Let’s be completely honest with ourselves. This is Arsenal fan to Arsenal fan. We all want the same things. No Mancs, Spuds or Scousers here to argue with for pride or reputation.
Our team is simply not good enough. Perhaps even worse than City’s. They looked impressive the other day, no doubt. They showed holes though. They have the potential to be great, Mark Hughes has done his job well. But they have also piled on the pressure. I don’t think they’ll break into the top 4 and if they don’t next season as well, big players will not join them.
We have a bunch of good players, not excellent players. Sagna is a good player. But he can’t cross and that regularly affects our attacking effectiveness and momentum as a team. Clichy also has the same problem, but is now also prone to a laspe in concentration. On the other hand, Gibbs is a young player and whilst mostly solid is still also prone to inconsistencies and small errors. Most of our players are prone to that mistake. They have experience, but no one to learn from. Even Cesc is struggling to make the team look good. Bendtner is a good player, but does not have the pace to regularly beat defenders and is NOT a right winger. Denilson is a poor player. No natural talent. He is industrious and a hard worker, but not a natural footballer and thus, is prone to inconsistency. He is also very weak.
It has been the problem for years. We simply lack the quality players that can put in top class performances on a regular basis and not succumb to injury. We missed our chance in 05/06. The team was dwindling then. But the quality was still there. They could not show it on the pitch regularly, but would definitely have shown it on the training ground. Unfortunately, we had mugs like Eboue, Senderos, Reyes and Pleb with us at that time. The only success story out of all of them, left us for A.C Milan.
We’ve been unlucky with injuries, no doubt. But the fact is, our performances have just not been that good enough. These bunch of players have gained experience but little quality. They know each other and they should be gelling well. It’s been like that for 4 YEARS. So why are we still seeing performances like the ones against City? Simple, the players just aren’t good enough. It’s at this point when you need to get the cheque book out. Appreciated, our financial capabilities may not be as great as other clubs, but PHW says the money is there. So is it, or is it not? The revenue brought in from winning trophies will far out shadow the cost of 2-3 players.
It’s not all doom and gloom. We have shown potential this season and can still build on that. Teams will lose a lot more this season than they did last season. If City lose/draw with United next game and we win our, we’re right back in it. Liverpool and Chelsea have yet to play a member of the top 4. We may only have good players, but with the right ethic and work rate, if the team play for each other, defend together, attack together, we will be an excellent TEAM. It’s just that this mentality is lacking. We’ll just have to see what happens. It’s a long season. Remember, Chelsea looked unbeatable at the start of last season as well, regularly sticking 4-5 goals past their opponents. But they crumbled in the end. The January transfer window is still ahead of us, who knows what will happen?
On a sour note, a word to our captain, something which I think has been on everyone’s mind but they just couldn’t bring themselves to say it. Cesc, I love you to bits. I realize that maybe the lack of quality surrounding you is affecting you’re game…. But get over it. Put you’re head down and play as the world quality player that you are. Not every team is the Spanish National Team. This group of players need you to be their leader and performances like the one you put in against City are just not acceptable. Yes, their is more pressure on you and yes, we expect the extraoridnary from you because we all know what you are capable of. A true world class player can change a game by himself and we haven’t seen that from you for a long time . You’ve had a decent break, you’re playing in you’re best position, no excuses.
Edit: Been discussed in the shoutbox that lack of a quality keeper is also a problem and I agree. Most of the conceded goals this season have been Almunia’s fault and he’s another one that needs to shape up. He showed good form last season, but United away apart, nothing super class. Keep in mind though, the defences that Cech, Casillias and VDS have in front of them. Also, I realize that it’s only 4 games into the season. I’ve already said that it’s unpredictable and we started well. We deserved to win both Manchester games but didn’t and that’s a problem we have had for years, which in my opinion stems from lack of quality players. When we play as a team and are clicking, we’re awesome, but we don’t have the mentality to do that regularly and it’s Cesc’s job as captain to do that.
The Fabster
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