Last month David Dein suggested that Wenger may have had enough of Arsenal and was ready to walk away.
Wenger quickly rebuffed Dein’s view by saying:
David is not right. I will one day prove to you my loyalty by showing what I have turned down to stay here. You will be surprised. You can question my decisions but not my loyalty to this club.
Ok, forget what he says about the loyalty, I am sure £6 Million a year would keep anyone loyal to any job, even if it meant you had to paint the white lines at S***e Hart Lane, I bet most Arsenal fans would for that amount of money.
What we all need to know is what really has been going on since David Dein left on 18 April 2007.
Peter Hill-Wood said this at the time of his departure:
Let’s be truthful, the rift with David Dein has been festering for some time, although nothing sufficiently as bad as this to make it impossible to continue. We had an idea he was in league with Kroenke and the board did not know what was going on. We put two and two together and came up with the right answer.
He also said this about Alisher Usmanov:
He’s certainly not an open book, business is murky in Uzbekistan, and that in itself is an argument against him being involved in Arsenal. I wouldn’t want him to be the owner of the club.
Hill-Wood was quite clear that he didn’t want a takeover and in any case, certainly not by either the American or the Uzbekistan man!
Who ‘owns’ us now? Both!! Well one a lot more than the other although you wouldn’t have known from the silence coming from Stan..!
So, Wenger no longer had Dein by his side, he no longer had a man who would go and buy the players he wanted. Under Dein we didn’t have all the long drawn out negotiations over transfers, we just went about our business quietly and quickly and before we knew it, we’d signed a player or two….
I’m not suggesting that Dein was a saint, nor am I suggesting that the answer to our current problems could be resolved if he came back – his days seem to have been done and dusted.
What Dein was and what he still is, is an Arsenal supporter, what he did was for the best of our club and with Wenger at the helm of the squad, we had the perfect partnership.
Dein sorted out signings like:
Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars, Thierry Henry, Davor Suker, Robert Pires, Sol Campbell, Gilberto, Gael Clichy, Kolo Toure, Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie. Ok, there were a few duffers to add to the above list but not every player turns out to be gold….
What have we had since his departure?
Firstly, we were left without a CEO, the man/woman who would go and sign players that Wenger wanted, so Wenger had to do that himself.
Wenger had lost his soul mate and was now left alone with a board who didn’t really seem to want to help out.
Then in November 2008, Ivan Gazidis was appointed as his replacement, a man renowned for his involvement in the MLS – and, having moved to Manchester when he was 4 years old, he was a Manchester City Fan.
Just what we needed, NOT!
I still recall that a guy at the top of Vodafone had also applied for the job, he had one thing going against him – and that was he was an Arsenal Fan from the day he was born, why oh why didn’t he get the job??
Well, I am sure the answer is, the board knew they were going to sell out to the American… Gazidis had no doubt had contact with Stan and a new relationship was on the verge of being born – a relationship that would see us where we are today!
The only problem being, neither of them are Arsenal men, neither of them are Football men – both however are business men and that is what Arsenal have become – a business.
They don’t seem to care about results, they don’t seem to care about much apart from ensuring we have now made our shirts and all other merchandise available across the world and that we secure Champions League football each season for the money it brings..….
Although let’s be honest our off field deals are hardly setting the world on fire either considering the amount of execs we have at the club but also success breeds success who wants to be a partner with a team that isn’t winning things or at least competitive. Sponsorships are also tight financially in this day and age Sponsors also want value for money and to be aligned with a team that’s up there with the best, hand on heart can we say we are ?.
Well, unless we win this season’s competition, we are looking unlikely to qualify for next seasons Campions League…. Ok, it is still early but there are too many other sides who are already making an impact on this league and this isn’t about our start to the season this is more a carry on from our dire form that started in feb/march.
At some stage they need to realise we are not a business, we are a football club – we are in the Premier League to compete, not to make up the numbers and this season it is looking highly likely that we won’t be in the top four come the end of this campaign not unless things take a severe turn….
Arsenal have been around for donkeys years, they will be around for many more donkeys years too.
We have not always been about Wenger, nor have we always been about the current board.
For us to move on and truly get back to being a successful club, we need changes across the board – the latter being the poignant word – we need a new board, fresh faces, fresh ideas but with one thing that will always remain old in their heart, head and mind…
That my friends is Arsenal Football Club, we need The Arsenal back in the boardroom and we need it back on the pitch…..
One day, when Wenger goes – I think he will spill the beans and maybe that will be the day we truly find out what has happened to our club since the day David Dein left us…
Maybe then, we can all move on……
Until then, may the man sitting down in the photo step up and make his move, it’s what OUR club needs… Stan has made no comments about “OUR” club we’ve not heard a peep out of him regarding his long-term plans for the club or his vision of where he wants us in world football, we seem to be a club lacking direction and leadership and most of all ambition and intent to actually be a top club…!.
We need change. Starting at the top, the very top, Is Stan the future ? is Wenger the future….? Questions we need to look at very carefully.
If Usmanov steps in and takes over he needs to sweep this current board out and bring in new faces new ideas and most of all needs to bring in proper Arsenal people, maybe then we’ll get our Arsenal back on track……
Agree with every thing you say this morning we need change and fast.Silent Stan cares more about making money and his American soccer .His wife owns all the Walmarts she richer then him !
Good post.
Morning all..
You wouldmn’t mind quite so much if Stan told us what his plans are and we could see that longterm he had afc at heart but all i see him doing is getting us debt free and selling up for a profit…
maybe he just wants to be richer than his wife diane?
Good post Rico, very thought provoking and some very pertinent questions asked…….! The answers are not easy to come by either and all have pro’s and con’s but agree completely that the board are a huge issue in all of the problems we’re seeing at the club.
Morning Wath…
I just don’t see where we are going as a club right now, other than backwards. Not sugesting that we can keep up with the rich teams in player purchases etc but watching us make silly errors on the pitch each week tells me something is fundamentally wrong.
If Stan and this board truly cared about OUR club, they wouldn’t sit back, and let it happen. An owner who supported us as well as ran us would not let this happen.
If he is all about making himself rich at Arsenals expence then
1) he can buuger off
2) It won’t happen as come May we won’t be earning the extra from the CL
As for the sponsership, we won’t get big money sponsors if we are not in Europe…
Absolutely spot on Rico, couldn’t have put it better myself!
We have had enough of Wenger and i think this the most appropriate time for him to leave Arsenal. He cannot continue making Arsenal loose funs. Funs are proud of their club if it wins trophies.
I think we lack direction, we have a board thats stagnant and think they are untouchable and are so delusional in that they have done such a great job and really just fleeced the fans and lied to us big time.
Hi Gooner Sam, thanks…
Same old same old problems on the pitch, yet no-one is doing a thing about it – its not a knee jerk from the last couple of results, how long have we fans been saying we are weak at the back??
two seasons?
The weakness isn’t the players on the pitch, it’s the way they being trained – who marks fresh air anymore??
Morning people, good post Rico!! Only Arsenal could score 5 goals and lose!!
Agree Wath, a new owner, same old fasioned ideas – they slowly got rid of board members who had afc in them to a degree and what are we left with??
In fact who is left on our board these days?
Look who we have in around the club, we have an old tough tackling defender coaching kids, why? Why is his knowlege and expertise not being utilised within the first team?
Why on earth was Keown let go in 2006 after sorting our defence out that season?
Like i say, i am sure Dein was no saint but i bet he wouldn’t be sat on his butt doing nothing about what is happening right now would he….
Morning Lee, thanks – exactly, it’s crazy…
Well done Rico, I enjoyed reading that. 🙂
A really excellent dissertation on the trials and tribulations of being an Arsenal manager.
Up until the building of the new stadium, when money became really tight, Arsene had made sure we were in the top 2, every year.
The arrival of Abramovich and his money; and then the mega rich Citeh and latterly the monetarily revitalised ‘Pool has made winning trophies much more difficult for us.
Arsene Wenger has consistently been the most important person in the recent history of the club, both on the field managing a successful team, and also off the field bringing financial success to Arsenal and its owners.
It is my opinion that he has been hung out to dry by the successive owners of the club. Fizman, Dein, Lady Nina Nona, have all been made into multi millionaires because of him, and now Silent Stan Laurel is using him in the same way to better his ‘investment’.
Human beings can only take so much, and I think the end is coming for Arsene sooner rather than later, and it is a disgrace the way he is being treated by both fans and Kroenke alike.
Perry Groves has been talking to SS’s…
He says Steve Bould needs to step up….
Will Wenger listen??
no…
not bad rico!!!! At least not outright nonsense like some other Anti Wenger blogs that peddle themselves as Arsenal blogs. . As it has been pointed out numerous times by many bloggers , there needs to be a change in the way in which we approach the English league and the champions league. We have to be prepared for set pieces, long balls over the top and basically all that’s crap about English football whenever we face the majority of teams in the PL. Only skilled teams like Utd,Citeh,Chelsea , L’pool and Spurs to an extent have the skills to play good football on the pitch instead of in the air. There is a horrible feeling that we may finish outside the top 4.I don’t believe in predictions as anything that I’ve predicted for myself has never come true. But I will mak an exception this time, I think we’ll come 5th but win one of the cups.
Made all the right points, what I don’t agree with though is this idea that we don’t need to start spending big. Just looking at the top four spending clubs over the last transfer window and the players they have on the bench and it makes my blood run cold. Lets get out of fantasy land and trying to prove that we can do it differently because we clearly can’t. The demands the fans should make are clear. If your on the board and your not an Arsenal fan then you MUST bring BIG money to the club or why are you here? Our owners are billionares. 100 m pounds each in the kitty for the next transfer window and let Wenger get the players he really wants or leave and let an Arsenal fan who cares about the club take over. We need to start protesting the board at the games and really put them under pressure otherwise they will simply ignore us. Keep supporting Wenger loose the board and for gods sake buy Snijider!!!!!!!!
Hi RA – i certainly didn’t enjoy writing it, that’s for sure…
Wenger has been a wonderful manager for us, no-one can question that but he is is own worst enemy – all it the team need on the pitch is defensive guidance, they need a defensive coach to sort out the on pitch weakness…
If Wenger goes, we may actually find out the truth is what has been going on at board level, how much money he has had etc etc, but i’m not talking about competing with the rich, i’m just talking about putting right what mistakes we make all too often during games…
As for the board, no ambition, not a clue, no direction and if SS wants to make money out of arsenal, he is certainly going about it the wrong way, we are on the decline, his shares value will go down, and the big russian will be rubbing his hands together…..
Bring him on I say ….
Rico,
The truth is that talking about the ‘Board’ is a misnomer. No one on the Board, other than S. Stan owns a single share. He is the Board, the Board is S.Stan-the other directors are just his lackies.
Steve Bould was offerred Pat Rice’s job, but only for one year, and he turned it down.
Why? Well it is either because he knows AW will leave at the end of the season, or that S. Stan will sell out in a year’s time and Steve did not want to be involved in all the unpleasantness.
Who knows. There is a strong smell of fish in the air!!
Lee – you are right, he won’t, otherwise he would have acted before now – how many of his ‘old crew’ have said what we have all said – yes some of them like merse may be bitter but keown, groves, dixon, winterburn etc?
They have no axe to grind with wenger, they are just offering their thoughts, all of which happen to be the same.
Wenger is stubborn, and for such an intelligent man he can be pretty thick sometimes….
totally agree, this is an issue of club mentality, and there is no culture of football at the club, let alone succes i still believe Wenger is the man, but he needs help the board and Wenger have different ideas, and that is where it is all going wrong George Graham once said ‘ who else can challenge the big teams up north … the Arsenal, thats who’ we need those times back
Hi Scravaldio
I don’t think we need to spend big, just spend what we do have available – no fan wants to see Arsenal bankcrupt, the squad we have now isn’t so bad, if we could learn to defend we would have tonked BB….
Rico,
You are quite right about the defensive coaching. Or the lack thereof.
I could not believe my eyes when I saw that our new left back is a Clichy clone.
Djourou without doubt made a right horlicks by not clearing out the ball and, if necessary Olsen leading up to one of the own goals.
But where the hell was Santos? Upfield, playing centre forward-that’s where.
I like his enthusiasm, but there is a time and place.
The Arsenal Board
Chairman
Peter Hill-Wood
Chief Executive
Ivan Gazidis
Director
Ken Friar OBE
Director
Sir Chips Keswick
Director
Lord Harris of Peckham
Director
Stanley Kroenke
That is the afc board – i don’t think it matters who owns shares or not, they are employed by stan/afc to do their job, what are they doing….???
Good post rico. I remember few yers back the manager saying that he does not look at how the oppisition plays. First rule of combat is know your enemy, same goes in football. His approach simply does not work and it shows on the pitch. I am not to worried about the board or the owner at the moment apart from not replaicing the manager. Lets look at what we have in defence. Apart from Gibbs all the players are sesoned internationals and know their game so the proplem is not there. It’s at Colney where the proplem arises because if we dont paractise defending with the defenders like it was a religion we dont defend simple as and it shows in every game for exsample after knowing for years that we are vulnereble at set pices why has that not been sorted? And defending so high up the pich against ALL teams does not work. Sometimes high defense works but when the other side has quick players all they do is hoof the ball up and send the greyhounds after the ball. You dont need any skill for that but hey its working though.
Where did that info come from about Bould RA?? Not heard that before…
Are you implying i am on a fishing trip here??
I’m not I can assure you….
Great points!!!!
I’m talking about the defence as a whole RA, not just highlighting one or two – the defence is a unit, starting from the forwards, everyone has their own role to play but i am not sure Wenger evens bothers to work on defending – it ceratinly deosn’t look like it sometimes….
Hi TT, good comment too…
Totally agree, and do we even look at how the oppo plays and field a side to exploit their weakness or defend their strengths?
Or do we just field the same old players regardless?
The BB game was the first time in a while we had seen a change wasn’t it with Gibbs and Theo dropping to the bench….
RA I heard the same but a different reason for Bould turning it down as he saw no point in taking over as an assistant just to follow a training pattern he does not believe in. The manager takes control of all the sessions down to the smallest detail and never wawers from it exsept on one occation when Keown was allowed to train them in defensive work when he was taking his UEFA training batches….and we all know how well we defended that period.
The formation and wengers stubborn ways in the fact he isnt flexible to change it shows that he doesnt care abt the opposition nor does he expose their weaknesses he just thinks his way is best and thats it. 433 works sometimes but for prem lge week in week out 442 for me would make us a much stronger unit. We dont have the players for 433 so why do we persist with something thats failed for years…! we are not Barca and we do not have their players.
Spot on TT re Keown and why isnt Keown around now doing that exact job…?? because wenger doesnt want someone to question his thoughts or ideas…! thats maybe harsh but thats how it looks..!
TT – i didn’t know that about Bould, all amkes a bit of sense though…
Exactly Wath, and do we need that kind of stubboness or ignorance anymore, if we are going to move on and improve?
Rico,
Re the Board: what I meant was exactly what you said. All of them are employees and are paid to run the club and do it the way S.Stan wants.
Usually with big companies, the shares are held by any number of people, and their Board directors have the authority to control the company by voting on issues by majority decision, when necessary.
Not at Arsenal, where Stan reigns! The only vote that matters at Arsenal is his – so he must take responsibility.
I am sure you would make a fine fisherman (woman) but I was referring to the smoke and mirrors of non-information that seems to be circulating around the club as to who is accountable.
Wenger – or the ‘Board’? You mentioned that in your Post. That’s where the fishy smell is coming from! 🙂
As to Stevie Bould: I heard Patrick Barclay mention it on a radio show, when the retirement of Pat Rice came up. Apparently, Pat had to be coaxed to stay on when Bouldie said ‘no thanks’. Perhaps just conjecture. Who knows?
Again – smoke and mirrors! I just wish we knew a bit more about what is going on! 🙁
Oops, sorry Ra 😉
I think we all wish that, why can’t SS tell us what his long term plans are?? Maybe we already know them, he wants to make money when he sells up….
I also heard that when Keown was commentating on Irish TV, for the game at Dortmund, he was asked by his co-commentator, why he left the Arsenal defensive coaching post in 2006.
He refused to comment. In its way that said a lot too.
Wath is right about the formation we play. With the right players, in the past, 4.3.3. has worked but so has 4.4.2. and 4.5.1., but what I don’t understand is why we now play 4.3.3. against any opposition.
OK, 4.3.3. against Norwich might be OK, but surely not against Manyoo, where 4.5.1. must be the best way.
Perhaps AW thinks we still have players like Viera, Henry and Pires? Sadly not!
Silence speaks volumes …..
Spot on re tictacs – why oh why does he not see it….
Good post, i like all you have just said about us (ARSENAL FC). we need our club back from the hand of those businessmen.
Morning Rico! Great read. Loved the history lesson of the last few years, i had already forgotten so much.
How can we start a campaign against the board to oust them? I think if we put enough pressure on them, all many teams before us have, the board will have no choice but to stand down, lets make it known we no longer want Silent Stan and his business men at the club. Let the UKs richest man have a crack at it with Dein as Chairman (Although thats a dream I fear will never happen!). As I said before though, I don’t think we as supporters have it in us to protest at games or have giant banners inside the stadium (I doubt they would be allowed). Here to hoping though!
– Red Arse. re formation. I think a 4-4-2 is the only way to go, Or defence needs to be sorted out, no more high lines, no more zonal marking, we need people on the post for set pieces. we need a DM/CM who can do the work of two, someone like M’vila who can do the work of both song and Ramsey (and do it better no doubt) to play along side either Arteta or wilshere. We need a partner beside RVP and that is where we need to drop 30m, We should have snapped up Falco in the summer. I can assure you if he played in an arsenal shirt we would have come away from blackburn with all 3 points!
Thoughts?
Unfortunately I think Wenger plays us 433 because he thinks we are the premiership equivalent if Barca but we are not….we lack the players and the pressing game that they have. For ne it’s just another sign of stubbornness from the manager.
– Sam
I think he has to play 5 in midfield because we don’t have the quality of players in midfield to play 4. Saw the spuds play yesterday and I hate to say it but I impressed with their midfield of Bale, Modric, Parker, Van Der Varrt.
Also was just on 365… more Arsenal bashing going on, I am 100% done with that site.
Morning ESP, thanks re the post..
I don’t know how we can start a petition, on our own we are not big enough but there are enough blogs out there that if we all came together i am sure we would be heard…
I’m open to suggestions??
Sam – that system worked when wenger first started it but we had very different players then as we all know…
we keep saying, the squad is not so bad we just need wenger to play to their strengths instead of him trying to get them to play to his beliefs…
A great manager would do that, after all, he bought the players…
Also, a few seasons ago, every other club manager sussed out our weakness, the only one who hasn’t sussed it out and rectified it is…
Yep, our own manager….
Thats the problem! A lot of different blogs with a lot of differing views on how we should proceed!
I would very much like to see a protest take place, not against Wenger, but against the board and our silent owner.
wenger has lost his nuts… seriously the guy loves the club and we love him 2 but i dont understand his obsession with the fuckin 433 formation, we are no barca and we cannot even get close to them…
give any mid table manager this team and he will work wonders with it… i dont think kozzer is shit i think he is a very good player so is walcott … who most of u’ll think has no footballing brain… santos another superb aquisition…
arteta the perfect midfilder… ramsay… good prospect … RVP star striker… AOX could be better than nani if given the chance and playd in the right way…
we have good players we need to play as per thier strngths not wht fuckin formation sumone fanticises…. if he want to only play 433 then he can fuck off to barca.
442 is the way to go ….
we can add a bit of stoke style to our game …
we can play our naural tippy tappy style as well…
imagine a combination of both styles.. thats wht we used to have in the good old dayz,,,
It has to get a lot lot worse until we get the fans to unite and start protestin in mass. And the only way to protest is through the wallet. Stop buying the merchendice and leave the stadium half empty game after game and the point will be driven home. Marching on the streets will have no effect on the board.
We all remember the good times under Wenger, 4-4-2 with tall physically strong players. Cesc was the worst thing to happen to that team in a long time.
Still took the dippers to be down to 9 before they got the last 3 goals though ESP 😉
TT- you’re right, and I wish you weren’t, people won’t protest until things get worse, I wish we could unite now before its far too late.
Could you imagine no one turning up to a game being broadcasted on sky? An empty stadium for all the cameras to see, that might send the message.
Ha very true rico! I do like how Parker goes about his business, and have always been a RVDV fan (Ever since champ manager 01/02! :P). So we can safely say 1-3 is taken in the league, one more CL sport for either Dippers, Spuds or Us. 4th is the new 1st, and that how we will have to look at it. City, Untied and Chelsea are in their own league and the rest have that 4th place to aim for.
Hi all.what a provoking post rico 😮
cecs is not the worst thing that has happened to this club…
do u remember the midfielsd combination of
rosicky fab flamini helb
we still used to play 442 … the 433 was not that bad worked well when cecs played…
wenger saw we played bad when he was injured he tried rosicky, nasri but none were able to deliver what cecs could…
if we had played 442 or 451 in cecs absenties we would have won most of our games could have had many titles under our belt and i dont think he would have left either….
Like I said to my mate at the weekend after the result Arsenal BC (Business Club) care only about the bottom line… perhaps after we finish outside the top 4 and lose out on £30m in Champs league money they will see you can’t just expect to automatically qualify every year just because we are Arsenal!
That cesc/flamini/rosicky/hleb midfield was perfect.if we had kept that unit together i have no doubt in my win that we would’ve already won a PL and CL title by now.
Losing Flamini was huge.
TT – hit them in the pocket, spot on, especially as our club sem to be hell bent on saving money…..
Hi Kt, something has to give before we move on – on the pitch
Got to pop off for a bit….. laters
Cesc recently said that he was surprised by how intense the training on attack/defence transitions was at barça.that in itself revealed that we don’t do it enough.the invincibles were much more rigid and were able to get in defensive shape easily.nowadays we are much more fluid and when we lose the ball its imperative for us to get into a structure immediately,also pressing must be well organised.its clear we don’t do that and we end up giving away setpieces in dangerous areas that we concede from.this also contributes us to getting more red cards.last season we showed glimpses of solidity in Dec/jan/feb but we haven’t been able to replicate it and build from that.
Good read rico,
Sadly it does look as though Kroenke just see’s us as a business that he wants to make a huge profit from and why hasn’t he come out and told us his plans for the future.
The problem is if we don’t start winning football matches what sort of business is he going to end up with.
As for peter hillwood, he’s like a throw back from the old days, every time he opens his mouth he puts his foot in it, i’d say he has as much say as the toilet cleaner if not less, don’t think anyone pays much attention to him anymore.
I tend to concentrate on what goes on, on the pitch and all we can do now is support the team, some people complain about injuries but it just shows a lack of depth in the squad, we can’t keep selling our best players year in year out and not replace them properly because sooner or later you will be found out.
This summer Wenger told us he would be signing super class players, he brought in a couple of very good players in arteta and mertesacker but I think the others were average and that is not good enough, we’re only 5 games in and struggling already.
according to me everton have the best pressing game in our league… arteta belonged to that team our players could learn a lot from him….
is it ture wedonot takle in training…. hhhahah this must b a joke…
dortmund tackled more that us in our last game against them…
we need a good cocahing staff i guess…
i have to say this… if gerviniho had made that pass to robin in the 43-44 th minute is guess we would have definatley won the game…
some of our players are tooo selfish sum are too generous…
coachin it is i guess that we need at our club ….
i dono shit abt the board but yes our coaching staff needs to change… did anyone see the warm up before the game …. man trhat was funny…
good morning.I have no money. Have I get any chance to comming in to the Arsenal Board?
JM, cash is king, you may have more luck down the road at Barnet if your serious !
it’s what I have in my “mind”. The Club not belongs to the Arsenal lovers and memberships. With that system, always is a gap between the board and the real supporters.
Finally crawled out of my “living hell”. Took me long enough. So what’s new guys. Did I miss anything while in LIMBO? Somebody keep me posted.
Afternoon…..
Crawl back into your living hell Goonster as we lost to BB what ever your living hell consists off it cant be much worse…
😆 TT
Hi Micko, goonster and JM….
Spot on JM, it’s all well and good running a club properly and not getting into huge debts BUT it’s not just a business it’s a football club with millions of fans who care passionately about “their” club. The ppl on the board have lost site of this and have become detached from the real fans. We need Arsenal men on the board that run the club in the right way and care about the fans and run the club also with the fans in mind and to win matches not just make a pound….! Sadly can’t see it happening.
morning all….son has been sick all weekend and cannot go to school today, so i am staying home from work…
i think i got saturday’s result out of my system enough that i can look forward to the cc tie tomorrow…obviously we cannot afford to lose at home to the shrews, youth side or not…but hopefully the younger players who arsene selects can play with a little less of the handbrake on…bolton on saturday is going to be huge…arsene and our players need to look long and hard at themselves and resolve, once and for all, to turn this around. there cannot be any more “sacred cows” such as “principles” and “style” and “culture”…if something the manager/players are beholden to is holding us back, then we have to correct it…
ra, if you pop back on, no decision yet as to whether tuck and nicks will play tonight…if tuck is out again, tollefson will take his spot at end…if nicks cannot go, hopefully coughlin will resolve to run the ball…that is what we should have done last sunday…we can win by overpowering stl, but we cannot afford to go pass happy again…we have to get more pressure on the qb – and it looks like bradford will play for stl tonight – and our secondary has to play better…that last unit made sexy rexy look like peyton manning last weekend – that cannot happen again…
philly is up next, and we have a glimmer of hope for that one – michael vick sustained a concussion in last night’s loss at atlanta, and his status for next weekend is questionable…philadelphia has a great team and they are rightly favorites to win the nfc this season, but i would much, much prefer to face them without vick…i don’t think they will be the same…
even more the reason we cannot afford to go 0-2 on the season tonight…
That is what we have been saying all summer Wath, yet some seem to think we were about buying 50million pound players – spend what we have made on sales, nothing else – and how much did we make this summer??
We are in this to be real challengers, not just to make up the numbers…
Hi oliver, sorry to hear your lad is poorly…
The Manure result still haunts me and sloppyness again on Saturday makes it worse….
jack has tweeted that he shall be “back soon”….we certainly need him back, although I suspect it will take him a bit of time to get match sharp…on the other hand, i am hoping the enforced rest has done him good, and that he will be able to play the rest of the season without going back into the “red”…
hi ricco…weather here is turning cold – it was inevitable the one of us would get sick from it, and he drew the short lot, it seems…
both results – the past six months, truth be told – haunt me as well, but i am over dwelling on them…
how did we ever get ourselves to a point where our squad is so mentally fragile that it falls to pieces when adversity hits? i thought they did quite well to shake off yakubu’s opening goal, and respond…but when song let the ball go into the net off his thigh, you could just feel the players deflate…why couldn’t we pick ourselves up a second time? why did it take two more horrible goals conceded before we really had a sustained – too little, too late, at that – go at blackburn?
how much of a factor is arsene’s negative, defeated body language? i find it difficult to believe it does not affect our players…
Or he’ll break down and be out for month’s because they rushed a 19 year old back to save the season…
that is another concern of mine…arsene has admitted that jack went into the “red” last season…he has now sustained a serious pre-season injury…are we starting to see him break down, perhaps because he is being overplayed at too young an age?
good to hear that from jack – but i hope we don’t rush him back, we may have missed him but now wenger needs to be careful with him and not overplay the youngster…
i would agree we need to be careful with jack…but in the current atmosphere, i think there will be a clamour to see him come straight back into the team…and i think arsene will feel pressure to get him back in right away…
if that is how it has to be, perhaps arsene can either start him on the bench, or sub him during the first few outings…as much as we need our best players and need wins, we don’t need to put ourselves back into the vicious cycle of rushing players back and watching them break down again, with a longer spell on the sidelines waiting…
has there been any word on bac? he didn’t look too comfortable when he came off saturday…that is an injury we can really, really do without…
oliver – i’m not so much dwelling on the results, just the silly mistakes we keep making and seem to be doing little about it….
I’d rather it cold than damp and rainy as we are getting 🙁
Exactly TT – how many do we rush back??
Why, if we need them back so badly, that tells me Wenger doesn’t trust those who ‘fill in’….
Arsène Wenger will adopt the same approach to the Carling Cup as he did last season by fielding a mixture of first-team squad players and youngsters against Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday.
For many years the Arsenal manager used the competition to showcase the Club’s younger talent but he changed tack last term and was rewarded with a run to the Final.
Speaking to Arsenal Player on Monday, the manager confirmed he would continue in the same vein. That means full debuts for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ryo while Arsenal fans could also catch a first glimpse of new signing Ju Young Park.
“I will be faithful to our policy but I will try to find a good mixture between youth and experience,” said Wenger.
“You will see the likes of Ryo and Oxlade-Chamberlain. You should be excited about Oxlade-Chamberlain because he is a great talent. My target is to develop him so he confirms the expectation I have for him.”
hi guys great post rico…
hope we atleast beat shrewsbury!!!!!!
Will be interesting to see how many turn up for the mighty shrewsbury tomorrow night, will be a bit of a mixed bag out there, first step on the road back to wembley.
Evening Gooners…
Rico, a top post, one of your best if i may be so bold. 😉
There is something rotten at the heart of our club at the moment.
I’d hate to see Arsene setting up shop in Paris next Spring. But PSG are sniffing around and it could happen…
Does Stan really care about Arsenal???
Or does he only worry about Arsenal’s share price?
In my opinion, the greatest ever Arsenal manager was Herbert Chapman.
He was always prepared to listen to a good idea, even if it came from the tea-boy.
His captain, Charlie buchan was the man that suggested the ‘third back’ system back in the late 1920’s. Chapman listened, took on board Buchan’s idea and it resulted in Arsenal finishing 2nd in the First Division, the clubs best finish to date…..
Would Wenger listen to a tatical idea from anyone, let alone Robin Van Persie?
And even if he did listen, would he give it a go??
What was great about Chapman, was that he was intelligent to realise that he couldn’t do everything… He would delegate, he had coaches to do the work he couldn’t do. He also had a great No.2 in Joe Shaw.
Chapman died, in the job, in January 1934, with Arsenal midway between winning a hat-trick of League Championships…
Hi af, kev and micko – thanks re the post …
my internet is playing up – must be the stormy old weather 🙁
Kev – i wouldn’t be at all surprised to se AW PSG, they can certainaly match his current wage….
kev – wenger does not listen to anyone, unless he happens to be looking in the mirror…..
Hi Rico.
I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s game. We badly need a good win and performance…
Looks like Park Chu Young will be in the starting XI…
His inclusion has been a long time coming kev 😉
Why could this match not be on televison, oh, i know, they are showing the mancs v leeds – two dirty gits fight it out… 😉
Have WordPress made some changes Rico?
Everything is jumping about in the comment box…
Sometimes I really do have a chuckle at other sites and the fans comments, so therapeutic 😆
Well Rico, you know don’t ya.
As far as the Press/TV/media are concerned it’s the Mancs 1st, last and always…
Don’t think so Kev, the comment box has been jumpy since they changed ot to f/b, twitter etc – it’s pants …..
I don’t know about it being therapuetic,
i find it a bit scarey… 😀
sure do kev, their prob, not ours eh 😉
some are just so unbelieveable – i don’t like the extremes so much but even on the middle ground some of the comments make me wonder……
Yeah, i find all the small boxes at the bottom of the comments suddenly jumping into the big box, covering up your comments….
They look like Arsenal’s back-four…
All over the place… 🙂
What worries me, is some of those guys ‘are out’… 😉
They shouldn’t be Kev, they should be kept ‘in’ 😉
rico, no-ones perfect but part of being a good manager is knowing when you’ve done something wrong not to repeat it, we’re defending like a pub team at the moment, he has to have a major re-think.
Kev, are you trying to tell me there were managers before Terry Neill, I grew up watching his sides and met him when he was running a pub in Holborne a good few years back, very nice bloke.
What you make of RA & TT’s comments about Uncle Bouldy???
It didn’t soung good..
Hi W.A.T.H ! I prefer the system of Real madrid, barcelona, Porto, Sporting, Benfica and others clubs in Spain and Portugal.
So tomorrow we start run for another cup. Nobody comments that we this seasons lost two cups: emirats and Eusebio cup.
Mick, i know that pub, it was at Holborn Viaduct.
I never went in there to be honest.
It’s not there anymore.
But i did go into Peter Storey’s pub in Southgate Road.
A right dump…
You weren’t impressed I take it ! I’m going back to 1998.
I personally think wenger will be gone next summer.
I suspect that you may well be proved right Mick.
But he’ll walk into another top job.
As for Arsenal, whose next for the hot-seat?
Storey was in the pub, sitting at the bar with a couple of dodgy characters…
Me and my mate had one pint, left, and never went back…
Micko – again, you are so right about defending like a pub team – we all see it, why doesnt AW? That is the bit i don’t get, he’s intelligent, but the basics he misses….
Hi again JM – good point made, two chances, two losses, the ems and the cc….
when will we learn?
There are plenty of clubs out there that Wenger would walk into tomorrow and there are also plenty of top managers out there that would love to manage us.
We’ll just have to see how this season pans out, you never know whats around the corner, the january transfer window may turn out to be his last stance.
Spot on Micko…..
Fat Sam for one 😉 😉 😉
Just kidding of course….
I’m off guys, catch up tomorrow….
be good, nighty night
I’m going to work a little bit more.
Peter Storey’s pub belongs to the gooner player Peter Storey ?
New Post Up….