Even
with all the doom and gloom I have been spouting for the past several weeks, I
am still a Gooner through and through and was hoping to write a measured
positive note after an opening day victory over lowly Aston Villa. And it looked
like that was in store for the team after a deft 6th minute finish
by Olivier Giroud from a clever Ox cross gave them the early lead.
Unfortunately, among the needs we have all been discussing this summer is a
goalkeeper and, though Koscielny is probably more to blame, Sz did nothing to
improve the perception that he is just too mistake prone. His 22nd
minute takedown of Agbonahor led to a weak penalty take by Benteke, which Sz
saved but popped straight up in the air allowing the Aston Villa striker to
head it home. From here, Arsenal appeared to quickly lose their momentum and
produced few additional chances in the first half. So it went to break at 1-1,
with another defensive error providing a goal (a big problem for the team last
year, even as they had the second best defensive record overall).
The perpetually
injured Kieran Gibbs, who had a nice preseason, again fell prey to a knock and
given the threadbare status of the team at present, Sagna had to move to the
left so Jenkinson could take over on the right. Then, as the second half began,
we found out one of our better players from the first half, Oxlade-Chamberlain
had injured himself as well, forcing Santi Cazorla in. As the second half moved
toward 60 minutes, Arsenal seemed to be threatening for the go ahead goal, and
a clever 1-2 between Rosicky and Giroud sent the diminutive Czech in on goal,
though he fluffed his shot over and to the right. A second opportunity came a
few minutes later, though this one was better closed off by Guzan. In any case,
it was in the 60th minute that a troubling game would take a turn toward
farcical. The Gunners and Arsene were already complaining, with good reason,
for the job referee Anthony Taylor was doing – allowing Villa to foul with
relative free license (only two yellow cards and more foul calls on Arsenal at
one point in the game). Then he called an inexplicable second penalty, when the
linesman right in front of the play did not. In real time it did look like Kos
took Agbonahor down, but replays showed that Kos got the ball first. So he
received a yellow and Benteke strolled up to give the Villains (who lived up to
the game here) the lead. Six minutes later, the task grew even harder as Kos
was sent off for a second yellow, that seemed harsh – particularly since
Mertesacker had fouled a player moments before. Kos was out and the Gunners
forced to comeback with 10 men. Taylor still wasn’t done with the bad calls
though, giving free kicks twice when clear advantages should have at least been
played out before rewarding them – and missing what should have been a yellow
for Agbonahor. Arsenal still scrambled for an equalizer, but lost all hope in
the 85th minute when sub Antonio Luna scored his first EPL goal on
the counter. And in the 92nd minute, Sagna limped off with another
potential injury, meaning we might have a really makeshift defense next week
against Fulham (and in the UCL qualifying first round this weekend. A few
thoughts on this depressing first match …
1. Wenger’s stubbornness,
or self-destructiveness or just plain ineptitude in the transfer window forgoing
the clever snatching of first Cazorla and then Monreal in the past two windows
is now bordering on professional malpractice. This team was clearly light, and
though Anthony Tailor was the Villains twelfth man on the pitch in the game,
the Gunners really should have put this one away in the first half. The main
problem in the game, beside a dry patch in the middle part of the contest, was
the absence of Arteta in the middle to marshal the defense and attack. One can’t
help but wonder if Aston Villa would have scored a single goal if we had picked
up Gustavo or any of the other DMs that were available earlier in the window
(like Capoue, now playing for Tottenham). With the three injuries from the
game, plus the many that surround it and the one-game suspension for Kos, one
wonders if Wenger even has 11 senior players available to try to get us above
zero points next week. This has been an appalling display all summer of negligence
and really should be the last straw for the Frenchman.
2. Wenger also showed
his old habits in making no substitutions after Kos was sent off. Podolski was
on the bench and might just have provided the flair we needed as we pushed for
an equalizer, but he didn’t come on until Sagna turned up lame yet again. Villa
got behind our defense on several occasions throughout the game, and this was
largely down to tactical problems playing Ramsey (who had an off day), Wilshere
(who was only slightly above average) and Rosicky (nice forward thrust, but
really needs to finish his chances more often).
3. Giroud could be in
for a big year, particularly if we don’t get Suarez, but does have a tendency
to get lost in games and really needs to orient his body towards goal when he
is heading the ball and take advantage of clear chances. He actually had a free
header around 18 minutes that could have given us a second goal, but was oriented
sideways and nubbed it harmlessly wide. He also was in on goal later in the
half, but completely flubbed a pretty good shot at a goal.
4. One game does not a
season make, but this is the second time in three years that the Gunners go
into a season short, and with at least one poor result. Who can this be down to
other than Wenger? As I have always said, I love the aging Frenchman, but he
just seems clueless, or outright deranged, these days and really needs to go
after this season – if not earlier – if the Gunners are to be saved from
becoming the next Liverpool. Money is sitting in the bank waiting to be spent,
but fans had to endure the performance today. It is a disgrace and unacceptable
for AFC.
Enough
for today, but it is worth noting that all of our rivals snapped up all three
points in their weekend contests. So already behind against a team that
snatched a mere 41 points last year. I’m glad Wenger found “positives” from
that performance, though I think he could find positives from the Dresden Fire
Bombing or Hiroshima.
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