Morning all,
What a meal we made of that fixture!
Why do we do it to ourselves eh, is it nerves, lack of confidence, lack of belief in each other or simply lack of guidance on the training pitch?
I don’t know, but whatever it is, it needs to be rid of or rectified.
If not, well we all know where we will end up at the end of the season.
But, we got three points, and boy did we need them, and that’s just to keep up with the neighbours. Lucky for us, Everton, who were threatening to steal a Champions League spot for the first time (I think) lost, so now we have a bit of breathing space in 5th place.
Can you believe all that, here we are, knocked out of both domestic cups, on the verge of a Champions League exit and praying for a miracle in the league to happen so that we can secure a place in the Champions League.
And trust me, the way we played yesterday, we need a miracle. We were at times, simply woeful and our defending/keeping for their equaliser was an embarrassment!
Yet Arsene Wenger was pretty happy at the end:
on the performance…
The result was vital today because it was absolutely important to win the game, we could not afford to drop points for two reasons. The first is that we are in a catch-up situation in the Premier League and [secondly] we have come out of two massive disappointments.
But it was interesting as well to see that we were focused, united, a bit nervous and you could see we played a little bit with the handbrake in some situations because the second goal didn’t come. We were also strong because when Villa came back to 1-1 we found the resources to respond and win the game.
The regret we have is that we could have scored many goals today and created an unbelievable number of chances and didn’t score. But I am proud of the attitude of the team because we went through some difficult days and responded in a united way.
on the race for the top four…
We cannot drop points, I have said that many times after the Chelsea game. That is what is in our minds, no matter where we go and who we play.
I am not 30 years in this job at the top level and going to be destroyed by people saying I don’t know what I’m doing
on the past week…
What is most difficult is not the critics, it is that we lost the last two games. I am not here to lose games, I want to win. What hurts me the most is that we lost to Blackburn at home and Bayern at home. When people come to the Emirates, they are not to go away with wins.
All the rest concerns me less. Of course [it has been difficult], but you do your job and focus on the next game and try to win it. That is what we did. I am not 30 years in this job at the top level and going to be destroyed by people saying I don’t know what I’m doing.
I have been in this job a long time and what is important is that we have responsibilities and we have to stand up for them and get the team ready to go into the next game ready to fight.
Wenger went onto talk about how good Santi Cazorla was, well that’s because he scored both goals which won us the match. Yes, he is good, very good but even he has off days, he certainly did against Bayern Munich and that hasn’t been the only time either.
We did hang on, and we did grab all three points but is this really what OUR club has become?
We don’t deserve to witness us just about managing to get three points against a team who sit in the bottom four of the league do we?
Aren’t we better than that??
Did anyone notice what Steve Bould got up to during the game?
Just as Akers and Wenger go towards the touch-line to make changes, Steve Bould spat his chewing out in the same direction and the look on his face wasn’t a happy one…..
Unlike Carl Jenkinson, check this photograph out to see what Santi’s winning goal meant to him – it’s here.
The other three pictured, well. Every picture tells a story I guess….
That’s it for another day…..
Morning Rico.
If Arsene is to continue to manage our club then his credentials have to be more than what he has done in the past. We are making the same mistakes week in week out. Our play is just too predictable and our striking options aren’t really options at all. Champions League qualification is obviously the priority now but I have to ask why. I might be cynical here but won’t Wenger just talk up potential high quality signings until the ST money is in and then buy a couple of young French or African players? Can he dismantle what he and only he, assembled? No, I doubt it.
The only thing I can see that might have grabbed Stan’s attention yesterday was the empty seats. People truly are voting with their feet now and it is becoming very obvious that there is massive disappointment seeping through the club as well as a kind of resignation that little will change next season. There is no optimism to be found at the Emirates from what I can see. Quite a few near me left early to watch the rugby on TV. Can you believe that?
Yeah, I noticed the gum incident also. Wasn’t accidental, was very telling. Alls not well there. But I don’t blame Bould. He must be dying to get that defence organised. And they need it. A shambles at times yesterday. Play like that at the spuds next week and we could get mullered.
“Quite a few near me left early to watch the rugby on TV. Can you believe that?”
Yes I can. We have quite a few muppets that come late, miss 10 minutes either side of half time and piss off early.
Harry. Same here actually. Are they drinking at half time do you think?
Morning all.
No doubt we are struggling to beat very average sides.
We create enough chances to win every game, but can not finish things off.
Wenger has to try something, anything.
Morning all,
Sorry, I lost my connection. Must be the snow 😉
Morning Adam,
For a change, SS’s showed the entire match and I, like a fool, sat through it.
We were simply awful.
The empty seats increase week by week don’t they, and I suspect that would have really hurt Stan to see that. He’s no fool, he’ll know that if that’s how fans feel now, ST sales for next season will reduce drastically…
He really needs to be very pro-active this summer.
Two things imho that he needs to do.
1) Tell Wenger to spend what money we have and NOT on rubbish, or potential.
2) Tell him to get someone in to help him, listen to him and work this mess out once and for all.
Or, if Wenger is too stupid/stubborn to do that, then he should be sacked!!
5 words to say what went wrong; Olivier Giourd and Arsene Wenger. How awful is Giourd ? Replace him with anyone and we would have won 4-1 at least. Wenger must go just for buying this donkey.
Welcome Dazzler, I don’t blame Bould, not one bit.
Hi Scott & Harry….
stevedickinson01 – I’m not sure Giroud is as bad as you think, in fact I’m starting to think Gervinho isn’t as bad as we all think, or one or two others.
Cazorla was our saviour yesterday, but even his game has gone recently, as has Theo’s goal scoring…
The old saying: One bad apple, well the only question for me is who is the bad apple because someone is turning our players into rubbish ones….
Vermaelen
Koscielny
Podolski
Szczesny
Gervinho
Have they ever been as bad as they are this season with us??
Tactics, training and attitude from above, that’s where I think the problem stems from….
Hi Rico. Funny enough and being in a mood of self-flagellation, I found myself watching the first half on Sky Sports last night before losing the will to live at about 40 minutes in. Sitting in a warm house it actually seemed better than I remembered it. But there were still long periods that just drifted by when I looked at the clock and wondered if I had been rendered unconscious for the previous 10 minutes as absolutely nothing had happened. It was as if our main tactic was to send Villa to sleep but even then we would have tried to walk the ball into the net.
I noticed also that Stan had his winter syrup on, the one without the blond/ginger highlights. I do wonder what he is thinking. And Usmanov was sitting less than 50 yards away in one of his boxes. I can imagine what he was thinking.
What to make of the Wilshere set to replace Vermaelen as captain rumours??
Rico. Honestly-Gervinho IS as bad as we think and Giroud is just an alright player who operates from a static position as he can’t move very fast. He has no composure whatsoever. Neither should be anywhere near an Arsenal shirt. And you can add several more to that particular list.
A question. When was the last time you saw Arsenal play really well? Not just in a short spell either.
Podolski rubbish?
That is very harsh Rico.
Hot and cold maybe, but rubbish?
Giroud was a little unlucky.
When a player looked to cross, if he stayed back, the ball was put to the 6 yard box.
If he went there, it was cut back.
Well, unlucky, or bad positioning…..i think a little unlucky.
Diaby is our “handbrake” atm.
He stops us every time he gets the ball.
Still, there was little movement of the ball, giving few options.
These guys have cement in their boots.
to any unbiased bystander not sitting anxiously hoping for Arsenal to score this was a very one-sided game and a commanding Arsenal performance; you’re all vanishing up your arsenals
😆 Adam…
Incredible isn’t it, two major shareholders sat so close together, yet they are so far apart. If only the two could settle their differences, share their ideas and come together for the sake of our club.
Kroenke certainly didn’t appear to be very happy…..
Did you catch the chewing gum incident, I think its a big deal…
Rico. We keep hearing the one word that is the panacea for our ailments. Confidence. It’s a convenient excuse I suppose and as good as any.
A lack of that very commodity is certainly the reason for the empty seats.
As you say Adam, it is five minutes of great football with 85 of average….i am being kind…each game.
No consistency.
We have the tools to be better.
Wenger needs to find the way to make it happen.
I hate to say it, but unless improve 30 or 40%, Spuds will roll us.
Rico, let us hope that rumour is right on Jack.
It could well be Tommy wants it.
Jenkinson. A shame for us then that we are not unbiased bystanders.
Rico. Please explain the chewing gun incident. I must have missed that in the excitement.
Jenks, we keep dominating possession, but that alone does not win games.
We need to finish teams off, because the longer we leave them in the match, the more they believe they can get a result.
here is my blueprint for the summer which is a major overhaul of the back room. hill- wood retires with wenger taking up a joint role of chairman and director of football. instead of having 1 manager we have a team of specialist coaches lehmann winterburn adams bould bergkamp and henry who between then run 1st team and reserves. next gen u18s and fa youth cup squad are run under the supervision of burton gatting banfield laraman and primovic. i know that seems a hell of a lot of personnel but we currently have hill wood wenger primovic banfield bould burton gatting court and brady so its only 3 more perhaps we could do without banfield laraman and primovic then its no more personnel just 9 and more importantly all arsenal men.
then there is the playing staff i would clearout all these fabianski mannone shea eastmond sagna squillaci djourou santos denilson henderson diaby rosicky boateng arshavin gervinho hajrovic galindo park watt chamakh bendtner. i know that 21 players appears to be a lot but its less than last summers clearout. rosicky diaby sagna and gervinho are the only real first team players and all their values are questionable right now with contracts fast running out at least we might claw back a few quid. our first team would be left short of depth so a hig investment would be required a top keeper an experienced rb 2 quich cbs 3 midfielders and 3 forwards one central and 2 wide. in fact left back is the only are that doesntneed strengthening with monreal gibbs meade and ormond-ottewill giving good depth
I didn’t say he was rubbish Scott…
Ah yes, the chewing gun spitting direction thing. That stuff is a bugger to clean up. I think he should have been more careful in which direction he spat it. I must say I admired Vic Akers sitting there yesterday in shorts. Blimey, it was cold.
Do you think that the season’s pain has gone on for long enough that any player observations could no longer be considered a “knee-jerk” reaction?
One sided Jenkinson, Not quite sure you have got that right….
Adam. Wenger and Akers got up to make the subs, they were stood just in front and to the left of Bould, who i think was sat with crossed arms and not a happy look on his face.
Then, and I can only describe this as ‘in a thuggish way’ he spat his gum towards them.
I am not though, for one minute suggesting Bould is a thug, but I think his actions said a lot…
Or, I may have just put 2+2 together and got 22 😉
Turning our players into rubbish ones, and he is listed….i am confused 🙂
If that was after our goalkeeper let that goal in then I may have another explanation Rico.
When that goal was played back the stadium atmosphere was remarkable I can tell you.
Morning all, nice one Ricolicious 🙂
Making chances is one thing, having strikers who are never where they should be is something else. We persist with crosses to empty spaces. we get to the edge of the box and run out of ideas Players are not moving into spaces they stand in line and the only option is sideways or backwards. Like a shoal of fish that are going forward they just follow one another but seldomly will one fish think for its self thats our forward line. Giroud and Walcott stand in wait but are often surrounded by defenders, most of our goals come from defenders breaking forwards and crossing in a backwards direction and midfielders running on. Walcott has stated that he wants to add to what we have, i can only say go back on the wing as you are not a centre forward, i had my doubts about him on the wing but his pace did help on the wing, but it seldomly helps centrally. Giroud does find the positions but he is slow in finishing off. If i was Arsene Wenger i would tell the players not to pass backwards on attacks i would tell our forwards to bust a gut to get forward i would tell them to run sideways and force the defenders to follow so our midfield do not run into brick walls streatch their defenders, thin them out and flood their box and give our wide men something to aim at. We used to attack with pace we would catch defences out with our directness now we take an age. Instead of rushing forward and giving the holding player options we wait behind him as cover and know there is someone behind him. Wenger has said many times that we look nervous thats because half the team are being asked to play in positions that they are not comfortable with. A team that lose a top striker that scored for fun, a player that scored with both feet and his head a player who was not an out and out centre forward but had the instincs of a hungry striker. Van Persie could hold a ball up he could be spiteful if he needed to, he would tacke ruffle feathers he had a football brain he knew where to stand his computor brain told him where the odds were for the ball to be and he went there he had timing and the skill to finish off. He’s gone and we are left with muppets. Is that good Management for a man with 30 years experience he should know better.
Steve, i am with you in blaming Wenger for these guys not getting into position, but they have to cop blame as well.
Yes, he should be telling them, but they shouldn’t need to be told.
None of us are getting paid megabucks, and we can all see it.
These guys need to start using their brains.
On the upside, Nacho can get a cross to the right spot.
Is his arrival going to let Gibbs play higher up the pitch?
If these combine well, they could be devastating.
Hi all, Just done MOTD and the Sky re-run. and in all fairness from theT.V we look 10 times better than we did in the stadium. There is an apathy in the bowl and any real chanting was out of boredom to relieve the cold, It was artic there and perhaps with Stan doing a brass monkey imitation under his blanket perhaps Usmanov could have offered an olive branch and invited him into the warm. Buying players ? Wenger has always had a scattergun approach but if he gets a few more like Monreal and Jenks he will improve the squad. We should not delude ourselves getting back to the top will not be a quick fix .It;s going to take time and patience. Does anyone know if Diaby’s latest injury is life threatening maybe Rosicky will get his chance. I can’t work out why he is being ignored.Perhaps heran over Wenger’scat or something. Or maybe because he does have a prettier wife at home.
I like the clearout idea bc, and PHW going.
Has Szczesny got a problem with his sight?
I am not trying to be funny here.
He seems to react very, very late to long range shots.
‘Turning into’ Scott, not turned into, there is a difference…. 😉
Podolski was awful yesterday, he should have had two goals, or at least go himself on the end of two really good chances…
Not sure it was Adam… Maybe i am getting 22, I’ll leave it there…
Not to contradict a very good post but i think we have struggled against all the bottom teams this season. But this is better than our performance against the top teams, where we haven’t even bothered to turn up.
There is clearly a problem in the dug-out. All season Wenger & Bould have sat together like strangers on a bus. The body language says it all – there is no partnership between these two !
Podolski was awful yesterday…nobody would question that.
H has been good for the most part though.
The others on that list i would agree with, and probably add some names.
SP: We used to be able to excuse Wenger’s rather eccentric methods of coaching when we had the genius of Henry and RVP producing the goods. Nowadays it is difficult to see what if any coaching goes on between matches.
Morning Potter, You watched the highlights Potter, If you had watched the whole game from a TV screen you would have seen tha amount of bad passes I have sat in the stadium and from a seated position you see the game from one position the tv screen shows the game close up, it show the mistakes and the very bad passes the bad shots. Highlights takes the boreing parts of the game out and believe me there were plenty of them.
Scotty< wenger never does that when we had Gibbs fit and Santos could have gone up he didn't play it like that Santos was a bad left back but he could have done well forward. Gibbs will now sit and wait for Monreal to get injured and he could wait a while.
If Wenger has an issue with Bould, then why not just sack him?
Even if it is Wengers doing, it can’t be left to fester.
Steve, I think you have hit it on the head, what coaching.
i saw the match again, this afternoon; and it’s no better now even if I know we did win. Giroud and Poldi need to be getting at the end of crosses; converting on their chances. Theo was cack yesterday. And we need Stekelenburg; Chestnut just isn’t cutting it.
Steve, i know what you are saying, and you are probably right.
Still, Nacho is a true LB who is defensive minded, so it would seem a great opportunity.
Morning and thanks Sp, can’t recall who it was now, could have been Shearer, but whoever it was said, that the role of the job of the player crossing the ball is to simply get it into the right area and it’s the job of the striker to watch the ball and attack it for the chance/goal.
A bit like the other end with zonal marking, the cross comes in and the opposition, if good, will simply attack a ball sent into a probing area.
So I’m not sure the crossing is the problem, unless it fails to get past the defender, it’s those in the area are not reading the path of the cross and are not fighting hard enough to get to it….
If that makes sense 😉
Maybe Giroud needs to get to the 6 yard box every time.
At least the guys crossing won’t be guessing.
So many of these things we discuss are just bloody schoolboy problems.
It is ridiculous.
Off to bed.
Find a positive and discuss it 🙂
Night all.
Hi Potter, that says a lot, I thought we were awful on TV, must have been hard to stomach watching from the stands, especially in the cold weather you had to endure yesterday.
I hope you, and Adam in fact, had a blanket like Kroenke 😉
It does make sense Rico.From behind the goal you can see the space and the runs the players make,often the runs are made but the ball takes too long to arrive.
Steve – agree re the struggling, there was a time when we’d hit sides like this for 6, last weekend was a typical example of how we struggle against ‘lesser’ sides….
Talking of coaching, do you notice how poor we seem from set-plays, either our own or our opponents. We are awarded dozens of corners each week and quite frankly we may as well hand the ball to the GK and give him a goal kick.
If you’ve watched Spurs lately you will know they are ahead of us because of Bale’s free-kicks. That’s a skill most players have in them, but it needs lots and lots of practice. This season we have no-one who grabs the ball at every opportunity and signals his desire and ability to put it in the back of the net.
Hi agag, we sure need a keeper, but then we have all been saying that for a long while…
Scott could be right, Ches needs an eye test…. Thankfully, Mannone and Flappy should soon be gone and another coming in…
I hope…
The players set off too early maybe Potter. I think of the run Lescott made for City from a corner. So simple, but he wanted that header and nothing was going to stop him. We don’t have that kind of aggression/determination…
Merts, for his size, is very weak in the air….
Couldn’t agree more Steve and interestingly enough, RvP crossing and set pieces have improved since he left.
Do we not practice this side of the game? Too much ball on the floor stuff maybe….
Good points there Steve. I would jus like to ask, why does mertsacker go up for corners 6’4 or whatever he is and gets on the end of bugger all. I would be inclined to keep him back and allown Kosi and Verm up. we seem to be top heavy at corners but not many challenge. Walcott if he must play must take the corners as he is useless in the middle Santi on the other side.
Rico fair point about crosses but should a player break away down the wing and say he looks up and see’s that the he only players in the box is theirs surely it is then worth a dribble rather than just give it to them.
For sure Sp, sorry, I thought you meant crossing in general.
And it’s all very well have speedy gonzalez on the right but how about we actually have a nippy striker or midfielder who can keep up with him to get in the box when we break at pace…
Got to nip off for an hour, back in a bit
Something we asked a couple of years ago Rico but yes your right . We rarely buy speed if players are slow and clumbesome they end up here.
Catch you all later come on Bradford.
Hi all,
Good post Rico.
I’m sure Scott could be right there or slow reactions by Schezny. I think the close range saves are perhaps instict.
Giroud is not a finisher and needs a striker to play off him.
Surely crosers should only worry about the trajectory and the depth (near, middle or far post). Not many can cross with pin point accuracy and height for a single striker in the box.
J
Afternoon all,
Interesting post. So in short, SB spat his gum out because, he can’t stand AW who is messing up this great club. Hmm, but then the handshake between them at the end of the game was not reported.
Is this not a repeat of the Pat Rice scenario, where people claimed, Rice MBE can’t stand AW but if any one has been to the Next Gen games this season you would have seen Rowley, Brady, Rice and AW together joking sitting in the stands on several occasions especially against Marseille at the Erms…
In the past, fans complained we played the best football and lost but now even when we don’t play well and win fans are still complaining. This is definitely a marriage heading for the end…
How many points are the clubs who have spent a billion pounds ahead of us? Those who want a ‘good manager’ as Rednose is …how many of such men are in football today? And then some choose to make an excuse for Maurenho even though he is flopping at RM citing player power as the reason… I thought all world class players like RM’s want to win with a winning manager like him?
People need to stop painting arsenal as so doom and gloom. I honestly believe that we will get champions league no problem. In the remaining games of the season tottenham are playing man city, liverpool, chelsea and us and in addition will struggle with a stoke away game. Aside from man u and spurs our fixture list is pretty plain sailing. so stop worrying
Did anyone see Poo-lis using AW’s ‘I did not see it’ on 2 different occasions during the post match interview? He claimed he was not aware Nzonzi punched Ruiz and Huth elbowed Senderos in the neck..
However, no one on TV either even on ‘goals on sunday’ has referred to it. Neither did Motd.If AW had done that that would have been on replay until…
Adam on MoTD, as Stan was going to his seat (sporting his new thermal hair- piece) he had a lovely red blanket under his arm…..Mrs A definitely needs one!! 😉
Can anyone confirm is this is true?
Diaby’s full Arsenal injury record:
Calf/Shin Injury 2013 February 23rd
Illness 2013 January 22nd
Thigh Muscle Strain 2012 September 29th
Muscle Injury 2012 September 7th
Calf Muscle Strain 2012 April 28th
Illness 2012 April 23rd
Hamstring Injury 2012 March 29th
Hamstring Injury 2012 March 3rd
Hamstring Injury 2011 November 26th
Ankle/Foot Injury 2011 July 22nd
Calf Muscle Strain 2011 January 2nd
Calf Muscle Strain 2010 December 30th
Ankle/Foot Injury 2010 October 19th
Ankle/Foot Injury 2010 October 4th
Ankle/Foot Injury 2010 September 13th
Calf Muscle Strain 2010 August 11th
Calf Muscle Strain 2010 March 27th
MCL Knee Ligament Injury 2010 February 17th
Calf Muscle Strain 2010 January 20th
Calf Muscle Strain 2009 November 7th
Ankle/Foot Injury 2009 October 10th
Groin Strain 2009 August 12th
Knee Injury 2009 July 27th
Thigh Muscle Strain 2009 April 1st
Calf Muscle Strain 2009 February 24th
Thigh Muscle Strain 2009 January 31st
Abdominal Strain 2008 November 22nd
Thigh Muscle Strain 2008 August 3rd
Thigh Muscle Strain 2008 April 25th
Calf Muscle Strain 2008 March 7th
Calf Muscle Strain 2008 February 8th
Back Injury 2007 November 22nd
Sprained Ankle 2007 August 14th
Concussion 2007 April 20th
Sprained Ankle 2007 February 25th
Knee Injury 2007 February 2nd
Ankle/Foot Injury 2006 May 1st
Would love to see what he earns per minute played.
I reckon half his weekly salary per minute played
There’s a whole lot of ‘Steve Bould’ fans who believe his arms are tied or that Wenger is a tyrant… RUBBISH! He sits there every game and says NOTHING, barely celebrates when we score, and gives the most lack-lustre warm-up session pre-game I’ve ever seen. At least Pat Rice was constantly up and down on his seat talking to the players. Bould has zero enthusiasm and is just dour. If he doesn’t like it, tough. Wenger should sack him and get someone else in!
He’s just a bit unlucky…. 😆
http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/crazy-picture-from-aston-villa-win-suggests-jack-wilshre-might-be-arsenals-messiah/
Lee. We could have done with a blanket yesterday mate. It was bitter. When you win and still feel empty then that’s not a good place.
Rohan. Even if we do qualify for the CL then that will merely paper over the cracks. The team and the club need a massive change and an injection of real ambition, tactically and financially. For me the CL qualification is a mere distraction. The real struggle lies much deeper. If anybody needed it, this last week was a reminder of two things. How low we have sunk and how far we have to go. Stan has some real decisions to make but I think we all know that he will take the easy option and that next season will be another blowout.
Come on City 🙂
Afternoon folks…..
1-0 Citeh 🙂
Yaya do us proud, please…
Great goal from Yaya…. quality….!
Poor Oscar, he so desperately tried to hide a certain part of his anatomy before going onto the pitch. He hailed… 😳
i think our captain vermalaen has been dissapointing this season he has cost arsenal alot of goals this year with the idiot santos. vermalaen was awful against buyen and if it wernt for kocielnys one man defending the score could have been worse. Also Giroud should be a sub and not our main striker he cant shoot to save his family and is slower then santos which doesnt help when you got wallcott on the wing and your bloody striker cant catch him up. HOW MANY TIMES ARE WE GOING TO SEE WALLCOT RUN DOWN THE WING AND CROSS THE BALL AND THERE IS NO ONE IN THE BOX????????
Good bit of defending just before by Kolo too Wath, twice….
What did he hail Rico… a taxi…?
😉
You lost me there Wath 😉
Good, Tevez finishes that game off then…
What a difference a bit of real class makes eh.
Lee, 😆 re Diaby
Welcome AFC, TV was out of position though against Bayern, we knew he’d struggle but what else could Wenger do really?
The rest of his form could coincide with stepping up to captain, something which is due to change according to the media, but heck, What do they know….
No wonder AFC’s BUPA premiums are so lumpy with perma-crock Diaby on the payroll…. He’s certainly not on the play-roll.
The so called “war chest” that Arsene will have in the summer, who’s concerned about who Arsene buys? I am very worried….
I am Lee, I am not convinced he will go and sign players who will make a huge difference.
And before anyone suggests I am talking b****x, well I come to that conclusion after Wenger’s comments about how there was no player in January who would have improved this current squad…
Poppycock, there are many many players who would improve this squad, they just cost money!!
I’m actually warming to the idea of Laudrup……
you people will only be happy when we win 4/5 nil……..your pathetic
Adam, Its obvious that we have declined since 2004. However we have struggled to finance keeping players as a result of the stadium debt. In our invincible season only 2 first team players -reyes and lehmann – changed that year. compare that with this year where three first team players have come in as well as wilshere and diaby who hadnt played within our squad for over a year. Our midfield is almost completely different from last year.
It’s foolish to expect us to succeed when we are radically changing key squad positions every season. this coming season with new sponsorship money we shouldn’t have to sell.I’m well aware of the arsenal propoganda we are often fed about spending, but if reports are to believed and we do have £70M to spend then maybe we can strengthen the squad and push on. But honestly I see the entirety of the next season dependent on the next transfer window. In 6 months time I might view the fate of arsenal the same way, as more often than not i’m disappointed by arsenal’s transfer moves.
That said i still believe wenger is a brilliant manager and is even overachieving given that he has been crippled by the board. Call him miserly but if given the choice i’m sure he would rather have paid to keep cole, nasri, fabregas etc.
On a final note that joins the first two – consider the fact that the squad has repeatedly changed, this requires a change in individual first-team coaching to address issues within the squad – weakness are often not highlighted until games are played and then still require time to coach out. We have seen late season revivals in the last couple of seasons now – seasons in which we lost our best players. This suggest that coaching is not actually a problem. As I say our board and transfers have been a major issue in the last few years, not wenger or the coaches. Hopefully with the new sponsorship money we will enjoy our best season in a while next year.
*there were four arsenal first team transfers this season…. forgot about monreal
wardy what are you talking about? There’s a village looking for you……
Got to want Bradford to win, Parky is an ex Reading player…..
Should be good….
Wardy you people will only be happy when we win 4/5 nil……..your pathetic – change your name to mediocrity..
Dear oh dear wardy, dear oh dear……
Just watched the MOTD highlights have you?
Lets hope we don’t get any more world class players like Santos,Squillaci,Chamakh or Gervinho!
I think he’s escaped from a ward….
Rowan. Look at our wage-bill and the players that Wenger has bought. I have said a million times that Wenger has convinced some fans that we are paupers. The truth is we never have been. How many times since moving to the Emirates have we been a couple of decent buys from success? How long did he persevere with Almunia, a man clearly not good enough, when Schwartzer at a couple of million quid could have actually made a huge difference?Now he is doing the same thing with Chesney. One of the problems with our decline is that it has been aided by Wenger spending stupid money on horrible players like Gervinho, failing to get any real quality out of our highest earner in Arshavin, waiting a season to sign Chamakh and paying a load of duds like Bendtner, Squillacci, Denilson and the rest ridiculous money to do absolutely nothing. We aren’t short of money but it is allocated very badly. And, looking at the way we have lost to Bradford and Blackburn in the cups and being bloody awful this year, where is the evidence that Wenger can still motivate and coach PL players. Tell me,when was the last time you saw this Arsenal team play really well?
Bell End……………..!
Rico. Your 2.59. You never miss that sort of stuff do you? 🙂
wardy. Always start each sentence with a capital letter and I believe your use of the inverted comma is also suspect. I assume you mean you’re rather than your? A full stop should always be used to signify the end of a sentence too. Otherwise, not a bad attempt at a mundane comment.
Ah, I knew you wouldn’t miss that comment Adam 😉
I know you didn’t Rico. 🙂
Were you watching that particular incident Adam?
No Rico. I was in my living room playing with my fabulous equipment. 🙂
My hifi system obviously.
I knew that grammatical mine field of a retarded post would wind you up Adam…..
Lee 🙂
Phew Adam, that was nearly a concern 😉
Lee 😛
I see the Bradford keeper just had a Chesney moment.
Rico 🙂 What are you like?
Swansea are hardly struggling against that European footballing powerhouse Bradford…..we really are pony these days!
Ches really needs some competition at Arsenal…..
If we had manage to topple the mighty Bradford and got to the final, would you be confident of beating Swansea at Wembley today?
Just a good old fashioned country girl Adam, just like those on ‘call the midwife’ later. Some maybe tempted to say ‘dated’…
Maybe if I talked more posh, and owned a B&B I could be more mysterious??
Another Ches moment. I fear for Bradford…
Our wage bill is excessive for mediocre players, and that is something i think our board needs to address. However wenger has hardly spent stupid money on players in premier league terms. Our dud signings are at fees of 6M or 7M not 20 or 30. It’s easy to get carried away with the signings, but sagna was bought for 6Million, prior to his leg break we could have got 20M for him, it’s a similar situation with vermaelen, koscielny and is evidenced by song and van persie. If you’re looking for evidence that wenger can coach PL players how about fabregas,nasri,walcott, wilshere and once again song and van persie. Jenkinson has made huge improvements this season. I think the fact that the richest clubs in the world try and sign our players year after year shows the backroom staff at arsenal are doing something right.
I dont know how to provide evidence that any manager is a good motivator so i dont know what to tell you there. As for the last time arsenal played really well – i’d say our victory against west ham a couple of weeks backs was a really good performance.
4.31 Adam. No.
I think the summer will see a lot of those mediocre players gone rohan. Maybe SK/IG has the wage thingy in hand…
Hello everybody!
Those who still believe in wenger’s lies out to be ashamed.
liam – who is out to be ashamed?
Hi JM…
Nathan Dyer – how many of us wanted him at Arsenal, I know Wath did….
Rowan. You and I will not agree here but I have to say that West Ham were atrocious that game and we played ok in patches. Whatever Gervinho and Santos cost, it was too much. Jenkinson has hardly played this year and, to my eyes, looks as raw as ever. Fabregas and Nasri were years ago. I am talking today and if you are convinced by Walcott then fine, how long has Sagna been at the club? £20 million for a full back? Perhaps, but unlikely.
I am not convinced that Wenger is the coach he was, although I do think he was great. But I look at Vermaelen, Ox, Koscielney, Arshavin and possibly a few other and ask what is going on with these blokes. When did Ox have his best game in an Arsenal shirt? Wasn’t it against AC Milan last season when he played in the centre of midfield where he was a ball of pace and energy? And how many times has he played there since? And what has his form been like this year? Good coaching?
Rico. You are mysterious enough for me. 🙂
Rico. Your 5.03 Those who still believe in Wenger’s lies. Like me.
Well done Kevin Friend. Many refs would have felt sorry for Bradford and not sent him off.
NO, rules are rules and Duke had to go…
I’d have let Dyer take it though 😉
5.08 Adam. Did you see my comment earlier this morning??
Me – mysterious, pfff 😉
Kroenke. If you are reading you old fart. Tempt Wenger upstairs, whose stairs I don’t really care, just do it.
Get Laudrup in, he is what Wenger was when we signed him…..
I hope AW is watching the league cup final..
Where on earth has the club announced that Wenger has £70m to spend in the summer ?
Gdna, why?
Steve, it’s £150 million isn’t it??
But, does it really matter what they all say, we all know what is said and what is spent are two very different things….
Which comment Rico? I read all your stuff. 🙂
No, it’s £146 million and he is committing £80 million of that on buying Falcao and paying his wages.
It matters not Adam, that was then 😉
😆 Adam.
And pigs will fly….
Sorry Rico, but I find it very amusing that based on nothing, people are once again saying that next season it will all be different.
Apparently altzheimers is one of the most under-reported medical conditions in this country.
£1billion apparently……he’d still shop at Lidl.
Nasri and fabregas were two seasons ago, hardly ancient history. You look at players that are underperforming in a mediocre season for arsenal and it is easy to blame the manager. Sometimes the responsibility has to be taken by the players. I look at Arshavin and see it as a similar situation to Torres, people keep saying he’s being poorly managed, but the reality many managers have come in to try and get the best out of him and he has continued to struggle. Yes the Ox has been average at best this season, putting that down to him being poorly coached is silly as many breakthrough players struggle the following but still continue to be great players. You cant judge his ability at CM off one performance. Bacary Sagna’s best game in recent weeks came at CB does this mean that he should be a CB now? No.
You’re complaints about wenger are valid though but i’m essentially saying that while he is hardly faultless, i have serious reservations about whether another manager would do better. Ferdinand, neville, scholes,evra, nani, valencia among many others have had average or poor seasons under Ferguson but that hardly meant that he was coaching them poorly or was a poor motivator.
Rico, even if he beats bradford 10 nil. Hell no… We need a world class manager. All this talk of Henry, Bergkamp, Moyes, Laudrup gets me riled up. Martin o’neil was a magician at villa but what has he done since? It is easy to perform when there is no pressure on you and there is lots at arsenal….
Rowan. As I said. We will not agree on these things. I think Wenger is past it. You don’t. Let’s move on
Sorry. Rohan. Predictive text stuff.
Well done Swansea….
Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!
Steve, I’m with you, I think it will be same old, same old next season, especially if Wenger stays…
Aldi Lee, Aldi are the new Lidil 😉
joywed, doesn’t that say it all? I’m warming to Laudrup, why??
But in reality, I want change, but who, I don’t know.
Rico. I read the comments from a year ago. Amazing. But I notice that you and I have grown more cynical. 🙂
Surely not Adam. Me, you, cynical. Never 😉
Off to have dinner now. Back shortly….
Mornng all.
Where has Devil disappeared to?
I hope all is well with him.
I agree with Jeffs comments on i taking a certain type of manager to succeed at Arsenal……it is why i do not want to see David Moyes with us.
His track record is very, very good considering the circumstances, but some managers love those circumstances.
Shortly is over…..
Hi Scott, i’m convinced Moyes is going to replace Fergie… No-one believes me, and that’s fair enough but … just wait and see 😉
Don’t really see a dour Scotsman like Moyes jelling with the American corperatism(?) thats emerged at Arsenal.
Thing is Steve. I don’t trust Kroenke to choose a successor to Wenger, not one bit. He’s just as likely to employ Big Sam!
Rico, Jose is just sitting back waiting for Fergie to retire imo.
He’s going back to Chelsea Scott…
Maybe….
We dare only guessing eh Scott, but he’s on his way to the PL…. 😉
Agreed there…….he won’t be coming to Arsenal…we don’t spend enough 🙂
But if he thinks there is money Scott, he’d come sniffing around.
He’d be a dead cert for a quick fix, that’s for sure….
But I still have a hunch Henry will be our next manager, said it a while back now, and I stand by it.
And he’d get Bergkamp back too….. imho of course…
Big Sam…….there’s a nightmare !
I know Steve, OTT I know, but you get my point 😉
I’m done for today folks…
Have a good night all, stay safe and chat tomorrow..
It’s been emotional 😉 😉
Nighty….
I hope Wenger moves upstairs as football director and we appoint Klopp at the helm, but then again I would hate to see Dortmund get dismantled and then their players ditch off all around the world. As this Dortmund team will soon be a super power in Europe that WILL dominate. That I’m convinced of.
So that leads me to Laudrup then, and his comments recently about his future echoes his departure very soon, but he seems to be willing to only go to a club with stability and freedom:
“I have ambition but I have never had any special dream to go to a specific team or a top team.
Let’s say that years ago I had set myself the ambition to become the manager of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Chelsea or Juventus, and that I finally arrived after 10 years of trying.
“Let’s say I finish second in the League, lose in the semi-finals of the Champions League after penalties and lose 2-1 in the national cup final.
“The club say: ‘Sorry, no trophies. Thank you very much, goodbye.’ I have done everything for 10 years and then after nine months I am out. You can’t live like that.
“It gives me much more pleasure to see how well you can do where you don’t have to win all the time.
“I’ve been at the top clubs as a player. Maybe it’s for that reason I don’t have that dream like a young innocent manager just starting out. If one day I’m there as a manager at a top club, then I’m there. If I’m not, I’m not.”
that picture is misleading…i was at the game and saw kosielny jump up when we scored…i dont remember what the ox did..is suspect he celebrated…but i do remember even gervinho clapping and punching the air….so that pic means nothing…i was there
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-2283864/Arsenal-Barcelona-play-beautiful-game–Martin-Samuel.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
Morning all…
JJ – I think they had all only just sat down 😉
New Post up…
Hello all. It must really hurt Bould seeing certain so called CBs wearing the shirt after what he see’s in training and then on the pitch. The same basic mistakes by the same players who are just not good enough but continue to get selected. Never hurt so much about how our club is at the moment.