Thursday, 2 February 2012

Will the Real AFC please stand up?


Did anyone ever had a dream where something or someone is chasing us and there is something on which we could hop on and fly away, but just can't seem to reach to that thing fast enough? We try hard to reach there, we want to be on that thing to escape but even after attempts to pseudo-paddle our legs in the air, we keep landing and falling in the same place...and thus goes on our nightmare. The only difference in Arsenal's case is that , this nightmare never seems to end at all. Just when we thought we have caught up, we fall back. One step ahead and three back!

Its past January now and we are still waiting for our New Year's gifts, none have arrived and it gets worse. Sometimes you hope it was 2011 again. Four PL games without a win including three losses. I wouldn't go to label the team as mediocre, because they just aren't and plus it would be a huge insult to some players who are the heart and soul of this team, without whom, it could have been worse. Twice in 2 games we have failed to capitalise on Chelsea's dropped points, we should have been close to the top four by now! We are not waiting for our gifts, they are their to be taken, we just don't seem to pick them up.

The nil-nil scoreline does not do justice to the catastrophic defending at both ends. It's a result of some very bad luck for the attackers and some shoddy referring. Two notable and big mistakes by the referee, first the yellow card to TV....WHAT WAS THAT??!! We have enough referees against us already. The second was the penalty against us, which wasn't given, though I am not complaining.

Adding to that, there were a flurry of chances in the first half which we didn't take and neither did Bolton. The second half was a polar opposite of the FA cup game second half. You would think that maybe AW will again abra-ca-dabra the team at half time, but no such luck. RVP hitting the post and the bar twice, Ramsey failing to finish a sweet assist by  The Ox, Walcott missing a chance which is supposed to be the bread and butter for forwards, considering his aspirations of becoming a forward one day. His learning days are over, he is a senior in the team and the "young" thing is no longer an excuse. We have been crying about the lack of created chances, and when the time comes, there just isn't quality apart from RVP to do that job.

Clearly, Park isn't fitting in the teams plans, surely not when he is bolted to the bench. The Ox was subbed again, but this time not with Arshavin but TH14 was thrown in at the end. Walcott should have been the obvious choice but Wenger had to give the press something to write the next morning. Arshavin replacing the Ox was already old news! But why not throw in Arshavin last night, when we desperately needed something to strike. The Bolton defense wasn't at its best, maybe someone like Arshavin would have been effective.

It was great to have Sagna back and that gave Walcott some freedom to make those runs freely without worrying too much about his defense. But after such a long layoff its surprising that he didn't look out of touch at all. The Ox is growing with each passing game and sure he'll grow up to become a top Arsenal player, that is we don't sell him off to bring in another youngster to be polished and taught the tricks of the trade. Kos had bit of a tough time against, Ngog?! He still has to face Ibrahimovich for our Champions League game. TV, what do we say, looked quite good on the attack but had some problems defensively, given that its NOT HIS POSITION! He belongs to the centre of the defense. I am sure Miquel can do a fine job at LB. It wouldn't be too bad to give Per a game off, and for that matter to Ramsey too. But that exposes our squad depth again.

You can understand that the team was tired, given that we played just three days back which is where our lack of depth in the squad comes back to bite us, and also the fact that nothing was done to reinforce it in the winter window. The sad part is what we have now is what we have to live through the season. I am not sure how many of these will still be here the next season. It's hard to think that RVP might leave but do you really expect him to not be ambitious, to not play in the Champions League? Yes sure, there is still chance of us making it to the top four, point is are we going to take that chance the next time its offered?

Seventh place isn't the prettiest thing and we are tending to top our worst performances. To be fair, last night wasn't one of our worst performances, it was pretty decent, but you would expect a team like Arsenal to be on their toes. But is the team the only one to blame, or for that matter Wenger? Somewhere there is a feeling that maybe our budget isn't as much as we think it is. Maybe AW doesn't really have that kind of money at his disposal that would give him the freedom to pick the top players from the market. Maybe its a case of another red herring.

Yes we are a well managed club, we have better financial security compared to our other competitors. But the nucleus of a football team is its ambition to win. A lot of blame has to be put on the management. The owner almost doesn't care about Arsenal as a football team. Ask him Chamakhs jersey number, he surely wont be able to answer. The saddest part is the best thing about this club is its fans, who return home from a game with heads hanging, but go back to the next with a renewed excitement. Our away fans last night are testament to this. But are we brave enough to see where our team is going? Will this be the next Leeds?

-RVP launched his new site.

Image Courtesy: http://bit.ly/zt9Lxo

2 comments:

  1. Walcott missed big time...he should have scored...waste opportunity

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  2. yes he did, has to do better if he wants to be a striker in future and the number 14 jersey needs to be justified.

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