Skip to main content

OPERATION ARSENAL


Tonight we go forth to compete for the one trophy available to provide a tonic fopr an unhealthy season, and I for one will be willing us on to beat Sunderland for the second time this week. In terms of Arsenal’s current state of health it is clear that antibiotics, alternative therapies and rest are not working it’s now time for major surgery.

I contend that a realistic scalpel needs to be applied and the following squad members removed

Arshavin-those 4 goals at Anfield seem a distant memory
Bendtner & Denilson-one foot out the door already, let’s slam that door behind them
Squilacci-simply not good enough
Almunia-No present let alone future
Fabianski-cannot be relied upon therefore why continue with him
Chamakh-forgotten how to score goals and on the margins
Park-not trusted by Wenger, so little point in retaining him
Djorou-Just signed a new contract so may get a few quid for him

When you look at some of these players it is mystifying as to why they are still receiving wages from Arsenal; perhaps the truth is no one wants to buy them. That’s an indictment, as there was a time when Arsenal players were much sought after.

Then there are the unknown quantities Eisfeld & Miyachi; no one knows what these guys are like. There are other players for whom opinions are split for one reason or another, Walcott, Rosicky, Benayoun and Gibbs

Obviously it is unrealistic to impose wholesale changes and it would be an acknowledgement that there is a problem should a large number of players leave. I believe that there are a number of Squad members who have either shown enough or have shown potential that can be a core squad that with the right quality of additions can begin a recovery process.

RVP, Wilshire, Arteta, Ramsey Szczesny, Vermaelan, Koscielny, Coquelin, Oxlade-Chamberlaine, Santos, Jenkinson, Song, Sagna, Mertersacker, Gervinho, Miguel. That’s virtually half a squad; that’s the level of the problem.

Let’s also be realistic in saying that, with the exception of RVP these players are not  ‘world class’ on a proven consistent level but I feel they can certainly give some body to a squad that has the requisite quality and character added.

This summer needs to see big changes that are added to in January and again in the summer of 2013 that’s the length of time needed to reinstate Arsenal at the top table I believe. But to make those changes it needs the Manager and the board to recognise the nature of the problem and sign the consent form for the surgeons to start their work on saving the patient.

Comments

  1. On the whole I would agree with your comments, the squad has become stagnant and there is too many players who on the whole are just average, even the likes of Saha and yakubu would have been a welcome addition to the threadbare squad, on the goalkeeping I would have fancied a punt of mgregor of rangers, a better back up than the afore mentioned two sub standard keepers!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

so I said...

Popular posts from this blog

Reasons to be cheerful?

So November arrives with cold weather and grey skies. Arsenal sit in 2 nd place with a great chance to make progress in the Carling Cup with a home draw against wigan Athletic. Poised to win   our Champions league group and with six months of the season left have 3 of our five tougher away fixtures out of the way, having taken a respectable 4 from 9. I say respectable as, the Man City away trip aside the draw at Anfield on the occasion of Hodgson’s first game was a good result and the Chelsea game I don’t think anyone can really speak of any injustice. That leaves away games at Old Trafford and Sp*rs (who as we know raise their game for this fixture). With injured players gradually returning and the Polish goalkeepers showing signs of optimism, we’re in relatively good shape. Or so you’d think. Yesterday at the Emirates West Ham were put to the sword late on after some stout defending, a good performance from Robert Green and a couple of missed opportunities. The level of indign...

There's something rotten in the state of Denmark

A number of blogs are pointing out what was evident to me yesterday; as a season ticket holder and Silver member i like thousands of others made plans to purchase an additional ticket for the Barcelona game using the frustrating and irritating online service, but guess what? no joy, just lots of waiting finger tapping and watching the dreaded 'loading' bar (to make matters worse I had asked my missus to do this as I was doing training). But no one got these additional tickets, that is no supporters judging by the general feedback! It seems to me that the additional seats will have probably gone to customers of a corporate nature. Ultimately for such a marquee (to use an American commercialism term) game I suspect that the club where never going to sell to supporters of the club, there is clearly a undercurrent at the Emirates that the club wants to have the stadium full of customers ie; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ognvWIwjKTQ The Emirates of the future? It will be interesti...

PERSONALITY TEST

Played 23, 10 defeats, 4 draws and 9 victories; that's the factual bit out of the way. What does that tell us? I guess it is a set of statistics that reasonably reflect a mid table team. How we got here is something that countless column inches and hours of debate have gone into. How we move forward is the bigger question. Naturally, learning from past mistakes is a key element to moving forward but have Arsenal Football Club done that? Have Arsenal Football Club realised that a clear vision and plan is needed? When you look at the current squad its relatively easy to see where the strenghts are, and the weaknesses. The manager too, has strengths and weaknesses but one thing that is intangible is the personality of the club. Not so much "where are we" as "what are we?" To know what the club is is to know what the upper echelons think, what their plan and philosophy is and how the manager processes  that information. We can assume that the club decision makers wa...