Written by Lindsay Melrose Thursday, 13 January 2011 13:51

GunnerTalk Blog

He Said / We Said

By Lindsay Sheehan

Much has been said recently about our Manager and his lack of spending. Much has been said (also by me) about the quality of support at home and the impact the fans can have on the team.  It seems that in our rush to blame blame blame we forgot that heart, desire and commitment win matches despite all other factors.  We showed none of those characteristics yesterday and as a result we got exactly what we deserved.  Now I don't know about you, I'll accept lack of talent as an excuse, I'll accept injuries, I'll accept too many games, I'll accept lack of investment - I'll even accept dodgy lasagne but what I will not have is the team not bothering to turn up for a fucking semi-final against poxy Ipswich. We are in a great position in the 3 out of the 4 competitions we are in and yet no player in our team yesterday wanted it.  We all moaned when Wenger put out a weak team in Braga stating "Get the job done Arsene and then rest players" He went for that approach and the senior players returned the faith by slapping him in the face.

Anyway over to you lot.

Arsene Wenger - "Let's not think that we lost the game because we haven't bought a central defender. We lost the game because we didn't play as well as we can. We have only two central defenders and we are short but I do not want to speak about any particular name. Frankly I am just disappointed about our defeat tonight. It is early to talk about a player coming in.

"We have nine games in January and it happens sometimes that you don't always play well in every game. As a team we did not have the performance we wanted. We were below our usual level in every department and it would be unfair to put the blame in the defence. When you play in one half the long ball has 50 yards to be dangerous."

"I think we had an off night. You could see from the start, every single pass was a problem. We rely a lot on our sharp, crisp passing and that was always a problem tonight. I would say in every department we were below our usual level. It would be unfair to only put the blame on the defenders tonight because I believe in every single department we were not at our usual level"

The Goon Blog "How many times has attitude been an issue in the past 12 months? Far too many. Once is too many, but if it occurs you can shrug it off and hope the players learn, but for a team that is supposed to be one of the most intelligent about they learn remarkably little. They are, it seems, just plain thick."

http://thegoonblog.com/2011/01/disgusting-attitude-costs-arsenal-dear-again/

Harry Hotspur "The reason that Arsenal are in trouble isn’t just because they got beat by some yokels on a grizzly Wednesday night. It’s the stench of disinterest coming from too many of their players. I used to work with a guy who had a great little phrase for when a ‘co-worker’ had lost interest in the job just before going on holiday, ‘Head’s in his suitcase’.

Never seen a team with so many players with their minds elsewhere. The worst offender is Downsy Arshavin. €25M and he’s barely going through the motions. And they said we bought the wrong Russian."

http://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/Sport/Football/Premier+League/Arsenal

Rick Warren "Just watching FCB completely destroy Real Betis after being 0-0 at half time...5-0 and counting...please take note Mr W..."

Ian Knowles "A disgrace and complete joke is the best way to describe us tonight"

Russell Clarke "When I went to Braga after the match the team showed us no thanks for the effort we made despite the fact they showed none themselves. if only our squad showed the same commitment that us fans have."

Chris Christmas "Just got home after a very shit nite!!! Arsenal you don't deserve to be going to Wembley after that dreadful performance, a disgrace shame on the fans,no heart or soul from the players! Get a fucking grip arsene and sort out this shit."

Brian Troller (Facebook) "We'll be lucky to win a raffle let alone a cup. Barca must be pissing themselves laughing."

Aaron Searle (Facebook) "It doesn't matter what happened... Denilson, Arshavin and Bendtner will get the blame. It doesn't matter that our Captain was absolutely piss poor tonight and i am not one to say this lightly?? It doesn't matter that our back 4 could not communicate to each... other... what the hell were Johan and Schez playing at?"

Toan Pham (Facebook) "Effort... Its all about effort. If youre shit technically but still put in huge effort and bust your balls off (Kuyt), the fans will still support and appreciate you. If youre gifted technically but is pissed poor lazy (Arshavin), the fans will tolerate you. You cant be fucking terrible technically and fucking lazy as an obese person at the same time (Denilson)"

Dave Lamb (Facebook)  "Have just finished watching the match...can't be arsed with the name and blame game, so I'm just gonna say, why can't we play every match like we did against the chavs...we would be world beaters."

Arseblog " Why did we need a warning? How many times have we been here in the past? How many times do we need to learn that if you give less than 100% you open yourselves up to punishment and how many times does it need to be made crystal fucking clear that you have to produce the same effort in games against so-called smaller opposition as in games against the big boys? The list of these performances is almost endless now and while it’s very easy to point fingers at players and their lack of performance on an individual basis this is a team malaise."   "

"That was a cup semi-final, a chance to get closer to a piece of silverware after so long, and it was a monster’s abortion of a performance. So disappointing".

Sky Sports News "As the rain lashed down on Portman Road, Arsenal continued to give the ball away cheaply."

SAF_Legend (The Sun Comments ) "It was a brilliant match, Arsenal had more possession passing it around in a fairy-like manner creating nothing whilst Ipswich were countering and looking A LOT more dangerous than Arsenal. Ipswich had more attempts on goal and were playing the better football!!"

Joepea (The Sun Comments ) "That was possibly the worst display by an Arsenal team I have ever seen ........... Let's face facts, players like Bendtner, Eboue and Denilson are not good enough for a team trying to win the Premiership. How Wenger can keep playing Bendtner is beyond me, the man has no skills. If we cannot beat a team of nobodies from the Championship, how the hell are we going to compete with Barcelona ................Strengthen the team Wenger before it is too late, we need a goalscoring forward at least one central defender and after watching Eboue a right back as cover for Sagna,  The time has come to dust the cheque book off and get some quality replacements for the weak links."

Matt Barlow (The Mail) "Wenger’s team looked vulnerable and uncertain throughout at the back."

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1346657/Ipswich-1-Arsenal-0-Tractor-Boys-turn-Gunners-Carling-Cup.html#ixzz1AumHrw5r

John Cross (The Mirror) "And maybe that was Arsenal's biggest problem as their complacency got the better of them and Championship strugglers Ipswich could make Wenger suffer another season without a cup."

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Ipswich-1-0-Arsenal-Tamas-Priskin-stuns-strong-Gunners-side-in-Carling-Cup-semi-final-first-leg-article671549.html#ixzz1Aumm9xez

Mark Brus (Arsenal Mania) "Arsenal could not possibly have wished for an easier route to silverware this season; getting to the semi-finals of a cup whose recent finals have often featured the likes of Man Utd, Chelsea, Spurs and Liverpool without any of these teams present is a great slice of fortune. And yet this spineless Arsenal team is still doing its best to screw it all up."

http://arsenal-mania.com/articles/3109823/How-easy-do-Arsenal-want-it.html

"Wenger would have supposed that his selection had all the know-how and technique needed for this encounter. It would surely dismay him that Samir Nasri, who had the evening off, was missed so badly. Arsenal's angst was, all the same, far less absorbing than the endeavour and determination of Ipswich. "http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jan/12/ipswich-town-arsenal-carling-cup?intcmp=239

"Arsenal themselves had a trace of the expected sheen, but lacked focus in and around the goalmouth. It was hard to know whether to blame the forward Nicklas Bendtner or sympathise with him over a lack of assistance. The match was a synopsis of Arsenal's campaign. The finesse and technical accomplishment were obvious, but so, too, was the disinclination to capitalise.

As three defeats in the League at the Emirates show, this team excels at making difficulties for itself. The means had appeared to be present. However, Andrey Arshavin had once again been muted and not even Cesc Fábregas could produce a cutting edge. The second-half here called for a higher intensity that was not be reached."

DarrenArsenal (Twitter) "We've lost 3 Semis 1-0 in first leg and only on one occasion managed to get through to the final, 1987"

Feverpitch (Twitter) "Missing - all our defenders."

TheGoonerholic (Twitter) "If you are out walking today, watch where you are treading. Toys everywhere."

DarylBooth (Twitter) "To be clear. Every team loses (Invincibles apart) but it`s the MANNER of the performance/defence I am having trouble with"

GoonerFanzine (Twitter) "That was simply shocking. Possibly the worst semi-final performance I've seen. Started slowly and then slowed up."

LadyArse (Twitter) " Hang your heads in shame, you are an embarrassment to every player who has ever wore that shirt and every fan who has ever supported you."

"I think after an evening like that, I shall eat some wotsits then go to bed... what else is there to do?"