All posts tagged 10th May 2009

EPL: Arsenal vs Chelsea (10th May 2009) – Emirates Stadium (Review & Opinion)

by Sarosh Waiz on May 10, 2009 in Arsenal, Football with 2 Comments

Disappointment again for all the Arsenal fans after falling prey to Chelsea and losing the Super Sunday clash 4-1. A lot was not expected today from Arsenal, but still the fans were expecting a better result for Arsenal. Unfortunately, despite Arsenal’s attacking mentality and free flowing football, Arsene Wenger’s tactic’s went wrong yet again today. Although I would agree to the fact that in terms of quick passing and moves, Arsenal was playing very well but the problem was revealed when Chelsea gained the possession and came attacking towards the Arsenal goal.

Arsene Wenger tells everyone that this team has great potential, but I am sorry to say that players like Alex Song and Denilson, might have potential, but that potential is not upto Arsenal’s standards. There were two main areas that I could identify left a loop hole for Chelsea to exploit. The first problem lies at the position of the holding mid-fielder, and by now we all know that Alex Song or Denilson is NOT the solution to that. Why can’t Arsene see it himself? Or is he just too stubborn to understand and accept what everyone is seeing? Flamini gave us that edge, and we never retained him. We need a strong player with the right mentality and with the right confidence who can play for Arsenal, we need a proper solution! 

The second position is the Arsenal defense, and we need to fix it. I can’t get one thing… correct me if I am wrong. We sold Sol Campbell when he was about 30 and didn’t give him a contract extension to retain him. Similarly, we let go of Lauren, Vieira and even Pires and never thought of giving them longer contract extensions because of the Arsenal policy of not giving more than a year contracts to players who are aged 30 or more. Do you think we should have got Sylvestre or Gallas who were nearing 30, and that too, both from our RIVAL teams? Why don’t we get this policy shit straight then? Why did we need to lose our loyal players to get players almost the same age from our rival teams…? Well.. Forget it! I just don’t know what else to say…

The point is .. that after the 3-1 defeat against Manchester United all the fans were expecting a better result today from Arsenal and Arsene’s tactics so that the fans and the club could regain atleast some honour back. It is such a pity … that the result was even worse.. 4-1… and that too at the Emirates Stadium!!

One more thing that I cannot understand is that, why does Wenger always use the 4-5-1 formation when that never works for us? It was the same against Manchester United.. and the same against Chelsea today! On top of that, previously when Wenger was asked if he was looking at getting some new signings in the summer after the Champions League knock out… and Mr. Arsene Wenger replied in his own typical way that  when Diaby and Bendtner is already in the squad, bringing someone else would be unfair to them… 

I am speechless now… I am just speechless because I am pissed to the core!!

Why is Arshavin not playing against Chelsea?

by Sarosh Waiz on May 10, 2009 in Arsenal, Football with No comments

Already upset by the Champions League knock out of Arsenal against Manchester United, I was hoping that Arsene would atleast try to do something to regain some honour for the club against Chelsea in the Barclay’s Premier League tie at the Emirates Stadium on 10 May 2009 on Super Sunday. I mean it is just ridiculous to find out that Arshavin is not playing again because he had some flu and he is feeling ill?

I don’t know but I have a weird feeling, Arshavin was not given a chance against Chelsea in the FA Cup Semi Final against Chelsea about a couple of weeks back, without any specific reason? Although everyone was expecting Arshavin to be in the game, and no one knows why Arshavin wasn’t put on the field? Isn’t this just crazy? Okay I can forget that! Today’s match was another one against Chelsea that everyone was expecting Arshavin to play, but he is not there because he is ill… If we start noticing, Arshavin has been a part of all the fixtures against all teams and is always preferred by Arsene Wenger, which was also proved against Liverpool at Anfield, with the exception of the UEFA Champions League and the matches against Chelsea. 

I don’t know about you guys, but this can be possible because of two reasons:

  1. Either it is pure bad luck or a coincidence
  2. Or is this because of some sort of Russian connection?

It is very weird how he is not available for matches against Chelsea for some reason. Do ponder over this!

Apart from that, Alisher has said that Arsenal should spend more which of course all of us as fans do. But I seriously doubt that Arsene would do that. When he was questioned about signing big names after the Champions League defeat, he answered in his own typical style that the club already has Diaby and Bendtner, and it would not be a fair for for them to bring in new players. OHKAY!! I agree that Diaby and Bendner are potential good players, but tell me something for God’s sake:

“Does Arsenal exist to groom and make big players from unidentified ones or does it exist to play football and win something?”

I still cannot make out what the club and Arsene is aiming to do here? It is about time we show some spark and show that we belong to the big four and we’re not just an ordinary team who don’t know how to get their act straight! And come on, we need to take simple decisions better and need that hunger and confidence in our team. I cannot see the confidence that Arsenal used to have in our current squad and we seriously, I mean seriously need some players who can help change things around and who can help instill that confidence back in our team.