Written by LandrySubira Monday, 29 August 2011 15:39

GunnerTalk Blog

By Landry Subira

 Starting this piece is very difficult. There will be no consolation, no “take the bitter with the better”, this is an autopsy, a reflection of the harsh picture that was imprinted on every Arsenal fans mind. The only worse defeat I have readily in memory is Roger Federer’s 6-0 6-0 routing of Andy Roddick a few years ago. It was brutal and clinical. Yet at least that was over quickly. I had to watch today as Wayne Rooney laughed as he hit his third free kick, the joke being that he’d finally missed. I had to watch Nani, with his greasy hair, arrogantly chip Szczesny for their 6^th…or was it 7th. I had to watch Anderson look good in midfield. It was truly unbearable, the worst part being Ferguson’s kind words to Arsene Wenger before and after the game.  I’m sure Cesc was sad but thought “I told you so” and Na$ri laughed whenever he looked up from counting his money.  It was embarrassing, because I have never been so humiliated in my supporter life.  Fair play to ManYoo, they just seized an opportunity to send their ‘real’ competitors, Chelsea and City, a message.

To the away fans, you guys are the salt of the earth, and did every Gooner proud, even though you saw first-hand the annihilation of Arsenal. Kudos to Arsene, he hasn’t resigned. I would have; it seems that he has to shoulder the blame for all the problems that are painfully obvious and have finally been laid bare by today’s/yesterday’s game. I’d hand in my resignation tomorrow unless someone called Stan Kroenke and he explained to me how he will manage to get 5 first team players in by Wednesday with a new wage structure. I wonder what Mrs Wenger thinks (if he’s married). There is nothing to say about the game. We haven’t lost that badly in a hundred years, literally. The only people I feel sorry for are Jenkinson, Coquelin, and Chamberlain, who were baptised in such an awful way. They were so far out of their depth, it physically hurt me. I’m very shell shocked. I walked home from my neighbours place in a daze…8 goals. Poor Szczesny. I know Arsene will not resign because that is the measure of the man, but I would sincerely threaten to do so tomorrow. I would barge into the board room and state that either things change or I go. For me, I wished he’d resign and then do a 5 hour interview on why this summer has gone this particular way. I wish he’d resign because until now, we knew that we were in trouble but I would not want to be associated with an Arsenal that played today, no matter what level of team. I would resign because people are forgetting that I built the Invincibles, the only team I would put against todays Barcelona and expect a result. I would resign because this level of failure is tantamount to phone hacking, to crashing a stock market, a Watergate scandal.  But he lies to the press and to our faces because he wants to protect us from the truth. What that truth is, is anybody’s guess. 

The time I will curse is now. What the fuck was Arsene Wenger thinking? He tried to play football today against a team that was four times better than us. That level of naivety is not something a manger of his standing should EVER be guilty of. At some point, someone, anyone should have said, 4-5-1 guys, and defended a 4-1 loss. But that he substituted a defensive midfielder with an attacking one tells me that something no longer works in his head. Last year, ManYoo had to play us in FA Cup and had a weakened team; they fielded 7 defenders that day, knowing that if they couldn’t win, they’d make themselves hard to beat. That we lost by such a colossal margin is a testament to Arsene Wenger himself. That is not the boards fault, because that has to do with football, not management. The team looked weak willed, ill-disciplined and had no clue what to do. There was only 2 defensively minded people on the team today, and neither have the character (Koscielny) or the experience to (Szczensy) organise that team.

The league was changed today. There were the top 4 before, now there are only the top 3, and the next three, with Arsenal, Liverpool and Sp*rs trying their best to bridge the gap. Today should have never taken place, for reasons that everybody knows. Manchester United under Ferguson are truly The Empire, because the financial doping that City and Chelsea participate in is the only way they can compete. I just hope Arsene has the guts to tell the truth in a press conference soon. To tell the supporters that realistically we are miles away from the top 3 and need years to reach them. The problem is that they cannot because of how expensive it is to watch the team play. There are teams that would dream to be in Arsenals position, 16 of them last season, but it is very possible that after that loss, the team simply never recover. I think they will however, because in Wilshere, Walcott, Ramsey, Vermaelen, there is a strong team, but past the first eleven the team is in dire need of help.   As an Arsenal supporter, I will never accept that Armand Traore or Squillaci should put on the red and white. They are disgustingly below par. Walcott and Van Persie looked absolutely miserable out there, but I only feel pity for the latter, because he now knows the weight of that captain’s armband.

So my plea to the board and to AW is that he signs Gary Cahill and all the other ‘regular’ people with regular quality that we can afford now. He is not worth the money (reportedly £17m) and neither are they, but this team needs help. A Scott Parker would cost a lot but look at ManYoo’s team today. 5 super talents, 6 workhorses and the team worked brilliantly. We have the talent for sure, but not the experience or the personnel to do what we need to do for the rest of the season. The boys will not last. Today must never ever happen again. Not in my lifetime anyway. This kind of thing should only take place every millennium, to remind the people that things sometimes get this bad. I still think that we can challenge for a top 4 position and that we can get one of the domestic cups. As I said, hope is a mother f*cker, so we may need to manage our expectations for a while to survive. But have some pride to never see that happen again.

Up the Gunners.

P.S  I always wondered why so many gunners and just football people disliked 5Live’s Robbie Savage. I listened to him last night. He is belligerent, a monumental idiot of unprecedented proportions. I have never heard so many callers being insulted or someone so unwilling to listen to anyone else’s opinion. Just last night, in one show, three people said that they didn’t rate him and I completely agree. Thank God for Kermode and Mayo’s film review