Lmfao and the only remaining member of the famous 2003 "Invincibles" side is Gael Clichy who, along with fresh new blood Jack Wilshere, were Arsenal's best players. They were really lacking in invention after yet another injury to their inspirational captain Cesc Fabregas and were also undone by some rather senseless substitutions by Wenger, who brought van Persie off at 1-1 and brought on Bendtner, who isn't the best striker around. At least bring on Chamakh or something! Well Wenger listened but brought off Arshavin, another one of Arsenal's great players. =/ .__. .
But that didn't mean that Birmingham had to give around 150% to beat this Gooners team. They really should've had a penalty when Lee Bowyer rounded Gooners keeper Wojciech Szczeny and was pulled down, but somehow the assistant flagged for offside. If he didn't, the score would in all likelihood have been 1-0 to Birmingham and Szczeny would've been sent off, leaving Arsenal down a man. And this was in the opening 2 minutes.
Arsenal had a few shots in the early game, with both Arshavin and Nasri coming close. But Birmingham were lethal on the counterattack and won a corner, which Nikola Zigic (or the Serbian Peter Crouch) nodded home for 1-0. Arsenal were level 11 minutes later, after a Wilshere long shot crashed down off the crossbar and van Persie knocked home the rebound. However, Arsenal were really bad the first half and Birmingham should've had this game wrapped up.
They were a bit better in the second. Nasri again went close and Bendtner had his shot saved by Foster. Birmingham fought on and Fahey crashed a shot off the bar but there was no striker to bury the rebound.
But Arsenal only had themselves to blame for Birmingham's winner. Or, more precisely, their defense. The goalkeeper spot in Arsenal was precarious, with Manuel Almunia (a former Osasuna B team member), Lukasz Fabianski (who's Polish =p but seriously, he sucks) and Szczeny the contenders. Szczeny's weaknesses were already shown in the early stages, and now he dreadfully misinterpreted a Zigic cross after center back Koscielny (another weak spot) missed his cross. In a move like Petr Cech's against Turkey in Euro 2008, Szczeny spilled the ball and Obafemi Martins tapped home on an empty net.
Defense has proven to be the Gunners' Achilles Heel again. Ever since Jens Lehmann left in 2008, there has been no world-class goalkeeper in Arsenal's squad. And Arsenal's defenders aren't really that good either, as after Kolo Toure left for Man City, they only have Sebastien Squillaci and Clichy as reliable defensive players. Maybe they should get Puyol =P.
So the Arsenal Quintuple dream is truly finished. They lost the Carling Cup and United are reopening the gap in the Premier League. They could still win the FA Cup and the Champions League, but their recent shaky performances don't bode altogether well.
No comments:
Post a Comment