Why This Defeat Hurt More Than Most
Arsenal produced a 'tentative and frail' performance at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday. I think it was worse than that.
I am not a fair-weather supporter and certainly not one to over react, to throw the toys out of the pram and say that it's the end of an era or that we are suddenly a bad side..
Put in perspective it was one poor performance. It was reminiscent of that dull day back in the latter part of the 2002/3 campaign, away at Ewood Park. Arsenal were awful on the day and we lost 2-0.
After that we went 49 games unbeaten and won the league unbeaten. No-one else has done that and with some historical distance people will realise exactly the repercussions and magnitude of a feat like that. It is once in a lifetime stuff.
Defeats haven't come around that often to be fair, and so it is expected that there will be some exaggeration. If we get outplayed or are unlucky I can accept it.
It's the nature of this defeat is the hardest thing to take.
Arsenal players played with little or no pride, we had no desire, a lack of passion and no-one was willing to put their body on the line. Basically Bolton wanted to win more than we did and we let them do just that.
We had chances and were a little unlucky not to score, Henry hitting the post twice. However, Lehman was outstanding and there can be no arguments about the margin of victory.
When Gilberto was injured last season, it was obvious that we missed him. He is a very solid performer and offered a great balance alongside Vieira, a powerhouse who would drive the side on and could rely on Gilberto's excellent tactical awareness and positioning. In turn Gilberto enjoyed being the in the shadows, the unsung hero. He did it for Brazil. Gilberto Silva, played every minute of the World Cup, alongside Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Adriano and countless 'stars'.
Gilberto is an unsung hero, an invisible wall, he's quick, nimble, strong, he can head and pass and will nick the ball off you in dangerous areas. Gilberto is an excellent player. No doubt about that. He is just being utilised in the wrong way.
Gilberto is NOT Patrick Vieira. Gilberto is NOT an enforcer. Fabregas is a better player and Wenger should bring in a player to protect our future playmaker and who can boss games physically. That might bring the best out of Gilberto. He has no competition and is being played in the wrong role. A combination of this and the wrong attitude are undermining his ability.
Cygan is not a left back, just because he is left sided. How many poor performances does it take for Arsene to realise Cygan is causing uncertainty in the entire defence. That is making hard for the whole team. It is a massive weakness, which is being exploited and needs to be addressed.
There are obvious problems at the moment which need to be sorted if we are to bring the best out of a very promising squad. The main issue is Arsenal have values, tradition, Arsenal is a big club and it is not good enough to lack passion, pride and desire. That costs nothing and has been and must continue to be instilled into these players.
Wenger won't stand for this and I expect a reaction against Newcastle.
posted by JoeBoni @ 7:51 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
I would remind you Gilberto played like pants with Vieira as well. It has nothing to do with who he plays with, if he's playing shit he's playing shit. I can't see how not being able to direct a pass to a player five yards away has to do with his playing partner. It his lack of concentration which alot of folks have problems with, and the fact he is shit 75% of the time.
I absolutely agree Boni.
Very good post I think.
Many ppl are giving Gilberto stick, but they just dont seem to realise that he has that specific role in the team.
Obviously, Gilberto's weaknesses is not for instance that he cant do short passes...
Common m8, this is his job and yes, he had a crap game at Bolton, but he does 700 short passes and quick tackles to make Arsenal play fluidly and make the creative players carefree.
But you wont notice that, bcuz its not you playing on that field.
But believe me, when Gilberto is playing his role he is fundamental to Arsenal's success.
He made a big mistake on saturday, but long live Silva our invisible wall !
Like Boni says, he needs to do his thing, and then he's the MAN!
Gilberto is crap and has always been crap. You don't understand much about the game if you dont realize that. We were much better in central midfield with Vieira\Petit than Vieira\Gilberto. Finding another player of Petit's calibre SHOULD NOT be hard with 30M+ in the bank. The problem is Wenger's intelligence when it comes to tactics. He thinks Gilberto is great because of statistics. Statistics count for nothing in football. Mourinho agrees with me on that.
so are saying Gilberto should be replaced? I don't see how competition would change anything, as even with that, I still can't imagine Gilberto coming in with massive sliding tackles...as you have said, he isn't an enforcer...
I agree this is a problem, but I also think we should remove players such as Pires, who seems was happy to leave in the summer and doesn't feel Arsenal want him. He has been very inconsistent recently, and at the level we are at, that isnt good enough. If Wenger wants us to be the best, if he truely wants to be, then he shouldnt accept second rate players and performances...
hey anonymous -i don't see what mourinho's got to do with anything. he's a chequebook manager totally divorced from reality. mourinho would probably suggest what the comment after yours suggests: buy lots of new players because we aren't winning every game.
do me a lemon boys! the arsenal squad is magnificent and doesn't need to be messed about on a grand scale. we were sh*t against bolton and deserved to lose - if it happens another 5 times in a row then i might start agreeing with you!
I found this barrage of abuse for Gilberto astounding. How can a player be as bad as you say and play an integral part in a World Cup win and an unbeaten Premiership season. These are the biggest competitions there are and you cannot hide such a weakness if you are to win them. Look at how Cygan has been exposed in recent weeks. They guy just needs the right role.. What i'm proposing is that we play Gilberto and a stronger midfield player when Fabregas doesn't play and that will bring the best out of Gilberto. Take the pressure of him as the midfield enforcer that he clearly is not.
I have got to say that nun of us have all the answerers, but for AW to keep playing the same format in every game, regardless of the opposition when it's obvious we are going to have a midfield battle on our hands would appear naive @ best.
He (AW) dose not seem to have noticed we lost our midfield enforcer in the summer even if he was not playing very well for us, so two in the centre of mid will not work @ times this being his call when he need to.
This + the fact he's still playing @ the left-back problem.
Listen I love AW to death but I think it's time he woke-up to smell the coffee.
The bar in the Prem has been lifted it’s not just four/five teams anymore!!!
Lee.
Its all about finding the mix. Arsenal and Arsene sometimes compromise any physical presence at all to play the beautiful game, well beautifully. But with that you cannot afford to have players whom aren't committed to the cause. I sometimes lose belief in players like Reyes and Freddie but neither ever give up the cause.
Pires can go. He is a sensational player but you need players who lkeep their heads up in times of adversity not with their shoulders shrugged. This is epitomised with the fact when 2-0 down the mercilous henry crashes the post, bobby needed to want to smash the ball into the back of the net to annoucne arsenal were back in emphatic style. Instead he pranced over to the ball and decided to stroek it into the net. It was too late. And when that goes it was always goig nto be too late. Another glaring problem with arsenal was superbly highlighted when their forver passign infornt of the defence managed to unlock bolton and henry broek free from the wings and managed to put a superb ball across the face of the goal. Noone was their.
Gilberto is a superb player. There are lies, damned lies and statistics. He hasn't the midas touch but alongside Vieira these two were as formidable a central midfield pairing in the league. Without Vieira Gilberto suddenly becomes half the player. Without Makelele Lampard becomes half the player. Fabregas as a midfield general serves no purpose. He is class but in these games he clearly isnt ready. We missed Vieira. And we could do with offloading Pascal. He is for want of no better word. TRIPE.
cheers
si
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