Emmanuel Adebayor tried to put a slightly more positive spin on the proceedings before admitting that United were deserving of the final result.
“This season we are still progressing,” started the Togolese striker.
“Don’t forget that last year we only reached the quarter-final and now this year we got to the semi-final. I think next season Arsenal have a chance to win it.”
We reached the Final in 2006 dipshit. Stop making excuses, stop looking like a lost child in the opponent’s penalty box, stop giving away possession so much and start acting like a Gunner, then maybe we’d have a chance to win the damn thing…
I’m fabregasted. At the sheer lack of fighting spirit, determination, and quality that was on display this morning. I don’t care about all the tactical nous, nor do I attest to being an e-Shebby Singh. I’m just an Arsenal fan through and through. An Arsenal fan that was not sorely disappointed that we lost the tie, but rather at how we let the opponent just walk all over us and coerce us into sorry submission. The other team deserved to win because they capitalized on our mistakes, they had the will to win and they were ruthless enough to seal the tie off after 15 minutes. We deserved to lose because we had no teeth, no spine, and no balls.
I still believe Arsene Wenger when he says that this team is a work in progress. I forsee Arsenal only realistically challenging for titles and achieving a stability like the early ’00s only in a year or two. But using youth, inexperience and the fact that this is a team ‘in transition’ as an excuse for failing to show up on the big occasions just doesn’t cut it for me. I look at it objectively and see how incredulous it is to expect players my age to carry the expectations of the club and the fans on their shoulders against other teams with loads of experience, but frankly that shouldn’t be the way should it?
The Arsenal I saw this morning had no one to lead them, no one to push them forward, nobody to take the game to the other team. They were so soft at times it was unbearable to watch. At 1-0 down on aggregate you’d expect any team with a semblance of heart, much less the Arsenal, to go for the throats of the opposition from the get-go, not stroke the ball around without a sense of urgency. Fabregas, as awesome a playmaker as he is, just does not have the fortitude or gumption to rally his team mates to overcome a deficit. There was no aggression, no steel. It’s no point if you can keep a 64% possession in your own damn half if you can’t make it count.
What really saddened me was that the Arsenal of old wouldn’t get pushed around like that, on home turf, by of all teams man u. As much as I hate the arrogant bastards, what wouldn’t I give to see a player like rooney, fletcher or tevez in the Arsenal squad, someone willing to run at opponents, chase every ball and never giving the opposition space to breathe. We were shrugged off the ball, nobody got stuck in, nobody had the desire to win. And when we went 2-0 down by the 20th minute to two freak goals (granted, a good shot by ronaldo but it really should have been Almunia’s as he demonstrated with some excellent stops later on), I knew that a comeback was impossible. Scared stiff and running all over the pitch with no goal in mind, pun not intended, for me the final whistle couldn’t have come any time sooner. It was a horrible nightmare.
We have no working men in the Arsenal anymore. All that’s left are a bunch of kids trying to wayang their way through arguably the best team in Europe. All the other top teams have defensive stalwarts, players willing to give their all for the club, willing to chase every ball. Just look at Adebayor. Granted, he has scored magnificant goals and has contributed his worth to the team. However, being one of the oldest players in the squad, being the striker up front, the person through whom Arsenal’s chances should have come from, he has let the players, his manager and the fans down by choosing to remain annonymous throughout the match. I have never seen him track back. I have never seen him chase a ball like Rooney. And don’t even get me started on his performance at Old Trafford. Each time I watch him, and this Arsenal team for that matter, all I can think of is – what would, or rather could Henry, Bergkamp, Veira et al do instead. Dude if Milan wants you, please go.
For posterity’s sake, here’s the squad that originated Arsenal’s brand of flowing football and went 49 games unbeaten in the ‘03- ‘o4 season:
Jens Lehmann
Ashley Cole
Sol Campbel
Kolo Toure
Lauren
Robert Pires
Patrick Vieira
Edu
Gilberto Silva
Freddie Ljungberg
Thierry Henry
Dennis Bergkamp
Jose Antonio Reyes
Ray Parlour
Martin Keown
Gael Clichy
Kanu
Jeremie Aliadiere
Sylvain Wiltord
Pascal Cygan
Cesc Fabregas
Graham Stack
Mathieu Flamini
Robin Van Persie
Justin Hoyte
Manuel Almunia
Jermaine Pennent
Quincy Owusu-Abeyie
Arturo Lupoli
Stuart Taylor
Emmanuel Eboue
Phillippe Senderos
Rami Shaaban
This squad, and of course the amazing ‘97-98 double winning side had the grit and guts to win. We didn’t’ have that this morning. We haven’t had that for most of the season. It is a young side, and I will always keep my faith with Wenger. Hopefully we’ll see tangible results in a year or two once this team matures, gains experience and Arshavin’s no longer cup tied.But as an Arsenal fan who claimed one day off in lieu just to watch the match, I was aghast at the lack of spirit and passion which I’ve always associated with the Gunners. Similar feeling towards other entities that began in 1886. But I digress. You were never like this, Arsenal. Let’s turn this around together. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
