No excuses. No whining.
I hate Tottenham as any good Gooner does, but I also have enough honor and integrity that I can make an honest assessment of what I have seen.
Tottenham Hotspur thoroughly whooped Arsenal tonight at White Hart Lane and they deserved every goal they got.
Player selection be damned. Tottenham beat a strong Arsenal starting squad that included Gallas, Hleb, Sagna, Bendtner, and Walcott (who continues to disappoint).
Injured defense be damned. Tottenham made Arsenal's defense look bad through their exceptional strength on the counterattack and injuries to Djourou and Senderos can be no excuse. The simple truth is that Gallas and Hoyte simply couldn't handle the Spur's speed and cutting edge—and they paid for it five times.
Big stars be damned. Fabregas, Adebayor, and Eduardo were either shut down by Tottenham or came on too late to make a difference.
Poor play all around be damned. Arsenal didn't play terribly. In fact, a couple of Arsenal players still impressed. Diaby had a solid game in midfield, Gilberto had his best game of the season, and even Bendtner played well despite the own goal. Tottenham were just that good. And congratulations to them for being so.
Tottenham outplayed Arsenal at every turn (much as Arsenal did against Birmingham two Saturdays ago) and they deserve their trip to Wembley.
One other important note: Arsene Wenger needs to take a serious look at his players. There is no question that the Gunners have incredible team spirit and a love for one another, but this team of youngsters is making a habit of losing the plot in big games.
Some of these players lost to Barcelona in the Champions League Final two years ago. Most of them lost to Chelsea in the League Cup Final last year. And they lost again tonight to Tottenham Hotspur in an intense semi-final.
This team doesn't just need to win a trophy to prove they are great. They need to win a trophy for themselves so they can prove that they know how how to win. So far they are great at almost getting there. Now Arsenal need to really get there.
All I have left to say is, "Go Everton! Go Chelsea!"
It won't be the same as an Arsenal victory over the Spurs, but at this point I'll take anything I can get.
5 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Sheikh Zakaria about 1 year ago
Despite having Gallas and Sagna in the team, Arsenal shudn't have lost 5-1!!!
Dude, that's a disgraceful scoreline....what did the strikers do then??
Wenger had all his strikers injury free (except Van Persie).
A big blow to their confidence which is always booming
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
it's Carling Cup...
Cool down fellas..
when the going gets tough, the tough get going...
Come on u Gooners..
EPL, The FA cup and the Champions League, that's what we are aiming at..
Let the spurs have their share in the limelight, has been quite some time..
Eventhough I live very close to White Hart, I am a die hard Gooner..
Up the Gooners..
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Brad Simkulet about 1 year ago
Okay, I rewatched that debacle of last night and I have to take one thing back. Gilberto Silva was crap. He was directly responsible for three of the five goals, so I return to my earlier season assessment: get rid of Gilberto now. Wenger should have brought on Flamini and Adebayor rather than Eduardo and Adebayor.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
I have to give you credit for an unbiased, clear account of last night's match. In my experience, this is not a typical Gooner response, so I will grant you the honour and integrity for your honest assessment. That is the hallmark of a true fan, not a fair-weather, that picks the flavour of the month from the table's top 5.
However, you came very close to hitting the mark concerning the problems with the current Arsenal squad, but did not quite nail it.
The word you were looking for was "character", and all the technical ability and skill in the world cannot make up for the lack of it. That has never been more evident than it was last night.
And that is the quality of the individual that holds a team together when it loses, and allows it to revel in its successes and accomplishments. This Spurs team has miles of talent, and the intelligent people in football have known this all season. But they also have character. Now that they have themselves realized their true potential, anything can be possible! The quality and character is theirs if they chose to exploit it.
Even the great Arsene Wenger can not make that which is not there to begin with.
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Brad Simkulet about 1 year ago
While I admit that the Spurs are much better than most people give them credit for I don't concede that Arsenal lack character -- at least not yet. And Spurs winning one game against Arsenal in eight years does not constitute character either. If Spurs really had character they'd have taken advantage of Liverpool's crummy year to be soundly in fourth place. They are not.
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