Jump to content
The Education Forum

Arsenal


John Simkin

Recommended Posts

After last night’s game Arsene Wenger complained that Arsenal were the better team and did not deserve to lose against West Ham. For example, he pointed out that Arsenal had 16 shots at goal compared to West Ham’s four attempts. However, all four shots were on target and three of them went into the net.

League tables do not lie and clearly, over the last few years, Arsenal has been a better team than West Ham. That is true of this season as well. When Arsenal attack teams they look one of the best teams in Europe. However, there is much more to football than trying to score goals. All season it has been clear that Arsenal has a serious problem. Up until last night it seemed this problem only related to away games as they had only been beaten at home by Chelsea.

Alan Pardew had worked out why Arsenal were having problems away but not at home. In away games they were attacked by the opposition. It was clear that this was not the Arsenal of old. When they were attacked they began to buckle and make mistakes.

At home Arsenal was rarely faced with this problem. Most teams defended in depth and rarely attacked in numbers. Only Chelsea had the confidence to do this and was rewarded for doing so.

It is true that West Ham spent most of the game soaking up pressure. However, on the few occasions they did attack, they did so in numbers. For example, with the third goal, the cross missed out the first two forwards and arrived at the feet of the unmarked Etherington. Even with the second goal, Zamora, had the choice of shooting or passing the ball to Reo-Coker who had arrived unmarked in the penalty area. West Ham has scored more goals in the league this season than any other club bar Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal. This is not only because they attack at pace, they attack in numbers.

If I was Arsene Wenger I would be very concerned by the impact that this game will have on other teams who visit Highbury this season. They will probably adopt the tactics of West Ham and they can expect more defeats will follow. What is more, he is likely to find his best players like Henry wanting to leave the club as they are clearly not going to be winning anything of any consequence over the next couple of years.

West Ham on the other hand are on the up. So much so that they might even end up above Arsenal in the table by the end of the season. True the team does not have any world class players at the moment (I believe that Ferdinand and Gabbidon might eventually achieve this status). However, Pardew has assembled a team of young British players who will improve dramatically over the next couple of years. A far better situation to be in than having a team of foreign mercenaries.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 94
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

It is a painful time for us gooners John, I have been reading many of the fans websites and most agree that the most significant problems this season has been the experienced players especially Gilberto and Sol Campbell. I was at Highbury for the Wigan game and Gilberto was atrocious, couldn't pass, won't tackle, I don't know why he bothered turning up. The best players were the youngsters - Van Persie was outstanding - and that is why I am more confident about the future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dan

I thought you'd like to see a recent picture of John in gloating mode :)

alf.jpg

I am a member of the West Ham Forum. There have been so many fans gloating that it has been difficult to get on. For example, the thread on last nights game has had over 20,000 page views and 720 postings.

One fan has asked "Anyone fancy a Sol Campbell after work today???"

"A quick half and I'm off".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One fan has asked "Anyone fancy a Sol Campbell after work today???"

"A quick half and I'm off".

Said fan might do well to change watering hole: A shocking half that leaves a bad taste and then offski. :beer

But I think Dan's right about v Persie.... :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Sol Campbell was treated very badly on Wednesday. He only looked at fault for the first goal because Reo-Coker got to the ball before Campbell. The second goal was a result of him slipping while tackling Zamora. That could have happened to anyone. If it was not for Zamora’s brilliant finish, nothing would have been said about this fall. No doubt Wengler made a big thing about these two “mistakes” (apparently he took him into his office during half-time). This has undoubtedly taken away his confidence and he has done a runner. I would suggest that players who reach the age of 30 need to be treated very carefully by their manager. The same goes for teachers when they move past 50. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No doubt Wengler made a big thing about these two “mistakes” (apparently he took him into his office during half-time). This has undoubtedly taken away his confidence and he has done a runner. I would suggest that players who reach the age of 30 need to be treated very carefully by their manager.

I absolutely disagree John. Wenger does not make a 'big thing' about anything, in fact that is probably one of his greatest weaknesses. It is well known that Sol has been seriously suffering from a lack of confidence for many months now and I heard today the probable cause for the dip in his form. Apparently the News of the World are going to 'out' Sol on Sunday, along with the Tottenham midfielder Jermaine Jenas. This is nothing new, I have heard this for many years and Sol's brother did time for assaulting someone who made the suggestion that his brother was gay. The question is why now? and more to the point why?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I absolutely disagree John. Wenger does not make a 'big thing' about anything, in fact that is probably one of his greatest weaknesses. It is well known that Sol has been seriously suffering from a lack of confidence for many months now and I heard today the probable cause for the dip in his form. Apparently the News of the World are going to 'out' Sol on Sunday, along with the Tottenham midfielder Jermaine Jenas. This is nothing new, I have heard this for many years and Sol's brother did time for assaulting someone who made the suggestion that his brother was gay. The question is why now? and more to the point why?

You should not consider quietness to be the same as sympathy. It is true that Wenger did not shout and rave at Campbell at half-time. However, he did not do anything to protect Campbell’s bruised ego. Nor has his comments since Wednesday been very helpful. Why did he not say that Campbell was suffering from a hamstring injury? In fact, he went out of his way to make it clear that Campbell had been taken off because of his poor form. Campbell is clearly lacking in confidence. You don’t solve this problem by this kind of public humiliation.

Wenger made these statements for his own good. He usually blames his defeats on the “bully boy tactics” of the opposition. There is no way he could accuse West Ham of this on Wednesday. Anyway, he has probably realized at last that it is not in his best interests to show that these tactics do rattle Arsenal. He therefore decided to blame Arsenal defenders for making mistakes. Of course he is right, but all teams are defeated because they make mistakes. Arsenal used to win games because they made very few mistakes. Despite having the best forwards in the league, they are only an average side because they have defenders who are unreliable. This is what makes Chelsea such a good team.

I am aware that forums are claiming that Campbell is going to be outed as gay on Sunday. Personally, I think this is very unlikely and is just a case of Arsenal supporters trying to blame the media for their problems. A much more likely story in the Sunday papers concerns a product of his heterosexuality, his treatment of his son.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

It seems that I over estimated Arsenal’s abilities. It seems that they might not even finish in the top six. The problem for Arsenal is that they have been rumbled. All the teams in the Premiership know how to play against them. Two banks of four, set deep, with a goalkeeper working as a sweeper. They also need to be closed down straight away so they don’t get time to play. Using these tactics, even average teams can beat them (Newcastle, West Ham, Blackburn, etc.)

Arsenal now stand a better chance of winning the Champions League than they do of qualifying for Europe in the Premiership. The game against Real Madrid was very interesting. Real Madrid allowed them to play and they therefore looked impressive. Against Blackburn they looked very ordinary.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Arsenal played well last night and are still clearly the best team in London. :tomatoes

Clearly the best foreign team in London.

Leaving the Hammers with the dubious honour of best ethnically cleansed football team in London I presume? :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Leaving the Hammers with the dubious honour of best ethnically cleansed football team in London I presume? :lol:

Two of our three foreigners are from Israel. The people of the East End have a long tradition of fighting racism.

Wenger called Pardew a racist when he pointed out that Arsenal did not have any British born players in his team. Yet is Wenger who has gone on record as saying he does not trust young British players. On the radio this morning an Arsenal spokesman said that they have great difficulty persuading talented British youngsters to join their academy. Maybe it has something to do with the way that Wenger has treated the young British players he has had under his control.

Arsenal clearly out-fought Jurventus last night. They find that easier to do in Europe. No so easy in the Premiership.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Leaving the Hammers with the dubious honour of best ethnically cleansed football team in London I presume? :lol:

An honour left to Tranmere on Merseyside, I guess?

The people of the East End have a long tradition of fighting racism
Especially the communists and Jews in the 1930s

And Chelski appear to be about to become the best London team in California, if rumours are right.. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...