Seriously, were we any worse off in midfield when Denilson played?
Were we any worse off up front when Nik played?
Denilson was not ever a defensive midfielder, we all know that and his true role is a creative one. He’s more of an Arteta than a Song…
As for Nik, why have a tall striker and play him out wide?
I know, we have talked about all that before, too many times to mention but things are that bad right now, it got me thinking about them.
They are not the only players Wenger has bought and made them ‘fit in’ somewhere, both Walcott and Arshavin are going through the same and because he didn’t buy what we needed in the summer, our defensive midfielder has to play at centre half.
Walcott and Arshavin get plenty of stick these days for their performances but would things have been different for both if they had been played in their ‘proper’ position from the off with us?
We’ll never know now I guess and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see both move away from the club and the way things are going, that won’t be too long in my opinion. Same with Robin, would you stay around if you were him?
He’s not getting any younger, he deserves to be winning things again, as for Arshavin, I bet he wishes it hadn’t been snowing so hard on the 31st January 2009, maybe he wouldn’t have felt so at home in the cold climates….
I guess my point is, we all asked for the players we all thought were ‘weak links’ to be moved on and in Nik and Denilson we got what we asked for – but have we really replaced them with better players?
Wenger bought in Arteta, he is so hit and miss and on Sunday, he was more like invisible, would Denilson been any worse?
We bought Gervinho; did he actually do any better playing wide right than Nik used to?
We bought Ju Park, a captain of his country, yet Wenger doesn’t even bother playing him, why when it’s clear we need a centre forward, a player who will score goals and Park can…
Alex Chamberlain, he also came in during the summer, played a blinder last week on his Champions League debut and scored a very good goal, why was he then not even included in the squad for the following game? This player had been talking all week about being ‘desperate’ to be part of the NLD – just the kind of passion for that game we all wanted to hear.
We may have bought in numbers but did Wenger really and truly buy who and what we needed to make us stronger?
Right now, I think that answer has to be no…..
I know many will suggest the new boys need time to gel but come on, how long have they been together in training now?
If an 18 year old can make a huge impact in the toughest competition in Europe, why can’t the older and wiser players do the same regularly, especially in a North London Derby?
Baring that in mind, do we stick with the older players, or throw just one or two other younger ones in, before we truly get in the mire…..
At least they might have a bit more passion in them….
Finally a bit of the Red Top Gossip – The Sun suggest one man is waiting in the wings for a return to England, maybe even London….
It’s evident Wenger is wobbling and that within a few months Capello’s place with the national team will go to an Englishman and free up a place at a club. I have a strong will to remain in England. For a coach, this is the ideal country.
But I would only consider top clubs.
Should Wenger walk, would you be happy to see Carlo Ancelotti take over?
Personally I like both Wenger and Ancelotti. Ancelotti I remember as a player and he is also a coach who I have always admired. Dignified, tactician and a good motivator. He comes from the Italian football culture, a coutnry which cherishes defence and therefore he knows how to play the game tight. But having played in the Milan sides packed with winners and great players he knows what it takes to win…..he did it as a player and as a coach. Something which Wenger and Mourinho do not.
Wenger I also like….for all that he has given us. A great playing style, great wins, memorable games, great players and also a great home and the transition period from Highbury to Ashburton Grove. Make no mistake the fact that Arsenal have less than 100million debt left and at the same time stayed in the champions league is much to Wenger’s credit as to the club itself.
It is a fine line between hiring and firing. But if Arsenal do it right in a couple of years then we will have a club who is debt free.
One can easily say chuck Wenger out. And there are moments when we might all feel down and wish it was all different. It is not that there aren’t any coaches out there…..there are and I can mention more than ten who can come to Arsenal and do a great job. But at the moment Wenger is there and love him or hate him we have to support the Club, the Manager and the Team.
Moaning all,
things must be bad for me to think about those two….. 😉
Bdw Rico…..I will be soon posting an article to you. I am quite busy so finding time for me is very hard since I have to literally juggle time. At least I do find 5 minutes every day to read your excellent posts..
Yes I’d take Ancelloti today.
He didn’t play the Ox because he wanted to show what an amazing manager he is by resting him and managing him properly. All Wenger showed us is that he’s a twat.
We all know bendtners better than chamakh, why not play him up front with RVP in the hole?
We all know Arshavins best position is in the middle, in the hole. Why not ask him to play closer to RVP, that could be a world class partnership.
We all know we are missing eboue and even denilson. Our midfield purchases have been poor.
We all know gibbs can’t defend.
Yet someone who is paid 6m a year doesn’t know these things.
We all know it’s time Wenger was fired.
Hi devilgunner
we may be debt free in a few years but at what expense? Wenger has been great for us but over the last few years he has undone all the the good he had done by being far too cautious in the transfer windows.
personally, i wish he and the board would move on now before we find ourselves in the championship….
Thanks in advance re your artilce devil… good to know you read HH 🙂
bring on ancelloti shift that french goat upstairs to swim around the pile of cash he made for the club. Do anything but just get rid of wenger. Can’t take the jibe anymore from spuds chavs and manure fans anymore. I just left my insurance firm this morning. I had to replace a wind shield I smashed yesterday…..I don’t regret though. Will do it all over again. Fucking scummy bastard.
Morning Daveid,
I’d forgotten Eboue – wonder how many will wish he was back now Sagna is out, although Jenks looks pretty good, maybe even better that Eboue, we’ll soon see I guess…
I would be very happy to see Ancelotti take over. He is a man who has won the Champions League as both a player and a coach. Wenger has never won a European competition with any club and never will because of his tactical ineptitude and his failure to realise that the most important players on the park are the central defenders. Look at all the top clubs if you don’t believe me. This is the man who thought Luhzny, Stepanovs, Senderos, Silvestre, Djourou, Squillaci, Koscielny, Upson and Grimandi were great centre backs. Through luck he stumbled on Toure and signed Campbell who were both good but look at the rubbish before and after them.
He also thought Wright, Manninger, Lehmann, Almunia, and Fabianski were great keepers when he should have bought Van De Sar from Juventus and replaced him last summer with Stekelenburg
hi goonster, i read you were a naughty chap yesterday…
Mourning all…….
The problem with wenger devilgunner is that he could have done so much better with a couple of good signings and better team setup. It is compleatly down to him that this team has not been able to defend properly for years now and allowing players to run down contracts and leve without bringing in replacements BEFORE the season starts is criminal. And it is not like it was down to money as we have cash in the bank and the transfer fees are paid over few years and not upfront. Had we gone in for Mata and M’vila at the start of the summer and therefore given the other clubs a chance to bring in replacements. Our bad start to the season is partly down to the late arrivals and that they had no time to bed in or get accustomed to the new club. And it pains me to see Arsenal fans time and time agian look to 18 19 and 20 year old players as their new saviours, it is getting like seens from the bunker and Hitlers last days as delusion and hoplessness availed punctured by moments of sheer joy and fantasy like plans of world domination.
Ancelotti would have won us the carling cup last season…hell, he would have won us the 06 final against barca or wait a minute how about the 99 final against galatasaray! We have become bottlers under wenger. How many finals have ww gotten to? How many have we won? I thought so!
Hi OTG,
I’d be happy if we had Grimandi in this current squad, he turned out to be a good mr utility, Kos isn’t so bad, he just needs a bit of proper coaching as do they all as a defensive unit – re Toure, i agree he got lucky, lucky to play alongside Campbell, he was the ox in our defence.
Campbell and TV are his only really good central defensive signings imho….
Hi TT,
Our lot seem to lack guts, times are bad and yes, I look for a saviour and youth is all we have – hoping that the next one in will be in the same mould as jack, a gooner who will fight with prie for the club he loves…
We have another but he was allowed to be loaned to west ham, i wonder what kind of performance he’d have put in for us on sunday, if the cc match last season is to go by, a bloody good one no doubt.
M’Vila, Mata and Cahill should have been bought with the 50M that the club had, one mans stubborness yet again…
And furthermore the longer he stays the more his good work will be overshadowed by his last floundering days in office. better he go now with the fans thanks than later with a team in disarrey and yers of rebuilding ahead for a new manager. It is telling that it was Pat Rice that tore into the players after the game and told them to go and look in a fucking mirror. that they where letting the club and fans down. It should be the manager that does that but no it may upset them and also interfears with the “harmony” of the dressing room. What a fucking mess.
Sorry guys….morning all. Am mad as an ox this morning forgive my temper.
goonster, wenger with keown would have won us that cc final last season, if he could only see he needs help on the training ground, whatever they are doing is not working, it’s simple, fix it by bringing in a man who knows how to….
Its a shame Rice didn’t tear into them at half time but no, wenger would not want that, he’d rather sit in silence…
Its all wrong, we need a bit of fergies hairdrier treatment to wake this team up a bit, far to much pampering and cotton wool around them…
Am not old enough but I wonder hoW many finalS GG lost? We sing wenger’S praise despite the fact he inherited GG classic defense. That defense was mean and uncompromising. We were actually regarded as boring boring arsenal back then but hell we won trophies. Can wenger motivate a team to get a victory at Liverpool on the final day of the season? I don’t think so!
Morning Rico, good post, hard but fair. I didn’t think Spyds were that good, we just sort of rolled over and dyed, more than happy to take the loss. I think at the moment I would take Ancelotti just to get Wenger out, he just contributes nothing at the moment, only mediocrity
GG’s defensive coaching was one of the best – wenger was very lucky to inherit five of them goonster….
Morning Sam, thanks re the post, hard yes but…. 😉
Re the Spuds, i totally agree, i thought they were average at best, yet we still managed to roll over for them and gift them a victory. Our players don’t have enough arsenal in their blood, if they did, we would have been victors that day and with great ease….
“Its a shame Rice didn’t tear into them at half time but no, wenger would not want that, he’d rather sit in silence…”
This is precicely why it makes no difference who the assistace coach is rico. Keown on the training ground today would have to adheare to the text of the gospels like a fucking monk adhears to the Bible.
The only way to change things now is to replaice him and bring in Ancelotti,maureen,Bould,Keown,Coyle or Mickey Mouse, just about anyone would do better.
Sagna had his op yesterday, all went well according to afc.com, i hope he goes to france for his recovery, keep our medics away….
And precisely why wenger needs to go TT, he is out of touch with reality, he hasn’t a clue how to motivate…
Didn’t Rice tear into them in Germany after a poor first half, that worked on the night….
Assistants play their part, or should be allowed to, look at what happened when the Chavs lost Ray Wilkins….
We need either Wenger to wake up and start listening to others, or a manger who will….
Guys please I need you to answer my question…..how many finals did GG lose? Just curious.
As a player or manager goonster?
Wenger will not be leaving. He is following board instructions. So let’s nip this rumour, started by Ancelloti in the bud
As arsenal manager, only one i think, league cup 3-2 Luton, not sure if i am right there though…
Just 1 that I can remember goonster. 1988 CC final against Luton.
oh btw, Talksport stated last night that Wenger never puts the team through defense training
A side note : Stan Collymore is an opinionated loudmouthed git
As Arsenal Manager – Runner’s up in
League Cup 1987–88
FA Charity Shield 1989, 1993
UEFA Super Cup 1994
As a manager ma’am.
Hi alan,
so do you think he is just doing what he is told rather than would he would like to do?
If that is the case, Wenger should quit and tell all, then let Stan sell up and move on…
The best motivator I can think of is Alan Jones, the former Wallaby coach. He’d get this lot firing, unless cultural differences got in the way
Alan the board will stand by the manager as long as the fans tolerate him. Unfortunetly there are still to many AKB above ground and breathing…
Ancelotty would not have started this rumor he does not have to. The press have been aering this for months now and and an increasing fraction of the fans are starting to call for his head now and this will rise to a cresendo in the coming months. Best senario would be to get him replaced before christmas so a new coach can assess the squad and then bring in players in January.
wenger has denied that about defence training alan, although it’s hard to tell that they do any, if he does, i bet he doesn’t include the midfield players, and they are equally to blame imho…
The players can only do what the manager tells them, and they can only do their best according to their abilities/lack thereof.
A bloke confirmed that Wenger does not do defensive training. So who do we believe?
Stop it alan wenger must leave even if I have to drive his scrawny ass all the way to the french border. This feeling of helplessness is overwhelming me….come on guys its our club FFS. Enough of the rants on here let’s take it to the streets. Its about time. Am sick and tired of hearing people talk and talk on the blog world. Let’s get cracking its time for the board to know who’s boss. Come on you fucking gooners. Come on. Take back your club its time we rip this apart. Stop the decay. Smash the spuds and regain our lost glory. REVOLUTION!!!!!!
I want Stan out, probably more than i want wenger out…. Ideally, all of them out and start over again….
The problem I see is that the Stan is more interested in making us debt free so he can make mega bucks, so regardless of who comes in, the manager won’t get any money to spend…
If i am wrong and Stan will make money available for january then yes, new man in late december and let him bring his own players in…
Who is ‘the bloke’ – it could just be garbage but then, Wenger doesn’t all truth does he….
TT
What the press & Ancelloti don’t understand is Wenger is an employee, performing to the board’s business model. One presumes AW agrees with the board
The board, not Wenger, is ultimately responsible
Hit them all in the hip pocket and just boycott the place
It is NOT a club, as clubs have volunteer boards & members who can be removed by member’s vote at any AGM
They put on a show, like the west end theatre, and you all go to the show. Don’t!
I heard the same few years ago Alan, that the defencive coaching was way down on the agenda at Arsenal under him. It is no wonder we had recordbraking spell in the CL when keown was taking his badges there, he apperently took some of the defenders to one side and talked to them about defending all the time. Senderos became a world beater that period, then Kolo came back from injury and Senderos was benched and his confidence shot to pieces again.
Incidently, given it is the board’s business model driving this whole mess ( a profitable mess for the board ) It will make no difference who you have as manager, the tactics that bring profit won’t be allowed to change. No new manager will be allowed to express his talents.
Success on the field does not mean profit. The Arsenal board know this. They don’t care about winning. They will have to balls it up big time to drive tickets holders ( their profit ) away before they change
re above “On ” ( not of ) an ” Know ” ( not no ). God i’m getting worse as I get older
Trouble is alan, many many fans just love wenger regardless and think that what is going on is just a blip, all will soon be rosy again… they will still go week in week out but this blip has been a long time coming, slowly but steadiliy over the last 3/4 seasons…
Also, had fans already paid for their ST’s, can’t see them not going in all honesty…
I’m doing my bit though, no merchandise bought by me this season 😉
goonster says:
October 4, 2011 at 10:24 am
” Stop it alan wenger must leave even if I have to drive his scrawny ass all the way to the french border. This feeling of helplessness is overwhelming me….come on guys its our club FFS. ”
Strictly speaking, it isn’t our club. It is a private company owned by the board according to law
THAT is the problem
Denilson and Bendtner. You gotta be kiddin me. Memory of a goldfish come to mind. We can’t even sell these guys for cut-price transfer fee.
Exactly why the board need to go, fans want to see succes on the pitch, not worry about how much they can make from shirt sales far and wide accross the world – ok, they need to do all that too but not to the detriment of the squad and success.
We are a sports club, a football club, Arsenal – not AFC Building Society….
exactly Rico, but where do we find a company that is will to spend and call it advertising revenue?
One day, maybe, Arsenal will be like Barca and be a member driven Not for profit club, where revenue goes back into the club and not into pockets of privateers
Wasnt the Ox injured in his last game?
Pointless thinking about Ancelloti – Wenger will walk at the end of the season, no doubt about it, but Ancelloti would have been snapped up by someone else by then.
Club needs a shake up for sure, a whole new attitude and ethos needs bringing into it and the ‘win by any cost’ mentality needs to come back. We havent been an attractive side to watch for a few years now, so we now lack style and substance! before we could save a bit of face by playing some good football.
Things are bad at the moment – they are only going to get better with a full regime change within the club. But ask yourself this; if you was Ancelloti, or some other high profile manager, and you get a chance to manage a team with a few potential stars in it thats not in Europe and in need of a drastic re-structure – would you take it or would you take on a role where you are guaranteed European football next season and a solid foundation to build on? Bear in mind that Redknapp will leave spurs in the summer and they look like they will finish above us along with Liverpool.
….food for thought guys.
But no football club should be out to make profit other than profit to goe back into the club for either players or essentials..
Buy the right players and we win on the pitch
Winning on the pitch = trophies..
Trophies = Share valuation goes up, we become a more attractive club for major sponser deals = make more money which in turn = more players, success etc etc…
If Stan wants to make money on his shares, the best way to do that is to make us better, stronger and successful on the pitch first…
rico says:
October 4, 2011 at 10:16 am
” Hi alan,
so do you think he is just doing what he is told rather than would he would like to do?
If that is the case, Wenger should quit and tell all, then let Stan sell up and move on…”
Hi Rico
Yes. He is a paid employee on a salary. From what I’m told, AW is well paid to the tune of 7 mill quid. For that kind of money he won’t rock the boat
I suspect part of his job is to take all the shite that flies Arsenal’s way
There is definitely a business model here, and so long as companies house is happy the board will not move
Only a mass refusal to buy tickets, merchandise, and a well driven media campaign will move them
Arteta is definitely an improvement on denilson. He knows what he’s doing, and puts the required effort in. Not perfect, but a good signing, and may prove to be an excellent signing over the course of the season.
Bendtner was a decent player for us, and imo will go on to be a very good striker for someone. Park could be better, certainly this season, given his extra age and experience, but for whatever reason, he’s not playing. Instead, chamakh is playing the games, and to be honest I see nothing in his game that bendtner didn’t have, plus bendtner is not afraid to shoot, can score goals and has more room for improvement, given his age. Chamakh is marginally better in the air, but it’s so often useless at arsenal because, even when we do get a good cross into the box, there is usually only one man in the box, so it’s extremely difficult for him to be in enough space to get a clean contact on the ball.
Hi Le Foxe – I don’t think so, Chamberlain was talking on afc.com, syaing he really want to play on sunday – i could be wrong though, he certainly didn’t look injured in the week, knackered yes, but not injured 😉
As for the managerial point, I honestly think any manager would jump at the chance of turning things around at a club like ours…
alan, i kind of suggested a similar thing a long while back, about how i thought it was him facing the media and coming out with all thier spin but now stan is on board, nothing has changed.
i don’t know anymore, i think they are all as bad as eachother and if wenger is just happy to take his 6m salary and go along with their games, he is as bad if not worse than those idiots above him….
Alan Arsenal will never be a member driven club, for that to happen the British would have to undergo a total transformation. As for a new manager not doing better I totally disagree and I think you are missing the main point here. It is not the lack of money to buy players that has hampered us on the pitch but our utter and total failiure to utilize the players we already have. We have gone through defenders like a whore through customers and still we have exactly the same proplems on the pitch and that Alan has nothing to do with the board. A good coach will get this team into shape and get them organiced a good motivator will get them fighting and winning, sadly wenger is no longer a good coach and surly not a motivator by any streach of the imagination.
this is really pathetic wenger spent like 30m this summer on useless players mertersucker, gerviniho and arteta are jus not the right players…
Hi Davi – but wenger played denilson as a dm, he’s not one and never will be – did wenger ruin his game? Arteta was dreadful on sunday, for such a talented and experienced player, he went missing…
Great result for one lady….
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,11661_7222902,00.html
Good squad players though terry…. I think Gerv will be pretty good, once he finds his shooting boots and stops running into nowhere with the ball…
TT
one point I don’t miss is the board runs the show. This means any manager, be it Ancellotti AW, or Jesus Christ has to conform.Yes a good coach may do something with them, but only to their abilities allow. I say may, as it’s no use buying players that can’t adjust to ” beautiful ” football
Commentators were saying Arteta too slow. Well, we know he’s a good player, but does the speed of AW’s useless style suit him?
Perhaps AW should give up this artistic shite and get defenders like Shawcross, and try for Barton again.
Is AW a coach, or a ” manager “? He is an idiot anyway and I’d like to see AW out. However, it will make no difference
RICO
Stan is called ” Silent Stan ” Others do the talking as he requires it. If AW disobeys him, Stan will crucify him before sacking him
Let’s make no bones about who is the legal and practical power. It’s Stan, followed by the rest of the board, then that shithead Gazidis
one of my greatest regret in wenger’s era is his inability or ignorance not to sign alonso from liverpool for only 14million pounds during benitez’s reign. fagregas called for alonso and it was evident we needed him as much as benitez needed gareth barry at that time. if only we had signed him then…he still remains a top player to date
Re the ECJ. Might be a convenient decision, but it’s not a British court.
One hopes the latter would come to the same decision
sorry but i dont think he’ll b a good player from what i have seen of him for us and even lille
Stan won’t sack Wenger, he knows full well he’ll spill the beans and to keep him quiet it will cost him an awful lot of money…
Hi iykie, alonso is not the only one to slip through the net….
Got to pop out for a bit, back in an hour or so….
I have little doupt about the players abilitis and therefore can see a good tactician and motivator get this players to top 4 Alan. As for the board no sane investor and we know thats exactly what Stan is, will allow his investment to start decreasing in value. He will step in before that happens to any grate exstent and when we keep on at a midtable level as the season progresses the cup attendances will decrerase, it will become clear that the CL will not be there next season and we will struggle to sell all the season tickets next spring. Stan may be silent but he aint stupid and he is in no way sentimental guy that holds onto wenger for old time sakes. Once he becomes a liability to his investment wenger goes and a new coach is hired to get them up to the top again with money to spend.
It’s like 1974 all over, a little bit of the early 80’s
Through the lovely late 90’s to the mid 90’s
When Rioch did than one beautiful Denis thing!
To the glorious Wenger years and now a slump
with a capital S ! ! Support the team, I m not
happy and fuck I hope Arsene can pull us out of
this !!! but really should the players so more!!!
If he does walk….where next? Hodgson?
Then a return to George Graham…fuck no- unless
he agree s to co manage with Arsene and look
After the defence side of the team !!!?????
Our best player on the pitch was Francis Coquellin, one with as little premier league experience as can be possible, doesn’t that really say it all? Did Theo’s game look like that of an internationals? IT IS SO FRIGGIN FUNNY that he is arguably the fastest player in England maybe even the world and he doesn’t take the right back on !
He just crosses the ball to nobody. Its downright hilarious. Gerv on the left has potential but again was he given time to settle into the English game? No he wasn’t. Why has Andrei still not been motivated by Wenger to get that spark back? And to be honest, none of our midfielders apart from the one designated as DM track back and defend. Its ludicrous considering how ‘great’ our CB’s are and the formation we play. Barca have the best players in the world, by far, and they work like greyhounds to get the ball back and defend. Our players are nobody compared to them, we play a similar formation and yet they seem to think its okay not to work hard. ITS DOWNRIGHT PATHETIC and at the end of the day it comes down to the manager for not getting the message across one way or another. AOC for all the raves he received after the CL performance was identical in the fact that he did not track back whatsoever.
And since our wingers don’t track back, you’d think the manager would have enough sense to hold the full backs back to just defend and go forward alternately if they had to ! But no. Never going to happen with Arsene’s ‘free flowing football’.
IMHO, I love Wenger, but I feel he just has too much to do and no one to do the work for him. Fergie is a realist and Wenger an idealist. Thats the difference between winning trophies and thinking you’ll win them eventually. And Arsenal fans pay the highest ticket prices in the world.
FFS SOMEBODY CHANGE THIS FRIGGIN SYSTEM !
My heart cries at seeing my beloved club falling in tatters. 🙁
Man utd are in debt, Barcelona are in debt , Real are in debt but they keep spending and wining trophy, so why not Arsenal. To be debt free dont mean we will win. Mr Wenger need to wake up and start spending big money for big players. If you want to have a Ferrari you need to spend money or you always will be driving a Fiat Panda who is comfort but not 4 competion with other cars
Hi to those just out of moderation…
andrea, we don’t need to get into major debt, we have money – i read the stats quoted re wenger and players buys and sales – adding it all up, the money wenger has actually spent is £16 million during his reign – the sales have more than paid for any new players over the years and we still have £50million in the bank for more players, if reports are to be believed…….
morning all…carlo is a good manager, no doubt about that. and he always conducted himself with dignity and class, even when he was openly being undermined by chelsea’s suits last season…a word of caution, however – i don’t think it is a coincidence that chelsea fell apart, and never really recovered, when butch was sacked…without him, carlo was hamstrung and never really got that team going again…that would suggest that if we really want carlo in, it would be better for butch to come with him…
that said, i think it is a moot point…if mancini falls on his face this season, i think carlo will be at eastlands next…
arsene is making it increasingly difficult to convincingly argue he is the right man to turn this around, but i just don’t think he will be gone anytime soon…i think it will take something from inside the dressing room to bring him down, not external pressure…
good news about bac…let’s hope his rehab goes trouble-free.
Good morning
Ancelotti is “commit” with Liverpool, spurs and us.
It’s not the real time for thinking in this. We must commit with our performance in the League and try harder to finish above the 5th positon. If not, we are in troublers next season withut the CL and the money link to this competiiton. Be relagate to a second level in the League and in Europe context is very bad for Arsenal. Moreover, we can be replace for our neighbours. A city like London, can have two clubs in the top of the European football. Not three. Unfortunately, chelsea is solid in a place. The other one must be fight between Arsenal and the other one.
Hi oliver
If results continue as they are, the pressure will be on Stan, he’ll be thinking about how his investment is going down the drain, he’ll have to do something…
However, i agree about wenger and him struggling to turn this around, that’s why he neds help, if only he would stop being so stubborn and admit it, only then will we start to improve.
As TT said earlier, this group of players need a motivator, thats all, they don’t need silence in a dressing room at half time, they need a rocket up their doo dahs….
Hi JM, I kind of get the impression it could be between us and the Totts, as he said, Wenger is having a wobble and Harry will no doubt take over the england job… Liverpool, well i cannot see Kenny leaving them for the next few years unless something goes terribly wrong.
I’m also not convinced he would consider Man City, just like at Chelsea where money is not an issue, the vast pressure would again be on him to deliver very quickly.
oliver – re Wilkins, he is a chelsea man and that made him very important to the players, i think it was him going that upset the balance, rather than Ancelotti failing – him going hit them all hard..
I still think Keown, Adams or Bould could do for us what Wilkins did for chelsea…. Pat Rice has been with Wenger too long for him to have such an impact on the players…. but i’m glad he tore them off a strip at the end, just wish he’d been ‘allowed’ to do that at H/T
a motivator, perhaps…i think if there was more accountability around the place, motivation would not be such a problem. while i am not implying that i am in the dressing room/training ground, when we make the same mistakes again and again – followed by the same quotes about how “we’ll learn from this” again and again, how can you reasonably infer accountability exists at our club? if it did, surely the lessons would have been learned by this point…
and – once again – i am going to bang the dead-ball drum…for all the speculation about us not practicing defense, i remain frustrated that we don’t exectute crosses/corners/free kicks proficiently. robin used to be good at this – have his skills just atrophied?
this is a big deal for me, bacause when we are struggling to break an opponent down, we still get chances from free-kicks/corners, but we literally never convert these. surely we can become better at these – can we get any worse? these are potential goals – a lot of them – if we would just work at it and resolve to make the most of these opportunities when we get them…
I’d get Ancelloti in a hearbeat if I was Stan and wanted to make sure I had the fans backing. Prehaps Usmonov will lead that move? 😉
Not that Arsene is bad, its just that he would make a much better Director of Football Operations or something like that. Heck with his excellent knowledge of Economics and business, make him the CEO . His scouts will stay as well with that.
Put things are stalling here at Arsenal now. Pure talent of the likes of Cesc and Samir and yes, even Adebayor at times was able to get us off the hook before. But not now. We need fresh new ideas.
Is Ramsey good enough to be playing for Arsenal at the moment? NO. Would Scott Parker have been? YES.
What was the price for Scott? About 7 million. Even Redknapp said that he thought we would sign him but we never did.
Same goes for Jose Enrique.
Two glaring misses.
Whats the point of Wenger stressing the importance of playing in the UCL if you don’t lure players because of it.
Ah, if only Arsene would listen.
i too get fed up with all the ‘we will learn from this’ comments, it’s pretty clear we don’t learn…
toattal agree re the dead ball situations of our own, they seldom pay off and now with a 6′ 6″ guy in there, we can’t even find him….
Chamakh, great header of the ball, but he isn’t scoring enough, free kicks, either blasted over the top of the goal, or into the wall….
Lokk at the dead ball chamces others create and convert….
Kanishk, rumour was Parker failed a medical with us… not that i believe that rumour but the player is a totts fan, there was only one club he was ever going to join….
Off out with the woofa, back in a bit…
Rico, any news whatsoever on Usmonov amidst all this? Still buying up shares or what?
Guys , if Wenger goes , we are not getting Ancelotti but a coach from the states trust me.LOL
i think AW needs to go specsavers and get a hearing check done as i think hes gone deaf and blind!
We dont need to complain right now because it is too late until the January windows opens up.
Wenger cant be sacked before the end of the season and he wouldn’t resign because he is not that kind of man.
So we are stuck with him and his players, so the best we can do is support the boys and pray for Wenger to get things right.
Kanishk
My own opionion is that he’s sat waiting for the right time to make his move, suggestion is he offered Stan help in the summer, a chance to work together for the good of the team, Stan knocked him back…..
Hi SD, please don’t say that, even though I know you jest 😉
—Wenger bought in Arteta, he is so hit and miss and on Sunday, he was more like invisible, would Denilson been any worse?—
Yes he would, remember this is the same Denilson that got skinned for pace by a referee last season. Atleast Arteta throws himself around a bit and tackles, what does Denilson do?
sd…sounds good to me – my choice is bill belichik, he would get us back on track…
actually, he is not available at the moment, so…
Boo! Some really searching questions, rico. Good to see Bendtner playing well; I hope Denilson is getting game time too. Can’t say I miss either overmuch though. Haha.
And a lot of new avatars, niiiice. 🙂
goonster, where are you? Been up to some mischief, I have just read. You okay?? Where’s AK, you might need more chill pills?
szczesny: “i can’t declare that i will spend my entire career here, but if i leave i will have a very important reason or i will go to barcelona.”
good to know our de facto number one goalkeeper is completely onboard and committed…
and thanks for giving legs to what was a trouble-making, unsubstantiated rumour (fcb) just a day or two ago…
sometimes i think our club would be best served by gagging our players – and manager…
Hi Scotcheggs..
I take your point about Denilson being slow and the game where the ref went by him – but as i said, he was being asked to be a DM, he’s not a DM and never will be – don’t get me wrong, i don’t relish the thought of the brazilian returning, i’m just trying to get the point accross that some of the others are not stepping up their game when they should be…
Hi agag, as long as Bendtner doesn’t play so well against us eh actually, Is he allowed to play against us under his loan conditions??
oliver – that is not what ches said at the weekend…. where has that come from?
young guns…i pulled it directly off…i wouldn’t have even bothered execept that i consider that (yg) a credible source…
ah, that’s different jamie is a very credible source….
they characterize it as comments pulled from an interview with polish media, so perhaps there are nuances with the translation…
What on earth? Szcz said that?? Is it true? If so, he has got some nerve. I haven’t forgotten the eight goals he leaked against MU. Maybe he should become a great keeper first. Then he can mouth off…
rico, I wanted to ask you that same question myself. Are loanees allowed to play against us?
perhaps the actual intent/context did not translate, but i fail to see the necessity of even mentioning barcelona…
whatever he meant, i don’t think this will help unify the dressing room and get our season turned around…
Hello, oliver. How are you?
agag, it seems he did say something in polish which was translated into that…
if the translation accurately conveys his meaning and intent, so be it…but it is not going to help one little bit…especially considering how barca fleeced us over the former number four deal and then took some time to brag about how they put one over us, and how his true worth is around what we publicly valued him…
ok, agag…working and also waiting to see what mr. cook unveils in an hour from now in cupertino…
If true, what a major disappointment. It’s a massive disservice to the club. I am all for putting in place a gag order on our players. I know a lot of them are young, but surely, they must at this point already have some discernment. In any case, that they are not playing well as a unit, is down to them; so really, he has some nerve.
A new gadget purchase, oliver? 😉
agag, i am not sure – we should find out soon, i hope wenger put a block on it in the deal…
His partner did an interview and she said that Ches wants to be as good for us as Spunky and wants to surpass his record with us – she plans to leave poland to study here in london so i’m going to choose to believe what she has said… for obvious reasons 😉
there will be some fallout two…perhaps it’s a long-held ambition of his, or he was being mischievous. even so, i completely agree with you that he should be more discerning…the mood around the club is – has been – more bad than good since march and i think there are a lot of bad feelings about the particular club he mentioned, partircularly due to the august transfer and their subsequent gloating about putting one over us…
whether the interview was targeted strictly for consumption in poland does not matter. he has to know that his remarks would find their way back here, and would generally not be well-received.
no new purchase…i have a 4g that i am pretty happy with. i am interested in seeing what they roll out for the 5g…but i think much of the cool stuff will come with ios 5, which i will be able to install on my phone when they release it. my wife has a 3gs, so perhaps she will upgrade to the new handset before i do…
good luck with that ricco…i trust yg, so i am not going to question that the comment is accurate, even if the intent may not be captured…
if he wants to some day play for them, great…but why talk about it now, when we are struggling? how could he not know that it would fuel more speculation and more articles about our crumbling foundation here?
I’m happy to believe what his lady said too, rico. For obvious reasons. 😉 😀
Our players suffer from verbal diarrhea, oliver. Hopeless, really. I remember Theo admitting that he dived to try and con the ref into awarding a penalty. I wanted to punch him in the mouth, I swear. And I am not a violent person. They really should think before they speak.
The stains have class only on the pitch (and even there, they dive dive dive); outside of it, they are repulsive.
I’m no techie and fell quite content with my jurassic devices, oliver; but I am always entertained by friends who are apple fans and are perpetually excited about the latest gadgets.
Imodium plus all round then.
Pretty sure bendtner can’t play against us this season, the bloke may be a bit too big for his granny knickers but he’s still got more to his game than chamakh, having said that neither are good enough to play for us imo.
😆 Micko…..
Spot on re them both too…..
Micko, another case in point, Denilson and a twitter row with Sao Paulo fans. Tut tut. 😀
rico, Aneke says he looks up to Diaby the most… Hmmm. A fair number of our players (even Eduardo) sing him praises, and has me confused. I rarely see it on the pitch. One hopes, he’ll be a revelation this year.
his comments are now being circularly reported, most emphasizing the bit about barcelona…
this is what happens when you make unguarded comments…regardless of his intent or context, the bit about that other club will fuel more “rats off a sinking ship type stories”…probably wrongly, but the link is there, made by the player himself.
agag, that is simple to resolve, Diaby is very tall 😉
Diaby was meant to be back by now, mid october was quoted but still no sign, it’s just crazy…
Park is a bit of a mystery, we haven’t seen very much of him since he signed, he must be match fit so whats the problem.
I think we signed him on a two year deal as he will have to do his national service before he’s 30, i’m sure i read somewhere he said arsenal would be his last european club before he goes back home.
oliver – just like in the transfer window when you chuckled at all the rumours, do the same with this, it’s twisted press and media – i bet ches soons puts it right through .com too….
Diaby’s another sicknote, sponsers on the bottom of his boots.
perhaps…but let me ask – do you doubt that he made the link in some context or other during the interview? if he didn’t then young guns is causing trouble – and i find that difficult to believe…
i don’t think szczesny is going to up and leave for barcelona tomorrow, not at all…i hope he does spend his career here and become every bit the legend dave seaman is…
however, considering the club’s current situation – and the atmosphere surrounding the club – linking himself with fc barcelona, in any context, is irresponsible…irresponsible because it will give the media their next crisis story…irresponsible because it will call his long-term committment to our club into question – unfairly or not…irresponsible because the wounds of august’s transfer are still raw, with fresh salt courtesy of one of fcb’s rent-a-vice presidents…
as agag said earlier, he should have been more discerning. i am confident that was a question that could have been deflected without going into detail about circumstances under which he would leave – or naming a specific club…
Ancelotti wants to manage us does he, what Manager wouldn’t everything is in place the debt is going down all the time Money has started to be spent. New players are no good i am hearing, Many Many supporters were asking for Mertsacker, i can remember supporters crooning over the great German, and how good he would be for us, He may still turn out a good un, I’m sorry things will never get that bad that i want Denilson or Bentner back, it took forever to lose those players and i see no way back for them. Wenger reckons confidence is down in the team, and i wouldn’t be at all suprised if they also feel as if the whole world is against them as well, what with early suspensions long term injuries to key players, and hamstrings broken legs and probably pubonic plague, plus the blinding press reports every day since the season started how much more shit can we take before the nightmare is over. And up pops Ancelotti ready and willing to take over any top club especially ours whats the matter has he spent the back hander the Russian bunged him. last thing we need is an out of work italian giving his two pennath piss off Ancelotti, go home and find a bent team to manage or park up outside that shit hole down the road as that dodgy twitchy wheeler dealer manager is soon to be recognised as as a schollar and will be promoted after all he did win the North London Derby, sit out there and do us all a favour. and let us moap around in our own grief, And don’t tell me everybody is going to shit themselves when Nick comes visiting.
Agree Micko and love the bit about the sponser, being on the bottom of his boot makes sure it’s seen frequently i guess 😉
oliver – i am not questioning Jamie at YG’s, all he is doing is what all blogs do and that’s reporting something in the news – however, i very much dounbt the credibility of the originator of the rumour….
No doubt Ches has been asked an obscure question and his ansewr has been twisted….
Arsenal are like a car with tow tyres on one side flat with the other two inflated. We are unbalanced.
Why have players playing in positions that do not suit them and guess some of the reasons why Nasri left was one week on the left next on the right following week in the middle.
Walcott is not a winger he is a striker playing of a big forward.
Why get rid of Bentner and keep Chamach why buy Arshavin and play him out wide when he plays of the front two.
Why loan Benyium who would just about get in the West Ham side
I could go on and on and on but unless Wenger plays players in their correct positions we will constantly stutter.
You don’t buy players to put square pegs in round holes you buy players to put round pegs in round holes.
Arsenal are not in transition as we are led to believe for the past six years but in decline.
Should have stayed at Highbury because 38,000 in the Emirates will be a disaster.
we’ll see…certainly that has happened before, and perhaps that is the case here…i am sure there will be more to follow on this…i am not sure what polish media would have to gain by twisting things around, but its possible there are some below-the-surface motives that are not evident to us here…
even if szczesny did make the comment, and it was only in a tongue-in-cheek, the current atmosphere suggests more supporters are unlikely to see the humour in it, than those who have a chuckle…perhaps at a nother time, but not now…
Welcome Aged Gooner, always good to have another old gooner on board 😉
‘Should have stayed at Highbury because 38,000 in the Emirates will be a disaster.’
And so so so sad to witness……
Guys and Gals, I’m off to get dinner and stuff, back later….
Arsenal is interesting in Maxell from barcelona…
We start dreaming with the open window in Jsnuary…but the realilty is: a) What will be our position in the Table League in January? b)Would we reach the second leg of the CL? And we going playing against who? c) Would we run for both Cups (F.A. and Carling Cup).
Don’t forget: last year in January we had chances for win everything or something…and we had also good chances for improving our team … and we did anything, lot of injuries, we must run for Lehmannn, awe lost everything and finished 4th… we always we risk times and played in the most lucky and for some years, we have to find reasons for not having taken the risk and the stakes that we could have guaranteed success. And here are successful titles and everything that comes in addition.
Denilson might be back quicker than we think. Read this….
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2045216/Arsenals-Denilson-return-early.html
JM, i think this january we will need to sign players to get us in the top four rather than to try and see us over the line….
but, anything can happen i guess, string five wins together and we’ll soon be back around the top….
whether we can get those wins or not is the major question…
That’s a bit of a shock about denilson devil…….
I’m done for the day folks – catch you all tomorrow…
Nighty night….
Hi guys….am ok agag. Just been busy. Where’s kev?
Looks like I miss the party….guess am alone. Oh well good night folks.
Kif Int DG… 🙂
Denilson returning to Arsenal is a retrograde move imho.
What on earth would he bring to the team?
Havve we all forgotten how useless he was over the previous two seasons.
Bendtner, Eboue, Denilson. Surely we’ve moved on from those nondescript & mediocre trundlers.
Stanley, i do hope you’ve stayed out of trouble today.
You are going to give us grey hairs. And i’ve got enough of those already thanks to Arsenal.
Agag, why haven’t you got an avartar???
I suggest Harrods, what do ya think?.
And for Oliver…. ‘Old Glory’… Because he’s a bit of a reb…
Interesting and thought provoking post btw Rico.
Think the Chesney stuff is all a bit of a non-story. But as Oliver said we could do without anymore adverse publicity
Haven’t read a newspaper since i glanced thru the Evening Standard last Friday. And that’s a freebie!
Funny really, i don’t miss reading them anymore, they’re full of shit anyway.
I have totally lost any semblence of respect that i had remaining for the British Press. Their rabid anti-Wenger, anti-Arsenal stance has lost me as a newspaper reader for good i think. They themselves may not care but maybe the advertisers who subsidise those rags should worry..?
Looking forward to the post DG.
Goodnight Gooners [Good Afternoon Oliver]
From a position of competitor to the red faced,Wenger’s stock has fallen dramatically.At one time the rec was paranoid but now he is the Fm’s best pal.He is no more a threat to the rfc’ s domination. How pathetic
We don’t have to go thru a whole list to know what’s wrong.I will highlight some of them.
a)Koeman says the gunners overplay.Maybe less passing now.
b)Arsenal have had a sub std gk the last five years and this for a club that is supposed to challenge on all fronts.The jury is still out on the current incumbent.
c) Same predictable style .All out furious attacking leaving huge chunks of space for Rooney,Ronaldo,Park, to score with ease.
d)Emphasis on attack at the expense of defence.
e) Doesn’t want to play anti soccer to nick a result.Fans come to see attacking soccer. Okay if you win.Fans give higher priority
to winning than anything else
There could be a thousand and other reasons why the gunners are floundering and it is due to Wenger.
Only he can right things and as we all know soccer is a results driven business.Yeah he could stay for another fifteen years . But believe you me the next fifteen matches can decide his fate despite the American giving him the vote of confidence.This is a piece of paper that can easily be torn up and the words retracted.
wow, u guys bring me down 🙁
New Post Up
Read that Wenger is linked to the England job. By all means the board should let him go. Let him win the wc.Then the gunners can welcome Ancelotti. The Italian dosen’t waste time scoriing goals.
He will set his store to win and doen’t overplay to create chances . As an Italian schooled in the art of defence,he will ensure the gunners dont go awol or go ballwatching when the enemy shoots.
I beleive he will make a good manager,a welcome relief form the endless passiing and overplay.