Petr Cech has lambasted his Arsenal team-mates for their unacceptable lack of fight at Anfield and says they have only themselves to blame.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool coasted to a 4-0 victory on Sunday with a performance fizzing with energy and attacking verve. In contrast, Arsene Wenger’s played like their pre-match meal was laced with Spice and did things like backheel the ball out for a corner.
Unsurprisingly, Cech was pretty naffed off at the way he was repeatedly left exposed by Arsenal’s wayward ‘defence’ and reportedly went ballistic in the dressing room before calling out his fellow Gunners on TV.
“It was quite simply unacceptable for the size of the club we are and for the team we have,” the goalkeeper told Sky Sports.
“Obviously you can come here and lose 4-0. OK, it can happen on a bad day when you fight but you are unlucky and your opponent is playing well and scores with every shot they have. Then it can happen.
“But not like it happened today. The way it happened today is unacceptable.
“We were not fighting, we were not running enough, we were not winning any individual battles and as a team we completely failed to respond to their way of playing, and that is the most disappointing thing.
“But we have only ourselves to blame.”
As it’s an Interlull, the squad won’t be back together until a couple of days before the Bournemouth game on 9 September. No doubt they’ll be met with a very tetchy Emirates crowd. On the plus side, there are 35 games to go and Cech thinks we can still bounce back.
“I would say the only positive out of the game is that we have to respond, and we have time to respond,” added the veteran.
“It’s very early doors in the season, and with two defeats you can still win the league.
“If I didn’t believe that we could do that I would probably retire and not play football any more. But I believe that this team has everything to compete and to win the title.
“I think we have shown that in many games and we need to make sure we are consistent and that, when the games come, we are always on top.”
Strangely I haven’t head of Lehmann going ballistic yet?
How have the players survived him?
Didn’t notice Lehman on the bench so perhaps they haven’t had to face him yet. If the rumour about mustafi being sold because of his outburst after the stoke game are true then maybe cech will be sold this week as well
First I’ve heard of that Mustafi rumour. What happened?
Tragedy…
3 games and 8 goals
Keep Mustafi buy a top class central defender we need quality defensive.
buy a midfielder to replacing Santi. Seri
He’s busy in Arizona hunting down Didier Drogba… probably.
You really think Mad Jens will have any role in the club? When Bouldy came, we thought he’ll fix all our defensive woes, nothing happened. Jens will just sit and earn his salary till Arsene is around. Arsene won’t let anybody do their stuff, he owns every department.
At the end of the day, he will start a want-away midfielder at Right Wing Back and a Right Back at Left Wing Back!
If Lehmann had been on the bench that game, I doubt we could have sold Ox for £35mil. More like £3.50…
Lehmann was a token PR signing. New reports are saying now his role is still ill-defined which kinda fits. It wouldn’t matter anyway, as famously Arsene doesn’t like input apparently.
Stop kidding yourself. Nobody gets a bollocking at Arsenal because Wenger won’t allow it. These players earn very good money, to exist in a very comfortable, pressure free environment. This is why we see a lack of urgency at times, which leads to the type of performance we got on Sunday.
If you think that them you have never played a game of football. The player’s will always tell each other and give a rollicking to those that need it get in the real world Wenger put the same combination that got us beat last season when will he learn .
Why the down votes? He is absolutely correct, if wenger has somehow managed to stop our players from rollicking each other, that is a major problem in itself.
At all levels of football, harsh words from team mates will keep you honest.
There is no way in hell that Lehman would accept being involved with that in any way…….Winter is coming…..
Maybe lehman has gone soft in his old age ?
It’s just a death stare, I’d imagine. Hopefully the players will understand how shit they’ve been, in Lehman’s terms…(boom and indeed boom)
Saying the right things but if he thinks we have a genuine chance of winning the league he’s deluded
The endless platitudes from players need to stop when we are playing poorly. Words are cheap and actions speak louder. I was wondering if Wenger has been put under pressure to sell players in order to keep Sanchez for one season and he is picking poor teams so that the top brass come under pressure to fund player acquisitions. Something is seriously wrong at every level.
Though that seems a bizarre explanation I agree something strange is going on eh?
I agree but what Cech said is much more what I want to hear than the assinine pathetic shite we heard from Ramsey every time we get an extra hole torn in our rear. Cech is a pro. Ramsey was looking the other way when Liverpool scored. That says it all to me. Saying sorry every time we get dicked does not do it for me. It shouldn’t be happening in the first place. It certainly shouldn’t be happening as often as it does.
As bad as the performance and result was, I remember Chelski last season having a very rocky start. IF (and that is a big IF) we can somehow get the best out of these players and play people in positions they are comfortable in, why not?…. Stranger things have happened in football. All I know is I will be supporting and encouraging our team to give them a chance. Lets see how the club responds now in the market and how the players respond. If there is no response, I wouldn’t mind fan groups arranging some kind of organised meeting… Read more »
You’re one in a million mate….your wife is lucky
I have thought long and hard and I hate myself for saying this.
I have always had very high regards for Mr Wenger.
But, either:
He has senile dementia.
Or he is knowingly sabotaging the team.
For me, its not unlike watching the last year of Mr Brian Clough at Forest.
I agree.
His team choice is just beyond comprehension…..
Playing everyone out of position, substituting Walcott for Xhaka when they are behind against Stoke, playing the Ox agains Liverpool. Fucking nuts
lol, I love that these are the only two options.
these are not options, these are three examples of bad decisions in my opinion
I used to love Arsene. Still like the man but not the coach anymore.
And I would laugh at my Pool supporting mates when they had Roy, Kenny even Brenda. The one silver lining they had? They knew their coaches could be sacked.
Despite what we all assume Arsene can decide to stay in 2019 and if Stan is happy there is nothing we can do about it.
Yes, this whole sorry situation reminds me of Clough’s demise. Sad really.
And we know what happened to Forest that season ……
Good that he is going ballistic after the game but we need someone going ballistic during the game – both on the pitch and off it. Instead with have lots of players waving arms, sighing, and shaking their heads.
Please read this
https://www.change.org/p/stan-kroenke-change-the-manager-at-arsenal-football-club?recruiter=769110490&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=share_twitter_responsive
“It’s very early doors in the season…”
Kudo to the man for his grasp of stereotypical 1970’s football manager interview cliche. Next up, is “I’m as sick as a parrot” and frankly, at that stage, I’m going to have to call the police.
It’s a game of 2 halves bro 😀
They could detain him in the corridor of uncertainty
It says everything about the state of pergatory that we’re in that we lament: ‘2 more years of this’.
No other fan of any other club expects a manager to be there in 2 years regardless of his performance over that time.
The leadership of this club simply has to act. If not the fans will have to.
It hurts me to say this as I’ve stood up for Wenger in every corner but seeing that game with the same side that let us down last season I said at the start of the match to my lad we are going to get wolloped mate. My lad said I agree dad . So if we can see it why can’t Wenger ?
It’s not just 2 years though and it’s definitely not just Wenger. Him leaving won’t change much when there is no accountability, ambition or knowledge coming from anyone at the top. We need to wait til Kroenke and the rest of the decision makers piss off. It feels right now like the next decade is just a write off there is so much wrong with the club.
So depressing supporting a club that doesn’t even try.
The accountability part is true perhaps. However, wenger has been given money to spend = ambition and as for knowledge, what football club owners have knowledge?
We don’t need our owners to do anything other than appoint a good manager (and support staff), give him money to spend and sack him if he doesn’t meet targets.
What are wenger’s targets for this season?
I don’t know about ambition. Look at the other clubs (franchises?) owned by Kroenke – all pointless middle of the road time wasters that don’t win anything. He’s is only interested in increasing the share price and won’t risk the club’s solvency by actually trying to win shit. Why else do you think a multi billionaire with no interest in the sport would pay 500,000,000 or whatever to be the majority shareholder. It’s not even a play thing to stave off the void cos he doesn’t even play with it. He’s just looking for the sweet spot between keeping expenditure… Read more »
You make some good points. However, the investors in the club require a certain level of success to maintain their investment. Relegation for example, would be terrible in that regard. So while I have zero confidence they could pick a good manager, it’s in their interests to do so and it’s not really that difficult to achieve. They could and should have a director of football or someone impartial in a lesser/unofficial capacity to advise them on footballing matters. After that it’s a matter of choosing a manager that has had consistent success at a club(s) with a budget lower… Read more »
Wenger just have too much power at the club . We should never have given him a free reign over the club no matter how successful he was in his former years . The board just can’t do a fucking thing about it . Remember how much sound gazidis made about a change but Wenger simply rejected it openly in next press conference. I’ve never seen a manager openly reject that sort of thing against the board and that too in press conference. He is a master diplomat but far too poor coach right now .
Remember what Wenger said during the contract renewal “saga”. Something about having a lot to say about things, but that he couldn’t do it now. I’m not putting Wenger above reproach at all, but I feel there are major things going in behind the scenes that he takes the flak for. He’s such a loyal professional, he’d never call out the people above him. I genuinely fear that we’re all (myself included) going at him with torches and pitchforks, and when his autobiography comes out one day, we’ll see him in a very different light. I simply refuse to believe… Read more »
If that’s true he should quit and then he will be free to tell the fans the true story.
Why would he continue to work in condiiions that are bad for him and are pissing off the fan base that used to love him so much?
That is what is so sad.
That being very intelligent he doesn’t realise / reluctant to accept he has lost the plot.
I believe he lost the plot at the time of Theo’s “sign-da-ting” contract renewal and having to start Theo a central striker in some games. I have felt discord set in soon after and been on a downward spiral since.
[insert player] goes ballistic after defeat in the dressing room. [insert player] says that they are sorry and promises to bounce back next game.
Heard it all before to little avail, it would just be refreshing for once there to be two weeks of total silence from the club and then actually perform on the pitch.
But no, always bark but never bite.
If you gentically spliced Steve McClaren, Roy Hodgson and some Je ne sais quoi you would get Arsene Wenger 🙁
It’s the same mesage every time, “we weren’t good enough” or “we have ourselves to blame”….what we NEED to hear is why….why is this happening! The reasons are painfully obvious, but it’s about time it was acknowledged by the club, not just disgruntled fans and TV pundits. TALK TO US ARSENAL!!!!
I just feel he’s trying to say the right things
At least someone went ballistic. They’re professional athletes, at least show some work ethic, some pride in what you do. This season is still looking like it’s going to be more of a Poo-o-meter than a charge for any place at all. But at least one person in the team is not blind. (When my Sunday League team realised we were losing a game last season and just couldn’t be bothered in the second half, leaving the goalie -me- stranded. We finally lost by a depressing 8-0, and I was the one who went ballistic. In a fricking Sunday League… Read more »
This team better Cech themselve before they wreck themselves
35 games of this torture to go isn’t a plus side 🙁
This won’t be a popular comment, but I was watching MOTD last week and was absolutely green with envy at Martial’s goal for United. The whole team was perfectly organised in defence, repelled an attack, knocked the ball up to Lukaku who held it up for Martial and Rashford who absolutely pounded through the opposition and scored a brilliant goal.
Watching United and Liverpool this season has really highlighted to me how far behind we are.
dude it was swansea and westheam most worst teams in the league we trashed them last year away 4-5 goals.
Our problems are same no tactic no defensive setup getting humiliated by the big boys an always losing sto stoke away.
It was the nature of the goal rather than the opposition. Being perfectly organised while still being a huge threat going forward, whereas with us we have to throw all caution to the wind to provide any kind of threat.
The opposition allows that nature of goal. Try having that organisation against Liverpool pressing you. Let’s not flatter Maureen and his gang too much now eh? All said and done, although we are down in the dumps, let’s not get weird.
I’ll affirm your thoughts and say this is actually THE popular comment. I miss the days when no matter the results Arsenal was known for beautiful attacking football. Now we don’t have a style and we suck on every level. Can’t help but admire the rest that have their shit together.
I guess I’m one of the optimist types. I still want the club to do well regardless of AW. I understand the idea of hoping for disaster and starting over but I just can’t lol This past game was really tough to watch. The way its been going for awhile under AW leadership I know radical change probably isn’t coming. I could only hope for the best over the next 2 years and hope AW leaves gracefully with us in a good position. Other then that I’ll just keep waking up and watching Arsenal and supporting the club. I know… Read more »
I could only see a change in our season if we beat chelsea away. when was the last time we beat chelsea liverpool united everton, spuds away ?
Chelsea was in same situation last year at the start of the season we trashed them and they were 6 points or 7 behind, but the difference is that they have a great manager who change everything taking non nonsense bending players and start them firing, meanwhile I expect dificult win vs bournemouth and always a lose away at chelsea with the typical result 2 or 3-0 to them
A bad start,next ten games unbeaten,6games without a win from november to january,a strong finish with a few draws here and there,new contract to wenger and circle continues.
There was no good just bad and ugly mate . I myself won’t be watching any of arsenal games till I hear they are starting to play better or A.W.has gone.
Is Cech our manager by proxy now? I’m strangely ok with that.
Where’s Johan Djourou for a good post thrashing interview when you need him?
The Chelsea Reject is probably sowing dissent in the dressing room like the good little secret agent he is. Didn’t see much anger from him on the pitch, so maybe he should shut his mouth and stop the faux outrage.
You have a talent for this.
This is a problem year after year. And very sure this will repeat more than twice again this season. There is no other team in the world not just in the league who have this phase every now and then. I was angry on the players when this use to happen season before but now i know the real problem is with Wenger. How can he let this happen again and again. Look back three years before of mertesacker repeating this same and then squad having a sit down and reflecting on the issue and then it started a streak… Read more »
Guys , things are getting REALLY dark , REALLY fast.
Emirates stadium is going to be so toxic that players will need to wear chemical mask on the pitch.
It is going to be one hell of a disaster and fortunately a REAL catalyst for change.
It’s almost like Ozil was calling for it with his post match social media post. Calling for pressure on his teammates and the manager. Including himself for those who think he was the problem (I don’t).
I’m usually against negative crowds ranting, but if a player like Ozil thinks it’s what they need, that sounds like a pretty clear message to me.
Let the ox go let any player go that don’t want to play for you if you keep them you get results like 4-0 to Liverpool
I know he’s just responding to the press, he hasn’t voluntarily given a ‘bollocking’ but Cech has to take some responsibility for the first goal. You could look at everyone except Ozil for that incident and wonder what they were doing, it was a shambles, but Cech gave Xhaka the ball in a dangerous area when there was nothing on for him. We were under the cosh at that point and I would want him to calm things down not put us straight back under pressure.
Cech= too old (why did we sell Schez?) bellerin= too young with too much pressure (how we’ve treated debuchy is a joke) Mert= too old and injured yet we keep him for his ability to collect fines Kos=a very good defender, but not world class Holding= see belerin menreal=our only, i repeat, our only consistent player (now learn to play at CB ffs) ramsey= one fluke season, sell (unlucky with the assault by that orc) Wilshire= he is my fave player but enough is enough, sell (he like our darren huckerby) Ox= which position does he play, gets injured, does… Read more »
just seen this stat on another forum. Our away results in the last 5 seasons against the other top teams. Fact is no other team that had any title aspirations would tolerate this from their manager.
“In their last 25 away games against Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham, Arsenal have won 0, drawn 7 and lost 18. Seven points out of a possible 75”.
not one of those players were trying on sunday only sanchez no wonder he wants to leave what a load of shite they were
And Sanchez was also a load of shite, gave the ball away all the time, couldn’t make a pass. We should sell him also, he’s a selfish player who’s crap for at least half of every season, stop listening to pundits and actually watch him.
Atleast alexis cares tho. It’s interesting that still he is closing down opponents and encouraging his team mates to do the same, which ofc they don’t. But what is the team instruction, are they told to press high up the pitch or not? Rule 1 of closing down, which all Sunday league players know… is that you close down as a team or you don’t do it at all, because when only one or two men press it leaves big holes elsewhere. This problem is typical of arsenal right now. Do the team have specific instructions on pressing? Does Ramsay… Read more »
Hard for me to believe Alexis cares after that match.
Its all just words, actions on the pitch say a lot more and he has been pretty pants (perhaps not the worst, but still pretty poor)
Half the battle is won with the right tactics. One thing we have learned in the last 10 or 20 years is the importance of the Patrick Viera position and the Gilberto Silva/Petit position. The 2 CM’s are crucial when it comes to keeping the tempo and the flow of the game and it is their PRIMARY job to provide tactical stability to the team and to allow players around them to express themselves. The CB’s are just an insurance. Ofcourse, it’s good to have a ball playing CB who has a good range of passing. Now in Xhaka and… Read more »
Let’s make cech player-manager for the season. What? It couldn’t be worse could it? Lol
Everything bar a decent manager petr
We have to stop this narrative of players not putting in enough effort as it’s just plain wrong. Their are players playing out of position who shouldn’t be (Bellerin, Monreal, Ox), players given poor instruction unbalancing the team (Ramsey), players asked to perform tasks they’re unable to do (Xhaka, Welbeck, Ozil), and players asked to perform when they’re not completely ready (Holding). What do people seriously expect our results to look like? What do people expect of Bellerin at left wing back, or Monreal in the Centre of defence? Why does it surprise people that our midfield is open when… Read more »
I disagree. I don’t think Ramsey is asked to roam. I think he has been given the license to roam. His ability to get forward has got us 2 FA cups. But, it’s a bit immature to try the same thing week in week out in the league. Sometimes, the game demands him to stay in the middle.
Ramsey right now for me should be an impact player from the bench like Giroud. His energy is extremely valuable in a 20 minute period in second half.
Ramsey’s been doing exactly the same thing for years, how is he still getting picked if he’s not doing what the manager asking him to do?
It must be frustrating for a manager. But, Ramsey can’t learn from his mistakes unless he plays. Is the board backing Wenger to go for guys like Modric, Kroos, Muller and so on?? NO. Wenger is doing the best with what he has got. I personally took a lot of positives from back to back FA cup successes. I think if we win the league once then we will be challenging every year. Also, our two CM’s aren’t that bad. One was the captain of Wales, the other is captain of Switzerland and ex-captain of Monchengladbach. They are just not… Read more »
There is a reason why we play Coq-Cazorla ahead of Ramsey-Xhaka. It must be frustrating for a manager. But, Ramsey can’t learn from his mistakes unless he plays. Is the board backing Wenger to go for guys like Modric, Kroos, Muller and so on?? NO. Wenger is doing the best with what he has got. I personally took a lot of positives from back to back FA cup success. I think if we win the league once then we will be challenging every year. Also, our two CM’s aren’t that bad. One was the captain of Wales, the other is… Read more »
I think you’ve replied twice making the same point, so I’ll reply once. Sorry but I have to disagree, an open midfield has been a feature of Wenger’s team for the last ten years, before Ramsey it was Song, Denilson and Diaby doing the same thing. It’s how he wants the team to play. The Coquelin and Cazorla partnership came about because of our annual injury crisis, not by design. Wenger’s gripe is not that his players aren’t doing what he asks of them but the opposition don’t allow us to do what he wants, which is why we keep… Read more »
“We were not fighting, we were not running enough, we were not winning any individual battles and as a team we completely failed to respond to their way of playing, and that is the most disappointing thing.” This sums up Arsenal for the last couple of years in games where the opposition put us under sustained pressure. If a team gets the tactical edge on us, results like this probably will happen. We’re too tactically and mentally inept to deal with a team that’s dominating us anymore and can’t, or at least won’t, adapt our style. Poorly motivated players who… Read more »
I’m tired of hearing this nonsense that we can’t get wenger out of this is truly what we want. As I said before my non-gooner friends laugh at how passive we are. If we truly want wenger out here’s what we do: Fans at games chant ‘wenger out’ from the first minute to the last. Ignore the game, ignore the score, just chant it. Do this for 5 games and he will be gone, guaranteed. It’s embarrassing for the owners and they won’t allow it to continue. No manager has ever survived when the crowd consistently poisoning the atmosphere at… Read more »
Good for Petr, I hope he really laid in to the spineless fuckers. Even if they have lost faith in the manager what about playing for their own pride and their obscene paypackets ?
And yes he is right we could win the league but not till a fair few people, players, Arsenal staff, owner, manager are replaced. And Ivan who does sweet fa, too many people interested in making money for the shareholders and not enough football people like their used to be in the past.
I’d hope Wenger did the same to them, but doubt it. I can only imagine how pissed off Cech must have been seeing that crap in front of him all match. The only positive out of the match that i can think of is that it could possibly be an impetus to Wenger and the Board that major changes are needed in the squad. They all can’t be solved in the next few days, but the plan has to change and we need to go in a new direction. I know that won’t be a new manager (though for many… Read more »
I just love this man Cech. Spot on Bro.
At least someone at the club seems to give some kind of f**k
Is this the kitchen sink? Or is there more false dawns to come? Its not down to you. Its the manager.
Make this man captain
we hear this all the time after a bad result.Unless management changes nothing is going to improve!
What is the point of Ivan Gazidis? Gazidis out.
Arsene has been overdue to leave for a few years now, but this is what annoys me the most about him. During that absolute pitiful performance, there he was, in his chair, head in hands, despondent and with zero fight in him. WHERES THE PASSION WENGER???? I know he’s never been one to be overly animated on the touch line, but jesus christ man show some fight, show the fans something. You don’t have to be cursing them, but stand up and show your players that you’re right there fighting with them. I’m so sick of this and I think… Read more »
lol, I would retire NOW if I were you cech
whats all this talk about lehman, just what do you think he is going to do, NOTHING that’s what, lehman is history, get over him.
I stopped reading when I read :“It’s very early doors in the season, and with two defeats you can still win the league.”
We cant win the league this year.
Sorry
I hope he also turned his attentions to Arsene afterwards. We’ll know for sure if he gets linked with a move away.
I used to love this club but This team is FUCK UP.