The Soccer Blog: Arsenal 0 - Sunderland 0: One of Those Days

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Arsenal 0 - Sunderland 0: One of Those Days

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« Arsenal – Sunderland Match Thread | Home | Arsenal 0 – Sunderland 0: One of Those DaysBy: Martin | March 5th, 2011
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Well, that was suitably terrible.

If there’s good news, it’s that we don’t have to play any more teams from the Northeast this season. If we make it to the end of the season and don’t win the league, I think we will look back at the 9 dropped points out of a possible 12 against Newcastle and Sunderland as one of the points where our season went off the rails.

It’s hard to really know where to begin, really. A guess the beginning is as good a place as any. I was worried from the start about Denilson and Diaby playing together in midfield, and said so in the match thread when the lineup was announced. With those two playing together, you had one guy, Denilson, who is a decent passer who seems like he’s fitted with a shock collar that goes off every time he plays a pass forward, and another guy, Diaby, who loves going forward, but is prone to giving the ball away and is not a good passer. Combine the two, and considering the fact that Sunderland’s strategy was clearly to pack the midfield with 5 guys to keep us from getting through, and it was hard to see exactly how we were going to get the ball deep into Sunderland’s half.

And so it was. Especially in the first half, we really struggled to get the ball through midfield. The first half was really choppy and frustrating — during the first 15-20 minutes in particular Sunderland were on the front foot. But by and large, the first half was a very dull 45 minutes of football. Nasri had one tame long range shot that Mignolet saved comfortably, Sessegnon had a very good shot at the other end which forced Szczesny into an excellent save. A corner pinged around and fell to Bendtner, who did well to get off an overhead kick, but it was straight at the keeper. Bendtner had another great chance when Wilshere put him through on goal, and his shot from a tight angle was certainly headed for the roof of the net before Mignolet made an excellent save to tip the ball over.

The second half started out a bit dull as well. But that all seemed to change more of less instantly in the 62nd minute, when Chamakh mercifully came on as a substitute for Denilson. Chamakh was put through on the right, pulled the ball back for Arshavin in the box, but Arshavin’s shot was weaker than it could have been and directly at Mignolet.

In the last 15 minutes or so, we really started to push on, and from a neutral perspective, you’d have to say it was a fantastic, exciting finish to the match. Nasri took an excellent free kick from outside the box that Mignolet did very well to get a hand to. Right after that, Wilshere put an excellent cross into the box, Chamakh rose up and got a powerful header to it, but it clanged off the bar. At that point I told MLSF, “Fuck — it’s one of those days. We’re not going to win this game.”

And unfortunately I was right. In the 80th minute Arshavin was put through on goal, did very well to get to it, but was battling with Bramble in the box as he ran onto the ball, and Bramble’s tugging and pushing was just enough to put Arshavin off balance and his shot went wide. Replays showed there was definite pushing and tugging on Arshavin’s sleeve, and the announcer (on my broadcast at least) was certain that a penalty should have given. And from the replay, you’d have to say he was right, but the reality is that you basically never see a penalty given when the attacking player doesn’t go to ground, and the referee was so far behind the play that he didn’t have a great view of it. So while it was probably a bad no-call, but hardly a surprising one.

A few minutes after that, substitute Danny Welbeck took a great turn and shot that forced Szczesny into a very good save. The next great chance was Sunderland’s, as well. Off the resulting corner, Jordan Henderson’s shot from inside the box was saved by Szczesny — watching the replay, it was a lot closer to being a goal that it initially looked, because Bendtner actually deflected the shot and very nearly led to an own goal.

Then, in the 87th minute, Bendtner’s through ball put Arshavin through on goal, but the linesman’s flag went up for offside. Replays showed that Arshavin was definitely onside — if the call had been correct, Arshavin would have been through on Mignolet in the center of the box with plenty of time and space, and you’d favor him to score from there. The second poor call which likely cost us a goal within 10 minutes.

We had two tame headed efforts from inside the box in stoppage time, one from Bendtner and one from Koscielny, neither of which was that close. And that’s how it would end. 0-0.

Match Stats

Possession: Arsenal 63% – Sunderland 37%
Shots (on Target): Arsenal 14(7) – Sunderland 8(3)
Corners: Arsenal 5 – Sunderland 6

It’s hard to say exactly what went wrong. Probably because it was a lot of things. Denilson and Diaby were very ineffective and really hurt us today — we had trouble getting through the midfield and the front 4 were having to drop very, very deep to get the ball. We could have taken the chances we did create better. And the chances we did take well, Simon Mignolet made some great saves on. And even with all that, of course, we likely would have won had the officials made the correct calls in the last 10 minutes.

So . . . well . . . damn. I don’t know. I try not to overreact to results of specific matches, but given what was at stake in this match, you just feel that we’ve let something slip away. And I know whoever wins the league this season will be the weakest league winners we’ve had in some time, but this is the kind of game — at home, against a team weakened by injuries on a terrible run of form — that champions win. And we didn’t. And that is very, very disappointing, because we’re going to have many more difficult fixtures than this between now and May 22.

And yes, I still think it’s silly to suggest that referees are biased against Arsenal. This is different than saying referees are always right, which I’ve never said. But we’ve benefited from a lot of calls going our way during February, so it was just a matter of time before things evened out. And that’s what happened today. As I said, you just never see penalties called when the player doesn’t go down, particularly by an inexperienced referee with a bad view of the play. And the offside call, while bad, was pretty close, and wasn’t nearly as bad as several offsides which have gone against our opponents while Clichy was on a walkabout in the last few matches.

Overall, to put it simply, we needed to be better than we were. If we don’t improve our level of performance, next week this time we could very well find ourselves down to 1 competition and 6 points adrift of top of the table. And to make mattes even worse, Wilshere picked up a knock near the end of the match, and apparently is questionable against Barcelona. Coupled with Song’s likely absence, that leaves us with . . . well, I’d prefer not to think about how some of our other players will fare against Barcelona, so we’ll just hope that situation magically improves between now and when I write the preview for that match on Monday.

But I suppose there’s nothing to do but move on. We don’t have another league match for two weeks, but we have Barcelona away on Tuesday and Manchester United away in the FA Cup on Saturday. Nothing to get a struggling team on track like a couple of easy trips to Camp Nou and Old Trafford, eh? Try to enjoy the rest of your weekends, despite this. Let’s hope Liverpool do us a favor tomorrow.

On to the player ratings:

Szczesny 8 Man of the Match. Excellent. Was called into action to make at least 3 very difficult saves that I can think of, and made them all. Also, did anyone else notice that throw out to Arshavin he made very early in the match? It wasn’t successful, but I don’t think I knew he could throw that long — he might be the first goalkeeper I’ve ever seen that can throw it farther than he can punt it.

Clichy 7.5 This was a rating I really struggled with. On the one hand, he was one of our most dangerous and consistent attackers for much of the match — he was a constant presence on the left, but some very good balls in, kept his head up and was constantly trying to drive the team forward. On the other hand, he did have trouble dealing with Sessegnon in his own half, and was very nearly the primary culprit for a goal in the first half, had Szczesny not bailed him out by making an excellent save. Overall, though, a very encouraging performance from Gael, we’ll need more of the same on Tuesday.

Sagna 7 Very solid defensively, supported the attack, and put some decent crosses in. In other words, exactly what we spoiled Arsenal fans have come to expect as the norm from Sagna.

Djourou 7 Took a knock to the head, but fought through it and put in a very solid, professional performance. Good in the air, good at taking the ball off Gyan, who didn’t trouble Arsenal at all today, and a constant reassuring presence at the back. Another clean sheet for the Djourou-Koscielny combo.

Koscielninho 6.5 Where the hell did that come from? I’m pretty sure he had more possession in the Sunderland box than Bendtner did. Not sure if it was a mandate from the manager or some sort of dare, but he was making runs through the defense and troubling Sunderland a bit. But he generally did a good job of picking his spots and not leaving his defense completely exposed, although he did have a few nervy moments at the back. He and Djourou seem to keep growing more and more comfortable playing together.

Denilson 4.5 Shit. Really — did nothing. For a player whose sole duty is to get and maintain the ball, you can see how it is a bit of a problem when that player starts, say, failing to get the ball, and then when he has the ball, giving it away. If he plays like that against Barcelona, they could score 20. That’s only a slight exaggeration.

Diaby 5 Only slightly better. I like it that his focus is on moving the ball up the pitch, and every move he has is to that end. Unfortunately, he’s so careless and aimless in possession that it doesn’t actually help the team that much — I’d rather keep the ball where we have it than move up 10 yards and giving it back to the other team.

Wilshere 7 I thought he showed some immaturity at times, getting very frustrated and picking up a yellow card for dissent for his troubles. And he may not quite be ready to play the playmaker role just yet. But he did give us his trademark effort, and did play a couple of excellent balls in to put guys in great scoring positions. Very easily could have had an assist or two. If we had 10 more guys with his attitude, does anyone doubt we’d be in first place and favorites to win the league?

Arshavin 7.5 Ultimately no end product, and could have done better when Chamakh squared the ball for him the box. But I thought he worked hard, and if the referee’s calls had been better, he likely would have scored one goal and drawn a penalty.

Nasri 7.5 Nearly scored from a free kick, and was generally very lively, motivated, and dangerous. Had one spectacular run into the box, but caught trapped near the touch line and could only win a corner. I do think we would have been better off had he started in the advanced role, with Jack playing behind him and Chamakh playing either up top or out wide.

Bendtner 7 Well, he didn’t score. And he probably should have done better about getting in the box — at one point during the match Arsenal were pinging it around the box, and MLSF asked me “Why are they so many of them and so few of us in there?” I didn’t have a good answer. It’s the lone striker’s job to get in there and provide a presence, but how many times did we put a good ball into the center of the box only to be cleared out with no trouble by one of three or four white shirts, with no red shirt in sight? On the other hand, he was only denied what would have been a brilliant goal by a terrific save by Mignolet, he very nearly got another great goal off an overhead kick, and did get himself into dangerous positions a couple of times.

Chamakh 7 Immediately changed the game upon his introduction, and very nearly got a spectacular headed goal when he thundered one off the crossbar. I think he made a decent case for a starting role on Tuesday.

Rosicky 5.5 Anonymous.

Some Related Stories:Sunderland 1 – Arsenal 1: How Do You Write a Headline for a Match Like That? (UPDATED with Player Ratings)Arsenal – Sunderland PreviewSunderland – Arsenal Match ThreadSunderland – Arsenal PreviewArsenal – Sunderland Match Thread

Category: Arsenal News, Fixtures, Match Review, Premiership, Sunderland

Tags: Arsenal News, Fixtures, Match Review, Premiership, Sunderland
Tweet « Arsenal – Sunderland Match Thread | Home | arsenalboythat offside call will probably fuck our season over!!! how can you call that offside? its your job to sometimes get SHIT RIGHT !!
and as for the push by brumble thats just disgraceful and shows bad sportsmanship !
fuck fuck fuck, im praying for liverpool to do some real damage on the scum tonight !!degerosI felt that we had quite a poor game, but still did enough to win the game (and of course, we didn't). I thought that Arshavin was really struggling, apart from the few minutes where he was supposed to be awarded a penalty and had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside.

The Diaby-Denilson axis is abysmal, and I really would have appreciated Nasri in the middle with Bendtner on the right and Chamakh up top. It's probably time for at least one of Diaby or Denilson to leave, and for Ramsey to step in.caligunnerI really think there is no need for alarm on this one. Arsenal created some quality chances and dominated much of the second half. The defense looked assured for most of the match. I agree that the match turned after the first substitution for Chamakh. It pushed Jack further back which linked play better as well as moving Bendtner out wide.

I dont' think that the offense has looked good in one match this year where Bendtner has started at CF. I'm curious if someone can point to a match where he has started up top and Arsenal have looked fluid and dangerous. I don't think that he puts himself in good positions and his first touch is too poor to initiate play from balls played long to him. Not so much a knock on him, as he is one of Arsenal's best goal scorers, but i just don't think he thrives in the CF role. Arsenal's attack was pretty solid earlier this year with Chamakh in form. His movement is better, he brings his teammates into play more consistently and links the attack when he comes for the ball. If only he wasn't allergic to goals with his feet. With RVP out long term, I fear Bendtner at striker.Georgedb1FINALLY... a reasonable person - I salute you.tinomuvonga mSearch for the Backwards Gooner. He has the answers you seek. Apparently I can't post hyperlinks.ASDFJust read somewhere that Jack has an ankle problem and could be out for Barca trip. He wont train till monday and then will undergo medical. I hope Cesc plays on Tuesday.Darren_VI thought Arshavin had a strong game, as did Nasri. They really kept the attack moving, where Diaby, Denilson, Wilshere and Bendtner were all somewhat missing in action.
Bendtner did a poor job holding up the ball and bringing the midfielders into the attack, and it hurt the team all first half while sunderland pressed us well.
Hurts to lose when the calls were so poor against, but that first half was woeful.TfyoungMartin
I didn't see the game today but I get a real sense of it from your blog. You write very well.
Does anyone know is the Barca game on Fox Sports Ohio?
Please tell me they're not showing the other CL game!!Alsaf02I am upset with the draw as is everyone else, but mainly I want to tell all the idiots that praised bendy boy, denilson, and diaby after the orient match that they should be pulling there feet out of their mouths right this moment... Poor performance from all 3... Great impact from chamack though which is reasuring to a point... Don't lose faith in everyone, just the three stooges!Andylowe14yea exactly... a hatrick against a lower league team who had given up already, at emirates... big deal. surprise surprise bendtner didnt do very much today...Perry S.How long have I said Denilson is pure and utter garbage? Not sure what else it will take for Wenger to see this, but even as a "depth" player, he honestly has no business playing on this squad.

I have to disagree with your description for the rating on Arshavin. Without him, our offense would have out right looked pathetic. Had the refs not robbed us blind today, we'd have seen his shirt with 2 fingers covering his mouth...MartinPerry, your "you rated Arshavin too low" streak is approaching Cal Ripken's consecutive game streak...

I did say that he played well and would have scored had it not been for the decisions going against us.Andylowe14yea exactly right... he played well and should have a goal next to his name.JGMissed the game, but now I'm glad I did.
Boy, from the sounds of it playing a paper cut-out of Patrick Vieira would be better than Denilson. Let's hope Cesc and Song get their act together for Tuesday. If Denilson starts against Barca, we're toast.
Nice to see Kos and Wojo have good games after their blunder last Sunday.
Sunderland is pretty much Man United Lite- no doubt they were going to do their best to stifle us. It's good to see Arshavin and Bendtner at least try, because they will be vital on Tuesday.Andylowe14i'd rather see chamakh than bendtner in all honesty...DrachumMan, I don't know what to say about Denilson. I was watching the game on ESPN and the guys commenting the game kept saying how good he was in 2005 - when he won the FIFA Clubs World Championship with São Paulo (who defeated Liverpool in the final) - and how crap he is now. And the worst part is that I have to agree completely. It's a shame though...Alex PresidioIt's always tough for a holding mid to get respect because he won't be the guy firing in goals every game. But it sucks because if he has a good game, the attack looks great and not many people notice him. If he has a bad game, jesus, we're screwed and it's all his fault.
Having said that, he has not been in form for quite some time. It looks like he's lost a lot of fire - why? Who knows.Darren_VWhen did he ever have a fire in him? I have never, ever seen him look like he cared for Arsenal.Andylowe14but i regularly watch song playing defensive mid and think..wow, this guy is crusial to our team. Didnt play in the newcastle capitulaion.. didnt play today...SairaxBtw, what was up with that foul throw call? I watched the replay and I didn't see anything wrong with Clichy's throw in.DrachumIt was in direction of ground.SairaxLike he threw it kind of downwards? I remember Arshavin getting to it though. I'll have another look, thanksAlex PresidioYes, certainly a disappointing outcome. Refs made some bad calls but it should never come down to that. As much as I try not to listen to tv's talking heads, I think Warren Barton (of FSC) hit it right on the head. If you want to win the league you have to win these games. United always find ways to win these. We don't. End of story. This is just more evidence of our over-reliance on the injury prone Theo van Nasregas.

Anyone else think Nasri's card was funny? Poor guy was justifiably frustrated and walked right up to ask for it. Can't blame him for it and I'm glad he let the ref know what was on his mind.

And here's my totally unqualified amateur formation comment: Why on earth do we play Nasri wide? I don't care if we don't have legit wingers - shove Eboue or even Rosicky out there - Diaby and Denilson are just terrible. It's no secret Nasri lights up when he plays in the middle. Putting him wide just because no one else can play there is just a waste of his talent.

p.s. I wonder if Diaby still thinks he's Barca quality...tinomuvonga mI hate Warren Barton. Didn't he predict Liverpool would be back in the top echelons of the EPL while Arsenal would be dumped out of the top four?

I think Wenger wants someone with 'vision' in the middle. I remember an interview where reporters kept on pressing Wenger on why Nasri was being played out wide. Wenger eventually responded that Nasri plays where he can help the team. He helps the team by being on the end of incisive passes. I have seen Nasri play in the center for Arsenal two or three times and don't really think he made a case for himself. Nasri has individual brilliance, but rarely looks to provide a 'killer pass.'perryvslook at the ball that played in Arshavin on the non-penalty. who played it in???? oh right that was Nasri who did his best impression of CesccaligunnerI don't think he sees the game as well as Cesc or Jack. Admittedly, I don't have evidence to site to support my point, but, my general impression is that, on balance, Nasri takes too many touches when he is on the ball to be in that position. He often takes his first touch away from goal and frequently slows the attack down. On the wing, he can use his pace and his skills to play 1 v 1 where his time on the ball doesn't affect the offense as significantly. That said, I'm not sure Arsenal has a better option in that position at this point, as Rosicky doesn't offer much goal threat.tinomuvonga mPoint taken. In anycase I suspect that we will continue to see Rosicky as Cesc's deputy, but I'd be curious as to why you think Wenger doesn't play Nasri there.Ajmain positives:

1. clean sheet, defenders improving and would be great if a clean sheet is kept in barca
2. players probably have barca in their minds so didnt play their usual game
3. arsenal NEVER played 2 games without scoring a goal so arsenal are due a goal in their next game -barca.gooner65The only thing I would add is that I knew it would be 0 0 before kick-off. I wasnt pessimistic, nor fatalistic. Its just any of us who have endured the past few years garbage know the pattern.

The current version of Arsenal just does not have it in it to show some balls and bounce back. We are managed by a manager who, by his own admission prefers style over substance and it is weeks like the past one that prove just how stupid he has become. Winning the carling cup, and sneaking a 1 - nil are not something that can be coached with one twos, ball retention, one touch football or any other such utter nonsense. The truth is that even the worst professional players can do these things to a reasonable standard. Arsenald are far from the worst playes technically, but what is needed is a warrior spirit, a feeling that this is our time and the determintation to seize the game and make it ours. I hope that even the most rabid AKB will realise it at this stage that Arsene wenger just does not have those qualities in him.

It not as simple as buying 'winners' - Wenger would drag them into his world, bemuse them and turn them into pretty, but when it comes to it, ultimately imtimate performers.

I have supported Arsenal for over 40 years and will continue to do so until the day I day. But it is not pessimistic to say this, but there is absolutely no chance that we will win a trophy until Arsene has departed and the dreadfulBERTRANDBouncing back from a 5-0?

A warrior spirit..sigh.
It takes time to build a side.

Am i wrong?
If you have supported Arsneal for 40 years, you can wait a fwe more, no?

Or are you desperate for trophies now and RIGHT NOW?Andylowe14Its funny how people always take the result and then retrospectively look back on the events of the game to explain the result.. you just said about arshavin that he had no end product but.. he scored... both he and the goalkeeper played on from the 'offside' and he scored.. If the linesman gets that call right then he ultimately does have an end product. so..... it was basically 2-0 arsenal, penalty and completely wrong offside call that lead to a goal disallowed. the analysis i watched afterwards were saying how man utd and chelsea would win games like this but arsenal couldnt manage it.. fuck off! if the linesman gets that call right he'd be saying, 'arsenal are starting to grind out victories in these types of games..' just regurgitating the final result of the game and somehow trying to mould the performance of the team to explain that result.. but the result was influenced by shit refereeing decisions and thats the end of it - our performance was good enough to win

Georgedb1It was just one of those days... shit refereeing, and we just couldn't take our chances: Arshavin missed a sitter, so did Chamakh, Bendtner missed three sitters, Nasri should've just taken a shot instead of tryin to walk the ball in... just one of those days, that's all.

We're just missing too many of our core team - RvP, Theo, Cesc, Vermaelen....caligunneragreed, there was a great stretch there from about 70-85 minutes where I don't think Sunderland had the ball for more than 1 or 2 minutes. Sheer dominance and Arsenal created some quality chances. Good enough to win, the post, Sunderland's keeper, and the ref didn't agree.GunnerlurkerNothing against Nas's solo work but we got to starting getting the firm back together. Theo van Nasregas made us frightening every time the ball went forward. Somehow pass after pass, cross after cross, today we were just that few inches from making the fluid plays that define Arsenal football. I don't think we are good enough to win any of the three competitions left without Cesc but I think we are good enough to win any or all of the 3 with him.

Still we can learn from Sunderland when we find ourselves underdogs on the road against a great passing team in a few days. Sunderland came out playing with purpose on offense but did not lose their shape on defense. Much as I hated it, the way they played in the first half hour really did keep us from putting our stamp on the game in front of the home crowd. They did not go into a shell but kept us from getting much time with the ball in the offensive third.

I still think we have enough games left to make up the points on Man U but the weekend sure will feel a lot better if Liverpool can prove me right immediately tomorrow.

In naming news, I can't decide whether I prefer the recent upgrade from "Martin" to "The Martin" or that British commentators have decided the best thing to call our keeper sounds suspiciously like they are turning him into a British schoolboy named "Chesney."SairaxThat's true, Sunderland pressed us very hard in the first halfRickey_banksthis game makes me think of ALL the dropped points this year from games we had/should of won such as: 4 dropped points against sunderland, 3 dropped points against spuds,2 dropped points against wigan,2 dropped points against newcastle (not including our lose to them at the emirates), and the same goes for the west brom game earlier this year......THATS 11 points we could/should have if we had finished out games then with those extra points the title would pretty much already be ours as long as we wouldnt have a horrible end of season breakdown but hey we have to move on and hopefully get a good result by liverpool(i hope they win against manu tomorrow....but dont we all) and that we get a good result against barca and a win vs manu next weekend, We DESPERATELY need to stop depending on other teams to help us out in the title race because if we finished out games better and win the games that we are supposed to win (like today and the above games that i mentioned) we would have won the league cup and have one hand on the prem trophy because at the end of the day all that matters is WHAT YOU DO and we need to realize that instead of depending on chelsea and liverpool to help us out....I AM VERY PROUD of the team this year but we still have a bit of maturing into the CHAMPIONS we soon will be wether its this year or next year we are on the verge of GREAT THINGS AT ARSENAL because CHAMPIONS ARNT BORN THEY ARE MADE. ARSENAL FOREVER!SairaxYou know your midfield isn't having the best game when your centrebacks are pushing up to try and make things happen.

A very frustrating and disappointing result. I think we could/should have done better particularly in the 1st half.

10 games left, 3 points behind ManUtd. This is going to be a fun run in.Alex PresidioYeah I thought my vision was going when I kept seeing Koscielny up top. In Bendtner's defence, he did have to drop back more for service that our center mids (cringe-worthy) just weren't providing. Props to Koscielny for trying to make it happen.tinomuvonga mI have to say that I am disappointed with the result but at least we didn't lose. We are still in this.

It was very interesting to see Wilshire in Cesc's role. In fact I was quite surprised to be honest. While he didn't play poorly, it seemed he was trying to feel his way around the position. I think it would be better for the team if he reverted back to the withdrawn midfield role. It's a shame, that the sad truth is that no-one can come in and replicate anything to what Cesc does.

SairaxThat's true. I think he tried to do what he could, but Sunderland were also keeping tabs on him.DPTSame old, same old......... when this team has to deliver it SIMPLY does not!!
Come the end of next saturday we wil be out of all 4 competitions!!

To win the league now we need 8 WINS AND 2 DRAWS in my opinion and that aint gonna happen! Same old story, so close yet so far.........................Asjpardo13Was it 2007 that our Gooners fell out of all 4 competitions in a two week span? Seems to me that we could be out of the CL on Tuesday, the FAC on the weekend.....with results like this illustrating that if we are missing the key players....no results another year. The team lacks leadership and that comes from the top.Asjpardo13dont get me wrong, I love the Arsenal but have been too frustrated with not winning key games. it is like they give up without Cesc and we don't have adequate people to step in for Theo and RvP. Our key guys are always hurt. You don't see this with ManU, City, Chel, etc....Andylowe14you say that but we're ahead of chelsea and city... and only 3 behind man u. So we must be doing something right :P maybe you just dont get as upset when chelsea go 6 games without winning than you do when arsenal get a draw.. I dont think we gave up.. i think we got fucked over by the you-know-who'sAjyou have yourselfs to blame for not buying quality and some leaders on the pitch.Georgedb1HAHA why don't we just eliminate all this team stuff and put the trophy for sale next season eh? We'll just have an auction - highest bidder is the next champ - what are you a chelsea or city fan AJ?KING KENNYAJ YOU ARE A TURDAji thought your mum wasBERTRANDyou can't buy leaders.

Your comment shows how clueless you are.Ajall u gooners are clueless 100%, you lot are so clueless that you make the remaining fans of the PL seem like einsteins.

cannot buy leaders my ass, didnt you buy viera once, wasnt he a leader, as well as players like petit.

wasnt rio ferdinand bought by manu, just a few examples, you are all idiotsGeorgedb1You want us to buy a team - i think City proves that even with billions at your disposal that isn't easy to put together.

Rio Ferdinand was a fire sale buy from a disintegrating Leeds back in the early 2Ks... he developed into a leader at utd.

If your comment was something like "you need more leadership in your team" i don't think you'd find too many people arguing with you - more experience and leadership wouldn't hurt this squad. But those are things that are developed and coached - not bought.
Junichi Ezechiel BennettWhen Ferdinand signed he wasn't the great leader he is today, just a quality defender. He became a leader by playing game at high level. That's it. Vieira when bought wasn't bought because of his leadership, but because he was a wonderful prospect. Etc.blog comments powered by Disqus