Morning all.
Just how has Arsene Wenger, Stan Kroenke and the board allowed our club to come to this? A move to The Emirates came with promises. Better players, more fans, better times and certainly more competitive. We were ready, ready to challenge the best and the rest in Europe and on the domestic front. This was Arsenal moving to another level, or something like that.
Common sense told us the first few years would be tricky as finances had to be balanced and on a shoestring, Arsene Wenger did well to keep the Champions League money coming into the club. But the days of needing to be frugal are gone yet here we are, miles behind the early Highbury days under Arsene Wenger. He bought us trophies, an invincible season and even an appearance in the Champions League Final but the memories are distant, so very distant.
Here we are in 2017, a time when all should be rosy according to those promises, but all we’ve done is fall further away from Europes elite and a few domestic clubs. Those promises back in their day were like so many from the club, empty.
The penultimate league match last night and yet the stadium was half empty. I know it was a midweek fixture against an already relegated Sunderland side but The Emirates should have been a lot fuller than it was. I don’t think this was just a miserable wet night so fans thought they might as well watch the game on the box. No, this was about a large number of Arsenal fans who have had enough. By staying away, the message was clear, we need and want to see change! Stan Kroenke and the board won’t have missed that and if Ivan Gazidis is true to his word, the club will react. ‘Once the manager looses the fans’….. blah blah blah!
Should the club ignore all that is going on and decide the Frenchman is to stay on for another year or two, this could be the start of things to come, especially if the new season starts dismally after another disappointing transfer window. Although as said before, Arsene Wenger is far from being the right man to invest heavily in this squad and before anyone disagrees, just spare a thought for Lucas Perez.
The game itself was possibly one of the most boring of the season. There’s been a few hasn’t there and in the first half, it was hard to tell which club was the one heading to the Championship at the end of the season. The second half was marginally better, possibly because we scored two goals and we have Alexis Sanchez to thank yet again. Ok, he needs the rest of the players to provide his chances but without his goals this season, any sniff of a Champions League spot would have been long gone, just as our Premier League challenge was. If we lose him this summer, it’s going to hurt us, and possibly like never before.
I think we had over 70% possession last night, with 30 odd shots at goal which just goes to show how stats are so misleading. Yes, Jordan Pickford was in fine form and he did make a couple of top drawer saves but in all honesty, most of our attempts were bread and butter for him. One thing is for sure though, he won’t be heading to the Championship with his current side as I’m sure another PL club will soon snap up the England international.
There’s little point in dissecting the match because it was just a re-run of so many before it. One pass forward, two passes backwards with no urgency whatsoever. Some might say we were patient but not me. If we play like that against Chelsea or even Everton on Sunday, we’ll come seriously unstuck.
After the game Arsene Wenger was asked if Arsenal need a miracle to get into the top four:
No, you never know. But anyway, I answered for 20 years the question – ‘the top four is nothing special’. So I don’t know why suddenly it could become such a big problem. I’m quite surprised. I want to absolutely make sure that we are in there but after that let’s get to 75 points and see what happens. You want all the teams to fight like Sunderland did tonight. After, you have to accept the result. What is for sure, if we win our game, we can only be far from one point. Let’s give ourselves every chance.
If the above comment wasn’t straight from the horses mouth, I’d swear it had been made up as there speaks a man whose last ten years in management at Arsenal has pretty much survived because of getting a top four place. The same man who was quoted back in 2012 as saying:
‘The first trophy is to finish in the top four.’
It’s time for change alright…..
PS – a reminder that there are three season tickets up for grabs. If you are interesting in renting them a couple of years, please email me.
Thanks Rico.
They must have jazzed up the highlights on Player as it looked to me as a good performance !…………fair enough 10 mins out of the 90 odd !. 🙂
If I had a penny for every time Arsene has contradicted himself over the last few years I`d be season ticket holder !.
Seriously Lc?
I wished I’d watched the Reading/Fulham game as that was more exciting.
Nice post Rico..
Sunderland played well tbf… pickford put his talents on show and done a good job.
And I’ll take Defoe he would be a great option from the bench.
3 yrs ago today Arsenal 3-2 Hull…. ?
Actually, I have misread his quote, he’s saying that for many years he’s been told the top 4 isn’t important, but now those same people are suggesting it is…
Regardless, he still said top four is a trophy…
Thanks Kel, did Sunderland play well, or did we make them look good? lol
Ditto re Defoe, would have signed him last summer, or even the one before. He’s meant to be an Arsenal fan isn’t he?
Look at the highlights on Player, Rico and you will see where I`m coming from. I didn`t see the whole game live so can only go on the highlights and cant see much to moan about from them, well, apart from the finishing ! 🙂
It was poor Rico, but with moments of quality. In all it rather reflected Arsene’s last decade. From what I see there is a hefty rebuild of the squad needed but also a realignment of the whole rather ‘soft’ attitude of the team on the pitch and I imagine this extends right through the management structure at the club. PL club’s have fallen away from those in Europe and Arsenal couldn’t live with the football and attitude of the club’s I saw contest the knock-out stages of the CL this year. At the level we must be aiming at I cannot see how any team can carry as many passengers as we do. If we are to move forward then it must be under a new regime as Arsene is fast becoming an embarrassing parody of the manager we all admired so much.
I’m not suffering that again Lc. 😉
So much of our build up play was slow, the movement off the ball was limited and too many sideways and backwards passing imo. Maybe I fell asleep and dreamt of a match I’d seen before…
I agree there were moments of quality Adam but considering we were playing a team who can’t buy a game, I’d have thought we’d have come out the blocks fast and try to get our goals for tally up.
Too true re the rebuild and it should have been done gradually over the last few seasons, if it had we might have really challenged Chelsea this season, although I still believe that with more discipline and tactical nous, this squad could have done so.
Morning All..
Morning Rico
Morning Kev. I bet you are busy in the rain today…?
Good morning
I think Ozil and Alexis would be in Nations Caup next month
many mistakes yesterday
I’m still at home Rico, hope to be busy later on…
I notice that Wenger dismissed any interest in Pickford yesterday after the game.
Which Cup is that Jm, I thought the summer was clear of international football baring the under 21’s..
Shame, I think he’d be a good signing Kev and last night wasn’t a one off. He’s more spring in his legs than Ospina..
A lay in then? 😉
Morning Rico
Yesterday his pet when injured Le prof made chanfe otherwise we where going no where.
In come Iwobi some one who can keep the ball in his feet and runs into the opponents and things start rolling in no time.
Out
Wally :N.1 idiot footballer that i ever seen
Ramsey
Willshere
Coquelin
Elneni
Gibbs
Those one has to be sterminated their everything from the dressing room.
In
Coutinho
Lanzini
Dembele
No chance of getting Coutinho, Alex !…………………….unless we offer £1 more than anyone else !
Hi Alex. Seems you are on a mission with Walcott, our highest goal scorer behind Alexis.
Give me Sanogo ahead of this horrible player.Jesus …have you seen him yesterday on one to one with the Sunderland defender ?
and the sad thing is when you say he is the second highest goal scorer behind Sanchez …
And how many missed chances probably in thousands.
Sometimes when we criticise players like Ozil it has to be with some perspective because if is going to assist a dumb like that Feo who is just a donkey what else can he do ?
i just look back at his games is not just squandering clear opportunities but his positional sense and game reading is dumb.
Reading the number of goals only is totally misleading i guess
Sanogo instead of Walcott seems ridiculous to me…
Hi all,
Been a while since ive been on here! Good post Rico!
Sanogo should not be infront of anyone, even me! Walcott does miss some chances and can be frustrating, but i like him, and think he still has something to offer us.
I’d like some new blood though, i heard a rumour about Lemur from Monaco….anyone have any thoughts?
Bumba
So David Moyes say`s that Wenger`s remark about players being on Holiday is an insult to football !…………………………
“I think that’s an insult to football as I’ve been a player myself,” Moyes said, as per ESPN.
“I would hate it if anyone would question me if I was going to chuck a game away.
“We didn’t play well on Saturday, we know that but I think you can see Sunderland had a go, tried to score at times but we were outclassed by a better football team.
“The teams have too much pride, the players have too much pride, every game matters, whatever team you support or whoever you play for, you play for the jersey, and would hope every player would do that.”
It`s OK to insult women though !……………………..
After a draw with Burnley on 18 March, Moyes was asked by Vicki Sparks if the presence of owner Ellis Short put extra pressure on him.
He said “no” but, after the interview, added Sparks “might get a slap even though you’re a woman” and told her to be “careful” next time she visited.
Now I dont agree with Wenger saying what he said as he has benefitted himself by other teams players being on “Holiday”, so he cant really complain, but we know that it is true.
Micky Gray on talksport said ………….. players of teams who have nothing to play for will not give 100% as they are thinking about not getting injured for their holidays and even said about a certain player (who he named but I cant remember who) that he injured his toe and the normal consequence is that the player who is injured has to go for rehab etc` and that could muck up their holidays !……………said player had badly bruised toe and painted over it to cover it up !
Re Walcott and Sanogo , probably we are better off without both.
My choice of Sanogo is not that i estimate high ….Far far from it ….his first touch in itself it is an insult to football .
But we have an idiot that is just all about run and nothing else then i choose from what i got in the squad .Surely from what i have seen in his 10 or so games he do not disappoint me with his physical attribute.To Me is just another Adebayor.
Ramsey Wally Gibbs are the one who we have to get rid off ASAP
Hi bumba, I can take or leave Theo to be honest but there’s certainly better out there.
Has Sanogo played ten games before?
Potter, agree.
Afternoon Rico and All
To me that stadium half full is a protest..You know why.
All them seats were paid for,
Thats not punters saying..This game means nothing.
It means….. I’ve had enough of this.
Arsene spun the points angle before the game.
We have to get to 75 and better last season..He said.
Sweet FA about the five teams above us.
DisregardING 4th spot..Saying we have more points than last season
Is just agreeing with the fans who protested last night.
Know ones having we’re a better team this season..Are We.
Squad..Yes
We all know the League Table never lies.
So someone’s telling………..Porkies
Hi Rico and HH’ers.
Four league wins in a row just as the games are running out… Sort of defines Wenger, who after shamelessly clinging to his job with ‘top-four trophies’ for a decade, now dismisses it as ‘not important’.
When you grant a megalomaniac unlimited powers to set their own parameters, they would gleefully spin finishing 17th, and avoiding relegation into a success story.
For the good of Arsenal Football Club, someone needs to advise Wenger his time in football is up.
Doesn’t anyone else think that buying a kid from Chelsea is the ultimate insult?
Tammy Abrahams spent the season on loan at Bristol City and is the Championship’s second highest goal-scorer.
All well and good, but if Chelsea don’t see him as being a good long-term prospect and are prepared to sell him to Arsenal, it means Chelsea no longer consider us worthy rivals.
Though as it stands, Arsenal aren’t even in their rear-view mirror.
For over ten years we’ve been the only club in London with a 60,000 stadium, plus twenty years of CL money that 16 other clubs don’t get, and gutlessly squandered this huge advantage with a distinctly average manager.
Someone please end this farcical madness asap.
Afternoon Fred and Herb.
Agree re the protest and if Wenger thinks it was just because it was end of season etc, he’s more deluded than I thought he was…
Can’t see things coming to an end just yet Herb, and re the Chelsea player, its probably just rumour..
Just been reading Garth Crooks team of the week, now Garth has always been perculiar to me as all the black men I know walk with a swagger, have rythm, talk with that laid back cool sweet dolcet tone, yet Garth comes across like he`s swallowed Prince Phillip !………………………..now he`s gone to another level of actually being as fruit cake mad as Prince Phillip………………………………………….”A lot has been said about Mesut Ozil. Love him or hate him – and I love him – there is no denying he is a wonderful footballer. Is he in the right team? Probably not. A player with his talent would be more appreciated at a club like Tottenham. Now at this moment I may have Arsenal fans foaming at the mouth at the very thought of Ozil defecting to White Hart Lane but frankly it is a better fit.
When Sol Campbell decided to move to Arsenal from Spurs it was because the player was desperate to win trophies. A perfectly acceptable position for a professional footballer to take and a fact that Spurs fans have never been able to come to terms with. However, Ozil’s style of football is perfect for Spurs and he has already won things with Arsenal. His overall performance against Stoke, which is always a hard nut to crack, was superb while his goal was sublime.
Only at Spurs will the fans accommodate players like Ozil. You see, at Spurs it is all about the football while at Arsenal it is all about the winning”……………………………………No Garth, I`m not foaming at the mouth, I just want to find out where you live and extract Prince Phillip from out of you !……………preferably from your rectum !…………….and you might then revert back to a cool black dude !
I saw that this morning Lc, what an idiot eh.
Just that cockerill having a little crow , we can expect all the usual subjects , Hazzard , Roberts , Brazil , and many others to creep out of the woodwork , it’s their moment .The galling thing is that it’s not that they are so good just that the standard has gone down.
” You see, at Spurs it is all about the football while at Arsenal it is all about the winning”………………………….dont understand that bit Rico !………………………..I blame Prince Phillip ! hahaha
Hazard and Roberts !……..my God, two more delusional people you wont meet !………………….never listen to Brazil on talksport, his tone grinds on my baseball bat hand !……………..total number of Bush Transistor Radios destroyed to date……..39 and counting !………………………##Remember LCM……dont put the radio on TS before 10am…….otherwise that nice man at Curry`s will think you are bent !##
How weird was the back pass from Monreal and even weirder the reff giving an indirect free kick ?……………………………………would have been funny if it had gone in ! hahaha
I didn’t even try to understand it Lc.
Garth Crook has always been a prick of cosmic dimensions.
So has Garth Crooks.
? Adam.
Evening Rico. My BB has been down for a while. Have we signed that Chelsea player yet? 🙂
Evening Adam. Not as far as I know thankfully.
Bad weather?
Wet here Rico and just watching an awful game on TV. Mourinho’s football is so boring and negative.
Here too Adam. I’d rather watch paint dry than one of his teams…
Is this Chelsea youngster any good?
I don’t know Rico. Probably quite promising.
I’m off to watch the O J Simpson thing on BBC iPlayer as I have been told it’s very good.
Night all.
Night Adam.
I’m off too. Night all.
rico: Chile, Mexico, New Zeeland, Germany, Russia, Portugal, Gana ?, and ? in Russia in June.
I’ve got a photo from 1940 at White Hart Lane with this legend: … British troops arrive to watch Tottenham and Arsenal, before embarking for combat front in France.
another goonner! 🙂
“…Hulk still pointed out a team that has always had a certain affection, as he himself said. “I’ve always wanted Arsenal,” said the striker. “It’s a team that plays very good football and I’ve always liked the way they play, but unfortunately they have not won trophies in the last few years,” he added.”…
You should have watched the Ladies v Chavs really good game, combative, quite quick, apart from our gangling left back, Jansen, a bit of a lump! End to end some nice bits of tikka taka and some good attacking players who were eager to shoot. As you can appreciate Mr Meglomaniac has obviously not got his coaching skills into this lot. Long may it remain that way! They play progressive, entertaining football and as LC would note they are a good looking side, well most of them!! Hahahahahahaha?
A most enjoyable and distracting watch. Wish I could say the same about their male equivalents.
Dark and very wet here.
Morning all.
Thanks Jm I’d forgotten that tournament..
Morning all.
The Sun has come back from where ever it has been !
Lots on newsnow about Alexis……………media at it again, but if you read it you may come out with the same way I see it and that is……………if Arsenal want him he`ll stay and that will be down to how much we want to pay !……………….time for Gazidis to back up his…” we can compete with anyone” quote !
How much will it cost to buy someone of the same quality/calibre as Alexis ?……………….would you say he is worth as much to us as Pogba ?…………………it has to be over £50M to replace, possibly much more, so seeing as we already have him, why dont we pay the going wage rate as we wont have to pay over £50M for replacement and on top of that wages !……………………..am I missing something as it seems simple maths to me !
Here too, a beautiful sunny morning…
Gazidis or Wenger Lc? Isn’t it Wenger who has the final say on what we pay?
I only state Gazidis, Rico, as he`s the one who came out with the statement, but you`re probably right.
My own view is Ivan really wants to push us forward and make us much stronger, but he’s being held back by Mr control freak.
Amazing when Gazidis is “supposed” to be above him in management order !
🙂
But how can he manage the man who fundamentally employed him?
I can’t stand that Garth Crook
I know, Rico, it`s ridiculous !
It certainly is Lc.
New post up now.
Morning Kev.
Thanks rico, re post,
Got to say I’m with Le Cornwall re Stan Kranky needing to go more. At least the current manager has taken on board the fans protests & made changes. Going forward, & assuming he stays, it’s important for the fan pressure to be maintained till The Arsenal win the PL. I don’t really care about the CL