By 1970's Gooner
In my review of the game against Villa I pointed out, among other things, the need to kick out complacency from the Arsenal players. They were coming from an impressive win against Spurs in the FA Cup and almost all punters were predicting an easy Arsenal win.
And this was in the Arsenal players' minds as soon as the two goals went in. They took their feet off the gas and dropped several levels. This was really frustrating for me and for a lot of Arsenal supporters as a 2 goal lead can be very misleading. The other team only need get a goal back and with the home crowd behind them they will throw caution to the wind and go for it. After all they have nothing to loose.
This is what happened of course and this complacent attitude has been apparent in all of Wenger's Arsenal teams. They think that the game is won when they go ahead when in fact it is then that they have to step even further up to kill teams off.
This complacent attitude can only come from the manager and from the fact that most of the players are foreign. They have not understood that in England teams fight till the end, until the last kick, going for every ball whatever the score is.
Ferguson's sides never let teams that were down get up again did they? They pursued them even more relentlessly after they scored and the game looked to have been won.
Manchester City this season never stop playing after going ahead. They carry on their attacking play scoring 4s 5s and 6s. Pellegrini has been astute enough to have understood the need to kill teams off.
I have to say that Wenger has not.
You may think that I am going on and on when in fact I should be concentrating on Arsenal's resilient attributes and overall quality play.
But what if Villa got a second?
What if we come up against a more assertive team who will not let us off the hook?
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19 comments:
well said
Easy to be sitting behind the desk and pouring your thought but to be playing away is not a easy task and for your information, No team want to lose their home matches but Arsenal did very well and came out with three points. so you should give them credit and put away your technical know how.
I also fear complacency in the team. However, the confidence is a good thing. Playing last and from 3rd aiming for 1st is a tough ask. Away from home as well. So for the team to be confident is a good thing. Previously we would have been very nervous in similar circumstances.
I don't expect Arsene to let the team be complacent and I don't expect the leaders in the team to let it happen. Per screaming at Santi after the Villa goal is a massive indication to the difference in this team to previous years.
i am the second poster. as in well said to the first poster!
1970's Gooner, I am also a 1970's Gooner but unlike I have only been supporting since that time I am not still,living in the 70's.
"And this was in the Arsenal players' minds..."
Derren Brown, is that you?
And how many foreign players do ManCity have?
And for crying out loud, please learn to spell LOSE...it's not loose.
Some very grown up comments like "fuck off you whinging twat" etc.. The writer has made a valid point, and the supporters who are blinded by the win are the one ones who will generally be whinging the next time we throw points away by putting the famous handbrake on and sitting back when fully in control of a game. Inviting teams to attack you is a very dangerous ploy especially when you could be pinning them back in their own half where they are never going to score. The results look fantastic on paper but anyone who has seen us play every game this season must admit that we have scraped through a good few of those more by luck than judgement and that winning when playing badly is ok but not sustainable through a whole season. Good article! Shame not to many people are honest enough to admit the flaws in the team instead of blindly seeing the 3 points as a reason to brush poor tactics or lax performances under the carpet.
Agree totally with previous (Richie)
Getting the 3 points tends to throw sand in the supportrs eyes. Arsenal have to kill teams off because another team would not let us off the hook.
As for the other commenter who is also a 70's Gooner: Do you think that Ferguson was living in the 70's when he was winning all those titles? Or even Pellegrini who urges his side to carry on playing>
I totally agree with you and the guy who swore is an Idiot who doesnt understand your take on arsenal's complacency anyway he might be a spud which is the ultimate insult. No ones who cares for arsenal will fail to see that had benteke scored with his second free header we will still be in third place this morning.I personally am fed up of Arsenal not going for the jurgular when teams are on the rope, I was fuming last night because there was no drive to get a third and fourth goal. I appreciate that we are top i really do but boy we nearly blew it yesterday when we should have sent out a strong message to EPL of our intent for the rest of the season.
No Richi, it's an appalling article.
The writer has claimed to be able to read minds.
Stated that English teams know to fight to the end, unlike those Johnny Foreigners at Arsenal.
Made the claim that Man Utd under Ferguson never threw away leads - except of course, that they did, just like every other team that has existed.
The article is a steaming pile of crap, and the comments merely pointed that out.
The squad on the field did get complacent and I think that was due to an attitude of wanting to counter rather than continue to hold the ball and force the issue. But forcing the issue could also have led to the same result or even worse.
Even the announcers were waving the white flag for Villa until Benteke scored which was from a mistake when an attacking player with the ball in the Villa half made a bad choice. This is the perfect game for it to have happened as now the leaders in the team will be able to address the mater internally. Based on how Per reacted, won't an attitude that prevails for much longer. I agree it has been a feature of Arsenal football even back in those Cup and double winning years. Was Wenger supposed to change the team coming out of the half and if he does you would have wanted a more attacking player to be entered into the fray? That would say to the players he doesn't trust them to be resilient and would have REALLY pushed the complacent idea to the players.
Gooner for 59 years. And you have never made a typing error in your whole life, stop being petty.
Mr Oloya we do give the boyz credit for the three points, but in all honesty those of you critisizing this article, can you say you felt confident after we gave a sloppy goal away and didnt have a shot on target in the 2nd half, concedding possession and basically being camped in our half through out.
The brother loves Arsenal and i agree totally with his assesment cause i was frustrated last night actually panicking. Phew thanks to mertesaker and koscienly we saw it through.
There are many reasons for the team's lacklustre display in the second half. Not just being complacent. The author seems to know why, why is why he is getting stick from some. And to put it all on Wenger's door, well that is just poor blogging.
You can't legislate for mistakes. Mistakes will happen. You also can't legislate for goals conceeded from mistakes. There was still a lot of work for the AV to do to put in that perfect cross.
As for sitting back, why shouldn't Arsenal do that? They have done it in the past this season and it has been working well. The author seems to think Man C don't and go all out till the end. Easy to point out their high scoring games. But forgot about their loss to Cardiff and AV. Did the author offer any insight as to the loss i.e. was it Man C going all out till the end or sat back?
We all will always be arm chair supporters no matter how long or how passionate we are. When things are bad, offer some constructive explanation please. The article above didn't. When things are good, no point in nit picking and laying the blame on one individual's door.
Complacency rears its ugly head and Mr Wenger is to blame.
Either you don't know the means of the word complacency or you don't know.you have to be one.
The 2 goal cushion many manager can be content and why not Arsene ?
Looking back at the Villa game they start defending with 10 men and we where attacking rightly.
Circumstances changed after that and they start attacking.
What do you expect to carry on attacking? Silly you if you say yes.
The obvious thing is two defend our lead .Santi did a mistake that lead their goal. Is that complacency? Infact Santi did a mistake for wanting to attack. to complete your miserable article .Had he tried to somehow keep the ball or sending it probably your rubbish article would have some tiny sense.
When the opposition get the score at the dying our definitely nerves start kicking. Not this gunners lot with BFG and Kos and Gibbo and Sagna and Flammy but you and your likes.
You should congratulate the team and the manager.
The article merit to a team that has lost or draw but not for winners.
I found the match yesterday encouraging. I think this season we have seen a side of arsenal that is willing to soak in some pressure from other teams. That is much like Alex Ferguson's teams that would sit on a 1-0 and wait for an opportunity to break for a second or third. If you actually watch Man city they tend to do that as well. The Villa match could have been three or four if we were more decisive in the final third of the pitch. I remember a particular moment when Giroud and Ozil were 2v1 but was it for a poor pass Ozil would have had an easy tap in. The Arsenal of yesteryear were naive in thinking that they should continue to atack with 8 players in search of another goal. Do you not remember the Wigan match when were gave up three goals because of our naive Gung ho mentality?
We are top of the league and in with a shout. Our young players are coming good and we have ozil who will only get better. For Christs sake just enjoy every win. Some gooners have become addicted to moaning. Tedious.
Generally, I agree with the post but do think it is a bit hard to be so negative on the heels of a win. I thought that the energy level was very low in the majority of the second half--even after Arsenal made the sort of substitution that usually ups the energy when the squad is flat (Rosicky). Where I really fear complacency is in the current transfer window--if Wenger doesn't opt to grab some support at striker for a push to the league championship, I will be angry--we need some silverware this year and the premiership is a great place to find it. If the injury plague doesn't sink Arsenal, I believe that they will be very well placed to pull off a league title with a bit of extra support at striker. Even if the player acquired is just a short term fix until the summer transfer window allows the team to acquire someone who will be a big dividend payer for many years to come. Right now, I do hope Wenger adds to his striker corps and brings in an experienced premiership player. 1970s G has suggested Crouch. Not bad if he could be had. The media suggests Berbatov--a luxury player to be sure, but a good scorer in the BPL. A move of this type would signal that this year will not be another season ending with the supporters simply expected to be pleased with a return to the Champions. And with seemingly 5 teams still in the mix for the Champions (6 if Man U. is still viable) another wobble and Arsenal could find itself banished to the Europa League which would have a terrible adverse impact on Arsenal's ability to complete a marquis signing/transfer deal in the August window. The next 16 days will be definitive for this season. I fear that even as the team gets the job done on the pitch, Mr. Wenger may be complacent and let the side down in the transfer market.
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