Wigan Athletic Vs Arsenal FC | Sun,18th April, 13:30 | SS1

Bendtner had a dire game because he was dire. A striker that shows for passes and makes runs but doesn't score can have a good game. A player that hides in the manner Bendtner did and still manages to make an assist has a **** game. He needs to make himself more available.

 

Every striker drops in to midfield once in a while. And if he didnt dropped into midfield he wouldnt have given that great assist too Theo. You see RVP do it all the time.

Most of the time when a strikers goes wide or drops into midfield. Its because he doesnt get any balls or support when he is up front. Being a lone striker can be frustrating. If he only waits for the ball he can wait forever and get no pass at all. And you also need to switch up your play as a striker or else you get too predictable.

But I agree that his first touch and close control is very poor.

 

But unless he's getting chances gift-wrapped for him, what does he offer?

I like Nik btw but feel he has done as much harm as good since coming back. He's turning into Adebayor - inflating his goal tally but quite detrimental to our overall play.

He's a solid back-up option though but seems unsuitable for the CF role at this point.

 

I agree with most of this from Le Grove:-



Losing at Wigan was a good thing

This isn’t going to be a long post this morning. I don’t think there’s much I can flag that I haven’t already over the past few weeks.

Yesterday was a prime example of why Arsenal must invest this summer and must invest heavily. Losing to Wigan when there is still a chance of Premier League glory is beyond disappointing. Where is the pride?

I can’t be dealing with the excuse makers today. The wheels of project youth well and truly came rolling off yesterday. All you needed to do was look at Wenger’s face to see that. That’s the first time we’ve lost from a two goal lead since Villa in 98′. It doesn’t get much more embarrassing.

However, you can take positives from yesterday.

I think most are fully accepting that this isn’t a Championship winning side. They’ve failed all the big tests this season and proved that even with most of our big boys back in the team, we still wouldn’t be capable of turning over our nearest rivals. I don’t think Arsène was prepared to admit that though. I still didn’t get the feeling he was going to invest in the summer.

Usually at this time of year the kids start playing for the first team, we all get excited about how good they are, then we accept a lack of signings in the summer based on break throughs. Well, this season he can’t pull that trick because our 3rd place is now in serious jeopardy. If we’re going to finish third, for the good of the club, I think we need to stumble across the finishing line, rather than finish a mile ahead of the pack.

I think it’s great that Flapianski dropped a clanger. I’m pretty sure he’s not good enough to be our number one next season. If he’d played a blinder yesterday, there was every chance Wenger would have kept the faith until next year, then we’d be in a whole world of trouble come Christmas. There is no way after yesterday Wenger can justify that risk now.

Silvestre is not worth a new deal, he proved that again with a dismal performance. Sol Campbell is worth a new deal. Finally, our defence needs serious investment if we ever want to win the league.

If we bumble our way to third by a few points this summer… City, Sp**s and Liverpool invest spend millions, we’ll be behind them this time next year. Wenger now has money, he has to prevent that happening. Project youth was a good idea at the start, but kids can’t learn from kids and the entitlement the youngsters feel doesn’t give them a winning attitude.

This season is now starting to look like a worse season than last year. We finished impressively last year with a great streak in the league. Right now, we’ve lost 8 games compared to last seasons six. Last year we reached the champions league semi final and the FA Cup semi final. This year, we didn’t go as far in either. Where exactly would you say we’ve improved? A few extra points against the teams we drew against last year? A Belgian defender we all love, who has failed to stem the flow of goals? And we’ve conceded more goals.

We need winners this summer and we need the manager to admit to not include kids in his squad that are incapable of playing next season. Trim the 60 man squad if you need to free up salary, get rid of the dross and give us 22 players who have the drive to justify wearing the red and white of Arsenal.

Yesterday was the worst day of our season so far, not because it was a freak result, but because attitude determined it.

 

I like the job he's done in Robin's absence. You can't argue with his return. I agree he shouldn't be nailed to one spot on the pitch, but he drifts too much for me. There are times when he is back in midfield going for the ball and no one is in the middle as a target and fulcrum of the attack.

For me, the pivotal position in a 4-3-3 is the CF. When formation is at its most potent, the CF receives the ball at the top of the box with his back to the goal, giving him the option to turn his defender and score or distribute to the wing forwards making diagonal runs toward goal or one of the attacking midfielders surging into the box. When the CF is moonlighting in midfield, this is completely off the table.

 

I agree but Wenger doesnt really know how to play a real 433 system. He plays midfielders and right backs on the wing. And he plays midfielders who cant press and defend. He basically plays 6 players who are all over the place without a real role.

We have been playing 4411 since RVP was out with Cesc just behind the striker.

433 is a hard system to master and only Ajax and Barcelona can do that, but they have been playing that system for decades. I actually hope that Wenger returns to 442 next season with Shava/RVP or RVP/Chamakh up front.

 

1) No, losing to Wigan was not a good thing.

2) No, we are not worse than last year (although the loss yesterday might be worse than any 1 game last year)

 

Our players are probably just as badly suited to the 442 as we've seen in this 451/4231 we've been playing since RVP was injured.

 

We are better than we were last year.

If we'd had this season's injuries last year we'd probably have dropped out of the top 4.

 

we`re simply "running on" accumulated points. hail that.

 

I disagree. I think the 4-3-3 suits our team, especially with RvP. It allows Cesc to be at his most influential, it is geared toward a technically proficient striker (like RvP), and it is an attacking formation which suits our style (like our all out attack style or not).

I think we need to find someone to fill the second CM spot who is great at supporting both Cesc and Song- and choosing the right time for both roles. I think both Nasri and Ramsey can do that. I think Rosicky could, but I don't know how fit he is these days.

 

We can't play 4-4-2 with the current midfielders at the club (assuming you're playing Fabregas in the MF with either of Song-Diaby-Denilson). 4-4-2 needs much more mobile midfielders than either of Song and Fabregas are if we are to defend properly.

 

4-4-2 is dead, did you not witness the circus that was our midfield last season? 4-3-3 needs, as caldeltatrojan rightly points out, a technically brilliant striker who acts as the attack's main creator. In doing so we can play Cesc deeper again where he can be the first option to receive the ball from our defence and dictate play. This would, in turn, make our midfield much closer together, as a unit, which is CRUCIAL in a 4-3-3 where pressing and passing in unison is the only way to make it work.

 

4-3-3 worked quite well for us at the beginning of the season when the entire team looked bothered to press off the ball.

 

I think you guys have lost perspective. It's one thing berating the manager and the players, but trying to tinker with the formation is pointless. Like or lump it, we've done the best this year than we've done in a little while, we've been challenging for the title all season long. There are problems with the system, but the problem is not the system itself.

 

We need to combine both the 2008 and 2010 teams.

Hopefully Chamakh has the power of adebayor

If we get hazard or another top winger can hopefully replace what hleb gave us.

We need a new flamini to harass teams

 

I agree with this bit. We need a pest. I feel like Song is our "midfield general" and I don't really think that's where we should be spending our money. We need a Flamini-type who's going to hassle every player on the pitch and show some fight, whilst also doing a Denilson-style job.

 

Ha. When the third goal went in I just looked at the guy next to me and we both just laughed. It was that pathetic, that the only thing left to do was laugh.

Im almost beyond caring now. After the Birmingham game I was gutted, after the Yids I was fuming. After this im just empty about the whole thing.

And the thing is, it's going to be exactly the same again next year.

 

You do realize that Bendtner coming deep for the ball is what opened up the space for Theo for his goal? The CF coming deep is something Wenger clearly wants from that position. RVP does the exact same thing.

 

Funnily enough, i'm in a bit of a reverse regarding this and the Sp**s game. Knew our challenge was up after Birmingham, because i'd said for weeks that we would slip up at Sp**s, so it came as no surprise that. Just had to chuckle at the yids for finally getting one over us (or our reserves).

However, i've never been so angry with Wenger after Sunday's atrocity. That Wigan side was one of the worst i'd seen in years, and i was wondering all game just how they beat Chelsea and Liverpool.

Now, it's just a feeling of emptiness. Feels like i need a major change at this club to reinvigorate my passion.