Feck me, another loss. That’s four in thirteen games now and we’re a full nine points off the top. Not the best result for a weekend where I celebrated my 23rd birthday, I must admit.
I warned you in Friday’s post that there was a chance I might miss the game due to birthday-related commitments and I’m a little relieved to say that it did turn out that way. I’ve only missed a couple of games this season and both ended in horrible defeats, first to Fulham and now to Aston Villa. By all reports they’ve been our two worst performances, so maybe I should not miss a game from now until the end of the season.
Obviously I can’t talk too much about the performance but from what I’ve read the team showed none of the desire that was so apparent against Manchester United as we hit the brick wall that was the Aston Villa defence. Apparently Villa could have won by more than two as their simple game plan of putting men behind the ball and hitting on the break with Young and Agbonlahor worked a treat. Once again we failed to adapt.
This result was so painful because it was so predictable. I woke up the morning of the game to check the result and almost expected to see us lose. I don’t know why, call it a hunch or something else but I just had a bad feeling about this one. It’s clear from the reports that our players just weren’t up to it and they were punished quite severely for their approach.
If what I’ve read about Villa parking the bus in front of the goal and our boys not having the ideas or energy to break through true then I find it incredibly frustrating. This is a problem that this group of players and the manager have had to deal with consistently over the past two or three seasons and there can be no excuses for not finding a solution. Manchester United and West Ham have both let us play in recent weeks and we’ve beaten them, Stoke and Villa have not and they’ve beaten us.
For me the problem is relatively simple - we’re badly missing Mathieu Flamini. When he left at the end of last season I was hugely concerned about the impact it would have on our side. He was my Player of the Season last time around and I went as far to say that he had the potential to become the best player in the world in his position. Milan may have used him sparingly since his departure to Italy but based on last season’s performance I still stand by that statement.
On the day his exit I had this to say:
“Many Arsenal supporters see him as nothing more than a hard-working grafter but in my opinion this season has seen him become far more competent on the ball as well excellent passer to boot. Add to that the fact that he is the first Arsenal player to really click with Cesc Fabregas and you have a man who will be more difficult to replace at the club than many people suspect.
Given the previous departure of Lassana Diarra and the fall from grace of Gilberto Silva, Arsene Wenger now faces quite a challenge to find an adequate substitute for Flamini. I should say that although I think Flamini will be incredibly difficult to replace I am not worried about Wenger’s ability to bring in someone worthy of doing just that.
And before people start getting into a spin about making a huge signing can I just remind you that Bacary Sagna was a virtual unknown outside of France before the start of this season, while Abou Diaby and Alex Song are more than capable of doing the defensive job alongside Fabregas if required.”
It disappoints me to say that I have been proven right about Flamini being difficult to replace. But that’s not what irks me. What irks me is the fact that manager didn’t even attempt to replace him and on top of that, instead of playing one of the two men in the squad who have the potential to slot in for Flamini – Alex Song and Abou Diaby – Wenger has gone for Denilson, a player who simply does not possess the right attributes.
Now this is not a rant aimed at Denilson. Whilst he’s not my favourite player in the squad I do think he is quite a capable and decent footballer. But he is not a defensive midfielder. I’ve said time and time again that he should be rotated with Fabregas, not partnering him, and I really feel that the manager’s decision to continue playing him in the defensive slot is hurting our Spanish superstar and the rest of the team.
I’m expecting some criticism for what I am saying. There will be people saying our defence is flimsy, that our captain is a poor leader, that our goalkeeper does not command his area and that our talisman himself, Fabregas, looks a shadow of the man that was dominating the Premiership in the first half of last season. But I honestly believe if Flamini had remained, an adequate replacement been brought in or even Diaby or Song been played in the defensive-midfield position as soon as they were available then we wouldn’t be sitting nine points of the pace and we certainly wouldn’t have lost four games at this stage of the season.
The sad thing is that the manager has watched it all happen. With Diaby and Song unavailable in the first few matches Denilson was rightfully given a chance next to Fabregas in the middle of the park. He gave it his all but never, ever looked comfortable there. People can show me passing and tackling statistics until the cows come home but the lack of connection between Denilson and Fabregas was there for all to see. A manager of Wenger’s quality should have seen the signs, seen the lack of impact that Fabregas was having and made the change when first Song then Diaby became available. He didn’t and has been hugely punished for it.
With the manager continuing to view Diaby as an attacking midfielder and Song as a centre-back he has no choice but to dip into the transfer market in January and buy a ready-to-go partner for Fabregas. As I said earlier I want to stress that I don’t blame Denilson for where we are on the table - I blame Arsene Wenger. He needs to admit that his gamble on the Denilson-Fabregas partnership has not worked and do something about it. Otherwise it is going to continue to be a frustrating and forgettable season for the Arsenal Football Club. Ghanaian midfielder Stephen Appiah, who still remains a free agent, might be a good place to start.
Repercussions from this match will be big. The boys face Manchester City at the weekend in what will be an enormous clash against another club that desperately wants to break into the Champions League places. With Arsenal faltering at the moment it will be a perfect occasion for our opponents to show that they’re every bit as good as us and knock us down another peg. That they’re not will mean nothing, Villa’s win means we’re in a very vulnerable position at the moment.
With the majority of players away on international duty it’s bound to be a quiet week for football observers if not Arsene Wenger. Hopefully the manager will use the time to make some critical decisions.
What do you think?
Have your say on Arsenal’s loss to Aston Villa and the need for change by leaving a comment.
Give Toure a run as a defensive midfielder!
Appiah is not the answer. Why sign more rejects of other teams?? He may be “experienced”, but so is Silvestre, and Gallas. Two players whom should not be playing for a team that is serious about making a run for the title. Which is why Man U got rid of Silvestre. So now some of you want Appiah?!?! A player that no one wants?!?! If he was so good West Ham would have signed him when he went to train with them. If he is not good enough for west Ham he is not good enough for Arsenal. And if Wenger thinks he is. That should show you what Wenger thinks of Arsenal. And how much ambition we don’t have.
Instead of tryna save every little bit of money.. How about we invest in a real footballer. De Rossi, Veloso, Alonso, i’d even be happy with Yaya, hes a big, strong lad that would toughen up the MF. But signing a half ass player to piss around on weekends just to save money is ridiculous and shows no ambition at all.
ianinja! I loved your comment. Bang on, mate. I’ve just read through the whole thread and there’s a lot of very good, intelligent debate and interesting suggestions about what’s wrong and how to fix it. I don’t happen to agree with the Flamini argument because although it’s plain to see that he’s missed – there’s a big hole where a Flamini should be – we didn’t actually win anything with him either remember. If you go back to our last title season – well the answers right there. We had Henry, we had Viera, we had Pires, we had Berkamp, we had Sol Campbell – etc. These were frankly outstanding players in defense, midfield and attack who were able to turn games, whatever kind of system or threat the opposition posed, with some great piece of individual skill or general performance that no team or system could cope with. Thierry and Dennis of course were the kings in this respect. Opposition teams couldn’t nullify Thierry Henry with tactics! They’d just hope he had an off-day or they got lucky. Today all those great players have gone – The Great Man, Arsene Wenger has gradually allowed a team of talented youngsters to replace them – it’s been a daring experiment – at times thrilling – at other times desperately frustrating (like saturday) but ultimately we see that, if the idea was to keep The Gunners up at the top, it has not worked. Now the game turners are with the other clubs. Gerrard, Torres, Alonso, Deco, Drogba, Rooney, Berbatov, Ronaldo and, though I hate to say it – even, ulp, Frank Lampost. Even when their teams are struggling those players will like as not produce something to make the difference. Today in my opinion we only have one player good enough to have made it into the 2004 title squad – Fabregas. I like the team – I think we’ve got some great young players who can turn it on. Theo hopefully will really become great – instead of just good. But they ain’t never going to be world beaters – or even EPL winners. Beating manure doesn’t prove anything. We did that home and away the season before last and still won nothing at the end of the day. The Great Man put his mouth where his money is – he bluffed and lost. It’s back to the drawing board now Arsene – I want you around for another 10 years. Build us us a new team and let’s win the league again.
Oh and ianinja – a new sock! Priceless!
SF,
I disagree….Flamini is long gone and the game against villa is explainable. I knew within five minutes we would tie or even worse lose…Not because villa was good but because Cesc, Denilson, Sagna, Nasri, Bentdner could not put together a pass. Cesc, was not in form at all this game and still is not where he was last year(granted he is lacking 1st team minutes compared to last year.) Finally, our back four can’t pass or distribute at all. It’s that simple no mysteries here. Two years ago we had the same problem! We beat the shit out of the top three and lost to Man City, Sheffield United etc. And as far as the goals villa scored they were shit! They couldn’t even finish a penalty. Ablon-a-whore is dirty piece of shit. If I was any of the back four I would have sent him packing. As well that other little forward he would have been in the stands as well. So all in all the bloggers who put undue pressure on this team sort it out! It was a loss but not a big deal.
spanish fly, why can’t you just openly admit that Aston Villa are a far superior side than you, Martin O’neill is far superior than Arsene and we have won the European Cup which you will never ever win. And we have English players in our team to boot.
Up the Villa, Fuck the arse.
@ the mad megger – It was only a matter of time until you were here. Heh heh, we’ll see who’s higher up at the end of the season.
I think Sidwell said it all when he said teams play Arsenal and know they can get something at of it, even when Arsenal is at home. No one is intimidated by Arsenal anymore. We have been way too soft for far too long. I also don’t think Wenger is the man to get us back to that level that teams go to Arsenal and know they cannot gain anything. I think an article i read said it best.
“The time has come for Wenger to dispense with fantasy and replace it with a game plan that will give his club the success it craves. The glory, glory football should only be on show when games are in the bag, but they are a long way short of considering any showboating on this evidence.”
Our style of beautiful football will always make us beautiful losers in today’s football. As the person who wrote the article said, there’s a time and a place to play beautiful football and in a close game, its not the time. We need to be able to dig out wins, in games we probably don’t deserve to win. Arsenal have not proved they can win ugly over the last 3-4 seasons and until then, no one will dread playing Arsenal. As i said, I don’t think Wenger is the man to get Arsenal to that point. Stubbornness is NEVER a good quality to have in a position of power. He is just too stubborn to change.
A draw at Man City would be a good result, but Man City is a team in real need for a win to take pressure off their manager, so i wouldn’t be totally shocked if we lose again. Esp if the squad consists of Denilson and Bendtner.
I can understand all the pain we are going through. But let us be objective here. Flamini is gone, thats for Sure. Whom can we groom to replace him as we look to the Jan transfer Window??
Bawinder, please what faith are we talking about?
Please for God sake, let Asene wenger revived the team, by strenthning the defence, I expect him if he can bring him Richard Michael for central defence and try to bring Osaze Odewingi from locomotive of Mosco to Arsenal, I beleived things we improved with the talented player already the team. Williams Gallas and Syvelster is the problem of Arsenal because they chip goals. For me, is Asene Wenger make me to be die hard Gunner. Let the management give him support to revived the Club during the January Transfer. Thanks Tunde Lawal, I remain loyal to the Club. Up Gunner
Arsenal you’ve shame almost all your fans especially in Nigeria, can you see that the devil you know (P. Sanderos) is better than the angel you don’t know (Sylvester). Please strenghten that our DEFENCE, give us good replacement for M.Flaninin/Hleb and look for a good natural striker.
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