Our 2010-11 season home programme ends with a slow start, defensive errors which gifted the opposition goals, a wrongly denied penalty, a dubiously chalked-off goal, a belated wake-up, and a Robin goal which ensures we do just enough to lose by a single goal margin…
We have seen this all many times this season – hopefully a new season will entail no more of the same…
This generally wretched run of form our side has been on since losing the Carling Cup final, way back on February 28th, makes it difficult to believe that things can really improve while staying the same. I do not know the answers – I have my theories – but going from competing for four trophies, to winning nothing and potentially slumping all the way down to fourth place does not constitute a great overall season, even factoring standout home wins over Chelsea, Barcelona, and Man United.
Many will say that at least sixteen other teams will kill to be in our position after the final whistle next Sunday, and that is true. But for a team that has played Champions League football for 13 consecutive seasons and is supposedly on the cusp of becoming an (allegedly) truly dominant side, it is quite reasonable to expect more than a third/fourth place finish…
As our final home match of this season, we hoped to end the season with a flourish, force Man City to have to win their final two games outright to pip us to third place, and give our deeply polarized support something to cheer about as a unified fan base. Against the backdrop of this match, the much-publicized Black Scarf Movement held a march from a gathering point on Blackstock Road, to the Emirates, passing Highbury en route.
The protest was advertised as a means to emphasize dissatisfaction among sections of support regarding how the club is being run – the organizers specifically stated they were not calling for Arsene to be sacked – and protest against such recent unpopular moves as the 6.5 per cent ticket price hike.
As I understand, the march went ahead peacefully, with a few hundred participants…If the march did not make much of an impression, then surely the rows of clearly visible empty seats at the ground for an end-of-season match involving a team trying to secure second place in the table did…
Arsene’s mid/late-week press interview tipped his hand a bit regarding yesterdays team selection.
Diaby and Kos were ruled out prior to Friday, and the “small chances” attributed to Cesc and Samir did not materialize. Clichy and JD also failed to make the bench. Arsene said that Verm would finally feature today, and most of us expected him to start.
We lined up Szczesny, Sanga, Verm, Squil, Gibbs, Ramsey, Song, Jack, Theo, Robin, and Arsh.
Jens, Miquel, Eboue, Henderson, Denilson, Chamakh and Nik made out our bench.
While JD’s shoulder is still a problem, I thought that partnering Verm with Squil was a good move, regardless of JD’s potential availability. I saw this as an opportunity to give Squil playing time alongside a more experienced partner, while easing Verm back in with a match-fit partner. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out…
On the Villa side, Gary Mac implied he would give his younger players a run out today, but he still named a pretty experienced lineup. A certain Bob Pires had to make do with a spot on the bench…
I could summarize the match event by event, but frankly, I do not really have the energy. As has happened so often recently, we received an unexpected boost prior to kick off. Stephen Taylor’s stoppage time equalizer at Stamford Bridge meant that Chelsea could only gain a point on us. If we could win today, we would close the gap between us to one point, and give ourselves a chance at finishing second. As has happened so often recently, we utterly failed to capitalize.
We remain four points behind Chelsea and no longer have any chance of finishing second. Should Man City repeat their win over Stoke on Tuesday night, they will move into third place and even that will be out of our hands…
The match? Arsene said afterwards that we started “too tentative” and I certainly agree. We showed little energy or purpose, and were quickly punished through the all-too-familiar defensive mistakes we continue to see. On 11 minutes, Walker sent a ball over the top from just beyond the center circle.
Our defenders remained static with the hapless Squil seemingly forgetting Villa’s only real goalscoring threat was right there with him. By the time Squil reacted, it was too late, as Bent chested the ball down and volleyed into our net. Before we could catch our breath, another mistake allowed Bent to double the lead. This time, Verm’s slip allowed Young the space to slide an angled pass to an unmarked Bent, who made a simple finish past Szczesny. On this occasion it was Sagna who helped keep Bent onside and gave him the time and space to collect the pass and finish.
We belatedly begin to wake up and realize there was a football game on. Unfortunately, it was basically the Robin Van Persie show. Jack tried hard, but he looks absolutely gassed, after a long, difficult season. Others we should expect more of – particularly Theo and Arsh (in a rare start) – were generally anonymous. 15 minutes after Bent’s second goal, we should have had a penalty when Dunne brought Ramsey down as he shaped to shoot inside the Villa box.
Referee Oliver (no, my pen-name has nothing to do with him!) did not give it – not the first clear one we have been denied, but at what point are we going to stop feeling sorry for ourselves about what referees don’t give and how we don’t get what we “deserve”? If we had started the match with intent and concentration, we would possibly have had a couple of goal lead and the denied penalty could be laughed away. Yet these moments always become so critical not only because of official incompetence, but because we often fail to perform prior to these events.
This would not be an Arsenal match without Robin’s usual shot against a post – he duly obliged five minutes after the blown penalty call. We trudged off the pitch deservedly 2-0 down at the half, to a chorus of boos. Certainly not what the club had hoped to hear during the final match of the season…
Arsene made a halftime change for the second consecutive match, hauling Squil off for Chamakh. The latter at least looked better to me than he has recently. He was caught offside a few times, but showed willing to make runs and try and get himself into advanced positions. With 15 minutes remaining, Chamakh headed home from point-blank range, only for Oliver to disallow it for a phantom foul on Walker. There was nothing wrong with Chamakh’s goal, and Oliver had another moment of shame.
By this time, Nik had replaced the dreadful Arsh and we huffed and puffed while putting Villa under increasing pressure.
Nevertheless, they defended well and had a couple of chances of their own. We finally pulled a goal back just a minute from time, with Robin cleaning up a messy scramble in the Villa box. But, as usual, it was too little too late. Our final home match of the 2010-11 season ended in defeat to a team that we beat on their patch early in the season. Our injured captain, Cesc, led our track-suited players on a lap of honour to thank the fans for their support.
Many of the players looked forlorn – and some more than slightly embarrassed – as they circled the edges of the pitch. Cesc has now been ruled out of next Sunday’s match, so whether or not we have seen the last of him in an Arsenal shirt remains to be seen…Ditto Samir, who – along with JD – has a “small chance” of being fit for the season finale.
We are now down to the final game – Craven Cottage in one week’s time. Tuesday’s result from the Eastlands will not be decisive; either we or City will kick off in third place on Sunday, and either of us can slot finish in that slot. So the premise that these last games are meaningless just is not true; third place may not be the thing we really want to be battling for on the final day, but it is what it is, and we need to give the necessary effort to achieve it. This is something we have done only sporadically since the start of March as we have dropped far more points than we have gained, and crashed out of two more cups.
A lot will be made of referee Oliver’s performance. He had a poor match, period. That said I don’t believe he was the entire reason we lost today.
First off all, Villa deserve credit for cashing in the two early chances that Bent received. I know many who sneered when Villa forked $$ to sign him from Sunderland, but he has always scored goals – even when he was a Spud…Oliver may have not given us any change but the contentious incidents were only moments within a match.
He lets Dunne of the hook for a clear penalty? We still have time to score goals. He disallows Chamakh’s perfectly good goal? There are still fifteen minutes remaining to score three goals. We his wrongly blowing for a foul against Robin after our number ten made an absolute mug of Dunne…I will agree with anyone who feels we were hard done by in these cases.
I think many of us – including myself in prior instances – are guilty of viewing these referee calls in isolation. Today, they were big points in a match, but none of them were made in situations where there was not ample time remaining to score. Yet we could only score one goal, despite hogging possession and doing virtually all the attacking in the second half. Before the first moment of controversy arrived, we were already down 2-0 thanks to an unfocused start, and shambolic defending.
Can we blame Oliver for that?
In my opinion – and I state again, this is only my opinion – if we had the right attitude, concentration and application from the opening whistle, we would have rendered those “Oliver moments” irrelevant to the point they would only have meant the difference between a 7-0 win and a 5-0 win…
I think it is telling that Arsene – never shy to criticize officials for blown calls – made only passing mention of the denied penalty and disallowed goal but instead attributed the defeat to our bad start and tentativeness. I completely agree with him, and will go further and say that if he attributed responsibility – not blame, but responsibility – for draws and defeats to the players more consistently earlier on, perhaps we would not have endured such a recent miserable run, where we could muster up only four wins in a ten week period.
Perhaps that would have prompted some players to take harder looks at themselves and their respective performances…Perhaps…Or perhaps not…Again, who knows? But I think we can reasonably say that Arsene’s repeated lavish praise of the team’s mental strength, qualities, and not getting what they “deserve” has not worked…
The proof is in the prolonged slump in both performance and results…
Again, that is opinion on my part. I am not inside Arsene’s head, nor am I inside any of our players heads. In one week’s time, the curtain will come down in this season. The immediate goal has to be to win at Fulham, beat Mark Hughes in the process and hope it is enough to secure third place.
That is a far cry from four possible trophies as recently as the morning of February 28th, but the players should at least want to accomplish this – for themselves, as much as the supporters.
Written by Oliver
Morning all
Thanks for the match report oliver, great read yet again, no doubt you are pleased there will be only one more to write this season…
Is nasri leaving to……..?
Hi arsenal fan – i don’t think we know who is going or staying right now, i doubt though it will be too long before we do.
The one question that should be exercising Kroenke this morning is whether Arsene is the man to take the club forward or is it going to be more of the same. If Wenger is prepared to embrace a complete change in his way of doing business and the shape he plays and the over-reliance on clearly underachieving players then I reckon he deserves another year. But if he is going to continue on this path (some would call it reckless, myself included) then I can see no point whatsoever in him staying. I seriously doubt that Stan wants to change manager so early in his ownership but with some big players looking likely to leave and some more unknown wonder kids coming in? We all know what next season holds. Why? Because many of us could see the writing on the wall for the past several seasons and we have been proved tragically right. Arsene, unfortunately for him, has been proved wrong. He says we don’t need big changes. I disagree. Football at this level is a ruthless result driven business and with the current mindset Arsenal are going nowhere. We should not be afraid of change. We should embrace it.
If this current Arsenal Board can be happy after yesterday, they have truly lost the plot – empty seats all over the place, fans not hanging around for the ‘lap of appreciation’…
I hope they take notice and in a big way….
Well said adam
we need a change
its better for wenger to leave than we doing it ourself
Do you honestly believe the club would let Wenger go Adam?
I’m not sure, he saves them money each season..
If things don’t change we will be out of the CL qulalifying places in the next season or two….
Interesting part about our goal, as you say ,the ball bobbled around and Van Persie got the touch . However the bit that I took on board is that the deflection to him came off of Bendtner and that we had two forwards in the six yard area . Is that the message ? If you want scrappy goals players have to get in there.
at the moment the board has two options ‘
1.THE FANS
2.THE MANAGER
n we know at the end who wins
Rico he doesn’t save them money , HE MADE THEM MONEY. When we moved to the new place the shares were trading at £ 4500.00 . Six years later £11750.00 and every one of our board has sold up. Will be interesting if the attitude changes now that they have no financial interest other than their annual stipend.
potter – but we don’t do that enough do we and why does it take 90 mins??
Why do we go 2-0 down before starting to look interested, why can’t the manager get the team motivated from the off, why don’t we have the players who are naturally motivated from the off??
Answer, Wenger seems to have lost any motivaition skills he once had and some of the players we have don’t have a winning menatility or natural fight within in them.
Many, don’t even give a hoot about who they are playing for….
potter, you know what i mean, he makes them money in player sales too but he saves them by not spending on ‘proper’ players…
Wenger said:
‘Judge me in May’
He says it every season, well this May he saw how fans judged him….
Empty seats and black scarves……
Rico. Let him go? I doubt they would want him to go but with Kroenke coming in the dynamic has changed. It must be plain to even the most die-hard Wenger supporters and I was one up to not too long ago, that the present course he has set the club on is not working. I don’t think it will ever work because of the rise of the mega-rich clubs. This is no playground where a man can indulge his fantasies of idealistic football. As I said before, I think this is a cut throat world of professional sport that demands a more ruthless approach. If Arsene is as content with second as he said then that’s fine for him but he will do huge damage to the clubs relationships with it’s fans if he continues to sell that sort of rubbish. PR- wise Arsenal are a disaster area at the moment and Wenger doesn’t make things any better by saying stupid things like he wants to keep Bendtner and Arshavin. I know he can’t publically say they must go but why not just say nothing?It would be a lot smarter. The 6% rise is really far too stupid for words. I am a seething cauldron of irritabilities and ideas this morning and I doubt I am alone.
It’s time to change. AW should listen fans because they never lie to AW ,their comments are worth wide to concern as AW said last day about the next season so difficult for big 4 because the gap between the other ‘s so closed . This season is the example that Arsenal should lift their performance level in the more and more level to secure their place in the next season. This season problems those were chronic are 1st is fighting spirit ( with the VILLA ,there are 3 persons who showed their heart are RVP BIG SES and JACKO ,the other are not even Theo14 and KIBB ARE EXCEPTED BY THEY DIDN’T RECEIVE THE BALL TOO MUCH TO SHOW THEIR BRAVE, but the other not to protect the team . 2nd is the game style that every team knew how to stop Arsenal by used the double wall in front of goal and grouping players to pressing the player who had the ball, Arsenal style is used a lot of power that brought the players ran off the power in the final minutes so they can’t give more pressure enough to bring the game back (No 3rd,4th gear to accelerate and pressure the opposite). 3rd is Arsenal master in the pitch after loss CES ,in the recents game ,Jacko and RAMBO despoil each other to be the boss in the pitch that is not good for team and I don’t understand why AW didn’t tell who is the boss in the pitch, in my idea Jacko is deserved but Rambo should turn to be double 6 beside Mr Song in more defense than attack alongside Song to secure the team to be stable in defense first and let 4 attacker Jacko RVP DOUBLE AA and Theo14 to find the scores ( with 4 attacker will make numberus ways to destroy the double wall with Theo speed , RVP ‘s smart idea to play and steering every players to play and killer instinct to score ,Double AA fantastic short and pass and Jacko simply killer passes). 4th is the reserve are not quality to change the game. Those are the example problem in this year not only the weakest defense players. This summer ,AW has a lot of work to think to change the team to be the lion not big mouse , the cannon not toy-gun ,some players should sell (Almunia, Abu Diaby ,Denison and the best Nicky Bendtner, no heart for team like Fab4 ),discuss to Nasri clearly stay or not that make some big money 40-50 million pounds to turn to some players like G. Cahill , S. Parker and Benzema . Not bring a shooting star because no one guarantee their quality in EPLand don’t sell the royal players like Rosicky and Eboue who ready die for teambut I almost sure Aw will let both of them that is the summer stupid story. AW should re design his team again with his squad that he change ,reserve players who ‘re worth wide to be the 1st team and new players . Not only AW who have a lot of work but RVP Theo Chamakh Rosicky and Double AA (if he still stays) should goes holidays together to concern their physical body to built to be thick and strong and their way to play in harmony (fast and effective) like go to the beach football together that bring them enjoy and feel understand each other like TH14,Pires and Silvain done before. Finally ,I still be Trust in Arsene Wenger but please listen the fan voice.
Adam
Please don’t think I am trying to defend Wenger, i’m not – I am sick and tired of watching our club slowly dissapear off down the pan.
The board for me have two choices.
1) Sack Wenger
or
2) Take him to one side, read the riot act and tell him to buy the right players this summer. In fact not even during the summer, by the 15th July at the very latest or he will be history…. Also tell him to offload a few players too
Then, if he fails to do that, sack him and get him replaced with someone who will, they would still have time to ring the changes….
It’s a shame that West Ham got relegated yesterday and Avram Grant has been sacked. Those two stories have stolen the news, otherwise I am sure it would have been all about us….
The next will be the sacking of Ancelotti
thats the difference
ancelloti wins a double in the 1st season n finishes them 2nd next season and still wil be sacked
while we havent
1.won silverware for 6 years
2.came 2nd for the sametime
3.the stats for the end season ar so bad i doubt any manager an survive that except wenger
Rico. I think you lay out the options very well. I believe that Wenger will not accept anyone telling him what to do so the real- world options are to sack him or stay on the road to oblivion. We took the first steps on that road during the past few months. The only hope is that Wenger actually does what is needed but that is a slim hope indeed as it would mean a tacit acceptance that he has got it wrong. For a man who seems ludicrously stubborn and entrenched that could a be a step too far. Every club needs a revolution occasionally and this is our time.
We don’t want to be like the chavs though arsenal fan, i prefer us to have stabilty with a manager, its just this manager needs to realise its now or never…
He is certainly stubborn Adam and it’s almost like ‘the more people tell me what to do, i will do the opposite’ but something has to give…
i’m hoping he will turn it around but the last few seasons doesn’t give me great hope…
No doubt we will all watch it unfold….
Isn’t it odd that so many great leaders tend to go this way and never know when to say goodbye?
The post not a happy read it seems.
It appears that what is happening around the club, is now more important than what’s happening on the pitch I find that a shame. Granted not a lot happens there that would en-thrall the supporter, but I wonder had we won the CC and won the league and FA cup and still be challenging the champions league would those same supporters that can not afford the hike in prices find that little bit extra to still follow their beloved club. Personally I know how you feel, shattered let down robbed. but we will get on with it, and you know yourselves even the ones who don’t renew,you will still look for the Arsenal result next season before all others. Granted were crap at the moment perhaps for another six years, but we are still Arsenal, some maybe distraught enough not wanting to watch, but you have seen it all before and probably if you live long enough you will see it again, if of course we ever get out of this rut.I feel bad and I know you do as well, but look on the bright side, if that’s possible, were not in West Hams position, I know that is not much consolation at the moment but we will start next season and our hopes will be back and we will be shouting our heads off, maybe some of us will not be in the stadium, but you will still be interested because your a through and through Gunners supporter and always will be.
AW and the board have managed to get us in an right mess. The lack of investment in the summer / jan has left us with too much to do in one summer transfer window – still need a keeper, squill was a dreadful buy and we still need a good cb or two, still need a DM, left back is now a problem and if eboue goes we have no RB back up, denilson, diaby and rosicky all need to be replaced with decent players who can stay fit, arsh can’t handle another season in the Premiership and we need a 25 goal a season striker to back up rvp and help turn possession into goals. If cesc goes we are in an even worse mess as we will have to spend on a creative mid too, which are very expensive, as well as losing our captain.
We are in a dreadful state, only a few seasons ago we only needed subtle changes to the squad to make us a serious challenger on all fronts, but 2 years of negligent underinvestment has ruined the squad and isolated a huge part of the fanbase. An astonishingly poor performance from AW and the board.
Morning guys, the only thing that took off was the march lol..players, Manager and the Board all crap
Wenger likes to work with a small budget, maybe West Ham would like him
😆
Rayman, agree with you sentiments but all you say is easily turnroundable with big investments, of course it won’t happen straight away but the club itself is cleaning up their debts and hopefully not to long in the future the investment will start. We have seen it at Chelsea and also at City and it will happen here before to long, you have heard the old saying every dog has his day, and our old dog will also have his day again but not at the expense of our future. all good things come to those that wait, I just hope its not much fucking longer.
Morning Steve
I think the answer to that would be yes, but I guess that is what narks fans. Were we winning the ticket prices would be more acceptable as would watching great players for the money….
This has all been brewing for a while now…..
Sorry rico, good morning, have a bit of a head this morning
Morning Erick…
I’m not surprised Steve, mines a tad sore too 😉
Do you think things will change this summer, a part of me thinks it may….
Yesterday made all things clear to the board, surely they will finally wake up?
Morning Rico and all, what to do now and yesterday on facebook Cesc was ripped apart by fans when thanking them for their support..bit unfair
Just wait and see how things unfold I guess Erick, cesc is ruled out of next week and the friendlies for Spain in June.
Lets get the Fulham game out the way and then roll on the transfer window opening…. I think it’s highly likely we will be in the CL qualifiers so that should make Wenger speed things up a bit….
Wenger will have no option but to buy he has to inject new players, and I expect that. but he will still be limited to funds, so I expect more unknowns entering our fold because he will get more for his money as for players, but whether they will help is something else, I honestly don’t see big name signings, even if we sell some of our top players. I have never seen him yet pay massive prices and I don’t expect it this year.
“AW and the board have managed to get us in an right mess”; Are you for real?
To all the armchair managers on here, you really think you would have done a better job? Honestly?
That doesn’t bother me really Steve, it’s more about what’s in their heart than what they cost in my opinion. I think he might just make one crowd pleasing signing and 2/3 lesser knowns…
Three players,
1 – Guts
2 – Heart
3 – Passion
🙂
We are linked with Owen Hargreaves????? 😮
Steve :- How do you react to the theory that the club took on a financial package at very good interest rates to pay up their loans over a 25 year period . This however they have chosen to abandon and repay their debt at a much faster rate to the detriment of the playing side. I am torn between blaming Wenger for everything or blaming the money men that perhaps have starved him of enough. Recent reports have suggested that there is a sum of money available to him of about £30 – 35 million. This would only get us 1 player transfer and wages which of course is not enough to turn round this going off course ocean liner.
Whilst this headlong rush to minimise the debt has taken place , the share price of the club has more than doubled and the people that have controlled this situation have all cashed in and sold out.
Perhaps we should be looking elsewhere for our scapegoat.
John – we are not considered to be a world class football manager on £6 million a year…..
Wenger and the AFC board should have done a lot better – i think most knew when we first moved things would be tight but the last 2/3 seasons Wenger has bought rubbish and continued with them, he plays players out of position and doesn’t seem to know what to do when things are going wrong…
Other than to huff and puff on the side lines and kick water bottles…
I would be surprised if we recognise any of the players we get, it will be like Forest Gumps mothers box of chocolates You never know what your gonna get
potter, i don’t think its all down to wenger but he is part of the package that has agreed not to spend, preferring to clear debts and like you say, to the detriment of things on the field…
Samba and a GK in Jan would possibly been enough to win us the CC and possibly even the PL…
What would that have cost us? Much less than £30 Million thats for sure…
We are so close but AW and the boards stubborness not to spend has cost us dear….
Lets hope i’m right then Steve 😉
I hope Stoke get revenge against Citeh on Tuesday, can’t see it though….
Good points Potter.
Makes you wonder that, I must admit.personally I have never known where or who actually comes out with these figures but I prefer to believe that Arsenal will always want to look like a massive club, and could if they wanted to, buy any player in the world at any time. things change in football clubs al the time, and with power that is shared by share holders a lot of Juggling has to go on, but now the American has got the most shares and should have the controlling say,we also have to put the Russian’s massive 11 billion into the equation as well, things are still being sorted in the boardroom and we may have to wait till the balance of power pans out before we see the benefits.
Morning all, hi Rico.
StevieP : 10.49, very well said mate. As i was saying to my son yesterday, Arsenal winning bugger all actually is the norm. We’ve just been spoiled in recent seasons and fans’ expectations have risen, but not as much as ticket prices….
Until K.S.E give Usmanov some say in things we can’t look at his vast wealth. So far he has been outside the loop and I doubt he will be bought into it unless there are major board changes. At the moment things are cosy in the boardroom the dissenters having been removed and K.S.E. in full control. They probably don’t have money to throw around especially if the rumours that they are paying for the shares on the never never are true. So probably they are hell bent on getting the whole debt out of the way to increase the value and then maybe look for a buyer and take a profit. in the meantime supporters , ” Jam Tomorrow “.
Morning Rico and co.
Very sad business indeed, our worst collapse thus far.
It would be dangerous to assume this is as bad as it can get, if anything we seem to be getting worse and factoring in that this is his ‘best squad ever,’ it’s quite frightening.
Good news on a personal note, been offered a job, albeit out of London. As long as it goes through, I’m heading to the Grove next season (provided I can get tickets), come what may.
Hi kev, G4L
Congrats with the job G4L, hope they are worth watching next season 😉
Just jesting of course 🙂
I get where your coming from AK, and good morning to you and yours
Potter, in my opinion Arsenal need not be in debt at all we owe about £110million i think thats the figure i read The Yank is worth $1.5 billion and the Ruski $11.5 billion why not just pay it off, pocket change to them. there must be a reason they want the debt, tax or something
if they did that anybody who still owns shares would make a fortune so perhaps not a good idea aftrall forget that
Actually, it’s afternoon. My mistake.
SteveP, the way i understand it, Arsenal need to find £18million per season to service the stadium debt including interest. Basically after 6 home games, it’s done for the year and the rest goes into the clubs coffers. Or to service a wage bill of approx £110million p.a.
The stadium debt, as i understand it, runs to approx 2025. £18million per year shouldn’t be a reason for a lack of investment in the team….
And a bit more after the price hike AK
price hike should buy us an unknown cb from god knows where
and the Ruski $11.5 billion why not just pay it off,
As i said he just a shareholder , he has no input to the club. Everything I have heard about Kroenke’s wealth is that it is on paper tied up in property and that readies are not his strong point.
You know Steve, the more i discover about the stadium debt, the more i begin to wonder if it’s really the millstone around the clubs neck that ‘they’ would have us believe?
Because if the debt is managable, then what other excuse do they have for not spending on the team? Unless of course, the funds are going elsewhere???
Funny you should say that Ak, i cant make it out either as you say its manageable maybe a clause in the contract somewhere which forbids large investment till the debt is paid
If thats the case Potter where did he get his hands on all those millions to buy Lady whatshernames shares from
The thing is Steve, £18million in 5 years time is gonna be bugger all, in 10 years it’ll be a snip, in the grand scheme of things, so unless you are right about that clause, then where is all the money going??? It doesn’t all go on wages, it certainly doesn’t go on player recruitment, there seems to be a black hole of around £50million….? Is someone getting very rich on our behalf???????
Now you know I won’t sleep now AK worrying about that sum, aint you got a hole to dig
morning all…thanks for taking the comments, rico…nothing to add from me, with one or two exceptions, this hasn’t been much fun since feb 28th…
Afternoon Oliver nice write up mate, not one you was looking forward to I suppose.
Ha ha Steve, try some spandex tonight. I’m offski now, interesting chat, see ya anon.
later AK
Hi oliver, i echo Steve’s comment, couldn’t have been easy but it seems a long time ago since they were….
One more to go, I hope it’s a winning one too 😉
thanks steve…thanks rico. it has been particularly painful and discouraging to watch this collapse. writing about it has not provided me any catharsis.
Scott Parker will be Tottenhams first signing, £10M…..
It’s bad enough watching once, going through it all again is cruel..
Let’s hope better times are ahead, a few tweaks here and there should do it…. I’m sure Wenger has it all sorted in his mind – not!
robin van persie: “we have to prove ourselves”
actually, you had a great opportunity this almost-concluded season…didn’t exactly rise to the challenge did you?
no point in talking about it now. at this moment, i would much prefer our players to just zip it the rest of the way. go to craven cottage on sunday, whatever happens there happens, then clean out your lockers, and head out on vacation or whatever it is you do in the offseason. rest up, think about putting this right next season and come back ready to play and win.
oliver – it’s inevitable they are talking, they just all been booed off the pitch, abandoned by their own fans – he hurts….
To be fair, he has been one of only a few who can be proud of his efforts, shame he can’t be fit for a whole season.
Have a few things to get done, back later this afternoon guys/gals….
verm: “our mentality needs to improve”
we know this. other players have said it previously, yet we continue to look like shrinking violets. enough talk already…
why we dont have the money
astonvilla spent the money this january which we couldnt for 2 seasons
Stop to Think (II) (continued)
It is common to hear that Arsenal plays football attractive, cute is a treat to watch him play. It is the “power of football”at its limit. History has shown that several teams of countries and clubs, customized this facet and nothing gained. The Brazil of 1982, the Netherlands, 1974, etc. Teams that were in memory, but gained nothing. Excellent players. Everything to succeed. But it was because the ball is round, bad luck, who lost?
I think not. When I characterize the “power football”, I take a picture of teams and clubs, using a muscular football, inappropriate for modern times. These clubs, there is no player who stay in the memory of fans.
These extremes have one thing in common: they can hardly succeed because the key is to get a team with a mix of “Power of footbal” and “football power “. Today, with the highest percentage of “power of football. ”
If Arsenal continue to push for a team almost exclusively made up of players from the “power of football, ” hardly win the League.
Football History proves it.
Thanks Rico, as long as I see Van Persie play well I will be fairly satisfied. I will be extremely happy to see a win.
As for players, I hope to see power of body and mind in whoever we recruit.
Morning all.you are a brave man oliver to even attempt to report about what we witnessed yesterday.
I used to respect Wenger but not anymore.its bordering on hatred now as i can’t stand the sight of the once great man throwing his toys out of the pram on the touchline.he has fed us so much bulls*** over the years but we looked past that because we believed in him.yesterday was the last straw for me.he was asked about our disappointing end to the season but instead spun the question to say we are atleast not involved in the relegation battle.really Wenger?i want him OUT NOW.
morning k…thanks…not a lot of fun at the moment. i don’t think any of us are enjoying this right now…
Wenger’s comments pinpointed the biggest problem we have at the club-attitude and mentality.
k, arsene deflected the question, as he normally does. i don’t get upset about it, i don’t expect him to answer those questions.
to be perfectly honest, i would be happy to not hear another word from him, or any of the players for the remainder of this season. there is a lot of work to be done to get us ready for next season. robin and verm stating the obvious on dot.com is a bit condescending and will do little to mollify what is apparently a large section of support unhappy about how events have unfolded since the league cup final. on mornings after such as this, it is probably better for arsene and the players to keep their thoughts to themselves.
we’ll see…arsene’s previous comments about “mental strength” and “giving absolutely everything” have long since rung hollow. the players gave me the impression – especially during three of the last four matches – that they don’t believe it.
yesterday, as they chased the game, they looked like ten players waiting for robin to bail them out…
There was a time when teams like villa would be 2 up at HT but we knew and they did too that we would lose that game.we had the best player in the world so f**k them.20 minutes in the 2nd half henry would score a hattrick and we would end up winning 5-2.at Anfield we were having a bad day but pires out of nowhere scored an absolute beauty.we had icons to look up to but nowadays only rvp and cesc but they are injury prone.its sad how far we have fallen…
*no way would we lose*
Oliver and all,
You won’t get major surgery , these players can perform on their day.Definitely reduce the number of squad players and it would be nice for cesc to actually say one way or another if he is staying or going.
I think there is more to it than we all know.I believe there is friction amongst too many overpaid players but above all there has been no consistency all season.
Is it the defence as half the goals we concede are from set pieces or is it the attack which is misfiring or is it not tracking back or are the attacking midfield players not as quick as earlier on this season.
So many questions yet not a conclusive answer.
I miss the direct football.we concede a corner 1 minute,10 seconds later we were celebrating a vieira finish.where are the diving headers?30 yards piledrivers?wicked freekicks?…we are far too one dimensional since we do neither of the above anymore and when we do it its extremely rare like vs barca AA’s goal was a thing of beauty and our goal of the season imo.
Not one single goal has been scored from outside the box all season by us or an away team.
Jack has played the most PL games(30) only bettered by Sagna.
When i saw the team announced I knew deep down this was going to be a struggle but we literally once again fell out of the traps as if the game didn’t matter.
When did we last perform really well in 2 consecutive games ?
kelsey, i agree that we won’t see major surgery regarding incoming players. some of the squad need to leave – more for their respective sakes than anything else – but i don’t expect a lot of additions.
as i have said before, i think the players we have are, in general, good enough to win things. where we fall down, i think, is how they are training/set up to play, and what i perceive to be arsene’s over-protectiveness. this is where i hope arsene does his most work this summer. if we cannot correct these things, we will not move forward.
we’re locked into this style. this is what arsene trains the players to do – retain possession, move the ball on the floor and look for the next pass. these are their habits now…
i also think there is a risk-averse mentality in the squad. if we are scoreless/trailing and need to take chances, the players revert to the comfort zone of slowing it down and looking to pass-pass-pass. that is what i see as one – but not the only – aspect of our mental weakness.
As much as we hate red nose he would win things all over the place with this squad.
oliver,
if cesc goes, nasri will get a pay rise.If they both go then the creativity is left to the raw recruits in Ramsey and Wilshere.
I fully expect Almunia,Rosicky to leave.Others that many want to go may or may not e.g. denilson,Clichy,Arshavin and even bendtner as we most probably would lose money on them.Squillacci was 6 or 7 million and is absolutely useless.
First and foremost the BoD would put pressure on Wenger not what the fans think, and as long as we have financial stability and a top 4 place we remain in a status quo situation.
kelsey, we’ll see how it goes…i think we have some problems that can be addressed separate from player departures/arrivals, so i hope this is where the first focus goes.
i would like to believe that deep down, arsene is really hurt by how this season is turned out, and is resovled to compromise on some of the “principles” he has. but i honestly don’t know…
We are frequently compared to barca but its a fallacy to say we play beautiful football anymore.the last time we did was in 07/08 and in patches for the past 2 season.messi plays the exact role for barca that rvp does in our team,false nine.he has 53 goals so far having played most of their games.rvp has played half of the games but has 21 goals to his name.messi like rvp is rarely in the box but unlike us pedro/villa/iniesta/xavi/alves swarm the box to take advantage of how messi disorients defences.when rvp does that only cesc/theo make runs into the box.barca/invincibles have/had telepathic movements making them very direct.we don’t seem to have this.just watch xavi play;before he receives the ball he takes a quick glance over his shoulder to assess his options.we fail in most of the above aspects that are vital to play quick and direct football which results us to playing crab and pointless tiki taka.
Afternoon people 🙂
k, i would characterize our recent football as far more “stifled” than “beautiful”
i cannot believe that what we are currently seeing is arsene’s actual vision of what we should play…if it is, i am severely under-estimating our problems.
rico…
(nods his head in acknowledgment)
Hi ricolicious.
i never want my team to lose
i always want us to win but i think the best thing that can happen to us is for us to finish fourth and get knocked out of the qualifiers..
the only thing thats keeping wenger in his cushy number is that ’15 years in the cl trophy’..
if we aint in it he cant bleat it and changes will be forced wether he likes it or not..if he doesnt like it then hes not in it for arsenal hes in it for egotistical individual glory and its time he went..
wengers lost the dressing room hes lost the fans and he’s lost his marbles if he thinks this same squad is good enough to win something without changes..
theres only won option this summer to win everyone round..if that option isnt taken wenger will not be in charge next summer..there will be a total revolt..
hiya jj…i don’t necessarily agree with everything you cited, but i think there is something to be said for the possibility that arsene has lost the dressing room…
just a couple of months ago, i would have dismissed that out of hand, but now, seeing who is “injured” at the moment, i think it is distinctly possible.
everyone has their opinions about where we are at, but i do not see how the club can simply pretend all the empty seats and vocal dissatisfaction did not happen. there are clearly problems at the club.
oilver
nice one fella..
there can be no more head in the sand over this..
we have issues..plenty..
im not a supporter of protests or demos..
im a supporter of ‘actions speak louder than words’
empty seats dont lie..
that was one of the best things that could happen to the club and if it doesnt force a change the club is heading in a direction where success will not be seen for some time..
Kt, oliver 😆
Afternoon jj, is that the old jj creeping back 😉
Nasri is also beginning to get on my nerves.he has done f*** all since jan and now he is holding the club to ransom over wages.it looks like being 2nd in the PFA awards has inflated his ego.no big club needs him as that sort of player isn’t hard to get and there are cheaper alternatives too.if i had a choice i’d rather keep cesc who is a rare breed of a player.in the past decade only Bergkamp,zidane,pirlo,scholes and xavi have that natural touch,passing and imagination that he has.i’ll be gutted when he leaves.
Hi jj.
im not happy put it that way
agree jj…i am not one for protests or symbolic gestures either. i support arsenal football club and i want the best for the club. if the best for the club contradicts with the personal interests of certain players, a certain manager, or certain board members, well…i’ll say it again: i want the best for arsenal football club.
there will always be those who believe that everything is perfect and that we have no problems, just media-fuelled myths of problems. we will also always have those who believe that the entire club is crumbling around us and that we are headed straight down the toilet. the truth, as they say, is somewhere in between these two extreme views.
hi guys
i dont care who leaves or stays anymore..
i want a rebuild this summer
wengerball 3 is over..the sqaud the tactics are all fucked up
its time for wengerball 4…change of personell change of tactics..
a combination of wengerball 1+2 would be nice..
but that would mean pennies being spent in the window
and if this dont happen then fuck wengerball all together..
let someone else have a go
i don’t think any of us are happy. i am not necessarily angry, just disappointed and a bit resigned. disappointed that our players could not muster the effort or motivation to finish this season strongly and challenge to the end. resigned that things cannot stay as they are if these players are ever to fulfill their potential.
samir is an odd one to figure. i don’t doubt that he has a slight injury – i think arsene does a bill belichik with his injury list (belichik is known for listing the slightest injury for every single one of his players (such as tom brady – hangnail) on the weekly injury list). i think arsene does much the same. i don’t doubt that cesc has a thigh strain, but perhaps it is nothing the would prevent him from playing in ordinary circumstances.
my point with arsene belichik and injuries is that i think he uses them as cover to drop players, either for form or as a message to players being difficult. perhaps samir has been the latter – and perhaps over more than just his contract…
if arsene can omit a play due to injury, he (or the player) do not have to answer questions about being benched. i imagine that many hacks probably know what he is doing (operating under the assumption my premise is reality), but arsene can just maintain that the player is injured and unfit for selection.
phew…that was a bit off-topic…
Good post – in saying we had plenty of chances to score you seem to forget there are 2 teams playing. Yes AV took their chances well…..so did we – RvP converts the penalty and its 2-1. Ramsey taps in RvP’s pass after he goosed Dunne and it’s 2-2. Chamakh goal makes us 3-2 and a great come back is lauded. Not to mention what AV’s defence should have looked like after Dunne was red carded and Petrov was rightfully marched after his vicious tackle on Song after he had hacked down Wilshere earlier. We may have run riot!! But this was not to be. We made 2 blunders and got spanked for them and rightly so. Villa made several and paid for none thanks to Oliver (I’d be changing the name after the weekend)
In other games we have blown chances – here our chances were stolen and there in lies the difference
jj, now you can see why i said i don’t care if cesc stays or goes, same with nasri – they either want to play for Arsenal or they don’t – if they don’t pack their bags and get the most money from woever offers it…
Use that money and rebuild a TEAM, not a group of players with massive ego’s..
And that is why i am glad RvP, TV and Chesney have spoken out already, they hurt….
Both Nasri and Fabregas were poor during our last horror 3 months. Many complain Nasri should be in the middle, but most of his sterling efforts from earlier in the season came on the wing. Sadly when we needed them most only RvP stood up, while both Nasri and Fab were often found wanting. A quick scan of the ratings over the last few months would show a bunch of numbers with a 6 in front. Not what you’d expext from ‘World Class” players.
steve, believe me, at the final whistle yesterday, i gave serious consideration to creating a different pen name…perhaps i will – i don’t want to be associated with him in any way, shape or form, so dire was his performance…
you make some good points and i see where you are coming from. what i disagree with is that those were our only chances. what if oliver did award the penalty and friedel saved it? what if villa had cashed in on the chance that song presented them immediately at the start of the second half, after slotting in for squil? szczesny had to make a couple of second half saves – what if he let another in?
at the end of the day, none of us could really know how these things would have turned out. we were very hard done by oliver and his crew yesterday, nobody will get an argument from me on that point. but we put ourselves in a 2-0 hole within 15 minutes of kickoff and despite the refereeing problems, we still had most of the match to score the goals necessary to win it.
again, thanks for the feedback and i see your point of view on this.
At least Kyle Bartley knows what it’s like to win a PL medal…..
🙂
Steve of Chiang Mai
Yep and not what you expect from your captain or a man touting for a higher wage either….
rico, he apparently wants another season at ibrox…
Hi Rico, i must say hats off to you all who consistently do this. the arsenal has drained me months ago to the point i just signed off. Wenger is too stubborn to see and accept that this plan of his needs changing. this might just be the end for us. we have to qualify for the CL now (which i doubt we will)next step to finish out of the top 4. we have no continuity at the club. blind leading the blind and i am just upset at what is going on. good for those who are fine with it but i cant and wont until i see the club has ambition.
That is what prompted my comment oliver, can’t blame him either, he should be ahead of squilli next season though and playing in the cups – he should def be ahead of Miquel….
Hi Coadsi, we have seen worse, its surely has to be upwards after this season – hasn’t it??
What i loved about the invincibles is they went for the win no matter the circumstances.if pires was hacked down and we were denied a penalty,henry would curl one in from 30 yards the next minute.our team should spend less time feeling sorry for themselves.
hey wenger has got a budget of 30 to 35 mil
how do we expect to sign a player
for example who will be of 25mil our budget will be nothing after that
Rico you are my hero, forever the optimist. like i said i respect you guys for consistently doing this, hats off.
rico, things can always get worse…i can tell you from experience…i’ll bet arsene can as well…
arsenal fan if the budget is 35mil then imagine how much it would be if the club get rid of some of the current dross in the senior squad plus youth set up as well?
You know its bad when you see mancs pitying us.
the problem is the club is seen as a business first so fans are not even considered just profit. look at bayern for example. there manager last season won 2 throphies and went to the finals of the CL yet the board sack him this season. Wenger will never be questioned NEVER
im not even bothered about the ‘team’ ethic as much..
we only need to work as a team in defence
in attack we need individuals who can win games..not these bunch of fairies who ponce about passing it to eachother all day..
Coadsi, it’s all of us, we have to take the bad times as well as the good ones 🙂
oliver
for sure it can get worse, we could be west ham….
however, we are not and now something needs to be done before it really is too late….
I heard there was a banner yesterday ‘Football manager not bank manager’…kudos to the guys that put it up.
rico, i don’t think things will stay the same. despite three signature wins, i feel we have overall gone backwards this season, and i think there is more unrest inside the dressing room than i first thought. that last factor alone will ensure at least some changes.
my concern is whether any changes will be substantive or cosmetic. this will define our immediate future.
k, i thought the club didn’t allow such banners. how long were they able to display it before the stewards made them take it down?
That banner should be directed at the board Kt….
oliver, i don’t think it will either, i just hope my hunch is right….
Sadly though, i have had the same hunch for 4 seasons…
jj, we need a team ethic from keeper to striker, defend as a team, attack as a team…
that is what saw us win things under wenger…
Evening all…………..
Oliver, you have my total respect my friend, how you managed to write a post after watching that dross is beyond me…! to keep it sensible was in itself an amzing feat. Well done, it’s a shame the team can’t perform as well as you hold your feelings intact on their inept showings of late.
The banner was outside the ground….!
By the players exit for Wenger to see….!
Hi WATH.if we had written today’s post it would be full of ‘f’ ‘s’ and ‘c’ words.kudos oliver.you have more mental strength than half the lot.
Good then wath.were you at the ground?
we dont need to attack as a team..
thats what gets us in trouble on the counter..
everyone piles forward attacking as one and it goes to shit at the back
the invincibles never attacked as a team neither did wengers teams before that..
we had a solid defensive base and the rest of the players would go to work when we got the ball..
we have no dribblers we rely on the pass too much and thats why we look shit in attack..its too team orientated we need more individuals..
Evening WATH, Spot on re olivers post, sadly he’s had many a dross display to write about over the last few months….
I was around KT 😉
There were a few other decent banners knocking about as well its a shame that more people didnt bother on the walk but go onto blogs and whinge all day long yet when they can do something that may make a difference they chose to do nothing…!
i tend to disagree a bit jj, the difference was imho, when players like henry, bobby and freddie came back to get the ball, they had the pace, skill and abilty to turn that into a counter attack at pace….
what do we have now??
just watch this one……
JJ according to madridistas madrid play better as a team without Ronaldo.however,when the winker plays he is deemed selfish but as a result he has scored 51 goals this season.he has broken pichichi record set by Hugo Sanchez in the 80’s of 38 goals.we need such a figure to assist rvp.
WATH, was that you holding the banner?
You are right though, i’d have gone if i lived nearby….
What is there to say?
henry was an individual..
so was pires so was freddie so was bergkamp so was vieira..
anelka, overmars..
all individuals..
they could play well as a team AND they could do something to win the game by themselves..
we havent scored a single goal at home this season from outside the box..
says it all…
everyone expects everyone else to do something..nobody wants the responsibilty…the team ethic is too over emphasised and it leads to the ‘you shoot, no you, no here you, no i darent you have a go’ passes that we see 99 % of arsenal matches..
No Rico you plonker I wasn’t holding a banner i was observing 😉
JJ, think you and Rico are both right, same meat different gravy scenario, team ethic as a defensive unit is called for and we are lacking the individual flair in a tack but you also do attack as a team long as you defend as a team you dont want 11 fragmented players. Wenger seems a broken man and in all honesty I now have no simpathy what so ever, harsh but true. The board are a complete bunch of greedy selfish cun1s who have sold us down the river and milked us for every penny. The lack of investment in the squad has helped reduce the debt and doubled their share value. We are a long way off a winning team/squad the mentality cannot be changed when the manager doesnt know how to change simple as that.
wath, thanks…it hasn’t been easy. i’ll be able to get away from this for a few weeks after sunday.
i see your clarification on the banner – i didn’t think that the stewards would allow something like that to hang inside the ground.
broken man isnt the word wath..
hes fractured…
I thought you were the big stick holding it WATH…. 😆
Broken??
He is shattered to pieces….. It’s whether or not he has the strength to rebuild….
The only way for Arsenal to end the Fabregas saga is to follow Liverpool’s Torres example
By Darren Lewis
Darren Lewis column: Put up or shut up
Arsenal fans should take a look at Liverpool if they want to know how Cesc Fabregas should be dealt with.
We’re approaching that time when, with the summer upon us and the players safely on their holidays, the Gunners captain will yet again start making public eyes at Barcelona.
He’ll speak about how big a club they are. He’ll gush about the fact that he is not getting any younger and that he wants to win trophies.
He’ll laud their performances this season, go all doe-eyed over Pep Guardiola and speak about his friends at the Nou Camp.
In return, the Barca players will embark on their annual campaign of destabilising a player at a rival club and talking publicly of the fact that he wants to join them.
They will talk about Barca being his destiny and about how they would welcome the chance to play alongside him.
But this time, once and for all, Arsenal should play it the Liverpool way.
When Chelsea came sniffing around Fernando Torres, the Reds said: “This is what we want. Fifty million pounds.
“If you pay it, he’s yours. If you don’t, then get stuffed.”
Chelsea paid it to allow Liverpool to get rid of a player who didn’t want to be at the club any more.
And Liverpool used the money to bring in two players who did want to be there.
That is what Arsenal should do with Fabregas.
Don Balon proved beyond any reasonable doubt, by publishing the audio of their interview with him, that they DIDN’T twist the words of the Spain midfielder.
Which means Fabregas did question the club’s ambition.
He did insist the club had to choose between winning trophies and developing players.
He did undermine the manager’s authority and he did say that Arsene Wenger would be sacked if he had gone the length of time without a trophy in Spain that he has done in England.
If he and Wenger have kissed and made up behind the scenes, fine. If they haven’t however, and Fabregas still wants to leave, then Arsenal should let him go.
The emergence of Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere means the club has ready-made replacements for him.
And, as Liverpool have shown, there is much to be said for the will of a player who wants to be committed to the club.
The men bought with the Torres money, Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez, have rolled their sleeves up and given 100 per cent during the second half of this season.
That is more than can be said for Torres over the first.
Kenny Dalglish has made some fabulous decisions during his time at Anfield second time around.
Wenger should follow suit.
Spot on fron Darren Lewis….!
There was an “In Arsene we Rust” banner a few weeks back Sunderland I think and it lasted about 30seconds before it was taken down.
Wenger must surely be frustrated as we are?unless he loves throwing bottles each game he must change.
i am sure arsene is frustrated. i also think he is discouraged. and i also think that he may not know how to fix what has gone wrong.
part of me thinks he is too emotionally attached to this group of players, this “project” (his words, not mine), and is blind to what many of the rest of us see as clearly as day…
rico weve discused this many times but however much i want cesc to stay,
if he goes i wouldnt give a shit..
cesc is the poster child of wengers project..
the team is built around him when it should really be built around rvp….
if cesc goes its over..
the tactics would need to change cos the one thing we know is that if cesc dont play in this system we look shite
‘love Arsenal Hate Wenger’…
Theres been a guy/gal who comments here who always end the comment with
‘In Arsene we Rust’……
jj, i know you want him to stay, but like DL sayss, put up or shut up, or get the heck out of OUR club….
Torres leaving Liverpool has hurt them has it?
And if we could two players like KK has done with the funds??
we’ll see what happens with cesc. if he does leave this summer, then he is already gone…
a departure at this point will certainly be symbolic of the end of an era (of sorts), but it may also be best for both parties. he did not have a particularly good year, and seems to be increasingly injury-prone…this latest “thigh strain” seems particularly nasty, as it has ended his season…
losing a player of his quality will certainly be a blow, but it won’t mean the end of arsenal…again, a separation may be in the best interests of both (arsenal fc and cesc) parties..
rico, i am not so sure that the cesc and torres situations are as similar – beneath the surface – as the columnist would like us to believe…
that guys called spectrum, rico
hes been using that phrase for about 2 years around the blogs..
he should have copywrote it cos apparently not only are ppl using it on banners theres a t shirt stall outside the ground selling the phrase 😉
jj 😆
oliver, i just think it’s all been too much about cesc for the last couple of seasons, in fact since all the barca stuff gather pace… i’m fed up with it…
had robin been fit every season, we’d all value him a lot more than cesc, look what he’s done in so few months…
But, saying that, it should be about Arsenal, not just one player….
If rvp maintains his fitness like he has since November he has shown he has the potential to score 30+ goals over an entire season.yesterday i saw what jj meant rvp is an excellent trequartista.give him the free role and see what happens…
No player has even been bigger than the club and never will be if anyone wants to leave then piss off simple…! Our problem is making sure who ever leaves is replaced and thats more of a problem than any particular player leaving.
Dare i say it rvp can even hit 40…
ktr i would play him in the hole behind the main striker in the formation we play or i would play him up top with another striker..
the fact he can also hit 20goals as a solo striker makes him so important to us..
the team should be built around him annd it needs to be a strong team so they can cope when hes injured
wath
my sentiments exactley
if cesc wants to leave then fuck him
same goes for nasri and clichy too if they are playing silly bollox
as long as the money goes on top notch replacements and not on another bischoff or denilson contract extension the situation is not worsened
21 goals and 8 assists in half a season is sick jj.let him be the poster boy for wengerball 4 where direct footy returns.
here here ktr..
the time is nigh mr wenger..
its time to do it..
Hi all!
AW is sacked or not ?
Next season is up now!
The big and important decisions must be doing before players holidays.
I only know rumors and if we finish 4th, the season begins very early.
hey jm..
if we finish 4th we need to enter a two game qualifier for cl group stages..
something smacks of the team is doing this on purpose so they dont have to tour in the pre season..
Rvp could easily win the PFA awards if he was fit for an entire season.
Re: RvP. I would love to see him in a 4-4-2 with Theo playing off of him.
Does the defender get close to stop RvP shooting, letting Theo get in behind or does the defender hold the line, allowing RvP time to turn and shoot?
Have to agree Kt, just what i posted earlier, if RvP was fully fit each season, it would be him we were worrying about as much as cesc…
I’m off for the day guys/gals…
You all be good and have a good evening,
catch you tomorrow….
nighty all….
night ricolicious..
yup will im for seeing that
Will, RvP and Theo up top together is what i dream of 🙂
Gone now….
Nite Rico
Diego Forlán – spurs ?
There is much desired by Harry Redknapp to strengthen the front of attack, the striker Diego Forlan will be on the verge of change at Tottenham Atletico Madrid, according to information that advanced Monday by the British daily The Sun.
The same source said that the Uruguayan forward, best player in the Mundial’2010 can be negotiated from a budget of around 11.5 million euros, half of which was requested by colchoneros in January, when the coach of Spurs went to Madrid to observe a meeting … and eventually assaulted.
The Spurs also have competition from Besiktas, which seeks to further strengthen its team after the debacle that was the season of 2010/11, with just winning the Turkish Cup.
The transfer rumour-mill is gearing up for a summer of speculation and wind-ups…
Latest bit of far-fetched news is the possibility that Chelsea might be prepared to bid for Andrei Arshavin, and that Arsenal could re-coup most of the fee they paid Zenit.
Maybe the idea is to play Arshavin behind Torres, supplying the Spaniard with the service he requires to get the best out of the £50million striker?
Chelsea would probably provide the best price, but it also would be galling for Arsenal fans to see AA in the position we all wanted to see him play at Arsenal…
Now if AA’s sale financed the signing of Eden Hazard, then maybe that would soften the blow, but let’s get Hazard in first and then decide on AA…
hey kev
i do not want chelsea to sign AA
if AA leaves then he can go back to russia where he cant harm us..
also if cesc leaves i would prefer to keep AA and use him centrally..
hazard can then come in with the cesc money as well as a shit hot hitman..
the only way i would say yes to chelsea signing AA is if wenger asks for big money and they stump it up..
20mil and they can have him..anything less and he stays or goes back to russia for 10..
Hiya JJ, thought everyone had gone to kip.
Well that was my thinking to, because Zenit won’t stump up the kind of dough that Chelsea would, and i know what you mean about AA coming back to haunt us, but money talks mate.
Personally i doubt if it would happen as any success Arshavin would have in a more central role, would only show Wenger up, and he won’t take that risk.
But money talks, and if it financed Hazards signing???
Do you think both Cesc & nasri will leave JJ..?
ive got a feeling both will leave mate..
i dont understand why nasri has been allowed to get to the final year if hes not stalling and cesc..lol..we know whats been happening with him..
whatever way we look at it i think there will be a rebuild in the summer and i think it will be more the fact that wengers hand was forced..ie our best players saying enoughs enough..
Hi evening, morning, night all. allezkev et jonjon you’re late. I thought people in Britain were sleep by this time.
some people predicted we gonna collapse by the end of season, is that coincidence, a half-truth or Truth? I’ve never thought we could collapse this way especially that we were lucky with injuries this end of the season. What happened? We clearly have talented players, experienced coaches and manager but there’s definitely something wrong in this team and it should be rectified sooner than later. Start the search for new experienced and honest player now Wenger.
osi..
its hard sleeping in any part of the world when your a gooner..the recurring fucking nightmare just wont piss off.. 😉
You know JJ, i have the same horrible feeling. Everyone has been going on about getting rid of the crap players, and we might end up stuck with most of them still, and meanwhile lose the quality players…
Hey Osi,bienvenue ami. Insomnia…hehe.
Jon you’re right, you know what I was about to go to sleep or preparing for it, then suddenly instinctly I decided to have a last say chitchat on this blog but then I said to myself before I started ‘please don’t do this, coz it’s gonna make sad and sleepless’.
osi
the people predicted it becuase theyve seen it happen many times over the last few years..
in 2008 we fell apart at about the same time in the season and didnt win for 8 games..but we pulled it together in the last few games and managed to be only 4 points off the mancs…it was a frustrating season cos thats some of the best football weve ever played we were ripping teams to bits but we choked..
we did the same last year we took something like 13 points out of 30 and got hammered by wigan and spurs..
low and behold..arsenal wars episode 3..the return of the chokers..we go on holiday in feb and get 11 point from 30 losing to some of the shittest teams on the universe in the process..
Allezkev I think after what happened this season I don’t why you go on about crap players and great players, for me they’re all entitled to be called crap players. Cesc was crap and so is Nasri, Arshavin, and others. the usual suspect who qualify to be called crap were not on the pitch for this late collapse.
kev
dejavu
the summer of 2008 all over again mate..
These are the big players Arsenal have lost since the summer of 2005:
Summer 2005: Edu, Vieira
Summer 2006: Pires, Bergkamp, Campbell, Cole, Lauren
Summer 2007: Henry, Ljungberg, Reyes
Summer 2008: Flamini, Lehmann, Gilberto, Hleb
Summer 2009: Adebayor, Toure
Summer 2010: Eduardo, Gallas, Campbell[2nd time]
You cannot lose so much quality and not suffer some detrimental effects…
Jonjon there can not be comparison between this season and the past seasons. our team was very young learning in the past season and had injuries at business end of the season, but this time the team matured and were lucky injuries late on. Don’t try to compare everything.
Osi, that’s a very good point, and i cannot really argue with you. Suffice to say, underachivers rather than crap is a more apt description maybe?
they aint all crap osi..
they just lack leadership..wengers a great coach but hes not a natural leader, hes always had players in the dressing room or on the pitch who could do it for him..he dont have that anymore..he sold them all
we dont even need a vieira or an adams although i pray to the lord of goonerdom to find them..
all we need is a keown and a petit..
some players who do the basics and do it without taking prisoners..
and a winger and a striker and we are set..
kev
spot on re the players sold
on that note im off to bed guys..
hopefully see ya tomorrow for more pissed off comments about this half hearted poor excuse of a european super club
Osi, this season is possibly the missed opportunity of all missed opportunities by any Arsenal team i’ve witnessed in more years than i care to remember.
I fear that a Man City, boasting Champions Lge football, will go on a spending spree and fly past a stagnant Arsenal, who could actually start next August with a greatly inferior squad to the one that goes on holiday in a couple of weeks time.
has Wenger suddenly becoming lacking leadership? Is he not the one who guided our talented but moody players to the greatest heights?
When I say they all crap I’m talking about attitudes, how many times we looked at the start lineup and said to ourselves and then we lost the match.
Goodnight JJ, try to sleep well mate…
It’s been a regular occurance since February Osi, not sure any of us really know the reason why? I’m damn sure Wenger hasn’t a clue either… We can speculate but explain how a team can beat Man Utd, Chelsea and Barcelona[for the first time ever] at The Grove, but fail to beat the likes of Sunderland, Villa, Blackburn, West Brom, Newcastle and Spurs[after leading 2-0]???
I TOTALLY AGREE with you allezkev I’M NOT SURE whether Arsene have a clue either.
I think as JJ said, you need players in the dressing room, players with the right kind of character, players who are self-motivating, winners i suppose you could call them. Players who can sort it out for themselves, without the need to be constantly molly-coddled by the manager. Vermaelen, RVP & Wilshere [despite his youth] are in that catagory, but a champion team needs more than 3 of that type…
This squad simply doesn’t have enough of them Osi.
Osi, i’m all Arsenal’d out for today/tonight/this morning, so i’ll bid you bonsoir and speak again soon.
bon night plutot allezkev
Morning,
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