Morning all.
What a great afternoon.
After taking an early lead, it looked like Villa were in for a thumping and by the end, that’s exactly what they got but the first half wasn’t the best.
At St James Park, Newcastle went 1-0 up, the Arsenal fans started to hope, when news filtered through that the scoreline had become 2-0, those same fans were in full swing. Arsenal though were seriously struggling to take advantage of all the possession and at times, Villa looked like they were up for the fight.
Half-time came and went, Newcastle had a player sent off with the score at 2-1 and the Totts just needed one goal to retain second spot. What happened next at St James Park was incredible and as Newcastle banged the goals in, the sound of ‘It’s happened again, it’s happened again, Tottenham Hotspur, it’s happened again’ rang around the stadium.
It was great fun, especially as Ollie scored another two goals nabbing a hat-trick and a then a fourth at the end which I hope gets credited to Mikel Arteta, saw us romp home 4-0. The goals Ollie scored were good, very good and one does have to wonder why he can’t finish in such a fashion more often.
Yesterday was an emotional day for Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky and it showed.
Captain Mikel:
It’s a day I will never forget, I can only thank everyone for how you have all behaved with me and my family in those magnificent five years. When you leave the club is when you see what you mean to people
and how you feel about the club. My emotions and the way I feel about the people cannot be any better. I was very scared about this day because 99 per cent, that was my last game as a professional footballer. I can’t even talk. I feel very honoured to play for this club and captain this place. This club is class and once you are here you never forget it. It’s going to be hard for me to move on, but I really enjoyed today
I think as the last day it is very special, and very good as I know how important it was for the fans to finish above Spurs. We are disappointed, because this group of players have the ability to win the Premier League. We have not managed to do it and I have to say sorry as captain, not to be able to lead this club to what we wanted. But at the same time, I know the guts of this club and people can be very honoured and grateful for what people do inside, because it can’t get much better than that.
After the game it was lovely to see all the players with their families around them full of smiles. No protests as far as I could see, just happiness and laughter as the players thanks the fans and the fans thanked the players. A joyous occasion despite not winning the league. The sun shone over The Emirates as the clouds had well and truly covered St James Park.
Both Mikel and Tomas will be missed I’m sure but life moves on in the game and Arsenal need to move on too.
Yes, it was all good fun but after a season where so many clubs been utter garbage, Arsenal clearly being one of them, finishing second behind Leicester City by so many points, is nothing to be proud of.
Yes we can have a chuckle about Tottenham getting battered by a relegated Newcastle side but finishing above them yet again means nothing other than having the bragging rights in North London. The reality is, neither club won the the league but on paper, both were well equipped to do so yet still they failed.
Things need to change, seriously need to change. Arsene Wenger needs to be part of that change and despite a 4-0 battering of Villa yesterday, the football for much of the game was boring, predictable, tippy tappy, slow, shotless (is there a word?) and did I mention boring? We beat Aston Villa, a team heading into the Championship yet for long periods of the game, our attacking unit couldn’t break through their defence. Scoring four goals is great, don’t get me wrong but Villa are so poor, Arsenal should have got into double figures and perhaps they would have if they’d only shoot a lot more instead of passing the ball to death.
Arsene Wenger is staying, of that we are sure, but he’s seriously got to come up with something better next season if he wants his doubters anywhere near back on his side. He needs to get an injection of pace and clinical finishing in his attacking unit. The midfield needs strengthening, as does the defence.
Arsene Wenger needs a big summer in the transfer window but more importantly, he seriously needs to sort out the way Arsenal play football because his way is too predictable and every manager in the league knows how we play. They worked it out a long time ago, but Arsene has failed to overcome the way they do it. He can sign whoever he likes but if his approach to the game doesn’t change, Arsenal will never improve.
Over to you Arsene, just do it!
Good Morning Lovelies and Hunkies.
London is red though Rico.
Yes……MA and TR got a great send off.
But why no one is mentioning MF??? I only hope he is not going to be given a new contract for another year
I know Devil but the bigger picture is failure yet again….
Flamini is leaving…
Flamini the billionaire you mean…..? I reckon he’ll be ok. 😉
Morning all… great post Rico.This season leaves a bitter sweet taste .So many things went wrong,not winning the league this season is one and then loosing to LFC by ten points is hard to comprehend ( 3 more wins and a draw). Its been time to take this great club to the next level for over 10 years but never has there been a need for change as now…..the only sweet part of the season is that the s******s across the road continue to remain in our shadows( that without the trophy is getting bitter by the day)
He should get by eh… lol
And those 3 victories and a draw should have been -ours bondex, the draw at Anfield and the Dippers at home should have been won, OT should have been a very different result as should the home game against Southampton…
That’s just a few off the top of my head….
Thank God he is leaving.
I wonder how many will leave besides those three.
I guess Theo as well…..I dont think he is injured. its just that AW wants good money for him and did not want him injured again. Maybe someone offered 20mill+ for him and AW wants the money. Theo has not been the same since he injured his cruciate and speed is the first thing which dips when the knee is tampered with.
Nearly as rich as Brudders Adam & Kev…….
The ‘3 signings’ noises coming out of the club are worrying and after each Giroud goal yesterday the people around me would turn and say (in a rather poor French accent), “I told you we didn’t need a new striker”.
It was amusing but I hope it won’t turn out to be too prophetic. 🙂
It looks as though the experiment might continue…for a while yet anyway.
Hark at Lee Rothschild there…………..
🙂 Lee.
Devil, I’m not convinced Theo will go, depends on which other English players are departing and how many will come up from the Academy who are ‘home grown’..
Adam, you only had to listen to the drivel from our manager after the game about Giroud to be shaking your head thinking and waiting for the “see i told you he was good and your all wrong about him not being a great goalscorer” Giroud won’t be going anywhere and yes don’t be surprised if he leads the line yet again next year because otherwise it shows that Wenger was wrong all along and he isn’t world class like he tells us he is….. I don’t mind Ollie to b fair he’s a decent back up against teams that we need someone to hold the ball up and to use as a target man but without wingers he don’t get decent service anyway so whats the point…. the fact is he’s a decent striker but as i think we all agree nowhere near world class and not going to win you a game when it really really matters.
Walcott not in the England squad, maybe that’s why he wasn’t playing yesterday, he was too upset… 😉
Maybe he was writing another book….
i still think that Theo and Gibbs will go. And I feel that its either the Leeds or Leicester LB who will replace Gibbs while Rolando Aarons will replace Theo as the Englishman. Plus Holding as well.
We should be looking at Lewandoski-esque quality players! Surely there must be a shit hot south American striker we can find???
Called ‘rejection’… 😉
If AW is only signing three players, he won’t be selling too many I’d have thought…
Maybe he was taking delivery of another Ferrari with a TW14 number plate, wrapped in gold.
Wath. You are probably right but, if that is the case and he actually comes out with it at a press conference soon, I hope he doesn’t expect the fans backing.
Wenger has already said he’s going after a striker hasn’t he?
I’d love Griezmann at Arsenal….. proper player! Loads of goals too
We play better without Ramsey in the side (imo) but Wenger loves him doesn’t he?
Aaron will play better with no Ozil and two privots behind him. Put Coquelin and Cazorla and Aaron in the hole and we will see a different player.
Griezmann 75 apps 44 goals for Madrid in 2 seasons.
Walcott 236 apps 55 goals for Arsenal in 10 years!!!!!!
Aaron would play better at another club….
Theo on Twitter: “I am of course disappointed not to make the squad, but I have spoken with Roy and respect his decision.”
Poor Theo… 😉
Afternoon all,
Did he really think he would make it based on his poor form of late?
I’m amazed that Jack is going with only 1 game under his belt but I guess it shows the lack of proper CM in the England set up.
We wont be in the market for the Lewandoski’s of this world , too many resources and not attractive enough. Lower your sights and you won’t be disappointed. A Lacazette type purchase for £ 30 million is much more likely. If we have Xacha then a centre back , winger and forward should cost about £ 100 million and sales could generate some of that, hopefully Toral will get the chance to be another Iwobi and we might have a squad that can fight on more than one front.
Greizman off to BM…
Lewandoski on the move too…
Good Afternoon to The Lady of the House and all fellow Gooners in residence.
Rico – A good summary of Sunday’s events. However, we must thank the Spurs team for handing us St. Totteringham’s Day to us on a silver plate.
The revelry over beating the Spuds, yet again, masks the fact that this should have been Arsenal’s year to win the league. With our traditional contenders Abu Dhabi Citeh, Chelski, Dippers and ManUre dropping of the pace; Arsenal had their best opportunity in over a decade to win.
With so many of the ‘big’ teams coming up short and so much money from the new TV rights available, the competition for ‘good players’ this transfer window will be fierce. Let’s hope that Arsene and Arsenal don’t play silly arse games trying to find a bargain or get gazumped by another team while trying to whittle down a price through protracted negotiations. Bargain hunting is great, but you don’t do it when you’re in urgent need of necessities.
Potter but we can afford players of Lewandoski’s price bracket, weren’t we promised to be competing with the Bayern’s, Barca’s etc after our stadium move???
A man can dream!
Yeah my sights are set low as I’ve supported Arsenal for 40yrs……I’m fully indoctrinated now!! 😉
I doubt it Brad, but Jack was always going to go if fit..
Afternoon Cg, they are always good for a laugh…..
I’m gonna put 10 pounds on Northern Ireland winning the Euro’s as this is a year for miracles.
It was pointed out earlier that we needed to make up 10 points on the champions here’s my thoughts on how we could have made up those points.
3 against Swansea a foul on Őzil in the build up to their first goal the second an offside.
Liverpool at home good goal disallowed by Ramsey.
A missed penalty at WBA
I have to go out for lunch so that’s only six points for us but I am sure there are other missed points due to the decisions of refs.
The other thing the was a clear hand ball on the line in the leicester v Southampton game should have been a penalty for Southampton and a player sent off.
Dropped points for Leicester 2 or 3 points.
It was interesting reading some of Arsene’s comments about Theo. He said Theo worked best with a strong midfield that was able to thread balls through to his runs behind the opposition defence.
Our midfield this season has been spotty with mid to long term injuries to Arteta, Cazorla, Le Coq, Ramsey and Wilshere. Theo is a one trick pony who depends on his speed and the ability of his team mates to find him. He can’t/wont adjust his game to suit changing circumstances.
I have to agree with Devil about the prognosis of his recovery from his knee injury regarding loss of pace. I wouldn’t be surprised nor sad to see Theo sold this summer. He has had plenty of time to develop and produce the goods, but still flatters to deceive.
Arsenal and Wenger weren’t good enough all season, his decision not to buy a single outfield player last summer cost us dearly. Yet again injuries occurred to the normal Arsenal culprits and Wenger gambled on players that should be nowhere near the team.
The blame lies with Wenger big time!
Joe – All teams benefit or lose points from dodgy calls by linesmen and referees. Arsenal have been on both sides of that coin. We’ve had a couple of goals let stand that should have been disallowed for offside. Unfortunately bad calls are part of the game and yes – we could have picked up a few more points had calls gone our way more often. However, that can’t excuse our team dropping points against teams we should have beaten easily and even losing after being one or two goals up.
We need a true Tony Adams style leader to inspire the team. Alexis seemed to do that by setting a great example in his first season, but seems to have suffered from Arsenal Syndrome this season.
That’s Wenger’s way Cg, big them up and then sell them…
“We need a true Tony Adams style leader to inspire the team. Alexis seemed to do that by setting a great example in his first season, but seems to have suffered from Arsenal Syndrome this season.”
100% agree.
Joe, if you are going to hide behind referee decisions, surely you have to look at every single game played by all clubs and look at the decisions in those too as I’m sure City, Totts and Utd have not got every decision they thought they should have…
Rico – That is my feeling about Theo. I think Arsene is making sure he is fit so he can stick him in the shop window. He is a great player when he and the team are on song, but is pretty much a one trick pony (pace) who is injury prone and not very technically or tactically flexible.
I have nothing against him personally, but I think he benefit from a transfer and Arsenal could use the funds for a more assertive player.
Totally agree Cg with your last, especially the Tony Adams bit..
It was great to see Santi back in action yesterday. He seemed a wee bit rusty, but that is to be expected after such a long term injury recovery, He still had that touch of magic though and hopefully a full preseason training will put the shine back on our Spanish gem.
Afternoon All…
Afternoon Rico…
Ginge, I hope Arteta stays, I think there is one hell of a good coach inside of him.
Allowing him to join Guardiola would be folly…
Watching Giroud score a hat trick against an Aston Villa defence that wouldn’t look out of place on the Hackney Marshes in the East London Sunday League Div 4, reminded me of Theo Walcotts hat trick 12 months ago against an equally hapless West Brom.
Both of them, on their day, can be effective, but both are just not up to the standard required from a title winning striker…
I agree with Lord Lee of Braintree, Arsenal can afford Lewandowski, but they simply won’t push the boat out to get him.
As Potter says, our level is Lacazette, Wenger’s level is Lacazette, Kroekes level is anyone under £5 million.
Forget next season, don’t let finishing above the Scum fool you into thinking that everything is alright, because nothing has changed and nothing will change for at least 12 more months…
Ronald Koeman saying that he is staying at Southampton for another season, gives me hope that this time next season Wenger will retire and Koeman will be our new manager…
I think both club and player would benefit too Cg. Walcott just isn’t doing it often enough.. West Ham want him apparently so we’ll see..
Afternoon Kev. It’s certainly far from being right at Arsenal but I hope things will change… lol
Arteta discusses future after likely retirement;
http://www.football365.com/news/arteta-discusses-future-after-likely-retirement
A true gentleman and example for all of our players.
Yeah Kev agree, Launderette is where will be looking to solve our goal drought!
In all honesty barring Wilshire (when healthy) and Kane is there anyone in the England team even close to pure class? Why are people surprise by his selection. He has a set of unique skills that no other English player has right now. He makes an overated England team much better. Until English players start to play in other leagues and refs stop rugby style play in EPL and the Championship, England will not win a major tournament.
Kev – Like you and almost every Arsenal supporter; I’m tired of being the bridesmaid/groomsman and not the bride/groom, but I’ve seen too many false dawns. I can no longer chant “I believe, I believe”, whether that is for Tinkerbell or Arsene.
Arsene, Arsenal and Silent Stan are going to have to pull a mighty big and powerful rabbit(s) out of the magician’s top hat to restore my faith. I just hope that this isn’t another of those long hot drawn out summer transfer windows with little or nothing to show for it at the end but the frustration of our supporters. Plus, I don’t think Stan (Goonster not Kreonke), or me for that matter, can take another of those.
Shame he’s not ten years younger Cg.
CG,Rico,Your Lordship, after 20 years Arseen is not gonna change his ways.
Make no mistake, we’ll go into next season with Giroud, Walcott, Campbell, Alexis plus a.n.cheap-other leading our attack and Wenger will expect a different outcome…
I’m bored with it all now…
Roll on Euro 2016
Does it really matters who Arsenal buys? There has to be a major commitment to change team selection and tactics. No matter who comes in, Wenger has to adapt and until now he hasn’t.
I bet 50p we don’t Kev… 😉
Obi, I think it could make a difference because if he buys top players, they’ll have the intelligence to play well, unlike some we have…
Kev – That is a sad comment on the mindset of the ‘typical’, though not ordinary, Arsenal supporter. Sadly, I have nothing to support an argument counter to your statement. Except for that small remnant of possibly forlorn hope, I’d be thinking exactly the same.
However, I’m not such a great fan of the Euros, but it may provide some distraction from the summer tranfer window action or, God forbid. lack thereof.
Rico – “50p” – the last of the big time spenders and you criticize Arsene’s parsimony. LOL
But 50p is like £10 million in Arsene’s world Cg… 😉
Rico – Hardly, but I get your point.
Anyway, it’s Good Morning from me and Good Afternoon to you all.
Ok, £100 then Cg.. 😉
Sleep well..
Shopping for me, catch up later…
Rico, I don’t think so because Wenger buys a player, then when he get here he wants to coach the attributes that make that player out of him, i.e, Gabrielle’s aggression and Elneny shooting from long distance, etc.
The world’s first energy drink was bottled in 1962.
Blimey….spurs have been bottling it since then as well.
Hilarious
But if they are seasoned pros Obi, they won’t listen to him. Alexis doesn’t seem as if he does and neither does Ozil…
That’s funny Devil…
Afternoon guys..
I will bet anyone here that next season Leicester will not finish in the top 10 while the spuds will end up between 6th and 10th.
you can write that down Rico.
Everyone had high hopes, but at the start of the season would you have bitten off the hand of someone who offered you an outcome whereby we’d come higher than Chelsea, Spurs, United, City, Liverpool and everyf******body except that freak of nature, Leicester? Perhaps Wenger has still got some ability?
No need Devil, you just have although I think you are underestimating the Totts. Poch will have a good summer in the transfer window I suspect and he’ll only improve his team…
Same with City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Utd etc etc…
Finishing ten points behind Leicester, a team we beat twice suggests to me that Wenger has very little ability really….
Beaten by the worst Chelsea side in years, twice. Lost to a Utd reserve team… I won’t go on… 😉
You know 23 June will impact on AW making signings for us…
The likely of AW signing 5 top players was shown in appendix 1 of the treasy document today.
“In(Tijt) = αij + γt + α1In(Yit * Yjt) + α2In(POPit * POPjt) + εijt = αij + γt + aXijt + εijt
An oldie but doesn’t get boring :- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7wCfttJVnQ
I love that clip Potter….
Afternoon gooners have we unveiled xhaka yet? Man alive how hard is it to complete a transfer? I do that everyday in my bathroom. Sheesh wenger sort it out. Xhaka mikky and morata and all will be forgiven. Anything short of that and am sharpening my pitchforks 😀
Howdy rico
CG you know your audience fella. I ll give you that 😀
Hi Goonie, haggling over the price apparently… Lol
Oh who can forget Dean in the first chelsea game of course that was Wenger’s fault the referring in that game was so bad the fa over turned the decisions on the pitch.
But hay it all works out in the end I don’t believe that statement for a minute. Rico the fact is we lost the first Chelsea game for no other reason than the ref.
So why use it as an example is it another stick to beat the manager the is more than one site that has facts and figures they have done the work on how the game is referred in England .
That’s 3 more points
I’ll give you that one Joe… Lol
All I’m trying to say is it’s not just Arsenal who suffer through poor officiating, many other clubs have too and I doubt there’s a website which has analysed every single PL game and worked out who would have been hard done by….
Rico if wenger and the board screw up this window. There ll be hell to pay. Even the die hard akbs ll revolt. It ll be chaotic by October when our players starts falling like flies like they always do. We need to have a fantastic window. Pep ll get shitty playing like bayern in 2 weeks. Klopp ll get his own players and poch ll snaring about like a dragon with a thunder bolt down his ass. We need to make this work or risk the wrath of the fans. The stands ll burn. Mark my words.
I do agree the are results that should have been different I am looking forward to the season after 2016-2017 when the pl starts using technology.
Goonie, you mention the board, now there’s an admission… Lol
Life will be miserable in the dugout for Arsene if he stuffs the summer up, that’s for sure….
No technology next year is there, it’s only going on trial next season in the lower leagues I thought, or abroad….
They better not pussy foot this time around. Most gooners are seething waiting to explode. Our fan base is like a keg of gun powder. They just need something to ignite the fuse and they ll be off. Watch arsenal fan TV and you ll see what I mean. Wenger won’t have it easy if we screw up this window. He might be physically manhandled.
Thanks Rico ?
Howdy joe what’s cacky lacking 😀
I think he’ll do something this summer, might not be who we all want etc, but I reckon he’ll be busy… Lol
To be fair Joe, I’d forgotten that Costa thing. Not sure how though….
Goonster arsenal fan TV plays plays to its base did you see the pictures of the first away game after the so called mass protest.
It was 3 guys and their signs it turns out they where ejected from the ground for their own safety from other Arsenal fans.
It’s horrible watching the fan base attacking each .
Evening guys and girl . 🙂
http://i.embed.ly/1/display/resize?key=1e6a1a1efdb011df84894040444cdc60&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FBmZWJMxIEAAo-OC.jpg
There’s some strange figures on the a warding of penalties this season 13 for Leicester 5 for almost the rest and just 2 for Arsenal.
Evening Le Coq.. Lol
Rico @5:11, if they wouldn’t listen to him he isn’t getting them, simple. Fellas why are we deluding ourselves. This man is about to let MA and TR walk away when its apparent that he can use them. To be frank, how many of you think that Fergie would let such leaders walk away (i.e., Scholes and Giggs). This team has a problem because there are NO leaders except maybe Cech (and he’s in goal). If we think we had a problem this year, huh, wait till next year…….
LOL – better start taking all sharp objects from Lee, Kev, Wavy etc………
Obi how about Roy Keane kick out the door of Old Trafford as soon as he was past he’s sell bye date.
The are others by the way, are you certain about Arteta leaving and not staying on as a coach.
Look at John Terry at Chelsea players leave clubs it’s always been like that if we are to keep Arteta do we sack Steve Boult.
Joe, Roy Keane was kicked out at a time where they had no leadership issues. John Terry if he was at Arsenal would have been gone 5 years ago because all we have to do is look at the squad and the former legends that are around. And with respect to Bould of course you don’t sack him, we can use them both. That a typical Wenger argument , why do we need player A we have player AA. He’s been doing that for years Joe.
Obi, I think Arteta will stay, no idea what Tomas plans now though..
http://dailycannon.com/2016/05/arteta-arsenal-door-remains-open-but-i-have-three-offers/
Scholes has nothing to do with Utd does he, neither does Neville yet he’s supposed to be a tactical genius. In fact LvG has lumped the blame on Scholes and other X Utd players for their failure… Lol
Oh well, it’s time for me to bid you good people farewell for the day…
Night all…
Roy Keane is on record as saying that sir Alex would not know the meaning of loyalty and what do leadership issue’s have to do with kicking out of loved players.
As can be seen from my above post Arteta will make the decision whether he stays or goes not Wenger.
Joe, yeah with better offers probably from other places…….
rIco, the next time you go shopping do us all a favour and take Arsene with ya will ya lol.
Rico, next time you go shopping, take Agag, you won’t get a striker but at least you’ll get a nice pair of shoes…
Night All
And Mick.
Hi there, good day to you all.
A warm glow when our deprived neighbour managed to snatch 3rd spot from the Jaws of 2nd Spot.
A season of what-if and regrets like:
2 points dropped when Liverpool equalized in the 94th minute;
3 points dropped when Swansea City beat us at home;
2 points dropped when leading 2-0 at WHU;
2 points dropped when leading 1-0 against Palace at home;
2 points dropped when Sunderland held us at home.
That folks is 11 points dropped which will make us the champion! 😀
Oh well, water beneath the bridge and looking forward to a bright summer and optimistically looking forward to Arsene Wenger building his 4th team and culling al those deadwoods and underperforming players to build a title-wining side before his eventual retirement!
Morning Rico and all. Just woke up to the unsubstantiated but thrilling news that Giroud will remain as number one striker next season. Wow! If true, that is a marker laid down by
Arsene.
Are your juices flowing on that Earth shattering news Brudder?
Morning Brudder. I sincerely hope it is a journalist taking the piss and on a wind-up. But I have a horrible feeling that it could just be true.
Surely he will look at the amount of chances Ozil and the rest of the team created and work out that we are shit in front of goal!?!?
Our conversion rate is diabolical….
Morning Adam, Lee and all.
Perhaps AW has said that to keep others away from his targets, after all, he’s ready to spend big….! 😉
Özil, in the English Barclays Premier League, has scored six goals this season, creating 144 chances and 19 assists. Özil has completed 1937 passes this season with a pass accuracy of 87%, of which 64% were forward passes.
If I was a conspiracy theorist I would look at two rumours/news this morning. After being told that Mesut would sign a contract extension imminently, we are now told after the Euros. Add this to the Olivier as number one stuff and one ‘could’ come up with the admittedly flaky conclusion that Arsene has told Ozil of his plans and Ozil has decided to roll the dice, not commit early and see what offers come his way.
I still reckon we didn’t win the PL because the grass was left too long at away grounds which destroyed our free-flowing game. 🙂
And it was the fan’s fault at the Emirates of course.
Don’t forget the away pitches were watered with wet water….. totally stopped our free flowing football!
And don’t forget the activity at the earth’s core Brudder. Misaligned magnetism is a bugger, away on a Monday night in Stoke.
Centipede grass, Bermuda grass and Fine fescue are fuckers to play on, our game is suited to Zoysia grass and I think the rest of the PL have wised up to this……..
Morning all,
I still say we need 2 up front at home. A top marksman playing off Giroud. Similar to what Igalo and Deeney do together.
So why not buy Igalo on the cheap, suits Wengers purse.
Imo, there is no way Ollie will be our main striker next season…
lol, you geologists are funny
There is obviously a serious and slightly interesting debate to be had on last season, its preamble and its (inevitable) conclusion. Whatever happened to “Judge me in May?”
Every close season we each assess what we think went right or wrong and how the challenges were dealt with. We might even kid ourselves that Arsene will address the problems and issues. We were told, at the start of last season, that we had a squad sufficient to win the PL and that there was not a single player on the face of the earth that we could buy that would enhance our chances. This was supreme arrogance as we see. We didn’t win it and quite a few on here openly predicted that. They were right and Arsene was wrong. Yes, he can be wrong.
That the club need new energy, impetus and most importantly – new thinking, seems to me an unavoidable conclusion. Wenger, it seems, is quite untouchable.
I think the penny has finally dropped and all this heralds a new training regime where instead of playing eternal tippy tappy we are going back to good old attack against defence .,This means that our forwards get to practice against Chambers , Per kos and Gabriel in an attempt to get their confidence back.
As we have seen this year we don’t attack as a team and strangely we don’t defend as one either. when we score goals we leak them too and when we don’t we invariably let a breakaway take us down once we have gone into panic mode .I often walk away from the ground thinking that we have better players but they play without guidance and that comes from one place.If he is staying perhaps we should all club together and buy him a mirror so that he could take a long hard look at himself.
More brains and fresh ideas slip by, :- http://www.ekathimerini.com/208711/article/ekathimerini/sports/ex-brazil-captain-gilberto-silva-joins-panathinaikos-as-technical-director
Another ex player let slip when he could have been of use to Arsenal. Still, Wenger can’t make vacancies when they aren’t there. So he says…….
The annoying thing is Adam, every close season we discuss the same as we did the one before yet he who is meant to be intelligent cannot see what most of us can but then what would we all know, we haven’t managed a football team for as many games as he has………!
I agree Rico. The fact that we didn’t win the PL may or may not have been ultimately influenced by a couple of new signings. Who knows? I just feel that the dynamic at the club is very low and though one needs a degree of optimism for sure, it must be clear after a decade that something just ain’t working.
But the revenue stream is fine…..
Why would he want Gilberto, he’s Brazilian and has little experience. How on earth could he help the 30 years practice that he’s has? Wenger knows it all!
His trouble is he has nobody at home to sound his ideas on. Since the departure of his wife and child his decisions have become ever more bizarre and baffling! Perhaps he needs to forge a relationship with a member of the coaching staff, male or female.
still using my phone cannot restore my ‘URL’ . Hi hum!
That’s what frustrates me so very much Adam as I’m sure it does everyone. For a man as intelligent as Wenger, why on earth can’t he see what’s right in front of him. I’m sure a few better players here and there would have helped, certainly this season, but the man still doesn’t know how to get a defensive unit working together and he still sticks by tippy tappy passing. I hpe Potter is right and the penny has dropped re the way we play because more of the same dross next season will be just awful….
Morning all.
Here is latest from Mesut Ozil:
But the German feels Arsenal’s inability to beat supposed weaker teams cost them dearly.
He said: “We dropped a lot of points that we should not have dropped against the ‘smaller teams’ and that was the point in the season where we did not work as a team.
“Especially after the Barcelona game we were just not good enough to take a point.”
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/670962/Arsenal-Mesut-Ozil-Premier-League
There is nothing new here as we were 2 points ahead on 26-Dec-2015.
It was the puzzling collapse at start of new year that Arsene Wenger got to address if he wanted to win another title before his eventual retirement.
Leicester City won the title because they were consistent and played as team.
In 2015, we proved we can win the title but the continual collapse in 2016 shocked Arsenal fans like me even as late as March 2016, we believed that we still can win the title.
I believe the nucleus of a title-winning team is there, especially with Ozil as the FULCRUM and hopefully Alexis will stay as he is deadly at right-wing and will ably support Giroud, feeding off him.
Improved Team work and with no long-term injury to key players in August 2016 is the key for Arsenal FC to win the title.
“We attack as a unit;
We defend as a unit;
We are always talking to each other.”
Senderos, February 2006 after 1-0 win at Bernabeu Stadium.
Sorry about that Wavy, not sure why…
Hi Merlin, long time no see… We clearly don’t attack and defend as a unit these days….
New post up now..
Rico, Arsene Wenger is a purist who believe in attacking football and everybody defence as a unit. He wanted his midfielders to be versatile that can attack and defend as well.
It was GG that laid the foundation for his unique successes with the French Spine with the Fab-4, albeit it is to the credits of Arsene Wenger who extended their shelf-life of Fab-4 and Seaman via modern diets and modern coaching methods. Plus Arsene Wenger was 2 or 3 steps ahead of the rest of the managers with his intimate knowledge of French Football during the 1990s French Football Golden Decade.
Even then during the annual Christmas party 1997, Tony Adams complained to Arsene Wenger that they were leaking goals without a defensive shield in front of them. Arsene Wenger slightly revised the ‘Double Pivot” of Petit and Vieira with one of them sitting deep to protect back-4 when the other was joining the attack.
And thanks to David Dein, Sol Campbell was persuaded to crossover and we continue winning titles. And he converted a mediocre midfielder into a superb Kolo Toure who replaced Martin Keown.
Not forgetting Lauren, another midfielder who was converted to a world-class RB.
The foundation of his early successes from 1997/98 to 2004/05 was build with a strong defence with Fab-4 given him a head-start in his glory trail.
And after 2007/08 with players in disharmony with Captain Gallas, and since then, Arsene Wenger simply failed to emulate his early successes with Sol Campbell, Kolo Toure, Lauren and Ashley Cole. The vulnerabilities of Back-4 was compounded when those dominating and physical midfielders in Petit, Vieira, Gilberto and Edu are gone and replaced by “Midget Midfielder Era”.
The future?
I believe Arsene Wenger realised the problem and will be addressing it by:
1 – Scouting and buying a domineering CB like William (Swansea) or his like;
2 – Strengthening “Dogs of War” in midfield that will shield Back-4, e.g. like Kante with a physical Drinkwater complementing him and helping out.
Address these two issues, winning title is a distinct possibility next season.
No matter what we said about our tippy-tappy football, this team create an above-average chances and can score goals.