by Ammaar » Tue Jan 15, 2013 1:43 am
Well, what is there to say?
Koscielny is a very talented player, but he is not a player you want for a big, high-pressure game. He is too rash with his tackling and panics in the penalty box which has cost us a trophy two years ago and has cost us 6 points this season. I like him a lot, but until he is more composed and learns how to stand his ground better, he simply needs to be dropped.
Wilshere was amazing, but I do worry over us overplaying him. Also the longer we go on without silverware and the longer we stagnate, the interest in him will magnify. I fear that it is only a matter of time before we build him up only to sell the finished article to City or United in the next two years.
Ramsey played well too, he worked hard, retained possession and threaded some nice balls, in particular the one to Walcott where Lescott cleared off the line.
Cazorla has been crap since the Reading game - he has been played a lot this season, but he is misplacing a lot of simple passes and he doesn't play as many incisive, through balls to carve defences open anymore. We should be having Arshavin or Rosicky to fill in for him while Cazorla gets some rest, but they probably slept with Wenger's daughter because that's the only rational explanation for their exclusions from the squad, assuming both are fit.
Sagna has been better than he was in the last 3 games, but I still think he has lost a yard of pace and his awareness and positioning is off - he was one of the best right backs in the world a few seasons ago, but the two leg breaks have clearly affected him. We need to be in the market for another RB.
Podolski was one of our best players yesterday and I was really hacked off Wenger subbed him off around the 61st minute for Giroud, who I feel has flattered to deceive this season, despite his 9 goals and 8 assists thus far. He was crap yesterday as well, very underwhelming.
Vermaelen seems to switch off too often and he loses focus easily - it was his lack of focus and poor positioning that led to the opener (good finish from Milner though).
I said yesterday that playing Walcott against City's defence as a lone striker will not work because he does not have the poise, strength, agility and ability to hold-up the ball. He tried to play off the shoulder of the CB's and Kompany read him like a book. Bad decision from Wenger.
It was a spirited second half performance, but we still lacked a cutting edge and really, City had done their job in the first half.
The thing is there is a strategy to play with 10 men that can lead to a team getting a result from the game, but because we can't defend for shit and because we lack the mental attributes of a confident side, I knew we were screwed once we were down to 10 men. You could see that the players were feeling sorry for themselves and Wenger had a defeatist body language. He just sat there in his chair hoping we didn't get slaughtered, not the body language I wanted to see from the gaffer.
Whilst we're on the topic of the gaffer, I think he needs to go. He gets paid £8m a year - more than any football manager in Europe - for achieving the bare minimum expected of us. He is not performing miracles at all, as some suggest and we need change. I hope he steps down at the end of the season. He was one of the best things to happen to the English game, but it's clear as day his time is up.
