Wilshere: Wenger is not to blame, the players are
Gunners midfielder Jack Wilshere has leaped to the defence of Arsene Wenger, insisting it is the team that is to blame for their recent slump not the managers.
Arsenal were sufficiently beaten by Bayern Munich in tonight’s Champions League round of 16 first leg in front of a livid Emirates crowd that booed their side at both half time and the final whistle.
Calls for Wenger’s head have been increasing recently, especially after the 1-0 FA Cup exit at the hands of Blackburn on the weekend and now an almost certain elimination from the Champions League. It has been the Frenchman’s worst season in charge and they will struggle to break back into the top four of the Premier League, however his prodigy Wilshere who was outstanding against the Bundesliga outfit, believes it is down to the players not performing on the field rather than Wenger.
Wilshere told ITV :
I don’t think this is anything to do with the manager. He puts us on the pitch – it’s up to us to perform and do the best we can every week.
He can motivate us, and it is up to us to do the best we can on the pitch.
The players will take responsibility. We are man enough to take it, but the boss has been here for 16 years and he has done a great job. I don’t think you can question him. We move on to the weekend and have to try and take it from there.
[On Arsenal's notorious slow start to a match] I don’t know why we had a slow start again. Maybe it was a bit of nerves, a bit of anxiety – I don’t know. We show what we can do when we play, so we will have to look at it and try and learn from this.
We didn’t start great, and against good teams you get punished. In the second half we stepped it up, got one back and could have got a second goal with [Olivier] Giroud, but their keeper pulled off a good save.
There is always a chance for us at their place. We are not out of this tie. We have the players to do it, but we have to start games better.
Wilshere believes his side are ‘starting badly and paying for it’ which has continually been an issue in the big games recently. The second half performances have always been strong and often controlled by the Gunners, however starting from the get-go is essential to stringing wins together especially in the important, key clashes.
But is Wenger to blame? It is hard to fault him in a game like today, the only selection question mark would have to be the inclusion of Ramsey ahead of Diaby who has proven his aptitude to play a defensive minded box-to-box role, but bar that selection the Gunners had an incredibly talented team on paper. The substitutions were fair, although Podolski should perhaps have stayed on but his fitness is always an issue. Wenger didn’t miss the shot in the second half that went straight at the goalkeeper – Giroud did, Wenger didn’t fail to mark Kroos, Arteta or Wilshere should have.
All of the players selected are established international calibre, it seems the teams mentality is to question. The slow start needs to be rectified ASAP and defensively they seem to switch off at vital times and failed to help one another out. For the second goal who has flying in, throwing their body in the way to prevent Bayern slotting home among the goal mouth scramble? At least two players threw themselves at Mertesacker when he was staring in on goal in the goal in a similar situation. The defence requires more hunger, and confidence is certainly on the low at present.
Is there still a chance for Arsenal to progress? Very, very unlikely, it will take literally the best performance of the season times five to notch the German leaders at home, but football is football and anything can happen..As for the Wenger out calls, I’m not really on the bandwagon but I cannot deny there is one hell of a case developing against the Frenchman.
Category: Arsenal News, News Feed
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all i can say is that i see a very promising core group of players. if they stay together, and this is the key, then beating them will be really difficult. i predict trophies starting from next year. I am excited about the longterm for the Arsenal. I am disappointed with this years performance but Arsenal players are involved in too many international matches and this disrupts their time to gel as a team. Injuries have also played its part, again, in the disruption. sure Arsenal can build a stronger backup group but many in the backup group were once considered stars in their own countries. Wenger is putting this strong group together and he will be proven right. It should have been this year and i had predicted 2nd or third place finish but now i will settle for fourth. However, next year, i expect the club to be in the top two spots.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Next year? Tht is wht u hopeless arsenal fun always say n trust me it will never come with wenger incharge
Spot-on. Like or Dislike:
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When a coach claims that fourth place is as good as a trophy, he has indirectly sold a poor mentality to the team.
Wilshere has a point and he actually has the right to speak up because he was Arsenal best player by far. Its a shame that he ended up on the losing side.
However, when a team that is good enough to compete against any team, keeps making the same mistake, then, there is something wrong somewhere. I think that the coach should be held accountable as much as the players, if not more.
Only very few players like Viera(back then) and probably Wilshere have the ability to generate sufficient motivation on their own. Most players thrive on motivation injected into the team by the coach.
I strongly believe that a team’s mentality is a direct reflection of the coach’s mentality. Arsenal is not an exception.
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Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike:
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lack of creativity from the man in central position.Carzola is a great player but i don’t think that he is good enough to play that position,MY worry is WHY IS HE NOT PUTTING ROSISCK in that position the guy has the vision of going forward just like Wilshere
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