Benfica defeat highlights Arsenal’s lack of strength in depth
Arsenal lost todays last pre-season friendly against Benfica and Arsene Wenger thinks that the reason they were defeated was because we were missing key players.
Okay, so lets have a look at the team that played: Szczesny, Sagna, Vermaelen, Rosicky, Van Persie, Ramsey, Song, Djourou, Gervinho, Arshavin, Gibbs
Subs: Fabianski, Squillaci, Jenkinson, Chamakh, Traore, Frimpong, Miyaichi, Lansbury, Miquel
This was how we started the game and it looks like a very strong team on paper, but Wenger bemoans that there were key players missing (Aren’t there always?).
He said: “Benfica played well for the full 90 minutes and the second half was a bit one-way traffic. We played well for 45 minutes and, after that, we dropped. We missed many players and you could see that in the second half. We got the intensity we wanted, it was a competitive game and we were challenged by a good team who had a lot of experienced players.”
I’m sorry Arsene but looking at that team sheet it looks like Arsenal had qute a lot of experienced players on the pitch as well. Arsenal were 1-0 up at half-time but when Wenger brought on Chamakh, Miyaichi, Frimpong, Jenkinson, Squillaci and Fabianski for the second half, the team just fell apart and were under pressure from then onwards.
But these are the players that Arsenal will have to rely on when Wenger starts rotating the team during the season, especially when the games start coming thick and fast.
The first month of the new season will be crucial and Wenger needs to be able to rely on the back-ups right from the start, but it looks like he is going to have to be very careful, especially as there were a few injuries sustained during this game.
The Gunners have a fantastic first XI and some excellent reserves, but it seems like the confidence and teamwork has not returned (especially defensively) and it could be a very hairy beginning of the season for all of us…..
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Whenever Squillaci comes on, i think we’re going to concede. that is all.
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Okay, is it just me, or everyone except Mr. Wenger sees that whenever Squillaci enters the pitch, our defense falls apart and we start conceding goals… I mean, every freaking single time! This guy has no clue where he should be positioned, doesn’t have a bit of commanding skills, and whoever is partnered with him in defense, simply loses every knowledge of playing football even though they are far better partnered with someone else… Please, I beg you Mr. Wenger, please get rid of this guy or we won’t be seeing Champions League football this year…
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I agree with Matt, Squillaci is trouble.
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The trouble is that we shouldn’t have to rotate more than 2-3 players every game and use 2 of the possible subs to limit the strain on 2 other players. Thereby, ‘NEVER’ play our strongest side.
Start with e.g.
Szczesny
Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Gibbs
Song, Fabregas, Wilshere
Walcott, v Persie, Nasri
Switch out e.g Sagna with Jenkinson, Wilshere with Ramsey and Nasri with Gervinho – still a very strong team.
Pre-season doesn’t really bother me except to see who is fit and who is injured…
When we start playing for points next weekend – that’s when we’ll see what quality we have.
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ffs get rid of Squillaci and buy a new CB!! Even Bartley would have been a better option than the useless aforementioned piece of S***.
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o kAYYYYYYYY!!! where the heck is vermaelen!!???
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Its a real shame to see what our great club has become. Squillachi, Traore, Diaby and the likes. Trust me, if these players keep wearing our jersey, we will never lift any trophy…. that’s a fact!
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All we need is SAMBA and a DM like Alou Diarra, Biglia, Gago, Keita for depth,
if Fabregas leaves we should add Affelay, Keita and Abidal to the deal, that way, either Ramsey plays central or Nasri plays central and Affelay, Gervinho and Walcot can fight for the wings,
While Keita, Frimpong and Diaby can provide cover for Wilshere and Song,
Abidal and Gibbs will go for the LB spot,
Basically:
SAMBA
KEITA/GAGO/BIGLIA/DIARRA
ABIDAL
AFELLAY
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I don’t understand how the author of this sight expected the players confidence to return when this very same sight has been bagging the players all summer. Can somebody explain the logic? I mean this is an Arsenal sight and yet it nearly always takes the anti Arsenal viewpoint. It is worse than having other fans mock our team because it comes from within! Mark my words, the difference between us winning trophies over the last 6 years and not has been the public intake of breath just waiting and hoping to see us fail. Sights like this effect the players. Put yourself in one of these young players boots. They are just human beings and if you tell someone they are going to fail enough times they will fulfil your prophecy. The same happens with United. The media fill them with confidence by constantly going on about them like they are gods. Then on the pitch when it comes down to it they have that little bit more confidence, the refs believe United will win and without realising it they help fulfil the prophecy. What I’m trying to say is that this sight is part of a widespread problem regarding Arsenal. The only way this sight will change its outlook is if you as a reader demand more from them.
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no kidding squillaci is kind of cursed.
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Arsenal will remain trophyless until wenger is sacked….. The bloody f****r with a bloody ego…. Sack him or arsenal will be a midtable team after 3years….
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Where was Vela, couldn`t they afford his air fare or did he go by bus?
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never did i claim that i know any footballers fit to be the squad let alone who plays along who. however i know that only the manager/s knows best which players that can play and win the game by which fans will be very happy. every win will bring cheers to the fans. fan like me don’t expect the team win all the games because ‘win or lose is the name of the game’.
however, losing games due poor performance by mediocre players is very disheartening. if the manager insist that his selected players are of high quality but yet losing games then i perceive that he is delusive. yeah, only fat and glutton board adore him.
LOVE ARSENAL, DISTRUST WENGER.
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what the hell is happening at arsenal fc these dayz…gettin’ fuckin worried with few dayz for the BPL to start.
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i want all wailing fans to be comforted because the days of wenger as their chief tormentor are numbered. Spiritually he has been removed as arsenal manager. It waits only to become a reality. It wont be long hence. Pls, do not be frustrated out of arsenal. Arsenal was before wenger and we loved the team. We continue loving arsenal and much more when its albatross(wenger) is gone.
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all we need is a CB like mertesacker,chiellini,tasci,subotic,hummels,etc..
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w*nka you twat
stop making excuses
missing key players?
i thought you said you were happy with the squad of players you’ve got!!!
where is your squad?where is the replacement?
they said we gonna have a busy transfer window,yeah rite
busy selling our best players….yet again.
why we have two billionaires on board,f*ck knows,what’s their job?
kroenke you twat as well as osmanov or i don’t know how the f*ck u spell it,do something or f*ck off,the club on the pitch performance is pathetic and all you worry about is increasing your shares,f*ck you both as well as your w*nka
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I would have thought that once Fabregas and Nasri left that this would be our first team? Or do Arsenals best players exist only in Wengers head?
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o men, wats hapend t arsenal? is dis wat we shud expect in d EPL and UCL? hahahaha…..
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This was a strong enough team to win. Fab is gone and doesn’t look like nas is to far behind him. With the exception of 2 players, this 1st half team is our starting eleven. Stop rotating the team so bloody much so close to the start of the season. We still need to buy at least 3-4 players. Taking into account that nas will prob leave. 2 CB, 1 DM, 1 AM. All the fans can see it, it’s just the money from fab and nas holding it all up. Think we are in a bit of trouble this season. Aw has lost the plot!
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pls all arsenal fans don’t be borthed just be patience with me, i no how you feel about the match lost tonight, we are heading to bring on one central defender this week,the match we lost against benfica was not a deciesive game we are only building up ourselve,benfica is a big club all we known and they have experience players too,i promise to make you happy this season.only support us,i promise to bring in juan mata this week to replace fabregas.thanks to all of you….
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fuck wenger he needs to leave arsenal or arsenal will rest in pieces.
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Well said Phil23. There’s much more to winning trophies than the team on the pitch. The fans have to play a part too. Arsene ways we missed a lot of players, he’s right as far as the second half is concerned. Because in the first half when we were near full (i nolonger count Nasri and Cesc as our players)Benfica almiost had no sniff. At half time, Arsene substituted more than half of the team, the replacements like Frimpong, Jenkinson, Miyachi haven’t played at this level atall! fabianski is only coming back from injury, you would expect and rightly so that our competition would reduce.
I don’t know whether you have realuised in this pre-season, that whenever we are near full, Arsenal plays very well. We have always conceded in the second half when full scale changes have taken place. i dont think this will happen in a real competitive match. So for me, a part from the injuries, i’m not worried atall. What i learnt from this preseason is that we can easily replace Cesc and Nasri.
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Wenger, who are the key players we are mising? Cesc and Nasri are not happy @ the club and you want to force them to stay. They aint going to play their hearts out if they stay, so stop counting on them. Right thinking coaches who are in for trophy are sharpening the rough edges of their team. We will see worse things when the season starts. Wenger you are only courting disgrace and you will soon marry it. It is unfortunate the so called board members lack direction just as Wenger himself. Fellow gunners let us prepare ourselves foe any position behind Man U, Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs.
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it was one of a two in one match.1st half highlighted the real arsenal,the 2nd one served its purpose;lack of quality backup.we need to change our fitness trainers and physios,they have proven to be failures.why are players always on the treatment table?
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John w. Did you watch the games last season… What do you mean this shouldn’t happen in a competitive match. It kept happen all last season! Stop painting over the cracks. We need to deal with the problem now. We all love arsenal and are 100% behind the team but half a dozen of these boy’s can’t cut it in a top 4 club. They simply are not good enough, I’m afraid to say.
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You can’t just blame squillaci, I agree he is poor but the first goal was down to Gibbs being out of position and Vermaalen diving in and missing a tackle. Without fabregas and Nasri we look a poor team to me.
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that was an appalling second half. we have won 2 of our 6 pre season friendlies, drew 3 and lost 1. not a good sign for the new season. especially with the cesc and nsri situation. we have poor depth at this club. this pre season has shown that. when will wenger wake up. he needs to make those key signings and fast. a quality striker to come in for van persie, another winger because ours are inconsistant. a combative midfielder to help song out and a center back to partner tv5 cos our others are useless. he needs to do this fast or his record of top 4 finishes wont be kept this season. i will be happy with not winning a trophy this season as long as we are properly strengthened in the right areas and we put up a proper fight in all competitions. come on wenger do the right thing
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Most of the blame shud lie with the fact that our midfield never ever track back
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Wenger you so stubborn go and buy C.defender and striker…
the last three matches we lead then fumbles…if that dont knock your head off…we dont know…pls someone in the Board of Directors do something….We dont want the same things happened and happened agains due to Mssr Wenger stubborness to stick to his foolish philosophy to play with kids…. Kids dont win trophies they entertain you…$%%%^#@
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Arsenal could have won the league last year if the boss had had spotted the obvious and bought a decent centre back instead of making our defence a laughing stock. What has happened since then? We certainly haven’t bought that elusive CB in fact we probably need two now . We also require a left back,an experienced GK for cover, a creative MF not to mention a Peter Crouch for a plan B up front. Am I the only one who thinks we are looking a mid-table club? By not investing and taking this club forward again we are taking giant strides backwards. We are certainly not only a CB short now!
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Why is everyone focusing on clueless Squillaci……….what about his other half Chamack. Benik Afobe even did better against NY RedBull
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@John w and phil23 totally disagree with u guys, we fans have give their support for long enough and have a right to vent our frustrations. We all know Wenger has Fu#ked up big time, so we have every right to call for his head. @ Nick w squillaci was not at fault for the first but he was for the second and he will be for many more if he continues to play for us, Gibbs is not ready for the first regular spot either. HATE WENGER LOVE ARSENAL
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Phil23 thinks the players read justarsenal.com …that is very funny phil
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Everyone just take a breather, relax a little and wait for the end of the transfer window to call wenger all the cunts under the sun. Trust me people he is not finished in the transfer window…
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Phil23 you live in fantasy not reality wake up….We fans had been suffered long enough…Every great team even Barca,Milan or United will buy quality player to supplement their youth team policy went needed…Here we have clear as skies what we needed to supplement our team..did Wenger fix it..no..so enough is enough. We are fed-up with Wenger lover…and love the club more.
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Yep squillaci means trouble…no doubt, I don’t rate jenkinson get either…I used to fear da Ismail coming on but yesterday I think he made some good stops and couldnt have done much for the first goal and was mainly let down by squillaci!
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Sorry for the typos! Still getting used to typing on iPhone!
I meant fabianski made some good stops haha
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I cant understand all the messing around in the transfer market, we were promised we had the funds yet we seem to be relying on the fabregas and nasri sale to fund transfers hopefully make atleast 3 more additions to the squad and keep both cesc and samir we should be alright next season with nasri agreeing a new contract by christmas
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Same excuses from wenger and the season hasn’t even started yet! Its his fault that we don’t have a good squad. So he wants to give us good news this week like heck, it will be more excuses. I’ve seen we might sign that kid from southampton, yes another potential rather than experience which we badly need.
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I total agree wit Cesc & Nasri.Dey shld not b part of AW’s dictator-ship dis season. Dis oldman doesn’t hav a damn respect 4 neida de funs nor de playas.
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Same old Arsenal, for the past 5 years, same shit, same mentality and another season with no hope for a trophy anyway i am used to it now the good days are over.
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The reason we lost this game is because we have no defence
you know it Mr Wenger but you still have done nothing about
it. You Sir will destroy Arsenal if you continue with your
Penny pinching plan.We have no leader on the pitch no defence
a poor goalkeeper and no proven goalscorer. You are about to
get BIG money for Nasri and Fabregas so use it to buy Quality
players, because if you don’t it will be 7 or 8 place this season. This means NO Champions league which means the sack
for you Mr Wenger.
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The problems at AFC are totally profound. First we have a board that is run entirely for the share holders. Now there lack of investment is coming back to haunt them and theit profits are about to begin to slide. This Gazidis guy really gets my goat up with his business model and sensible approach. If you don’t want to invest like you rivals well what do you expect??
Well listen Wenger and Gazidis we the fans aren’t asking to spend £50m in a kaka or ibrohimovic just £17M on a cahill, a mertseker. You see the professor has his own interpretation of player value. Just nobody else agrees and we miss out. I honestly dont know if we are just linked to keep us happy. That ploy is well worn now. Wengers player judgement is truely so poor now I’d prefer Sam alderdice to buy players. You all know who
They are. These excuses wouldnt get into the reserves 6 years ago. Yet he persists and persists hoping they will come good. A bit like expecting a fiat to one day drive like a merc!
If we had a decent CB and a manager to lift us up we would be champs now. Do think ferge would use the carling loss as an excuse for this collapse??
AW thank you for everything but you are in capable to take us forward.
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i don’t care who come nothing will change, arsenal must kick out wenger b4 the season starts. and sell chamakh as soon as possible n get new striker ,he can’t be the player whom are we looking for.we need lucas podolski in his place as well he can cover RVP.
squid is fcuked up as we all know from since he arrived y wenger is still keeping him and almunia.
sagna was shaky last season but game against benfica made me clear he will be 1 of the problem this season for us.
FUCK all wenger product….lansbury he could make a moment with out ball so how can he cope with the ball. and the frimpoon lad get very bad temper.
rosicky played well but he is too weak by pshically.
wenger out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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we don’t have to fight each other,wenger nemesis is already here,’UDINESE. Pls don’t cry 4 him when it happens
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Let’s be honest the squid mistake was just as bad as the bad as the vermins
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Wenger’s rotation style is faulty. He is either playing his 1st team in a match or the second string instead of a blend.That’s what cost us a CL group leadership last season and ensured an early exit in the hands of Barcelona
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Kubaska, you are not alone. I had the same feeling about Squillaci, He is the hole in the can. When the can is filled up, once the hole is introduced, we loose all that we have fetched.
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Anyone else feel Rambo is not as good as we will all like to believe he is? I think Rosicky is getting better each game and that is the only good thing coming out of pre season for me.
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I HATE WENGER . . . . . . SOOOO MUCH . . . HE SHOULD LEAVE US ALONE HES STUPID AND STUBBORN!!!!!
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Wenger is a pathological liar who lacks standards, I suggest u resign and let someone with vision and high standards come in.
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wenger has finally gone senile to think squid is a defender i bet u bendtner wud do beta
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WENGER! WENGER!!how many times did i call you.U better give arsenal results now or!!!!
Lets Keep Praying and belieivng outr dear club will rise again
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