Again, it was a game of two halves. This feels like the story of our season. Another cliché which holds true is that the game is 20% talent and 80% mental. Or, in our case 20% talent and 60% mental. Our lack of the mental side of the game makes me go mental. What was that first half performance? There are so many aspects to scream out loud about. And yes, somehow, we found the capacity to win. Undeserved for sure. So, in the spirit of continued clichés, is the glass half empty or half full? We won. But we suck. It’s better than loosing. Does this mean that when we finally do click – i.e. do figure out how to play during both half’s of a game – then we’ll be unstoppable? I don’t know but I do know that we can’t go through an entire season like this. I have that (usual) fear of pending disaster.
As we’ve seen in some many games we started as though it was a training session. There was no drive, passion or energy. Sure Preston played well but we did our best to give them as much space as possible. We so rarely made an attempt to close them down. The goal came from Ramsey being schooled in midfield by their Everton loanee to be followed by Monreal ball-watching and letting his man get in behind him. After a few ricochets the balls in our net. Then for the balance of the half we proceeded to give them a few more chances. They should have gone in 2 nil up. Mustafa – as he’s done too often this season – made a dreadful attempt at a clever clearance on the edge of our area and handed them a great chance to score. In this instance Monreal was there to clear up the mess after Ospina got caught in no-mans land.
Players who had a chance to shine against lower opposition and thus lay a claim to the first team failed miserably. The Ox reverted to last years form. He rarely was able to beat his man and too often lost the ball. There was a brief period in the 2nd half when he actually came alive. But again, it just did not look like he was engaged in the game. Chaka found a way to not concede a penalty. But he also found ways to give the ball away and forget to close down the opposition. And then there’s our favourite Welshman. How insipid was he? For someone who used be his national captain it’s unfathomable as to how ineffective he can be. For the entire first half he slowly drifted around the pitch. He displayed no urgency and still attempted his stupid little back-heels. At some point he tried to twinkle toe his was into their net when a simple shot would have worked. Thankfully, that’s exactly what he did when the second half restarted. We began that half how we should have started the game. Maybe, just maybe, AW reminded the team that they were supposed to turn up. For the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half we dominated, closed them down and played with urgency. But then, gradually, we again lost our momentum. Though they did not create any chances we started to give away loose balls, forget to close them down and gave the ball back too easily. Though it was unlikely Preston would now win, it was depressing to see us revert back to type.
The only players to come out with any credit today were Perez and Ob1. Niles-Maitre-Dee was awful – poor old Carl watching that performance. Previously Niles had looked quite decent but today he had no clue. He must have been watching Bellends’ Tuesday performance. He got beaten so easily and his positional sense was awful; he dribbled in the wrong positions and lost his man often. Unfortunately, on the other side of the pitch Monreal again showed why we need Gibbs to find his fitness. He’s movement is too slow. Down the left hand side he’s runs are too few and his movement is too predictable. And his defending is too weak. It’s hard to fathom what’s happened to his game.
As for our two center half’s – they do not seem on the same page. We seemed unable to hold a back-line. Too often they were able to sit on the last man who was not in a line with the other defenders and therefore we could not get them offside. Some of this is leadership that we lack without Kosclieny but they are both internationals so they should know how to play the game. Mustafa needs more games. And he has to figure out his distribution. It sucks. He makes Toure-like passes whereas he should be finding our midfield players. Who, to be fair, we’re missing in-no-action.
Though we’re not going to buy anyone in this transfer window it’s a shame we can’t sell Ramsey and buy someone else. Though he got the first goal – see, that’s what happens when you do shot – overall his sideways play and too many touches does not fit our style. And his defending and tackling is flimsy at best. Against a decent team he will get ripped apart. The combination of Ramsey and Chaka is our weakest. But, for the next few weeks, we have no choice. And that sucks. We missing having our hard Coq and, of course, Santi as well. It’s more than likely though that Ramsey will pick up his regular thing/hamstring injury any game now.
Perez continues to make good runs. He’s a modern-day Podolski. He’s a Podolski who can defend. He’s a Podolski who can actually run. And he needs to get more time on the pitch. He’s earned it. As opposed to Ox. This was his opportunity and again he blew it. Without Theo to take his game time he should be asserting himself. But today he was very weak.
And Ob1 is schizophrenic. When he plays out wide he’s not involved enough in the game and can’t defend. But when he plays in the #10 role, he’s more dynamic and direct. Today he was the only one who tried to move the ball quickly through the final 1/3rd. Sure, he faded later in the game but he was a smaller version of Sanchez today – working and running. But when Ozil returns he’s get pushed back wide.
We’ve lucked out twice this week now. And both times care of Giroud. Both games he was crap for the bulk of the game but still found a way to score really important goals. I hope the retards out there were satisfied on the appropriateness of his celebration. Talking about putting a spotlight on something so trivial and blowing it out of all proportion. Surely the story on Tuesday was our abysmal first 70 minutes (of which Giroud was a major contributor) not his homage to his scorpion celebration. But somehow that’s what dominated the discussion. How fucked up is that?
So, where does this leave us? We are now understrength in midfield. But worse, we’re understrength in our attitude. And that brings into question AW and his match preparation. How can this team start the game how it did today after it’s abysmal first 70 minutes against Bournemouth? How could that not be fresh in their minds? And then to start the 2nd half the way they did demonstrates that it is all mental. So, why this problem? We’ve seen it all year. Against Manu away, ManC away and Everton. I fear for the Swansea game. It’s big one for us. A full weeks rest and preparation against a team with a new manager. We can’t drop points in this one. But more importantly we have to play for the entire game. This, again, is down to AW. Watching those wankers grab 3 points on Wednesday demonstrated how committed they are. Just like Liverpool and Darth Vaders team. It’s not our talent that’s in question (well, not yet anyway). Where’s our consistent commitment? And why should we even be questioning it? I worry it comes back to the perennial question of on-field leadership and AW ability to suitably motivate this team. Today we were lucky. On Tuesday we were lucky. But luck runs out eventually whereas class is permanent – so they say. But unfortunately we’ve also shown that that is also intermittent.
Give me Theo. Give me Gibbs. Return the real Bellerin. And then, between now and the end of the season (which could be any week now) we have to find some consistency. And for that, I look to our master – AW. Let’s hope it starts in Wales.
– LB7