1) Recent performances
One thing that has been obvious has been how our on-field troubles in half a year has affected players' mood and self-confidence. However, it is not hard to understand why players find it hard to make those quick combinations, pass it wide, make a diagonal pass, finish the tackle, attack the aerial ball in the defence etc. We have simply made too many mistakes (also) in those areas. So it is really an evil circle. We need to develop skills as well as regain confidence in those skills. Sounds easy, right? I know it's not, but nevertheless this is something we HAVE to work on. An we need to bring back the joy of playing football, to unleash the creativity we knot the players possess.
In the recent games this has given us so many problems, which has led to an embarrassing defeat to one of the worst teams in the league (Blackburn), a heavy beating by Manchester United and a thin win against Swansea. We have been so far from looking like a top 4 team.
However, against Bolton we saw a second half where it seemed like we did enjoy to play. We made the right decisions, and more important, the midfielders were able to move without the ball, and the roles between Song (who got back to his favoured position), Arteta (who didn't drop as deep as before the brake) and Ramsey (who started to make correct decisions with the ball) became more clear. The half time talk seemed to be spot on.
2) Wilshere's injury
And oh dear, we really need to get that midfield going. After the initial prognosis of Wilshere being ready by late September, he is now deemed out untill March/April. It was hard to play without him, as we haven't won enough battles on the midfield, but now these latest news are extremely frustrating. Let's look at the caretakers: Ramsey has been a disappointment, and has proven to be anything else than the hard worker we need. Diaby is injured, and besides not a hard worker either. Arteta is a fine playmaker, but not a hard worker. Benayoun is pretty much a joke in that position. Then we have some hard workers in Frimpong and Coquelin, who I would actually prefer, to win those midfield battles. Problem is, that they lack a little in the offensive aspects.
Was it €30 mio. for M'Vila? That surely doen't look expensive now..
3) Wenger's refusal to bring in a new coach
One thing that has been so obvious was the need to revise the defensive training. As I mentioned here we really really really need to build in that defensive organisation, mutual understanding and role clarity. That cannot be solved on the transfer market.
In an article by John Cross Wenger stated that he would not be bringing in a new coach. In an other article apparently an unnamed player complained about the lack of defensive training, hvilch is really not that strange. Having earlier linked to insight by Dixon, here are Winterburn's words:
It is so obvious what is needed, and so frightening that Wenger doesn't respond to that!Despite Arsenal's now-perennially leaky defence Winterburn states that Wenger's philosophy is not to drill his back four separately. "No. Arsène Wenger's training is all about possession of the football, movement of the football and support of one another. Then he really expects you to be able, when you lose the ball, to organise yourself and dictate to players around you in what areas you want the opposition to go," he says.This approach is in direct contrast to that favoured by Graham, under whom Winterburn won two league titles. He says: "We still did small-sided drills of two against two, three against three [under Wenger] which is a bit like a defensive situation, but Arsène Wenger doesn't do anything like George Graham did. George worked many hours with the back four, sometimes with no opposition there, just moving into position. Then, he would introduce the youth team: five, six, seven, eight, nine players against that back four."
