Doubts over Arsenal have swelled into a serious problem.

• zocoss

  31 Oct 08, 09:37

  

   

  Saturday, 1 November 2008 

   

  Channel 21: "Live"  

  Stoke v Arsenal  -  11:00 pm

   

   

  ARSENE WENGER is ready to wield the Arsenal axe following a furious dressing-room bust-up. Angry Gunners stars were heard shouting and arguing after Tottenham hit two late goals to seal a 4-4 draw at the Emirates on Wednesday.

  And fuming manager Wenger is set to make widespread changes for Saturday’s must-win trip to Stoke.

  An Arsenal source said: “Everyone was going crazy in the dressing room after the game. There were a lot of raised voices and fingers being pointed. “Everyone was blaming each other for Spurs’ two late goals and the manager was as angry as anyone has seen him for a long time.”

  Central to the argument was the lack of leadership from captain William Gallas and his central-defensive partner Mikael Silvestre. Left-back Gael Clichy was particularly distraught at his part in Tottenham’s third goal and questions were also asked about the way possession was surrendered in the dying seconds to allow Aaron Lennon a last-gasp equaliser.

  Wenger has been particularly alarmed by the defensive errors. His team will face an aerial bombardment at the Britannia Stadium and he does not feel he can rely on some of his players to stand up and be counted.

  Gallas, conveniently, has already been ruled out of the game by a hamstring injury, while Emmanuel Eboue is also struggling with a knee injury. But Silvestre, Clichy, Samir Nasri and Denilson could also pay the price, with Kolo Toure, Abou Diaby, Alex Song and Johan Djourou in line for a recall.

  Striker Emmanuel Adebayor summed up the anger in the camp when he moaned: “I am tired of saying that we cannot drop any more points and then we end up dropping more points.

  “It was not even against a top-four side but against Tottenham, who are bottom of the league. “But it is best not to say too much right now because there would be a lot of words that we aren’t supposed to use to each other. It is best to go home, have a rest, learn our lessons from this match, then get together and tell the truth.

  “We need to let our nerves calm down and then we will all have to accept the criticism.”

   

• zocoss

  31 Oct 08, 10:24

  Angry Adebayor accuses his team-mates after Gunners misfire at derby death
  

   

  

   

  Emmanuel Adebayor has openly criticised Arsenal's collapse against Tottenham that leaves them six points behind leaders Liverpool.

  Arsene Wenger's players argued among themselves as the harmony that normally holds them together was torn apart by accusations and bitterness over their surrender of a two-goal lead in the 4-4 draw at home to Spurs.

  Adebayor said: 'Every day we say we are not going to drop points and at the end of the day we end up dropping points. Not even against the top four, but against Tottenham, who are bottom of the League.

  'To be champions in this way you cannot afford that. It was one of the most difficult games of my life because I cannot understand how we were leading the game by two goals and it finished at 4-4. It is very difficult for me.

  'Maybe we thought in our heads the game had been won because sometimes it is very easy to give up when you are leading 4-2 with seven minutes to go. Now we have to learn to wait and see the game out.

  'I don't know how I am going to sleep. We cannot afford to drop points any more and we dropped two more points. I am tired of saying that.'

   

  

  Bentley overtakes: Gael Clichy (right) had a nightmare finish to the game

   

  Sportsmail understands that Arsenal left back Gael Clichy was close to tears as the criticism flew, and he told the whole team that he was responsible for the collapse.

  The Frenchman's stumble allowed him to be dispossessed by Jermaine Jenas for Tottenham's third goal which set up the amazing injury-time finish with Aaron Lennon scoring a dramatic equaliser for Tottenham.

  Adebayor admitted that morale among Wenger's squad has slipped alarmingly because of the failure to beat Hull, Sunderland and now Tottenham in the past month.

  The Togo striker is adamant that the players have to recover in time for what could be a trying experience away to Stoke tomorrow.

  Speaking on Arsenal TV, Adebayor added: 'There is a lot of disappointment with the result. 'We are down because we thought we did everything to get the three points and only took one. We feel very sorry for ourselves.

  'The season is still long and we have to keep going. We have to take it easy and learn lessons from this. The nerves will calm down a little bit and everyone has to accept the criticism and keep going.'

• Jacksngthepilot

  31 Oct 08, 11:12

  Adebayor said: 'Every day we say we are not going to drop points and at the end of the day we end up dropping points. Not even against the top four, but against Tottenham, who are bottom of the League.

   

  haha, he should chill a bit. even chelsea dropped points against tottenham lor..

• the Bear

  31 Oct 08, 11:24

  i've always thought Wenger screwed up major bigtime when he appointed Gallas as captain..

  i thought he should have put Gilberto as captain.. but it's a bit late now..

  i think Gallas is just warming the seat for Fabregas

• citymax

  31 Oct 08, 11:32

  now is the time for the young Arsenal'stars to learn how to accept failure in such manner.

• zocoss

  31 Oct 08, 11:34

  Will Fabregas even be there when Gallas eventually leave or give up the captaincy... One weird sight I had was at the end of that match, when Gallas was walking towards the tunnel, he was like talking to himself in full blow like there was someone next to him like that... It looks kind of weird man...

• Jacksngthepilot

  31 Oct 08, 11:36

  if gilberto was captain, i think arsenal would have been so much more solid, but wenger couldnt give captaincy to gilberto in light that flamini was doing so well last year..

• FirePig

  31 Oct 08, 11:38

   

  first person he should axe is  almunia.

  spurs' first goal: caused by almunia standing out of position. As a goalkeeper, he should be ready for any surprise shot. If he want to stand further away from goal post, he should be aware of such shots.

   

  Spur's seond goal: caused by almunia. Even if the shot coming in from spurs is very fast, you should try to palm the ball to the side or for a corner. Pathetic he actually push the ball to the front for the opponent to score.

  Spur's third goal: caused by clichy's mistake. However, if you look at how almunia is totally beaten, you will know almunia cannot be trusted in goal.

   

  Spur's fourth goal: caused by almunia and players. Okay granted arsenal's defenders were at fault for allowing modric or whoever to have that shot. But . But once again, almunia were beaten even though the ball looks very threatening. If the ball didnt hit the post, it would have gone in and once again, super lousy goalkeeping.

  Almunia's slow reflexes doesnt help as he cant save the rebound as well.

  Almunia = failed. (F9 or ungraded?)

• limpper

  31 Oct 08, 11:42

  screwed big time

• zocoss

  31 Oct 08, 11:43

  Arsene Wenger takes blame for Arsenal defeat after Tottenham late show

  Arsene Wenger has accepted his share of the responsibility for Arsenal's extraordinary late collapse against Tottenham.

   

  

  Wenger: "I'll take responsibility. It's difficult to say we'd have scored a fifth goal with Walcott on the pitch.

   

  The two teams shared eight goals in an epic north London derby and, with Arsenal surrendering both a 3-1 and 4-2 lead, Wenger accepted that the substitutions of Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie could be questioned.

  "If they'd scored two goals and I hadn't made those changes, maybe people would say we had been too bold," he said. "I'll take responsibility. It's difficult to say we'd have scored a fifth goal with Van Persie and Walcott on the pitch. The team can still take a lot of encouragement from that game."

  "I would like to keep the positives because I believe we were really outstanding. We were too cautious rather than scoring number five or six. The right pass would have seen us score.

  "We weren't going forward with enough purpose any more, and we were punished. We made some mistakes defensively, of course. "With two minutes to go, there was no Harry Redknapp factor. It's very difficult to prove scientifically why that happened."

• limpper

  31 Oct 08, 12:09

  well wenger. don sad. the sun is still there, make use of it.

• Kuali Baba

  31 Oct 08, 12:17

  If we're to believe Fabregas, I think Wenger brought out the women's squad by mistake. 

• dinky1409

  31 Oct 08, 13:05

  haiz.. its true its very very difficult to accept results like that last few minutes let in 2 goals.. but i guess as professional footballers have to be mentally strong lah.. disrupt team harmony lagi worst.. =( if following results suffer because of this, a bit wasted right.. they playing good football now, such a waste to throw away results because of team disharmony.. =(

• Y_Shun

  31 Oct 08, 13:17

  almanuel really tio pwn dip dip

• baby hunter

  31 Oct 08, 13:23

  Originally posted by the Bear:

  i've always thought Wenger screwed up major bigtime when he appointed Gallas as captain..

  i thought he should have put Gilberto as captain.. but it's a bit late now..

  i think Gallas is just warming the seat for Fabregas

  quite agreed wif you.....

  I'm always believe Gilberto can be a good captain.

  
  Not becos of his skill.....cos of his calmness & EQ...hardly saw him pointed finger at his own team mate or lost of control even they lost a game....that will earn a respect from the team mate....but.....haiz....

  I always believe what Arsene did is correct....but is a bigger mistake to appt Gallas as a captain.....

• Jacksngthepilot

  31 Oct 08, 15:07

  i dont think its alumnia fault lor. the 3rd and 4th goal conceded at 89th min onwards is very, very malu. the whole team just fail to cope.

• SiMiLaiEh*

  31 Oct 08, 17:12

  wenger still doesnt learn... he really needs to replace gallas as captain and almunia, he already show signs of weaknesses when he came in for lehman..sadly when lehman did one mistake against fulham and he is gone case...bloody hell damn pissed

  must wait till Fabregas gets frustrated and leaves arsenal then only wenger can wake up his bloody idea.

• zocoss

  31 Oct 08, 23:13

  Gallas claims he has hamstring injury and rules himself out of Stoke clash
  

   

  

  William Gallas has ruled himself out of Arsenal's match at Stoke

   

  William Gallas has ruled himself out of Arsenals' Premier League clash at Stoke after an angry row with manager Arsene Wenger.

  The Arsenal boss furiously turned on Gallas and his central defensive partner Mikael Silvestre after the Gunners threw away a 4-2 lead to draw 4-4 in Wednesday's dramatic clash with Tottenham.

  Gallas has claimed he has a hamstring injury, and won't play at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.

  Sources at Arsenal have revealed that there was a furious dressing room bust-up after the derby clash at the Emirates Stadium, with Wenger hitting out at his central defenders and striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

  Kolo Toure is set to replace Gallas, while Wenger is also expected to recall Johan Djourou in place of former Manchester United defender Silvestre.

   

  

  Emmanuel Adebayor and his team-mates can't hide their disappointment after Tottenham's dramatic recovery against Arsenal on Wednesday night.

   

  Gael Clichy, who was reportedly almost inconsolable after his mistake contributed to Tottenham's third goal, could also miss out with Wenger fearing an aerial assault against Stoke.

  With a crunch match against champions Manchester United coming up next weekend, Wenger will be all too aware that his side can ill afford to drop more points.
  

• zocoss

  1 Nov 08, 01:01

  ARSENAL STARS IN `BUST-UP`

  

   

  Arsenal's players were 'going crazy' in the dressing room after their north London derby draw with Spurs, according to reports.

  The Gunners had thrown away a 4-2 lead in the final minutes of the game and, according to The Sun, the players turned on each other.

  "Everyone was going crazy in the dressing room after the game. There were a lot of raised voices and fingers being pointed," a 'source' told the newspaper.

  "Everyone was blaming each other for Spurs' two late goals and the manager was as angry as anyone has seen him for a long time."

  They claim that Wenger's anger could lead to him making wholesale changes for this weekend's clash with Stoke, though an injury to William Gallas saves him from dropping his captain.

  The Daily Mirror says that Wenger specifically turned on Gallas, Mikael Silvestre and Emmanuel Adebayor.

  Silvestre could be punished for his lack of leadership, while a defensive midfielder like Alex Song or Kolo Toure is likely to come in to replace Denilson.

  The Sun names Gael Clichy as one player who could lose his place, but the Frenchman has probably suffered enough after reportedly being in tears in the dressing-room after his slip led to Tottenham's third goal.

   

• zocoss

  1 Nov 08, 01:03

  Gunners Go 'Crazy' After Capitulation against Spurs

  

   

  There's turmoil inside the corridors of a north London club - but for the first time this season it's not Spurs who are feeling the strains of a gruelling Premier League campaign.

  It's incredible how one game can turn a season, yet Spurs' great escape act at Arsenal has opened a rift behind the scenes at the Emirates.

  Talk of dressing-room fall-outs and player unrest dominate today's papers with players and manager pointing the finger at each other for their dramatic collapse against their arch rivals.

  Captain William Gallas, one of the older members of the squad, but seemingly always the first player to throw his toys out of the pram, is at it again.

  Having not learnt from his act of petulance when Arsenal threw away victory at Birmingham last season, the defender is said to have ruled himself out of tomorrow's match at Stoke after a 'furious row' with Wenger, says the Mirror .

  Gallas claims he is suffering with a hamstring injury even though Wenger is prepared to wield the axe and reshape his defence fearing the threat of Stoke's physical attack.

  Such was the ferocity of the dressing room fall-out, Gael Clichy was reportedly close to tears having shouldered the blame for Spurs' third goal scored by Jermaine Jenas.

• F.raon.I.R

  1 Nov 08, 13:27

  haha.Time to change captain.Toure may be a sound choice...

• Trump_Card

  1 Nov 08, 13:33

  Wenger rubbishes rift rumours

  Emirates stadium boss insists Arsenal are united

  

  Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insists his side's spirit has not been damaged by the dramatic North London derby draw with Tottenham.

  Speculation has suggested that rifts are beginning to appear in the Gunners squad as they fall of the pace in the Premier League title race.

  But Wenger is adamant that his players - who have not won a piece of silverware since the 2005 FA Cup - remain focused on their targets.

  "We were all very disappointed. The mood in the dressing room was of disbelief and frustration. But the players are united, passionate and want to win," Wenger told Arsenal's official website.

  "They are in this together, they want to be winners together. We have a long way to go and we are all determined to show that we can fight for this title together.

  "We know the truth on the inside and that is not what has been projected on the outside. We know what we have to do."

  Wenger also remains confident regarding his side's potential following a run of six games unbeaten.

  "It's not all bad but it is disappointing," added the Frenchman. "Our run is going on and I would say the future of our season lies in how much we learn from games like that (against Tottenham).

  "We have fantastic potential but the future of the team is about what we do with that potential. We want to address that very quickly and respond."

• limpper

  1 Nov 08, 17:54

  you're not called arsenal united.

• redDUST

  2 Nov 08, 00:31

  looks like arsenal's epl campaign this season is coming to an end soon.......

• zocoss

  2 Nov 08, 00:32

  I never trust Wenger's words... He always say things that almost everyone else can see so clearly and yet himself say otherwise...