Daily Bits and Bobs

Arsene Wenger Is A Tactical Genius. Would Two January Signings Sort Us Out?

Posted on by rico

Morning all.

Did you know that on this day back 1886, a meeting was held to form Dial Square FC, the forerunner to Arsenal FC.. Nope, I didn’t have a clue either!

So the good old banner story runs on in the newspapers and I bet all the journalists are loving it. They’ve been after Arsene Wenger since the day the English players started to leave and foreign, especially the French ones, started to replace them. As much as they moaned and groaned about how our manager was ruining the England team, the fickle bunch would go onto rave about the way we played during match days as they watched so many overseas players combine together to play breathing taking football. Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Freddie, Vieira, Petit, Overmars, Anelka – oh the list goes on and on.

But, as well as we played and boy we did, still the daggers were out at any and every given opportunity….

Our bookings/red card tally, now that was an area for them to have a dig at, especially when Vieira led his side against Man Utd. We didn’t like it  ‘in our faces’ back then did we, but we didn’t let it happen either, just like we didn’t when Tony Adams was our captain. It really was a case of ‘all for one and one for all’. If one Arsenal player got picked on, the other ten were right behind him. We had the players, we had the men, big men!

From then of course we went onto be labelled ‘soft’ with a team full of players who didn’t like playing in the rain at Stoke, Sunderland, Bolton Newcastle, in fact any team ‘up norf’… The tough nut label had long gone as had the true leaders on the pitch and even in the tunnel, we offered little to be feared. The pre-match stares had gone and it’s place came hugs and kisses with any player recognised on the oppositions line up. That has to go!

Despite all of that, and with so many people in places which matter having a gripe with Arsene Wenger, he and the team soldiered on through the years securing Champions League football, mostly with a depleted and under strength squad. A vulnerable squad which all too often limped away just after Christmas.

Fast forward to today. Arsene Wenger has a side full of England Internationals with Gibbs, Wilshere, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wellbeck, Chambers and even Jenkinson, although he’s out on loan he’s still our man. Those journalists can no longer pick on Arsene for having too many foreign players so they’ve had to scratch their heads and come up with other glorified headlines just so that can continue their pursuit of our manager and sadly, he’s made it easy for them.

We still have a depleted, under tall and under strength squad, we still suffer injuries and we still struggle to be a force in England, let alone Europe. We still have a manager who trusts a select few and leaves others he signed and kept to sit on the sidelines while others get game after game after game…..

But he could so easy shove those headlines right back at the journalists if he truly wanted to.

Tweak the way we play, rotate a few players allowing rest to prevent injury and then in just one months time, go and sign a proper defensive midfielder and a defender. I truly believe that just those two signings alone would make a huge difference to the second half of our season especially with Debuchy, Ozil and Walcott set to return.

A mature and experienced Cdm, not some young ‘inexperienced’ player as we have one of those in Isaac Hayden. Play Hayden alongside an experienced player and our midfield would be strong. I don’t believe Wilshere, Arteta or Flamini is that player.

Then in defence, sign a guy who is strong in the air, a guy with a bit of physical presence and one with pace. Someone who can and is willing to do what the likes of Sol Campbell, Martin Keown and Tony Adams once did. One who will put Per Mertesacker on the bench and allow him some rest.

And Arsene, stop keep feeding the newspapers with stuff like this:

I started to manage a team at the top level in 1983. If I am completely useless tactically, I am a genius [because] I can hide it very well.

Look, in [each of] the last 15 years, we are qualified for the last 16 in the Champions League. Give me another club who has done that. I think we have shown extreme consistency and that’s all we can do.

We’ve  had ups and downs in the league – yes, it’s true, but you only come back again when the spirit is strong and healthy and united inside the club. And I think if you have shown such a consistency, it’s because we have that at the club. We have values and we respect them.

I really don’t know what he means by values but I’d like to think that a club like Arsenal FC has standards, very high ones, especially when it comes to being trained and prepared for each match but that hasn’t been coming through at all this season and our recent two victories, albeit most welcome, doesn’t change anything.

There’s more to football than finishing in the top four each season. Football is about winning, not all the time of course but certainly one trophy in nine seasons is pretty hard to stomach but for me right now the fact that we are out of reach to win the PL so early in the season hurts, especially when this time last season we were sitting at the top of the table looking pretty good. But then injuries hit us, our frail squad couldn’t cope and we faded away with ease and that’s where we are today.

As for the manager being a useless tactician, right now it’s hard to disagree and I don’t think he’s hiding it at all well…….

That’s your lot for Monday, have a good one all….

rico

92 thoughts on “Arsene Wenger Is A Tactical Genius. Would Two January Signings Sort Us Out?”

  5. allezkev says:

    That Lee, was where the FA bottled it, like they always seem to do when a petrodollar club is involved or ManUre, and that’s where the invidious influence of SKY & Co can be seen to be having an effect….

  6. allezkev says:

    PERMALINK
    allezkev
    DECEMBER 1, 2014 AT 10:53AM
    Costa throws an arm into the face of Brown….

    Violent Conduct, straight red all day….

    The ref bottles it and goes yellow…
    Why?

    Abramovitch, Mourinho, Sky, all three..???

  8. bondex says:

    If AFC was an average club,then reaching the CL every season would have been ok but we are not Spurs, we are the Arsenal we should be winning the league every other season.

  10. Wavy says:

    I’ve just had my post precied! Why?

    And, just to finish the pun…..Rico, we are now just filling in time until your return.

    Wenger is a tictacless man clueless about tactics. 30 years of tactic vacuum!

    And, sadly there is only one chance of us getting any players in during the TW and that is ……no chance!

  11. frednerk says:

    No excuses anymore,we have the income,
    the rules on input/output expenditure,now favours us.
    The Arsenal fans have had enough of wengers excuses,
    it seems everytime wenger has to answer a tricky question,
    he brings up the “All Our Yesterdays” Boll#x.
    Arsenal fans have a right to protest,
    the money spent on tickets/travel…Give’s them that right.
    None of us want us to lose games,
    Just to get rid wenger….Do we?

  13. Wavy says:

    I should think you are fed up to the back teeth with silly remarks!!
    Hope the ‘butcher’ patched you up properly.
    Off now to buy many sheets of 2nd class xmas stamps, via the Bank for a short term loan to cover the expense!!

  15. rico says:

    No Fred, we don’t…

    Wavy, get your coat on will you… lol

    Afternoon Adam, all ok thanks, should see me through Christmas… 😉

  18. potter says:

    Course not Fred , however one thing the banner and the protest has done is burst the little security bubble that the club have been hiding behind .Sell outs , waiting list , everybody is happy therefor we can can carry on as we have and there’s no pressure. Not any more ! if the protests grow they might just get shaken out of their comfort zone.

  21. Lee says:

    So TH14 announces on his FB that he’ll leave NYRB & is considering his next move, oh and then changes his cover photo to The Emirates stadium.

  23. Hell Raising Devil says:

    This one is for the journous and press……..

    “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives val-iantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcom-ing; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great en-thusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who nei-ther know victory nor defeat.”
    ― Theodore Roosevelt

  26. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Good Afternoon Wafers and Chocolates.

    Happy Birthday AFC. 128 years.

    A banging post boss. Good one.

    TH14 returning with the club??? I am not convinced.

    If it was PV04 then yes…..I would enjoy it immensely.

    But while AW is there we will not see PV04 or anyone of stature joining the club.

  29. potter says:

    Carragher, who played against Henry when the duo were in the Premier League, has now hailed the Frenchman, claiming that he is the best opponent he has ever faced.

    “Thierry Henry has play his last game for New York Red Bulls if it is his last game in football what a player!” he wrote on Kicca.com. “The best I faced without a doubt and yes I still have nightmares about him running past me at Anfield!

    I remember laughing my socks off as Carragher got stuck in treacle.

  33. allezkev says:

    Yeah Coach, Flamini, as long as Arteta is fit…
    Tafari Moore is the U21’s left-back…

    What has happened to Gnabry???

  39. allezkev says:

    I’ll tell you how many Chelsea players are long-term injured?

    None!

    Is that because Chelsea don’t entertain players with suspect histories of injury perhaps???

  41. Lee says:

    We’ll get that Swedish geezer with a broken back as a bit of cover in Jan….. always look on the bright side! Maybe Silvestre needs a few quid…..?

  52. Rick says:

    Evening Rico and the House.
    The U 21 are at home to Brighton tonight and are winning 2-0 after 20mins.
    The scorers are Kamara and Akpom.
    Interesting Team selection , GK Macey and L/B Tarifi Moore withdrawn
    at last minute. Could they be in the game on Wed.

  57. Rick says:

    Spot on Rico Macey was onthe bench against wba looks like Chess is still out.
    A big gamble with Moore though I dont think he is ready for the first team.
    Now 3 up Akpom scores again. Very one sided first half could have 5or 6.

  58. rico says:

    Hopefully Gibbs or Monreal will be fit Rick… Pleased for Akpom and the young guns…

    I’m off for the day now so night to you all…..

  62. allezkev says:

    Why not have Akpom on the bench Wednesday?

    Everton are interested in Campbell…
    Arsenal are interested in McCarthy…
    A swap perhaps?

  63. Rick says:

    Kev do you know how many of the Chelsea team have played in every match this season. When Villa played Soton it was stated that only one villa player had played in every game whereas 7 soton player had played in every one .

  65. allezkev says:

    Sorry Rick, I don’t know that re: Chavs…

    But I guess that Mourinho and his staff prepare, train and condition their players better than almost anyone else…

    And, tbh, Mourinho needs to do that because his squad will be involved in everything right up towards the end..,
    They’ll have some massive games in store and therefore will need to use their resources wisely…

    Meanwhile Wenger will be fighting for 4th…

  67. Wavy says:

    You know, I think Wenger is the reincarnation of our great seaman, Horatio Nelson! He was very one eyed too! Furthermore he didn’t have a right hand……man!
    Just going to join Fred, I’ve got me coat!

  68. Micko says:

    Kev mate, don’t be such a troll, good to see the youths expressing themselves….. Arsene is genius, wash your mouth out with soap !

  70. Joe says:

    As usual Wenger makes a statement to the press on the fact that he does not do tactics. He makes a sarcastic comment about the fact he has been a manager for more than 22 years and if people believe he doesnt do tactics he must be a genius at hiding the fact he does not use them.
    But what do we get all day and on blogs Wenger is so egotictical he claims to be a genius.

  71. Joe says:

    I see a lot of folks are worried about the ref we got for the weekend but who cares if refs make no difference to whether Arsenal win or lose or end up with injured players.

  72. Lee says:

    I’m more worried about wenger than the referees. If he’d equipped the squad in a balanced fashion we wouldn’t need to making excuses about referees, curvature of the earth or Pythagoras’s theorem.Anyways all the top clubs on the planet will be forming an orderly queue to sign wenger when he leaves Arsenal. Or b)
    The men in the red hats are watching!!!

  75. Adam says:

    That fucker Anthony Taylor is responsible for the area of low pressure currently over the south east for sure Brudder. Don’t get me started on Chris Foy and his way with Cumulus clouds!

  76. rico says:

    Joe, you really don’t get it do you..

    The referee’s are dreadful in this league and I don’t think there is anyone on here who thinks otherwise but unlike you, most don’t blame them wholly for our injuries or results as most of that is down to lack of rotation or the inability to defeat other sides.

    As for Arsene being a genius, that was merely a heading but he’s certainly not a tactician….

    Still, regardless of all of that, I bet 99% of the top clubs will be watching to see what happens as if he departs before his contract expires, they’ll soon try and employ him……

  77. rico says:

    Morning Adam, Lee and all..

    Horrid morning and cold… Winter has arrived it would seem…..

    Catch you all a bit later, new post should go up around 10.30…

  82. potter says:

    quote :- Police believe the alcohol will be offered for sale on the black market in the run-up to Christmas.

    Quelle un surprise , can’t think how they worked that out my dear Watson.

  84. Joe says:

    Rico I blame refs for the impact injuries for allowing tackles that break Arsenal players legs or have them out of the game for weeks. Not getting a free kick or a penalty does not bother me as much.
    As for not rotating the team I think the has been a lot of that due to injuries we have only played 21 games and we still have a large injury list.

  86. Joe says:

    Morning Scott
    I see some people have information on the effect refs are having on the weather as I have carried out no research on this matter and I’d like to look in to this issue could they pass on the data.

  87. scottfromoz says:

    Joe, disregard that mob 🙂
    Nah, we are all sick of poor officiating, but it will never change, so maybe it’s best we accept it and move on.
    I won’t though lol

  88. Joe says:

    Scott I find the weather issue interesting and you are right on the refs of to work enjoy your day and keep up the good fight.

  92. potter says:

    Joe I know that Riley thinks the sun shines out of his arse and there appears to be a depression over Mark Clattenburg at the moment . Other than that I can’t really help.

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