Fans were hoping to see Arsenal contend for the EPL title right to the end, as the squad had given us all hope that they could pull it off. Now we're struggling to believe the team can even finish fourth.
While second place was still a slight possibility after Chelsea got a 2-2 draw with the Toon, Arsenal were once again incapable of providing anything worthy of praise, and stumbled away from their last home game of the season with a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa.
I'm sure there are fans that were amazed that Arsenal could lose this match given the possibility of coming second, but to me and many others, this kind of performance has become predictable of the Gunners squad.
Losing the Carling Cup Final certainly tore many players and fans up inside, and things became no better when Arsenal eliminated the possibility of (while unlikely even for an amazing team) winning four competitions.
Winning one of these four competitions would have been an achievement given the teams circumstances, but instead we saw a team with no confidence fall and fall again at the vital moments.
It's difficult to sit and watch Arsenal. Years ago the club had the incredible attacking power that other clubs envied, and while the Arsenal style of play is labeled as "beautiful", it's come to a point where this apparent "beautiful" football has become incredibly predictable and useless.
The same tactics have been employed by Arsenal for a few seasons now, and while the slick passing can be incredible to watch, and victories can certainly come from them, this style isn't getting the club anywhere.
As always, there are rumours of some players leaving, and I'm hoping that this seasons results finally do result in some players leaving the club. I wouldn't be sorry to see the end of Denilson, Rosicky, Squillaci, Diaby and possibly Arshavin.
And while these players are at the moment more qualified for the bench of this seasons Arsenal squad, it suggests that players in the first team would instead make better substitutes than first team players for this squad.
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| Diaby: Will he be saying goodbye to The Emirates? |
I've heard a lot of talk about Bendtner possibly going to Wolfsburg or somewhere over in Germany, but to be honest I'd be fine with him staying at the club. On the odd occasion when he does play, he's played out of position on the left wing or in the stands. When you look at his performances when he's actually used up front, he's got a decent scoring record.
And onto Wenger. He's certainly played his part in Arsenals poor form this season, and I see it as mostly being to do with the tactics. Nice looking passes which lead to crosses into the box for nobody do not win trophies. I miss the days when the Invincibles would push down the field together and, while also presenting very nice looking football, would dominate a game and fire the goals in all too easily.
So lets hope that Arsenal sought out what needs to go, and what needs to stay. What needs to change? A lot of things, that's for sure.
I have faith in Wenger as a manager, and for those who say he isn't a good manager, I would agree with you on the point of his current "success model". For the most part he's done brilliantly with it, and he's shown that he's incredibly gifted at getting the best out of players he's found in places which nobody knew existed.
It's his faith in the minority that has failed him, and I think he can be forgiven for that if he accepts that he didn't get everything right.
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