Bit of gossip to start with, Monaco striker Ibrahima Toure admits he would welcome the opportunity to test himself in England, possibly with us:
Playing in the Premier League is my dream. That is my wish.
Would I stay if I have offers from England next summer? It will depend on what the club officials decide. We will see. “Monaco are a big club but my long-term wish is to play in England, for example at Arsenal.
We could certainly do with a striker, but Toure? I’m not so sure he’s the one to come in and save us.
Back to yesterday, we weren’t very good again were we?
Giroud, Santos, Captain Vermaelen, Ramsey, Podolski and Cazorla all had very average days, in fact average is a compliment to a few of those.
It wasn’t long before Santos and Vermaelen probably wished a big hole would suck them up and take them as far away from Old Trafford as possible, in fact it was just three minutes into the game when between the two of them, they gifted Manchester United their first goal. Santos was caught out of position by Rafael, who played a ball into towards the penalty area. Never fear though, Vermaelen was in the perfect position to cut it out, but, typical of the way our captain is playing these days, he fluffed his clearance straight into the path of their number 20 who slotted home with his right foot.
That didn’t stop the Arsenal fans from signing their hearts out though; they certainly do the club proud on their travels.
Just before the 15 minute mark, Jack Wilshere committed the cardinal sin by tackling Wayne Rooney, Dean was having none of that and showed our number 10 a yellow card. A bit soft I thought!
Just after twenty minutes, we nearly gifted Man Utd a second goal with sloppy passing but van Persie’s shot was saved by Vito Mannone. Shortly after, we finally got the ball into the United penalty area, but Ramsey’s cross was palmed away from danger by De Gea and with no one lurking around the penalty spot, the attack was over.
Rooney was the next to test Mannone, the Italian won the battle again with a good save. This was soon followed by a late tackle on Sagna by Young who surprisingly went into Dean’s book. Not like Dean to book a Man Utd player! Next in the book was Cleverley after a bad one on Santi Cazorla just before the 40 minute mark.
As much as we managed to get hold of the ball, we couldn’t make our final ball count, in fact, we seldom managed to find a team-mate. This has become a regular problem and we really need to cut this side of our game out, we’ll improve so much once we do.
Just before half-time, Cazorla got in the way of a cross and raised his hands to stop the ball from hitting his face, something you can’t do, especially in the penalty area.
Up stepped Wayne Rooney who missed!
The whistle went for half time and Arsene Wenger walked off holding hands with Robin van Persie, both of whom were smiling from ear to ear. After van Persie managed to break away from his old manager, he was set upon by Santos who begged him for his shirt. Van Persie duly obliged and Santos walked off like a cat that’d got his cream!!
What a joke!!
Early into the second half, Vermaelen was robbed far too easily by van Persie. He set up Valencia who was in acres of space. Thankfully he made a total muck up and messed his chance up.
Santos made a good run down the left and crossed a fine ball into the area, but as so often happens with us, there was no-one there to meet it!
Around the 50 minute mark, Wenger did something very out of character and made a substitution. Ramsey was replaced by Walcott.
Giroud had a chance at the near post but his shot went just wide and soon after, Jack went in a bit too hard on RvP. No second yellow…
Robin van Persie could, maybe even should have been the first player off for an early bath, his tackle on Sagna could easily have seen our Frenchman off injured again with another leg break, it really was awful but Dean just raised the yellow.
No surprise there I guess, but when you consider how the red cards were dished out last week by Clattenburg, it does make you wonder if all these PL referee’s are taught from the same book of rules! Cleverley was another Man Utd player who should have seen the bath early, I don’t know how many tackles he got away with after being booked.
Shocking!
The away fans showed their displeasure too by singing ‘Fergie’s rent boy’ loudly, aimed obviously as Mike Dean!
From a Wilshere free kick, Vermaelen stretched out his big toe at the far post but just failed to make a connection. Following soon after was another moment of controversy, van Persie, who was offside forced another good save from Mannone. Rooney then crossed to Evra who headed home for 2-0.
However, had the offside been given, their attack would have been over and no second goal scored.
Fergie took off Cleverley, no doubt in fear that Dean actually might grow a pair and send one of his boys off and replaced him with Anderson.
Then a moment of lateness by Jack and his studs catch Evra’s shin and to be fair, Dean had no choice, well, I suspect if Jack was wearing a Manc shirt he’d have got another telling off…
We were down to ten men….
Arshavin came on for Podolski and within moments he was straight into the book for catching Rafael. Just before then, Walcott had a chance on goal but his shot went into row z and Rooney also picked up a yellow card for tripping our English winger/striker.
Arteta picked up our final booking of the game for a foul on van Persie, and in extra time, Giroud had a chance saved by De Gea.
Then just as Dean was puffing up his cheeks to blow the final whistle, Santi Cazorla scored from just inside the area, a wonderful effort which De Gea had no chance of stopping.
That was it, game over and yet again we had been beaten at Old Trafford but listening to the away fans you would have thought we’d got something from the game. From start to finish they challenged the home fans in voicing their support of the club they love.
Credit to them, they did us proud.
Ok we are all bound to talk about some of the decisions made by the referee or not as the case may be, but let’s not use that as an excuse for yesterdays result. We were lack lustre again, we couldn’t find our own players with our passing, we made errors all over the pitch and once again, Wenger played square pegs in round holes.
Fergie must have been laughing all the way through that game, it really was so easy for his side and I doubt many of his players even broke into a sweat.
Things have got to change and soon if we are to get anything from this season and I don’t mean a change in manager, I mean a change in tactics, a change in attitude and certainly, a change in approach to the game that our players seem to have adopted….
It’s clear we need additions to this current squad, otherwise Wenger wouldn’t feel the need to playing players in a position which is not natural for them. Square pegs played in round holes seldom works!
On a final note, this is the worst start to a league campaign that we have ever had since Arsene Wenger arrived and if Kroenke doesn’t give Wenger some money and January and tell him to spend it properly, it’s going to be the worst ending to a season since Wenger arrived too!!
Doesn’t that tell us all something?
That’s it from me, I’ll leave you all to chew the cud…..
Morning Rico. Morning all. It is hammering down with rain here and has been all night. It’s Lee’s fault. He’s mental.
Morning all…
Just got to love Eduardo 🙂
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11661/8224016/Eduardo-tells-Shakhtar-s-Willian-to-choose-Chelsea-ahead-of-Tottenham
Morning Adam,
It’s the same here too, the area where our chickens are is full of huge puddles. Poor things….
And I have to drive in this too now which I am not looking forward too….
See you all a bit later this afternoon…. Oh, and I am still furious at the way we set up and played yesterday!
Creativity….it is a dirty word at Arsenal of late.
Has there ever been a spell where so few chances have been created??
Rico,great article,but very harsh on Giroud,imo.
Considering the very average service he received,he could easily have scored a couple,and down to him and him alone.
I thought he was very productive under the circumstances.
Santos…..walking off at halftime,not thinking about a 1 goal deficit,but more concerned with getting his idols shirt….incredible.
Kudos to the away fans.
Oh,27 degrees,and not a cloud in the sky here 🙂
Good Morning my Esteemed Fellow Gunners.
Good post Rico.
But are you sure when does something need to change?
I feel that considering the circumstances we need a change immediately.
However considering all circumstances we might have to be patient a bit more. Till June 2014 infact.
Remember………..the new manager, whoever he is, will still have his hands tied by the debt we have to pay, the playing staff as it is, the board as they are and the owner wherever he is.
So is Usmanov the answer to this all? We can only speculate whether he is or not.
People can easily say AW out. Yes I might agree. But then?
What guarantee is there that the new manager will HIT THE GROUND RUNNING?
What guarantee is there that the new manager will be successful?
What guarantee is there that the new manager will give us what we crave?
None.
And what if AW stays? Will we continue to see same old same old?
Its like betting on a result………….you got 50% of winning. But you may still loose.
Arsenal fans are caught up in all sorts of dilemmas at the moment. Tired of banging their heads against the wall, they are slowly beginning to understand the reality of where we are and the fact that it has been coming for several seasons. During that time there were several clues. We actually have had chances to push on and even have a shot at a PL title. But we never took them as someone wouldn’t pay for the players we needed. I say someone and will leave it to you where to point the finger. Also, during this period we have lost several very good players, some might even describe them as World Class, because of our lack of finances in comparison with other clubs. Speaking of our impoverished state, with £70 million in the bank (according to some, £50 million according to others). Why should this affect our ability to actually compete on the field? This was exemplified yesterday when an average United team mugged us. You could argue that the only superior element in their team was their strike force. Yet Arsenal played like statues, unable to move in the glare of Ferguson’s motivated players. The question I have often asked must be repeated. Has Wenger lost the ability to motivate the team? Clearly he has. We only ever seem to play in the second half anyway these days, normally in response to a dire first half showing.
Seems to me that Arsene is stale these days, as if the baggage of the past several seasons lays too heavily upon him. TV has been really, really poor lately, but can Wenger drop his captain?
We can all make observations as to what we see going wrong but what will be done about it? If anything. I believe that, under this regime, from Kroenke downwards, the club are stuck in a spiral of decline and I know the not everyone agrees. The pressure is mounting as we speak and it will be unjust if it all collapses on Wenger’s head as the fall-out might be considerable both on and off the field.
Agree 100% with you Adam.
Except on Squilly of course. He is not a great player as you say!!
He is simply WORLD CLASS!!!! 😆
Your comment is full of the many questions we are continually asking.
The problem is that we do not have an owner with a vision who is pro-active. We have an owner who is simply inactive. Not even a reactor.
Get an owner who has a direction and is assertive and knows where he wants to go and we will beat the shit out of all opposition.
Unfortunately Rico, I do not think our bad perfomance of late is as a result of poor quality players, because a good manager will achieve much more with the current players we have. I’d always had this religious believe in Arsene Wenger up till this season. I really doubt his tactical savy now because of, but not limited to the following reasons:
1. His insistence in playing Ramsey out of position
2. Why the hell did he start Santos against such opposition?
3. It seems he no longer inspire respect from our players who keep playing much below par, knowing they must play the next game.
4. Must he stick to same ineffective tactics.
5. We have very many proven stars who came to Arsenal and became a shadow of themselves e.g arsavin, chamack, Denilson, and now Podolski and even Carzola whom has only made 2 assists since arriving.
At the rate we are going, if we lose away to schalk, our qualification from the group will be a long shot.
The creativity we are known for is currently very dead.
After watching the replay of the match. Wenger should at his spare time ask himself these questions. Why should SANTOS be on the pitch when I can play Coq on the left or switch Vermalen to the left? Why did I make Vermalen the Capt when it should have being arteta? Why should I start Poldi or Ramsey when Arshavin and Walcott form is better?
The lack of creativity sterns from the fact we have no width. Poldi and Ramsey likes cutting into the midfield, thereby congesting it. That provides an outlet for the opposing team to push their fullbacks forward causing us more problems. Because the midfield is congested there is no outlet to move the ball to the width and leads to stagnancy in the final third.
Santos didn’t help either as his display was shambolic. His defending and positioning sense was non-existent. Valencia was just ghosting past him as if he was not there. When he moves forward he likes cutting into the congested midfield and offering us no width. Thats where arsenal missed a player like Gibbs. Valencia and Raphael had a field day yesterday without broking sweat.
Poldi was not covering for Santos which made it worst because he stationed himself at the midfield allowing Raphael to push further up field.
Ramsey was so bad yesterday he had to be substituted in the 52nd min. He was suppose to mark out rooney but offered nothing other than running like a headless chicken over the pitch. Both(Poldi and Ramsey) should be starting from the bench.
Vermalen shouldn’t have being made the capt. Arteta should have. Whatever is wrong with Verm/Kos this season needs to be sorted. Vermalean was too casual yesterday. I know Pursering was/is his best mate but stick it in on him after the match have a handshake. Pursering never thought twice when he stick it in on Sagna.
Like someone said yesterday we were treating the match like a preseason and we deserved what we got. Only Wilshere was ready to stick it in. Wish we had 6 wilsheres in the squad yesterday
Morning all…..AW always scrapes outta jail by securing CL football, but I’m afraid this team won’t make top four, not unless there are new players bought or new tactics used.
Be lovely to wipe that smug grin off that jock twat…..
As for santos kissing judas’s arse at half time, I’d sell him in January!
Surely a club must be an ever evolving thing. We are stuck. Players come and players go, but there are never enough of either under this regime. If, as looks a distinct possibility, we fail to make CL top 4 this year, will there be any pressure on Wenger? Yes. But what about Kroenke, which is where I think a major part of the problem lies?
Yes, Usmanov is an unknown quantity, but he is stupidly rich, is not involved in collecting sports franchises like Kroenke and I imagine he is fiercely competitive. He won’t want to be owning an obviously inferior club to rival Abramovich. I believe he looks at the stadium and the potential for big sponsorship money and understands that the infrastructure is all there with the right levels of investment and the right manager. He hasn’t got to build a stadium or construct a history. It is there, waiting, along with an incredibly loyal fan base, to be unleashed. We must face the fact that the old Arsenal, defined by our historical success, is gone. It will always be part of the club’s DNA but today’s football is a harder place where financial clout is essential. Few of us like it, but it is a fact. We either get on board or carry on as we are with a faceless owner who doesn’t know why he should attend an AGM and a manager who is beginning to cut an increasingly abject and for me, a sad figure. He deserves more than that for what he has done for us and our club. It truly saddens me. The truth is painful, but often a reality. Let’s face it, at the moment, feeling like we do this morning, we ain’t going anywhere.
Emma,you make some great points,but i disagree with one.
The massive majority agreed when Vermaelen was made captain….hindsight is a wonderful thing,and it is easy to hold this one over Wenger now.
The rest…well,i can’t disagree.
I said two weeks ago Santos should never wear the shirt again.
He was a bit better yesterday,but still ignores the defensive side of the game.
I stand by my previous comment on him.
Hi Lee. A sad day for our club and us mate. But if the penny eventually drops, perhaps the seeds of something will be planted.
I still say the russian is an unknown,but as things stand,the “known” that is Stan is just a waste.
Even the unknown must be better…….don’t shoot me for the change of heart.
What actually happened on the pitch yesterday is really just a symptom of the bigger picture. Usmanov is no fool. He knows what is costs to have a serious team of contenders as he must have studied Chelsea very closely and noted the mistakes they have made, he also seems to have a better appreciation of the fan’s role in the club which wouldn’t be hard when compared to Kroenke and our old friend Hill-Wood.
And before i forget, did Podolski make a single contribution to our team yesterday. I mean positive contribution. Playing Ramsey as a right winger is like choosingby yourself to play 10 against 11.
One wonders why Bold should not be able to point these elementary mistakes out to Wenger and damn the consequences
@ devil, I think we’re too far gone backwards to start wondering what fortune changes would bring us. Let’s make the changes and see what they bring. Afterall, he that is down needs fear no fall.
The young guys that played the cup game gave much more than this bunch at display yesterday
My spud mate was texting me “RVP scores when he wants” throughout the game….sweet text back to him “Watson or whatever his name is, scores when he wants!”
Creativity has dried up, buy a DM and push Arteta more forward? Get a proper goal scorer not a kid a proven greedy bastard. Go get Schwarzer or such like…..it’s not rocket science, is t?
The funny thing is,yesterday actually showed that not a hell of a lot of change is reauired to be competitive.
Utd lead the league,yet beat us 2-1.
Missed penalty…was it one?
A few great saves by Mannone helped.
Saying that,it was only 2-1 and De Gea made a couple lf cracking saves.
This is not defending the lack ofsignings,but i am just saying it isn’t wholesale changes required.
Can’t see why it is so difficult.
Lee. I think the time has come to treat the illness not the symptoms. But I know what you mean.
Bad game.. We were rubbish. Though they won by goals from a mistake and one from a wrongly given corner.. We deserved to lose. We were inferior, lacked quality and were poor allaround.
Why was santos even in the team.. he should’nt have played atleast yesterday.
Anyway we lack ambition, so lets see how it goes..
£50m plus the sale of the dead wood will be enough to purchase the right players to push this team on. It will be the same old excuses when the window shuts or we’ll sign the Palace kid as he’s got great re-sale value! We need experienced winners added asap.
Will the message get to where it needs to???
what guarentee new manger will do this and that , a change is needed to move this club forward wenger has had his time he doesn’t want to adapt to the way football is now and it is getting boring anyone would be a breath of fresh air tbh
How brilliant were our away fans though – outsang the home team, robin got proper roasted. However, we played really badly, if it wasnt for a series of bad misses, it could have been worst then last years visit. No plus’s for me, nothing to give me hope. I hate going to the Emirates these days, simply because we have no atmosphere, no passion, no desire – bit like the team really
If you make two tackles at OT youre out !! Seeing the way Man utd treated against Arsenal Liverpool and Chelsea, It’s better to hand them trophy now!
I have spent this morning with the little prince. We played, read together and studied together.
And we did some General knowledge. And after I asked him this question………….How does a man become a Prime minister?
The answer???
Every five years through an ERECTION.
I cant manage to pick myself from the floor laughing.
Good morning all,
Good post as usual but a bit unfair on OG12.
Some very good points made but I believe we have lost the games we have with the opposition playing with the same game plan game plan. The game plan as admitted by wooney is stop Arteta.
Emma I agree with all you excellent points apart from Ramsey’s role. In fact I think Rambo kept Ashley and Evra quite. The moment TW14 came on Evra became involved in the game and even scored from a set piece.
Unfortunately I think we have been found out too early in the season with the over-reliance on SC19 who is not a no.10. He became more effective when he went on the RHS after we went to 4-4-2.
Who is going to create chances for us this season? JW10 seem to have changed his game so I do not think we can expect him to carry the midfield.
What are you teaching the kid,mate lol?
Its not me mate. Its what they do at school. We were simply revising General knowledge.
Good thing I was not eating or drinking anything.
lol.. You spend time wonderfully instead of watching Wenger’s press conference..
Tsgh….even last season we played better with two up front.
Why don’t we start that way?
Falcao will not even score in this team. It is barren with creativity. Unfortunately, none of our creative players have speed and have the skill to play with their backs against the opposition.
I would go for a proper no.10 like Belhanda or Jovetic to add quality to our final third.
Mate,some of things kids come up with are just priceless.
Seans mum is doing a u-turn in the car today,when he says “mum,you’re driving skills are coming along nicely”!
Funny buggers,aren’t they?
We’re all going fecking mental……
I blame the AST for talking about prices of food on match day instead of holding the b oard to task.
Apologies to any AST member on here but, imho most have typical white collared attitude.
Some already are Kev 🙂
How goes it mate?
Ts, you think any pertinent questions would actually be answered by the board…? Answer… Not a chance mate…! Doesn’t matter who or what is asked if it questions them they will swerve the answer one way or another.
Hi Kev.. hw r ya
but that was not an unexpected result for me. 4 defeats in last 6 games is enough to drive people mad..
Every one there are dumb wath.
Well you don’t just welcome the “unknown” to something you love dearly. If Usmanov claims he loves (cough) Arsenal as much as he does, he needs to give very strong assurances that he will not be ripping up the “model” merely fine tuning by investing in 2/3 quality players (and not too far outside the wage ceiling).
He might be a multi billiionaire but Arsenal is nobody’s plaything. The club should never allow itself to be in a position where a Michael Jackson statue can be erected outside the grounds or a Shevchenko is forced on the manager.
Anyway we live in the real world. And Giroud & Camakh are no replacements for the former No.10. We need to sort it out, ideally and hopefully in January or next Summer. And no Theo is not yet worth £100k a week; potential clear for all to see. We need technical wizards and/or beasts/lionhearts that can humble Old Trafford (home and away).
Obviously your referring to the ones on the board ST 😉
yes, my man!
I didn’t see the Santos/RVP scenario before I saw it on MotD last night.
I don’t altogether blame Santos tbh.
His actions were symptomatic of the malaise running thru the club.
A lack of discipline maybe?
A lack of direction perhaps??
Can any of you imagine a ManUre player doing something like that???
No, neither can I…
Could you imagine the reaction of Ferguson if one of his players did that???!
Instant substitution, then a long spell in the reserves.
Followed by his exit in tje next Window…
But our players are not afraid of Arsene are they?!
That’s the message Wenger sends out to his players, therefore they play like a rabble.
With no fear of the repuccussions…
After 8 long years of continued (in)activity they must be thinking they institutionalised the fans, that we accepts that Arsenal is a secondary club and 4th place is our fancy spot.
You are right there WATH re questions.
So who do we think are the cause of the issues. Some say AW because of his tactics. Some say because he fails to strengthen when needed. Personally, I will ask why for the first time we seem to concede in the first 20 minutes of most matches. Bould is the assistant manager and he goes out to warm up the team before matches, so if like some believe here that AW is useless at motivation, then why is Bould not doing his bit before the game?
If we think a manager needs to motivate a team to perform then I am afraid we are just making excuses. A professional should know the score! As most of our poor performances this season has been due to individual errors who can be blamed for it apart from the players and the negative energy around the club.
Most fans dont even appreciate the hard workers in the team!All we want is 11 cazorlas on the pitch.
Tsgh,i am with you totally on the “motivation” issue.
Grown men,well paid professionals needing to be motivated?
Not for me.
If playing at OT v that mob doesn’t fire you up,then nothing will.
Hiya Scott/STV.
I am not a happy chicken today.
You guys ok I trust?
Lee/Adam, great points lads.
Sadly I think this could be the season that our CL run, runs out.
Kroneke Out….
Nothing will change with parasite on board.
What’s going on with Vermaelen?? He was a leader when there was no armband.
Morning AK, you read LG this morning..? I hardly ever read what they say but a very well written piece today and pretty much spot on with some really soul searching questions..!
Kev,missing CL may well be exactly what is needed.
Zut Allors 11.19… Are we not merely Stans plaything at present though with no investment what so ever and his silence and no promise that he won’t take money out of the club in the future..?
We are currently a rudderless ship lost on the ocean………..!
If we miss CL Scott the board will reign in the funds even more and we won’t be able to attract hardly any decent players…! Catch 22 we fucked if we do fucked if we don’t..!
see liverpool
Wath. I agree with your 11.43. Time for some fan power? I can’t think of another way forward for our club.
Wath,i just read that LG artcile,and yes,a hell of a lot of it hits home.
Catch 22 definitely sums up our predicament.
The problem there Adam is far to many still think all is fine…? Until the fan base backs itself and forces the issue as one the board wont be forced to react or initiate change at all. They will sit in the ivory tower and just stick their fingers up at the fans like they have done since we moved from Highbury.
3 points.
1.When even a dunce like Jamie Redknapp can see that we have no pace in the team the you know you are in trouble!
2.Performances have dipped since Diaby got injured.
3. Tele keep mentioning Poldi has an ankle injury. Think its pretty obvious as he isn’t able to run the way he did at the start of the season so why play him?
Good morning all,
A great deal of dissatisfaction being expressed this morning, rightly so in the face of such a poor start to the season.
Everybody is at fault from the Owner, the Chairman, the Chief Executive, the Manager, his assistant and not least the players.
There are the ever growing calls for PWH and Silent Stan to go, for Wenger to be replaced and for wholesale changes to be made to the squad.
But let’s be a bit realistic here, 1) There is no way in the world that Stan Kroenke is going to sell up. He has never, ever sold a single share in any of his sports franchises. Currently worth around $4 billion he is married to a Wallmart heiress Ann Walton Kroenke who is herself worth around $3.9 billion. So there is no shortage of cash in the family. 2) PWH is a figure head who will remain in place so long as Silent Stan wants him there. 3) Ivan Gazidis has just been paid a bonus for his performance over the last year so the Owner must be satisfied with him. 4) Arsene Wenger is fireproof as far as Kroenke, PWH and Gazidis are concerned. 5) Steve Bould may be at slight risk but Wenger is far too loyal to his staff and players to sack him. 6) The deadwood, it would be great to get them off the books but who in their right mind is going to pay hard cash for them.
Incidently, should in the unlikely event that Kroenke decides to sell and Alisher Usmanov decides to buy, he can afford to his current wealth is put at $18.1 billion, Wenger’s job would still be safe as the Russian Oligarch has frequently said we have the best manager in the game, so he’s unlikely to sack him.
It looks to me like we are stuck with the status quo, sadly not the popular rockers, for the foreseeable future.
Agreed again Wath. But something is stirring. Only a few months ago you would have found plenty on this and other sites saying that anyone who doesn’t like the way it is going or who doubted Wenger or the board should go and support Spurs and/ or be ashamed of themselves. Not so many now are there?
Since we moved from Highbury????
We have already gone through this W.A.T.H.. In the 70’s, in the 80’s and even in the 90’s till AW arrived.
Now its happeneing again.
Just because he hasn’t sold in the past doesn’t mean he never will JW. If we all accept this bloke without question then what depths lie ahead?
Scott I know your a Wenger man but after yesterday i asked myself a few questions re the situation we see at the club, When wenger is on 7mil a year he is no way going to resign, he is employed to make the club money and to finish in CL every year and has done this brilliantly. As a manager is this really all he wants? is he happy to just plod along? is he happy that the clubs ambition seems to start and end at CL qualification..? Does he not desire a team that can compete and possibly win trophies?
The board say we have money to spend and the account clearly show there is 50million plus and take Queensland road money into account and we have probably 70million.
If as he professes that Wenger dearly loves the Club (i beleive he does) he needs to say to the board publicly that he need ALL of those funds to invest in players to make the team/squad competitive…! IF the board fail to back him he says he has no other option but to resign…..!.
The board would crap their pants… Firstly the golden goose threatens to leave, they need to show that they back him and they make the funds available.
If they choose to call his bluff what manager would take over the job without also calling for the funds to strengthen…? They would have to look seriously at bot options and know they are stuck in the corner.
The other side of the coin is that the funds ARE available and yet Wenger refuses to buy and use them… The board will not force his hand or they fear he would resign if told how to do his job…! This would leave them no alternative but to look for a new manager in the near future IF they think we have a manager who has lost his focus and ambition?
Where does the above leave us as a club and leave us the fans…?
Either scenario isn’t a good one.
I remember plenty defending Wenger,but not the board.
Dev, Re leaving Highbury, not in the way we were fed the bullshit from the board regards to moving to compete with the worlds elite and yet all they have done is line their pockets and sell our best players and allowed the main asset “the squad” to decline in quality year after year…!
Oh come on Adam, what makes you think he will change his mind? A few banners being waved outside The Emirates?, A march around Armoury Square? A few hundred fans moaning on websites? Some season ticket holders threatening not to renew?
Would we be any better off under Usmanov? a man who has proposed paying share-holder dividends in the past, so he would be taking money out of the club not putting it in.
Wath. A fair summation but Arsene can’t motivate the player’s we do have let alone the ones we need. Double bubble there I think.
Wath,i do not know the answer.
I hear you,but i genuinely do not know what motivates Wenger to stay,i can only guess.
As discussed before,i do not know whether Wenger truly has funds to spend and chooses not to,or if the board lead us along by telling us the cash is there,but do not allow Wenger to access it.
Its the unknown that pisses me off,and most others,i would guess.
The London based fans really need to get there finger out and f****** protest, we must get kronke & hillwood out.! If missing out on the champions league helps us achieve that then so be it..let’s be honest we are never gonna win it anyhow, and the revenue it brings the club doesn’t get invested anyhow.. As a club we are going nowhere but midtable, it’s so sad to watch because it could be avoided with a couple of decent signings & some basic tactical awareness..
That’s the other thing Adam, the fact that Wenger doesn’t seem to have his mojo anymore… is that indicative of the fact he’s also lost his drive and ambition, can the players feel the desire isn’t there and feed off that..? Do the players want to change things but he sticks to his ideas and won’t budge? Far to many questions and very few answers.
W.A.T.H, Between the “moving in order to compete” statement and actually getting into The Emirates and paying off some of the debt the football world changed. Abramovich came in, The oil sheiks came in. Agent’s fees ballooned, player’s wages rocketed, everything got that bit more competitive. We are still playing catch up.
Scott, the board can’t hide the books and accounts the funds are most definitely there… The question is do they actually make them available to Wenger or does Wenger say nope I do not want to buy…?
Do we have anyone at the club with the ambition and foresight to go and get Guardiola to succeed Wenger..? This would show the board has balls and vision and desire to be successful and they would know they would have to spend with a new manager it would answer a lot of questions. If not for me the board and Arsene need to resign as they as complicit as each other…!
JW, your not wrong mate the whole scene has/did change BUT we are still our own worst enemy, we have squandered million on crap/average players… overpay average players, employ far to many players who will never make the grade. The club got left behind in the commercial and corporate markets and yet they earn huge salaries all be it 5 years to late. Why were we so short sighted? We the fans are paying for all these mistakes yet we then have 70million in the bank doing nothing while our biggest asset “the team” struggles on the pitch.
Ok JW. You seem to be prepared to accept the status quo. You said you would accept where we are a few days ago just after you rounded on me and said that Guardiola was going to Man Utd after I wrote a post offering another reality.
You deride the opinion of the fans and scoff at their toothlessness, but if only 30,000 showed up for games and it continued that way, then what would happen? Could they still claim attendance figures of 60,000 plus? It has happened before you know. Ok. Others would take their places when season ticket time came but the core support ( long-term supporters) would vanish and they are part of the life-blood of the club for me. As fans, we have tremendous power if co-ordinated. I, for one, as a ST holder for many years with other family members, am sick of where we are and where we are going and would be up for anything that makes the fan’s voices heard. Your way is to meekly take it from the rear from Stan and Hill-Wood while saying that there’s nothing that can be done. Not for me. I find it too agonising to watch the club I love going backwards and days like yesterday are the real life manifestation of that. I personally have no problem with Usmanov or Kroenke earning money from such a massive investment. It’s the failure to compete on the field that I believe could change because as far as I am concerned, it is not working now. Or perhaps you think it is?
Myles Palmer quoted Andy Dunn…..Arsenal didn’t look as if they belong at that level.
And until we continue as we are we never will.
We are not going against the current.
We are not going with the current.
The club has gone on the river bank and is sitting there watching the current go by.
enough said.
That actually hurts reading that quote Dev cos it’s so true………..!
It does. And its true.
And there is little I can do about it.
W.A.T.H., We didn’t get left behind in the ommercial markets, all the sponsorship deals and the stadium naming rights were long term contracts paid UP FRONT. The money was used to finance the new stadium without loading too much debt on the club. This was very sound policy. Unfortunately it left us in the position of not being able to compete on transfer fees and wages for the very best players. Those we did sign were in some, possibly many, cases not of the quality we needed and are proving extremely difficult to move on.
In hindsight mistakes were made, there is no doubt, but correcting those mistakes is no easy matter.
Kel, you want to “get Kroenke and Hill-Wood out” How?
And it makes us feel so helpless.
I think the fans have a lot more power than they realise if they simply stick together and do something…
Apathy from fans gets you nowhere and the comments like we can’t do anything or what difference would we make don’t wash..!
Everyone can do their bit and that’s not knocking your comment mate I just think most would say I can’t do anything but they can if they think about it.
Wath. You Devil and Dunn are right. The last resort for someone like me and my family is to say that the ludicrous price we pay for season tickets year in year out is too much for a club so obviously in decline. I would thereby end a family tradition of about 70 years by not going any more. The whole emotional thing is unquantifiable. Unfortunately I can see myself just watching Arsenal occasionally on TV comforted in some small way by the fact that this isn’t the same club I grew up with. And I reckon there are thousands just like me. And you. But then again, perhaps this is merely evolution and the way that football has gone. A natural cycle if you will.
I have to disagree JW, am not just on about the shirt deal and stadium naming we all know about those amounts and tie ups etc etc am on about the poor merchandising deals the poor secondary sponsorships we have 12 of those the Mancs have 38…! What is our team of execs doing and what have they been doing all these years..? Very poor mate and that’s where we the fans have also been ripped of to cover the short falls.
Yes mate I agree……….but I cannot do anything from out here. Only those who go to the AST or the ground can do anything.
I can write a letter? But what good would it do. Will just get a reply thanking me for my support if I am lucky.. At least it might be honoured to line the bin in AW’s study.
W.A.T.H.
A little way into my 11.56 comment I used the phrase “let’s be a bit realistic here”.
We all want improvement in so many aspects of the team’s performance, and I am not at all happy with the way things are going and have gone over a period of years, but to simply moan about it is futile. So what in REALITY can the fans do about it?
As you know Adam have rented my 2 ST’s out for the last 3 seasons now, I refuse to give that lot my money, indirectly they getting the dosh for the ticket for sure but it’s not my money, I refuse to buy from the shop and will not do so until the club invests “OUR” money on the pitch and cares about the club like we do.
Afternoon all nice one rico, i guess you wrote that with a grimace. lets face it did anybody really think we would come away with a result yesterday after some of our latest games lets face it we were against the best in the league they are now in their normal position top of the league and here we are again licking our wounds blaming any player that comes to mind. Our system is all wrong !!! The best run club in the world well maybe but the worst run team how can a club like Arsenal be so good running the club but fffing useless on the field of play. Give me strength. COYG’s
Fan power got rid of the Yanks at Liverpool JW, i think it’s all far to easy for fans to sit back and say well there is nothing we can do… there are many ways to skin a cat mate it just need people to get off their bums and do things… People really are not happy with the board, feelings can be shown in many ways and with the media being what it is these days exposure is not difficult. Am with you on realism thats why nothing outrageous would ever work but you don’t need to plan stupid things to get the board worried or to sit up and take notice…! R&W are sitting on the sidelines get them involved as well so the board will then most definitely take notice..!
Pretty well summed up SP…. I feel that need for a GG again mate 😉
Yes I know Wath and I imagine I will be joining you or relinquishing my STs altogether.
The only thing Kroenke understands is money and the only way for change is for fans en masse not to go to the games. Co-ordinations this would be a nightmare. I cannot remember the last time I heard a fan in the ground defending what is going on. Even the fine retired gentleman who sits a couple along from me who found an excuse week in week out for the on-field shambles has stopped doing so.
It wasn’t close at all, it was the biggest 2-1 hammering you’re likely to see… andy dunn quote, says it all really imo!
The bloke i’m working for gave me a dongle full of Arsenal songs from the Arsenal away boys everything they have ever recorded i am sitting here listening to it. I only wished that the team was as good as the music
The thing is, in terms of talent, we are no shorter this year than we were last. The only position we have stepped down in is at striker and well that’s only because not many strikers in the world could adequately replace pursey. But overall, the squad is no worse than the team that was third last year. Why then are we not creating the amount of chances we did last year? It’s because we are not playing with the same method. The coaching staff knows that. They have been coaching and playing for years and they watch match tapes and have vast resources to point out all these things that we can see from our couches. So It is really frustrating to me that Arsenal now cannot live up to our name and cannot begin to even talk about playing the game the right way. Remember when people used to say that?
The worm is turning Adam…. I think if we lose to the swampies the revolt will start big time… that would be the last straw for many I think..!
Will, it makes you wonder is Arsene letting Bouldy do his job and or even listening to him…?
Uzmanov will never be allowed to buy Arsenal. Strangely enough the 2nd reason for that is due to his Religion.
I think most arsenal fans underestimate the power of PHW. You can never underestimate a man who has dealings with the arms business but claims Uzmanov is dodgy.
Initially PHW did not want Stan on board so what changed? Some will say Stans wife’s connections.
Ts, think the common denominator your asking is David Dein, when he was with Stan phw wanted nothing to do with him, soon as DD got involved with AU then Stan became flavour of the month.
Did any one see the schalke vs Hoffenheim match? They lost 3-2 very entertaining match
tsgh.. religion? explain?
Not watching any more football ever again Ts,
.
.
.
.
.
.
.not until tuesday anyway…! 😀
Rongkey said it all stop our most creative player and you stop Arsenal trouble is they slipped up in the final seconds. May i just comment on the away fans singing they knew if they sang long enough they would get a goal they were magnificent my hat goes off to you.
Hi Wath long time mate, you were right about that Grey goose boy it takes the pain away, 🙂
But it comes back again when you cough up for another bottle 🙂
Shame far to few in the team show the passion that the fans show SP, I said to my mate last night how many walked off the pitch yesterday gutted that they’d lost… 3/4 maybe… yet my week is ruined and I have the raving hump.. they merely there to pick up a pay check and laugh and joke with the opposition and of course swap shirts…!
The price is a bit of a pain but think of it this way two bottles = one tkt for a match… The 2 bottles win for me hands down these days 😀
Yes WATH very true. But most importantly become PHW got the heads up on Sam Walton. Believe it or not. For the untrained eye Simon Lilley was appointed for commercial deal but most importantly his background. PHW is making sure the board retains what the board term ‘tradition’
And kel it may seem controversial to most and I am not being prejudice here but Uzmanov is a muslim who got married to a jew in other to accepted in the post KGB world. It is better for all of us if we leave it there. 😉
All I will say is if any one is a cabbie and happens to pick up any individual from Vauxhaul or Pimlico and they claim to be corporate analyst going to the city etc try to ask about PHW if they are willing to talk. Those who can understand let them do.
… i meant phw became relaxed about stan…
on the first line.
Good morning HH, reading some of the comments i’m a bit disappointed, this team is not as bad as it seems, AW just need to put the right players in the playing squad on match day, secondly as soon as we get back some powerful players in midfield we will be fine, top four is a must, AW might not win a trophy but trust me he know what to do to get this team in the top 4. All is not lost we are 3 games behind united, teams are going to drop points, remember there is no xmas break..Keep the faith….COYGs
Worst ever AFC team defensive department
Wright
Eboue, Silvestre,Stepanovs,Santos
He has finally made it after yesterday.
eeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhh?????????
gdna….you got a touch of the sun?
you seem a changed man from yesterday!!!
@dev lol.. I finally digest the defeat, once a gonner always a gooner, when we loose we want to fight, where is Santos..lol
That defensive line up would almost be funny Dev if it wasn’t so pathetic…!
Hiya Ginge, in a multi cultured country and a multi cultured team religion seems to be the last thing we have to worry about, all i want to see is passion from the players i want to see that losing a game like yesterday hurts them, shaking hands and swopping shirts is not my idea of passion when i played when we lost i didn’t want to talk to anybody let alone wear a sweaty shirt, but when we played them again i certainly remembered the hurt i felt mind you that was amatuar football it cost us to play and we found our own way to the game. I remember one of the opposition stopping in his old jam jar and offer me a lift but i just carried on walking the mile to the ground, mind you i would snap his hand off nowadays.
Did someone mention my favorite drink? 😛
Hello, gents. 🙂 rico, try to enjoy your day! Off to catch up on the comments; back in a bit.
That was the case with me when I used to play Steve.
If we lost I just went and locked myself in my own room. Could never accept to speak to anyone let alone hear anything.
And it still used to be so in my coaching days till a few years ago.
Now I have mellowed a bit. But I am still seething whenever one of my teams loose. I am more controlled now.
santos should be booed eboue style once gibbs gets back 🙂 what a dick of a player/man ” oh robin oh robin can i have your shirt… please oh pretty please… i personally never wanna see him again
Ts, you think the old fart has that kind of clout…?
AU is hardly a kitten to be where he is and is hardly unconnected…!?!?
Hi Devil yeh me too mellowed ha ha Wath made sure of that when he introduced me to GG. now i’m a changed man but not on match days 🙂
True Steve but believe it or not it still exist even at the elite level. If you have worked in certain professions you have a habit of deciphering what certain individuals say in the media. When PHW says ‘we do not want his sort around here’ what do the majority think he is referring to? Most will think he is referring to Usmanov’s alleged dodgy past. But is that really the case?
Those who are informed on what the companies PHW has been a board member of actually do will always have a chuckle at such holier than thou comment.
The war has to be waged where it will hurt him most. I have posted a couple of times in the Denver Post and have received support from fans of his other teams that feel the same. He seems to have the ability to disenfranchise the loyal supporters. Take the fight to his own doorstep what happens in London will have little effect although I will join the BSM for this one.
When PHW says ‘we do not want his sort around here’ what do the majority think he is referring to? Most will think he is referring to Usmanov’s alleged dodgy past. But is that really the case?
That was his initial reaction to Kroenke before £ 4 1/2 million was waved under his nose.
PHW is a powerful man believe it on not.
As I said in my post above it makes me laugh when he says things like ‘Peter Hill-Wood has said he opposes the involvement in Arsenal of Alisher Usmanov, who now owns 21% of the club’s shares, because it is not sufficiently clear how the businessman amassed his multibillion-pound fortune in Uzbekistan and Russia.
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.
…Stan Kroenke is involved in sport and we have had constructive meetings with him. We have never been in better shape financially and do not want anybody to buy the club, but if Kroenke wanted to buy it he would understand it and how to maintain the standards. We have not met Usmanov, so I may be speaking prematurely, but he seems a different kettle of fish…’
Doesn’t PHW have business dealings in Uzbekistan too? Like I have said on here a number of times if AW was that powerful as some have been made to believe will he be sitting where he sat during the AGM
Another injury prone player for a load of dosh………
……..Arsenal are reportedly preparing a January bid for Lyon midfielder Yoann Gourcuff after having failed to land him last year.
The France international is thought to be a long-term target of Arsene Wenger’s with the Gunners boss having reportedly tracked the attacking midfielder over the past two years.
Wenger had previously said signing Gourcuff ‘is always tempting for a coach’ and now it seems his club Lyon are ready to let him go.
The French team are currently experiencing financial problems and their president Jean-Michel Aulas revealed last month they may have to let some of their star names leave.
‘We’re planning to sell two or three players for a total of €30million,’ Aulas said.
The president admitted Gourcuff could be one of those sold.
‘If he (Gourcuff) returns to the highest level and he wants to go, then there could be a transfer,’ he added.
Arsenal could face competition to sign the player from Italian Serie A giants AC Milan.
Our club never learns.
Or better still…………..the club DOES NOT WANT to learn.
Will tuesday see us get our 2nd ever win away from home in europe in 2 years
I must be old fashioned but in my day we didn’t even know who ran or owned Arsenal we didn’t even care all we knew was the current manager and the players. Personally i don’t care who owns what, all i know is that i keep hearing that we have a substantial amount of money and if the manager wants to use it he can, so to me that sounds that if we need a certain player for a certain position we make an offer and if its accepted we buy him that seems uncomplicated to me but then again i am just a football lover not a tycoon i feel that Wenger should realise that he is the manager and thats not bank manager.
Dev-Yoann is past his sell by date literally
It’s just really depressing to watch our club these days. 🙁 We have been a shambles for some years now. You want to be optimistic, and we do have amazing games when I feel like the real Arsenal is back; only to watch us put on a horror show against some mid-table team in our next match.
Hi agag, goonie was here last nite asking of you… 😀
No way Gourcuff is coming to Arsenal. I would have believed that 4 years ago… May have even wanted it. But at this point that would be ludicrous.
Hey Rico, any chance of getting a mobile site? Typing on The web version gives me hell on my mobile phone.
We could always swop him for Diaby ! Don’t want our medical staff to have time on their hands.
Hiya, tsGH. I caught up on the comments this morning. Goonie forgot to take his tranquilizers; he’s a bit of a madman, you must forgive him. He is also, van Crap now, I see. 😆 Best of luck to Clorinda.
Adonis he says 😀
Adonis… more like Adennis…!
Even the fact that Toure wants to join. I mean how many players see AFC as a stepping stone now to bigger teams?
We need a manager who makes AFC the END IN ITSELF for a player’s career, not the means towards an end somewhere else.
Surely, he can’t be 26?? 😀
Hola, WATH. You manning the House, I see. 🙂 SSP seems to be on the GG now, too. 😛 You’re a bad influence.
I am not a bad influence at all AGAG I merely advise…………. 😉
Yep left holding the fort while Madam Rico goes off galavanting and getting spoilt with dinner and goodies..!
🙂
Talking of which am hungry need a sarnie, back in a bit…!
Devil, our reputation as a a feeder club really rankles. I try positive about our direction; doing things right, etc., but we cannot keep on selling our best players and pretend everything is tiptop. Grrrr.
Julio Cesas, Qpr’r goalkeeper, said in a interview he was very close to sign from Arsenal last summer.
ok Our defense is not good but comparing to last year, we were better and I think taht at the moment we are the best of the League.
However, what was our ADN, and create many scoring opportunities from a flashy game, eventually. I care about me suffer 2, if we mark 4?
Yesterday, the game was lost with the expulsion of Wilshere (plus one out in the next game). I think AW should have it taken away instead of Ramsey.Withe AA and 11 against 11, I do not know if the result had been the same. We have 10 games and very few points. If we continue with this medium, we have not reached the 50 points!
Arsenal a big Club?
Someone is playing a big joke here.
A big club does not sell its best players.
A big club is the end itself not the means to the end.
A big club leaves its supporters satisfied.
A big club tries to win a cup at least every other year.
A big club does not let the contract of players run down so that they can leave when they want.
A big club is not accountable to any one. Rather everyone from the very top IS ACCOUNTABLE TO THE CLUB ITSELF.
The Owner, the directors, the CEO, the Manager, the coaching staff, the medical staff, the youth players, down to the ancillary staff are all accountable to the club itself.
At the moment the club does not have a soul. Until someone decides to work his arse off to give it one it will remain soulless. Its not even a small club. It is just a collection of many things put haphazardly together.
Its like the jigsaw pieces are put together in a bag, but not yet forming a picture.
Hi HH.
devil said,”eeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhh?????????
gdna….you got a touch of the sun?
you seem a changed man from yesterday!!!”
You beat me to it.
you’ve hit the nail on the head agag. When AW goes on about being having with the influence he has had on ex-players.
JM, while we may have conceded the least number of goals; we just are not creating enough chances. We have no back-up plans. All we do is tippy tappy about.
Nash, 😀 Good for gdna who seems to have somewhat “recovered”.
@nash lol. I want the club to win a trophy but the squad is not that bad as the media and other have it to be, we just missing the little extra in midfield, i’m praying AW go for M’vila in Jan because the media turns him into a bad player overnight, the tempo of his play and athleticism will give our midfield the energy to be creative.
I pray Kroenke’s private pilot is a Gooner and has seen this vid. 😉
@gunnerdna, now you’re talking.
Even though I hate him (RVP), the more we play the more I miss him and Song.
We do not need this player or that.
The club needs a personality who can thrash the club into shape.
Like Cantona did to Manure players.
Like Keane did to those around him.
Like Souness used to do for the dippers.
Like TA06 and PV04 used to do for us.
Love them or hate them no one can deny that they had the personality and leadership.
agag, we must changing the way how we playing. We do not optimize the qualities of each player
With RVP and Song we were not different Nash.
We were still without our soul.
We have been soul less since AW started dismantling the invincibles and started tearing the club apart wanting to create the AW dynasty. Sadly I feel he is failing and does not want to accept it.
@dev i won’t even comment on rvp and song they burn their bridges and in life u can’t succeed doing that, i will never forgive them, i don’t even remember which team he use to represent. If we had rosicky, diaby, gibbs and scz fit we would be in a better position, i know that for sure. I analyse this team from first game of the season and i know we are right up there with the media big 3 of the epl, we just lack the extra 15% to be at the top, remember Ivan said AW is a brave man. lol
Devil
May I add Cygan and Senderos to your list of name the shame?
Afternoon everyone. Off for a bit back laters. Need to revive my happy go lucky mojo after reading the comments. Mia madre, Rai Uno la fiction con Arsenal.
devil, with RVP in front you always have the feeling that the goal will come. With Song, there is always that last minute killer pass to make the difference. But with Giroud, the feeling is just not there.
but we are still without a leader, without a rudder and without a soul gdna.
@dev i agree, probably we need to keep more of the senior players and stop pushing the out the club when they reach 30 yrs of age, we need to give sagna a new contract asap
Ginger, AW cannot live forever on past glories. It is his responsibility to build a team with winning mentality again.
I hate RvP now only because I loved him before. 😉 Much like a romance gone wrong. Lol lol. Song, I don’t really miss. They are both, sadly, just mercenaries.
JM, I have no idea why Santos is in the starting eleven. He needs to work on his fitness, first.
Dutch, what an awful man that “Patrick” is. 😯 Hiya. Howdy?
I see players like Milito and Drogba.
Drogba used to destroy teams single handedly. He did it to us and to Barca.
Yesterday Milito destroyed Juve by himself. And both are over 34.
And both won the CL.
We need someone like that. Sadly we have no one who can destroy the opposition in the same manner that Drogba used to destroy ours.
He even mauled Senderos for life.
Neither TH14 ever managed to do that to the opposition.
TH14 used to kill you swiftly and you did not know what hit you.
Drogba used to stick the knife in slowly to make sure you knew you were dying and helpless to prevent it before he cut off your head.
@dev ur funny, we want a drogba…lol
Salary
http://arsenaltruth.squarespace.com/arsenal-truth/2012/11/4/arsenals-1434m-wage-bill-exposed.html?
I am being serious gdna.
We do need personalities like that.
SAdly we do not.
……have them anymore
Last February, I gave estimated figures of Arsenal’s wage bill, citing the huge amount of money Wenger had wasted on (a) flops, and (b) overpaid youngsters he couldn’t get off the wage bill.
My overall assessment was that, contrary to popular opinion, Arsenal’s failure to compete with the heavy spenders in the Premier League has nothing to do with how much money is available for Wenger to spend, rather how he chooses to spend the considerable resources made available to him.
Yet, while the sum total of my wage bill estimate added up mathematically, the breakdown lacked accuracy and I’ve long been meaning to perfect it. So, armed with further information, and access to Arsenal’s full year accounts, the below update should be a little more accurate an estimate of how Arsenal’s £143.4m wage bill is currently made up.
FIRST TEAM WAGE (pwk) WAGE (pyr)
Lukas Podolski £107,000 £5,564,000
Tomas Rosicky £80,000 £4,160,000
Andrey Arshavin £75,000 £3,900,000
Santi Carzorla £70,000 £3,640,000
Mikel Arteta £70,000 £3,640,000
Thomas Vermaelen £70,000 £3,640,000
Theo Walcott £60,000 £3,120,000
Per Mertesacker £60,000 £3,120,000
Olivier Giroud £60,000 £3,120,000
Gervinho £60,000 £3,120,000
Bacary Sagna £60,000 £3,120,000
Marouane Chamakh £60,000 £3,120,000
Andre Santos £60,000 £3,120,000
Jack Wilshere £60,000 £3,120,000
Abou Diaby £60,000 £3,120,000
Nicklas Bendtner £50,000 £2,600,000
Sebastien Squillaci £50,000 £2,600,000
Denilson £50,000 £2,600,000
Johan Djourou £50,000 £2,600,000
Laurent Koscielny £50,000 £2,600,000
Aaron Ramsey £50,000 £2,600,000
Lukasz Fabianski £50,000 £2,600,000
Wojciech Szczesny £50,000 £2,600,000
Ju Young Park £50,000 £2,600,000
Kieran Gibbs £50,000 £2,600,000
Vito Mannone £20,000 £1,040,000
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain £20,000 £1,040,000
Carl Jenkinson £20,000 £1,040,000
Emmanuel Frimpong £20,000 £1,040,000
Ryo Miyaichi £15,000 £780,000
Francis Coquelin £15,000 £780,000
Ignasi Miquel £10,000 £520,000
Joel Campbell £10,000 £520,000
£85,384,000
RESERVES
Alex Iwobi £500 £26,000
Alfred Mugabo £500 £26,000
Anthony Jeffrey £500 £26,000
Arinse Uade £500 £26,000
Austin Lipman £500 £26,000
Benik Afobe £500 £26,000
Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill £500 £26,000
Chuba Akpom £500 £26,000
Chuks Aneke £500 £26,000
Conor Henderson £500 £26,000
Craig Eastmond £500 £26,000
Damian Martinez £500 £26,000
Daniel Boateng £500 £26,000
Deyan Iliev £500 £26,000
Elton Monteiro £500 £26,000
Glen Kamara £500 £26,000
Hector Bellerin £500 £26,000
Nicholas Yennaris £500 £26,000
Isaac Hayden £500 £26,000
Jack Jebb £500 £26,000
James Shea £500 £26,000
Jernade Meade £500 £26,000
Jon Toral £500 £26,000
Jordan Wynter £500 £26,000
Josh Rees £500 £26,000
Josh Vickers £500 £26,000
Kristoffer Olsson £500 £26,000
Kyle Ebecilio £500 £26,000
Leander Siemann £500 £26,000
Martin Angha £500 £26,000
Nigel Neita £500 £26,000
Philip Roberts £500 £26,000
Reice Charles-Cook £500 £26,000
Samir Bihmoutine £500 £26,000
Samuel Galindo £500 £26,000
Sanchez Watt £500 £26,000
Sead Hajrovic £500 £26,000
Serge Gnabry £500 £26,000
Tarum Dawkins £500 £26,000
Thoma Eisfeld £500 £26,000
Tom Dallison £500 £26,000
Wellington £500 £26,000
Zachari Fagan £500 £26,000
Zak Ansah £500 £26,000
£1,144,000
FIRST TEAM STAFF
Manager
Arsène Wenger £135,000 £7,020,000
Assistant to Manager
Steve Bould £10,000 £520,000
Boro Primorac £10,000 £520,000
Coach
Gerry Peyton £1,500 £78,000
Neil Banfield £1,500 £78,000
Tony Colbert £1,500 £78,000
Tony Roberts £1,500 £78,000
Paul Johnson £1,000 £52,000
Marcus Svensson £1,000 £52,000
James Collins £1,000 £52,000
Ben Knapper £1,000 £52,000
David Wales £1,000 £52,000
Physio/Medical
Colin Lewin £1,500 £78,000
Gary O’Driscoll £1,500 £78,000
Simon Harland £1,500 £78,000
Kieran Hunt £1,500 £78,000
Darren Page £1,500 £78,000
Danny Flitter £1,000 £52,000
Kit
Vic Akers £1,000 £52,000
Paul Akers £1,000 £52,000
Scouting
Steve Rowley £1,500 £78,000
Gilles Grimandi £750 £39,000
Tony Banfield £750 £39,000
Danny Karbassiyoon £750 £39,000
Sandro Orlandelli £750 £39,000
Pablo Budner £750 £39,000
Everton Gushiken £750 £39,000
Bobby Bennett £750 £39,000
Francis Cagigao £750 £39,000
Jurgen Kost £750 £39,000
Peter Clarke £750 £39,000
£9,646,000
RESERVES STAFF
Liam Brady £10,000 £520,000
David Court £1,000 £52,000
Roy Massey £1,000 £52,000
Terry Burton £1,000 £52,000
Steve Gatting £1,000 £52,000
Lee Smelt £1,000 £52,000
Carl Laraman £1,000 £52,000
Steve Leonard £1,000 £52,000
Craig Gant £1,000 £52,000
Dennis Rockall £1,000 £52,000
Lewis Manning £1,000 £52,000
Richard Goddard £1,000 £52,000
Alastair Thrush £1,000 £52,000
Kwame Ampadu £1,000 £52,000
£13,468,000
BOARD
Ivan Gazidis £39,423 £2,049,996
Stanley Kroenke £25,000 £1,300,000
Ken Friar OBE £10,980 £570,960
Peter Hill-Wood £1,500 £67,000
Sir Chips Keswick £480 £24,960
£4,012,916
OTHER COSTS
Pension/social security £300,000 £15,600,000
Other staff £275,000 £14,300,000
Total £2,524,883 £143,554,916
Some of the wages of certain players are criminal.
Aneke goal
Imo Marouane Chamakh at £60,000 pw £3,120,000 on free transfer was good business initially, but he has become a flop. At that time when he signed he was hot property.
Sagna on £60pw is a disgrace. The guy never gives less than 120% in every match.
liverpool o Newcastle 1 (Cabaye)
Why those wages?
I really on’t understand why Wenger keeps picking Ramsey. For the past 5 years I’ve been pulling my hair out everytime he starts Denilson, and the same thing is happening when Ramsey starts. He offers nothing except bursting runs which sadly end up to nothing most of the time
Evening everyone – just off to catch up….
I’d have Drogba at Arsenal in a flash
devil – 3.37 – spot on!
Could Capoue be that man?
This Ramsey hating is becoming boring now! At least he gives 100%. He might not be most peoples fave SC19 but at least he tries to be adventurous. Yesterday he kept The LHS on manure quiet but still people choose to ppick on him. Jeez
What does Carrick do for man u too?
Lee, being the smug toad I am, I too have said we are losing what Arteta brings to our attack. Playing him where we are is not right….
I can’t join in the Ramsey bashing either, not all the time he is being asked to play where he is being played…
…
😆 😆 😆 :lol
Arsenal have launched a report to the Football Association over referee Mike Dean’s behaviour during half-time of Saturday’s match against Manchster United.
In a case similar to the Chelsea vs Clattenburg issue last week, the Gunners have lodged a strong complaint to the FA, claiming that Mike Dean used inappropriate language towards one of their players – believed to be Andre Santos – calling the Brazilian a “footballer”. A spokesman of the club claims Santos admitted to overhearing the referee scream “Andre, you footballer!” as the players entered the Old Trafford tunnel during the break.
The words from Dean appeared to have seriously offended marketing agent Santos who had successfully collected Robin van Persie’s shirt to fulfill the request of Ivan Gazidis as the Arsenal chief executive plans to sell the jersey on ebay to gather more profits for the club’s board.
super dev. lmao.
Hi Rico.
Very good devil 🙂
Hi Tsgh….
Rico….did you read my son’s reply to how a prime minister is elected?
rico, don’t think it’s been mentioned, but didn’t Ramsey only come off early because of a groin injury, if so he could be on the sidelines for a while yet.
Santos is getting murdered today but he was by far and away our best attacker on the pitch, only problem was he was our left back, either he’s got a free licence to roam by Wenger or a big lack of discipline.
Tsgh, you like a stat or two, since we last won the league back in 2003/4 we have played United on 21 occassions and won only 3, pretenders or contenders.
Wenger comes out afterwards and says we had the better chances in the game, we had our first shot on target in the 93rd minute, someone stick a rocket up his arse, he must think we’ve all just got off the banana boat.
A boring sunday. Too much doom this days. The fans are not helping either which is understandable but, it is not making things better especially when you hear that our players hate playing at home due to the negative atmosphere.People like AW will come and go so I will rather get behind this team and if it is 4th we get so be it because if we drop out of the CL next year we will finished.
Tsgh, it’s a two way street re playing at home.
Not yet devil, been a bit busy since getting home, haven’t read all yet…
Thanks Micko, I didn’t know that Ramsey suffered injury, re Santos, that’s what we get when we sign left wingers who can also play left back. When was the last time we actually singed a left back, whoc could defend properly?
Slyvinho?
Better chances, what, tiddlywinks after the game??
Its a vicious circle Tsgh, if Wenger gets the team playing better then the fans will feel better, but what really is there to shout about right now?
It’s a shame the team don’t like playing at home but you could see yesterday and at Norwich how much better they are away.
Nothing really. And I with you its a two way street.
Just read it devil, dear little soul 😉
Bring Denilson back…
😮 Kev
Its hard when the big players go missing every big game. That has been the history of AW really with players like Suker and TH14 not turning up when it matters and as usually we always turned on the hard workers like Gilberto and Wiltord.
Some will say I am being unfair again but TH14 never scored in a final for us whilst players we use to boo like kanu scored in big games.
allez, Arsenal is similar to Sporting…
Neither home nor away. They do not like to play. All they want is to pick their paycheck and go home.
Rico, you say we need a change in tactics, attitude and approach, I don’t think we need to call Columbo in for this one, it’s staring us in the face.
exactly like s lisbon very true
SANTOS IS A LEGEND!!!
https://twitter.com/Lagvilava7/status/265151374298329088/photo/1/large
Tsgh – not all of us booed kanu, Wiltord and Gilberto though….
Nor do I Micko, in fact I honestly believe a few people on HH could sort those three issues out tomorrow….
No wonder Santos is slow emma, he shouldn’t be eating fish and chips!
Bring back Bendtner
The away fans were phenomenal at Reading, I think they were a big part in that fightback,and they were amazing again yesterday, and probably a big part in Santi’s goal. There are big problems at Arsenal but surely it’s better if fans support the team. A full stadium of “We love you Arsenal” could be alternated with “We want our Arsenal back”. Loud and clear.
Conformation if we ever needed it Emma, Santos doesn’t do salads.
I’m going Mental
And we are also going through the face Ajax, Real Barca and Dortmond went through 10years ago.
In facr we are just like Dortmong 8 years ago until they made a change and hit the jackpot 3 years ago. On the otherhand Klopp is openingly criticised by his own players for playing tactics they have never trialled in training so…
Bring back Merlin
I was wondering what he was up to, santos is a champ!
Tsgh, don’t remember Kanu getting boo-ed, wasn’t he 44 when he joined us, always be remembered for that great hattrick against Chelsea, fooking brilliant.
rico – wrong diet. He doesn’t look fit. He needs to shed some weight. and AW should know he is not a LB 🙂
Sack Wenger…
Give the job to Smudge
It’s the traffic, I can’t take anymore…
Evening Rico
😛 Kev…
Is that santos photo for real though, if so, then yes, it’s funny…
Smudge would bring in David Essex as his number two.
Kanu would have loved playing today Micko, his kind of weather for a hat-trick… I loved him….
And how can we not love Wiltord, oh the days at OT were better back then….
Evening Kev…
Bring back Alliallialliadiare….
ha ha ha Rico you booing. You are too posh for that. lol
Did you guys notice how vindictive rednose is by stating our jack was warned by Dean for fouling RIP when it was a lie.
Where is smudge, i’m off 😉
Good point Vonnie, but that wouldn’t get noticed, mind you, I doubt anything negative would get noticed.
Don’t you believe it Tsgh, I am just polite on here… 😉
I think jack was warned after his tackle on RvP wasn’t he?
To be fair a lot of the better players hand over their shirts at half time and again at the end of the game, see it more in the tournaments, just not a good idea to do it in full view of the camera’s, would have been much more pleasant viewing seeing Santos kicking RvP’s arse up in the air for the 90 minutes yesterday.
42 after a heart attack. micko. he lived on Nigerian guiness and he could score when we kicked off at 12:45pm .lol
Agree again Micko, in fact I can’t believe none of our players took him out yesterday, fairly of course….
lmao Rico. Like they say its the posh birds you have to be scared off.
We all know we need a change but can the board be trusted to appoint a decent manager or someone who will be a yes man?
Don’t forget the size 13 boots Tsgh, remember him scoring a winner for us at Shite Hart Lane as well, happy days.
Enjoy the rest of your evening guys, over and out.
I agree Rico, most sensible comment I’ve read on here all day… 😉
Enter Joey Barton.
He will soon kick Santos into shape. And some of our stars for that matter. Maybe even AW and IG themselves will be licking their arses soon with him around.
Ah, that is the million dollar question Tsgh, the board would poop their pants if another manager came in and demanded money…. which they would…
Night Micko…
😆 Kev
Smudge ‘Rocks’….
That’s it, I’ve had enough.
See all you Mental Gooners lata… 😀
And that includes you too Scott because you’re more Mental than anyone on ‘ere…
Morning Lee… 😉
bring back Hankin and Hayes.
Where is Barton these days devil, France?
Bring back Alan Sunderland. 😉
Night Rico.. 🙂
Hey Coach…. 😆
Coach you’re bloody mental 😛
Gone now…
Last I heard was in france 2nd division. lol
Joking apart now.
The problem with AW is that he wants to have the same influence and dynasty that Cruyff had with Barca. As you all are aware, Cruyff is the modern founding father of the Tiqui taka style. But having players like Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc, Piquet, etc is one thing and having our players is another.
The thing is…..since 1996 Barca have had more managers than I have fingers while AFC have had AW. And we know how many trophies we can compare with each other.
It will take around a whole post to list all Barca’s achievements. Ours would take just a paragraph or two. With the exception of the 2004 season.
Infact we have more 2nd place and 4th place trophies than the real tin pots.
Getting Gourcuff in January that’ll sort everything out….you seriously couldn’t make this shit up! Might as well get Owen Hargreaves as well……
Night Kev – mentalist 🙂
cu habib.
I am just trying to make myself smile today.
I am in a black mood wishing I could kill someone. Anyone infact.
So a little bit of humour is needed.
Enjoy habib. Hope you are ok. Take care.
I just got off the phone with Mark Gonnella and he said Sir Alex Ferguson had an agreement with AFC to make yesterdays match a testimonial to pay back some of the £24m we initially thought we were mugging MUFC off through the sale of RIP.
The agreement was confidently signed by AFC because everyone at the club expected RIP to be crocked by now but unfortunately his visits to Romanian brothels is paying dividends. 😀
Lee Owen Hargreaves could be the new Lothar Matthaus.lol
Where he deserves to be then devil, but we could do with someone with his commitment, just not his attitude..
And we should have got Michael Owen Lee 🙄 Evening…
Dev very true re Cruyff. He is Cruyff without the heart condition.
On a serious note Cruyff was also sacked for doing the never ending experiment. He started with turning Pep from a RW to a holding midfielder and he thought he could turn Rivaldo into Zico
I want to see us get Capoue, Swarzer or similar and Sakho…
At least…
I want Belhanda and Huntelaar. But we will probably get Cabaye and Sow
We’ll get Henry Tsgh and that will be it…..
I am with you there. Especially since he seem to be the 2nd hottest striker in the world at the moment. Maybe third, or fourth or tenth.lol
Ha ha…
Bring back Ivan ‘El Terrible Bam Bam’ Zamorano. That’s a personality who played with a knife between his teeth.
Never heard of him Dg….
Well,for the moment it will be very interesting win next Tuesday…
Hi DG
Shalke JM, another horrid 90 mins i fear….
If only Arsenal fans were like Columbians…
Rico I’m attacking my Bami Foe Yong Hai. Chinese vegetarian dish. 😉
In short Ivan the Terrible = Falcao now.
the wheels fell off for Juve last night so at least we can still boast of having the longest unbeaten run…
Schalke lost last night too.
I have ried to put a positive not on the season thus far but to be honest having the same points as Fat Sam is a disgrace
I have tried…
Sounds lovely Dg 🙂
ok guys. I shall call it a night.
Tsgh – the only thing I have enjoyed in the PL is beating the dippers and hammers away….
Sure was Rico. Love Asian food.
Devil is right in his assessment we do need a slayer of legions!!!
Ginge that Colombian goalie sure had a pair on him. Remember a international ended up being assassinated over the team’s early exit out of the WC. Believe his name was Valderama (spelling).
Protest – and I mean lets get it co-ordinated get the supporters groups involved, the bloggers, fansites, Norwich home game, send a clear a decisive message to the board and wenger to get their shit sorted. Look at what FC United did, when protesting against the Glaziers, we have been silenced too long by the In Arsene We Trust brigade
this is our club, not theirs
Nite Ginge.
Nite Tsgh…
I do too DG, the spicier the better 🙂
We certainly need a beast in our squad, someone who will put an end to all this niceness we have. Thats half our problem these days…
But when it came down to it Gboy, would all the blogs etc stand together….
I don’t think so…. But if anything like that is organised, HH would certainly support it. As long as it’s sensible and constructive and not just a load of slagging off people at the club….
Catholic choir boys Rico.
I’m off too. I have hard time being arsed to string together sentences on all things Arsenal concerned at the moment. Although I enjoyed reading HH regulars view on it today.
Goonerboy
Why not collectively turn our backs on the lot for ten minutes. A protest poznan sort of speak. Or smuggle a few boxes Kleenex inside and start waving our grievance like they do in Spain. You need the cameras these days to get mass and momentum.
I too am now heading off for the day, Downton Abbey is my Sunday night and tonight is the last one 🙁 🙁
Night all, ‘Til tomorrow….
Nighty DG and I agree, sleep well…
DG10. Escobar was the one who was killed because his own goal sent them home. Valderama was more known for his superb curly blonde afro… Besides his silky midfield play.
Goonerboy you could always start with the BSM march before the Swansea game.
Tnx Will
Got it mixed up. Today’s been a lazy event. Shutting down the entire brain functionality. 😉
rico, Downton Abbey you say, there’s only so many flat chested women one man can take, they obviously didn’t have boob jobs back then.
Tsgh 7.42, we have our own barrio just around the corner from us in N17, only the natives there specialise in fire bombing their High Street and robbing 50″ plasma tv’s to justify their sad existence whenever the opportunity arises.
I love downton abbey
I love chicken soup
I love roast chicken
I love chicken curry
I love chicken and chips
I love chickens that go mental.
I love Nigerian Guiness, with chickens
Good night Gooners, and of course chickens
Morning all….well,evening here.
Apparently Evra is accusing Jack of “going after him”……..shame he missed!!
Tony Adams has stated that Arsenal can’t win trophies because they keep selling their best players.
And he wonders why he can’t get a gig managing!!
Fair dinkum…..that would have to be the most obvious comment i have ever read!!!
On Jacks sending off,which i believe was deserved,Wenger did make a great point.
Jack was told once more and he is off in clear range of several players.
Wengers point is when a ref does this,it is quite obvious any challenge involving the warned player will have opponents making the most of the opportunity.
Very amateurish…very Deans.
Morning Scott and all…
This article should never have been printed, typical DM !!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2227900/Arsene-Wenger-deserves-respect-offensive-songs–Ian-Ladyman.html
There are people everywhere who have no class at all.
Morning Rico.
That is a disgrce….from both sides of the fence.
Imho:
Evra is wrong
Adams is right
Wenger should have taken Jack off after the RvP tackle which he got away with…. and no way did Evra dive…
Funny way of praising the man in his article eh Scott….
Shearer has felt the need to have his say.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4626979/Alan-Shearer-column-on-Arsene-Wenger.html
And Wenger admits any title hope is miles away….
Well do something about that please Mr Wenger….
Rico,if he took Jack off,we had no chance.
I reckon it was worth the risk.
Adams is right,but everyone on the planet has already said exactly the same thing.
That journo must have been desperate for a story.
How many of these so called pundits are failed managers i wonder?
How many would not have the balls to even try management?
It is like bagging a boxer,yet not having the balls to step into the ring.
I don’t know….it really is too easy from the outside.
If i stood at a ground and was called a paedophile,i would jump the fence and plant one on the big mouth!!
How would a persons family feel about it?
The arseholes should be locked up.
We had no chance anyway Scott, but now we miss Jack for the next three matches don’t we, or is it just one as two yellows?
Wenger says he thought about subbing Jack, shame he didn’t think harder….
That’s the problem though, everyone will carry on saying that until things change, they are just telling the truth and it hurts most fans.
Shame it doesn’t seem to hurt those at the club who can change things….
I used to think that about the pundits but, all they are doing is what they are employed for and asked about.
In fact they are doing no different than most fans, and they are saying what most of us think.
What I despise are the pundits who still slate us after winning well. Not that that happens much these days….
Rico,it is exactly why i do not buy a newspaper,or take much notice of the news.
Every article is merely someobodies opinion,and i form my own.
Rico,if he has subbed Jack,every Gooner alive would’ve questioned it.
It wold have been a sign of resignation that we could not win the game…….is that really what you wanted to see?
No,he did the right thing,but it backfired.
I reckon he did the right thing,anyway.
Micko – 🙂 re Downton…
Nt, me too and Kev, you wait til my chickens meet you 😉
Maybe you are right Scott, we would have all thought he’d gone daft, it’s easy after the event. But sometimes it’s easy to see that players are close to the mark and Wenger did too….
Fergie saw it with Cleverley but then they weren’t chasing the game…
Have to pop off now, won’t be long but new post will be up around 9.30…
morning all…
Rico,when he took Ox off last season,his reasoning was the medical staff had told Wenger that he was fit and healthy enough to play x (60 odd??) amount of minutes,and acted accordingly…..we all remember what happened then.
Very tough decision on the day.
TSGH…how goes it mate?
it seems arsene doesnt take to corrections of others,especially his deputies. we started well in our first 3 games,but immediately diaby had injury,things started going down.Pls tell our manager to give plan b a chance,then dont experiment with players.Ramsey is not a winger nor arteta is defensive mid/f. also, millions of supporters are dying bcos of all these heartbroken excuses all d time. For past 4 to 5 years now, i have to bring drugs along whenever im about to watch our game,why?. Arsenal DNA.
I think Wengers tactics are all wrong, I honestly can’t understand why Wenger insists on playing a 4-3-3, its a formation of ours that Fergie among other teams and managers have exploited time and time again. I can’t believe what has become of our rivalry with United, we are just a joke to them these days and really pains me in the gut to say this but every time we play united at OT i never feel as if we can get a result. I’ve always felt we could do well against the likes of Chelsea, City, Pool, and Spurs but not United for the longest of times. Thats basically down to the fact Wenger has gotten it wrong for the past 4-5 years. 4-3-3 does not suit our players as well, I think Podolski would be much better playing up front alongside Giroud than he is at left wing. As a striker myself I can tell you that tracking back is not one of our strong suits and it certainly isnt for the majority of professional strikers as they’re game is developed differently along the years and they gain a different skill set than say midfielders would. Wenger loves talking about efficiency but how can he expect Podolski to perform efficiently on the wing? The same way if you rearranged your cars engine with different components that perform different tasks how can you expect it to perform efficiently? The other major flaw with wengers formation is playing ramsey a cm at rm, that is not his best position and that immediately disturbs the teams balance because Sagna is left alone to bomb up and down the right wing against the opposition teams lm and lb. Why not play Walcott there? I know he had a tiresome midweek game but he is in great form at the moment and would’ve exposed Evra’s recent defensive frailties the same way Rafael and Valencia exposed Andre Santos’s defensive frailties. Its little details like that, that has Fergie winning his battles against Wenger and most other Managers recently as well. Everyone knows how to stop Arsene’s 4-3-3 now as we have seen in the 0-0 draws this season and the unexpected results from last season as well. I think its time to work on a new formation, something similar to a 4-2-2-1-1 where arteta and jack dictate play from cm formations, Cazorla on the left (same position he played for Villareal and Malaga) Theo, Chambo, or Gnabry on the right, Podolski as the CF and Giroud as the ST. In this formation I think the team has a better balance and we get players in their best positions as well, plus Cazorla and Podolski can keep switching Positions throughout to bamboozle defenses. Last part of the rant please give Arshavin a run of games I still have hopes for him he just has a confidence issue at the moment he needs to recover from
-End Rant