All is not lost.. But it IS a kick in the teeth
Arsenal lost again away from home. They didn't wake up until the last half an hour and the damage had already been done.
Arsenal have now taken 12 points from a possible 42 away from home in the Premiership.
That is a damning statistic and one which tells you everything you need to know about our current league position.
We have no leaders in the middle of the park, Jens and Kolo lead the defence pretty well and when Campbell (if he is of sound mind and body) and Cole come back I think we will at least be able to hold our own, and not concede with alarming consistency and regularity away from home as we have been.
Cole and Campbell will add some English steel and some much needed experience.
We have no real midfield leader.
It is unfair to and unrealistic expect an 18 year old to lead the engine of the team.
We need an experienced head in there who is not losing their ability. Reyes is NOT a leader, neither is Gilberto, Hleb or Pires. We need an aggressive more mature player in the centre of midfield. Let's hope Wenger acts on that in the summer.
Freddie looked good in the middle against Madrid and maybe that is an option for away games until the end of the season.
Maybe Lauren could play in the centre?
Henry seems in and out of games away from home. We need to start shooting more from outside the box as we are not as dominant as we have been in recent years. Therefore we must not try and walk the ball in all the time. Maybe we need Van Persie back?
If we can hold out for 0-0 at half time we seem to improve and be more dangerous in the second half of matches. We have the quality when the game opens up, too often we are already chasing the game.
We just need to be confident in each other and play from the start not when we have nothing to lose.
Wenger's biggest problem is that he doesn't know what his strongest XI is. Not in a good way either.
That is a terrible position to be in, and is key as to why we are in this predicament.
But at least this season could turn out to be exciting (even for the wrong reasons). Although I'd have settled for a boring 2nd behind Chelsea any day!
Tottenham have a tough run in, far tougher than ours but they are in the crucial 4th place and we cannot rely on them to lose it.
Bolton are up there fighting too and have just as much chance as we do.
We must beat Tottenham in the last ever north London derby at Highbury.
Nothing is to be written off yet. We still have a good chance of 4th.
It's not a good situation.
But this is the situation. We are chasing 4th.
We still have a chance but if we don't find our best XI and get some consistency and confidence we might not have Champions League football at the new stadium.
That is a sobering thought.
We have 11 games to save our season. Let's be positive.
posted by JoeBoni @ 3:13 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
4 points out of 21.
this is relegation form
Henry is the problem I'm afraid to say. His attitude is appalling in too many games. He complains that we don't pass quickly enough but that is no surprise as whenever the youngsters do pass quickly and get it slightly wrong he is either back on his heels so can't assist in making the slightly wayward pass be ok or he glares at the player making the pass - some captain!! No wonder the young players want to hold on a bit longer to make sure the pass is genuinely on and will connect.
I think we have to ask ourselves a simple question. At a time when Henry is after a new contract he is making no outward demonstration on the pitch to secure it (I give you Jens Lehmen who is really trying to prove himself - a little too much at times but at least he has passion). If Henry makes little effort now, what makes us think that he will when he has secured his lucrative contract.
If he and his strike partner chased down defenders like Davis and Jenson for Bolton or Zamora and Harewood for West Ham or Bellamy for Blackburn then their defenders would be pressurised into making mistakes (not that our Defence is anythng like a problem despit decimation by injury)
Do we think that Henry is really worth £25m over the next 4 years? How about we spend that amount on three players who WANT to play for us - or even just one midfield leader and captian player who wants to play for us.
I am, unfortunately, developing the opinion that Henry might even be quite happy with our position in the league - he certainly didn't look too disappointed as the match ended on Saturday. What better excuse to have at the end of the season than to leave because we didn't get into the CL - and who will ever remember that he made little or no effort when it counted. He clearly still has it in him to perform in matches as he demonstrated in the Bernabeu when he worked hard up and down and across the pitch - and when he realised his new adoring Barcelona public might well be watching.
Unfortunately a great deal of what you say makes sense. It goes back to having confidence in whether the ball will reach you. Henry runs more for Bergkamp, Cole, Pires because he thinks they will spot his run. Hence he gets more of their passes, however if he thinks the ball will go awry then he won't run and won't get it. Proving himself right in a way.
He is not a leader. Not a captain. But a great player. We must do what we can to keep him but no more than that. A new central midfielder is required, experienced, tough and able to grab a game by the scruff of the neck. Drive the team forward. We desperatly miss that. So much so this season is in danger of descending into a farcical one.
Thierry Henry will be playing for Real Madrid next season. Cheers, Richard Godden
Post a Comment
<< Home