Arsenal 2 West Bromwich 3 additional commentry

By Myles Palmer

Arsenal 2 West Brom 3

What a sloppy, continental performance by France's biggest club!

Arsene FC announced a £56 million profit on Friday but had no goalkeeper on Saturday.

Most football clubs put that cash on the pitch where you can watch it run around.

West Brom were decent. Not great, but decent. And they deserved to win.
On this evidence, Roberto Di Matteo could be a candidate for Wenger's job.

I figured Jack Wilshere would play and thought Arsene FC might outclass West Brom. But since the amateur defending was no surprise, I can't claim that the result was a shock.

Some ANR readers tell me that Wenger's genius has set us all up for the rest of our lives. They must be on the same medication as those who, on Saturday were still singing, "There's only one Arsene Wenger!" My advice : don't mix alcohol with those pills.

The genius's squad is now so formidable that he has to save an 18-year old, Jack Wilshere, for the Belgrade game.

Arshavin hit the post twice in a goal-free first half. But Arsenal were lacklustre. Maybe that's an exaggeration. In their better moments, they were lacklustre.

Second half, we saw five goals. Koscielny had a shocker. So did Squillaci. Fullbacks Clichy and Sagna were appalling.  When Bacary Sagna arrived he was superb, the best right back in the Premier League, and the best natural defender at Arsenal. But this is what three years of Wenger and Eboue have done to him : Sagna has forgotten how to defend. He just wants to join in the attack and cross bad balls all the time. Once superb, he is now rubbish.

A midfield of Eboue, Diaby and Song?
Eboue, Song, Diaby is your midfield?
YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS !!

He was saving Jack for Belgrade, so that was his midfield, not including Nasri, who played up close to his mate Chamakh.

After 50, Koscielny headed the ball out, move down the left, Jerome Thomas waltzed past Sagna and slotted his pass through the legs of Squillaci for the unmarked Peter Odemwingie to make it 1-0 to West Brom. Where's the back-up to Sagna and Squillaci? Where's the marking? Koscielny's gone AWOL when he should be protecting the near post. Basic centreback play that you learn at 14 or younger

Eboue played an idiotic crossfield pass, a totally kamikaze pass, as if Arsenal were 6-0 up in a pre-season friendly, and Koscielny couldn't control it, so he kicked James Morrison in the centre circle and got a yellow card

Then a Chris Brunt backheel on their right flank took out Clichy and Koscielny, opening up that flank, and Jara fired a near-post shot in off the shin of the gormless Almunia.

After 52 minutes, it's 0-2.
Wilshere and Rosicky came on for Eboue and Diaby.
Then Vela came on for the hapless Koscielny, ending his nightmare.

West Brom made three sweet passes down the left, Jerome Thomas passed infield to Chris Brunt, who nudged the ball wide of Clichy, and Almunia charged out towards the corner-flag, into no-man's land. Brunt clipped the ball low across the goalmouth and Jerome Thomas banged the ball past Squillaci's attempt to block.

After 73 minutes, it's 0-3.

Then Nasri hit the bar and scored two cool goals.

Last six minutes, West Brom just sat back and said : pummel us! That was silly but they won 3-2.

Wenger admitted, "Not one of our players played up to their level." He preferred to say that, rather than : Almunia is a liability and always will be.

In a  pre-Champions League game, Arsenal are often vulnerable, even in a  home match against a promoted side.

Why is Almunia there? He is a dopey Spaniard who has improved from laughable to average, with relapses into laughable. Would Almunia get a job anywhere else? The bloke can't believe what's happened to him. He's never been any good but he's become rich and famous and that must be very, very weird for him.

In April, Wenger knew he needed a proper goalkeeper.

Why do Arsenal defend so stupidly? Because there is no shouting. Because they only practice one thing. They play one-touch games every day, and if you take two touches, your team loses the ball. That's all they do. And you wonder why the back five is a an accident waiting to happen?

The way Sagna, Clichy, Koscielny and Squillaci played was ridiculous. This shambles should become a coaching DVD : How fullbacks should not play.

They should post it on YouTube, so young footballers can see what they should never do..

When you see "defending" like this, you realise, or should realise : I'm watching a back five with ZERO communication.

When Jack came on, Arsenal improved and had more shape. But West Brom still scored a third goal before Nasri pulled two back. Amazing to think that  punters pay millions in gate money to watch every game these tossers play. And that supine "reporters" love Wenger because he fills their pages and helps them to sell papers.

Any team can lose 3-2, of course.

But the way Arsenal conceded those three goals was farcical. Song, Eboue and Diaby were just abysmal, and the gormless goalkkeeper should never have played for Arsenal four times, let alone for four years.

Partizan Belgrade on Tuesday night?
Who will be in goal?
Are Partizan better than West Brom?

Basically, the board decided to pay off the debt. So they extended Wenger's contract till 2014. The club will be debt-free in 18 months or so.

But you'll have to watch four more years of  this.That's the bad news.

The good news is that nobody else won. Chelsea lost 1-0 at Man City, Spurs lost 1-0 at West Ham, and Man United fought back twice for a 2-2 at Bolton.

None of them were playing at home. And they did not go 3-0 down.

Thanks to Simon Lambert for this revealing link, Wenger says Buying stops me developing youth.

Simon says : On the official website - formal confirmation that Wenger is really just a key account manager, not a real football manager.

He basically admits it's all about the $$$$$ money and developing youth for a profit. It's all about how many players have to thank Mr Wenger for their personal careers and development, not about Arsenal F.C. Officially, from the horse's mouth.