Top 4 and the “Who gives a fuck” cup

It’s finally over.

At last, I can honestly say, we have done some good business. The huge gap in the team due to Sanchez leaving has been masked by Henrik Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang into the side.

Credit to the club for being proper hagglers and getting the best amount from Dortmund. 55 million pounds for a striker of Aubeymayang’s character seems fine given that Lukaku is worth 100 million. Some may say cheap too, well to those rich bastards, fuck you.

I am eager to see what the team will look like – no doubt we shall still remain sub-standard because Arsene Wenger has zero(0) clue on tactics, yet I am intrigued, especially because now we can play a more balanced 3-4-3 and also a 4-3-3 that looks well rounded.

I do not like the 3-4-3, especially because of the defence’s disgusting shape and the loop-holes of this formation but I am not managing Arsenal now am I?

My formation for those who care

I feel this formation is better balanced and given how bad our defensive players coordinate coupled with our star-studded attack, instead of playing Mkhitaryan and Xhaka as CM’s, the former should be allowed to “float” and have the liberty to do what he wants…

In fact, I feel the floating responsibilities should fall to Ozil, Wilshere, Mkhitaryan and Ramsey – 4 players who have the potential to be at the top players for the team.

Tonight we face Swansea away and I am excited to see how Mkhitaryan will fit into the team. We may even start with a 4-5-1…

It is a new team and new dynamic for Arsene Wenger. I am eager, but NOT hopeful of what he is going to do since I have 0% faith in him, yet I have faith in talent and smart footballers many of whom are at Arsenal (Except Xhaka, he is useless)

We have to challenge for Top 4 since that is 1 of the 2 best ways to get into the champions league and maybe, just maybe, this team – which looks really good on paper can get us through.

I am even hopeful for the #whogivesafuck cup since we have Manchester City to beat in the final. My point being that despite it being an irrelevant cup we still will need to beat the best team in the premier league to win it (which if we do, I will get a shot of happiness and then it is going to go away, like a puddle evaporating on a hot summers day)

The post-Sanchez era starts here and I am looking forward to it, with a pinch of salt of course since it is Arsenal – can’t get too attached, my health matters!

Welcome to Arsenal FC – Mediocrity at it’s best

If you are an Arsenal fan – I empathise with the depression. It’s not easy to see your team go down to mediocrity for the same reasons all the fucking time.

This sick mentality of ill-managing players is so biannual, yet, it has become a thing at Arsenal.

The problem with this mindset is that it’s a sure-shot recipe for failure.

I am sick and tired of this merry-go-round type of attitude where we sacrifice the long-term to get by the short-term.

Of course, Arsenal will go on either way. Tomorrow I can actually stop breathing and still, Arsenal will go on…that’s not the point.

The point is to make some cold much-needed decisions to make sure we are not part of this spiral called “lose your best players and cope, rinse and repeat”

Surely this cannot be the first time this has happened at Arsenal. We lost Van Persie, we got Sanchez. We lost Henry and we got Van Persie. We lost Flamini, Hleb in the trio we had to get Nasri and then we lost him too.

Take SAF’s United. The fundamental team remained the same – Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Rooney and to some point Ronaldo. Any top team needs to keep its top players, this isn’t college level sports, its fucking common sense.

Wenger knows this, as stated in all his press conferences etc. Still, nothing concrete is EVER DONE! 

If you set your ambition at the Carabao Cup, to 4th place, if your attitude is such that you only talk and talk but there is truly nothing to show for it, then that’s just cheap talk.

We can go on and on about the problems at Arsenal, but the real core issues are that we do not address those areas that we need to – and this talk about “We are searching every day” really does have a limit to it.

Is Arsenal FC the only club in the world to deploy scouts and search for top talent?

Why will the top talent come here if they don’t see the point in really uplifting their careers? Sure Arsene Wenger must be a great mentor and coach and one can learn so many things from him, but are the names Pep Guardiola, Mourinho and Antonio Conte less?

I will never forgive Wenger for letting Sanchez go to Manchester United. It is going to happen twice. Think for a moment, when Van Persie left us and won the league at United. He let him go to a direct rival. He let him go…

Now, he’s doing the same thing with Sanchez. I think Arsenal should keep Sanchez – let him run out of his contract at the club and then let him do what he wants. If he then goes to United/City or wherever, it will not matter.

I have been vocal about Wenger leaving for over 5 seasons now, yet somehow 4th place is rewarded, FA Cup victories just about cover the horrendous season and accountability is a fantasy belief that never-ever comes to anything – because it doesn’t matter.

Arsenal isn’t a top team anymore, it is a mere shadow of itself.

While others have gone miles ahead and made cold harsh decisions, Arsenal has voluntarily stayed behind because of ill management and laughable behaviour, except for the business side of things – we still have the most expensive tickets in England.

I am just disgusted to see that nothing has changed and now I am convinced that nothing will change in the future until the Godfather is removed from the club – something as probable as animals starting to talk…

Ah fuck it, I need to go to work…

Walcott…the legend

 

If Theo Walcott can just be used right, he will be as good as Lionel Messi – the delusional guy who had 6 beers and is speaking rubbish

Hope all is going well in the Arsenal sphere this year – the below checklist should give us a good idea.

Sell Alexis in the summer because its inevitable he will leave – check

Why would someone want to stay at Arsenal anyway – a mediocre, mid-table team that can’t seem to sort it’s shit out despite the faults gaping at any neutral.

Not workout the ideal formation so that the defence can be as terrible as it was for 5 seasons ago – check

Chelsea, last season, used the 3-4-3 and conceded 33 goals. This season we have already conceded 28 and we have played 22 games. Even Burnley, who are 7th have let in 19.

Keep faith in Walcott so that he may turn into a star one day – like Drogba – check

Maybe Walcott is having a bad time because of the position he plays. In the newly adopted 3-4-3, a formation that deploys wing-backs as wingers to aid in attack Walcott will never-ever fit in. Why? Because he can’t defend.

So what do we do with him? May down the middle? – but Lacazette will not be happy and given that the french-man is miles ahead of Walcott, why would we engage in such a stupid decision?

Maybe Wenger is sadistic that way.

I just want to repost something I had written in on 5th January 2012 – 6 years back (post the QPR match)

I don’t know what to make of Theo Walcott because to be neutral I do not think he fits in at Arsenal. Yes, this is more criticism directed at the Englishman, but this time he deserves it. He was atrocious that day, and it makes me wonder why Wenger allows Theo to continue this way. If you think about it Walcott is a regular starter at Arsenal, and having a  player like him as a starter shows you how depleted the clubs ambitions are. Walcott is quick, but what good does it do if he cannot use his brain on a football field. Against QPR he was through 1 on 1 with the keeper only to send his scuffed toothless shot right of the post AFTER eyeing up the goal. Chamberlain will give him good competition but let’s face it the boy will not replace Theo this season. That Wenger will make sure of. He likes getting the player ready before putting them on the pitch. Theo was probably an experiment which has turned out very badly. Not only is he inconsistent but also dull when it comes to certain situations on the pitch. Surprisingly he is ‘gifted’ the same situations game after game and even then he fails to capitalise. When he does we feel he will improve but let us be real, we have been feeling that for quite some time now.

 

 

Haha…its gets better everytime.

Why bother with a post for the game that took place last night?

I mean…

We played shit and the referee didn’t help. But the latter isn’t really an excuse we can use against a team like Nottingham Forest, can we?

It was a master-stroke for us to use the 3-4-3 against a team full of youngsters who have the pace to beat our defenders. Mertesacker was the worst victim, getting out-paced and out-run and out-witted by 20-year-olds…slow clap for Arsene Wenger.

Walcott has improved by leaps and bounds compared to how he was last year or for the last 5 years. If we offer him for sale in the market, we may have to shell out 20 million to the buying club (or maybe more)

Danny Welbeck should be renamed “Jello” after this game. The man cannot get his feet sorted out and get the ball under control even if he is the only player on the pitch.

I am not going to go into details about a match in which we let in 4 goals from a championship side currently sitting on 8th position. It is a disgrace.

The only positive about yesterdays game is that we have one less cup to play for this season. I cannot believe I thought we could WIN THE FA CUP. How can I be so stupid to expect so much from a premier league side facing a championship side which had nothing to play for?

I am going to leave you with the below meme :

Cheers,

DKD

 

Masked by Morata’s crappy performance/ Arsenal 2-2 Chelsea

I saw the Chelsea game yesterday.

When I saw the starting line-up, I was pretty confused since it’s not always that one starts a novice against a team like Chelsea (credit to Wenger in trusting this young lad Niles – the boy had the game of his life)

The game in itself was one of the best games this season – proper playground football. Chelsea had better chances, and Morata could have had a hat-trick. Wenger really needs to analyse why he was given so much space, especially since we are facing Chelsea twice this month. The key areas to be addressed apart from Morata’s freedom should be :

• The Space allowed to Fabregas – who if given time can pick out anyone.
• Hazard’s movement from deep to attacking – runs and passes
• Marcos Alonso’s movement from fullback to centre-forward
• The high line played by our defence – that allowed Morata to get so much space.

Arsenal started with a 3-4-3 and the only good thing about this formation played was that it was against a team who also play the same way (because I feel 3-4-3 is a ticking time bomb)….like bitcoin.

In the 16th min, Sanchez came close to scoring when the ball hit both posts before NOT crossing the line – credit to Courtois for his touch on the ball. Chelsea too had their fair share of chances. Bakayoko forced a good save from Cech, Fabregas skied his shot after the goal was gaping at him and Morata well, missed a good chance – his first whammy of the night.

The second half, however, was even better. Maitland Niles needs a mention here – this man terrorized Moses and Conte, being classic Conte understood this as he brought on Zappacosta in the 56th min itself to counter the lad. The young man’s runs were amazing, both up and down the pitch and he supplemented Sanchez on the left, helping the Chilean whenever he needed someone to pass to. A little more work on looking up and passing will do the boy wonders as on a few occasions he could have played a better final ball.

Within 5 minutes of half-time, Chelsea had a good chance to make it 0-1 but Cech showed the world why he is one of the best with a fantastic save of Eden Hazard.

On 63, Jack Wilshere put Arsenal ahead with a thunderous volley beyond Courtois at the end of what was a classic Arsenal “touch-play”. 4 mins later, it was 1-1. A penalty which should not have been a penalty and while some may argue about my bias, neutrally speaking – it was not a penalty because there was minimal touch from Bellerin on Hazard whose dive would have made Drogba proud. Either way, the Belgian stepped up and slotted home….1-1.

Conte by now had made up his mind about the match. On 70, he took of Fabregas for Drinkwater, a tactical substitution that meant only one thing – “I am happy to take a 1-1 draw”

I love the way Chelsea handle themselves under the 3-4-3. This is a team who actually use this formation most effectively and this can be seen clearly when they defend – the 3-4-3 shifts to a 5-3-2 with Hazard and Morata the duo up front and everybody knows what they have to do. This approach may not allow 3-0’s or 4-0’s but it gets you the 1-2’s or the 0-2’s you need.

On 83, Marcos Alonso like a bug hitting a windshield (from Arsenal’s perspective) put Chelsea ahead. Conte’s sub – Zappacosta got passed Niles with ease and played a  delightful ball across the 6-yard box that had “touch me” written all over it. The defence was asleep for a second, but Marcos Alonso wasn’t. Classic Chelsea – solid at the back and taking their chances when presented to them, it was 1-2 with 6 minutes to play.

Credit to Arsenal post Alonso’s goal – the entire team gave everything to equalise. Bellerin had his shot blocked in the 86th min and Chelsea defended well to fight off wave after wave of Arsenal attacks, including the dolt Walcott who Wenger brought on for Chambers in the 88th min.

On 92, Bellerin brought the game to parity with a brilliant goal. I am very neutral when it comes to Bellerin. The man is unpredictable, like a different Jack in the box every time the box opens. But his goal was worth the watch. 1 minute later, however, Arsenal were saved from utter embarrassment courtesy of the ineptness that is Alvaro Morata – a superb 1 on 1 with Cech (who knows how he was allowed to get that far) and he messed it up, ZappaCosta on the rebound fired a shot off the cross-bar as the ref blew the final whistle seconds later.

Arsenal 2-2 Chelsea.

On clear chances, Chelsea should have won. On effort, the draw was well deserved.

Hopefully, the next time we face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, our defence is more awake because if the issues I cited on top are not addressed, we could have lost 3 points today.