Arsenal 0-2 Manchester City
What can I write that won’t make us all teeter over the edge again and bash our already bruised heads against brick wall, or wail uncontrollably? Well I suppose it’s fair to say that a sending-off after nine minutes makes any game impossible to judge properly. Going down to ten men that early in a match tests the mettle of the meatiest, most blow-your-own-trumpet of sides, and we are neither especially meaty nor enormously capable of the correct utilisation of our brass instruments. By the end of the match we came out of things looking rather dishevelled – though having managed at least to do our shirt buttons up – and having done what we often do these days, which is asking as many questions as we manage to answer.
And I will add that we perked up quite a bit in the second half and showed some character and a bit of vim, with Jack Wilshere excelling, even if we couldn’t get a consolation goal (Giroud should have at least nodded an effort on target, and the otherwise invisible Walcott hit the post).
But by and large what I took away from it all is that we remain as far off the pace as ever, as inconsistent as always and still some distance from hitting upon the elixir of continued success. The team that Wenger rather baffling called ‘quite complete’ is nothing of the sort. (I hope that may have been lost in translation).
Timid, lacking in both authority and concentration are three ways of putting it – Wenger’s way of putting it in fact – and just how can that be? Why are we so timid? Where is our authority? Why are we not concentrating, for the love of god, against the current champions of England? For what reason does our confidence ebb and flow as rapidly as the Thames? There’s only so much pointing fingers you can do at the players before the finger inevitably swings back towards Wenger.
In the first half we were poor before Koscielny got sent off, and we were poor after he was sent off too. We should have rolled up the old sleeves and scrapped like hell to weather the ten v eleven storm, but instead we pressed the timid button by mistake. Had we played like we played in the second half from the moment Koscielny got his marching orders, who knows. But it’s all if, if, iffety iff.
Look, I have no idea what to make of things anymore. The team can be up, it can be down, it can be flying around. But it can totter out the blocks too.
So despite all that there really is only one thing for it, and that’s to come again and put myself through the mill once more.
Wednesday night, you say?
Don’t mind if I do.
Fortify yourself in advance, you say?
Might be a sensible idea.
Excellent, as always eastlower!
I spent a good part of yesterday evening planning my pre-match “fortifications” for Wednesday!
Yes, it’s important to have all angles covered…
I have an idea what to make of it : a squad which clearly isn’t good enough managed by a manager who clearly isn’t good enough any more. I absolutely hate watching us these days. I said Arsene had to go 18 months ago as the longer he’s left in the job, the further wewould fall. With each passing week, I look more & more right. Can’t think of any other time in my life where being right has given me less pleasure. Flying to London for MU game in April which is my last game with Arsene as manager. If he’s still there next season, I won’t be. I can’t justify the cost of flights, hotels, match tickets, (not to mention shopping for the missus) any more for something that just makes me either angry, frustrated or sad & only very rarely joyous.
If the Board are not at this moment sounding out Guardiola then they’re a fecking disgrace.
Things are so bad that Arteta’s injury is good news ???? It feels like injuries are the only thing that will force the manager to take action.
It’ll be interesting to see where we end up come May. If we make fourth I cannot see him leaving. But if we don’t – something might change as that hits the board/owner where it really hurts.
What has it come to when people won’t even make up transfer rumors?
I could see this squad, as is, squeezing into 4th place. I don’t think 4th is out of the question without signings, but a couple of great players would be nice. For players at the top level, we have Wilshere, Cazorla, and Wocheck, maybe Theo. Chamberlain might get there. So many players just haven’t quite worked out: Diaby, Gervinho, Ramsey. Maybe they’ll come good. We need them to badly. It doesn’t look like we’re going to sign anyone.
All of our defenders are error prone. They’re all good enough in patches, but they just don’t seem able to consolidate their talent to be consistent.
Given the challenges we’re facing, a decent run in the league to finish fourth would be a big accomplishment. I think we can do it.
Here’s the question though East Lower – should it still be his choice to stay ?? Surely we’ve reached the point where someone in there calls a halt, has a quiet word & asks him to step down with no fuss.
Jeff mate, there’s isn’t a hope in hell of Gervinho coming good. He’s simply not a very good footballer.