Nothing wrong with Monreal. He earned his spot and kept Gibbs out the first team and rightly so. He didn't have a great game but I can't see Gibbs contributing anything more. He has no end product and just drifts up field totally clueless to what's behind him.
Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory
Not convinced myself, as I said before not much has changed from last season and we ended up way behind then.
You say those teams could have lost, fact is though they didn't and we did at home as well against a team who aren't all that frankly and we weren't even down to ten men.
Too many excuses from Wenger and his supporters, as you've demonstrated a keeper is only as good as you make him look, if you give him no chance to save something he won't, we just make them look good.
Our own keeper had a mare which didn't help but once again it's a poor start, something you were convinced would be different this season because of a "change in mentality".
What's clear to me is that it's not the mentality that changes things but something Wenger seems very reluctant to rely on, quality new signings, he always pipes out with the you can't always look outside for answers line whenver things go wrong and yet the players who have made the most difference in recent times have been exactly that, top quality players from outside the club.
I'm resigned to another battel for 4th, because in reality without any new quality signings that's all we're good for nothing more, we don't have a manager who can drag and extra 10-15% out of his players or who can outsmart the opposition manager with clever tactics, that leaves us reliant on the signing of top quality players who just make things happen and don't rely on a guy who doesn't frankly know what he's doing on the sidelines when the team is on the field.
I don't think signings would have made the difference, apart from Giroud I don't think we can say that the players aren't good enough
Apart from Cech I don't think we can say there are individual errors, just a lazy, complacent team performance propagated by a manager who was too arrogant to bother putting out a properly prepared game plan.
I thought Gibbs played well pre season, and whilst I agree we sold Monreal short without any proper protection in front of him....he can be ponderous at times and I sometimes think he doesn't do enough to stop crosses coming in on his side
Gibbs is worse than Monreal on any level except pace, another example of a player who in 10 yrs has not improved a jot under Wenger tutelage. To me our problem is simply our style of play, too contrived too rehearsed, too predictable and easy to defend against. When all those tricks and flicks come off you applaud, but we are very easy to suss out. Wenger is absolutely obsessed with the aesthetics of his game rather than its results. He can afford to as no one is in charge at this club.
If we'd got a top class striker he might have taken what chances we didn't create, as it is we're stuck with player up front who miss the majority of their opportunities.
From what I saw a quality DM might have stopped the 2nd goal for them as well, so I personally think it would have made a difference.
Thing is with Wenger he needs players who will take the game by the scruff of the neck and he's tactically clueless and doesn't make the right substitutions at the right time either.
I was somewhat suprised people expected us to challenge for the title tbh considering how few changes we've made over the summer, this is typical Wenger though, he always leaves things to chance rather than being well prepared.
Question for all the tactics people(cause i know nothing about that stuff)
Over the past 4 seasons, we have a team, that posess the ball a lot. But struggles to create chances.
Why is this?
Last edited by hobson's choice; 10-08-2015 at 02:01 PM.
Gibbs is a liability IMO, he can't defend for toffee and is injured 95% of the time, he's more of a winger than a full back.
I argued with most on here that Cech wasn't the signing that others were making out. He's a good keeper but playing behind the Chelsea defense would have made most keepers look good. The likes of Terry, Ivanovich & Cahill would not allow the free headers in the centre of the box that we often concede, Cech wouldn't have had to come of his line & get caught out. Watch Merts for the second goal, watch his reaction when its blatantly obvious that the lad was going to shoot. Cech isn't used to uncontested shots coming at him from 20 yards.
So 1st lesson Wenger should have seen from Sunday & previous seasons is that Merts is too slow both in pace & in reacting to danger. For a guy his size, he is not dominant enough defending set pieces.
Going forward, he has not learnt from the end of last season. Ozil & Cazorla are nullified when Ramsey's getting in the way & when Giroud is on the pitch. Giroud plus no pace either side means we are so easy to play against. Home games against SUnderland & Swansea at the end of last season were awful, when he tried a bit of pace against West Brom & then Villa in the final - what happened, 8 goals. Great, we think, surely Le Prof has learnt this time but no, lets go back to tippy tappy 40 yards from goal, all trying to play of the statue of Giroud.
I am really not bothered about signing new players - only under a new manager with an ability to change & make the right decisions to win games, rather than selfishly trying to prove a point to all his doubters, will new signings give us a chance of winning the top prizes. Our regular 4th place & 2 cup wins have been won inspite of Wenger not because of him.
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