By, Mark Finlay,
2/3/14
I am still in shock somewhat over what I witnessed yesterday when I saw an Arsenal team that just looked tired and weary try and play against a team that are not involved in any title races or any Cup competitions yet their players really wanted to win as was evident in all the work that Peter Crouch put in compared to Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud who I thought should have been substituted.
When I say shocked, I suppose what I really meant to say was disappointed in the overall performance of the team and also the starting XI that Wenger put out playing a team that lacked conviction, and the desire to win.
It is the same every time the Gunners suffer a setback the knives come out for manager Arsene Wenger, and each time I can see the valid points that the fans are making, blaming him for not bringing in some fresh talent in January to help the club push for silverware in what he must have known would be a difficult end to the season.
Then there is the problem with Özil not starting in every match after you just paid a club record £42.5 million for a player who is supposed to be a world-class play-maker.
My biggest complaint with Wenger yesterday was why he did not start Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin who any Arsenal fan will tell you has been the best player in the team since he returned from injury and it was evident again when he came on in the 74th minute for Tomas Rosicky by which time of course it was too late.
Even Sanogo when he came on for the ineffective Wilshere in the last ten minutes of the match showed some spirit wanting to be out there doing his best for the club, and yes it was a terrible mistake that perhaps could have earned Arsenal a point, but I will forgive him that because he is not playing week in week out for the first team.
It is obvious for all to see he is at least trying to his best, unlike some of the players that will be sitting down to their Sunday lunches with all thoughts of yesterday’s disappointment erased from their memory.
SkyBet now has Arsenal at 20/1 to win the Premiership while Liverpool a team that is full of players that want to win has moved to 5/1 in the betting.
Following the game the Arsenal manager told the BBC when asked about the result: “It is not slightly worrying, it’s a big worry to lose a game like that.”
“In a game like that, we didn’t produce the performance that we wanted.”
He added: “To win a title when you are expected to perform, you have to perform, it’s as simple as that. It was a massive setback.”
Many Arsenal fans are now of the opinion that the FA Cup is all the Gunners have left to play for, and while I am not writing off the season just yet something needs to be done in order to get more out of the players because the way they played at Stoke was just unacceptable.
If you have any comments on what you think Arsenal needs to do we would love to hear them from you.
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