Sunderland 2 Arsenal 0, is anyone reading this really shocked by that result?
After the massacre at Milan there was no way this Arsenal side were going to lift there spirits and defend OUR honour against an energetic Sunderland side,to be honest I was stunned we beat them away in the league,they are after all in a great vein of form,showing all the cliché of a side under new management,
Looking revitalised hungry and enjoying there football,could you really pick an opposite to OUR team right now?lacking hunger,drive, movement,pride,all the characteristics that were once in ever Arsenal player, that built OUR legend as a team that plays the beautiful game as it should be played.
That in 2003 was our party piece,big powerful technical players that had a great understanding of the game and most of all felt that wearing the Arsenal shirt was an honour, one that wasn't taking lightly,we all remember Keown in the face of Ruud,Ian wright squaring up to schmichael,Henry getting angry at spurs,and Viera and well anyone!
Then the players cared about defending OUR colours! cared about the fans!the club!most of all about being the pride of London,
The style of play,the swagger in which we played it,was until then unseen,we frightened teams all over the world,pundits, ex-players and even other Managers ran out of accolades to lay at OUR teams dominance,Press struggled to find words to describe the beauty they were seeing and the devastating effect of letting Arsenal have an inch of space,a second on the ball,as an opponent if you hesitated you would be destroyed by pace accuracy and passion,fear was in the eyes of every man that stood against The Arsenal,the side were unbeatable,they refused to lay down or be beat,
Arsene Wenger was the man responsible for bringing that to our club,he was responsible for buying the right players,telling David Dein before he even left japan that he wanted a Viera,a player no one had heard of,when Henry was bought and played as a striker he actually hit the clock in the clock end with a shot! Yet when others mocked Wenger persisted,
So how has it all come crashing down?
Well Arsene caught the footballing world with its pants down,buying in players unknown,teaching them about diet and training,turning them into athletes and scholars then finally footballers,
The football world witnessed the success and pulled its pants up,now all teams in the Premier Divisions scour the earth looking for talent,now all teams counter attack,pass and move like Arsenal used too,Arsene's tactics haven't changed,the world has caught up and now overtaken,
Looking at our style of play now makes me feel sick,we are stagnant,slow,sloppy,lacklustre and toothless! It now takes us 20passes to do what we used to in 4!worse then all that the pride is gone,can you imagine any player before 2006 asking to leave?or entertaining the idea of leaving?the very idea would have been met by any player, with a firm NO! should the press have suggested they may leave The Arsenal!
Now it seems every Arsenal player uses our club as a stepping stone,a place to gain experience without the pressure from fans or the board to win trophies,
It has become normal for everyone around the club to except defeat,that is a very dangerous situation,
Wenger was asked prior to the Milan game if he felt his team could win,he replied "if I didn't think they could I wouldn't be here",but thinking and knowing are very different,we used to KNOW we could beat any team,
I appreciate the stats surrounding our team are shocking,I also except that you can make statistics read what you want,but the main one is no trophies in nearly 7 years!
I have checked and Manchester United have won 14 cups since then,and been too finals without winning,we have been to 2 finals and Few quarter finals,that gap is huge,
I'm sure if Wenger was confronted with that statistic he would feel disgraced,
I feel for Le Boss, I really do,he has believed in players that have let him down,but he has also let himself down by believing that the players we have posses the quality to win or the knowledge to win any cup!
Now I feel even our formation and tactics can be questioned,players don't appear to have roles on the pitch or understanding how there individual performances or mistakes effect the team,we used to have the philosophy that all players can play in any position,all players had to be able to move the ball,go forward and backwards with confidence,showing skill in all aspects of the game,now that's missing,
It is time for this era to come to an end,I'm sorry to say,if someone can get through to Arsene then I'd love him to be the man to turn it round,
unfortunately after losing so much great talent we will now need to buy in big names,not just names but winners,I'm not sure Arsene has the heart to start again,let's hope he does,
Looking at players that have left our club, compared with there replacements has to have any "armchair"manger questioning the direction of our club,looking at our squad now,I would happily play Denilson or Eboue,never mind letting Silva go cos of his age then buying Arteta,
I don't think Arsene even knows what he wants from the squad anymore,we need a total re-think we need to get back to basics,I end with this,how many of the current squad would get close to first team football in the 2003 team?
that was 9 years ago,its unacceptable that OUR great club has gone backwards,I highlight OUR because after all is said and done this is OUR Arsenal,its all of OUR faults for letting the club feel no trophy in 7 years is acceptable! That has to change to save OUR club.
Ryan Smith
@ryanvr46
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