It was really scary watching Arsenal struggle to hold on to a narrow 1-0 win at home over Turkish side Besiktas last night to qualify for the Champions League group stages. Scary because we almost drew and had that happened we would not have qualified. Arsene Wenger must consider himself lucky to have won and if he doesn’t see that then he is an idiot. His squad is full of holes and a slightly stronger opponent would have drilled holes in our defense. Alexis Sanchez’s first goal for Arsenal since his £35m move from Barcelona claimed the prize of a place in the Champions League group stage for the 17th successive season on a tense night at Emirates Stadium. The Chilean scored after some good work by Mesut Ozil & Jack Wilshere – who did play with some resolve. Those were positives. Also, once he scored Sanchez looked to have a weight lifted off his shoulders and seemed to gain more confidence. May this be the start of more goals for him.
Another positive is Carzola looked more dangerous as well as Alex Oxalade-Chamberlain but the Ox must learn to gain composure in front of goal. He charges like….well like an ox to the 3rd of the pitch but then makes a mess outta things. And that is Arsenal’s problem there. They are good at keeping and even retaining possession but the moment they sees the goal area the player does some funny stuff and the chance is gone. And Arsenal need to do something with their players constantly getting injured and out for months – with Giroud, Gibbs, Walcott out injured and I’m sure more will follow soon as the season progresses. The midfield needs shoring up and this is where a strong holding midfielder like Carvalho or Khedira is needed.
Defense is shaky as well. Where is the new defender we needed Wenger & co? How can you just let Vermalen leave for Barcelona without replacing him till now. We need 2 more solid full backs pronto! And a striker. Where are the goals going to come from? Giroud is out for 3 months, Sanogo is still finding his legs and Alexis is still settling in. Things do not look good for Arsenal! Which is why I’ve keep saying that Wenger should have been let go last season. Time for a fresh outlook for the club.