Arsenal News 24/7Writer: Tim Stillman 
Date:Monday February 18 2013
Time: 9:01AM
UK time is: 06:31:59
Vital Login
Social Login
Choose your club
Other Sites
Network Navigation
Vital Partners
'If It's Football, It's Vital'
Manager and Captain Admit Complacency
Both Manager Arsene Wenger and captain Thomas Vermaelen have admitted that Arsenal were guilty of complacency in their weekend F.A. Cup defeat to Blackburn Rovers. Arsene Wenger's admission was perhaps the frankest of all when he said, 'mentally, we are not capable at the moment of preparing in exactly the same way for every game.'
Wenger lamented, 'It is vital for us to fight for silverware,' said Wenger. 'Unfortunately the FA Cup will not happen for us now and we can only look at ourselves and not complain about anything else.
'Maybe they still thought: 'OK, we're playing at home against Blackburn, it will be difficult but we will win the game anyway', but it doesn't work like that.
'The top level is about consistency in every single game and that's what we could not show. Coming after the Sunderland game we came out with a flat performance and that shows that, mentally, we are not capable at the moment of preparing in exactly the same way for every game.
'I think we have a great team but this shows we still have to show more maturity on the mental front. We have to understand what it means to win big games. [Blackburn] was a big game for me.'
Meanwhile, captain Thomas Vermaelen added, 'I think the tempo could have been higher sometimes. I think we had too many touches on the ball, didn't respect the game sometimes and it was difficult to get through their defence.
'I think Bayern will come out of their box,' said Vermaelen. 'It will be a different game. The tempo should be higher. Sometimes you get more space when they come out more.'
Arsene Wenger quotes taken from Arsenal.com
Vital F1 Prediction League - Join now for the British GP
Seconds Out! Vital Boxing is here!
Your Comments
Frankly, I think that's a pretty massive admission from the manager, that he wasn't able to make the players take the game as seriously as he did and that it's an ongoing thing. We're not a team of kids anymore, these are experienced guys and we're still talking about mental maturity. I'll be honest, it's the sort of interview I see managers on the brink give and I think, "He'll be gone in a matter of days." That won't be the case here of course, but if he can't motivate his team, that's an incredibly damning indictment.
Little Dutch
And people wonder why he gets laughed at for talking about "mentral strength" and "fantastic spirit". I have no doubt the team will work a lot harder on Tuesday night, and put in a decent performance (I've even backed us to win the leg), but he cannot get them up for games like this, time and again we see this - jesus he can't even get them up for performances at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge, I think it could be nearing his time. This talk of another 2 years contract is comical timing from the press as well.
shewore
Seriously though can you imagine Arsene actually delivering a rollocking? I'm pretty certain it'd be more of a "give em a cuddle" approach, the way he's got the best out of players in the past is to put an arm around them and let them express themselves, he can't do that with this lot, bollox to all this "learn from this and concentrate on the next game", take a bit more of a basic approach and hit them where it hurts - drop them for Tuesday night. Back in the succesful years under him we used to have really hungry youth players interspersed with some first teamers, they'd invariably play well and even if they didn't make it at the club, they'd get sold for a few mil. These days we have utter toilet taking up places in a squad with such a rigid pecking order communist North Korea would be happy with. Does Szczney really worry about his place in the team? Does Giroud? Does Arteta? (who had an absolute stinker btw).
shewore
These players need a huge kick up the arse. I mean a massive bollocking before the game kicks off on Tuesday (but more importantly against Villa on Saturday as they will probably be fired up for the CL), but as Wenger is so deep into his career and long in the tooth I very much doubt he would be open to changing his style. But we need someone who is going to motivate the team ... a Jose Mourinho type, but a manager without the leaving every couple of years.
Rocky7
I'd love someone like Ancelotti.
shewore
The ethos of our club is mostly about 'the game we want to play'. You can imagine the players being coached and immersed in nothing else. No surprise then that they think let's just go out there and focus on our tippy tappy and the result will come because our way is superior. Don't Man Utd, City and Chavs also have to contend with teams that just sit back and work hard? Yet they almost always find a way of winning at home. United will score through sheer will and relentless pressure (whilst working hard not to concede). What do we do except pass sideways mostly cluelessly bar the odd spark from Santi or Jack. Two more years of Wenger will just mean more of the same. And I honestly don't trust him to sign the right players anymore either.
Gooner_Vin
The players didn’t emerge from the stadium for a very long time on Saturday, which would suggest words were said. The players had their day off cancelled yesterday and were told to report for training from what I hear too. The issue, as AW has said before, is that administering a rollocking only really works a couple of times a season otherwise it loses its effect. I’d imagine he already used up his quota against Norwich, Reading and Bradford!
Little Dutch
Send a message then, drop them - you put in a p1ss poor performance like that, you get dropped, that's how football should be. I'd rather an ethos of trying to win every game than just the odd performance in showcase games. It's sad to think our greatest memory at this stadium is winning one leg of a tie were ultimately went out in.
shewore
It sounds more like a statement of the obvious than a massive admission to me. Of course players don't have the same frame of mind when they play a lower division team than when they're likely to face Barcelona. It's not confined to Arsenal either, or even the present team. If it weren't part of the psychology of the game previous Arsenal teams through our history wouldn't have suffered defeats to the likes of Walsall, Swindon, Wrexham and others. The mental consistency Wenger seeks is the balance between not enough and too much confidence. If over confidence can be seen as complacency then it is no more damaging than a lack of confidence. Vermaelen was right about the tempo we played at but in some ways that's as much a demonstration of a lack of belief or confidence in your teammates, in a team with 7 changes, as it is of complacency.
Amos.
The fact that Wenger chose to make the statement of the obvious is a massive admission in its own right.
shewore
Wenger is capable (and has given) rollickings in the past. But if he needs to do it so often a season, there is something wrong, something mentally weak about this squad. One week it's talk of mental resilience vs Sunderland, the next it's taking Blackburn for granted. Wenger has to take the blame ultimately - the minute a manager deflects blame onto the players, those are not good signs. Even if the day off was cancelled, players were shouted at etc, does not really matter since the effect seems to be temporary and come April, if we play a weaker team like Wigan, we could see this complacency back again. I'd prefer to judge Wenger in the summer (last season, I went back and forth on whether he should stay or go, and in the end, finishing 3rd was good). If we could combine 3rd / 4th spot (which is the only realistic ambition in the League) with a good cup run in either the FA Cup / CL, that will be a good season, but a good cup run has eluded us for more than a few seasons now. We might win the home leg vs Bayern but we will lose the tie, for sure.
prits
It sounded like the sort of interview I've seen countless managers give on SSN that have made me think, "You'll be gone within a month." It might be obvious, but it doesn't make it any less frank to me. Even if the focus is below what it would be for Barca or Bayern, that the focus, again, wasn't big enough to perform well is very worrying. Wrexham, Walsall etc were years apart. Bradford and Blackburn 8 weeks. And Bradford came 8 weeks after he admitted the team underestimated Norwich City.
Little Dutch
That Wenger has to make a statement of the obvious as often as he does is more a sign of media contractual obligations than a massive admission of anything. The fact that Wrexham, Walsall (and the others in between) were years apart is part of the point but this isn't the first season we've gone out of both domestic cups in the same season. It happens more often than not to most clubs in most seasons. Nor is it the first time we've, or others have gone out in games we could and should have won. For the team we put out the tactics were wrong and probably vice versa even if we should still have been able to win. That's the massive admission I would like to hear Arsene make but thinking about it even that isn't all that massive really.
Amos.
I have always been a little bit worried about AW's ability to make decisons during a game - We should have beaten Blackburn - plain and simple - I honestly believe AW makes poor decisions during a game - IMO we would have scored on saturday without making any changes - we were on top and looking dangerous so why make three changes ? If you think your players are not up to it don't make changes so late that you can't dig yourself out of a hole if the opposition score - make your changes with 30 minutes or more to spare - To me it's hardly anything to do with attitude or belief - it's just plain poor decision making during the game !!
radarman
I've defended our cup record in the past based on the fact that we were typically being knocked out by the likes of United, Chelsea and Barcelona. And yes, anything can happen in the cup in a one off game. But I think we're talking about a pattern here, with Bradford and Blackburn causing the club to admit they weren't focused enough. Look at performances in recent years when we have just managed to escape (Leeds, Huddersfield, Leyton Orient, Ipswich, Reading) I think the manager saying he can't get his players to take every game as seriously as he does is a big admission because it's a fundamental failure of management.
Little Dutch
I'm not sure how many times we were knocked out of the domestic cups by teams above us but as we've ended up 3 or 4th in the league since we last won one then chances are more often than not we've lost to teams below us and therefore should have beaten them. There's no pattern other than the team isn't in great shape at the moment. It was always going to take a bit of time to get back on an even keel which is why I've made the point more than once that it'll be at least another 2 seasons before we're able to compete to a level most might be satisfied with. I suppose it is a failure of management (he could have made a better fist of it tactically if he were prepared to give a domestic cup enough priority) but it's also the consequence of rebuilding a team that has been stripped bare over the last couple of seasons. Inconsistency will be a feature for a while yet.
Amos.
I don't see anything that unusual about that statement and I'm sure he has made similar admissions in the past about complacency and lack of consistency. I agree with Prits, it's best to wait until the end of the season to judge AW. The squad does need strengthening in a few areas. I think we definitely need another top class centre back. The problem these days is that when we rotate our squad, the players who come in aren't often up to the job. I'm hoping we get rid of all the dead wood finally this summer and buy some top class players instead of average signing that we have made in a lot of instances in the last 5 years. Surely we have the finances to do that now with the extra sponsorship money.
bowiecokemirror
Amos it's not an inconsistency issue is it, it's the not being able to get the players up for it. I don't buy that a team full of internationals going out to Blackburn is cos they haven't played 100+ games together, that's just excusing the inexcusable.
shewore
No doubt, this team tends to start slowly and often finds itself conceding a dopey goal; then they start to take more attacking chances. Not conceding the dopey goals is the important part, I feel, rather than pressing the attack earlier. That said, are we over-reacting a little? I admit I didn't see the game, so I'll rely on those of you that did - weren't Arsenal the much better team on the day, creating many chances, clattering shots against the bar etc.? I mean, we lost, and we have to accept that and move on; but moving on from a game where we've been by far the better team and the opponents have nicked a goal, right? When one team is much better than the other but loses, is there any other word for it than 'unlucky'?
damiano_tommassi
Damiano, suggest you watch it.
shewore
Will do! Were we poor, though, Shewore; were we the second best team on the field?
damiano_tommassi
Well we lost... their keeper made one good save - one straight at him at the end, that's about it really. One clear cut chance that the best player in Africa missed.
shewore
The difference in making a massive admission of some revelatory psychological failure or not could be seen as the difference between a shot hitting the bar at one end and another mis-hit shot going in off the post at the other. Whisper such controversial thoughts softly in the current atmosphere though damianno.
Amos.
I think I read somewhere that we have 3 goals to show for our last 70 shots. I suppose that invites the question as to when bad luck gives way to plain old incompetence.
Little Dutch
Those last 3 games wouldn't have been against notably defensive sides would they? I thought I read somewhere that we had a fairly decent SOT ratio and a reasonable goal conversion rate overall but I'm not one to read too much into stats.
Amos.
Yes, of course, all of our shots against Sunderland for instance, were hopeful potshots from distance. As was Gervinho's chance on Saturday......
Little Dutch
Our main problem has been our finishing in the last few games. We should have comfortably won thos games instead of winning by a narrow margin or losing them. Gervinho is not the only one to have missed chances...pretty much all our midfielders and strikers have wasted chances. The only other team I have seen miss as many chances in last few weeks is Liverpool. Perhaps they need to practice their shooting more and learn how to stay composed in front of the goal.
bowiecokemirror
Gervinho is certainly by no means alone and, yes, I would say finishing is something that requires work. Whether it's a symptom of desperation, I don't know. We were 1-0 up when we missed a hatful of chances against Sunderland so logic suggests we shouldn't have been desperate. Giroud I think certainly needs to relax in front of goal. He is so eager to impress that I think that translates in the way he takes chances sometimes. Gervinho is a better player than he's showing but is just utterly bereft of confidence. He was playing well on Saturday until that miss, whereby he fell apart for the rest of the game.
Little Dutch
Interesting things stats though. If we have only scored 3 goals in the last 70 shots when did we start counting? Including the game at the weekend we've only managed 2 goals in the last 3 games. In the 3 games prior to that we'd scored 10 goals so in order to have arrived at a figure of 3 goals in our last 70 shots we can only have included 1 of the 2 goals we scored against Liverpool. Why we want to be that selective though and what does it really tell us?
Amos.
Difficult to whisper on the internet, losing to West Ham when Rob Green has an absolute blinder is one thing, losing to a team fighting relegation from the Championship, in a massively important FA Cup game. going out in a whimper, is a completely different kettle of fish - kind of reminds you of the Bradford game, that was played about 2 months ago, doesn't it? Or Leeds, or Ipswich, or Orient, or so so many examples over the last few years.
shewore
It's from the last three games. Stoke, Sunderland and Blackburn.
Little Dutch
Sorry, original was a typo on my part. 2 goals from the last 70 shots.
Little Dutch
And for a team fighting to win their first piece of silverware in 8 years one would expect motivation to be sky high. Sometimes you have to just read the signals. Maybe Wenger simply no longer has the dressing room.
Wyn Mills
i'm not sure about having lost the dressing room, I think they still all want to play for them - but he hasn't been able to get the best out of them this season, we actually have some very good players....
shewore
Shewore, Blacburn rovers isn't a "team fighting relegation in the championship". They are in the top 10 in a 24 team format and that's not to say we shouldn't be thrashing them anyway. Plus, we did dominate that game, hitting the wood work and with their defenders putting their bodies on the line, it can be hard for anyone. Their keeper did make more saves than you make out which suggests we just have a need to pine about our lot at the moment, quite unfortunately. We play better against teams who come out to play; or when we get an early goal (and the opposition is forced to come out more). It is true that United, Chelsea and maybe, City will find a way to goal when teams play defensively against them but, it almost always starts with a bit of luck. See United v Reading last night to understand; it may have been a different result as well. Blackburn beating Arsenal was an Upset! That is not a new phenomenon in the cups as most of the aforementioned teams have more bitter stories to tell than our team, in recent times.
Naijagunner
I'm kind of tired of the luck excuse. Teams win matches consistently because they are well organised, communicative, have a strategy based on opponents, and are well coached. Luck plays a part but not to the extent some would have you believe. Talent will also get you so far, but if you don't have the other components in place you don't win consistently.
Wyn Mills
It isn't an excuse but a perspective to consider; I have to agree we could use some more talented men in such circumstances. When you shoot or head at goal as much as 16 times and hit the bar or the keeper, I will say you needed a bit of luck or some magic from a gifted player (very few teams have those); you needed a break to make the goals! It may not be right to say that United (for instance) were not all of those things you stated above all of those times they drew with or were knocked out of the cups by lower league/weaker sides. Sometimes, you need to have some luck.
Naijagunner
Luck is the thing you have no control over. It will influence the odd game. The consistency of teams like Utd, Bayern and Barca points to other factors which you simply cannot assign to luck. Perhaps the reason Rosicky misses the target so many times is no-one is coaching his shooting? I don't know. What I would say is that Wenger has admitted complacency. In any job that will considerably lesson your chances of success.
Wyn Mills
*lessen*
Wyn Mills
It is hard to think that a Manager like Wenger won't know to coach shooting with his players, assuming that is what he did to get the successes of all those years when Henry, Pires, Freddie and Dennis could all shoot straight. I feel it is down to the players sometimes; teams have practiced penalties in anticipation of a shoot-out only for the players to find their kicks go wrong, one after the other. If it is possible to coach composure in the players, then I that will blame on Wenger. My take is we just need a new season to try all over again, but not after the little matter of a top 4 finish.
Naijagunner
*kicks go wrong...at crunch time, when it matters*
Naijagunner
Have Your Say
Log in...
with your social network OR with your Vital account
Recent Articles
Sanogo: Arsenal Move 'A Dream' (Tuesday June 18 2013)
Denilson Completes Sao Paulo Move (Saturday June 15 2013)
Santos Returns (Saturday June 15 2013)
Hello Mr. Chips (Friday June 14 2013)
Bendtner: 5 Clubs Are Interested In Me (Thursday June 13 2013)
Cesc Puts Paid To Exciting/Worrying Transfer Talk (Tuesday June 11 2013)
Arsenal and Citeh To Play in Finland (Wednesday June 5 2013)
Bacary Weighing Up His Options (Tuesday June 4 2013)
VIDEO: Wenger Hints At Rooney Interest (Tuesday June 4 2013)
Denilson Released (Monday June 3 2013)
Archived Articles
Vital Members League (view all)
| 1. | Amos. | 40 |
| 2. | Naijagunner | 24 |
| 3. | Regiboy | 22 |
| 4. | shewore | 18 |
| 5. | Rocky7 | 12 |
| 6. | Sajit | 12 |
| 7. | Little Dutch | 12 |
| 8. | Deltaforce | 11 |
| 9. | Bradysleftpeg | 9 |
| 10. | nikolaijns | 8 |
League Results (view all)
| Latest Results | ||||
| Newcastle | 0 | - | 1 | Arsenal |
| Arsenal | 4 | - | 1 | Wigan |
| Q.P.R. | 0 | - | 1 | Arsenal |
| Arsenal | 1 | - | 1 | Man Utd |
| Fulham | 0 | - | 1 | Arsenal |
| Arsenal | 0 | - | 0 | Everton |
League Table (view table)
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| 1. Man Utd | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 43 | 89 |
| 2. Man City | 38 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 32 | 78 |
| 3. Chelsea | 38 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 36 | 75 |
| 4. Arsenal | 38 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 35 | 73 |
| 5. Spurs | 38 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 20 | 72 |
| 6. Everton | 38 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 15 | 63 |
| 7. Liverpool | 38 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 28 | 61 |
Breaking League News
| Canas: 'I Saw a Great Opportunity At Swansea City'
» Swansea : 18/06/2013 22:51:00
|
| Saints Season 2012/2013 Review - Goalkeepers
» Southampton : 18/06/2013 22:27:00
|
| Madness Confirmed.
» Newcastle : 18/06/2013 21:48:00
|
| Liverpool: International Heartbreak For Borini
» Liverpool : 18/06/2013 21:17:00
|
| Elliot Ward Joins Bournemouth
» Norwich : 18/06/2013 20:38:00
|
| Isco Torn Between Man City amp; Real Madrid
» Man City : 18/06/2013 20:13:00
|
| Yankees' Lawyer on Man City MLS Partnership
» Man City : 18/06/2013 19:59:00
|
Current Site Poll (view all polls)
|
|