Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger rounded on the club's critics after the 1-1 draw with Manchester City and claimed they "are not as bad as everybody thinks".
I agree with him to an extent, he has really had only one striker all year, and he is average at best. But he gets his tactics wrong against big teams. Why does always insist on going out to attack every team. Nice sentiment but it doesn't work. He leaves Arteta on his own in midfield as the holding player and he gets trounced every time.
Arsenal lacks personalities. You've got 11 guys out there who all have a bit of talent, some more than others, but there are no leaders. There are no players who can pick up their team mates and lead them into battle.
In the good old days, you would have guys on the pitch who would lead by example. You had a Bergkamp who was a silent director, who layed out the plays with his feet. He would control the pace of the game, the direction, everything. He never needed to shout or work players up.
You had others who did that, like Parlour, Keown, Adams.
And you had guys like Vieira who were so very strong in that defensive midfield. You had Ljungberg who was running around like a wild dog.
You had real personalities. They corrected eachother. They were winners. They made sure that even when the tactics might not work that day, they would still give it their all.
Nowadays, when the tactics fail (and they often do, cause Wenger is NOT a tactical mastermind), there is no plan B, and there are no players who will switch gears and take the whole team on their back and force them all into a fight.
Wenger is fielding players, not winners. Boys, not men. They've got no winning spirit when things get tough. They don't speak up. They never argue. They just do as they're told, and they'll finish top 5, and Wenger is OK with that, and the players will be OK with that.
Wenger SHOULD have bought some WINNERS. Suarez, Pogba, Strootman, whatever. Players who DO speak up. Players who ARE personalities. Players who DO want to go out and win every game at all costs. It seems Wenger is a bit afraid to get those, though. which is a shame.
I agree with him to an extent, he has really had only one striker all year, and he is average at best. But he gets his tactics wrong against big teams. Why does always insist on going out to attack every team. Nice sentiment but it doesn't work. He leaves Arteta on his own in midfield as the holding player and he gets trounced every time.
The problem with Arsenal is they always try to walk it in...