By 1970’s Gooner
I call it as I see it and if there is a team that has
room for improvement it is Arsenal. Not only because the performances have been
so awful the only way is up; but because more than any other team in the top
six Arsenal has been missing four irreplaceable first team starters.
These are the two full backs, Sagna and Gibbs/Santos,
midfielder boy wonder Jack Wilshere and on the flank Gervinho.
These players apart from their own obvious quality are
extremely important for Arsenal in another sense. The squad is thread bare and
this is of course a deliberate policy of Arsene Wenger in bringing through
promising youngsters as part of his philosophy in keeping wages down and raking
in large profits from their eventual sale when they mature.
So when a first team player is injured then his
replacement is either a promising youngster who is not yet good enough to stand
up to the opponent’s big boys or a more mature player who cannot now hack it in
the Premier League.
Examples of the former are Miquel, Jenkinson, Mannone,
Coquelin, Djourou, Ramsey and Frimpong, I would include the Ox too in this
list. Don’t get me wrong they are almost all of them very exciting players with
tremendous prospects, but for now they are just kids.
Examples of the latter are Benayoun, Arshavin,
Squillaci even Henry.
Hell, a team will fall below par even if only one
irreplaceable first teamer is missing let alone four as in Arsenal’s case.
So you can see where I am heading to. Arsenal WILL
bounce back soon enough to challenge strongly for the 4th spot or
even beyond when these players return to action.
Sagna, Gibbs and Wilshere are two to three
weeks away and one of those involves the FA Cup. Gervinho will also be back by
then.
It will be tight I know but if Wenger abandons his
stubbornness, stops using Arshavin and Benayoun and changes his tactics a
little to offer protection to the full backs then WE WILL BE BACK.
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5 comments:
If the policy is to keep wages down then it's clearly not working. So even this misguided policy doesn't work on its own merits. What a mess.
Leaving aside the obvious, gaping flaws in the policy Wenger has been pursuing for the last 6 years, the fact is our squad is weakened by a few injuries while the likes of Man U can plod on shorn of their 2 first choice CB's CM and winger. It is a sign that Wenger does not have the ability to get the best out of the also-rans in his squad.
Ji Sung Park (is a constant thorn in our side), Silva, Anderson, O'Shea and now Valencia are examples of squad players who have done the biz for Man U in big games against us. When was the last time one of our squaddies did ANYTHING never mind against Man U.
It's not about getting different (better) players, it's about instilling in the ones we have the never say die attitude. I don't think Park is any better than Rosicky, Bayoun, or Gervinho, but him and the other Man U occasionals always pull something out of the hat.
We rely on Van Persie. And even when he does score, you can be sure the rest of the team will do something to screw it up. Wenger picks the team, he buys the players and makes the subs. You may not be able to lay the blame on him for the injuries, but you can for the CONSTANT individual and collective mistakes from their replacements. Better concentration in attack and defence is essential and we look no closer to achieving it with or with the boy wonder, Santos, Sagna etc.
EZ Gooner
I know he was not a long term absentee but one player we sorely missed in the last to games was Arteta. He seems to be the glue holding the team together.
"keep the wages down",are you kidding?the reason that a lot of Arsenal fans are so pissed off is that we have wasted millions giving huge long term contracts to the likes of Denilson,Bendtner,Almunia,Rosicky,Diaby,Fabianski and many more who are either permanently injured or total garbage.These long term contracts have put the Board off increasing an already huge wage bill,so please don't insult us,talking about keeping our wages down
Our 2nd string players are 3rd string and are over paid for their ability/quality.
Mr Wengers policy of using a youth system should not have required that Arsenal fc pay senior wages for youth productivity.
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