" I just want the young guys to give a good showing in Sheffield, and for no one to get hurt. "
That was the last sentence I wrote on this blog. Well, shit. I don't know how serious the injuries are to Chamberlain and Walcott. I hope they were taken out as a precaution. It's certainly strange that both took themselves out within minutes of going on. Had they not trained properly? Weird. We have run out of replacements, and Wenger loaned out the likes of Gnabry who could slot in respectably. This could be very bad.
The other bad thing was how poorly all the substitutes played (with one or two exceptions, below). I figured Kamara and Iwobi would be in over their heads, but I didn't expect veteran first teamers like Chambers, Debuchy, and Flamini to stink up Hillsborough. Cech was fantastic, Mertesacker OK (though open headers that close in are unforgivable), and Giroud got absolutely no service (more on that later) so it's hard to rate him. Gibbs did his job. Bennacer was dreadful when he came on. Campbell may have been the biggest flop of the night. Bielik was the best of our midfielders after he came on.
Sheffield outplayed us by a long way. They easily kept us from doing anything remotely dangerous, took the ball away almost at will, and their attacks and set pieces were clinical. They prepared for this game. I don't know what we did, but it wasn't helpful. I blame Wenger. It's not reasonable to expect that group of B teamers and youngsters (with three starters) to ping the ball around the Arsenal way. He played Giroud; why? I expected a lot of long balls for the Frenchman to knock down for Iwobi and Campbell, but no one even looked for him. They just kept their heads down and dribbled into trouble, or left passes short (Flamini did it a lot). Hardly anyone checked back for the ball, allowing the opponents to nip in and steal it repeatedly. They weren't distracted by defending, because time and again they lost their man. Guys like Debuchy, Flamini, and Chambers know better.
Flamini is simply past it. He must have eaten spinach before the Tottenham game, but he's really not that good anymore and needs to concentrate on his job, which is mostly defensive.
I'm worried that it isn't going to happen for Calum Chambers. I once thought he'd be a mainstay for Arsenal, but he looks lost. He's nowhere near Gabriel's level at CB, and he has been found wanting at right back. He's not fast enough for a defensive midfielder, and he does not pass the ball well. His stupid, blatant takedown of their forward in a dangerous position led to the third goal on the subsequent free kick. (That was a very lovely play, I must say, and if it was a touch offside, I don't care.) He may end up with a team like Villa sooner rather than later. Seriously, he was garbage today.
Debuchy was a very good right back in the EPL and internationally. Maybe the injuries took a toll. I don't think he's going to play his way back into top form. He was torched today. With his current form, and Chambers's, I say bring Carl Jenkinson back next year. Chambers may be a project, but unless Debuchy rounds into form, he has to go.
Joel Campbell is not an Arsenal player. Wenger made a mistake with him and it's time he admitted it. He won't get much money for him now, but sell him, please. I'm sick of watching him in an Arsenal shirt.
Iwobi showed some promise, but he was not ready for this. Bielik actually looked decent, but he came on fresh and by then Sheffield had done all the damage they needed to. Kamara was pretty bad in this game. Bennacer embarrassed himself. And Wenger let them all down. How were these desperate, frightened youngsters supposed to do well when they couldn't get decent passes, when the guys they passed to were hard to find and lost the ball anyway, when the veterans they played with couldn't keep defensive shape and were constantly out of position, and their manager sent them out there with a crap plan (or none at all)? This was a horrible experience for all of them. Wenger would have done far better to play the youth team. I mean it.
In short, this was awful. We learned nothing we can use and we're out of this competition. All the confidence we had was shot. There are more important injuries.
Crap.
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