On Arsene Wenger: What's Wrong with Arsenal?

What’s Wrong with Arsenal: Wenger’s Decision Making
By the 61st minute in today’s match between Arsenal and Blackburn, Wenger had three strikers on the pitch at once. Niklas Bendtner, Robin Van Persie, and Mauroaune Chamakh. Arsenal would go on to blow about ten chances in and around Blackburn’s 18 yard box and end the game in a scoreless tie. This draw, coupled with United’s come from behind win over West Ham, almost seals Arsenal’s fate: the title will not go to the Emirates this year. What happened? My theory: Wenger’s poor decision making late in matches. Now, calling a manager with an unbeaten team a bad decision maker seems a little wonky, but Arsenal should be on the top of the table right now. Let me explain why they aren’t.

1. Wenger gives players wiggle room that don’t deserve it.

I am not an Alex Song believer. Nor am I that much of a Robin Van Persie fan. And yet, consistently, these two players make nearly every starting eleven. Take today’s game for example. Song got a yellow card, and because he’s so old and injury prone, he was limping around the pitch the entire time. What manager in their right mind wouldn’t sub that player out? Additionally, because he is a defensive midfielder, most of the attacks that didn’t end with a shot on goal were because someone passed to Song and he fooled around with it or just gave it away. This would have been the Rovers’ chance to counter and score, which they weren’t able to do (mostly because of stunningly brilliant performances by Koscielny and Squillaci), but they got close. Song should have been pulled instead of either Ashravin or Nasri, probably Ashravin because Nasri is hurt. The Gunners lost a lot of pace and ingenuity with Ashravin and Nasri gone, and with Song limping around and giving the ball away indiscriminately.

Also to this point, Wenger should not have played Fabregas. He wasn’t fit and he spoiled three chances with poor efforts, particularly the free kick which he thudded into the wall. I understand the point about him being the captain and the spiritual leader, but if Wenger wanted to make that statement, he should have started Fabregas and then replaced him if things weren’t working out. Fabregas is not a substitute. He needs to feel the game out and develop over time. More than ever today I felt like Cesc belongs at Camp Nou, even with all that he means to the Gunners.
Related to this is Wenger’s lack of understanding about the talent of some particular players. For instance, it took forever for Jack Wilshere to make the starting eleven, but people have been saying that he was good enough to do this for almost a year now.

For RVP (Robin Van Persie), I need a new number.

2. Wenger doesn’t understand RVP’s psyche, and RVP doesn’t understand anything.
RVP has the potential to be the next complete forward. Yet he cannot live up to those expectations. Why? He lacks confidence. The thing about RVP is, if he doesn’t score with his shot in the first half hour of a match, he loses all confidence in his shot, which is stupid, because he’s probably one of the premier strikers of the ball in the world, right up there with Ronaldo and Rooney.

BUT that doesn’t mean that he won’t take chances to try to redeem himself. What does that mean? He’s going to go for headers. One problem: RVP can’t head the ball. It’s just not part of his game. Do you know who can head the ball? Chamakh. Now, here’s the thing about heading the ball: only one guy can do it. So what does Wenger do late in the game when he needs a goal? Puts Chamakh in with RVP and Bendtner. Quick note about Bendtner: he’s one of the cockiest players in all of football. He’s dating one of the hottest supermodels in Europe, and also just generally thinks he’s the Eastern European reincarnation of Ronaldo. So what happens? You get Sagna, Wilshere, and Fabregas curling in these beautiful crosses, and Chamakh is getting boxed out of them by RVP who is desperate to answer his critics, and Bendtner who is convinced that he’s entitled to every ball that comes within twenty yards of him. There were three times at least I counted where I could see Chamakh expertly trying to time the header so it was well controlled, powerful, and aimed right at the bottom corner, and then Bendtner or RVP flash in front of him and spear the ball over the top like a couple of drunks. People wonder why Chamakh can’t deliver on expectations? Because he’s supposed to be a solo forward. This is, incidentally, also why everyone says Benzema sucks at Real, because he needs lots of space as a striker. Chamakh is kind of a timid player; he doesn’t really attack the ball unless he really thinks he has a shot at it. There’s a better why to describe this: he’s French. So is Benzema, incidentally. If Chamakh is being thrown off his rhythm not only by a BPL that is violent and all about power and finesse, but also by his own teammates ruining his chances, of course he won’t be able to convert.
This keeps happening late in the season, an inability to overcome adversity late in the game, and I believe that is directly related to Wenger’s complete lack of understanding about the chemistry of his team. Just because you can throw three strikers into a game at once doesn’t necessarily mean that you should. Especially when the skill sets and dispositions of those players are in direct conflict with each other. This is something that Guardiola at Barca understands so well: football is as much about who is on the pitch as it is about how good they are. Iniesta and Xavi are best friends, Puyol and Pique are inseparable, and Messi and Villa are already extremely close, and were so even before Villa’s transfer even happened. That is why those back heel flicks and brilliant through balls happen over and over again in their games. It’s about the flow, and no one can kill flows faster than players like Bendtner, Song, and RVP. If they’re all on the pitch at once, it’s a living nightmare of bad soccer. A compression of this point: Sagna curls in a cross that goes STRAIGHT to RVP with four yards of space around him, clear line to the goal, if at a slight angle. What does the experienced striker do? Wait for the ball to drop and hit it on the volley with enough power that even if the goalie blocks it with his hand, it breaks his wrist and goes in anyway. And trust me, RVP is capable of breaking wrists with his shots. What does RVP do? Control it with his chest and then take TWO TOUCHES before a defender knocks it out of play. I can’t think of any situation where a PREMIER LEAGUE player can expect to be able to take three touches in the penalty area (which is something Berbatov finally figured out this year at United). Why does this happen? Because RVP doesn’t believe in his beautiful, stunning Howitzer cannon of a foot. And because Wenger is too dense to realize it and just take the risk to go with Chamakh and then let Sagna, Nasri, or Ashravin curl one in at him.
This is my first post in a while, I’ll be trying to be more frequent about it now. Thanks for reading, sorry about all the fragments.

On Liverpool vs Arsenal: Thoughts on a classic Premier League match.

Red cards, own goals, drama, injuries, physical confrontations, this match had it all. It's a little absurd that a match could get this good this early in the season, but I suppose that's just what happens when the Gunners roll into Anfield.

What I thought I'd do since this match ended level at 1-1 was unfold the positives and the negatives for both sides. So without further ado, let's begin:

Liverpool.

Positives: David Ngog looks to be a decent option up top while Torres gets his form back. While Ngog is prone to making ridiculous mental errors, and occassionally seems to completely zone out on the pitch, it's obvious that he's a very gifted player. His finish to add Liverpools only goal on the scorline was absolutely montrous. The angle was so tight, and the ball was driven in with such power that Almunia was no match. Ngog also showed his abilities in the air, which I always liked about him. He times headers suprisingly well, and has a knack for flicking on headers into the nylon.

Jovanovic is well liked, and playing hard. Milan Jovanovic made his Premier League debut for the Reds today, and quickly gained a following in the sixth minute. You see, Milan was driving down the center of the pitch and youngster Jack Wilshere was bugging him, so Milan put one of his brawny Eastern European arms out and threw the Englishmen to the ground. The crowd roared in approval. Jova seemed to take a cue from Anfield hero Gerrard, hurrying to every ball and giving his best effort throughout the match. His exit in the 78th minute to make way for Maxi Rodriguez was met with a standing ovation. There may be a new Serbian in the Premier League, other than United's Nemanja Vidic.

Gerrard: still the best player on the pitch. The Red faithful were a little disenfranchised with their golden boy last season, but "Stevie G" (pictured above) will always lace up and give it his all, you can bet the house on that. Gerrard, the captain of the Reds, simply has to be one of your favorite players. Completely selfless, chases down every ball with a never-say-die attitude, a rare combo of grace and power that only comes around once every couple of generations. Gerrard proved today that he will always wear the Reds kit with pride and that he isn't going away until they drag him off the pitch.

Glen Johnson proves his worth. Glen Johnson, coming off a dismal performance for England at the World Cup, proved just how valuable he is to his club side today with great service and great skill on the ball. His sallying forth from the right back position has proved to be invaluable to Liverpool's game, and is what earned them their goal. Any doubts about his value to the club were put to the sword today.

Kuyt is still a workhorse. Dirk Kuyt is another reason to respect Liverpool. The man's work rate is absolutely incredible, and his service is always spot on. The Dutch sage showed that he is no pushover, and won't be replaced by Maxi Rodriguez anytime soon out on the wing for the Reds.

Carragher and Skrtel. Both of these men, long time Red Jamie Carragher and Slovakian maniac Martin Skrtel, defended like mad men today. They were a nightmare for Chamakh on his debut, and rendered Van Persie's substitution into the game absolutely worthless. Liverpool will get a big boost from having a solid center two in these two men.

Mascherano got a good exit. So all of the signs point to a move to Real Madrid for defensive midfielder Mascherano. He went out in style today with a great, physical performance that is his trademark. His substitution late on was also met with a standing o, which he appreciated.

Negatives: Torres still seems out of form. It was all Fernando Torres could do to make it down the pitch with the ball, it seemed. His explosive pace, his lightning quick feet, still just don't seem to be there. It was good to see the Spaniard out on the pitch, and a clever cross toward the death of the match proved that he is still one of the most creative players around, I just still have doubts about his fitness.

Cole's red card. Joe Cole made his Premier League debut today for the Reds. He seemed to be absolutely worthless, despite one incredibly impressive back heel flick. His job was to link the midfield play and the attackers, but he was absolutely dismal in that respect. He really just crowded Gerrard and went down the pitch too early most of the time. And then, the kicker. In the 44th minute, Cole made a dangerous challenge on Laurent Koscielny, taking out one of his legs with both of his own, got a red card, and was sent off. Not exactly the best way to make your debut, especially when people have been talking about how you could be better than Messi all week.

Reina's own goal. I feel genuinely bad for this one. Jose Reina played an absolutely flawless game, he dealt with every corner, stopped a venomous strike from Rosicky, and just looked to be in top form. Until the last minutes of play. A cross came in, and Reina came out to deal with it. Chamakh got it away, and the ball bounced, quite unfortunately, into Reina's own goal off his hands. A tragic end to a hard fought game.

Arsenal.

Postives: Jack Wilshere looked good. English youngster Wilshere made his debut for the Gunners today, and seemed to do a great job. He took every opportunity he could and was really impressive in defense.

Subsitutions were vital. Theo Walcott and Rosicky provided the only real chance the Gunners had at coming back. Rosicky had perhaps the best chance in the game, a lethal strike that was tipped over by Reina in the 86th minute. Walcott looked daft occasionally, but for the most part got good service and looked more sound on the ball than last season.

Diaby and Nasri. These two men, who may not have started were it not for an Arsenal injury crisis, looked well in form and were important parts of the match for Arsenal. Diaby was untouchable on the ball and did well to hold play back while other players got in postion around the goal. Nasri did basically everything, shooting, passing, defending, set pieces, and performed pretty well, I thought.

Negatives: Laurent Koscielny. The most recent transfer in for the Gunners, Laurent's contribution to this game was two yellow cards (equals red) and going to sleep to allow Ngog's goal. Furthermore, his suspension puts more pressure on Arsenal's wounded defense. Wenger's looking pretty thin back there.

Ashravin out of form. I love Andrei Ashravin, but he looked pitifully out of shape and out of sorts in this game. His passes never seemed to be weighted correctly and he wasn't getting any pace at all out of his legs. Hopefully the Russian will be able to snap out of it for the Gunners' next match.

Chamakh was less than impressive. Marouane Chamakh, perhaps Arsene Wenger's most promising addition to the Arsenal side, was pretty absent in his debut today. He lost the ball in the box on a number of occassions and didn't seem to be in sync with the other players. Perhaps more time is needed for Chamakh to get used to Premier League game speed, so I suppose we'll have to see.

Van Persie did nothing. He was only on for a half an hour, but Robin Van Persie did effectively nothing for the Gunners with his brief time on the pitch, touching the ball maybe twice.

These are my thoughts on today's match. Have some of your own?

ALSO: Manchester United premieres tomorrow in their match against Newcastle United on ESPN 2 at 2:55 PM.