Originally Posted by
Ice Berg Kamping
I would indeed. And I take your point too. But I'm afraid that I have rather lost faith in this, or any team of Wenger's to make permanent improvements. I have said before, and I'll say it again - Wenger playes a peculiarly difficult brand of football that can be pulled off consistently only by top top quality players - the caliber of which we no longer attract or are able to pay for, or technical players at the absolute top of their game. Anything less and we struggle. This IMO is why we seem so open to loss of confidence. Normal teams have a game plan, and player roles that they can revert to even if certain, or all of the players are slightly off form - something to trust in - a parachute if you like. Our players don't have this.
Secondly - I have always felt that a successful team should first and foremmost be set up to protect its own goal - because if you can stop the other side scoring they cannot win. I know that we have traditionally not been a defensive team under Wenger, and I know also that you have to venture forwards in order to win the game yourselves. But for me it is lamentable that our players simply are not being drilled either to defend as a team, or to play in a way that avoids the continual mistakes that we are seeing in defence. It should come naturally to a team to protect a 2 goal lead. For us, all we seem to do is to stop attacking - which invites the other team onto us. Yet we remain as vulnerable as ever in defence. There are basic flaws in this team, that a moderately improved performance cannot mask.