Morning Gooners,I've tried to leave this blog as late as possible so that I can attempt to hide my depression. Yesterday was our second league game of the season, however it felt like our title challenge depended on it and we were in mid April. The pressure that seems to be on every game at the moment is not healthy for fans or players and the really sad thing is I don't see it stopping any time soon.
I've sat back now and calmed a little and think I've managed to develop a fairer view of the Liverpool game. Although the result is hugely disappointing, as is any loss, the situation the club finds itself in at the moment is the cause of most fans concern. The uncertainty of our squad has become unbearable. Who will be leaving? Nasri and Bendtner both featured but both look likely to leave the club before September 1st. Who will be coming in? Will anyone be coming in? Thankfully we have only nine days left of the transfer window so for better or worse, we will at least know which players we'll be cheering on for the coming season.
Back to the game. There were negatives, we all know what they are and we all have our own opinions of what has caused them but here's my view on the Liverpool game alone.
Negatives:
* We lost!! (Obvious, but surely the biggest negative of all)
* Frimpong showed the result of inexperience can punish the whole team.
* We have another suspension to deal with.
* Koscielny is out for a week, by the look of him probably more (The guy couldn't even walk on his own)
*Complete lack of midfield creativity
* Arshavin, Walcott & RVP were almost non-existent
This will not be the only game we lose this year. The important thing is how you deal with that loss and that goes for fans as much as it does players. Yes Frimpong was the perfect example of inexperience and rashness but players must go through these stages to learn from them and under the guidance of Arsene Wenger, our young players like Frimpong will indeed learn from it and become better players from the experience. Frimpong's suspension leaves us with a massive gap on our team sheet for Sunday's game at Old Trafford but Wenger will deal with that problem next week.
Kos's injury looked very bad. His back began to spasm and the poor guy couldn't even walk unassisted down the tunnel. Wenger has said he expects him to be out "for the next two games" at least which is bad enough but on top of Djourou's hamstring and Squillaci's mystery injury that kept him out of the game we now go into the next week(s) with TV5 and Miquel as our only fit centre backs.
Our lack of creativity through midfield is my personal biggest worry at the moment. The responsibility being thrown upon Ramsey is coming too soon. He is not ready to be our main midfield man, and the pressure coming with that expectation will do more harm than good in the long run. Wilshere will add quality when he returns and Rosicky can still do a job for the team. The only real resolution to this issue is reinforcement. AOC, Ryo and Frimpong will all be new aspects of our midfield this year but with not one of them 20 years old they cannot be expected to be the regular game changers that we need. The Nasri saga will end very soon one way or the other but if reports coming from France are to be believed then talks with Man City have hit problems and Nasri could yet still be an Arsenal player for the coming season. For what it is worth I thought he was excellent yesterday, his attitude was spot on and his hunger to help the team succeed was there for all to see, a big well done to the fans at Ashburton Grove too, the reception for Nasri was excellent and if he does stay it is good to know he will be supported just like every other Arsenal player.
Our front three's apparent absence from the game will not be the same in every game and had a lot to do with the void we had in midfield so unless it becomes a regular occurrence I will not get worked up about it just yet.
OK, enough negatives, now for some Positives I took from the game:
* Frimpong
* Vermaelen
* The teams defensive work rate
* Improvement on defending set pieces
* With 6 first team players missing, Liverpool still couldn't beat us with 11 men
Frimpong almost had a perfect game. Take away the silly first booking and the challenge that saw the 2nd yellow and Frimpong had a......... DEEEEENCH........ game (I still don't know what it means but I'm assuming it's good). He covered the defence brilliantly and added his own spark going forward and other than Van Persie's effort he came closest to providing an Arsenal goal. Alex Song took 3-4 years to convince us he could do the job but Frimpong has showed his class instantly, he did it in pre season last year but then spent the whole season injured and he has returned with the same quality and looks like an immense talent already.
Vermaelen showed us what we were missing last year. His performance yesterday was excellent, especially when controlling Andy Carroll on set pieces. To use a Wenger-ism, he really will be like having a new player in the squad. I would say that the defensive organisation looks better this year but simply saying it's there this season is enough and shows improvement on last season. Liverpool had an uncountable amount of set pieces during the 90 minutes but I can't think of one that we seemed to struggle with so that has to be seen as a positive thing.
Gibbs, Koscielny, Djourou, Song, Wilshere, Rosicky and Gervinho. 7 players that could be regular starters for us this year were all out of action whether it was because of suspension or injury. Which team can take 7 players out of their line up and still produce top quality football?
The biggest positive is that with all the problems we had today, players missing, transfer sagas, fan's discontent etc, etc we matched Liverpool for as long as we had 11 men on the pitch. Don't get me wrong, we never looked like the strongest team but we matched Liverpool throughout and at the end of the day, if you look at it sensibly, that is a positive thing to take away from the game.
Lets remember guys and girls, this is game 2 not game 32 of the season, there is a long way to go. Arsene knows we have to recruit and I'm sure they are doing what needs to be done behind the scenes to make things happen. My message to you is simple, in the infamous words of Lance-Corporal Jones, Don't Panic! Wednesday will see us (please for the love of all that is holy) qualify for the Champions League proper which will mean a guaranteed cash influx for players but will also just lift a massive cloud of nerves from our team, then before you know it September 1st will be here and we can just concentrate on cracking on with the season until January when we need to put up with Man City making a £45m bid for Frimpong and Barcelona offering for £4.50 and a Curlywurly for Jack Wilshere.
Keep things positive Gooners, the team need us this year more than ever.
Till next time,
Goonerfish.
Don't forget, for more ramblings you can follow me on twitter here: @goonerfishblog
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