Just when I thought Arsene Wenger could not out-do himself, he goes on and comes up with "... lacking a little bit the oil..." Heh! So not only are Arsenal lacking a little bit the sharpness, but now they lack a little bit the oil. Fantastic! I like Arsene Wenger.
Much of the focus has been on our failure to score a single goal so far this season. We are focussing on it so much so that it shall soon become a problem for the team. I think most of the pressure is coming because Robin Van Pussie scored for the Mancies and so far Arsenal have not scored.
We are making such a crisis of it and yet it is only 2 games into the new season. Yes, ideally, we should be getting 3 points against Stoke and Sunderland, but even the bigger teams struggle against these teams. And would you prefer to get a score draw or a goalless draw? I would prefer a goalless draw because it suggests our defence is doing something right- so far. Chelsea have started very well, but somehow I get the feeling they will crumble when it matters. This Arsenal team, like a fine wine, will get better with time.
Of course the real test of our defensive organisation starts against Liverpool. Liverpool harbour wet dreams of winning the league in my lifetime (I know, I don't see it happening too) so they are going to attack us. Unlike the lesser teams who go into games not to lose, the bigger teams go into games to win. Invariably this tends to open the games up a bit more, not the train-parking drills we have had so far.
Much has been said about the Stoke City game. My thoughts? Stoke City fans are cretins. Booing Aaron Ramsey, after one of their players nearly ended his career, is just sick. I don't even know how they justify that behaviour. But I don't blame them. Their manager, Tony
I never once felt the jitters that I get whenever we play those savages. In fairness, a few of the Stoke City players are decent footballers who simply do the bidding of their imbecile boss. They could actually play football given a different manager... but I digress. We contained them throughout the whole game. You could see they were very pleased to come away with a point from this game. I can't wait for us to give them a real pasting at the hands of Aaron Ramsey in the return fixture.
I am glad Abou Diaby has played 2 game sthus far and seems ok. He is way, way off the pace. I still remember that game a couple of seasons away at Aston Villa when he turned in midfield and drove up the pitch to score. I sure would like that player back.
Where I think we are lacking is in our wide attacking berths. Walcott for me will never be any better on the wing than he is right now. His best bet for improvement is to move into a central striker's position and use his pace to run the channels. Gervinho is a decent dribbler but he doesn't seem to know what he is trying to achieve and runs the ball out a lot. He is not the player u expect to just run and cross the ball, he wants to drive all the way to the goal post before he tries to square the ball.
Wide attacking areas are where we need more direct, typical wingers. Perhaps we need Jesus. No, not Christ but Navas. The spanish winger is quick, gifted technically and most importantly- he is a typical winger. He runs and crosses the ball, something which none of our wingers does. Antonio Valencia of Mancies United is a basic winger who just skips past his marker, runs like a fart down the line and sends an early cross for the attackers running into the box. These type of balls are very effective because they put opposition defenders under pressure- trying to clear a ball that is running past your goal mouth whilst you are running at speed towards your goal keeper tends to result in own goals, corners or straight goals for the attacking team.
So if I had to buy two players before the transfer window closes, I would buy a winger and a striker or a winger cum striker and a winger. I don't see Walcott staying and equally, I think we can do better in his position. If he stays, then that's OK, but if he goes now, I will wish him all the best of luck. I like Walcott, but I don't think he will get any better than he is at the moment as long as he plays on the wing. His only asset is his pace and when denied pace, he is as good as... ahem... Andrey Shevchenko was at Chelsea.... ahem.
I would also like to see many players leave to create space in the squad. Arshavin, Park, Chamakh, Bendtner, Squilaci, Fabianski- they can leave and I will have no problems with their departure.
Lets see what happens.
COYG!!!
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