Time To Re-Focus « A Cultured Left Foot

Posted by: Yogi's Warrior | February 27, 2008

Time To Re-Focus

It was a day when the media-baiting was to die down but alas, they would not let it lie. Kevin McCarra’s is a strange little exercise, all but ignoring the provocation that brought extreme reactions from the manager and captain. He stops short of calling for Gallas to be stripped of the captaincy but it reeks of a piece that will be recalled at the end of the season with an ‘I told you so’ attached.

Apparently, Arsene has a ‘wonderfully individualistic’ way of running a football club whatever that is and he is a ‘brilliant eccentric’, presumably for not having spent millions of pounds to rebuild his squad. William Gallas has ‘morose eccentricity’ showing through in his reaction at the end of the Birmingham game. So we’re all nuts. There is one point upon which he is right, and that is the team have the ability to beat themselves over the coming weeks by allowing the events at St Andrews to affect them. However, the signs are that the players have recovered their ‘poise’ and using Eduardo’s injury as motivation.

Nicklas Bendtner said,

We need to recover quickly and start coming out on top again. We can’t keep thinking about this day because it has just been terrible. We were thinking about everything in the dressing room afterward. There were a lot of disappointments. We had a draw when we have to win and of course what happened to Edu is worse

Which backs up more or less the comments from Mathieu Flamini; this is a time for regrouping. In many respects, having a clear week serves them well, allowing them to come to terms with Eduardo’s injury and to shake the cobwebs from their minds. The initial anger that everyone from the playing staff to the stands felt should be channelled towards winning their matches, starting with Villa at the weekend.

Cesc was talking about motivation before the match at St Andrews,

We knew we had the quality [before the start of the season], we know what we can do. The important thing is always not what others believe, but what you yourself believe. If we don’t do well again then people can say what they want – but if we do well, then that will be for everyone inside the club and for the fans. That is who we are playing for, no-one else

Whilst complacency appears not to be an issue either ,

We are not thinking it’s all over, we would be very stupid to do that. We have to keep working hard and keep believing we can do it

Mentally, they seemed to be on the right track and it is a serious error on the part of the media to believe that implosion is close to hand following the events of the weekend. The reactions were simply human, nothing more.

A last word on the media and it seems strange for someone to come out with something that I would whole-heartedly agree with but John Sadler managed it voicing the opinion that there ought to be a cooling off period before managers speak with the media so that Arsene and co do not find themselves in the position that he did after the match, namely reacting as anyone would when a serious injury has occurred.

‘til Tomorrow.

Posted in Arsenal, Football, Football In The Dock, Premier League, Premiership, Soccer | Tags: Arsenal, Fabregas, Football, Media, Premier League, Soccer

Responses

I only know what the press are saying from blogs like this one these days. I have been an avid Guardian/Independent reader for years but this season I’ve switched wholesale to the net.
I’m not arse licking when I say that this blog and Arseblog are light years away in terms of the thought that goes into them and the quality of the prose, when compared with their more illustrious counterparts in the established media.
What’s the chance of James Lawson reading this and taking a long, quiet walk with a loaded gun? Ah we can dream.

By: steww on February 27, 2008
at 7:33 am

Steww I agree, I think I’m more and more depending on “A cultured left foot” for information, good read and point of view from Yogi which %95 of the time accurate and agrees with my view (Sorry Yogi, can’t give you a %100….yet).

I think the blogs giving us more and more options than newspapers websites, and the weird writers that most often than not have their own agenda.
—

I think we have voiced our frustration with the stupid media over the Eduardo injury, I really wish him all the best of luck and wish to see him back soon….9 months to a year sounds like a long time, but we had Diaby’s experience which maybe not the same as Eduardo’s, but Diaby is back and I hope Eduardo will be back as strong as he was before the injury. I love this guy even though he has not been with Arsenal for a long time.

As Yogi suggested the team must now channel their frustrations and anger on the football and the task at hand, so do we as fans to gather around what’s left of the squad and support them as much as we can. They made us proud so far but with couple of lapses this season, but I still think we can do it and win the title.

—

I hope all in England are safe after the quake news we heard. I know quakes are not that common in England, so it must have been scary to a lot of people…..You guys in England should come to California for a crash course on tremors

G4E

By: Gunner4Ever on February 27, 2008
at 7:55 am

For sure 4sure tym to refocus and prove these man utd scum’s wrong…

By: Gwe on February 27, 2008
at 8:12 am

http://www.latest-arsenal.blogspot.com/

By: Gwe on February 27, 2008
at 8:12 am

I read somewhere that the team visited Eduardo in hospital with his birthday presents and by the sounds of it the mood was lively. If this is true it bodes well for how they are dealing with things. These boys are mentally strong as they have shown again and again this season. The talk of ‘implosion’ is wishful thinking on the part of the media i.e. what they are hoping will happen (’cos it sells papers and hits) rather than what is likely to happen given their performances to date.

By: Passenal on February 27, 2008
at 8:17 am

Who is the biggest shame??? Gallas who didnt want to attack his teammates in the dressing room by staying behind to cool off and kicking the lights out of an advertising board instead of a team mate or Terry who attacked his manager coz he thought he may not play….. And i dont hear any backlash from the media about this…….the english media is really shit….. We will bounce back and guess who will be leading us Gallas who has brought loads of passion with in his team mates

By: Segujja(uganda) on February 27, 2008
at 9:09 am

I did not watch this match live but after seeing the match, I think the FA should do something about players that make such lounge at their fellow players. I also expect the players’ union to weigh in on this.

The penalty was a bit soft, just like the free kick, but these kinds of decisions happen especially when you play away.

What is more evident is the fact that our opponents have a clear formaula to beat us or force a draw: Crowd us out in the midfield and the area in the eighteen yard box, take us on the counter and with luck they nick in a goal. We showed good grit against Everton, by mixing it up a bit ( long balls to attackers) and got the result. However, we are still not taking good shots outside the opponents eighteen yard box. This is a major deficiency, when we meet teams that do not open up. AW needs to work on this with the team!

Also, Clitchy needs a good rest to clear his cobwebs ditto Sagna, Gallas, but with such a thin squad, buffeted by injuries, that can only be a wish. If we do not get this trophy at the end of the season, we have only ourselves to blame.

By: confidentgoner on February 27, 2008
at 10:10 am

My anger at the media during and after Saturday’s match remains unabated but in the spirit of your opening remarks - here’s a new thread.
In the past few weeks we have committed suicide in two matches because we don’t have enough good players to compete in all the competitions we enter. Two more senior players have been injured this week. It is quite possble that this will be the third season in a row we finish without a trophy - not through lack of effort, but through lack of fit players.
To paraphrase a well known play - to lose your players once is unlucky to lose them three times looks careless.
At the start of this season the squad looked inadequate and instead of bringing in extra in January it was furher weakened. The club’s handling of Diarra is further brought into question by reports today that Flamini is leaving and the club have known since December.
Wenger’s skills and accomplishments are unquestioned but can I ask, in the nicest possible way, if his ambitions actually match those of the supporters of Arsenal or Man U or Chelsea or Barcelona etc.

By: Steve on February 27, 2008
at 11:13 am

Steve
it appears they may be some truth in Flam leaving, seems funny these guys say one minute they are gunners and want to stay next there are reports they want to leave. I suspect it maybe the agents for them that want them to leave. I agree he has a great understanding of Ces and they do work well together, but it maybe the case of one door closing another opening? The news on the front about RVP maybe back illustrates the door closing and opening, who knows. Just hope the lads take heart from the recent disappointments and go out and clobber AV. I get a indistinct inner feeling that these past upsets have galvanised the team and the gunners will be firing on all fronts.

By: Old Timer on February 27, 2008
at 11:35 am

How many players can you have Steve?

The problem has again been injuries to players in the same positions.

To have a happy squad you have to have the sort of mixture we have or there is discontent. Diarra is the QED on that one.

You seem to forget we actually got to the SF of the CC playing PL teams, whilst Man U were knocked out at home to Coventry.

Wenger’s ambitions, I believe, go way beyond just winning trophies.

He is trying to build a team to compare with Real Madrid of the 50/60s & Ajax of the 70s.

It is inevitable that the press will pick up on the Flamini story. He would be ill-advised not to talk to other clubs but I believe Arsene will persuade him to stay. He certainly deserves to be one of our higher earners, so you would hope the club recognise that.

He may not succeed, although I think he will, but I for one am certainly happy to go on the ride, silverware or not.

By: Flint McCullough on February 27, 2008
at 11:39 am

Sorry that supposed to read:

How many players can you have Steve?

The problem has again been injuries to players in the same positions.

To have a happy squad you have to have the sort of mixture we have or there is discontent. Diarra is the QED on that one.

You seem to forget we actually got to the SF of the CC playing PL teams, whilst Man U were knocked out at home to Coventry.

Wenger’s ambitions, I believe, go way beyond just winning trophies.

He is trying to build a team to compare with Real Madrid of the 50/60s & Ajax of the 70s.

He may not succeed, although I think he will, but I for one am certainly happy to go on the ride, silverware or not.

By: Flint McCullough on February 27, 2008
at 11:43 am

I hope the crunch merchants in the midlands dont read this .

Parma-Milan, first half: in the 7th minute a foul by Morrone from behind, in the 17th minute a foul by Dessena on the edge of the penalty area, in the 20th minute a foul by Morrone. These last in particular is the model of the Kaka method. The “targeted” player did a bad slide tackle on the player’s foot, risking everything: Leg, or ankle, it doesn’t matter, on him you have to risk.

“It’s not over. Milan-Palermo, first half: after 1 minute and 43 seconds a bad foul by Guana, from behind, exactly on the knee which is hurting Kaka. In the 22nd minute a foul by Migliaccio in midfield, not even whistled by the referee. In the 29th minute a foul by Bresciano, from behind, on Kaka who was launched towards the penalty area, with Ricky, who full of knocks and pain, has a reaction towards the referee.”

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti has played down suggestions that Kaka is the victim of a witchhunt amongst Serie A defenders though.

“Kaka is one of those players who is tightly marked but I don’t think there is intent on the part of the players to hurt him,” said Ancelotti, who played alongside Van Basten for Milan.

“As far as referees are concerned, things can always get better but compared to the past, I think more attention is now paid to brutal tackles.”

By: Old Timer on February 27, 2008
at 11:59 am

Old Timer

What was the previous piece about? an Italian hatchet job on Kaka. So dirt is every where. Does the Italian press come out and blame AC Milan for what happen to their prize player. Obviously it is part and parcel of the game and a few bones are bound to be cracked. I think that is not the case.

No no no.. the more I think about Tiny Taylor’s challenge on Dudu the more incensed I get.
This is my opinion of what had happened, tell me if I am wrong.
OT plse look at the position of the boots when the foot come crashing in … all studs and flat footed. If you are after the ball and not to hurt you would have gone toe first ie more reach as you stretch to lenghten the leg in the effort to toe the ball away from Dudu. No my friend it was meant to hurt Dudu to announce his clumsy presence. I am sure he did not meant to hurt Dudu to that extent as he smiled immediately after the tackle before finding out exactly how much damage he had done on Dudu’s left leg. But when he found out the extent of the injury then the oaf finally felt guilty. The first tackle was malicious to some degree. The Italians while equally malicious were better footballers and Kaka is still standing on his own volition but equally reprehensible.
We Chinese have a saying for Taylor , he has a small brain for a large body our friend Taylor.
I hope he is psychologically scarred enough not to ever make another tackle like that again.

Now our focus should be on next Saturdays game and 2 person we have to sort out Ade and William but I trust AW to sort both out.

Up The Arse!!! Up The Arse!!! Up The Arse!!! Come on you Gunners!!!

By: Malaysiangunner on February 27, 2008
at 1:00 pm

I have said it before but the only way to stop tackles like that is to impose longer bans, I mean look Aliadiere got a 4 match ban and Taylor only has a 3 match ban, where is the justice?

Should it be Taylor serving the lenghty ban????

Well that is the FA for you complete idiots.

By: THE SILVER GUNNER on February 27, 2008
at 1:09 pm

Malaysiangunner
Your taking it the wrong way, its just the thought of attacking players by different people. Of course without doubt the foul against Dudu was a straight out attempt to either kick him out of the game(which succeed or make him so fearful he would question in his mind about taking a chance of losing his legs(which one of them he did). The other comment made was to commit a foul in the early stages of a game and hope the ref would be more lenient, which in general they are. Loved your country when I served there, and since as a visitor many times to KL.

By: Old Timer on February 27, 2008
at 1:10 pm

forgot and Brunei, loved that part of Malaysia

By: Old Timer on February 27, 2008
at 1:12 pm

Think the article was on Arsenal News.net not a bad site but maybe wrong, sorry didn’t think anyone would want the full story..

By: Old Timer on February 27, 2008
at 1:22 pm

McCarra’s article may reek ‘of a piece that will be recalled at the end of the season with an ‘I told you so’ attached’ but it’s always fun and games when a journo sticks his neck out on the line.

I’d rather that to Shearer and Redknapp’s fence sitting.

By: G10 on February 27, 2008
at 1:48 pm

flint, it is not a matter of players in the same position, that only happened when Flam and cesc were injured at the same time. there is not enough quality throughout the positions, there is no adequate cover at full backs, if flam or cesc are out then its gilberto, on the wings if there is no ros/helb it is diaby and eboue. only upfront do we have cover and are now obviously very unlucky to have eds/rvp out. we have had this conversation ad naseum since the summer. the reality is we have 12 great players and the rest are not top quality enough to be playing week in and week and providing genuine competition to the first team .

clearly you can have too many players ie chelsea, but a happy medium is needed and we don’t have it. there was always a good chance that the size and quality of the squad would catch up with us and let’s be honest it has already. we threw the CC and FA cups, we threw top place in the champions league group and then had to play milan earlier than needed. everyone knows we don’t have the squad to compete for everything and the question is why that needs to be when we are the 5th richest club in the world and have the money to strengthen the squad. you always go on about the CC run yes we beat a crap newcastle team at home with two late goals, a crap sheff utd and did have a marvelous win at blackburn. that is not prove that the squad is strong enough. when we played a determined spurs we were hammered. so yes it was a good run but let’s not get carried away.

to quote diarra and say you can not have quality back so you keep people happy is also wrong in my opinion, (something happened there that we obviously don’t know about although if flam leaves and we kept gilberto instead real questions must asked how we let that happened). we need 17 quality players and let them compete for places it is the managers job to keep them happy, how many man utd players have walked out over having to compete for places? it was being a manager is all about.

i am not trying to knock them as we have had a great season and to be top at this point is great achievement and maybe we can hold on to top place, if we could just get RVP and Rosicky back and not lose many more i think we have a chance, but if those two keep missing games i just can not see it happening. here is hoping and praying!!!!

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 1:59 pm

dan

You are right we dont have the quality in the squad to compete on all fronts.

By my reckoning we need another player in the same class as Toure/Gallas, Cesc/Flamini, RVP/Adebayor to compete and go for all competitions

By: THE SILVER GUNNER on February 27, 2008
at 2:50 pm

we need two more wide players, another centre midfielder and full backs. if eds is coming back in 9 months then i think RVP/Ade/Bendt/walcott is enough cover to then as eds was really showing great potential and another forward would ultimately be too many.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 2:56 pm

i would gladly sell eboue, hoyte and gilberto to make room for those players. we also really need to take a look at rosicky, rvp and diaby’s injury situations, if you have a small squad to start with we certainly can not carry so many injury prone players. if rosicky does have this chronic problem we hear about he also must be sold. i love him as a player (although wasted on the left) but he can not play two games in a row and that is of no use to us.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 3:02 pm

Not sure whether Bendtner is good enough at this level, and Walcott tho he has shown some bright sparks may still need another year of “growing” to become the player we all know he will become.

We have Diaby and Rosicky who are more than capable of playing on the wings, and Hoyte who is a good full back. Traore needs a few more years before he can break into the 1st team still only 18.

I have a feeling if we get a decent offer for either Gilberto or Bendtner they will go.

By: THE SILVER GUNNER on February 27, 2008
at 3:07 pm

where has this flam story come from? where are the quotes? has anything really changed? clearly we cannot lose him. massive player for us now and in the future.

By: gazzap on February 27, 2008
at 3:08 pm

gazzap there is no way Wenger will allow Flamini to go especially as we lost Diarra the coont he should have been patient cause he would have got his time.

By: THE SILVER GUNNER on February 27, 2008
at 3:09 pm

there is nothing wenger can do if flam wants to leave

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 3:12 pm

Agreed but he doesn’t strike me as having the “diarra” personality.

As he had the opportunity to leave but instead fought for his place.

By: THE SILVER GUNNER on February 27, 2008
at 3:20 pm

diaby is not a winger and rosicky is permanently injured. hoyte is ok but will never be a top quality player.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 3:34 pm

the difference is now he has all the cards and has now become a very key player who instead of being linked with birmingham is now linked with juventus, a slight difference!!!! with no transfer fee juve can i assume offer much higher wages.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 3:36 pm

as angry as i was with diarra, he wanted to play, he took a huge risk by leaving us and in some ways you have to respect him for that. no doubt he will end up at a top club as he is undoubtedly a very good player and unfortunately significantly better than diaby, gilberto and denilson.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 3:40 pm

Edourdo out of hospital, see bbc sport

By: Old Timer on February 27, 2008
at 3:42 pm

gazzap

Go to Arsenal News.net all mainly newspaper statements but the site is swarming with the news. No smoke without fire??

By: Old Timer on February 27, 2008
at 3:46 pm

Agreed Diaby is not a winger but has played there effectively and perhaps AW has noted his defensive attributes aren’t yet good enough for him to play in the center.

It is a shame about Rosicky, if it is a muscle problem then surely he will come back strong.

Hoyte needs games, we saw that when he came back from his loan spell at Sunderland he was knocking on the door.

Unfortunately for him AW went and signed Sagna, but he should take a leaf out of Flamini’s book and get his head down in training, so when he gets his chance he doesn’t throw it away.

By: THE SILVER GUNNER on February 27, 2008
at 3:48 pm

clearly there is some issue with flam or he would have just signed already it doesn’t take that long!!!

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 3:51 pm

I think Gary Lewin need to be given much props for the miracle work he did on saturday, unsong heroe.

By: THE SILVER GUNNER on February 27, 2008
at 3:51 pm

Dan I hope it is just that he is concentrating on the league.

By: THE SILVER GUNNER on February 27, 2008
at 3:52 pm

not sure what to say to that!!!!! i suspect he can do both at the same time.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 4:07 pm

dan, am with u 100%. We will all need to get on our knees and pray to the Almighty to bring back VP, Diaby, and Rosicky. The man who lives above will still do some more tasks for us: keep Sagna, Clichy, Flam, Fab all fit! I hope we are not being greedy?

Were we finacially handicapped?

By: confidentgoner on February 27, 2008
at 4:12 pm

fab is also one booking away from a two match ban, which will obviously happen at some point.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 4:15 pm

you also forget most importantly ade!!! and helb.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 4:19 pm

the amnesty for accumalated bookings has kicked in now so no ban for cesc.

I really am not worried about flamini leaving.

By: THE SILVER GUNNER on February 27, 2008
at 4:23 pm

i am sure you are wrong that doesn’t kick in until april. he will be banned if booked again

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 4:26 pm

Dan,

The class players warming Chelski’s & Man Ure’s bench are happy to warm it because Brahimvich and old lady Fergie warm their pockets with loads of money, something Arsenal will never do because we have a wage structure.
—

In my opinion Diarra is not better than Denilson, he is just older. Also, he is not better than Diaby who plays out of position on the left wing which is one of the most difficult positions. I think to compare a 30 something years old world cup winner to 22 year old Diarra is really bizarre, so I’m not even going there.

Let me ask you this, if we didn’t have all these injuries, can you say that we didn’t have enough players??

Our strategy is built on young players, if you don’t have the stomach & the patience for it….you will not like Arsenal.

G4E

By: Gunner4Ever on February 27, 2008
at 4:36 pm

if he leaves he leaves, he has a wonderful season and surpassed all expectations, but i am sure we can find a suitable replacement. we survived after Dennis, Vieira, Theirry and Pires and we can survive without Flamini. i would be shocked if he left mind you, he will never have it so good as he does with us.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 4:49 pm

The issue with Flamini may not be about money but maybe about a guaranteed playing time? Which Wenger may not want to guarantee. Diaby eventuallly will have to play in Midfield, so is Denilson. Gilberto will not be there after May.

By: Gunner4Ever on February 27, 2008
at 4:50 pm

GE4, have to disagree with you, Denilson is still way off being a first team player and has actually gone backwards this year in comparison to last. as for Diaby i agree he is out of position and who the hell knows how good a centre midfielder he is as wenger never plays him there!!! which could be some sort of indication of how he feels about it. as for gilberto the comparison is who would you rather playing there, gilberto who can not keep up with the game any more, can not tackle for his life and has generally become a complete liability every time he plays or diarra who is a very dynamic, young and athletic player. clearly wenger rated him very highly as does Domenech (above flamini in fact).

you can not say if we didn’t have these injuries, because injuries are part of the game and every team will get them and you need the squad to compensate for that. the question is and this is the sign of a good squad, is there genuine competition for places, are your players playing for their places and the answer to that is an emphatic no, outside of EDS there is not player who can come insquad wise and be the same level as the first team. forgetting the goalies who are similar, clichy, sagna, toure, gallas, helb, rosicky, flam, fab, rvp and ade have no real competition for their places. am i wrong and if so who?

as for the if you don’t like it rubbish, i am perfectly entitled to an opinion and still love arsenal at the same time.

to me now that we are one of the richest clubs in the world, with an amazing stadium etc, it is not unreasonable to expect a squad that can compete for all the competitions we enter. how it is acceptable to people that we can not is strange to me. it is not just about patience and i think fans have been patient, what other top club in europe would go three years without winning anything and still be so supportive of the manager, which is correct in my opinion. but at the same time it is reasonable to ask certain questions or the manager and club will become complacent, an argument i think we are not far off from, when you consider our manager is hungry to win only half the competitions we can win despite the fact that we haven’t won anything for three years and those two competitions are clearly damn hard to win!!!

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 5:12 pm

he is playing every game and is clearly the first choice with fab, diably and denislon are nowhere near him!!!

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 5:13 pm

Diaby work rate has to improve greately if he ever wants to play in the middle.

By: THE SILVER GUNNER on February 27, 2008
at 5:15 pm

We don’t know anything for sure so why speculate and wind ourselves up? Flamini is an important player and it would be great if he stayed, but no-one is irreplaceable.

By: Passenal on February 27, 2008
at 5:27 pm

G4E, even without injuries we do not have all the boys we need. I had been harping on this for quite some time, but some bloggers felt very comfy with the arrangement. The so called “Arsene Knows”group!

The gap btw first team players and reserves is a yawning one. Think for a moment abour the RB and LB positions. Narrow in on the mid field. It is not too difficult to see. This explains our big losses this year.

By: confidentgoner on February 27, 2008
at 5:29 pm

confident, that has been the argument for the past year. i think the 1st team has made great strides this year but the back ups have in general been very disappointing. a healthy first team is a must for us to win anything this year.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 5:34 pm

Flamini? It’s a tactic in the process of negotiation.

Continued criticism of Gallas. It’s ok for that upstanding English Spurs part timer King to get pissed and have a drunken brawl.

By: jamie on February 27, 2008
at 5:42 pm

Injuries are part of the game but not 10 or 11 of them in one season. Any team in the league Chelski or not will have a hard time winning anything if they lost that many.

You expect injuries, but you can’t predict them. The idea that you need to buy because a player is injured is really a funny idea. So since we have 11 players injured, we need to buy a new team?

By: Gunner4Ever on February 27, 2008
at 5:44 pm

Understandably, we all seem to have forgotten that St. Totteringham’s Day could be with us this Saturday

By: jamie on February 27, 2008
at 5:51 pm

that is a ridiculous argument that no one is making. what you need a squad of 17 / 18 “first” team players, that not only can come in when players are injured (i think 5 is probably average for non available players) and more importantly provide proper competition for one another. yes we have many injuries but half of them are non first team players anyway who if were playing anyway would still not be anywhere as good as the first team players, ie currently djorou, diaby, denilson and eboue. clearly when you reach the levels of 11 players missing you can not legislate for that, but that is not what has happened throughout the season.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 5:58 pm

Well said Gunner4Ever. Arsenal is a club built on a totally unique set of values to most teams which is based on nurturing young talent, giving them self belief and turning them into world beaters rather than smashing tranfer fees .This vision is the reason why we are the envy of the Premiership and everybody despises us!Our squad is only small in comparsion due to the unfortunate spat of injuries and lack of tested Premiership ready players. Due in no small measure to the lets kick Arsenal of the pitch campaign and only being able to play 11 players on the pitch at a time. So young players tend to get sporadic opportunities and only improve once they have had a good run in the team. But our whole season cannot be judged on 2 freak results to Man U and Spurs.

And I disagree that we lack strength in depth becoz all teams are built around key players who drive the team and you can only put 11 players out on the pitch at a time anyway. If Rio Ferdinand or John Terry got injured who would steady the ship. Or if Rooney and Ronaldo or Drogba got injured would Man u b in the same position today. Liverpool has players coming out of their ears but where has that got them?

Its reported that Ambramovich has plied over £500million of his peronal fortune into Chelsea. Good luck to him. Arsenal FC have no time for £100 million bench warmers or prima donnas. Man U, Liverpool, Spurs have had to spend £50milion + to strengthen their teams. Who will be laughing at the end of the season when the supposed lack of strength in depth and squad that cost less than Wayne Rooney to build triumph?
There is only two words that all gooners need to remember “Arsene Knows”. This is the Arsenal way.Keep the faith

By: Gooner4Life on February 27, 2008
at 6:10 pm

Dan, the players you mentioned are not 1st team players in “Your View”…they may be 1st team players in Arsene’s view.

They are also not playing regulary therefore their form is not that good now.

By: Gunner4Ever on February 27, 2008
at 6:16 pm

if you can show me one time in the past two seasons when any of these or hoyte, traore, bendtner, walcott and the rest of the 2nd tier were picked in preference to one of the first team players for a league or chapions league game wenger “wanted” to win, i may agree with you. please try and give me one example when they played and first teamer was not “rested”

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 6:22 pm

I agree that having a depleted squad leaves us vulnerable. But if your using the having a depleted squad means there is no competition 4 places argument in the team it doesnt wash!. Are you saying that even if Nani played his socks of in training Fergie he’d be chosen above Ronaldo or Saha over Rooney. And dont the most consitent title winning teams tend to be the ones that played the most consistent team.Diarra who some of u keep harping on about left becoz the competiion for midfield players was fierce and he wasnt going to get a look in.Besides the Flamster rocks!

By: Gooner4Life on February 27, 2008
at 6:28 pm

maybe i am not expressing myself well, which is why you are missing my point. obviously they are 1st team players as they play in our first team. what i am trying to say is that players 1 to 12 are on a completely different level to players 13 - 26. we obviously have the quantity of players required but it is the quality of the 2nd group that is not adequate to compete for all the competitions at the highest level, as seen against man utd/spurs/prague/seville. no one has 1 - 24 of complete quality (although chelsea are close) but in my opinion 1 - 18 should be interchangeable without serious detriment to the team and that is not the case with us.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 6:31 pm

but there is no competition for places, please answer my question above. nani may not replace ronaldo who with rooney are clearly on another planet and wouldn’t be dropped, but he will certainly replace giggs and do a better job in fact. teams are alwys going to have untouchables, but in reality we have about 10 of them. if we did a poll of everyone on this blog to put their best arsenal team they results i bet would be almost identical and that tells the story.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 6:35 pm

Gooner4Life, for some reason it’s hard to get this point across for fans who wants us to be just like everybody else….If my neighbor buys a Mercedes, I have to buy one kind of thing.

I can’t say they are not fans, but they just want us to do it like every one else does it, and until Wenger leaves the club this is the way things are done I’m afraid.

By: Gunner4Ever on February 27, 2008
at 6:39 pm

G4E, that final statement i do agree with and things will not change. what i want is not to be like other clubs but i want to win things and i assume that is what you want as well.

i am still waiting for an example of what i asked above when one of the 2nd tier was preferred to a 1st tier player when not rested?

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 6:42 pm

You will always have your preferred 11 as a manager Dan. I’m sure if Wenger can play the entire season with the same preferred 11, he will. We don’t not rotate for the sake of rotating like Liverpool.

Denilson played so well last season when he was having a run in the team…you didn’t say he was a 2nd tier then did you?

By: Gunner4Ever on February 27, 2008
at 6:52 pm

in comparison to fab and gilberto last year yes he was. again you are missing my point obviously all managers have a preffered 11, however my last comment on it is the gap between the first and second 11 is too large and therefore when the 2nd lot come in we struggle every time!!! again i am still waiting for an example, can you think of any because i can’t at least agree with me on that!!!

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 6:58 pm

Dan, For example Senderos and Lehman. Slated at the start of the season but deputised well for Toure and Almunia proved there up to scratch. I get your point but we cant compare all our 2nd tier gooners in terms of experience to players like Nani and Anderson as they have had previous experience in top teams in other leagues playing regular football. I dont think players likeTraore and Hoyte are as awful as everybody thinks and Im sure its just down to lack of match practice and a chance to play games regularly rather than being played in high profile games n r expected to give the world.But how else are they going to get experience, Was Chelsea any better against Spurs playing their full squad in the Carling Cup Final!Can you not remeber our Second tier team giving them a run for their money in the last Carling cup final and playing them off the park.

By: Gooner4Life on February 27, 2008
at 7:06 pm

And my point is that “this your view” not Arsene’s or mine that the gap is too big. When Denilson played with the first team last year…you didn’t feel he was a 2nd or 3rd rate player.

By: Gunner4Ever on February 27, 2008
at 7:16 pm

to me as i said above there is no difference between almunia and lehmann. as for senderos he has done well and is certainly a good squad player. hoyte is just very average and at 23 is unlikely to become a top quality player. as for traore the guy is 18 years old and has great potential and i realize that the how do get experiance argument is very valid, equally if clichy did an eds god forbid!!! traore is simply not up to it. the issue is balance of young players and older mature players. how do you bring forward 10 young players all at once? it is tough and i respect wenger for trying especially when he had no money for all those years and thus no choice, however ideally if you can bring through a few players at a time that is prefferable and have more experainced players to supplement your core first team players. i am still not sure how one can argue about the basics of my argument when it has been so transparant this year, that when the 2nd tier came in they were never (bar blackburn) good enough at the highest level and that the first team players have been so good in comparison.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 7:20 pm

again when did he ever play denilson infront of any 1st team player? that is the true test, can he force his way in to the first team, the only player to have done that was flamini this year no one else has come close.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 7:22 pm

Exactly Dan, I think Denilson will be pushing for 1st team next year…but you prefer a ready made player and in this case Denilson can kiss his chances goodbye.

By: Gunner4Ever on February 27, 2008
at 7:40 pm

The fact is we are currently top of the PL, with a very respectable 64 points from 27 games.

We have not once been able to play what most would consider our 1st choice 11.

17 players, (not including RVP, Denilson, Song, Djourou or Lehmann) have played in 10 or more PL games. 13 as starters.

Almunia replaced recognised 1st choice, Lehman; Flamini - Gilberto.
It is often a choice between Eboue & Rosicky for tactical reasons.

Of course most clubs will have a large core of players, who will always play if available. Arsenal are no different.

The common denominators in the big defeats were the absence of Flamini combined with poor support for developing full backs, at a time when other options were not available. This against an inspired Spurs side desperate to win & a very good Man U performance both away, which was certainly a key influence on the FA Cup tie.

Traore, in particular, struggled but we do have other options for that position when Song & Kolo are fit.

Going after the treble of PL +FAC + CL is a big ask & is reliant on many factors, fate not being the least of them. It has only been done once by a PL club & if I remember correctly Man U’s squad
would have been of a very similar make up to our current one, possibly smaller.

What you need is a great team with enormous spirit, be able to have most of your squad available, have kind cup draws & just plain good luck.

It continues to disappoint me how some of our own supporters just don’t appreciate the deep quality we really do have in depth.

Don’t forget a lot of people had written off Flamini, Hleb, Ade, Senderos & Song (the best midfielder at the ACN) had been totally dismissed.

The concession I would make is that we have to consider if we can continue to rely on Rosicky or RVP, particularly with Ed out.

A super class player may be needed to replace/cover one of them, in the summer.

The 1 signing we must make is Flamini.

By: Flint McCullough on February 27, 2008
at 7:47 pm

that is fair comment but the question is what happens if both flam and fab can’t play so you have denilson and diaby, that isn’t going to win you the league or CL. it is all about balance yes to some youngsters but we can not be solely relaint on them. also it is not even about the term “youngsters” it is used too much. i am talking about quality, if you are good enough you are old enough, most of the 2nd lot aren’t even youngsters anyway, and have been around for a few years. it is about quality, are these players good enough to compete on a regular basis at the highest level enabling arsenal to be winning trophies fairly regularly which a club of our stature should be doing (and include any trophies not just the league and CL).

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 7:52 pm

If you have Flamini & Cesc absent, you will need 2 of Diaby, Rosicky & Hleb for the creativity plus 2 of Song, Denilson or Gilberto.

We might be better playing 4 5 1 in that eventuality.

Let’s hope that doesn’t happen, surely we have had enough bad luck on the injury front?

By: Flint McCullough on February 27, 2008
at 8:02 pm

flint you obviously know your football, when in the past two years has wenger played a 2nd tier player infront of a 1st teamer who was not rested? don’t you think that does indicate the large gap between the 1st and 2nd tier players? do you see that as an issue or do you think the players are really interchangable?

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 8:08 pm

although i agree with you historically flint, wenger has never in my recollection started with either helb or rosicky in the middle in a four man midfield, when fab and flam were out against boro and newcastle it was gilberto and diarra ie two defensive midfielders. equally diaby hasn’t started a single game in the centre since he was injured. the most likely scenario based on wengers previous decisions would be gilberto and denilson and that to me is not pretty!!!! i would love to see rosicky play in the centre (well anywhere on the pitch would actually be nice!!!) but again wenger has never done it for some reason. personally i hate 4 5 1 and always think we become too isolated upfront and lack a cutting edge.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 8:18 pm

The thing that worries me most about Flamini’s situation is that he might now look closely look at what happened to Eduardo. Given that Wenger/Gallas have taken more heat than Taylor, the act has for all intents and purposes been condoned. Who could blame him if he decided that he didn’t want to play in the EPL after that? If I had decent offers on one of the other major leagues, I would sure as hell think about it hard.

By: nolaboyd on February 27, 2008
at 8:43 pm

I’ve been reading this debate with interest. I don’t come down entirely with either side, I can see both viewpoints, but I do think Dan expresses some legitimate concerns. Another issue that for me lends credence to Dan’s concerns is our rate of injury. It seems to me that because of our particular style of football, we are more prone to injury. And not only because Arsenal’s speedy players are more apt to be victimized by lumbering oafs like Martin Taylor.

However, I have to question the assumption that it is possible for any squad to effectively compete on 4 fronts. Or even 3. Even a very deep squad like Chelsea’s has problems fighting effectively on all fronts.

Still, I do think that there is a problem with depth at Arsenal that other clubs don’t have. Too many young players developing all at the same time. Look at Hoyte, he’s 23. Who knows how much better he’d be right now if he’d gotten regular first team football for a good long stretch.

By: marcus on February 27, 2008
at 8:44 pm

it is obviously hard winning 3 or 4 competitions if not impossible however if you only go for two and the two hardest ones at that, competing with the biggest and best clubs in europe (in which only one team can win) you are potentialy setting yourself up for many years of not winning anything. we have never won the CL who is to say we ever will are we going to give up all domestic trophies until we do win it? manu and chelsea are also focused on the big ones but win the smaller ones to keep things ticking over and keeping the winning mentality going. chelsea and man utd are still chasing three and chelsea were just in a final. my fear if we carry on with this current policy is that we will win one trophy every five to ten years, not one every two years, however “small” that trophy is.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 8:53 pm

I still think you are missing the other side of the view. You can have one strategy but not both. If you want to compete for all trophies, then you buy all your players ready made and forget about developing young players in the large numbers we have….you may have one or two but that’s it.

Or you can mix between semi-made players like Sagna, Eduardo, with already made players like Kolo & Gallas while developing the young players in the mix.
–

I’m one of the people who truely believe we need a real left winger. I don’t really it’s a good idea to mass a 5 players 70 million kind of shopping spree because it only means any young player in those positions will ever have the chance.

By: Gunner4Ever on February 27, 2008
at 9:38 pm

not sure how you make the jump to going out and buying all ready made players, bring up 4 or 5 quality young players and supplement them with some experianced players. players like eboue, gilbrto and hoyte are not youngsters but are simply not good enough. continue to develop, walcott, bendtner one of diaby or denilson and traore. remember vela is also coming next year. it is hard to bring on 10 youngsters and be competative at the same time. we at least agree that we need a left winger and have done all year.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 9:55 pm

the sagna / eds signings are the sort we need good quality players who do not cost obscene money and will not have unrealsitic expectations of their place in the squad.

By: dan on February 27, 2008
at 9:56 pm

Dan I agree with Gilberto, not sure about Eboue & Hoyte…they’re not bad players at all, and they would not be in Arsenal if they where not good enough. Obviously Arsene sees something in them that you don’t see….And since he is more qualified to judge than you and me, his judgment will be the decisive one.

That doesn’t me we should stop debating or quesioning, but until he makes his decision nothing will change.

By: Gunner4Ever on February 27, 2008
at 10:23 pm

Old Timer

Thanks and yes Malaysia is a beautiful country even if I say so myself and we are crazy about the EPL. You can find supporters of Stoke City,West Ham, Wolves , Leeds and what not. Not all support go to the top 3 + 5th ( Liverpool).
Brunei - well more sedentary still very friednly people.

Well let move on on the Dud injury and lets win the EPL for him.
Our squad is very thin so we need RVP and Ross to come back fit and ready ASAP.
We will win this year, the spirit is strong.

Up The Arse!!!

By: Malaysiangunner on February 28, 2008
at 3:05 am

Very tough times ahead, and to make us blve that we can win this year we wil have to win against villa. If we lose I think 90% of our hopes will be gone.

Flamini has been a very good squad player, but certainly not ireplaceable. I hope along with RVP and Rosicky, Song also comes back to the squad.

RVP in my opinion “has to” come back else we will be short, and walcott has to perform jus like the way he does in under 21 games.

yuppp the spirit is certainly strong…just we keep on having to hope a bit too much with the injuries..and i still hope we r done for the season with the injuries.

By: rohan on February 28, 2008
at 6:04 am

great read as usual!

is it normal to have so many players out injured?

anyway i dont think we need a lot but hopefully our players will not get injured as much or not so many at once! i look at four points this year - Lehman cost us 2 and this weekends referee stole 2, do we realize that we should really be ahead by 7 even with all the injuries and our so called lack of depth. these reasons have not been the reason for us dropping points in the league! in the CC & FAC yes but those were by design to me.

I think we get paranoid because we look at these Billionaire teams with all these players and we want that also however these teams r behind us at present with all these so called good players! Give me Rosicky & RVP and we can win both trophies that we r in contention for (i think believe so).

GOD BLESS!

one more, im a English dude living in the US and must say that the UK press is quite embarrasing. im ashamed at present, seriously!

By: Paul N. on February 28, 2008
at 8:03 pm

[...] a exciting left winger and we could so do with one of those… A cultured Left Foot talks about how it’s time to refocus and something that we need to do [...]

By: Thursday Round Up & Arsenal vs Aston Villa Preview « The World of Arsenal on March 9, 2008
at 2:29 pm