Written by LandrySubira Wednesday, 25 January 2012 15:44

GunnerTalk Blog

By Landry Subira

My conclusions were as following

• The table does not lie. With the players we had on the pitch that day, we deserve to be where we are. It’s the law of averages. For every player like The Ox and Van Persie, we have a Squillaci and Park.  There are far too many players that Arsene Wenger does not trust to start on our bench. Somehow, because of bad contracts drawn up by our club, Almunia is still on our bench. I don’t hate the man; his only sin is being not good enough for our team. I’m sure he would fare decently at a mid table team in Spain.  But players like him, Benayoun, Park are obviously not at the required level. Arsene can talk about big squad but his squad players are not up to standard.

• Rosicky, Arshavin and Chamakh; what happens to Arsenal players when they reach here. I saw Chamakh play for Morocco this week and he did something that he never does for us, make a diagonal run. He beat the offside trap! When he plays for us, he plays like Torres does, he is efficient at holding the ball up but never wants any responsibility in the box. People say Shava sucks, but he has 2 assists in 2 games. It is his level of natural ability and low level of work ethic that annoy fans. Benayoun/Mertesacker are nowhere near his class, but that they visibly put effort in means that they are sometimes forgiven.

• Arsene Wenger cannot afford another late season collapse. If he thinks the fans are frustrated now, imagine if last year happens again and we lose the FA Cup and the Champions League in one week. Sunday showed that fans are losing patience, not just with players like Arshavin, but with the club in general.  I dread to see what will happen if the above happens. What is sad is it doesn’t look unlikely. AC Milan and perhaps the team after Aston Villa kick us out and all we have is the league. I wonder what the realists would do then...

• I am the ripe old age of 24 and I do not believe I will ever see our first team play together in my lifetime. Dramatic I know, but it’s what my brain has been told by my eyes.  Imagine, just for the sake of it this starting eleven. Sir-Chesny, Sagna, Kos, Verminator, Santos, Song, Wilshere, Ramsey, The Forehead, Walcott and God-I mean, RVP. WITH and most importantly a subs bench of The Ox, Rosicky, Mertesacker, Shava, Arteta, Almunia. I TRULLY believe this team would beat all the teams above us and ManCity 1 time in 3. The likelihood of all these players being fit at the same time however is infinitesimal.

• Walcott should be on the subs bench more often. I have given him enough chances but the guy is a football idiot. Really and truly. For example, he knows, as most leftbacks in the league do, that he is the fastest winger in the league. But he can only use one leg. Reason states that he would practice shooting or crossing with his left in order to maximise his chances of scoring of crossing. He has not. His development has stagnated a lot. On his day, like against Chelsea, he is a nightmare to handle but if you are reasonably pacy and show him the touchline, that’s that. What is sad is that if he were a Manc, Alex would have noticed this and corrected it eons ago. The Ox showed him up very badly on Sunday.

• The will to win is not in our team. Any other reasonable team playing ManYoo at home would have won that game. We didn’t. The team as a whole doesn’t have that will to win like Manchester United does. They believe that they will win and they do. This is Arsene Wengers fault. He kicks and writhes and complains to 4^th officials but that is squarely on his shoulders. Arshavin/Chamakh/Walcott will rarely win you a game. They do not look inspired or driven enough to do so; willing yes but not believing. That hurts to say about one’s own team.