Fabregas cannot save Arsenal
Tue Nov 25 08:54AM
In the current spirit of alarmism, Early Doors would like to state in big, bold writing that ARSENAL DO NOT NEED A NEW CAPTAIN, THEY NEED A NEW SQUAD.
Cesc Fabregas leads the side for the first time tonight after William Gallas's sacking at the weekend, but ED boldly predicts it won't make a blind bit of difference to the club's predicament.
Gallas received universal condemnation for airing his dirty laundry in public on Friday, as though his ill-judged quotes were more of a problem than the fact that Arsenal's dressing room is in a state of civil war.
It is more than a PR conundrum. If you have dirty laundry, it really doesn't matter where you air it. The point is - somebody has taken a dump on your freshly-ironed linen.
Robin van Persie did not learn in the papers that Gallas has issues with him - there is a chance he already knew about it.
Some experts trotted out the stock line: "This kind of thing happens at every club." No, it doesn't. Clearly not every player is best mates with every other, and tempers flare from time to time.
But that is a long way from the festering feuds and cliques that have led Arsenal to remove all sharp objects from the dressing room lest Gallas gets all Joey Barton on a cheeky upstart.
If Gallas tells the world he is fed up of taking the blame for his good-for-nothing colleagues that is just a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself.
Wenger's side used to be famed for its unity - in fact he used his team's togetherness to bait Fergie.
Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires and a pre-sulk Thierry Henry spent so much time lunching together in Hampstead brasseries that locals just assumed they were posh nannies.
If you have a solid core, the occasional 'difficult character' like Jens Lehmann or Van Persie cannot cause too much trouble.
But Arsenal have lost the experience and expertise of Vieira, Sol Campbell, Dennis Bergkamp and Gilberto, and replaced it with... well, nothing.
Gallas's unorthodox captaincy was not the problem. The fact that there were no better candidates in Wenger's squad was.
Manchester United pass the captain's armband around like a Frisbee. Gary Neville takes it on the rare occasions when he puts down his beard-trimmer and gets a run-out.
Otherwise Ryan Giggs takes over, with Rio Ferdinand stepping in when both elder statesmen are missing, which is often.
Does Ferdinand play any differently depending on whether he is captain or not? Of course he doesn't. He shouts, snarls and just occasionally organises the defence regardless of any adornment to his upper arm.
Whisper it, but United are proof that captaincy in football is not very important.
On one occasion last season Park Ji-Sung came off the bench to replace Giggs, who handed him the armband.
Ferdinand and Neville were off the pitch and the Korean looked around, desperately trying to remember who was next in the pecking order. Eventually, he shrugged and put the armband on himself, to cheers from the Old Trafford crowd. Nobody minded.
The point is, influential players are influential whether they are the captain or not. And Arsenal don't have any.
Fabregas is the best choice to take over from Gallas, as his playing skill demands respect. But it does not solve the underlying problem - namely, Arsenal have too many loose cannons and not enough leaders.
- - -
Having last week exploded the myth that healthy eating helps you win football matches, Early Doors pays tribute to Newcastle's Charles N'Zogbia who, The Sun claims, refused to join his team-mates on a pre-match walk on Saturday because he couldn't be bothered to get out of bed.
N'Zogbia reportedly said he was too tired to go for a stroll around South-West London at 11am, although he later claimed he had a leg strain which miraculously subsided to the point where he was able to come off the bench for 14 minutes against Chelsea.
"Charles is a strange one. No-one could believe it when he said he was too tired," said a club insider.
Early Doors asks what is stranger - wanting a few minutes' extra shut-eye, or thinking that couple of laps around Richmond Deer Park will have any bearing on your team's performance?
Even after Saturday's goalless draw at Stamford Bridge, Joe Kinnear's men have picked up just one point out of 10 in the capital this season.
- - -
QUOTE OF THE DAY: Fergie has had few run-ins with chairmen of the board, but Frank Sinatra narrowly avoided a blast of the hairdryer treatment nearly 20 yeards ago: "You can't beat Sinatra. I was actually supposed to have dinner with him one night, but we lost to Charlton so I cancelled it and went home!" Early Doors wants to know: what was Frank Sinatra doing arranging to have dinner with Alex Ferguson in 1989?
QUOTE OF THE DAY 2: Blackburn's Martin Olsson reveals his calm and considered reaction to getting sent off against Tottenham: "I destroyed most things in the changing room. I was kicking everything I could lay my eyes on - doors, bins, cardboard boxes. I don't know what was broken and what wasn't. My team-mates supported me. They said: 'You are only 20, take it easy, we have had experiences like that.' Paul Ince said it was better that I showed my feelings rather than not doing anything at all."
FOREIGN VIEW: More Rene Higuita, who is making a comeback for Colombian provincial side Pereira aged 42. The eccentric keeper's new side lost 3-0 at America thanks in part to a superb blunder. In the last minute, Higuita rushed out of his penalty area towards the halfway line, tried to head the ball away, missed and allowed Paulo Cesar Arango to score into an empty net.
COMING UP: Full coverage of all tonight's Champions League action, including Arsenal v Dynamo Kiev and Villarreal v Man United. The whole farrago gets under way at 17:30 UK time with Zenit St Petersburg v Juventus.
not really hail of splinters, he has bashing tottenham yesterday
From mattymogo on Tue Nov 25 09:34AMLooks like everyone is agreed it is time for Gooners to spend some humble pie down in the Championship next season
From arttidesco on Tue Nov 25 09:34AMThere you go, you see? One pi$$ed off Jay! lol
From mickr273 on Tue Nov 25 09:35AMED is correct Fibreglass cannot save Arsenl but its a means to an end. The beginning of possibly another good few years. I think Fab commands more respect that Gallas just due to the fact he has come through nd he knows all his team mates inside out. I would listen to someone i have played with for years and who is a major influence on the team than a big wuss who sulks when he doesnt get his way.
From tommihew on Tue Nov 25 09:36AMMorning mick Johnny Jay (chin up fella)
From fitbutfrustrated on Tue Nov 25 09:36AMFibreglass
funniest thing I've heard this weekFrom fitbutfrustrated on Tue Nov 25 09:37AMSheep Shagger Bluebirds will be relegated to L1 before Hammers join you shelf stackers in the championship
From arttidesco on Tue Nov 25 09:37AMED in tabloid like overstatement. All ain't that bad at Arsenal. They need Adebayor's goals and a lot more concentration in defence and they'll be off and running again. Sure they'll always struggle against certain types of teams but to say they need a squad when they are really only 2 or 3 experienced players short is an overstatement.
From kgh_r on Tue Nov 25 09:37AMhello fbf
From mickr273 on Tue Nov 25 09:40AMArsenal will be just gr8 you will see
From iam.jay8 on Tue Nov 25 09:42AMMorning all. I hope today that we don't experience the stupidity of yesterday when some idiots busted the system and ruined it for EVERYONE! Today is another day and another problem for Arsenal. Things must be really terrible if Arsen Wenger appoints a new captain on the eve of a very important football match. It may be a bold move to bring in a 20 something but they had captains e.g. Vierra who "was" a leader. ED is wrong about Man Utd - Bryan Robson & Roy Keane WERE leaders and woe betide anyone who did anything wrong. Will Fabregas have the clout to give a rollocking to his team mates, inspire them to win etc? I doubt it.
From jonathangrosskopf on Tue Nov 25 09:44AMJay. Please dont start with the hugh posts please. Had enough of scrolling through rubbish these last few days!
From mickr273 on Tue Nov 25 09:46AMED about LOndon teams, that makes a refreshing change!
From andy_lycett on Tue Nov 25 09:46AMCome on iam.jay8 your computer is playing up again and I am getting dizzy trying to make out what deep code is being communicated in your pretty lenghthy pics! What would you do if you were Arsenal's manager ? Shoot yourself!
From jonathangrosskopf on Tue Nov 25 09:48AMlol Arti, your in dreamland fella. Schoolboy Zola is going to send your team down and then you Icelandic owners are going tofuck off with their biscuit money and invest it in making a new bourbon cream!!!!!
My 3 for relegation at the moment are West Brom, Stoke(sorry Anne) & West Ham!!!!! If i'm wrong then toughshit!
Morning fbf, jay & micky boy!!! Quiet at the moment isn't it!
From iamevz on Tue Nov 25 09:48AMI would like to state in big bold writing that EARLY DOORS DOES NOT KNOW
MUC BOUT ABOUT ARSENAL ;)
From jayathis_7 on Tue Nov 25 09:48AMJust waiting for the idiots to turn up Johnny boy!
From mickr273 on Tue Nov 25 09:49AMwho is iam.jay8?
From kgh_r on Tue Nov 25 09:50AM42 - it's ok he'll just chuck pizza at them
From iamevz on Tue Nov 25 09:50AMI agree with u that the need some players to improve the team but i quote that the team is not that bad say good morning crew has just stated but i tell u that fabrigas will make a change in that team and will take the team along cos he has spend longer time with the team than Gallas....Gallas was an enemy to the team before he was sign and hardly know that pattern of play with the team make he take everything "physical not skillfull" i quote he still have that chealsea kinda play with him and that will not oay the team. and i also believe that he will be proving seniority among the team mate. which will affect the players on the field of play take a look at the captains in the past Tony Adam, Patrick Viera, Henry and so on they put themselve equal with the other players that is why that can flow along in the field of play. making Cesc Fabregas the captain is the right decision... Arsenal is Great.(AIG)
From darlingtayo on Tue Nov 25 09:50AMIgnore my fake guys hes not funny and hes not clever. I will say though, id rather listen to wengers opinion on the matter and that is the leadership should be shared throughout the team. Teams need more than one leader. Im was sure ED were arsenal fans b4 i read todays article.
From jay8my on Tue Nov 25 09:53AMOh and Art u didnt give us ur opinion on the germany-england game. Where are west ham in the league??
From jay8my on Tue Nov 25 09:54AMOh your back then Jay? So this other guy is an imposter? Great another @#$%! Just what we need.
From mickr273 on Tue Nov 25 09:55AMED are right Fibreglass cant save Arsenal, but it is a step in the right direction of Arsenal saving themselves. Its not like we re in a crisis situ, we have to wait a few more games before you can even begin to call this a crisis, but we have problems and sorting out this immediate debacle has got to be priority. On the surface it is now sorted, now lets see if the surface can reflect deeper into the team mentaility.
From tommihew on Tue Nov 25 09:57AMuntil you apologise to stevie g, you suck !!!!!!!!!!
From nigelphysick on Tue Nov 25 09:57AMED, ED, ED, You seem to neglect the fact that there are always two sides to this coin, if all goes the other way then Fabregas is the player best suited to unite a young Arsenal squad. He has shown more than anyone else that aside from his game he is a very level headed individual, perhaps this calmness and resolve can be chanelled into what Arsenal needs right now. All the best CESC !!!!!!!!!!
From isaacerhabor on Tue Nov 25 10:00AMYeah mick my fake thinks arsenal are a gr8 brand of tea, personally ive never tasted it.
From jay8my on Tue Nov 25 10:00AMThroughout this whole Arsenal debalce nodoby has mentioned the one main player they have missed and that is Hleb. Flamini was good and did a job but Hleb was awesome towards the end of last year. His position working selflessly for the two front men has never been filled since and therefore their usual leathal goal threat which pinned other teams back is simply not there so other teams then just pour forward without feeling that exposed against Against
From fitbutfrustrated on Tue Nov 25 10:02AMTo kgh-r it's jay8my trying to be funny (again!). Seriously though i diasagree with Jay because a leader is only 1 person that the rest of the team respect and look up to. In life, the leader is the one everyone else looks to when things are tough and Vierra &Adams had that ability. At such a young age i doubt whether Fabregas playing pretty football has the guts to give the hairdryer to his team-mates when the situation demands it - Roy Keane, Steve Bruce, Bryan Robson had! All brill teams look to their leader to lead them - football is not a committe of equals!
From jonathangrosskopf on Tue Nov 25 10:02AMjonathangrosskopf i'm not sure jay created his own fakes. i disagree about the role of the captain too. the manager is the leader. are you sayin roy keane would have been less influential without an armband? i doubt it!
i seen robinho captaining man city. but he can't even communicate with the rest of the team. but i'm sure the real captains in that team like richard dunne perform that role anyways.
From kgh_r on Tue Nov 25 10:07AM
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