EPL 38/38 - Arsenal v Fulham | Sunday, May 09, 2010, 16:00 |

[Abs]

Wenger's post match comments were utterly infuriating. Not many players needed, Fabianski again hinted to be the new first choice keeper, the fans' demands are worrying, we exceeded expectations, business rules must be respected, etc.

It would be nice if he'd stop talking about it to be honest.

well he is being asked, and lets be honest now. he's not gonna say anything that will give the media fuel. Just lets judge him on what he brings in, cause wenger has been talking sh@t to the media for years.

He's not gonna critisize any players publically, and they have been pushing him to do so with Fabianski. The more they do, the more he will back him. Simple as that

 

[otfgoon]

Wenger's post match comments were utterly infuriating. Not many players needed, Fabianski again hinted to be the new first choice keeper, the fans' demands are worrying, we exceeded expectations, business rules must be respected, etc.

It would be nice if he'd stop talking about it to be honest.

What difference would that make? Considering you've made up half of the things there (or at least twisted it Sabre style) you'd probably find ways to moan about what he isn't saying.

 

[caldeltatrojan]

In the Wenger interview I saw on the BBC website, he talks about bringing in Chamakh and "a few players." Sounded good to me.

 

[AshburtonGhost]

We complain about our players talking rubbish to the media – what about the manager? I wish he’d just shut up.

 

[Burnwinter]

Wenger's post match comments were utterly infuriating. Not many players needed, Fabianski again hinted to be the new first choice keeper, the fans' demands are worrying, we exceeded expectations, business rules must be respected, etc.

It would be nice if he'd stop talking about it to be honest.

What difference would that make? Considering you've made up half of the things there (or at least twisted it Sabre style) you'd probably find ways to moan about what he isn't saying.

Made up? These are the remarks I was referring to.

"We want to improve in quality, not necessarily a big number of players needed."

"We have gone beyond expectation, if you look at July, but of course we are still frustrated, because one month ago we were in touch with the championship, but did not win it."

"What the fans want concerns me. We both love the club and want the best possible team. But we live in a world not to be crazy. We have to pay our wages at the end of the month and we have to respect our business rules."

I'll admit that I was cherry-picking to some extent. I'm not vehemently anti-Wenger by any stretch, and I'm well aware of the "watch what he does, not what he says" principle. Still think it's reasonable to be irked by it. After hundreds of these post-match interviews he just goes through the motions, I only hope the urgency behind the scenes is amplifying, however gradually.

 

[viper_001]

If you've been watching Wenger's interviews long enough, you'll realize that he says one thing but does another. He was denying up and down the pursuit of Arshavin until he couldn't hide it, and is now bringing in Chamakh after previously stating that no strikers would be signed. His "3rd place is an achievement" quote
is just diplomacy. He's a winner who rages when he loses, so he is obviously fuming at this season's result.

I'm optimistic about next season. We had the mother of all injuries and were fighting for the title with 5 games to go. The Barca match is what ended up injuring half our squad and shattering our confidence. With a more favorable CL draw next season, and some key signings (we desperately need a keeper), we will continue to improve. Actually, just signing a proper keeper will be the step up we need to make. Look at how bad Chelsea were with Hilario, and United with Kuzsczwtfczak. They'd be nowhere NEAR where they are today with those clowns for a full season. A winning team is built on the back of a great keeper.

 

[Anzac]

Another thing I noticed today was yet again the stark contrast between our play & those teams above us in the table. As soon as we had scored the 2nd we took our foot off their throat, whereas ManU & CFC remain ruthless. I know Wigan were down a man for over an hour, but CFC put 8 past them. The closeness of the points underlines the importance of goal difference - if AW isn't going to address our defence/patterns, then we need to score 100+ goals every season to compensate.

 

[Clrnc]

Exactly what I noticed as well. We don't have the ruthlessness in us. I'd stop asking them to pass pass pass after we get 2 or 3nil up. Sometimes we just need to go for the killer to avoid getting pegged back like we have been this season for so many times.

 

[Anzac]

Exactly what I noticed as well. We don't have the ruthlessness in us. I'd stop asking them to pass pass pass after we get 2 or 3nil up. Sometimes we just need to go for the killer to avoid getting pegged back like we have been this season for so many times.

Ironically AW made mention of the team switching off v Wigan after going 2-0 ahead (how often have we heard this), yet IMO we've gone and done exactly the same thing yet again. It was only because we played Fulham reserves that we got away with it.

 

[banduan]

We did have that ruthlessness. It disappeared when half the team disappeared from the pitch. Remember we were thinking we could score 100 by season end?

 

[Anzac]

We did have that ruthlessness. It disappeared when half the team disappeared from the pitch. Remember we were thinking we could score 100 by season end?

So the moral of the story is yet again that we are only as good as our best XI being available.

When it's not our covering players do not provide the required levels of quality & consistancy to produce the performance & results, and/or our play does not suit the majority of our squad.

 

[Burnwinter]

When we have a late lead we want to protect we should be controlling the pace of the match, reigning in our attacking tendencies, and playing conservatively. I reckon that aspect of our professionalism (or ruthlessness, if you like) has been questionable regardless of who exactly has been afield.

Wigan's one example, Brum is another where three points became zero or one for no good reason. These things happen to any side but it's an area we could definitely improve on.

Our ability to kill off games by getting the second or third goal was definitely affected by our injuries, and that's excusable.

Edit: fixed (some) nonsensical statements.

 

[flobaba]

We did have that ruthlessness. It disappeared when half the team disappeared from the pitch.

We had the right work ethic. Of defending from the front. It disappeared when Robin got injured. We weren't very organized either. And it always looked to me like a matter of when, and not if our players were going to run out of gas.

Remember I was thinking we could score 100 by season end?

Fixed. Was never going to happen with the obvious lack of quality and experience outside the first team.

 

[Illusion]

We did have that ruthlessness. It disappeared when half the team disappeared from the pitch. Remember we were thinking we could score 100 by season end?

So the moral of the story is yet again that we are only as good as our best XI being available.

When it's not our covering players do not provide the required levels of quality & consistancy to produce the performance & results, and/or our play does not suit the majority of our squad.

That and our goalkeepers are all terrible.

If you take one piece out of the first eleven our team drops in quality dramatically. If you take out Cesc, RvP and Vermaelen the team literally has no spirit or determination left.

Diaby might have lots more talent than someone like Fletcher, but Fletcher is a far better Premier League player because he knows how to apply his aggression, determination and focus his mind on the pitch.

As I said at the start of the season, we have squad depth, it's just not very good quality squad depth. Wenger felt we had a large squad back then and maybe we did, but that doesn't mean it's any good.

 

[dreamLord]

And yet Klaus argues we have the best squad. I said it a few months back as well(along with numerous others) that we didn't have the quality, just the quantity.

 

[ricky1985]

I agree. It was a rather intriguing cameo from Lansbury.

There isn't enough data to say so without any doubt but our youth products seem to be ideal for the efficacy of our game. Eastmond, Lansbury and Gibbs have seemed unflustered within our team because they all play one-touch football. Given the evidence so far, none of them have taken any more touches that that is required, and they all seem to know where to move the ball before they've even received it.
They seem to be alot more natural at playing our passing game, than some of our senior players like Diaby, Song, Nasri, Eboue and co. who like to dally on the ball. The aforementioned products have their myriad of flaws but I have been very impressed with their passing games. Maybe, it's just a desire to keep it simple as they integrate into the team but there seems to be more to it then that.

I'd echo that.

Passing and moving the ball on quickly, intelligently, and accurately, seems to be a something the new academy graduates all have in common. Almost like it's a base ability, that they have been taught, regardless of their position, and then they have their additional individual ability which then decides which position they will play in, but, whether you're a left back, centre midfielder, or striker, you will know how to quickly control a football, and then pass it on accurately.

It does definitely look as if the academy graduates from about Lansbury's year and on, have been thoroughly well coached, in the ways that we need them to be, from a young age. Really promising.

 

[Clrnc]

I was quite impressed by Lansbury touches on the ball as well, but he hasnt been tested enough in harder matches to suggest anything tbh.

Btw, did anybody not go yesterday for the post season appreciation? I saw from the photos in the official site that even Ramsey went. And whats the deal with Vela celebrating with Merida after the goal?

 

[Lancelot]

When we move the ball as quickly and as purposeful as we did in this match (especially the first half), you could say that it will make life difficult for all types of opponents.

Once we tried to slow it down a bit and focus too much on keeping possession, we then screwed up even a simple pass and basically hang our defenders out to dry.

 

[banduan]

Once we tried to slow it down a bit and focus too much on keeping possession, we then screwed up even a simple pass and basically hang our defenders out to dry.

Exactly. When we let our game flow, we flow with the game. When we let the game stall, our engines malfunction.

Posession football is nice, but not this weird who can hold the ball the longest football. We should be a pass and move team, not a hold and hold and maybe pass team.

 

[flobaba]

Didn't see this game so I can't comment much on it. None of the sports channels I get chose to show it. Instead, they focused on Chelsea, United, Man City and Burnley.

Lancelot, your second paragraph is what I feel is another big issue with our team. Basically - slowing down the pace of a match and keeping possession to kill/see out games. We just can't seem to do that against even the bottom to mid-table/average teams, talk less of the top teams. That's another area of our game I'd like to see addressed.