COC Reaction v Sheffield Wednesday

[IBK]

Agree with many of the points but in the annoying over-reaction of the press today, the following needs to be remembered:

1. The quality of the Championship has improved hugely over the last few years - both in personnel and coaching. This is shown by the sheer variety of teams promoted to the EPL. While resources tend to show over a season, in one off games - particularly Cup Games at home (the attendance last night showed that this was Wednesday's biggest game for years) upsets are always on the cards. We were crap, but this isn't the seismic shock that the pundits would have people believe today. Wednesday are on the up and that kind of committed and super organised performance would have frustrated our first team - let alone the pot pourri of yesterday.

2. Wenger was right to rest our essential players for the least important tie we will play over the next couple of months. I felt that our starting 11 should have had enough experience/quality to compete - with seasoned players starting alongside youngsters in all key areas. The 2 injuries put paid to that.

3. We looked shite because of a poor collective performance but also because we do not have a system. Wenger relies upon players having telepathy and finding the right positions to take up to pass through the opposition. No way was this going to happen with players who had had no playing time together.

4. Ultimately, this is a competition that manager and fans do not care about, against a team that unlike Spurs we were not particularly motivated to beat. This inevitably transmits itself tip the players in this Arsenal team and it is this that if anything worries me most. How many times has even our first team seemed flat when a game is not a 'big' game. The defence was a shambles, but I wonder if our zonal system is particularly vulnerable to the typical Championship type of play, where set pieces and crossing from wide positions are more common than in the average EPL game.

5. Defensively, we should have had far more stability than we showed. Is this yet more evidence of the importance of Coq to our team? For me, him and Bellerin were our biggest misses last night.

[Globalgunner]

I hope this puts paid to the wrong notion that our squad is as good as the Mancs. Being a manager is a difficult job, but having a 2nd 11 that is not a patch on the 1st is bad management. We should have performed better yesterday, no matter who we put out. Its as if the 2nd string have a 2nd string mentality.

PS. we must buy Willy Cavarlho this winter. If anything happens to Coq, just watch our season go to pot. He has turned out to be as significant as Alexis and Ozil.

[Gooner23]

I agree we had to rest our key players but disappointing that some of the back ups were so poor. I know its difficult with lack of playing time and a lot of inexperienced youngsters in the mix, but just how poor are the likes of Debuchy and Gibbs looking? No where near challenging Bellerin and Monreal on that showing. Giroud looked like a guy that had been told not to get injured (which thankfully he didn't). I cant understand how Chambers has regressed so badly since he came to us. Young players have ups and downs, but he looks further away than ever from being a first teamer.

[Alpha]

Negatives about the Sheffield Wed. Game :
Everything : no fight , no desire , injuries , very bad performance .

Positives : Christian Bielik looks a really good prospect . He impressed a lot .

[selassie]

We were dreadful last night, what worried me more than anything was our back 4 which whilst not first choice was very experienced, they were a mess last night and I really worry about Gibbs and to a lesser degree Chambers. Debuchy for me is totally finished, what on earth has happened to him? Every performance from him this season has been horrible.

Despite all that we had a very patched up first XI last night and it showed, their was no understanding between any of them.

Biggest gripe of the night were the injuries which have officially become a major issue again, it's the same every season to pretty much the same set of players and despite the appointment of Shad Forsythe these muscular injuries just won't go away.

I'm hoping Ramsey, Theo & OX are all short term but I'm sure one of them will have a setback.

[Marc Overmars]

I think it's difficult when you know you're only playing because it's a meaningless game, add that to the fact the team was a mash up of of every kind of player at the club. Couple first teamers, back ups and youth teamers, seeing any sort of cohesion there would have been a surprise. Whenever we make wholesale changes it never ends well, though that still doesn't excuse the performance of the back 4, you'd expect better from them and it doesn't really bode well if/when they're called in to do a job for the important games.

[LDG]

Wenger "They are not ready to play this level"

Which suggests we don't have enough depth in squad. Which makes it even more odd that we didn't bring in more outfield players in the summer.

Not too bothered about losing a competition from our schedule, but the worry for me is the blatant disregard for preparation in team selection, and rookie mistakes. Theo didn't warm up??? What the fuck is that all about. If you don't care too much for the competition, it's not going to bother you unduly if you let one of your key players warm up for 5 minutes. Very unprofessional all round really.

Whilst it may not be a big competition, the prep and will to win should be apparent in every match. You can't select them. You have to put 100% every time. Fucking pissed off tbf.

Still, as one twitterer put it:

League Cup: Knock Spurs out; fuck it off.

[Marc Overmars]

. Debuchy for me is totally finished, what on earth has happened to him? Every performance from him this season has been horrible.

I remember Wenger saying last season how hard the injuries hit him mentally. Can't have been easy signing for us knowing you're first choice, only to get 2 serious injuries and because of that witness the emergence of Bellerin. Unfortunate but that's the way it goes sometimes in football.

It's probably best to sell him next year as Jenkinson should hopefully be ready to compete with Bellerin.

[selassie]

I remember Wenger saying last season how hard the injuries hit him mentally. Can't have been easy signing for us knowing you're first choice, only to get 2 serious injuries and because of that witness the emergence of Bellerin. Unfortunate but that's the way it goes sometimes in football.

It's probably best to sell him next year as Jenkinson should hopefully be ready to compete with Bellerin.

Aye, he was most definitely unfortunate last season as he genuinely looked very good in his early appearances for us prior to his injuries. He's not been the same since he's come back, he always looks a yard or two off the pace, Im beginning to wonder whether he has actually lost a bit of pace due to his injuries.

Shame really.

At the moment he offers practically no competition for Bellerin, if Bellerin was to get injured we would lose a hell of lot defensively and offensively if Debuchy had to cover.

I think he should be sold too, Jenko seems to be developing very well at West Ham.

[Munchies]

Seeing quite a few people say that Chambers at £16m is probably Wenger's worst signing

Is he that bad?