Anyone who has seen my comments for any reasonable period will know there are two things that annoy me, navel gazing and regurgitation of “facts” which have no underlying substance….actually make that three things….and Tony Pulis.

So the latest complaint from many a Gooner is that our squad is not deep enough, now we are seeing a few injuries we are also seeing a few cracks appear. I know we wouldn’t be football fans if we didn’t react to situations at our club emotionally, but I have two questions, are we really that weak in depth, and if we are that weak, are we any worse off than the other contenders fighting on four fronts? (well in effect three fronts for Chelsea and Man Utd and just the two for City).

Please understand I am not for one second saying we have the best starting eleven or the best players but in terms of our back up (squad) players I ask you to look at the other teams and ask would you really take any of their second and third choices over ours.

In the Capital One Cup a week or so back Chelsea started with Cahill and Luiz at centre backs, surely the Capital One Cup is not the height of their ambition that they played these two by choice, they also started Mata and played him for 120 minutes, so that was three regular league starters in their line up, United fielded two very inexperienced young defenders at centre half, surely their squad is deeper than that? So were Chelsea really keen on the Capital One Trophy or did they have no other options, as for United did they really not care enough to field the youngsters or is their squad not as deep after all?

So with nothing better to do with my time I headed to wiki and put all the squads into a spreadsheet to compare each position side by side.

I have included Liverpool squad below not because I think they are contenders but purely and simply because I really like to laugh at what they have become, as Rocky pointed out yesterday its always good to look for positives and in my opinion if that doesn’t put a smile on your face the next best thing to do is laugh at the misfortune of others.

This is a club that swept all before them in the 80’s, won the Champions League less than a decade ago but have now slipped out of the reckoning in most major competitions, I have yet to see a broken Liver Bird splashed on the back page of the tabloids, or Dippers in Crisis headline that this fall from grace surely deserves. (Okay thats four things that annoy me).

Where better to start than goalkeepers:

So looking at that list is their any keeper who you think is better than our 2nd and 3rd choices? Perhaps the only team that does is Spurs (off to wash my mouth). The constant question from people disappointed by our custodians is “why can’t we buy someone like Schwarzer as cover?”, my question is why has no one else? Lets be honest City can have any player they want but they signed Richard Wright as cover when Stuart Taylor hung up his gloves, why don’t keepers want to go and play second fiddle? Because keepers want to play, they expect to play, if they are number one at a club they can have the plaudits even if the team in front of them is not that good, they can’t get plaudits on the bench, they lose international spots by being on the bench, they don’t like sitting on the bench.

On to the full backs:

I rest my case

Centre backs:

Now it becomes clear why Chelsea started Luiz and Cahill, with no Terry (due to suspension) and Ivanovic their only viable option at right back they have no cover at Centre Back, an injury to either of the remaining two and who knows who they will play at Centre Back, Man Utd due to injuries to Vidic, Jones and Smalling, could not risk their two first choice centre backs before our visit to Old Trafford (admittedly if they had known we were going to turn up and play like big girls blouses they might have) so were left with no other option than to play two inexperienced youngsters, we on the other hand had the spare capacity to field two experienced centre backs in the Capital One Cup (not that it did us many favours).

Midfield:

Obviously we all know Arsene likes a midfielder so we must have the most players in this area.

Compared to the other teams I do not think the depth looks that bad, however here is where the obvious issue of injury raises its ugly but familiar head, presently without Diaby and Rosicky, but we can arguably cope with two injuries in this area of the pitch. Look at Chelsea and I’m not sure you could say the same, United would end up fielding Giggs and Scholes week in week out. City, Spurs and Liverpool all have inexperienced players in waiting that I am not sure their managers would like to utilise regularly.

Forwards:

Obviously the split between midfielders and forwards is subjective but if we assume everyone uses a 4-3-3 of sorts this was the best way to split up the squads.

Again looking at the list of talent across the squads, perhaps only United go as deep as us, there is also an argument that says the players they have got will make more impact on a game. Chelsea without doubt have two of the best forwards in the league in Mata and Hazard, but injury to either and they don’t look any better off.

And finally the strikers:

Now this is our weakest area on the pitch, thankfully we only play with one striker, and in some matches we haven’t even fielded them instead choosing to use some forwards in their place.

In reality however only United and City have more depth than us, and I don’t think Liverpool, Chelsea or Spurs can promote a striker from their forward line where as we do at least have that option.

So in summary do you still think the squad is not deep enough? I expect the answer to that question is still yes, the question that should be asked though is:

Is the squad shallower than our nearest rivals?

For me it isn’t, the difference between the teams is the starting elevens, Chelsea and City have invested many millions to achieve a very good first 15 players, but they have limited themselves further down the pecking order, especially as they ready themselves for FFP. Any significant injuries or suspensions and they will struggle.

Perhaps this is the one area where we are quite literally weaker, not in the amount of players or the quality of player but in physical strength, we seem to suffer injuries far more frequently than the other competing sides, City hardly suffered an injury of note last season they are a physically strong team, those that come from outside the Premier League are physically strong, the ones from within the Premier League conditioned for battle already, perhaps with the exception of Silva.

So Paddling Pool or Olympic Diving Pool?

(In my defence I wrote this post after Reading and before Old Trafford, but it fits the bill of “Be positive about Arsenal Week” as started by Rocky yesterday).

Gooner in Exile

Is a match report going to make you feel better? No, I thought not, me neither. Is there any point in revisiting a game where we were 2-0 up after twenty-three minutes and then contrived to throw that lead away by the 40th minute going in to the break 2-2.

Were we undone by two amazing bits of skill from Fulham for their two goals? Well, it would be a comfort to say yes, but no is the answer to that too. Seriously poor defending and static zonal marking handed Fulham their two goals and it’s not the first time we have delivered these kind of gifts to opposing teams.

It’s seven weeks since, against the run of play, we allowed Lescott to nod home from a corner for Man City and take the lead and in those seven weeks we have conceded too many goals in a similar fashion. I can’t see any evidence of work having been done on the training ground to stem the tide, surely in seven weeks some improvement should be visible. Even if we just worked on defending corners there would be some improvement? Why are we still making the same errors?

I have always firmly believed in the ‘we’re gonna score one more than you’ ethos, the gung ho approach, the ‘we don’t really have to care about defending because we’re a full on attacking team’  but holy cow, the time must have come to put some practice in on the simple things. Go back to basics, think about defending and what it means for the team, stop stroking the ball around in front of our goal mouth when a row Z is needed, stop an attack high up the pitch, don’t wait until the opposition are bearing down on us, take a yellow card for the team.

It’s time to take defending seriously even if that means more bore draws, the foundation of a great team cannot be built on such repetition of errors, they have to be stamped out for this team to have any credibility.

Anyway rant over about the defending, there were some good points to share with you.

Theo started the match and although I have slated his inability to be the footballer I hoped he would be, I do think he’s getting close to that now …………. I’m still hoping he’ll stay. He whipped in a fine corner for Giroud’s first goal and his lofted cross for Giroud’s second was sublime, in addition he made sure he was there when Giroud’s attempt hit the post.

Giroud is impressing me now, he works really hard to get his head on whatever he can and today he could have scored a hatful. How must he feel finally getting the ball in the back of the net and then to be part of a team that throws a lead away?

When Fulham scored their third the ground went nuts. It felt like ages between Berb’s penalty and Giroud’s goal to make it 3-3 but I’ve just seen it was only 2 minutes. From then on we had our tails up and the supporters played their part but time was running out. A dubious hand-ball decision gave us a penalty in the 4th minute of extra time – who would take it? Arteta stepped up and Schwarzer saved. It was not to be.

Throwing away two two goal leads in the space of four days is a disgrace for a so-called top team and so even if Arteta had scored the penalty I would feel the same about the defending. Although I have to say it was a bit of a bonus being two up in the first place.

There are so many things not going right for this disjointed, unbalanced team. Playing football can’t be this difficult, what is making it so difficult for them? Other teams with less ability than ours manage to play football, to hold onto leads, to string passes together and to look like they’re enjoying it. Come on Arsene, sort it out please or hand the reigns over to someone else.

Over to you all now, if anyone wants to supply some player ratings I’ll be happy to add them on.

This is what Arsène had to say about the game.

Written by peachesgooner

Let me start as I often do. Admitted Arsène lover here. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do some things differently. Here’s a few, in no particular order.

I would give Podolski some rest. It seems he’s nursing a slight injury and can’t go all out. As he is, he’s certainly not helping the team. Even with Gervinho’s injury, we still have options. Arshavin, one of the kids, or Santi, with Arsh or Jack behind striker. If it’s not an injury, maybe we should consider trying Pod more centrally.

Ramsey would generally not start in midfield, except in an emergency- I would not start him on the wing ever. He would be an energetic, versatile, late substitute only. I like him, but i’m not sure it’s going to work out. I have been a defender of his previously.

I see no reason why we can’t go with Sagna at LB, Jenks on right against tougher opponents. I would consider Santos vs lesser teams. I’m not sure he can’t do the job, but I’d hold him to a high standard.

Honestly I’m fine with our 3 top CB’s. We just need to get the most out of them. I can forgive the occasional mistakes by any of them..they deserve that because they play hard. I’m ok with Vermaelen as Captain, but i’m not happy with his affection for van Persie, this might still be a problem in future matches. He needs to be more cold ( as does the rest of the team) – this comes from Arsène being classy, and basically too nice.

I would give Theo the raise he wants or close to it, to lock him down for a while – we could move him on in the future if needed. Some other team would still take him at that salary. Unfortunately, I think it’s too late though. Obviously, I would have done it sooner, or sold him and scooped up Moses, Mirallas, or someone else. But right now, I’d get him signed if possible. I think it’s worth another 1 or 1.5 million a year to avoid the possible disaster of him going elsewhere and turning out great, especially as a striker. If that were to happen, we would really be laughed at, and it will be impossible to keep any of our players. After the RVP debacle, it’s the safer choice. We must fix this salary structure that doesn’t let us retain our stars.

I would have the deal done today, for Huntelaar in January. So many people say he’s too similar too Giroud. I don’t buy that. He’s an extremely talented, proven scorer – right footed, inexpensive, and still in his prime. For the little he would cost, you don’t have to worry about sell on value. Of course I would be looking at other improvements in the market, mostly up front.

I wouldn’t mind a bit of competition between Sczezsney and Vito, though I still lean towards the Pole.

If we get healthy in midfield, I’d give some rest to Santi, and use him on the wings sometimes in a more agressive set up.

If we need to shake things up, I would consider some of the young kids. Yennaris, Eisfeld, Gnabry. Just not all at the same time. But they would certainly not lack effort.

I would make sure the team looks at matches like Old Trafford as a great opportunity. Not much to lose considering our recent record there. No reason to dread the match, or feel pressure. Much weaker teams get results there occasionally, and we should feel we can beat anyone, anywhere. It’s a shame we lost the high from the Capital One Cup so quickly.

I still prefer the unknown of Usmanov to Kroenke. I don’t know if it can ever happen because of the Board, but I don’t understand the fans who don’t want him. Why would he want to spend all that money to own a team, and not at least TRY to win trophies. I don’t blame him for trying to influence his way into control with public statements, or whatever. The board is using any little technicality to keep him out. Rich owners do sometimes make great player purchases, they don’t all have to be like Torres. They also can bring in top Managers. Even Man city, with all of their waste, are still spending to build an academy system. Money is not necessarily bad, if you use it wisely.

Johnnie nyc

If you have clicked on this article because you’re a frothing Wengerphobe and you want to praise me for expressing the sentiment contained in the headline I suggest you read no further.

I am not finished with supporting Arsenal and I never will be, even when they nail me down in a box and plant me.

The headline is in quotation marks because I have seen it expressed (in those words or similar) by many contributors to the Arsenal blogosphere.

If you share that sense of desperation – so powerful an antipathy to what is happening with the current Arsenal set-up that you are willing to turn your back on a lifetime of support –  I am also not here to make fun of you or attempt to argue you out of it. I am truly sad that you have come to such a despairing conclusion and can imagine that you have not reached it lightly.

Anyway, there is already too much dysfunctionality in the Arsenal family to throw fuel on those flames.

But I am fascinated with understanding what it is that can make people who – in some cases – have followed Arsenal for decades finally decide they can take no more.

Certainly anyone who HAS supported the club for decades has lived through far worse periods than anything we’re going through now (which, to be clear, is a run of poor performances on the back of a season where we finished third, albeit not convincingly, then sold our best player to one of our main rivals).

We have gone through bad periods in the past – periods when we were finishing much lower in the league than today, playing football that would make Tony Pubis wince and enduring the Sahara of all trophy droughts.

The supporters during those times did not do a Delap (throw in the towel). They looked forward to meeting up with their mates on match day, having a few beers, having a laugh and watching the game – win, lose or draw.

Obviously they (we) were gutted when we lost and overjoyed when we won. Most players would be given wholehearted support but even then there were always one or two who got a bit of stick.

Somehow though, however bad things were on the pitch, however clueless the manager, however donkey-like the players, it never took over our whole life. It didn’t leave us dejected the rest of the week, poring over the entrails of defeat like a Roman soothsayer.

The reasons offered for why people seem more upset in the modern era fall into three categories:

• Expectations

• Entitlement

• Internet

Expectations: this theory has it that the agonies of today are a direct result of the ecstasies of the past. Until 2005 we had a run of regular trophy success going back almost 20 years, to when a young Arsenal team managed by George Graham lifted the League Cup in 1987.

In the first half of Arsene Wenger’s reign the pot-winning was enhanced by some of the greatest players and best football ever seen at Arsenal, culminating in the Invincibles of 2003-4.

According to this theory, we supporters have tasted the best and won’t settle for less.

But why didn’t the fans who experienced Double joy in 1971 – including clinching the title at the N17 public toilets – throw their toys out of the pram as the mid ‘70s descended into Spuddish levels of awfulness (we finished 16^th in 1975 and 17^th in 1976)? Perhaps the answer lies in the second theory:

Entitlement: it is accepted by many that we live in an age of entitlement. Modern technology and a steady increase (until recently) in standards of living over the past 20 years have created a society in which we expect to have what we want, when we want it. Anyone with teenage children will understand this very well indeed.

In extreme cases, entitlement is recognised by clinical psychologists as a symptom of narcissistic personality disorder, with individuals becoming more and more furious when they fail to get what they think is their right.

For Arsenal supporters the entitlement issues are compounded by repeated surveys showing we are among the six richest clubs in world football. By this argument, we should be winning major trophies regularly, regardless of stadium moves, petro-dollars and a club medical centre that resembles something from The Walking Dead.

One problem with the entitlement theory is that it’s not just younger supporters (members of the “entitlement generation”) who are turning their backs on supporting Arsenal. I have read comments from people doing just that who start by saying “I have been supporting Arsenal for more than 30 years but now I’ve had enough…”

Internet: back in the 1970s when I first started watching Arsenal on a regular basis (yes – I was there when we finished 17^th!) I would be really peed off when we lost and would have a good moan with my mates in the pub.

But until the next game my only source of information, news or gossip about the Arsenal was whatever the national newspapers decided to print which, in those days, was not very much. Many newspapers had only a couple of pages devoted to sport (all sport – not just football) and footy coverage was mostly limited to match reports. There was no “insider” gossip, no guest columns by ex players, no “WAGs”.

Also it’s worth bearing in mind that there was virtually no live footy on TV: all we had were Match of the Day on Saturday night and The Big Match on Sunday lunchtimes.

Inevitably, therefore, I spent less time talking, thinking about or watching Arsenal than I do now. Today, apart from the massively increased press coverage and wall-to-wall TV exposure, the internet means I read, write and talk about Arsenal every single day – sometimes for several hours (don’t tell my boss… or my wife).

Which, in turn, means that every setback, every concern, every defeat is scrutinised and agonised over to a degree that would have been unthinkable in the ‘70s or ‘80s.

Quite aside from the mild mental derangement this causes me (and, I suspect, many other Gooners), it also means that more extreme viewpoints can reach a wider audience than they would have done in days past. Whether it’s the view that Arsene Wenger is the devil incarnate and should be lynched, or that Le Boss must be beatified by the Pope forthwith as a prelude to becoming Saint Arsene of Ashburton, those opinions – when expressed on the internet – can gain a following that they would not have done when expressed to a few people in the pub

This last theory – the internet – is the most convincing one for me. The first two theories may play their part as well, but it’s the sheer ubiquity of Arsenal in the modern fan’s world that makes the pain so hard to take: there is, literally, no escape.

One last theory: there is a final element which, I believe, plays a part in making people have such drastic reactions to footballing setbacks these days  – but it’s not an easy one to classify.

The element I have in mind is that, as a society, we are less sure of who we are these days. The class system that was still entrenched as I was growing up has gone (or at least become much more blurred and confused); we are a multicultural people in a multinational world; we are bombarded with entertainment in all forms (contrast that with the three TV channels of the 1970s and no such things as Talksport, computers or computer games); the “nuclear family” of two married parents and two or three kids – then the norm – is now in decline; even our external “enemies” are elusive, mysterious people hiding in shadows, not the mighty Soviet Bloc that threatened the childhoods of many of us.

I am not saying that any or all of these changes are bad things, just that they have left us (particularly, perhaps, the over 40s among us) feeling like there are fewer concrete things to hold on to than in our youth. We have changed from being a nation of people who all watched the same TV shows at the same time to a kaleidoscope society that has splintered into 10,000 niche interests and pastimes. As a result our sense of shared identity is more fragile than it ever used to be.

In those circumstances, the attachment we have to Arsenal becomes something stronger and more powerful than ever: the one solid part of our identity. But with such power over us, it also has the capacity to cause us pain like never before.

And maybe that’s why losing faith in Arsenal has changed from being what it once was – a wound capable of healing – to what it is now for some supporters – a death blow.

RockyLives

Ask an Arsenal supporter what they want first and foremost from any of the players representing them I think 95% or maybe more would say I want to see them show some pride in playing for the club we love so much.

Personally the second thing I want to see from them is an attitude that says they will do their job properly.

I’ll do my ratings first:

Mannone – 8 left with no chance with either goal, made some good saves and nearly prevented the second

Sagna – 6 did nothing going forward, normal self when called upon at right back in the tackle but showed some nervousness in first half with clearances.

Santos – 6 when the “brazilian wing back” did find his way into the danger areas his final ball left a lot to be desired.

Vermaelen – 3 from the minute he cuddles and shakes hands with BSR he has set the tone for his performance and the team. I know it wasn’t only him but he is captain he should have said in the changing room “in that tunnel, look straight ahead, don’t look at them….FOCUS”. I’ll cover the rest of his performance later.

Mertesacker – 7 his normal impeccable self in reading of the game, interceptions and well timed tackles and good blocks. Not as good with his distribution as normal, but not his fault. (See later)

Arteta – 7 unfortunately despite all his effort he was stuck to like glue by Rooney. Very limited opportunities to be proactive with possession, but busied himself well defensively fighting fires on his own.

Cazorla – 6 despite a good finish for the goal did not see enough of the ball in space to cause threat to ManU

Wilshere – 6 battled hard but that’s not what he is in the team for, like Cazorla starved of space and options all match. First booking harsh, second through tired legs, shouldn’t have been on pitch.

Podolski – 5 didn’t contribute

Ramsey – 6 out of position and definitely made Sagna’s life easier, like everyone else starved of space.

Giroud – 7 didn’t see the ball anywhere near as much as he deserves to….can’t be faulted if he doesn’t get the ball.

Subs:

Theo – 5 offered nothing different.

Arshavin – 5 ditto

Right that’s that out of the way, now lets begin the report with the positives.

Ok moving on to the rest of the match.

Fergie has not won that many titles without being annoyingly good at utilising the strengths of his team and the weakness of others. Yes that’s right he is willing to change his tactics from game to game. The club spend where it’s important, the attacking third, and they spend big, but that isn’t where it stops, they ask those big money signings to earn their corn however the manager sees fit. If that means asking the Premier Leagues most expensive teenager to man to man Arteta when Arsenal have possession he does it. If that means asking Young to run for ninety minutes up and down the flank with very little ball time he does it.

They clearly had two game plans, “if Theo is on the pitch we sit deep, if he isn’t we squeeze the play as much as possible”, there were times with BFG on the ball about ten yards from half way that Ferdinand and Evans were almost providing unique symmetry holding their defensive line ten yards in their half, they pressured the ball from the front, marked tight and we had no space, we needed our full backs and wide men to provide runs and movement in behind we had to play longer, but we can’t, either through inability, lack of pace or not wanting to.

So starved of the space options and possession we need to breathe this was always going to be difficult.

Sorry I have glossed over something, the above was what happened after they went one nil up. If we were facing a side that were set up to make it difficult for us we made it even harder by gifting them the lead. Santos had his first test of the afternoon, marking Valencia tight the ball was played to the on rushing Rafael who played a very Arsenal like nothing cross, which Vermaelen got totally confused by, he must face crap balls like that all week in training yet he clearly hasn’t worked out how to put his boot through the f’ing ball and decided he would gift BSR a nice early chance which he stroked in with ease. Had to happen but would’ve been nice to actually make him work for it.

After that we consistently failed to clear our lines effectively, after the Liverpool game my mainly glowing report focussed on a few things that still weren’t right, one of my suggestions was that it is sometimes ok to put the ball in row Z or beyond their backline to relieve pressure and regain shape.

In the first half we didn’t do this once, we allowed them space in our half without them having to work. Mannone couldn’t clear our half with his kicks, Giroud up front could have challenged Rio or Evans and will do given the opportunity, but instead Mannone was dropping kicks on Carricks head for Cazorla or Wilshere to try and win.

This was one way traffic and the only players looking like they wanted to do something were Arteta, Wilshere and BFG, Vermaelen walked around in a daze reconsidering his error, and hopefully his decision to take the captaincy.

A short corner, where the whole defence switch off – too busy telling each other who to mark and forgetting about the ball – led to the ball being fired at Cazorla from five yards away, his hands covered his face tucked tight to the body and the ball careered into it, nothing like a shout of penalty at Old Toilet to send Mike Dean weak at the knees and the home penalty was duly awarded. Somehow Mannone managed to put Rooney off and he scuffed it wide.

A let off before the break and a chance to get ourselves back in the game.

Could Arsene do anything to lift the team with his half time team talk? Would he make an early substitution which it seemed the game was crying out for?

On the first it didn’t appear so, United came out of the blocks quickly and we were called on in defence to snuff out a few scrambled balls into the box.

Theo was introduced, Ramsey the sacrificial lamb. United re set their back line dropping twenty yards further back. Didn’t really make a difference because not once did anyone try and find a ball over the top, Theo came short like Ramsey had, couldn’t do anything different as he was marked as tightly and again starved of options.

But somehow United eased off on their pressuring we started to get some good possession and move with a bit more pace. Santos was set free on more than one occasion, and on more than one occasion failed miserably to deliver a ball of note, perhaps one ball if Giroud had gambled he could have had a sniff of goal, but he had already shifted his position for a cut back. In reality he should be going for the 6 yard box and his midfielders should be the ones filling the edge of the box. He is still learning the English game and what is required, but it was the only criticism I could make of him.

Just as we had started to give United a test of their own at the back, we allowed them a second. Firstly allowing BSR to drift in unmarked only to see Mannone make one of several good saves. And the not clearing the corner well, not shutting down the crosser and not competing for the ball in the box…I’m looking at our skipper again. He didn’t even get off the ground, did not attack the ball, is this really the player we missed “so badly” for a whole season, the player that apparently “adds 10% to everyone else on the pitch”. I’m sorry I don’t see it, you are the captain, you must be better, you must lead, you must not give up.

The second half got even longer as Wilshere overrun the ball and clattered into Evra earning his second booking, he had been warned after upending BSR, Cleverley got warned by Dean too, when he did Ferguson replaced him with Anderson immediately. Wenger didn’t have the luxury having already removed the natural centre midfield replacement Ramsey.

It was pretty much all United for the rest of the game taking the game into our half whenever they wanted and Arsenal conceding ground obligingly, and I’m about as bothered to write about it as the players looked to be playing it, even then I found plenty to wind me up. Santos received the ball from Vermaelen, Vermaelen bombs past him, Santos loses the ball, sorry what planet do our players live on? Ten men on the pitch, deep in their half, and our centre back is playing a one two with our left back.

There was time for Cazorla to grab us a consolation and something for the away fans to cheer with a sublime finish, but it was way too little way too late.

So in summary, the players do not deserve the support they get from the away fans, I don’t mind losing, I don’t mind getting beaten by a better side, but just allowing the opposition to do what they want, and very few of our players seeming to care I will not take.

This defeat will affect many of us more than last seasons 8-2, that was a freak result, every shot they took first half they seemed to score, we had many understudies on the pitch and had yet to find any of our transfer targets and had just slogged our guts out on the pitch in Udinese to achieve CL qualification. This? No excuses, a week off, time to bond time to work out the kinks, experienced players across the back line, experience in midfield, 7 players older than 25, players who should be able to look at each other and work out what to do and how to put it right. They are not playing for the shirt, they are not playing for the manager, they are not playing for us…..that is not good enough, that is not acceptable.

I love my club, I love my team, I said after our drubbing in Milan last season that I would prefer to take ten paces back and a few leaps forward by doing away with the majority of failed talent on the pitch and letting the youngsters have a go, players hungry for their chance, I can support them, they will need it, this group of players need to stop hiding and start stepping up to the plate, it’s your fault, you put it right.

Despite all the other top 4 contenders slipping up and even Spudders losing at home to Wigan there was still nothing to smile about at the end of the day.

Written by Gooner In Exile