For all the money that we are paying the players, this Arsenal team has shown yet again that it cannot play a full game of football. The players were totally out of it in the first half before once again trying to dig themselves out of the hole they have created in the second half.
This kind of performance has happened throughout the season, and it a wonder why Arsene Wenger has still not managed to deal with it. I can understand if it is an occasional issue but game after game we are seeing this happening. Whether it is against a top team or someone languishing at the bottom of the table, the result is the same. The players don’t turn up for the first half and try to win it in the second. I really pity the fans who brave the weather yesterday to turn up for the entire match. They might as well just come in for the second half because there was only one team playing in the first, and it wasn’t the team in red.
That is where Arsenal is suffering at the moment. If you look at the performances in the second half of the matches against Chelsea or last week against Man City, you would think that we have a good caliber team capable of challenging for honours. Unfortunately, our inability to play a full game in causing the team to suffer losses. Against Chelsea, like in the game against Man City, we were already two down by half time and it is always difficult to be chasing the game in the second half. If only we could start reasonably, this season could have been a lot different. Now, it appears that this could be the worse year in the Wenger era and next year’s Champions League spot could be only attainable if we win the trophy in May.
Finally, I don’t know how much the stress of the contract negotiations is taking on Bacary Sagna but his performance yesterday was probably the worst I have seen him in an Arsenal shirt. Although he was not the worst Arsenal player on the field (my vote goes to Diaby) he was certainly no help when going forward or when defending his side of the defense.
