but the unfortunate thing is we are in the worse situation we've been in for decades, so none of that really matters now. What matters is, how do we fix Arsenal with what we currently have? How does Wenger fix the sub-par performances, the stupidity that many players display week in and week out, the lack of leadership and accountability that exist within the squad? Honestly, I don't think he can because it all starts with him. I've said this time and again, the culture at Arsenal needs to be changed. The lack of accountability, excuses, and pampering has to stop. Player's need to be told what they have done wrong and made to pay for their mistakes made on the field. Unless that happens we should get accustomed to dropping points and losing games. I amazes me how we lose games every time. Its always for a dumb reason, its either an own goal, miscommunication, poor/un-necessary passes, all poor decisions. I swear we have the dumbest players playing for us sometimes. Djourou, Kos, Diaby, and Denilson I'm looking at you. Juventus is my second favorite team, they came in 7th last season, worst finish in Serie A in a while. Now Juve is in a massive rebuilding stage, mixing youth with experience, and a new manager, and its currently working to perfection, i know they've only played 1 game so far, but I already see a change in the psyche of the team. We can accomplish the same at Arsenal, I dont know if getting a new manager is the solution, but the need for change has to be embraced. If we don't finish in the top 4 this year it won't be the end of Arsenal, but it should indicate a changing of the guard. So Arsenal, this is my advice to you. Put up or shut up. Stop the bitchin and excuses.
Bertrand

Arsenal dominated the game.

I'd say the problem was losing to Liverpool, and losing to United by such a huge score line.

This game was an upset; I wouldnt say it was a bad performance per se.
Darren_V

I find it interesting that in a game where you concede 2 own goals is still not considered a bad performance.
I sudder to think what needs to happen to earn that title.
Bertrand

Did you watch the game?

We dominated possession, we created double the chances they did, how is that not a good game?

Own goals can be attributed to bad luck, can it not? In fact we played better today than last week when we took all 3 points.
Darren_V

Did you watch the game?
We were horrendous at the back, making errors that at the U11 level, coaches would want to rip the head's off of the players. Samba should've had 2 goals off of headers, where he was in the 6 yard box all alone on set pieces.

We only looked better this week because Blackburn spent the 1st half not pressing our midfield. They started the 2nd half pressing, and cause havoc on our defense, resulting in 3-1 lead, where they then began to sit back and hit us on the counter.

It was a bad performance, nothing can change that.
Arsenal Fan

Stop shuddering, you will never see a title happen in your lifetime!

A bad performance is tieing Swansea at home, losing to United 8 to 2, or giving up more than 10 goals to City anywhere in England.
TK

Agreed. There's no use talking about getting players right this moment. We have to make it to January first. How may times have we heard from various players that we never focus on mistakes made, that we don't usually look at tapes to learn from mistakes or to prepare for matches? It's arrogance. What else could it be than to think that you don't need to prepare against your opponents and than all you have to do is go play your game and if you do, that's enough to win. And if you make a mistake, just put it in the past. No need to learn from it. No point finding where the blame was.
Kas123

Leadership, Excellence, performance is what my Arsenal use to be about. We tend to focus on our historical achievements, the laurels that make Arsenal a legendary club, but like you said TK, for too long we have been brushing our short comings under the rug instead of addressing them. We have had defensive issues for the past 5 or more seasons and yet we say every week, "oh we're working on set pieces." I'm not ready to dispose of Wenger, but what I say is this, Wenger and Arsenal have this sense of ENTITLEMENT. What I mean is, pre and post press conferences we hear, "We have quality, we have the belief, we are focused, we are unified" which translates to, "we have everything we need to win, so this is a sure thing." The BPL is constantly evolving but Arsenal isn't, so we'll never catch up with the big boys cause we never change while thinking we deserve to win every game just because we're Arsenal. This philosophy has led us astray and now we're in trouble. If we come in 6th this season I'll be happy.
Arsenal Fan

Let's be honest. Wenger was unbelievably lucky to win the lottery three times within a few years. Thierry Henry, Sol Campbell and Tony Adams. Without those three guys, Wenger would never have achieved anything. His historical record would be completely blank. And he was aslo fortunate to win those lotteries when the Crest on the shirt actually meant something. Before the corrosive effects of money entered the picture. Before other clubs would be willing to offer those types of players twice the wages to make a move. Those guys were proud to be considered Arsenal players and competed for the love of that Crest. It will never happen again with the Arsenal. They will never again be able to retain those types of players, even if Arsene wins the lottery agian and gets them. We will never be able to compete with United, City Barcelona, Real or even Liverpool. It's really a sad time to be an Arsenal supporter.
Georgedb1

Are you serous? He is screwing up now so we must go back and question his Past successes? So in your eyes one is never a great coach unless you go out on top? His recent record means that he got lucky in putting together an undefeated team? In getting us the Champions League for a record 15 times in a row? Or establishing us as one of England's top 4 clubs? That is all going to be questioned now?

AW may need to go, or at least to massively change things around, but he doesn't deserve to have his record questioned - nor is it possible to question his record and remain within the boundaries of reason.
Arsenal Fan

The board and owners need TO GO! And Wenger should stay. The point is that as long as Wengers hands and feet are tied and the Crest on the shirt means nothing now, we will be crap. Reason? Sanity? We're headed for the BOTTOM half of the table. If we're lucky. And City will blow us up by at least five goals and embarass us just like United. Our other option is we could be real quality down in the championship!
Georgedb1

Like I said, you may or may not have a valid point (thats for the future to determine). My comment was directed at the audacity of quesitioning past successes (i.e. past facts) in light of present stumbles. No matter how far Arsene falls, there can be no question that he was great in the past; so to suddenly chalk his past greatness up to luck just because what he is doing now seems to not be working is not sincere and sertainly has no basis in fact or reason.
Arsenal Fan

4 points is a stumble? A hangnail? Wenger was and is great, and he's going to be here for the next 10 years, so get used to it.
The Henry, Sol Campbell stuff was just me havin a little fun with you boys.
The Frenchman has his work ahead of him this year. But he is working within limitations imposed upon him by a board that is out of touch with reality and only really cares about how much cash they can pile up in the bank. And now that there is the new look City and kind of new look Chelsea and as always Giant United, The Arsenal will not be able to get to the top of the pack anymore.
Martin

Yeah, Wenger was "unbelievably lucky" to have scouted, identified, and bought such great players (Henry and Campbell -- I know TA was already here).

Look, a reasonable argument can be made that Wenger's time is done. But it can be done without making arguments which just seem silly, like Wenger was somehow lucky to get players that he bought. Some people would say that part of being a good manager is finding, buying, and nurturing talented players at the club. To deny that Wenger has been one of the best, if not the best, managers in the world at doing that the last 15 years is delusional.
Arsenal Fan

Wenger's bought 500 players. He's had 700 in the last 15 years. So, of course over 15 years he is going to get some superstars. Doesn't take a genius. But Henry is like Peyton Manning, you have to be a lottery winner.

I did and do give him credit for the second part. And he has been able to do it despite the interferences of his board. But he will never be able to do it again with the current dynamics within the game and within the Arsenal. We need to get rid of the entire board or we're doomed. Watched it for the last five games. The hand of doom.
Darren_V

I didn't know Henry landed into Arsene's lap. So odd, since I thought went to Monaco and bought him and transformed him into one of the best strikers the EPL has, or will ever seen.
Arsenal Fan

Sure he also transformed Cesc into one of the best players Barca will ever see and Nasri into one of the best players City will ever see. Just wait a few years. And, I'm sure we will transform RVP into one of the best players ?? will ever see. Sure, we'll bring in 25 players, develop 4 into world class, and watch them at City, Barca, Real, Chelsea and, if we get really lucky, even United!!!!
Kas123

Oh, I'm not joining the Homey train just yet. 33 games left
Arsenal Fan

Get on the Homey train while it's still in the station!
Kas123

Save me a seat beside you just in case. Who knows, I may use it, I hope not tho.
Arsenal Fan

I'm saving a seat for you and an entire CAR for Martin!!
Arsenal Fan

I'm saving another CAR for George DB. too, He and Martin can have a party.
caligunner

I ready to officially convene the jury for Per Mertersacker as a Premier league quality defender.
Homey_Mills

When I wrote my blog after the window closed, I argued that we didn't bring in any real world class players. Someone commented that Mert was world class. And certainly he seemed to be at last year's WC. However, I'm going to repeat something I read from an ex-player somewhere (I forget the player.) And that is, what does it tell us that Mert was clearly available for sale all summer, and no big clubs in Europe came after him? And it's not like he's some unknown guy that nobody had seen much of. Every manager in Europe had seen this guy plenty. And yet it went down to the wire, and we were the only team bidding? To me, that says something right there.
Bertrand

Hes a good defender, definitely not world class. However, he doesn't need to be when hes 3rd choice.

The problem is that Vermaelen keeps getting injured..
caligunner

excellent write up of the match.

It was a perplexing and frustrating day for Arsenal.

The attack was fluid and dangerous for the first time this year. Arsenal made a bunch of chances and kept at it til the death in a match that had more than one punch in the gut. Player ratings are tough here because the players that performed the best also had major errors.

Gervinho was the most dangerous attacker, causing all kinds of problems, but he squandered two chances with the pass to RVP and the misplayed ball to Arshavin during a first half counter attack.

Song created two goals with excellent through balls, which he usually hits too hard. He had an embarrassing own goal that was down to a simple lack of concentration.

Arteta was excellent throughout, on both ends of the pitch and he was my MOM for his goal and his consistency. I thought he had one or two really smart fouls to break up Blackburn attacks as well.

The defensive performance was, especially following the good showing at Dortmund, absolutely shocking. Mertesacker was really awful and almost allowed another goal with his baffling step up when he was looking right at Koscielny. Kos had a bad day, his distribution and clearances were very very poor. Santos was good in spots but gave it away and was caught out of position way too much.

The most shocking performance was Djourou. The man hasn't played well since before his shoulder injury at Old Tratford last year. I can't think of a thing he did well. To think that Arsenal have him and Jenkinson as back ups for Sagna is scary. I'm scratching my head as to the reason Eboue was sold.
Tfyoung

Agreed about selling Eboue. I was puzzled when Djourou came on for Sagna. Is Jenkinson injured or just out of favour?
bobj canada

after his humiliation (not his fault, he shouldn't have been there) vs Man U (re); he's probably quit and gone back to school.

...and AW's big strong point was knowing how to nurture young talent...
FredJacob

Jenkinso played for Reserves midweek so i believe he would be used for Carling Cup on Tuesday

1. Imagine ManU CD Jones and Smalling can play RB and Ours can't
2. if Djuoro knows he can play right back properly why don't he sit deep and defend not like he could of added to the attack look what happened when he tried to cross the ball he ended up hitting a supporter in there face
TK

DDDWDDLWLLDDLLWL. 3 freakin wins out of 16. 17 points out of 16 games. That's our record in the league. Relegation form. Absolutely disgraceful. Couple that with the fact that Wenger has no idea how to organize a proper defense, how he gets paid as much as he does is the biggest travesty in the world. Us fans who get our hopes up every week are the fools and the board knows it. We're throwing money at a lost cause. They won't sack him as he makes the profit that we never see properly utilized (Why did we have to wait so long to buy players if we had money? 30-35 million for Gotze at the beginning of the summer would probably have done it. Only fools, us, sell their best players at the end.). I really do believe the long term solution is to move Wenger upstairs, and then get someone in who knows has respect for both parts of the game, attack and defense. In the short term, we need a defensive coach. It's unbelievably frustrating seeing Martin Keown highlighting every defensive deficiency of ours on the freakin sofa when we could hire him to do that at Colney so we could fix it beforehand. I've never felt so let down or embarrassed to be an Arsenal fan. Not even 8-2 was as bad because there was still hope then, but the reality, that Martin was alluding to a few days ago, is that this is how good we are. Simple as that.
Homey_Mills

Sooo... you're saying your on board the Homey train?
TK

hahaha. Yes, I am. He's a legend and what he's done for the club is nothing short of outstanding, but he belongs upstairs. And if he doesn't want to do that, then let him go. I'm sure there'll be a book eventually and then we'll finally get some honesty out of the man, I hope. And if the board is what's to blame, at least then we'd know. At the moment, too many people defend Wenger based on the past and it's hard to improve if we just make excuses like we do every year, nearly every game. We're one of the richest clubs in the world, and it's not that we can't beat teams like Newcastle, Swansea, or Blackburn convincingly because we can't compete financially or quality wise with them. If Wenger left, then at least the glasses would come off for a lot of people because we'd finally go back to judging on results, not on past glories.
Darren_V

Just wait till you see the financials on Arsenal, which should be out in a month or so. Just because Forbes calls us one of the riches clubs in the world, doesn't mean we have oodles of cash just lying around. I beleive Arsenal will just break even this year.
Well, besides the 50million trasnfer kitty...
TK

Do we or do we not have more money than Newcastle or Swansea, and/or all the other teams we've failed to beat this past year that we're supposedly "better" than? I'm not even asking that we beat the Manchesters or Madrid or Barca here, because I know there's a gulf between us and the top teams. It sucks, but I know it and we all know it. Just coaching that doesn't leave us looking like laughingstocks of Europe. The biggest pretenders. I'd rather we not become that. By the looks of things, we may not even be pretending next season. We're not THIS bad. We just need to change things up a bit.
Arsenal Fan

Don't worry. We're still gonna kick some ass in Europe. And if Arsene would be a little smarter and pay off Busaca and some of the UEFA refs like Barca does, it would really help!!

We certainly have the funds available for THAT!
FredJacob

Check this video out -- Blackburn vs Arsenal Post March Press Conference http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
brenton

Just saw that Traore got a clean sheet and an assist for QPR. That's great.
FredJacob

two assist actually lol
brenton

I hate to focus energy on him, but Cesc scored a lovely goal against Osasuna. He is thriving surrounded by all that quality. Ugh.
Helge

I think, even for the most optimistic Barcelona fans, Cesc has surpassed expectations.

He plays incredibly strong at Barcelona, and with consistency(!).
K.

A wonderful goal and 3 assists, I might add.
formos

Fuck him, he decided to turn his back on us and played his cards according to Barca's tune. in some way I see him as a traitor, he robbed Arsenal club of at least 15 mil pounds. So the quicker we will forget him, the better.
Patoux21

When was the last time the team had a convincing win or at least played well? It was so long ago I can't remember. Maybe last time it played Chelsea?
Bumblefock

the least i hope for is that we're this year's liverpool
Patoux21

3 wins in 16 PL games? Any coach of any European top club would have been gone long ago but Wenger is like a king in this club. He's making the owners good money so they are happy with hi. Winning trophies isn't one of their priorities
Arsenal Winger

When you're making real money and have a Frenchman that is a genius at the double-speak, who cares about trophies? More money, please. Let the London boys cry about those stupid trophies.
JG

Can we all go back in time, a la Butterfly Effect, and force Wenger at gunpoint to sign Xabi Alonso, Arshavin, Villa, and sell Adebayor in the summer of 08? That was the year where would have built upon our excellent 07-08 campaign and win a major trophy. We didn't sign anyone and our decline as a top team truly began. I'm pretty sure that if we had signed just one of the three aforementioned players that summer, we wouldn't be in the mess we are now.
Of course, Ashton Kutcher sucks, so what do I know?
Gunners Fan

If we just signed Juan Mata and Gary Cahill and we kept Cesc and Nasri in the last 3 months we'd still be challenging the big boys. Who cares about 4 years ago.

Unfortunately, Wenger's comments were prophetic. We will not sell Cesc and Nasri this season because it will "show the world that the Arsenal are a small club". I think we should all just accept the facts and Wenger's analysis; we ARE a small club, a selling club, a shit club and now a LOSING club.

This way I can sleep at night.
Patoux21

I am sure both Cesc and Nasri are glad they left and RVP will follow next year
Gigi_man

as one James Hetfield once sang, sad but true, I fear the moment our loyal rvp packs his bag
Patoux21

And Wenger may soon hear for whom the bell tolls
Arsenal Fan

Wenger's tenure at The Arsenal will outlast Darren v's at this blog!! He ain't going nowhere!
brenton

Santos had a fine game except for the two goals, which is an odd thing to write, but really, playing a tight line is really, really hard, and only comes with time.

I think Ramsey didn't have a good game, though his assist was excellent. Too often he just got in the way. His off the ball movement is not in sync with the rest of the team.
caligunner

by any objective measure he had an awful game. He had 3-4 baffling give aways where he just passed it to nobody. And then there were the two mistakes leading to goals.

That said, he showed signs of being a very good player. He had 2 excellent crosses and seems to play with more confidence going forward than either Clichy or Gibbs. We have a small sample size to work with here, but there were some positive signs.

Obviously if the mistakes are part of his game then this is a very bad signing.
brenton

His passing wasn't great, but it wasn't awful. The two goals were poor, I fully agree, but see above for why I think we shouldn't judge him on those.