Monday Football Thoughts

And so what every Arsenal fan feared would happen, has indeed taken place. In perhaps one of the worst fortnights ever for an Arsenal fan, the Gunners were dumped out of 3 competitions in quick succession. While it can be argued that Barca were by far the better team, Birmingham & Man Utd were clearly not teams of vastly superior class. Questions need to be asked of this team that promised so much but yet once again seem to be falling over before the last hurdle has even been reached!

The FA cup match seemed to show the weakness of this current team. We can play fantastic football, keep possession but lack the killer instinct or the mental strength to actually win a game when we need to... to convert those many chances when it's required. I know we were missing a host of players, and some were clearly not fit, but yet Man Utd were missing plenty of players and yet they still could produce a result when it counted. I was throwing my hands up in frustration as I once again witnessed us make pass after pass, attempt backheels despite being 2 nil down, and instead of trying to counter attack at pace in the dying embers of the game, we walked with the ball hoping that maybe the Man Utd players might let us pass it into the net... I felt sorry for Jack W who seemed to be the only player willing to run at Man Utd and try to take the game by the scruff of the neck. What happened to the counter attacking Arsenal that would put fear into defenders? or the Arsenal that went invincible for a season? why are we suddenly the almost team... the team who can't win when it counts...

I'm not calling for Wenger's head, or suggesting that it's all over. We're still in the race for the title but the tide really has to turn. Some how the players need to remove this self imposed mental block and get back to winning games. While I know it's possible that we can do it, there are serious doubts and I wonder if we're suffered too much this season... please Wenger bring in the experienced heads, the big centre half who oozes confidence, the dominating midfielder who won't simply watch another player waltz into our half, a striker who doesn't get injured by simply the wind blowing on them... a wish-list many Arsenal fans have had for a long time but I think it's more likely that Santa will bring us such gifts then Wenger...

"In Wenger we trust"... but we're holding our heads in our hands wondering when will this trust give us a cup in return... (P.S. get well Djourou, hope the shoulder gets better, we need you back soon!)

My favourite footy video of the week has to be this delightful disallowed goal that couldn't be more in...


wait for the second replay and smile...