They say "Without a struggle, there can be no progress", right now we're in one of the biggest struggles I can remember as an Arsenal fan. We sent out a full strength side against a team 3 divisions below us, who claimed that this cup was a big deal to them, who said they wanted to win this competition and quite frankly deserved to go out. We went out there expecting Bradford to roll over and that just doesn't happen.
Take nothing away from Bradford who played unbelievably and they fully deserve to be in the draw for the next round. They were organised and defended well and put in a real shift. That said, we should be beating a side in their position every day of the week, strong side or not. The thing that worried me last night more than anything was the attitude of the team, they were casual and there seemed to be a feeling of "we'll pull it off", they seemed to assume that if we carried on we would score and they were right. After 87 minutes of football that saw us hit the post and saw Gervinho miss a chance that literally every footballer on the planet would score, Thomas Vermaelen who was terrible all match popped up at the far post to nod home Santi Cazorla's cross.
From this point it was all Arsenal, we hit the bar, their keeper pulled off some top class saves and Jack Wilshere went through but refused to hit the ball with his right foot which in the end saw another Arsenal chance go begging. When it went to penalties we missed 3 which is inexcusable, 2 hit the woodwork and Cazorla's well, the less said about that the better. The one player that did what he needed to last night was SZCZ. He stood up when he was needed in the shootout and did his job.
The result last night sums up all the problems at Arsenal right now. The problems that occur when you sell the best striker in the country to your rival and don't replace him. The problems that occur when you know the squad isn't good enough and don't add to that squad with the quality it needs (whether that's the board or the manager's fault, who knows). And finally and I think the saddest of all, the problems that occur when the board, manager and players all live in a serene bubble of "it'll come good eventually" when the position and pride of the club seem to come below everything else. When there seems to be no hunger and fight for what they do (bar a few individuals).
That's whats wrong with the picture up there, only Jack and the Ox look gutted. All of them should be devastated. So now, confidence shot, spirit low, we have to look to Reading on Monday night, when we need a result more than ever.
I can only hope that last night was the wake up call that the board, the manager and the players needed. Sadly I doubt this will be the case. To quote Snatch, you are on thin fucking ice my pedigree chum, and I will be under it when it breaks.
