Stoke don’t have a clear week.
Arsenal’s next game is at Stoke and Arsenal have five days to prepare to win three points.
Stoke don’t have five days to prepare. On Wednesday night they play Man City in an FA Cup Fifth Round replay at the Britannia.
What about the Sunderland game?
Well, I still think survivalist managers are killing English football as a spectacle.
I’m very reluctant to return to this theme but it’s unavoidable.
Arsenal 2 Sunderland 0 showed that Steve Bruce is a big thick Geordie.
It also showed that he’s a survivalist , just like Steve McClaren, Alan Curbishley and dozens of others.
They go to Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool and expect to lose and play to lose. They have lost before they get out of the bus. They play 4-5-1 and hope to lose 2-0.
Sunderland are a shocking side. They are a rubbish team who cannot play football at all and they could go down. I saw how bad they are 30 days ago when I was at Portsmouth for that FA Cup tie and Pompey beat them 2-1. OK, Sunderland have had 10 injuries at times, and Cattermole and Malbranque are big players for them.
But to go the Arsenal, when Arsenal are coming off a traumatic defeat at Porto, and play 4-5-1, and put top scorer Darren Bent on the left of a five, with Anton Ferdinand in central midfield (!) was dim-witted survivalism taken to extremes.
We all knew Arsenal would beat Sunderland. But, as it turned out, Bent and Jones had chances, and it was defensive mistakes by Bent and Campbell, their other striker, that gave away the goals that lost the game.
In 27, Bent worked back into an offside position on the first goal. Having watching that goal 15 times, I think Eboue scuffed his shot. His assist was a shot that he mishit, allowing a tap-in for Bendtner to make it 1-0.
Big-head Bendtner could have finished the game with a first half header but he didn’t jump because he though the defender was would get a Nasri cross. The defender missed it and so did Bendtner. Pathetic. Even if his feet are rusty, his brain should be switched on at all times. Goalscorers have to react, have to think positive, have to believe the ball will come to them, even after 15 balls don’t come to them.
Surprisingly, the score was 1-0 into the 90th minute when Campbell fouled Fabregas on the side of the box. Fabregas played for it, went down, took the penalty very well, firing it low into the corner for 2-0.
Overall, a shabby, aimless game with little atmosphere. The Gooners have seen many title-winning teams and this doesn’t look like one, even though it is third in the table now. The crowd is going through the motions with 11 games left to play. A lot of people can’t wait for this season to be over.
The next game is at Stoke on Saturday and Stoke are far better than Sunderland. Stoke are unbeaten in ten games whereas Sunderland had not won in 12 games before they came to Arsenal.
Gooners ask each other : Why is Denilson in our team? Why is Almunia in our team? Why has Clichy gone backwards? Walcott was a bit better on Saturday, is he on the way back. If so, on the way back to what? He wasn’t great before.
They say : Vermaelen is fantastic, he’s the best centreback in the league, why don’t we sign three more players as good as him?
They ask : Why does Wenger think he can develop goalkeepers? Why not buy an experienced keeper who can do the job? Why didn’t he buy a striker? The league was there for the taking but we have no striker. He sold Adebayor but didn’t replace him because he didn’t want to kill his babies. But his babies don’t make it. Vela, Eduardo, Bendtner and Walcott don’t make it.
The good news is that Arsenal’s 11 remaining league fixtures are easier. Their upcoming games are far easier than Chelsea’s games or Man United’s games.
Last night one Gooner told me, “If we win it, he’ll say: I was right! And he won’t buy anyone.” But he doesn’t think they’ll win it.
My own view has been clearly stated here many times : I don’t think Arsenal win the Premier League or the Champions League. I don’t think they will win any more trophies with this manager. I don’t believe in his strategy or his style of play or the culture he creates. If Arsenal play Real Madrid they will get smashed and Barcelona would beat them comfortably. And almost nobody I know thinks that Arsenal would beat Chelsea or Man United over two legs.
This Arsenal team is simply not good enough.