AC Milan Vs Arsenal,(running a diagnosis)

So hard to write, and let alone wake up to such a humiliating defeat in a champions’ League game. Arsenal might have felt hard done by by the nature of the Milan pitch, but approaching the game with such a defeated attitude didn’t help matters at all, we were so poor in almost every corner of the pitch, Milan killed off our wings by “relaying” their pitch, and their antics worked to their advantage…. The only person we might have had in our defense was maybe Kieran Gibbs and of course the ever present Koscienly too before he was brought off due to injury. Our goal keeper visibly had an off day, he never looked to be into the game really, and the first goal we conceded was testament to this.

But where did it all REALLY go wrong? We had almost the best squad out there in that game, a squad that could surely have afforded us a win even at the San Siro, I mean we have done it before with even a weaker side (when you look at it in retrospect). Number one, the pitch, yes the state of the pitch more or less killed off all the morale the players might have had when they flew out to Milan on Monday, it was such unsporting behavior from AC Milan to pull tricks only employed by lower division sides who are never sure of their ability, but for a side like Milan to decide and ruin their opponents’ chances by killing off their wing play, was the lowest of lows for any club playing in the champions’ league! Number two, some of our players gave us no advantage by having an off day on the job, chief culprit here should be Thomas Vermalean, I might be the only one that has observed this but ever since his return from injury, things haven’t really been working out for him that much in our defense, i was mostly thinking this was because he was being out of position and so it wasn’t that easy for him to adjust, but well, yesterday he was being played in his favorite Centre Back position.  Another player that had an off day must have been our goal keeper, I noticed it around the 20^th minute, he didn’t really look okay, more than often the camera would zoom on him with his hands around his waist, if you’ve played the game before ladies and gentlemen, you should know how hands around the chest always indicates a beaten attitude, had Sczesny been his normal self, im very sure we couldn’t have been put on the sword as badly as we were last night, he probably could have done much better on all the goals, especially the first and third. Then we had Ramsey in the middle of the park, who was later moved to the wings, I still remember the words by one of the most respected Arsenal bloggers @YoungGunsBlog “Aaron Ramsey, the epitome of everything Arsenal at the moment, trying so hard but having little to show for it” he was spot on, the argument for Ramsey has always been, “he never stops running, covers so much ground and he is still young, he is the future” valid points these, but my question has always been, but what do we have to show in the end for all that? And to be honest, save for the times he has come on as sub (against OM and Sunderland), there’s hardly been much to show for all those efforts by Ramsey save for that goal against Tottenham, I love him so much and yes, still believe he is the future for us but lets be honest with each other here, the boy hasn’t yet reached the level where he can play Creative Attacking Midfielder for Arsenal, not even close, he still needs a lot of things to work on, stuff like how to find the perfect pass, how to pass the ball early enough to avoid a colleague being caught in the offside position, he has to stop those silly back heels too or at least make them when they can least cost us, esp of a chance to score… I can’t remember a match Aaron Ramsey started and didn’t give out the ball through his back heel, can’t remember a single one, and well, he still continues to do it!!

The battle might have been won by Milan for now, but I still believe that just like they managed to put 4 past us, we can as well make up our minds up to go for it when they come to The Emirates in two weeks’ time, we can still approach the game with a better attitude and determination, put away as many chances as we can get right from the onset, yes we can still fight on, its up to the coach and the entire team to come together make up their minds on what they really want out of this.... for the meantime though, Arsenal are better off concentrating on the domestic tasks, they have to do all they can not to lose to Sunderland on the weekend, and as well fight hard to ascend on the League’s table, the Milan game should only be a concern after we have taken care of our domestic duties.

I’m out of here, so hungry and still sad, but I still LOVE ARSENAL to the core!!

peace