Morning all.
Another press conference out of the way, yet nothing new has materialised. No update on Arsene Wenger’s future, nor any of the players who are heading into the last year of their contract.
Nothing has changed. I focus on what is important for me, that is the performance of the team and what the fans are interested in is the performance of the team.
We spend a lot of time in our society to focus on things that are superficial and not take care of the essentials. The essential in football is that we have to make sure of one thing. Good players on the football pitch. That’s what we have to take care of.
Wenger needs to wake up, of course the fans want to know what he’s doing doing next season and I’m sure the players do too. To think otherwise is naive, selfish and arrogant.
As he said, nothing does change, not on the pitch or off it and that’s been Arsenal’s downfall for many a season under Frenchman and it’s all rather boring. Yes there’s talk of aplenty of things changing this summer which if it does, is better late than never but we are so far behind the teams above us, we just have to hope any changes click instantly. But even if the coaching staff are changed, what’s to say Wenger will take any notice of them if he stays.
At a stage of the season where we should be relishing the final few fixtures, hoping to pip the league leaders to win the league, here we are fretting over finishing in the top four. But for once, it’s just not going to happen.
On the lessons learnt from Palace:
To play with restriction and a little bit of a handbrake on doesn’t help the performance. We are under pressure to deliver and the best way to do it is to play with freedom and accept the risk. In football, when you want to play, you have to accept the risk that things can go wrong. They have more chances to go wrong if you play with a little bit of restriction in your game.
We’ve not heard the ‘handbrake’ excuse for a while have we, or the ‘little bit of restriction’, in fact I think the latter is a new one, or maybe I just switched off before hearing it before.
On the mood at Arsenal:
It’s not been very enjoyable as you certainly know, but bad moments are part of our job as well. You focus to prepare and make sure you respond in a strong way in your next game.
How about being focused and prepared before a game because clearly we weren’t at Crystal Palace, or many other grounds this season like Everton, City, West Brom, Bayern, Chelsea etc etc… There’s no structure to this team, no organisation and certainly very little motivation which was proved when Theo Walcott said the Palace players wanted it more from the off. What does that tell us eh? Wenger wasn’t happy to hear him say that, ‘unacceptable’ was his response yesterday but at least Theo was being honest, albeit he and his team-mates should be ashamed of themselves if it’s true.
But that’s clearly how Arsene Wenger likes it. Just turn up and expect to win but that doesn’t work in sport. Any person or team has to be focused mentally, well prepared, know their opponents weaknesses and their strengths and have a plan to deal with both. That’s why there are coaches/managers in any sport because it’s their job to do the homework before a match, it’s their job to come up with a winning plan, it’s their job to make sure whoever he/she/they coach knows just how to execute that plan. But Arsene Wenger isn’t doing that, he can’t be otherwise we wouldn’t be losing so many matches in a row against sides who we really shouldn’t be losing to and certainly not in the manner of which we lose.
Lord help us if we have two more years of this rubbish which I think we will. Why else would he be commenting on Alexis future and his wages because if Arsene Wenger wasn’t expecting to be the Arsenal manager, he’d have little to do with any contract talks with any of the players surely….
So far nothing not even a pre prepared receipt to say they wwill reply later.
No planning, no direction, no hope. If we have two more years of this set up we will be in serious trouble. Failure to invest in the club with top players and a manager hell bent on a personal crusade can only spell disaster. When a player who earns £100,000 + a week says that the opposition were more up for it, then I’m afraid you have really serious problems on your hands.
From the board up, this club is rotten. Old, tired men who should have been released years ago are dallying with the thing that we all hold most dear – Arsenal Football Club. Once the benchmark for quality football and innovation, it has now become the go to place for ridicule and cheap laughs. I don’t know the answer – short of nobody buying tickets and merchandise, as the only thing Kroenke is interested in is massive profits. It is a disgrace.
No surprise Potter.
You say that Db but it seems Ivan and Sir Chips are trying to oust the old has been. But they are banging their heads against a brick wall but the looks of it.
Just been reading an interview with Marco Silva. Jm mentioned him a while back, he seems to have it all, bar the right club…. 😉
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/04/14/marco-silva-people-should-have-done-homework/
Morning Rico,
Good Post as always, IMO…. I think Arsene will stay at least one more year. Clearly, this isn’t how he envisage leaving Arsenal.. “a club he loves so much and has served faithfully for 20 years”. He probably thinks he deserves one more year to convince himself and (his doubters) he can still cut it with the big boys.
For me, I doubt he can, he is clearly stuck in his own glory days (All he has done for Arsenal Football club blah blah…), forgetting football has evolved over the years with a lot of young vibrant coaches redefining how the game ought to be played.
I hate to see him stay, and I hope he doesn’t.. but as we know, this is beyond what we think or wish.
If he does stay, he has to re-invent himself in many ways… tactically, financially (spending mentality), his philosophy (aimless possession football) and lastly the kind of players he buys (damn to similar and soft)
Rico – Impressed with Marco Silva from day one. He will end up at a much bigger club. I also read a great article today about the family dynasty at Juventus – and their determination to never allow a money grabbing nobody to infiltrate their club and devalue it.
Morning Rico. Sounds like he has become completely disconnected to me.
It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.
Morning teebajj, thanks.
Agree, he will have to change but at his age, and being as stubborn as he is, he won’t, he can’t. He’s head is so far in the sand, he can’t even see what’s wrong, let alone change anything…
Me too Db. I had to laugh when I read the comments Merse and Thomson made. They must now wish they’d said nothing…. I’d love Silva at Arsenal…
Do you have a link to that Juve article please?
Morning Adam. Agreed.
Haven’t heard the word “accident” used in a while, must be saving that one for something special..
Unfortunately i can’t see AW leaving Arsenal..
Morning Rico and all..
Morning Bt. Neither can I…
See we have signed another 6 foot defender .Kolasignac or similar . Does Wenger have neck problem that stops him looking up .Perhaps that’s why Half the team cant cross and Per don’t get to play.
The left-back? Is his signing official?
Left-back, central defender and can play in the midfield apparently…Heinz’s 57
Not official yet s far as i know..Rico
Well, I don’t know about Wenger in or Wenger out, but,
You put your Wenger in, Wenger out, in out in out, you shake it all about, you do the Arsene Wenger and you turn around, and that’s what it’s all about…
Whooh the Arsene Wenger,
Whooh the Arsene Wenger,
Whooh the Arsene Wenger,
Knees bend, arms stretch, rah rah rah.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to the Europa League…
Thanks Bt. I forgot he can play everywhere and I only wrote it the other day… lol
Catch up in a bit.. Morning Kev.
Morning Rico…
God it’s all so boring…
The club is a laughing stock.
Afternoon all. Yes, another free transfer, just the way they like it.
I am coming to the conclusion that Arsene wants to use the next year as a re-training exercise for himself, so that he can leave with some credibility.
We don’t need a ‘trainee’ manager though, so he’s got a cheek using Arsenal as a his vehicle to learn the arts of the modern game.
£300,000 A WEEK for sanchez? Never please. That smacks of desperation already, and Arsenal shouldn’t have to sink so low to get players to sign for them.
I’m worried that the worst is yet to come.
Spuds fans singing”Are you Arsenal in disguise!” to Bournemouth fans!!!
This is what it has come to, just fuck off Wenger you are ruining Arsenal…..
Another free signing how very Wenger, the bloke is staying and that’ll be me done!
As long as he has a hole in his arse he won’t win a major trophy!!
So much for the competing with the big boys after our move to the Emirates!!
This whole situation is a fucking charade….
I pray we don’t play the scum in the FA cup final….we will get a hiding imo.
Afternoon Rico and All
Never thought I would be lost for words when it
comes to football/The Arsenal..But
After every word that comes out of Arsenes
North and South…I feel like going West.
I have a letter to Arsene which should be in
his tray before Mondays game..Politely asking
him to go home and put his feet up.
In regards to Wenger’s “Handbrake” comments, i called a top car mechanic in north London to deal with that issue and he’d assured me it was resolved.
Hope i still have my receipt…
As for Wengers ‘little bit of restriction’ quote it is both old and new.
New as in the fact that i also have never heard him say it before, yet old as it is practically a synonym for handbrake.
Rico – here’s the article about Juventus.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/apr/15/football-ownership-models-arsenal-blackburn-coventry-leyton-orient-chelsea-juventus
Lee 13.20hrs.
Playing the Spuds doesn’t bear thinking about, so please don’t mention it again lol.
They are stuffing Bournemouth, Kane is back and scoring.
Wheelchair is playing. Surely he must loathe this, getting a hiding from them of all clubs.
They are in their ascendency whilst we drop like a stone. Humiliating.
Jack fucking Wheelchair that prick typifies everything that’s wrong with Arsenal…..tell you what stick him on a long £100k person contract!!!
Clueless prick Wenger!
4-0. They’ve been queuing up to score.
Yeah, I reckon Wheelchair is guaranteed a new contract at the Emirates.
Apart from the fact that I think Wenger is suffering from delusional dementia, another reason I don’t think he will leave this summer is that, he doesn’t want, could not bear to see a new manager come in and turn ‘his’ players into a successful unit. He KNOWS he’s lost it, but cannot accept the fact. His view is, just one more year and I’ll out Ferguson all the rest! And then everyone will wonder why he hasn’t succeeded before now? Then again he could just carry on failing and dragging the club down, deeper and down, until he reaches the bottom of the league, just like Brian Clough. He became untouchable too and, by then the damage was irreversible. The parallels are scary!
Blue skies but the wind’s cold and quite blustery here.
Jackie boy involved in all spurs goals.
Typical arsenal mentality. .
Spurs look the business..
Henery took a dig at arsene saying they looked a team that is very well coached. .lol..
Wanayama absent?. .no problemo .. Demblee can do it even better
Hi Rico and all HH’ers.
It’s difficult to get excited about Arsenal now and going forward.
At least Cloughie won ‘Old Big Ears’, Wavy, something Wenger has never had the nous for.
I accept it was a little easier back then with fewer games, and it being a simple two-leg knockout, but only champions qualified for it, but to win it back-to-back with a relatively small club like Forest was an amazing achievement. But you’re right, after that initial early success, the parallels are very scary.
Personally, I think Wenger stopped trying to win the PL and CL after the move to the Emirates.
I think such is his arrogant ego, he genuinely believed his achievements up to that point had earned him the undying love and gratitude of the Arsenal faithful. But when you build a big new stadium, you have to justify it, and as yet they have failed miserably.
The club’s strategy of pinning all their hopes of FFP being enforced was incredibly naive and from the outside looks like a declaration of surrender.
But of course it suited the club and Wenger’s narrative about the need to be self-sufficient and the self-imposed austerity, whilst claiming the moral high-ground accusing certain clubs of being ‘financially doped’. He never tried that argument on Fergie at United.
It’s looking like the shameless rhino-skinned charlatan will stay on, but with practically the whole fan-base finally waking up to his multiple short-comings, Wenger needs miracles of biblical proportions to turn the current situation around.
Having read Kev’s link on ‘silent’ Stan, I genuinely fear for the club’s long-term future.
Afternoon Fred, Herb and all…
Thanks for the link DB.
I dread the trip to Whl in a few weeks but at least we won’t meet them in the FA Cup Final, Man City will make sure of that….
If Wenger stays put he’s in for a real barrage of abuse of the period he stays and If he thinks it’s bad now, next season will be even worse. Who in their right frame of mind would want to go through that?
He has to have seriously lost the plot..
Agreed, agreed Rico. It would have to be a form of masochism on his part if he were to remain. Or a form of stubborn arrogance, the type of which we have not seen since de Gaulle said “non” to the British and their Euro aspirations. (Not sure that that analogy holds water but, you know what I mean.)
Herb, BC did win old big ears, twice! An amazing feat but then he rather lost the plot, just like Wenger. You’d think Wenger was bright enough to see/feel his time to go has arrived and, he should act, if only to allow the “club he loves” to move on and move forward. Without him!!!!
Perhaps he enjoys it all Wavy…
Whatever he has decided to do I think his silence (and the way it has been perceived by the fans), has done his reputation enormous damage.
As do I. He’s been ill advised.
What makes you think that he takes advice.
Good question, but surely he has some kind of advisor?
Just watched the Southampton /City game
if we play with our fullbacks bombing on
we will get what we deserve…F*** A**
I still feel Arsene is banking on the FA Cup.
Poker player Arsene Looks a Bag of Nerves
He needs Chips on his side..But as we know
Chips is not for turning.
Evening all and thanks Rico.
See Big Tone still has the moves !………….at first I was about to call 999 as I thought he was having a stroke or a fit ! hahaha
https://twitter.com/ArsenalFC_fl/status/853198012524503040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Farsenalarsenal.net%2F2017%2F04%2F13%2Fwhere-the-real-power-lies-at-arsenal%2F
Has Chips got the condiments to speed Wenger on his way though Fred?
But you know we will Fred…
Lc, seems Tony is going all out for survival….
Does 7th get Europa League anyone ?………………….If Manshafter win Europa League do Soton get EL spot as League Cup finalists ?………….cluthcing at straws here………..do not want EL !……………………although I will take it as FA Cup winners !
Hate the Spuds even more than I thought I could……….they play the high pressing no passengers type of football I`ve always wanted us to play, basically, everyone works their socks off !………….and if you happen to be talented aswell, then it`s win win win !
Looking at our club Wavy and how its run these days
its goner take more than Salt’n Vinegar.
I don’t think so re 7th. Just 5th and maybe 6th.
Nighty guys…
Morning rico1 & all,
Potter/Adam
Whatever you do, don’t give up your reserved seat @ The Arsenal. In the scheme of things, Arsene Wenger is just the hired help whom should have been sacked ages ago. At the end of his reign they will erect a statue of him (which pigeons will poo on), but your position(s) at the Club are non negotiable, you’ve got more history with the Club than him & by walking away from something that you really don’t want to do, you will regret it big time later when the Gooners are back getting Spurs to wipe their Arse again ?
Now when the away fans go to Shite Hart Lane in a couple of weeks, Spurs fans will no doubt try to be very intimidating. IMHO, the number one rendition for the away fans is to keep singing
“We won the League @ White Hart Lane”, coz that mob have won fuck’n nothing, a big zero since 1961. One swallow doesn’t make a Summer, & one year of success in 21 years is embarrassing!!!
If The Arsenal is the elephant in the room, Tottenham is the pimple on its Arse ?
Aaaaah yes, game day, going for a 4-0 start to the season up in Brisvegas. I’m up & about!!!!
Josh wants Henry ..Arsene says know
Says NO.sorry
Is Josh likely to be any better than his grub of a father? I doubt it!
What a here take the ‘old brigade’ left us with!
It’s not looking very good is it?
Heritage not here take ffs
I envy my Millwall mates..You know why
Its not a rip off to go..How can that be.
Years ago when we knocked about around the
grounds, even though we were not north London
we had a pride in The Arsenal and would take not
any crap from anyone.
30 years later we have to put up with the spin
that is Arsene/Syrup..
I can’t believe I could soon be drifting off to
my old mans team down the lower divisions
just to get back to the real football we used to have.
I see that Arsene is talking again…
But is anybody listening, in particular the players…
Arrogant f**king P***k!! All he cares about is himself and protecting his £9 million a year contract. EVery time he opens his mouth he treats us fans with contempt, like he is the sole reason Arsenal are where they are today.
I’ve really taken a step back from football this season, I just don’t enjoy watching us (or most games for that matter) any more. For about 5 years now I have been hoping he would prove me wrong and change his ways, but he is incapable and incompetent.
If the story about Josh and Henry is true, it could help see the back of Wenger..
Morning all..
Morning Rico. Either the press are being briefed against Wenger or he is so far gone it really doesn’t matter anymore.
Surely there are far, far too many potential downsides to him staying.
Morning Adam.
Good point about the press. Let’s hope that’s the case. Surely he’s going….?
New post up now.