On thus sunny Friday morning, I’m in a better position to comment
Writing 1,000 words off the top of my head, early on Thursday morning, it was bound to be impressionistic, full of typos and mistakes. I’d not made any notes at the game, or read anything about it, and didn’t feel strong enough to watch the video.
Having now watched the 94-minute video, I’ve had time to see exactly how Arsenal threw the game away.
Clearly, they were thrashing Spurs until Wenger took off Walcott and van Persie. Those substitutions were crazy, and subs Eboue and Song were breathtakingly inept. The other sub, Diaby, did well.
At 4-2 and 81 minutes, Adebayor miscued a “header” into the ground. He was absolutely pitiful. Slow, sloppy, unfocussed. He only combined once with van Persie, when he gave him the pass for the fourth goal, a blistering right-foot shot that made it 4-2 in 68 minutes.
In 88 minutes, Wenger brought on Song for Nasri. Song was laughing as he came on and he high-fived Denilson. He came on for his win bonus and his share of the glory. He was already celebrating the win. He had the mindset of a pub player.
When Clichy slipped and gifted the ball to Jenas, the Spurs captain raced 30 yards towards the D and hit a clean left-footed shot that curved just inside the post for 4-3 in 89 minutes. No keeper could have saved that shot.
Song was fresh, having just come on. He chased Jenas but never got anywhere near him. Indeed, he veered off away from him. Song ran after Jenas and then swerved away from him, towards the right side of the box. Why did Song do that? Because he is a muppet who is not fit to wear the shirt. His great party-trick as a defensive midfielder is to stop running and put his hands up and say, “Ref, I didn’t touch him, I didn’t foul him.” A 24-carat plonker.
Amazingly, at 4-3, Arsenal were still trying to score the fifth goal. The alarm bells, which had not rung at 4-2, were still not ringing at 4-3.
With the clock on 90, and Fabregas about to take a corner, the fourth official holds up his electronic board : 4 minutes !
At 90.33, Jenas tries to head a Modric cross and the ball pops up into the hands of Almunia.
At 91.44, Gallas has to head out a Bentley free-kick.
At 93.01, Arsenal are 60 seconds from three points and Fabregas looks for a killer pass to Adebayor but finds keeper Gomes. Even Cesc isn’t keeping the ball and running the clock down, as a good pro should.
Spurs, having a British mentality and a realistic English manager, have put big centreback Woodgate up front. They have nothing to lose now. Gomes kicks long and Woodgate flicks on to Huddlestone, who passes to Modric. He chests the ball and hits a half-volley which deflects off the body of Silvestre and hits the post halfway up, and Lennon tucks home the rebound.
It is 93.15 and 4-4 and a draw that feels like a win for Spurs and a defeat for Arsenal.
Is this the dimmest team in the club’s recent history? What has he taught them? Are they schoolboys? Are they a pub team? They’re not only complacent starting a game, they’re naive and complacent at the end of a game. They live in a bubble and train in a kindergarten called Colney.
After losing 1-0 at Fulham, Wenger said he was “bitterly disappointed”. How often can you be bitterly disappointed without dropping anybody? How often can you criticise your own team for being “naive” and ” lacking maturity”? If the Arsenal team lacks maturity, whose fault is that?
Wenger has signed every player in the squad, and picked every player in the team, and picked every player on the bench. Arsenal should be able to close out a home game where they are winning 4-2 with 16 minutes to go. They were winning 4-2 with two minutes to go. It’s Wenger’s fault. It’s nobody else’s fault. How can it be? It’s his fault. It’s his team and his training and his culture and his obstinacy.
Arsene Wenger has created a team that is an accident waiting to happen. He is either a fantasist who actually believes what he tells us, or a cynic who doesn’t.
Goals: Bentley (13) 0-1; Silvestre (37) 1-1; Gallas (46) 2-1; Adebayor (64) 3-1; Bent (67) 3-2; Van Persie (68) 4-2, Jenas (89) 4-3, Lennon (90) 4-4.
ARSENAL (4-4-2): Almunia; Sagna, Silvestre, Gallas, Clichy; Walcott (Eboué, 75), Fabregas, Denilson, Nasri (Song, 88); Adebayor, Van Persie (Diaby, 81). Subs not used: Touré, Vela, Fabianski (gk), Bendtner.
SPURS (4-4-1-1): Gomes; Hutton (Gunter, 79), Corluka, Woodgate, Assou-Ekotto; Bentley, Huddlestone, Jenas, Bale (Lennon, 55); Modric; Pavlyuchenko (Bent, 65). Subs not used: Sanchez (gk), Zokora, O’Hara, Campbell.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (West Yorkshire).