Arsenal’s poor form down to tension in the dressing room?
Arsenal seemed to start the season in good form. Although the first two 0-0 draws were a little disappointing they soon started winning and even seemed to have the upper hand in the 2-1 defeat by League leaders Chelsea. Now it seems that good form has deserted them, with just one goal and one clean sheet in their last three matches highlights the fact there is something wrong somewhere.
According to Stewart Robson, who not only played for Arsenal for five years but has also recently been working on Arsenal TV so has many contacts at the club, thinks that Arsene Wenger and his new assistant Steve Bould are having differences over how the Gunners defence is being set out.
Robson said: “It looked more encouraging at the start of the season but it’s been five to six years and the same thing’s happened time and time again,”
“I hoped that when Steve Bould was appointed he would do more with the defence but I’m not sure whether he’s being allowed to do that by Arsene Wenger.
“I think there might be a rift in the camp between those two from what I’ve heard.”
Could this be the reason that Arsenal have gone from performing brilliantly against both Man City and Chelsea, but have now struggled against two teams right at the bottom of the Premiership?
If it is true, then Wenger needs to put Steve Bould in his place or get in a new assistant very quickly as this state of affairs can’t go on much longer…….
highlights of the game are on JustFootballHighlights
If this is true why do you think it is bould that needs to be put in his place. Arsene is a great manager one of the best. Doesn’t mean he is always right.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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I think it’s more than just a potential rift between Wenger and Bould (if that story is even true). That game against Norwich came off the back of most of the team selected that day having played two internationals that week within the last seven days leading up to that match. Cazorla (Spain), Poldi/Mertesacker(germany), Vermalean(Belgium), Ramsey(Wales) to name a few played three games in the space of 7 days. I said on another forum that the international break came at the worst possible time because it could potentially ruin our good run and sure enough it has. And our poor form isn’t just because our defense, we’re not creating many chances up front either? Is that Bould’s fault as well??
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@mekx well said, bould is a defensive master, not only has he played the position all his career he has been working hard on trying to transfer what he knows to the new generation of arsenals defence, arsene wenger should give him time and let him work with them because the early signs were good!
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Spot on Mekx. Wenger is the one who players with little regard for building from the back and most of the poor decisions regarding tactics are his. Bould would sort out the defense, likely drop the high line tactic, and maybe push for a plan B. Wenger would be left to do the attacking work for the most part
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Out of tune?. Like or Dislike:
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Out of tune?. Like or Dislike:
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There is always an excuse for loosing so many funny excuses. was it the defense that caused us those matches we lost or the fact that we weren’t creative enough in front of goal. Which in my opinion thats wengers field.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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Don’t forget Wenger was a defender as well, so he is well versed in the arts. I’m a bit skeptical about the comments made by Stewart Robson. Why would he put himself in the line of fire with such controversial comments? If it’s true then maybe it could be a blessing in disguise. I love Wenger but sometimes a team does well with fresh ideas. We can start with NOT starting Ramsey at all!
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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ROBSON only heard tht HE was fire from Arsenal!
stupid man!
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See as reasonable fans we r not askin for blind expensive signings/but at least learn to keep the best player /just imagine Barcelona sellin out Puyol (for Fabregas, captain), Pique (for Clichy) and Iniesta (for Nasri)last season and sellin Xavi(next captain) and Bousquets (for Song) the next season/do u think in ur best dreams that Catalan fans wil agree/they will reap the team apart/it’s disgrace
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Bould too has his faults. His indecision in the euro games that he has been in charge is a pointer to his poor ability as a coach. I remember that arsenal did not require a rocket scientist to decode their poor performance, Santos. Surprisingly, Santos was allowed to play 90 minutes with Kos on the bench, who could have slotted into the central back with Vermalin moving to the left; the two goals scored by Schalke eventually came through him. The absence of Diaby and Gibbs has affected the team chemistry.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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Why on earth do you put an article together based on that idiot Robson……he barks his nonsense to anyone who will listen and it is always a dig at Arsenal one way or the other!!
Rift..what utter bollox SB has been working for AW for years now without a problem….that bad results are a team issue, not a defensive coaching one.
Anything Robson has to say just think the complete opposite, you’ll be far nearer the truth!!
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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I think that getting Diaby back (any news on his injury?) will take some pressure of the defence. With Sagna, Gibbs coming back as well, things might look pretty good defencesively, but I really think that the box-to-box play from Diaby as we saw it in the first game is a crucial factor for the overall performance.
Seing Jack yesterday was simbly AWESOME! He gets the ball under control really fast when passed too, and knows the way forward – I had forgotten how much technique he possesses.
I want to Walcott from the start against Man U. Presuming that gibbs will return and I actually think we can shame robin van Judas and his hillbilly teammates.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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Robson is an idiot. He doesn’t know anything and loves creating the facade that he’s relevant to Arsenal. There is not riff. People do realize that Wenger brought back Bould to coach the young ones and then appointed him to number 2. Such a farcical report. This site AND Robson should just grow up.
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Out of tune?. Like or Dislike:
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In the past Arsenal used to attack as a whole team going forwards.This was a great asset.Now this no longer seems the case and that is why they appear mediocre.Wenger is therfore right but he needed a proper central midfielder to play like they have done in the past.Artetas creativity is being wasted.
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Arsene is killing Arsenal.
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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I suppose wenger is always right like when he bought santos and gervinho to replace clichy and nasri or when he bought giroud to replace rvp, or when he put all of our hopes in injury prone diaby to replace song do me a favour. As for stuart robson who cares what he says he was sacked by arsenal so he is bitter!
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@James
Those signings would be amasing and exactly what the fans deserve
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If the comment is fabricated, then Robson is an idiot.
If the comment has merritt, then maybe Wengers time is up. (note – I have NEVER thought or said this before). Not because I believe Bould is better than Wenger, but Wenger seems to be doing the same thing year after year, and it seems that anyone who offers something different is shot down. Its just a thought. I hope the comment isn’t true.
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I’ve seen Arsenal play the last 10 games …. Arsenal do not commit men in the opposition box when there is a cross ex: Schalke, QPR, Chelsea …. could this be because Arsenal cannot do 2 things at the same time ???? (Attack and Defend) …. look at Gervinho’s goal against Chelsea, he was the only one in the box that the cross went to …. and the same with QPR, remember Wilshere’s cross???? Only Giroud was running to it, no1 else
Is Wenger and Bould’s tactics started to clash already?
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i dont the there is any problem with Arsenal defensive is wenga that have problem not defensive
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There isnt another manager in the world who can go 7 years without a trophy and lets be fair have the team consistently get worse during that time and still be in a job. And the reason is he makes the board money simple as that and by making them money is directly making our team worse and ticket prices higher…. wake up people!
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This must be resolved soon before it seriously derails our season…we need harmony in the team to succeed!…after all football is a team sport!
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u’d rather have a team that attacks as a whole and defends as a whole. Yes, you risk being opened in the back but this way u have more chances scoring and u cannot win games defending and not scoring. You actually face a risk of losing games against mid table team who score one goal and defend to their dearth.
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The way we defend has killed our creativity upfront or maybe we are not use to the system yet. I also think Wenger’s system defer from Bould in the sense that Wenger is an attacking coach while Bould is defensive, blending the two system is where the problem is. this has brought lack of confidence in the players going forward for fear of loosing the ball hence all the backward passes. For me, our free flowing never passing backward entertaining football will suffer under Bould. This is because the set of players we have are attacking players.
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There won’t be any problem if AW z watchin arsenal games d way we r…coq shud be picked ahead of ramsey…gv walcott wat he want n gv poldi 90mins..and we shud improve on set pieces
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Martin, well said.
Stewart Robson doesn’t know and he is simply speculating. In the two matches we lost we did not create any chances, that was the key reason for the defeats. As for a rift, it is nonsense. Arsene has been working with Bould for many years. It is Arsene’s vision that Bould has used to train and develop the reserves. All of a sudden he doesn’t agree with the vision……what nonsense.
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Wenger should GET LOST, and Arsenal should be fine.
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Stewart Robson is just trying to get attention.
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Honestly, Wenger can redeem himself if he chooses to become aggressive about shedding the deadwood from the squad.. and at the same time purchases a very high class striker, similar to Bemzema or Falcao.. He needs to replace RvP with an RvP like player.. Giroud is NOT an RvP replacement.. Giroud is a Chamakh replacement.. If he does this – We’re good
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Sign luis suarez!!!!!!!
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Who listens to Robson anyway? He is bitter and twisted.
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Rubbish. The. Reason we lost was obvious. Team did not put enough effort in. Second to the ball and lacking energy, focus and commitment. You would expect some time for them to get use to each other. Revisit this at end of season.
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Guys if you think AW hasn’t b trying to sell then you havnt followed the AFC news. Problem is if you describe a car ur selling as poor condition then who will buy. Also the wage demands are too high.
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I think the problem lies with our left back, since gibbs has gone injured our attacking play has been cut short, ( we seem to attack more on the left in matches), the understanding with podolski and gibbs is not there, therefore less room for podolski with santos who tends to drift inside when attacking. Our attackers also need to start playing for fouls, they are not prepared to take on there opponents defence line, the keep ball and look for the open player doesnt always work
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And we’re listening to a muppet like Robson why???
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Another dumb article to get Wenger out… with fans spreading the gossip…
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