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West Ham 2-2 Arsenal
Despite the promising start Arsenal have made in their quest to end the club's trophy drought this season, it appears one of the problems that augments the lingering doubts is something of Arsene Wenger's own doing.
Unswerving support of young players is a cornerstone of Wenger's footballing philosophy but his continuing preference for Italian rookie goalkeeper Vito Mannone raises more questions than answers.
Regular first-choice Manuel Almunia has been available for the last three matches yet Wenger sided with a 21-year-old who made only one Premier League appearance prior to this campaign.
It would be unjust to lay full blame on Mannone but it was his mistake - inexplicably parrying Alessandro Diamanti's 74th minute free-kick back into the danger area rather than away from goal - that let West Ham back into a match they should have long since been out of.
The failure to win thereafter once again exposed Arsenal's inability to close out games in which they dominate but the catalyst role Mannone played was contrasted markedly with opposite number Robert Green's superb stoppage-time save from Robin van Persie.
After Wednesday's Carling Cup clash with Liverpool, the north London derby looms large on the horizon with question marks surrounding Mannone's competence for such an occasion.
But Almunia has not played since early September and Lukasz Fabianski is yet to feature in the first team this season, meaning each of the alternatives is fraught with uncertainty.
The situation could have been avoided had Almunia played against Birmingham or AZ Alkmaar in midweek, yet Wenger was again forced to defend Mannone's aberration as a huge opportunity to capitalise on Manchester United's earlier defeat to Liverpool was missed.
"I am disappointed with Mannone but you must see the flight of the ball," said the 60-year-old. "You might have expected him to parry it away not in the middle of the goal but you must see the flight to see whether it moved inside in the last second."
Such is the fine line that Gianfranco Zola navigates, his team were booed off at half-time yet cheered at the final whistle of a match in which he was ultimately rewarded for his commitment to an attacking approach despite their present plight.
No one encapsulated that more than Diamanti who came off the bench with 11 minutes of the second half played to inject life into the performance and simultaneously energised the crowd simply through his willingness to try his luck from range. That positivity clearly came under instruction from his manager and it was the 26-year-old's free-kick which created the opportunity for Carlton Cole to score and his subsequent penalty then levelled the match.
"Diamnati made a big difference," said Zola. "He did very well for us and I'm pleased because Alessandro is a player that can give us something extra.
"I don't want to take any credit for it. It was just the players. No matter what we fought until the end, we give everything and at the end of the day we see what happens."
Courtesy of some accommodating West Ham defending, Van Persie's simple finish from Bacary Sagna's cross and William Gallas's header had taken the sting out of an encouraging opening period from the home side but Wenger's team once again failed to kill off inferior opponents.
AZ took advantage in the Champions League while encouragement was given to Blackburn and Birmingham before that. Equally concerning is Arsenal's increasing tendency to concede in clusters.
Two goals in seven minutes yesterday were preceded by two in five against Standard Liege, three in 10 against Manchester City and two in five minutes at Old Trafford.
The decision to award a penalty was a soft one as Cole fell under minimal contact from Alex Song but perhaps justice was done as Scott Parker was denied a clearer shout minutes earlier under pressure from Gallas.
And equally, maybe the luck is starting to change for a West Ham side who remain in 19th place in the League but with a renewed sense of optimism after a battling display.
Zola, whose team also survived Parker's unfortunate late sending off for handball, said: "We gave a signal that we are there and we are fighting. With that spirit and with the qualities we have in the team I think we can do better things starting today."
Reader views (29)
Wenger should be blamed for this.In as much as we need young players,experienced players should also be accommodated in the team.Manone should not be blamed because he is always exposed by the weak defensive mid field and the defense itself is very vulnerable.Song is a good player but he still maturing,we can not 100% rely on him*Song you don't tackle a player like Cole who was falling even by small wind which was blowing during the game!!!in the box with few minutes remaining.Song needs a help for sure or else we are yet to see the worst as pressure mounts.Teams have now known arsenal gimmicks.If want to win Arsenal just play long balls in the 18 they make mistakes and you score them.No defense.Something needs to be done in January or no trophy Again.GUNNER FOR LIFE.
Munenga Vitwell.Zambia
- Munenga Vitwell, Lussaka/Zambia
How in the name of football was this Arsene Wengers fault. I dont recall him playing at West Ham. It was an enjoyable game and at least they did not lose. It seems to me that some people think that Arsenal have not had a good goalkeeper for many years. But we have been spoilt with the likes of Jack Kelsey, Bob Wilson Pat Jennings, John Lukic,David Seaman,Alex Manninger, Jens Lehman over the years. The current custodians are not that bad and is anyone prepared to say that Mannone had not earnt his place. Almunia is a decent keeper but lets put things into perspective, it was not the Arsenal keeper that cost us the match it was the attitude and all round performance of the West Ham team.
- Pedro, Dubai UAE
Mannone is simply not good enough. Count his mistakes. Almunia is simply not good enough. Count his mistakes. Fabianski has aslo made a few mistakes. We desperately need a top goalkeeper to win anything. Wenger is being stubborn and eventually only he will pay the price and that price will be that he will be forever remembered as a fantastic manager but not a great one. Ferguson will be remembered as a great one because he wins trophies. Wenger has stopped and it doesn't look like it will start anytime soon.
He is destroying his own reputation in the game
- Dan Baldwin, London UK
i agree with steven in london. arsenal's poor outing on sunday was down to wenger himself! i just do not know how this man manages our football, he simply never rings in the changes as and when required. even a non-football follower would have seen long into the match that certain players were off-colour, diaby, asharvin, even fabregas but the gaffer insisted, with his hands comfortably in his pockets, on them playing until it was too late! that's the reason we dropped points and is the reason we'l continue doing so until he learns to wake up.
- Saminator, kampala, uganda
Wenger's mistake was not dropping Almunia earlier. Mannone has been brilliant since coming in and is part of the reason for our god run.
- Lewis, Melbourne, Australia
Monsieur Wenger,
When Adebayor was clearly going to be a liability in all respects, you kept him for one season too many.
Abou Diaby does not fight for the ball, does not tackle; if he attempts to, he ultimately fouls, conceding freekicks we can happily dispense with. What is he still doing in the first team? God help us!!!!
- Poulet Garcon, London
Apprentice goal-keeper Mannone was at fault for the first goal, he should have punched out the ball outward rather than inward, Carlton Cole became a good actor to claim a penalty as it was hard to score otherwise. Full marks to refferee Foy for falling in the trap. Mannone needs alot more training before being drafted into the senior team. Wembley. Gooner
- John Pereira, Wembley Middx;
Arsene must be living in cuckoo land if he thinks this squad can win trophies ,poor goalkeepers ,no midfield hardmen and could you guess who was the captain giving instructions - no one .
We have never replaced the likes of Vierra ,Petitte ,Seaman or Pires and the likes of Diaby ,Song and our goalkeepers will not come to their level however long we persevere ,so it must be chequebook time or face another blank season ,but I fear Arsene will be as stubborn as ever
- Joh N Sims, London England
I agree the problem is being repeated by WENGER. He is repeating his own mistakes and nobody can make him change his mind.
a. He must stop playing players out of position when he has players available for that position.
b. Eboue and Diaby must be replaced and a chance to be given to players like Ramsey and Wilshere.
c. If a player is not playing well he should be replaced
immediately and not wait for the final minutes.
- A.Messina, Malta
arsene wenger failed arsenal and it's supporters,he had 3 players who were misfiring and arshavin was completelty out of that game,eboue was ineffective,bendtener was on the bench not to mention eduardo,the wingers on the pitch were clearly not going foward with constructive attacks second half,then there is this guy diaby,not only is he slow,he tires very quickly,gives away the ball easily and always gives one shivers everytime arsenal is defending setpieces,l watched in horror when wenger didn't make substites to regain control of the match,it was wenger's fault!a coach has to be able to make timely decisions when the situation requires that,west ham is the last team we were supposed do drop points against,we have bigger challenges ahead of us,winning trophies is about being at your best at all times,will arsenal ever win the champions league if we dont field players accordingly?so if nasri didn't start at west ham,does wenger think it's a good idea to throw him into the big game we have with liverpool?l cant blame the goalkeeper too much because we already has lost control of that game,if we can't achieve that with small opponents,how then are we going to win in europe where we face bigger challenges,l think wenger should start thinking seriously about how we feel as arsenal supporters,what happened on sunday was completely unacceptable,we didn't prove we are seeking to win anything
- Evans Berejena, johannesburg,south africa
I believe arsene needs someone special to train in mental aspect on
these players. They looked like the world champion and the minute
Looked like school boys losers. They will win nothing untill their
mental training is sorted out. Get real wenger!!!
- Rms, sorong, indonesia
@ Jem, JB
We're not being pessimistic, we're being realistic. These mistakes have happened time and time again, that's why we haven't won anything in four years!!!
The fact that United, Liverpool and Chelsea have all been dropping points is EXACTLY why it's so frustrating that we are failing to capitalise.
You can wallow in your eternal optimism and hope that our rivals' poor form continues and that this team will suddenly become all-conquering if you want to, but all the evidence points to the contrary. We're dropping points and failing to take advantage when our rivals are the weakest they have been in years.
We play Spurs next weekend and should we win everybody will be buzzing again, but it'll only be papering over the cracks that we've already seen this season.
Why shouldn't we moan when we're witnessing the same mistakes year on year? The same opportunities to gain an advantage over our rivals being spurned.
Nobody's claiming to be a better manager than Wenger, but when he and his team make the same mistakes season after season it feels like history repeating and you wonder whether this grand plan of his is ever going to come to fruition.
- Steven, London
hey.... stop being pessimistic... yea... Wenger at fault.. diaby and Gk at fault and song at fault... even referee is at fault!!!
we lost the same amount of game as Man Utd and draw the same amount of game as Man Utd.... Better than Liverpool who last 4 in a row b4 winning against man utd.... but why you guys being so pessimistic... Last time, people like to compared arsenal to other team... and now if you compare to it... arsenal is doing well.... why are you guys still so pessimistic?
Because of the supporters that the team lacks in confidences...
STOP MOANING....
When we win.. this guy good.. that guy good.. but when we draw.. this and that MOAN and MOAN and MOAN....
Cant you people see football is a round ball and anything can happened? Somebody have to win the title and somebody have to lose or draw whenever a game is played....
If any of you think you are better than arsene wenger.... then go and be manager and see how hard to build a team to win title and to be in the CL for the past 10 years....
- Jem, JB
I agree too its Wenger's fault. When WestHam seem to be dominant and taking charge of the game, he could 've killed it by introducing a game break for substitutions.At least when its was 2-1. It would've broken their mood and given our team the chance to regroup and strategize. But no, he left for the last minute. I guess, its that "belief" thing that his team would figure out and correct their obvious faults.
- Mentuzza, Naija
Cole was massive in that game. Much better than Heskey. Good enough to be in the England set up .
- James, Manchester England
Leave Wenger alone! Have u forgotten Almunia's costly mistakes?The ref was against Arsenal that is all! Was it not Almunia who gave away a penalty to United and scored against Man City? His problems are many.Almunia is not good enough but Mannone is far better than almunia.Game was crowded yesterday given west hams' position.We'll pick up 3pts at the emirates from West ham.
- John, Coventry,UK
If Arsenal fail to win anything this season,it's all down to Arsenal. He could have got Friedel,Green,etc but placed his trust in Almunia. If you looka t the top teams all have top quality goalkeepers.They don't have a rookie goalie.
- Wolfgang, Hamburg, Germany
Forget Mannone, the reason for the collapse was Wenger's refusal to change things up. Zola brought on Diamanti, then Hines, to try and get back in the game, to great success.
But while West Ham were dominating the second half and Diaby, Eboue and Arshavin were misfiring, Wenger sat on his hands. He failed to make the changes that would swing the game back in our favour and secure the third goal that would've killed the tie.
It seemed almost out of pure stubborness that, following the late collapse against AZ in midweek, Wenger was intent on proving that this team can hold onto a lead, so left them to it.
When you have Eduardo, Bendtner, Nasri, and Ramsey on the bench, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't take advantage of that and bring them on to wrest back control of the game by refreshing the attack or midfield. But instead he waited too long and only brought them on when it was too late and they had no real time to settle into the game and make a difference.
Dropping points in this manner is solely down to Wenger. If he'd made the changes earlier the Hammers might not have been piling on the pressure that led to the two defensive mistakes. Sort it out, Arsene!
- Steven, London
Sadly the team do not possess the killer instinct and that is why they will again be "also rans". Alex Song is improving but his inexperience showed when he fouled Cole when the man had his back to goal. He should have allowed him to continue moving away from the penalty area as there was little danger.
The goalkeeper was at fault with the first goal by simply palming out the ball onto Cole's head instead of pushing it away from the goal. Again inexperience showed.
Wenger needs to address these problems, especially the killer touch, if he has any hope of achieving his own goals.
- Gooner In Spain, Pego, Spain
we just critisize after each lose or draw and complement after each win
- Alish, iran
@ Emmino.
Absolutely right!! It was there for all to see, the complacency that set in at the beginning of the second half. It was up to Wenger THEN to introduce fresh blood. He failed to do so.
- Jd Gooner, Strabane
We need a world class goalkeeper and someone to replace Diaby and Eboue.
- Doukani, herts
Personally I think that Ivan Gazidis's statement that Arsenal must win a trophy this season was spoken with Mr Wenger in mind.
Arsene has this and next season left on his contract and if we were to go six seasons without winning anything, It will be time to appoint a new manager I feel.
- Harry Jones, Barnet
I personally do not see why all the blames should be put on Mannone, Diaby to me has been the cause of most of the goals scored which have led Arsenals defeat from the time of Manchester United to date. My question has been and still remains "is Wenger so blind to see all the mistake Diaby has made all this season that he can not see his faults everytime he plays? Thanks and God bless Arsenal.
- Otis Zach, Lodwar, Kenya.
Its time Arsenal disposed of Almunia at the mid-season transfer window & brought in a top quality keeper. Both Fabianski & Mannone might be ones for the future, but are not ready yet.
- Rob Gooner, North London
Wenger's weakes quality as a manager is to always underestimate the importance of a top goal keeper.
Almunia himself has done many identical catastrohic instances of "punch into the area, instead of punch away", and we all remember how Fabianski cost Arsenal an FA Cup vs. Chelsea and a Calring Cup vs. Spurs.
What good is it if a team is totally dominated and have not tested the keeper in 75 minutes as home, and all they need (besides the referee awarding them ficticious free kick and penalty) is a clueless goalkeeper to bring them bak into the game.
If I were an Arsenal out player, I would be devestated with my manager betraying me with 5th rate goal keepers turning to nothing all the good work.
- Alan, Guildford
I can say Wenger is absolutely responsible for yesterday draw.Nasri and Eduardo were available but Wenger didn't want to use them despite poor performance showed by Diaby and Arshavin, I believe if Wenger could have made appropiate subsitituion earlier Arsenal would have got three points
- Emmino, Dar es salaam
You slate Mannone and contrast him wth Rob Green. However, Green was at fault for the two West Ham goals by coming for the first and not getting there and not coming for the second.
- Dave Brown, London
The decision to continue to play Mannone was an accident waiting to happen but you are wrong to contrast Mannone's error with Green's late fortuituos stop from van Persie. It might have been more relevant to contrast Green's feeble flap at a cross for van Persie's opener.
- Amos, Surrey, UK
