Top of the Morning to y’all
I know, I know my chakra predicted a repeat of the 2008
performance. No one should blame my chakra though because that prediction was
based on the premise that our team would step out on the shabby San Siro pitch
full of confidence and re-invigorated by their comeback win against Sunderland
as well as their good record at the San Siro and give a performance that the
fans would be proud of but unfortunately what we saw on Wednesday was the exact
opposite that Arsene
described as the “worst performance in Europe”. Never before
have I seen an Arsenal side so un-imaginative in attack, porous in defence and
bereft of confidence in their all-round performance at such a top level. We were anonymous throughout.
As much as one can run out of superlatives to describe a
good performance so can one run out of superlatives to describe a poor one and
really am out. They could have easily stayed in London and not show at all for
the game.
To get a good game at this level of football, you need a
good performance even if the team doesn’t win the game, people would recognize
the effort and give the team its fair share of praise while to win at this
level you need the good performance and the world class players in the team to
step up to the occasion. After all, the last time we won at the San Siro we had
only Fabregas as the only world class player but a team of confident and committed
individuals who went there and knocked the then reigning European champions out
of the competition. In Wednesday’s team we had only Van Persie as the world
class player in the squad but we lacked the performance that would have
guaranteed us a result coming into the second leg. If the target of the team
was to get on the score sheet as Wenger said in his pre-match press conference,
then it’s safe to say that his team failed woefully on the night.
Believe it or not, we missed the influence of the BFG and
his organisational qualities in the defence. He has so far formed a good
partnership with Koz this season and would have done a better job at ‘mopping
up’ the long balls that were continually punted into our box than Vermealen
even though one can argue that he has played the last 10 games in the left back
position.
In midfield, we simply gave them too much room to operate
and KPB had no trouble at all linking both defence and attack. Surprisingly, we
had more of the possession of the ball, 57% to be precise which came about from
stroking the ball around the park without purpose and Milan exploited the
loopholes in every part of our game. The performance made me feel like the
players forgot that they have an obligation to the fans to always give a good
account of themselves every time they step onto the pitch in an Arsenal shirt.
Calls for the sacking of the boss this morning have been premature
and shallow but everyone has an elastic limit and I can’t really blame the fans
who feel they have reached theirs after 6 years without a trophy and things don’t
seem to be getting better. Arsene does concede however that the defeat “does
questions everything” and I hope the ‘everything’ includes his transfer policy
because we definitely need more quality players in the team.
Saturday’s FA cup game against Sunderland leaves the team
with little time to brood and a quick opportunity to redeem themselves. A victory
on Saturday means a place in the FA cup quarterfinals while a loss would definitely
signify that our trophy drought continues at least for another season. That’s left
for the players to choose. We really need to improve on our last performance if
we are going to get anything from the game but one thing is certain, WE CAN DO
IT.
Gervinho returns this weekend from nations cup duty and Koz
is out injured, we will get to know more team news later this afternoon at
Wenger’s press conference.
That’s it for today folks, be back on Monday for a fresh
edition. If you have enjoyed this post, please drop a comment and share on Facebook
and Twitter. God bless the Arsenal. Iree o
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