Never one to admit his own faults, Professor Wenger responded to Saturday’s home defeat to Aston Villa thusly:
There is no rational explanation… there was no energy left in the side. I don’t know.
If you are looking for a rational explanation as to why teams keep dominating your midfield, Mr Wenger, perhaps you should consider the huge Mathieu Flamini-shaped hole that you and your extensive scouting team have failed to adequately fill.
Is Mr Wenger’s cluelessness due to his pride, or is he finally losing it? 25 per cent of Spoiler readers believed it to be the latter two weeks ago, and we are inclined to agree…
It’s just as well that Fabio Capello hasn’t quite remembered Frank Lampard’s name, as he could be on his way out of the squad if the wishes of former England winger Chris Waddle are observed:
“Capello wants to play a 4-4-2 or a 4-5-1 and you’re not going to get the balance right with Steven Gerrard and Lampard. We know that.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a big player at a club, you’ve got to think about the team and the shape and balance.
“You can’t think ‘he’s a good player for Chelsea; he’s a good player for United; he’s good for Liverpool’.
“Frank is a good player and a good passer but he’s very similar to what we’ve got. If you look at most countries, they have two or three players who they build the team around.
“They put the grafters in to do the work but then they look to the flair players who are going to win football matches.”
Waddle, who has been an ‘expert analyst’ at BBC Radio Five Live for several years, loves nothing better than tearing into the England team (”Every time we play a team with a bit of craft and skill we can’t deal with it,” he said after our World Cup 2006 exit), but has he gone too far by suggesting that Frank should stay at home and braid his dolls’ hair on international matchdays? Or are his comments justified? Read them in full here, then leave votes and comments below.
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