Sunday, August 27, 2006

Guns without Bullets


"Damn! I should have stayed at home
and made love to my wife instead!"
- Jens Lehmann in a moment of despair as Arsenal continued their poor (or should I say pathetic) form in the EPL.


There seems to be plenty of Guns in the Arsenal, but unfortunately no ammunition. Arsenal misfired a week back with Aston and they repeated their uninspired and lacklustre performance yesterday against Man City. Pundits and fans alike were predicting a comfortable victory for the North London Club, but Arsenal with amazing consistency disappointed yet again. The performance left many Arsenal fans (including me) disillusioned. Wenger himself admitted that "we are not ready".

Nothing seemed to be in order. We kept most of the possession, but mainly in the midfield. We managed to get some good balls near the Man City box, only to find that fellow Gunners were coming in the way. Rosicky was a let-down. He was all over the place yet going in no particular direction. Skipper Thierry Henry looked tired and unsettled. Perhaps its an indication of the fatigue from the World Cup. The Arsenal forwards were all in the box at once, with no-one indulging in wing-play. There was mayhem and chaos as the players bumped into each other and proved themselves worthy defenders for the other side.

All in all, it was a night to forget. Hopefully, Wenger picks up the threads and builds up a more inspired and intelligent team. The area we need to be strengthened the most immediately is defense and wing-play. That is where a lot of work needs to be done. All of a sudden, Arsenal's chances in the premiership this season is looking bleak. We need to seriously pick up our game and show more teeth, width and innovation in our attack.

In the meanwhile, a Brazil Vs Argentina friendly will be played at the Emirates Stadium. This is certainly heartening, but it would have been so much better had the Gunners been on winning form. No matter, there's always a next time.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

the AK47(henry) aint firing,there is no sniper specialist(like gerrard who can aim towards the goal from long distances),there is no bullet proof shield either(we cant defend set-plays..is there any defence???)...our lieutanent says no for any reinforcements(ribery,gallas)...also,our good guns seem to be more interested in firing for other camps(reyes,cole) ..is this our ARSENAL who is trying to conquer england,europe???

Directionless Wanderer said...

very nicely put .... I think we are going thru a big crisis here .... cant see us recovering atleast within the season .... I think we can 4get the Champions League .... Arsenal must withdraw from UEFA CL and instead regroup and restructure - we need to get it right in the league first .... things are lookin rather bleak now, but hopefully, they will pan out nicely as the season proceeds .... lets c .... fingers and toes crossed :D

PS: Hey u r good at writing too - u can atleast write Sports Stuff - tell u what - urself, myself, Saurabh, Dinesh, Santosh can start a team blog on Sports - who knows saala we could be earning money soon! :P

Kunal Mudgal said...

i dont like the sound of tevez movin to arsenal thoh..for me he was better thn messi at WC..

Directionless Wanderer said...

ur wish was delivered I guess .... we havent got Tevez, but hav got Gallas n Baptista, so there is still hope n lets c how it pans out