So I watched just this one game of football last weekend. It serves to keep the balance on this blog, you know.You don't want all of us (two in practice, four in theory) going on about diamonds in the hinterlands of boot shaped Italy about a match only two people watched: the referee watched because he had to, and this one other blogger because he is alone in Sikkim and has no friends and cries himself to sleep every night hugging the tv schedule of football leagues around the world. Sniff.
So Arsenal lost to a promoted team in a game which if they had won would have seen them steal a march (admittedly a small march, like one with only 8 days) on fellow top 4 contenders who had drawn that weekend. Nothing new you say? Nothing, except the promoted team did not weasel their way through to a fluke victory full of set piece goals and dodgy decisions (we will come to the penalty) like lowly teams in the past. Instead they utterly and totally dominated a hapless Arsenal in every department for the entirety of the game. Humiliating.
The stats of the game reveal all. Swansea had bulk of the possession and played in style, neatly passing the ball around. They pressed relentlessly right from the start and made it hell for our midfielders to keep the ball. In the absence of Arteta, the responsibility fell on Ramsey and Benayoun to hold the midfield and they failed miserably. Bena doesn't have the ball-keeping abilities of an Arteta. He is more in the Rosicky mould and doesn't have the strength and presence of the Spanish midfielder to win a midfield battle against a pressing side. Ramsey, the less said about the better. He had a terrible game against Swansea, squandering possession like it was nobody's business. Caught heavy footed too often, the quick pressing Swansea midfielders robbed him easily and it was his mistake that led to the second goal. The first goal was his doing as well as he was the one who gave away the penalty. Now, on reviewing the penalty incident in ultra slow motion and zooming in 100x times it is clear that it wasn't a penatly and in fact Dyer had stomped on Ramsey before tumbling down. But these are things that are usually given by a referee on the pitch who, in his defence, is neither Zoomvisionman or Ultraslowmotionman (which makes the case for bringing more technology into the game, more on that some other day).
Swansea's front three were terrific. Dyer especially caused trouble equal to 120 Arshavins and 187 Walcotts and one roadrunner put together. It didn't help our case that we were playing with makeshift fullbacks on both flanks. Our left flank was so undefended it was opened as often as the number of football matches on TV last weekend in Sikkim (you would be amazed). Right flank was no better with Djourou essaying the role of a limp hunchback to perfection. Midfield was pathetic. The centrebacks tried to cope with the absolute rot all around but with much so much rot everywhere it is only a matter of time you rot too. The usually spectacular Szcczesny made an amateur mistake for the second goal and got his angles wrong. Walcott sucked. Arshavin sulked. Rotten performances all around. Terrible.
Do I have some advice on how to fix the problem? You bet.
1. Stop sticking to failed cases: Song when he was shit still showed enough signs of non-shittiness to warrant sticking to him. He was young and could only improve and it made sense why Wenger was sticking with him. And he has repaid our faith. But for heavens sake, there is no point in playing Arshavin any more. Yes, he came in one cold January morning and saved our league that year, scored one "Wonder goal.. a Barcelona goal by Arsenal" but has done the square root of fuck all ever since. Sell him. Replace him. Stick with Walcott but don't make his position a secure one. Drop him when he threatens to become an Arshavin and bring on the Ox to provide some competition.
2. Buy a striker with actual money: RVP can only do so much. When things are not going too well you need a striker to step up from the bench and immediately have some impact and turn things around. That striker wasn't Chamakh. And it isn't Park (who was bought with Monopoly money). And it isn't Henry, bless him. What does it mean for Park who was bought last summer and hasn't played a single game till now? He was not even on the bench for FA Cup game against Leeds. I am warming to the idea of this striker bloke called Podolski playing with RVP. Buy him Wenger.
3. Defence coach: Sunday's post match interview was the closest I have seen Wenger come to admitting he was clueless about what's happening with Arsenal's defence. I am of the opinion Wenger doesn't how to teach defence. The famed Arsenal defence of Keown Adams Dixon Winterburn was inherited by Wenger. Yes, he knows how to spot and buy real good defenders (Sol, Toure, Cole, Vermalen, Kos) but not how to integrate them into a rock-solid defensive unit. There is the feeling that this set of dainty, technical players get bossed around easily and do not have the grit and presence to dominate defence. I never accepted this argument because I myself have a preference for centrebacks who can play their way out of defence, centrebacks who are comfortable on the ball and are of good technical quality. Which is why I like Kos to Samba and would never want Samba to play for Arsenal. But Sunday's limp, porous, weakhearted display gives credence to the theory that Arsenal lack it in them to be a strong defence which can keep clean sheets. So maybe, just maybe, Wenger needs a defensive coach to bolster that area of his team.
There are probably a few more things I want to get off my chest but this post is threatening to be the war and peace of blogposts, so I will end it here. That kindle is going to read itself.
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