What ails Arsenal this season.

This season has been inconsistent to say the least. While we have lost to Fulham, Hull etc., we have managed to dispatch the likes of Manu and Chelsea. What are the problems then?

Whether Wenger likes it or not, the Arsenal players dont like a fight. You never see a Cesc or a DEnilson jump in the air shoulkder to shoulder with an opponent. Maybe the obsession with playing the passing game has gone too far.

With Walcott injured and Rosicky looking like he may not play for some time, the width from this team has gone. Diaby and Denilson cant provide width and there is only so much that Sagna and Clichy can do as they also have defensive duties. The midfield is getting too congested and that makes it tough for us to break teams down. One solution can be to fast track Gibbs into the left back position and play Clichy ahead of him. Eboue can take up a similar position on the right. Or maybe the boss is hoping that Eduardo will be fit again and take the flank...not sure really.

All said and done, we need a couple of really good attacking players in January.

Bolton at Reebok.

We were a man down - a rather nasty high footed challenge by Diaby saw him get a straight red. Then Matt Taylor puts Bolton two up albeit with a lucky deflection.

At half time you would have thought that this Arsenal team will never be able to fight back. Bolton has been a real banana skin for us over the years and we have somehow never been able to deal with their route 1 football. For the record, i think that Bolton are the worst team in Europe and a big thanks to Sam for that. I am waiting for them to be relegated. I have been critical of the boss after the Chelsea game when after we took the lead, he should have clearly changed the system and brought Bert in to defend. Anyway, it seemed like not even a stroke of genius could save us this time but .....

Wenger changed the formation upside down and the match went upside down. He put Adebayor and Walcott on and the Wanderers could never deal with our attacking players after that. Our ten men were all over their eleven.First a back post finish by Gallas and then a clever back flick by Ade set up RVP who hit the keeper but the rebound was picked up by Walcott who got fouled. Penalty! RVP stepped up and smacked it in. 2 all and a few minutes to go. We had several chances after that and RVP showed how he is still getting into the groove. He missed chances that he would have normally put away with his eyes closed. With the time ticking, Hleb found space on the flank and passed the ball to Cesc who used 2 Bolton players :) to score.

I must mention Cesc's reaction here, he was just so thrilled. The look on his face just said it all. I have been very critical of the team's lack of depth but these kids are not going to let Manu just take the title away like that. They will fight and fight and you have to be proud of them.

Manu and Milan

I am back from the sabbatical and hope to be a regular poster from now on.

The Manu game cant be put as anything else but thrashing and to think that we put out a stronger team than them makes it all the more worse. The pitch at OT was a disgrace as the gaffer pointed out correctly but we just did not turn up on the day. I am still not sure whether Bendtner is a finished article yet and Eduardo seems to have hit a slump after a bright beginning to first team football. The match also showed how much we miss Flamini in the middle. I am a big fan of Bert but i think its time he leaves. I dont know whether its a lack of match practice or what but he had one of his worst games in an Arsenal shirt.

I could not watch the Milan game but i am told that we were in control for most of the game but could not score. Ade missed a sitter in the last few minutes but we now have a tough task at the San siro in 2 weeks time. Milan are a totally different side at home but they will venture out more and that should give us a chance to hit them on the break. Kolo's injury is a big blow but Big Phil looks like he has done away with the "1 mistake per game" syndrome and looks to have forged a strong partnership with Willy.

A tricky fixture at St. Andrews awaits us over the weekend and it is a must win game to maintain the lead over Manu and Chelsea.

When the gaffer baffles

In wake of a rather poor performance against one of the bottom teams, the gaffer again gave a very strange post match interview.

I have no doubt that yesterdays performance was a one off and we will bounce back immediately. But i am a little surprised that Wenger chose to give credit to the opposition instead of criticising his players for what was one of the all time worst efforts. Though we were understrength, i still expected the team to fight a little more but we failed to do that.

It is about time that the gaffer criticizes the team openly instead of painting a rosy picture all the time. I am a great admirer of Wenger and I may be over reacting but i get the impression he thinks that the fans are fools. I am sick and tired of "The team has a great potential". He needs to admit that we are over dependent on our one pass game and fail miserably when the game gets physical. He can defend his young team all he wants but records show that we fail against Bolton etc on a regular basis.

Maybe I am over critical of the team because i was overjoyed last week when we thrashed Blackburn and now i am dishing out criticism but i feel that by calling a spade a spade Wenger would actually be doing himself and his young team a huge favour.

The Captaincy Dilemma

With Henry almost fit, most of the Arsenal faithful are pondering whether he should take back the reins as captain. Gilberto has been a great leader in Henry's absence. He leads from the front and has been scoring for fun since the Spurs game.

Henry, i am sure, will get the arm band as soon as he comes back. Titi for all his brilliance on the field is not a natural leader. He can never be a Vieira. He can be a real inspiration on the field and will take his own time to mature into his new role as a captain. My only problem with him is that there times when he goes AWOL and does not seem to be contributing.

Gilberto is always in the thick of things. He controls the pace of the game and gets involved a lot. He is so important for the team in that he breaks up the play so that the likes of Rosicky and Cesc can link up with the front men. Also, he seems to be a natural leader and does not have any problems slotting into that role whenever Henry has been missing.

If i were the gaffer i would retain Gilberto as captain. But then I would be tempting fate ...

Chelsea, PSV and Pompey

What a game it was against Chelskea. I am sure there have been enough reviews about that game so i will go on to other important matters like the UCL draw.

Porto v Chelsea
Celtic v Milan
PSV Eindhoven v Arsenal
Lille v Manchester United
Roma v Lyon
Barcelona v Liverpool
Real Madrid v Bayern Munich
Internazionale v Valencia

When you consider Liverpool, we definitely have an easier game against PSV but underestimating the Dutch Champions would be suicidal. Double D reiterates that. The gaffer thinks that we have an advantage playing the second game at home. As usual Koeman shoots his mouth off.I hope we thrash PSV home and away.

Alright then, Pompy today for us. Lots of old timers will be in town. I hope that we give Sol, Kanu and Adams a rousing reception. They are all Arsenal legends and any other welcome for them will just not do.

Coming to the team news, we are still without Rosicky and Gallas. Portsmouth are now without any striker. Kanu is half fit so we can expect a lot of defending from them.

There has been a lot of discussion on the formation that we employed at the JJB in mid week. The 4-5-1 against teams like Wigan is being questioned and rightly so i feel. This formation is justified against teams like Chelsea but against weaker teams we just have to be more positive. Arseblogger discusses the same on the arsecast this week. I expect Wenger to take a more offensive route today.

In other news, Bendtner is happy that WEnger is keen to take him back soon. This lad gives us an option i feel. I think that he is still a long way away from regular first team action but i him and Lupoli are a future strike pair for us. We are also looking at some fella from Dortmund to replace Jens who apparently has been offered 2 years at Sevilla.

Henry has won the PFA award for November again. Looks like he will have to make do with such awards especially when he just cane seem to do enough to win the European or World player of the year.

Away to West Ham

After a very disappointing week which saw us drawing against Everton and CSKA, we travel to West Ham hoping to keep up with the leading pack. West Ham finally registered a win last week and will be looking forward to get at least a point out of this game.

A lot of the pre match talk has been about the verbal exchange between the 2 gaffers last season after our game against Real. Pardew says that his comments were taken in the wrong way by the media and says that there is no problem between him and Wenger.
He also says that he is a big fan of the way Arsenal play. Good for you!

The same issue has come up again this week with the gaffer making it clear that FIFA s rule is bull shit. I have to agree with Wenger. Whose fault is it that we do not have good English players. We had Cole and Campbell. Cole turned out to be real scumbag, Pennant and Jeffers were not that great and now we have Hoyte and Walcott coming through.

Coming back to the game, Adebayor looks set to return though i dont see him playing a major role esepcially with Van Persie playing well. Wenger is not afraid of the 2 Argentines and doesnt see them figuring in the game at all. Hope that Tevez doesnt show up and get a goal. Wenger is frustrated that the goals are not coming but says that there is no need to press the SOS just yet. He also clarified that he did not make a bid for Reo Coker. I am sure it was Spurs :)

In other news Michael "load of crap" Platini says that Henry should have joined Barca as they win a lot of trophies. Keep zat mouth shut.