I could have used one of hundreds of Arsene Wenger’s post-match rants here, this just happens to be the most recent. Wenger’s boys have once again been hard done by; the referee is to blame for a bad decision and for not protecting his players from physical tackles.
I agree with Wenger on the penalty decision last night. It was a clear penalty. The only thing to say in the referee’s defence was that Vela threw his arms in the air in that dramatic fashion we all know too well. Still, he was stopped by an outstretched leg that was nowhere near the ball and, dramatics or not, it should have been a penalty kick. Five referees missed it; Wenger has a right to feel aggrieved. Unfortunately for Wenger his team cannot receive special treatment. They will receive bad decisions from referees; they will receive rough treatment from teams who cannot match them for technique.
Turning points in confidence and momentum clearly exist in football and can have dramatic effects, especially at the highest level. However, the players at Wenger’s disposal were good enough to batter Braga 6-0 just over two months ago, so they should have been able to win the match with or without a penalty from the appeal that took place at 0-0 with 14 minutes remaining. Was the penalty decision to blame for Arsenal’s failure to score for the first 76 minutes?! Instead Arsenal conceded late on and lost the game for the second time in four days.
The problem in defence still exists. Wenger can throw another Squillaci or Koscielny at Arsenal’s back four in the January transfer window, but the foundations of the problem must be his team’s mentality. Unfortunately for him a manager who has been in charge of a club for 14 years has nobody but himself to blame. Teams reflect the attitude and mentality of their manager after that period of time, and if Wenger cannot accept responsibility, swallow his pride and make the necessary moves to prevent such problems from happening again, but instead persists in attempting to protect his side by looking for others to blame, then he and Arsenal will never learn from their mistakes.
A constantly evolving young side is great to watch, and to admire when gambles on youth pay off. One downside of this can be that players are let go too early to the detriment of the team. Wenger let William Gallas leave in the summer, the very defender who was man-of-the-match and captain of Spurs as they beat Arsenal in their own back yard on Saturday. Gilberto Silva laughed in Wenger’s face by continuing to captain Brazil and run their midfield for years after he was deemed too old for the Arsenal youth club. Surely not even Wenger can defend himself or blame anyone else for these two glaring misjudgements. Often the presence of older players can be useful for the youngsters to learn from, and their experience is invaluable in situations like, say, a North London derby or an away game in the Champions League.
As usual with an Arsenal blog, I’m sure this will receive widespread criticism from Arsenal fans. The amount of excellent and popular Arsenal blogs out there show that you guys are a literary bunch who love to debate and defend your team online.
However, Gunners, just consider this: do you want to be a side of nearly men who always have an excuse when their side inevitably falls at the final hurdle with a manager who will always look to blame anyone before himself, or do you want to start winning the trophies that a club of your stature deserve?
The truth hurts, but maybe it’s time that you, as well as Wenger, faced up to it. If creaming yourself when your teenagers dismantle a lesser side in the Carling Cup is enough for you then fine, otherwise Wenger has to go.
