Many people at the beginning of the season were seeing a new Arsenal, one with vigor. Hampered by injuries last year and a certain lack of polish, Wenger's boys seemed to have a new life and some new blood at the Emirates.
But today it all fell apart, horribly. I didn't watch the entire match. As you know, I'm not an Arsenal fan. I am a Marouane Chamakh fan. I've been a diehard Manchester United supporter forever, and that will never change. But I followed Marouane at Bordeaux and couldn't give up supporting him even though he transferred to a team who vie against mine for the EPL title.
How can I do that? Well, it's easier than you think. I just hope for Marouane to play well, but in the end I want Manchester to win the title.
As I said above, Arsenal looked to be a big contender, but in recent weeks they seem to have lost their steam.
When Marouane exited before the hour mark today, I stopped watching the match. He seemed frustrated from the opening whistle, and I don't blame him.
His forte has always been to be a physical player (even in France, where finesse is the name of the game), strong in the box and in the air. Arsenal have been a "short" team, which doesn't serve a team well when they're knocking about in the box with bigger players. So when Arsene got Marouane on a free this summer, their chances during set plays increased ten-fold. But...
To be successful they have to have good crosses and great cornering skills. They have neither. At the start of the season, Marouane was doing well to head in balls (even when they weren't he best). But in recent weeks he hasn't scored and that is because he doesn't have any help!
Wenger has left him languishing as a center-forward with no help on the wings! Their crosses are pitiful and their corners are even worse. When you have a tall player with exceptional heading abilities in the box, you need to get a high lobbing ball into him so he can bang it home. But instead, their corners consist of line-drives straight to the near post. Marouane has no chance at all to get to the ball, unless he were on all-fours. What a waste!
What I hate about it most is that as a striker, Maroune is expected to score. So when he doesn't it is noticed and then the fans start to say "put someone else in." But it doesnt' matter, because they don't have any help either. And today they scored 0 points, despite changing lineups in the second half.
As a United fan, this is wonderful news. But as a Maroune fan, I am gutted. I hope he doesn't get down on himself, because it isn't his fault. Yes, at times he could be more aggressive in the box when others have the ball (anticipating the pass), but most of the time he is waiting, waiting, waiting, for someone to take the initiative (other than an Arshavin, Nasri, Fabregas, or Walcott BLAST over the net from long range).
If they keep this up, again they will be back in third or fourth place, wondering where it all went wrong.
Sorry, Marouane! I wish you had come to United!
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