Yes, it looks like we're paying the price for not getting the cheque book out soon enough. This new side will take time to gel. It's not rocket science, but is it a crisis? Is Wenger's job hanging by a thread following a defeat by bottom-of-the-table Blackburn? Is Wenger going mad? The French boss said we scored 'six goals'. I heard him on TV. Is he including the two own goals? That still only makes five! I'm confused, but perhaps he is too.
Make no mistake, losing to the Venky's-owned team is a disaster. Only 3 points would have done today as Rovers are virtually dead certs for the drop. Even 1 point would have shown how far Arsenal have slipped.
It's hard to put a positive spin on no points and 4 conceded against the relegation favourites but there were some good individual performances:
Santos is going to be good but lacks match fitness.
Chamakh scored for the first time in ages.
Arteta got his first goal in an Arsenal shirt.
But what about the negatives?
The defence was as porous as ever with Szczeny having a rare bad day at the office. It's going to happen if you trust to youth: you will get great days followed by a bad one. That's why it's a risky policy. Szczeny is a great-to-be but he's not there yet.
This defeat is unacceptable. It's far worse than losing to Manchester United. Yet it's just one game. We can turn our season around.
I felt there was no margin for error today yet here we were scoring own goals! Wenger is not to blame for our tough start to the season. Blame the football calendar for that. But if we have indeed decided to switch to zonal marking I'd like to know who's responsible? However, rather than 'zonal' it looked like no marking at all and no one taking responsibility for their actions or inaction.
Irresponsibility seems to be the new culture of the club. Maybe I should look it up in Latin and make a motto of it! Anyway, it's just one result so we shouldn't get too carried away. Yet this defeat fills me with more despondency than any of the previous games.
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