How damaging is this performance?

This topic contains 9 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by  elfaro 8 years, 5 months ago.

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  • #683767

    andy528
    Participant
    • :

    I don’t really care for the Carling Cup. it doesn’t bother me too much that we are out but the manner of the defeat and the implications it could have are concerning. Obviously it could have been different had the OX and then Theo not been injured but what we saw from a defensive point of view was simply not acceptable. For a time, Debuchy and Gibbs were first choice at this club and Per Mertesacker is the skipper. Tonight, they played like absolute pub team footballers. Debuchy appears to have lost the plot entirely. He has come back from injury overweight, slow and uninterested. Mertesacker looked like he simply could not be bothered tonight. Along with Flamini and Giroud, he displayed a complete lack of leadership when we needed it most. One of the biggest concerns for me is Calum Chambers. I have said it before and I maintain that he looks nothing like a PL central defender. I am yet to see him impose himself on a game or even a player for that matter. He loses pretty much every header he goes for and is nowhere near physical enough to cut it at the minute. He needs to go out on loan for a season and try and develop into the role. The importance of the defensive performance is connected to how well and how far we can go this season. these players are all very much first team squad members and at some stage will need to come in and do a job at some point. Performing like that will not do. Nothing about tonight went right but let’s just hope it was a very ugly blip

    #683818
    Al The Gooner
    Al The Gooner
    Participant
    • :

    Hey Andy, that was the exact question going through my head for the entire 2nd half, but
    the performance itself I don’t think will be too damaging. Cech will obviously play against the Swans, Mert and Giroud might do too but, aside from them, it will be a completely different team.

    What worries me is the other thing you mention – that while most of those players aren’t going to feature for us immediately, many are back-up and will feature at some point this season.

    Debuchy looks like he couldn’t care less whether he wins his place back or not and Chambers, as you say, is nowhere near ready to be cover in central defence, if he ever will be.

    On Mert, I’m a big fan of his but he does seem to only put in good performances when he has Kos alongside him. It was only a week ago that he put in a superb performance against a Bayern team that scores for fun.

    It really is a worry. We have 14 or 15 great players and of we could stick to them only, I’d really fancy our chances for the league, but we saw tonight just how easily you can suddenly be two players down.

    #683869

    the bsm walk
    Participant
    • :

    I don’t know what to make of this, on th one hand I am glad we are out because it just creates a congested fixture list but on the other hand, how do we rely upon our back ups? Debuchy has lost the plot completely, so slow and weak, it’s untrue. Just not too long ago my brother and I were watching a game, he’s also a gooner and he said Debuchy isn’t good enough. And to think I defended him by saying give him a break, he’s only just come back from injury, well for me, he’s had enough time to get back to some normal fitness, if Bellerin gets injured God help us. We need some squad reinforcements in January if we want to give ourselves the best shot of winning something decent, otherwise same old again I’m afraid.

    #684142
    steveosnakeeye
    steveosnakeeye
    Participant
    • :

    My view is, not very damaging, we played some kids which I for one hoped would happen and suffered some injuries.

    The real issue for me are as follows:

    Our youth policy/set up, we are far from the best academy side and no one looks like they are ready to burst on the scene or even be adequate back up. I know he has had injuries but players like Gnabry should have made it by now, he cant even get in a West Brom side.

    Senior players, these guys SHOULD turn up EVERY game WHOEVER they play, we are NOT good enough to just turn up and win.

    I personally blame the players more than wenger for this one, we could and should have won with that team or at least cared!

    Frustrating but with a much changed team in a lesser competition and now less games to play not the end of the world….might see a surprise winner of the cup this year and could be good for the teams left in, like a Southampton…

    #684283
    Al The Gooner
    Al The Gooner
    Participant
    • :

    Steveosnakeye, I’ve been very critical of Wenger in recent years but completely agree with you that the bulk of the blame lies with the players for last night.

    I thought Iwobi was at least trying, but he’s too young and inexperienced to make a difference if the rest of the team can’t be bothered.

    And what’s happened to Gibbs? He might have lost his place to Monreal, but he’s played enough at the top level to put in a better performance. Debuchy looked like he really couldn’t be bothered but Gibbs looked like he was putting in the effort – he just simply wasn’t good enough, which is possibly more worrying – although again, it’s not easy when the rest of your team mates aren’t doing it.

    Also very disappointed in Campbell and I couldn’t tell if Giroud was just suffering from lack of service, or if he was another one who felt that game was beneath him.

    I certainly wouldn’t blame Wenger for the attitude of the players last night, guys who you’d think would have wanted to grab a rare chance with both hands, but he needs to give a massive shake-up to this squad because, if that’s the quality of our back-up, then we’re only a couple of injuries away from big trouble.

    #684295
    AndyC
    AndyC
    Participant
    • : AndyC

    Im not fussed that we lost and personally cant see how this should effect our first team. Giroud maybe as he was truly shocking and now knows he will get few games with no pressure to perform. Whilst the result isnt the problem the performance of several international players does worry me. Debuchy was awful, thats putting it kindly, if Walcott wasnt injured i would drop Giroud until after christmas based on his pathetic attempt to help the younger players, one instance of his patheticness was in about 80th min when iwobi did well to get down the line put in a lovely cross only to see Giroud walking, yes walking on the edge of the box. Merts is merts and never looks confortable with Chambers beside him. lets just hope that the injuries are not serious as thats all our Rm/RW players out now, well the ones i would say who are capable anyway. Campbell is not an option in my eyes, nother player who just cant cut the mustard

    #684328

    andy528
    Participant
    • :

    Joel Campbell is a mystery to me as well. Only this week Wenger was singing his praises, saying how much he liked him. He described him as having ‘tremendous individual quality’. Bar his cameo in the World Cup, I don’t think we have seen anything to suggest he will make it at this level. At the age of 23 he needs to be showing a lot more to justify that kind of belief in him.

    #684382
    Swiss Tony
    Swiss Tony
    Participant
    • :

    To be fair to most of the first team or fringe first teamers, once we went 2 behind, I think they thought, right lets not get anymore injuries with the big games coming up. I know it should not be the attitude, especially with 5,000 gooners travelling, but I for one was glad they eased up. It is a poor competition now and I only wanted to get through the last round, because it was against the spuds, otherwise out of it, the sooner the better. Anymore injuries would have been a catastrophe.

    Hopefully Theo is not too bad and will be ok in a week. The Ox, probably 3-4 weeks. It may give Campbell a run in the side now on the right. Give him three or four games and we might see a different player. Who knows, he looked top quality in the last world cup. Last night is best forgotten.

    #684388
    AndyC
    AndyC
    Participant
    • : AndyC

    Wenger kept faith in Lord Bendtner for 7 years more than he should so the comments of Campbell come as no surprise.

    Will be interesting to see how we set up against swansea, given that walcott, Ox and Ramsey are all injured.

    Although it was a short time on pitch and the game was lost i did like what i saw of Bielek. too hard to actually judge him but what was on display i thought he did ok when on.

    #684751

    elfaro
    Participant
    • :

    The attitude ”stronger” teams have towards this competition was shining through in this game, they seem to simply look at it as a distraction and field mostly second string teams. Although a bit disappointed that the fringe players don’t try to show some interest.

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