Winning the FA Cup has still not stopped the criticisms against Arsenal by some quarters. - Reuters pic, October 12, 2014.There was a time when people hated Arsenal. No, wait, scratch that. People always hate Arsenal. Or at least it seems that way.
When we aren't spending money on players, they say it is a problem. When we do buy players, they say we've purchased flops from Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United who are struggling to prove their worth.
A nine-year trophy drought attracts the harshest of criticisms, yet when we'd won the FA Cup and Community Shield trophies in three months, the focus is more on how we will not be capable of winning the Premier League or Champions League. Nothing Arsenal do is ever good enough.
When we lose, it's a party, for the British media in particular. Evidently last week, when we lost two goals to nil against a Cesc Fabregas-inspired Chelsea, which also saw Arsene Wenger losing it on the touchline and the team failing to register a single shot on target for the first time since 2003, the critics loved it even more.
To be honest, in hindsight, the defeat last Sunday at Stamford Bridge wasn't that terrible a result, unlike what everyone is making it out to be.
It does bring about a lingering effect on the team though, especially with the untimely international break this week. The manager and his players will no doubt be disappointed.
A 1-0 scoreline would have probably been a fairer result, simply because that's what the post-match statistics indicated.
Chelsea, for all their dominance, only managed 3 shots on target and 53% of ball possession, while both teams had the same number of corner kicks.
In general, apart from goals scored, the stats were actually quite balanced. Diego Costa was just as anonymous upfront as Danny Welbeck had been throughout the match and Fabregas wasn't exactly outstanding before the second goal.
Having said that, their moment of brilliance was duly rewarded and I can't really say I have any complaints.
Fast forward a couple of days after that loss, and Arsenal are in the spotlight once again. No surprises there, but this time it is about our management, or in this case, mismanagement of players' injuries and fitness, as it came to light that Mesut Özil became the latest addition to our already long list of out and injured players, due to something resembling a torn ligament injury.
Wenger will curse his luck, but come to think of it, Özil's injury may not be entirely bad news after all. Not when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is at the top of his game for England in their 5-0 win against San Marino, in which he provided two assists, including one for Welbeck, his club teammate to score.
Oxlade-Chamberlain rarely gets into the starting line-up for the Gunners this season but so far, he has impressed each time he comes on as a substitute.
Although I'm still warming up to Özil (maybe because I prefer ex-Barcelona players like Sanchez), whenever I watch Arsenal, I'm always confident that when he has the ball, his passes can hardly go wrong.
However, the German is sort of going through a rough patch at the moment and while I do feel that the Arsenal fans are not against him in any way, there is pressure on him to do better and they will get on his back until he regains his form.
He wasn't doing himself any favours either last week, looking lost and bothered when things are not going his way.
Wenger doesn't look the type of manager who will follow in the actions of Brendan Rodgers dropping his key player to make a bold statement rather than anything else, so Özil being totally ruled out from selection has possibly rescued Wenger from a tricky dilemma.
Having another injured player is not welcomed as the last thing we need is a thinner squad than what we have at the moment, but it presents the Ox with more game time and if he seizes this opportunity, then Özil's injury may very well be a blessing in disguise. – October 12, 2014.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
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