
Originally Posted by
Niall_Quinn
Wenger set us up to play through the centre against the best defence in the league. The chavs will lap that up all day long, and they did. We have pace, the one thing that could have unlocked them was pace. Even when he brought Welbeck on he took Bif off. Maureen commented on this in his usual goading fashion, almost like he was gently giving Wenger a few clues. Wenger won't hear though.
In many ways he was just as negative as Maureen yesterday. We set up to not lose in a game we had to win. Henry's comments before the game were spot on, it was vital for us to win not because we stand a chance of beating the chavs to the title but for the message it would have sent for next season and for the confidence of the players and the fans. As it is, here we are again, without a win after 14 attempts. Wenger will never beat Maureen, we have players that could manufacture a win through individual endeavour and talent but that wouldn't be down to Wenger and his tactics or ambition.
We had the players to win that match, but not the manager. We "lacked a little bit in final third" because he set us up to require ridiculously intricate passing through determined and massed defensive ranks. We were penned-in on the flanks when we did go there because the tempo was low and the passing was short and into traffic. We should have been playing longer and in behind their fullbacks and using pace. We should have been attacking on both flanks simultaneously to pull the defenders across the pitch and open up space. That tippy-tappy shit to feet was a gift for the chavs, Maureen was probably laughing his arse off as usual.
For those who say it's not so easy to find the space, look at what Fabregas was doing. Simple lob behind the backline with a runner chasing it. Oscar FFS! He's not even a striker but it didn't matter given the simplicity. We have Santi, Ozil, Alexis, to do the same but they were too busy playing triangles in front of Terry and co.
So what if we had played ambitiously and got hit with a sucker punch? One point, zero points, what's the difference when only three points will do?
It's embarrassing how easily our manager can be outwitted by a decent tactician. The chavs decided before kick-off what they wanted and they simply came and took it. We could still be playing now and we wouldn't have scored yet.
Hazard wasn't needed yesterday. That's how poorly we did in reality. I can handle losing but I can't stand it when we don't give it 100%