I didn’t recognize my team today, says Arsenal Manager
Arsenal suffered a shock defeat as the fell to West Bromwich Albion which has been one of the biggest upsets in EPL season so far. West Brom were considered to be the underdogs against the might of the Gunners. Bearing in mind Arsenal’s record at the Emirates,
it was more than expected that the home team would win in style.
When asked about the shock defeat at home, the Arsenal Manager commented that the team made it difficult for themselves as they failed to live up to their own high set standards. Their performance was no where near the show at White Hart lane neither in
attack or defence. He further commented that coming back after zero points to the Gunners’ credit was nothing short of what the team deserved on the day. The Frenchman did offer a silver lining when he admitted that the unit did fight until the very end, the
five minutes of injury time did make the away side sweat, but in the end it just wasn’t good enough at the level of top flight football to salvage a draw, far off guarantee three points.
Manuel Almunia was able to set high standards in the mediocrity department albeit saving a penalty in the first half. When asked about the already criticized shot stopper, Wenger commented that seeing the overall performance, one could have question marks
over the commitment of the team in general – It took more than a goal keeper to comprise a team’s defence. Further prodded to offer any sort of criticism for the Arsenal number 1, the manager diffused the situation by not singling out one player, many players
made mistakes each day.
Resting Jack Wilshere owing to the fact that Arsenal’s prime playmaker Cesc Fabregas was already out with an injury felt a huge miscalculation on Wenger’s part. However, the manager responded by saying that the youngster has played many games and that it
was not down to just one player in or out to change the complexion of the game. However it could be argued that Arsenal had obvious trouble retaining the ball. The team needed someone to dictate play, circulate possession evenly and exploit the runs made by
the front men. The introduction of Jack Wilshere in the latter stages of the game saw a marked improvement in that as the team looked more threatening.
On an overall mystifying display at home, Arsenal’s longest serving manager admitted that the think-tank needed to analyze the root cause of the under par performance and respond strongly because the club has been performing extremely well since the start
of the 2010 – 2011 season. Building on that, it was hard to explain how bad the whole team performance looked after literally appearing somewhat invincible since the season kicked off. The late draw at the Stadium of Lights should have been forgotten after
silencing the fans at White Hart Lane. Beating archrivals, Spurs, in a North London derby should have been enough to keep morale high in the Arsenal camp.
Chelsea earlier that day, lost to Manchester City as they went down 1-0 playing away. Failing to close the gap on their North London neighbours, the manager commented that it would have been even more disappointing had Chelsea won. He further pointed out
that Arsenal doesn’t need to look at results elsewhere to dictate their performance. The Gunners, being title challengers themselves, should be more focused at what they do on the field – Carve out their own luck rather than setting a benchmark elsewhere.
Underperforming as they did on the day, looking at teams elsewhere is going to get the team nowhere.
Arsenal’s tie with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge next week becomes even more important than it was before. Both teams lost points this weekend. Despite the added tension, the manager commented that the North London derby against Chelsea is always an important
game. Something was off about the team this weekend; the playing eleven, the subs and the Arsenal Manager would be looking to put the disappointment at home past them and respond by winning another derby away from home – Just as they bounced back in the Carling
Cup against Spurs after a disappointing display in the league.
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