Just a quick one to say that I’m still pretty sick at the moment and won’t be able to post today. I’ll have a match preview and some words to say about William Gallas tomorrow.
Sorry for the inconvenience. Don’t blame me, blame my headache.
Have your say by leaving a comment.
Fulham Hull Sunderland Stoke Astonvilla Now, Manchestercity!!!
These are five worst performances I have watched Arsenal play.
I was laughing when some fools in this blog still believed Arsenal can still challenge for title.
Do you still believe in Wenger? Do you still believe in Almunia, Silvestre, Denilson, Diaby, Song…? If you do you are also fool. Those players cannot even play first team football at Hull/Fulham/Bolton.
Fact is: This team is the worst I have seen in 8 years and my older Arsenal fans say worst in 20 years. Fact is Arsenal are in crisis, not only in-pitch but also off-pitch. Now Gallas is sacked for speaking truth, is there one player who can lead this team. None. Cesc? He is not a leader at all and in this messy situation.
Fact is: No teams fear to play Arsenal anymore. Championship standard teams including Hull, Stoke, Fulham believe in outplaying Arsenal. Is this *fucking serious. Oh, hell yeah’.
Fact is: Both Wenger and Board do not have any ambition at all. We do not have even one, yes one leader in the whole squad and half of our squad players are championship standard.
It’s *ucking unbelievable to understand Arsenal has same wage bill like ManUtd’s. Are we paying bollocks of wages to all those shite players?
For Wenger; It’s time to get *ucking serious or just *uck off right now. Arsenal is not a place to do experiment for *ucking five years and counting. But Wenger believes he is not under pressure. Come on man. I don’t want him to leave right now but I want him to be serious about Arsenal’s future and he needs to get an Ultimatum. No more Excuses. No more Lies. No more Fallacies. Your players with “spirit, character, quality and class” has already shown how they are with worst 6 performances in two decades.
*uck you.
what a disgrace!!!!!! 15yrs of watching arsenal and never have i ever felt worried bout the club! does wenger n the board think we are happy with 4th place? Its good to see young talent been developed but at what cost??? New year new experienced players capable of winning us a game and hopfully silverware!!!! dead wood out.
We NEED 4th place now and some signings will have to be made just to do so… I say sell Gallas if we arent going t keep him AND sell Adebayor to Real and start looking to bring in some change. Only playersI would keep are Cesc, RVP, Nasri, Rosicky, Eduardo, Sagna. Everyone else should feel worried IMO
Damnit Arsenal, what the f*ck is wrong with you??? I cant believe what i saw. This i unf*ckingbelievable. I give up, i dont know what to do or say anymore!
@ ramugunner
I think you said it perfectly. The point you made about Wenger not feeling like he is under pressure, i REALLY hope fans that go to games start to boo Wenger, so he starts feeling the pressure. Also put pressure on the board. Show more ambition, sign at least a few world class players or get the fuck out. Sell the club and let others who want to win come in and take over. I would only fancy two players on this whole squad being world class. Eduardo and Fabregas. The rest are fuckin shit and im tired of Wenger policy of develope youth over bringin in star players. That is the attitude of a league championship side. We are in real danger of finishing 5,6 or 7th this season with these muppets we have on this team
I’ve never been so ashamed in my life! EVER!!! What a bloody disgrace!!!
Wenger keeps saying he has the quality to win something, BLOODY SHOW US IT THEN, he has to sign world class players in Jan, he has the money so spend it!! Luis Fabiano, Lisandro Lopez, Lucho Gonzalez, Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, Alex Souza, Christian Zapata, all are good players that can play well for us, SIGN APPIAH NOW TOO
Gibbs im right there with you.. Speechless. How we lose two game in a row, to teams we should beat, without scoring a goal is beyond me. This is not the Arsenal we love. Djourou was the only one who looked like he cared, but he cannot do it alone and unfortunately for him he was. These players, Bendnter, Denilson in particular but not limited to them, are a disgrace to Arsenal football.
Does anybody see a way out after todays game? <y perspective, with Walcott’s injury and all the kids attitudes to handle, Wenger is practically up against a stone wall..
1. GALLAS: Personally, i think the Gallas situation was as inevitability.. I think it shows in a couple of managerial decisions which Wenger has made.. Bendtner has been running around like a headless chicken for all the games hes started..
2. BENTDNER: How many chances would you want to give him? It was so obvious!! He could not read the game.. Nor did he ever have the ball in his position.. Vela appears to be confident in his approach to the game thus far.. why not give him a chance? You want to blood the kids why not Vela?
3. CAPTAINCY: Would you want to give the armband to a 21 year old Fabregas? I wouldnt.. You know the funniest name in the hat? Clichy!! With all due respect to Clichy.. hes had an absolutely brilliant season thus far.. but Clichy captaincy material? I do not think so.. But then.. you have no options! Another thing.. A democratic captaincy rolemodel is NOT an option.. not in this sport.. not in this league..
4. WENGER: I would love to dig into Wengers head.. I want to know why he started against Villa with the team that he did.. The 4-3-3-1 (1=headless chicken) worked against Man U cause they gave us the space.. and they gave us the space because they were confident of scoring.. little did they know that they would be forced against the wall.. Villa closed us down completely.. inspite of that when changed the formation he kept Bendtner on till the end or till it was too late? (??!)
3. THE FUTURE: I love Arsenal dearly.. and I believe in Wenger.. but Wenger is in a situation which has never been in before.. young professionals (current team) vs experienced seasoned international professionals (Bergkamp, Pires, Overmars etc etc), Immaturity vs Maturity, Inflated egos vs Practicality and the list goes on.. It will take Wenger a bit of time to weather this storm.. I forsee minor purchases in the Jan transfer window to ensure a Champions League position next year.. Come season end i forsee a revamp of the current team.. including the exit of a minimum of 3-4 players and Adebayor is top of my list of exits come summer..Wenger knows.. and next season is going to be Arsenal’s season..
@ EVH
Wenger doesn’t know shit! What you just said has been what people have been saying for 3, going on 4 seasons and yet season after season we have the same problems. “Wenger will fix it, Wenger will fix it”, well its been 4 seasons and obviously he HASNT fixed it, it appears its getting worse. The reality is, if Wenger stays in charge, he will not buy any experienced players we need in Jan or in the summer, he’ll stick to his, youth first policy (just like a league 1 team) and next season we will be having the same conversations about what the team needs. Only next season, Aston Villa and Man City will be building their teams stronger, so each season we will fall more and more behind until we are finally just an average team. THAT is the reality of having Wenger in charge with his childish stubbornness to change. He is like a penis.. he has a head, but no brain. He doesn’t comprehend what CHANGE means. Change to him is buying two 15 year olds instead of one. Enough with the fuckin youth policy its time to buy some adult, professional footballers.
Wenger may be up against a stone wall right now.. but dont forget, he is also the man that put up that stone wall, so i have no sympathy for him. He is the reason we have all these shit players.
Good way to be positive but Wengers history does not support what you have said. He is too stubborn to buy experienced, quality players. If he really tried to revamp the squad he would just add more 21 year olds at the oldest and we will be waiting 5 years to compete. No really young side has won the Premier League and they never will.
Hi, did u see how we were messed up today? Mancity 3 Arsenal 0. AW should just go before he destroys Arsenal and the hopes of millions of Nigerians and other Arsenal supporters worldwide!!! This man like I said last week has lost it.
Demetrio, i think you’re being too harsh on Wenger mate, i know your pissed off , im also pissed off, but this is a new beggining, this is the “post Gallas” era, mark my words, this was a blessing in disgise. We WILL thump Dynamo Kyiv on tuesday and we WILL beat Chelsea next week, and all will be forgiven!
Wow, i can’t believe i just said that!
@ Gibbs
I totally.. well half agree with you. I KNOW we will get something out of the Chelsea game! I dunno if it would be a win, but at least a draw. I would have liked Chelsea to have won today, because its rare Chelsea drop points in back to back weeks. BUT we are Arsenal! We do not lose 3 games in a row!! If we do there will be hell to pay!
As for Wenger.. I will not and have not been convinced that he is the man for the job anymore. there are plenty of great managers out there i think that can step in and do a better job building a team. Until i see Wenger win a title, i will not be convinced. He was a great manager when football was played the right way, before all these bastards injected there money into football. Wenger has not been able and have been too stubborn to adapt to the modern game of football. His youth policy will NEVER work. So even after Chelsea i will still never be on the Wenger fan club. He has a lot of proving he is as ambitious as the fans to get me on board with what he is doing.
But 100% agree that Gallas was shit and we’ll be better off. Djourou really didn’t have the best game, but then again Silvestre was complete shit so he didnt have much help. But I fancy Djourou taking over for Gallas. He made that wonderful stop on the line after tracking back and had very good moments. In my opinion he was the only player out there that looked like he wanted to win. Very promising.
@ Demetrio and Gibbs, this has been hard to swallow yet still not totally surprising, I do believe this game was the Gallas factor but we now go into the CL knowing a win would take us through. We have Cesc back and he may tack the captaincy, thats still a mystery to everyone. I think if we can beat Kyiv, we can get enough confidence to beat Chelsea to get a good run together. I think if AW doesnt get a trophy this season he should go, so I think he will try hard in the cup competitions.
WHY WHY WHY play hoyte in his 1st epl game against swp and robinio? why have bendtner in the team and vela on the bench without walcotts pace we needed vela. Why play denilson and leave ramsey on the bench again you can show me all the stats in the world but workrate is worth more than a couple of simple passes. Why can’t our defenders hoof the ball up field when it’s floating around with 10 secs of the 1st half remaining? Why the fuck can’t we score a goal is worrying me and now I really hope we win the cl to save wengers job because he has the plot but in all honesty I would only like adams or berkamp to take over but in a couple of years when the likes of ramsey, wilshere and vela are fully bloodied into the team.
Bendtner needs to be sold or something… He has no place at Arsenal IMO- Vela needs to be in there
Guys ease up I know WE all angry so was I but I had A sleep and looked at all the other results and they kinda went our way it would have been better if we won so we would have made up ground on the top three but it didnt happen.
It will change supportin a team U will have your ups and downs U cant think of winning EVERY SINGLE game the thing is we are going through A re-buildin phase and we just have to ride it out we are going through this but in time to come WE WILL BE ON TOP FOR A WHILE. Dont sack the players and DONT sack the COACH. Man U went through ti Liverpool went thrugh it and now its our turn, the fact is EPL is so competitive so all the so called easy beats arent the case anymore these games and teams are harder to play now and we will most likey loose more games but this is one of the things in SUPPORTIN YOUR TEAM and the GAME welcome to FOOTBALL PPL IT CAN BE REALLY HARD ON U.
DONT WORRY BOYZ WE WILL BE UP THERE AGAIN SOON.
GUNNER FOR LIFE
But BENDTHER has to goooooo!
@ Kurupt.
I respect what you are saying. But as you said:
“U cant think of winning EVERY SINGLE game”
Teams like Chelsea and Man U do think of winning every game. They have a winners mentality to them that they know that they can win every game. They don’t of course, but they have the right mind set. One thing, and the only thing i think Gallas was telling the truth about was we still don’t have that winners mentality.
@ jay-jay
I think you are dead on. If Wenger doesn’t win a trophy, and doesn’t change his policy of youth over experience, i think its time for him to go. 4 season’s of this is enough. No team with such a low average age is gonna win the title. Never have, never will. I don’t expect Arsenal to win anything but i do expect the board and Wenger to show A LOT more ambition for me to jump on the Wenger fan club. He needs to get rid of the shit players like Bendnter, Silvestre and bring in experienced players (25 and up) that are serious about winning and will give us that winners mentality.
Actually I thought Song did well for a defender asked to play midfield. The dissapointment is more on Denilson and Diaby. Here is another example of why Denilson is just not gd enough. Had some good SIDEWAYpasses but can’t even be bothered to track back. Diaby didn’t even have an ounce of conviction, when is this guy ever gonna step up. If anyone starts to say these guys are young I beg to differ because Denilson and Diaby has been brought to AFC 2 season ago. I can’t really blame Gavin, he tried his best and he was schooled by Robinho, it was more of Diaby not bothering to track back and generally the players taking a touch too many. I hope this bring Arsene down to earth and realise the mistake he made. Stop calling these players youngsters they have been at Arsenal for a while now. They are overpaid and untill Arsene buy somebody else, they know their places are safe. Even Reyes, Helb played with more desire than these fakers. They talk in the press about how young they are etc etc and they have the quality to step up but when its on the pitch, it’s a different story. They look like they’re going to cry everytime Man City launches a counterattack. We can’t even break down a defence of Richard Dunne and Richards. Denilson was getting robbed off the ball by Ireland. Funny thing Denilson’s physique is bigger than Ireland. Look at Ireland, that’s a player that step up to the plate when given the chance untill the likes of Haman or Elano has no place in the city midfield. There’s no competition at Arsenal therefore these players take their places for granted because the boss did not shake things up by purchasing players that could threaten their position, (at least in the cm position). Wenger has to start now, if he still wants to go on with the ‘youth’ experience, put in Randall, Ramsey, and Vela espacially since the Carling cup kids are the only players at Arsenal that seem to play the one touch passing Arsene so majestically advocates. What’s there to lose, the chances we finish fourth is unlikely judging by the performances since day one, and it’s not even December. It’s a painful transition but it’s what we supporters have to endure and keep on believing that the youth experiment turns out fruitful soon. If it dosen’t, well that’s football for you.
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Credit: Respects Highbury*
Dear Lord. I have no idea what more to add? Look it is simple. You have all touched on the deluge of problems here. Arsene Wenger’s team selections are now approaching the stage when you know what you are going to get by glancing at the team-sheet.
Once I saw the names of Song, Diaby and Almunia then I knew the game was up. This is without mentioning Gavin Hoyte who was thrown to the lions. Up against Robinho? Lordy…
Too many problems to sift through but in short: the club is approaching true turmoil, make no mistake. In-fighting and a severe lack of quality. People talk about the ‘players we have out’ as if this is some excuse for incompetence.
Chelski went to Boro with eight first-teamers out and won 5-0. Enough of the excuses. We had most of our team out against Stoke, Hull and Fulham and were embarrassed. BnT touched upon it and the fact is that Arsene Wenger’s ineptitude has cost us too many matches. Look at the Spuds game. We lose all shape and everything is shoehorned in a desperate attempt to salvage something.
Arsene Wenger’s inability to admit to the problems is Arsenal’s biggest problem. How is our wage bill comparable with United’s? I think our whole financial and contracts department needs to be fired if they think that using the fans’ money to pay the likes of Song and Almunia and Diaby £40k a week.
I agree Bendtner was shocking today, absolutely abysmal Again: why has it come to the fact that Arsenal fans are relying on a 21 year-old and a 20 year-old as our principle beacons of hope? Fabregas and Bendtner? Is Rooney United’s saviour? Nope. Is Kalou Chelski’s saviour? Nope.
Wenger harps on about youth but is letting them down in so many ways it is untrue. Remember when he chucked Armand Traore to the lions of Seville? He was so shot and never recovered. How about that FA Cup match at Old Trafford? Was that fair on the young players he threw in there? How about the Spuds in the Carling Cup?
Then the likes of Vela are continually marginalized. Wenger insist that signing youth would ‘prevent the growth of the younger players’ but releases the hapless Senderos – only to bring in the even more ridiculous and past-it Silvestre. Paradox?
Where is the discipline? How can he strip Gallas of the captaincy to merely hand it over to a player who is going to command no respect, due to the fact that he has no idea of what it takes to win and never played international football in his life? How can a manager who has had Patrick Vieira and Tony Adams talk about on-field leadership ‘not being that important’?
Wenger’s post-match bizarreness is making a mockery of the fans. I have a good mate who traveled up there today and almost committed road-rage when he heard Wenger’s post-match shenanigans. This is my biggest bone of contention.
It takes a real man to hold his hands up and admit he has gotten it wrong. Wenger refuses to admit.
The other thing is the fans and expectations. People are quick to point to ‘remember when we were shit’. Yes I do actually. And I do not want us to return to that. Football like much in life is supposed to encompass gradual evolution and progression.
Arsenal football club are a massive club, they are huge. We are only 4 league titles off United’s all-time haul and could have dominated post-Invincibles had the manager had enough ambition and foresight to strengthen a winning team. Yet some people are all too willing to make excuses for the unacceptable. Losing 3-0 at Citeh is unacceptable.
Losing in excess of a third of your league game sis unacceptable. Talking about ‘dominating’ before the season starts and then losing to virtually every team you cannot be arsed to turn up against is unacceptable. Arsenal have not lost to Hull, Stoke and Fulham because these teams were better. Arsenal lost because there is no discipline or leadership and the collective attitude is shocking. The manager does not command the full respect of his pampered youngsters.
Gallas was correct. Too many inordinate child upstarts are earning stupid money for winning and achieving nothing. Go figuer: the same wage bill as Man United. Hmmm…But what kind of discipline does the manager hope to elicit when Adebayor pipes up and is rewarded with double the money for a single season of winning nothing at all? When Almunia is permitted the luxury of fucking up game after game, but being handed the captaincy (however temporary)?
This is the result of players feeling to comfortable in their positions. No competition for places- had Wenger signed top-notch players, then believe me Song and Diaby and Bendtner would not be so cocky as to believe that Arsenal are nothing without them. Song would not be talking in the third person and claiming that ‘Alex Song has a great future in the game’. Sure.
There is a difference here. Arsenal are massively underachieving. Arsene Wenger earns more money than any manager in Europe bar Scolari. Arsenal have an annual net turnover higher than Real Madrid and far higher than Barcelona or AC Milan.
Our wage bill is comparable with the biggest club in the world. Yet, some will claim we need to ‘temper our ambitions’. Come again?
If you are Brad Pitt, a Hollywood actor on 35 million US Dollars per annum, impossibly good-looking and talented: are you supposed to be satisfied with shagging some fat Tracy down at Faces nightclub in Essex? Contrast this: Arsenal are one of only two clubs who have never, ever suffered relegation. United got relegated in the late seventies/early eighties. I remember Franny Lee scoring the killer goal for Citeh.
Yet when United fans go years without success their fans curiously do not claim ‘it could be worse, remember when we were in the second division’. This is not ambition, this is being apologetic. In this case how does one equate situations?
Arsenal got hammered 3-0 by Citeh today but I could easily say ‘there are about 14 Premiership clubs who would love to be in our situation’. See?
We need to demand more.
I have always stood by Wenger thick and thin but I think the position and situation in the club is now deleterious. Alex Ferguson has every title going in the game but there is no bust of him at Old Trafford. This should be reserved for jubilees – yet there is a bust of Wenger at Arsenal whilst he is still in the job.
No one is untouchable and as brilliant as Wenger has been and can be, neither should he be. He made the biggest error of his career over the summer and we are now paying for it. People are quick to blame Gallas but forget who appointed him captain in the first place and shat on Gilberto.
Wenger has never made an accurate tactical substitution in his life. His substitutions cost us our only shot at the European cup, proud as I was of the team that day (Pires off but Hleb on? How did that work out then?).
The refusal to hold his hands up and admit that his science-lab experimentation has become a burden is now an arduous and embarrassing cross to bear.
Look. No team has a divine right to trophies and Arsenal do not. However the fact that as a team we have been out of the league running prior to Christmas is not really indicative of being competitive. Arsenal are 10 points behind the top side and are fifth.
Considering the whole premise of our club’s finances is supposed to be Champions League football, I think we can safely assert that this season may come as a huge shock to the system.
Arsene Wenger has done wonderful things for this club and no one can deny that. However this lack of tactical acumen and short-sightedness is costing the club dear. A quick look at this season shall we?
1. Goes to Sunderland and plays a 4-5-1 with Song as the defensive fulcrum. Sticks Van Persie, our most creative striker at left midfield even though he is supposed to play right-side to cut inside.
2. Goes to Stoke and with the previous knowledge that Stoke never score from open play. His goalkeeper is not coached to come off his line and claim the throws and command his area for the long-throws. The defenders are not coached to come and attack the throws and Stoke manage to score not once, but twice from their only potent weapon. Shambolic coaching.
3. At home to Hull the players go through the motions. Hull players are not closed down, Hull players are left unmarked from set-pieces and the collective attitude of the team is abysmal. Perhaps this is not entirely Wenger’s fault but it was his responsibility to react to such lethargy by dropping people and giving a few bloody noses. He threatened to ring changes for the Porto game but instead, every single culprit is picked for the Porto match bar Eboue (and this was only because Nasri was fit again). What kind of arrogance do you expect of the players if they perform as such and are picked regardless? No discipline. A vicious circle besides: when you do not sign players to put pressure on others then standards drop.
3. The performance at Fulham, Wenger’s inability to rouse the team by making substitutions earlier, and at half-time. This was supposed to be a one-off but, the fact that it is now happening on an almost weekly basis is indicative of a manager unable to inspire his players for anything but Man United at home.
4. Aston Villa game.
Arsene Wenger gets his formation and team selection woefully wrong Again. Plays a deep-lying attacker (Bendtner) as the lone man up front. The last time Arsene Wenger deployed a play-maker as the lone front man in a major game, it was the 2005 FA Cup fina when the peerless Dennis Bergkamp was left to toil pointlessly alone up front. Then Wenger got it even more wrong by playing the pointless Abou Diaby as our number 10. It beggars belief.
5. Just look at today. So much wrong there isn’t enough time in a day to pontificate over it. Where was Ramsey? Why personally jet to Cardiff over summer to persuade a player to join a ‘revolution’ and then sit him down on the bench as he is forced to witness dross like Diaby and Song pretend to be professional footballers.
The fact of the matter is that Arsene Wenger’s paradoxes are now incredible. The past summer was Wenger’s most important as manager of Arsenal and he literally did nothing at all. It was an arrogant and misguided move that has cost the club dear and will cost the club dearer still, if Villa do as they really ought to and finish ahead of us.
One thing is abundantly clear now however, though I still rate Wenger (some will call me mad) the ultimatum I have been on about could not be clearer: in January, players of high calibre have to be signed. I am not talking aboutn Joe Ledley form Cardiff. I am not talking about 17 year-old Resureccion from Atletico Madrid.
I am talking about the leaders Wenger thinks are not important. I am talking the Zapatas, Velosos, De Rossi and Akinfeevs of this world.
Ditch the dross. Get rid of Song and Diaby and Almunia. And make sure he brings in a new centre-back, holding midfielder of international quality and top-class goalkeeper.
I have never seen an Arsenal team so lacking in quality during Wenger’s tenure. Some of our former reserves are infinitely superior to what we have: Wiltord, Grimandi, Parlour, Stephen Hughes and Alex Manninger would all walk into this side.
Is that progression? No. It is Regression.
If Arsene Wenger refuses to do what is required in January to save our season and to save Arsenal’s dwindling pride – because let us face it, Arsenal have become a laughing stock of late – then I cannot bring myself to say it but perhaps Arsenal need to freshen things up a little.
Nobody thought we would survive post-Graham or do any better but Arsenal football club will go on. Wenger will leave one day and so will Ferguson. It is a fact we have to envisage one day. And if this shambles and weekly humiliation goes on any longer then perhaps come February, then Arsene Wenger, our greatest ever manager should be moved on.
The fact is that despite all of us knowing that the biggest problem is the board, the fact remains that Arsene Wenger is the manager and the buck stops with him. A man who is earning £4.5 million a year should not be in the position of having people desperately pleading his case. Either you are worth your hefty salary or not.
I can accept winning nothing in four years if Arsenal are competitive. However since 2004, Arsenal have been competitive beyond November only once and this is not to be tolerated. We have been ‘team building’ which has been the paramount excuse for not spending in the transfer market.
Yet, this is fictitious: we have released Flamini, Hleb, Pires, Henry, Vieira, Campbell, Lauren, Lehmann, Gilberto and Diarra and looking at the team today have retained a batch of very poor players.
Fabregas must look around him and wonder just what the hell he has gotten himself into. If people still insist that Fabregas is not ‘all that good’ then please see how he gets along when played alongside the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Messi.
Fabregas needs at least One world-class player alongside him. But he does not have one. Not even one and it is a shocking indictment on the team’s lack of quality.
I love Wenger but I also think his decisions and frequently erratic and senile post-match interviews are really pushing it to the limits. People I know who have always greatly respected the man have given up all hope. I am not there yet but I have to say that I am losing confidence in Wenger in a way I never thought imaginable.
Instead of blaming players individually, we have to analyzise the decisions made by the manager. While I think, players like Song, Diaby, Almunia can never be in a title-challenging side, the main culprit is Wenger.
1. Wenger should realise we will never win anything or even challenge with gross keeper like Almunia.
2. Denilson cannot partner Cesc in the middle park of a title winning side. It’s not Denilson fault but it is Wenger who is throwing a 20 year old kid at the highest level.
3. After Sol Campbell left us, We never made a solid CB partnership for a long haul. Still Wenger believed his CB’s are good enough.
4. Like Gunnerblog said, Last summer was the most crucial transfer season of Wenger era but he did nothing to reinforce a weak team.
5. Gallas was still Wenger’s favorite dog untill he spoke against Wenger policies and club’s crisis. Last season Gallas proved himself he is a horrible captain, also, he was in more bad form then Toure but Wenger still didn’t act. Now, after Wenger’s lies and fallacies are revealed, he dumped Gallas like a trash. Believe or not what Gallas spoke was facts and he is the best defender at Arsenal.
Also, Today we could have won the match with more attacking team with Vela, Ramsey and Wilshere playing instead of Diaby, Song and Denilson.
I have to disagree with all those people who think Wenger must go. Sacking Wenger will be the biggest mistake we’ll ever make. Arsene is Arsenal, if we lose him, we lose everything that is Arsenal. We need him more than he needs us. Besides, i think we will win some silverware this season, i can feel it.
No one man is bigger then Arsenal. There is plenty of managers who could build a better side. Wenger needs us to prove he hasnt lost it. We do not need Wenger.
Demetrio, can you honestly emagine Arsenal without Arsene Wenger? That’s same as Manchester United without Alex Fergie.
This Arsenal team is not capable of winning anything this season. My only hope is Carling Cup but the kids might get flattered once again by a big team.
Gibbs, Lets first win a game then we can think about silverware. It’s a bold statement to say a team who gets outplayed by championship sides like Hull and Stoke can win a silverware. I will be the most happiest man if we win anything but its not realistic at all.
Demetrio, Good point, No man is bigger than Arsenal, Wenger is also not. I don’t want him to leave this season but the Board might have to think about better options next season. There are ways to change things around for Wenger. He needs to be more aggressive coming Janaury and Summer and he needs to accept his youth experiment is not gonna work anymore.
I love Sunday morning critics…Let’s see sack Wenger?Purchase everyone and anyone. Can you say Tottenham? Let’s not be rash. And, let’s not call Arsenal a youth experiment. This is a very well managed organization who are losing for good reasons. Gallas premeditated this spell with his treasonous talk. He is a selfish man who is nice to AW’s face then stabs him and his team in the back when he gets a chance. I appreciate good arguments but most of this is rubbish. i.e. Don’t reiterate what is evident or cliche…Exactly, if you were Wenger what would you do? Oh by the way the transfer window is in January…And, if he was relieved of his post who in the hell would really replace him? Name one manager? Get real and post some solutions.
@ Gibbs – I dont like thinking about AW leaving Arsenal. I mean he is the one of the best managers in the world. We would no longer see these talented kids rip up the carling cup or even find the talented kids. But he must prove that he has desire to win things with Arsenal and that means admitting he was wrong. Stripping the captaincy from Gallas is the first step. I would not mind now if Clichy, Toure and Cesc all got chances to be captain to see who is better, he must finish by buying at LEAST 4 players in january and im not counting kids either. A winger, a Cb, a dm and a keeper, anymore would be most welcomed though.
@ jay-jay:
I agree with you mate. I know we haven’t won anything for 4 years, but we must remember how close we came last year- and we did come close. 4 points off the lead is sod all, especially if you take into account the run of dreadful refereeing decisions and plain bad luck we endured last season. Yes, we made mistakes and put in some shit performances following the B’ham game, but we weren’t far away. I agree that Wenger is reaping the rewards of not investing sufficiently in the squad for 3 years on the trot, and that this lack of investment was at its worst this summer. But the man has transformed Arsenal over the last 10 years. As an old bastard who’s been watching the gunners for 35 years, I can tell you we’ve had it a damned site worse than this in the past. The 3 League Championships, FA Cups and that CL final mean the boss has earned the right to a bit of time to put things right. How long? I’d say lets see what he does in the summer. We know this season will be a write-off, and that the goal is 4th place. If he buys well in the summer we could see big changes next term. In some ways I’m glad things have got so bad. If we’d bumped along in 4th this season, nothing would have changed. Now we face a realisitc risk of dropping to 5th or even lower by the end of the season, even the stubborn Wenger will see that serious change is necessary. Someone said earlier that a team of kids had never won the EPL, but remember Man Utd in 1999 with Giggs, Scholes, Neville, Butt and Beckham. They were all kids and everyone said they weren’t mature enough, but the bastards won the league, the FA Cup and the Chamions League that year. I know they had some older heads in the team as well and they had a great keeper behind them in Peter Schmeichel, but Ferguson’s youth policy showed it can be done. Wenger bought Gallas when he was 28, Sagna when he was 23 (hardly kids) and Silvestre last summer. I know most people think Silvestre’s not up to it, but at least he’s experienced. To my mind we’re 4 players short of a championship-winning team with everyone fit. We wouldn’t be struggling so much with Eduardo in the team, because we wouldn’t be relying on that knob Bendtner, who I agree will never be good enough and should not be in the reserves, let alone the first team.
I know we’re all suffering at the moment, but I repeat that the manager’s earned the right to be given some time to change things around.
Also everyone talks of buying a new dm but what we should do is go and offer 5-10 mill for flamster to milan and pay him what he was after and thta’s one signing that doesn’t need to gel into the squad as all this talk of alonso and such is wasted as no top player is going to come to us in the summer as they will not take the risk of not playing cl football. Sacking wenger is a joke as real are after him and if we don’t support him he will piss off and who will replace him? Big sam alladyce or ramos maybe? Fuck then as hartwick said are we tottenham? No we are such a proud club and before arsne came we never had it so good does anyone rember we were 12th when arsne came and then the next 5 years we were winning titles and cups going unbeaten ect… But then everyone started spending big money and we will find out in the next 2-3 years how many of these clubs are going to make their money back on all these transfers and stupid wage budgets. For one I can’t see newcastle surviving and turning into luton town just struggleing week in and week out with players leaving because they are not getting paid so we can’t have everything but being a gooner is more than looking at results every week expecting 8-0 results it’s the pain as well as the good times and we have the cl to look forward to this week and there are 16 other clubs in the league that would kill for a place in the cl but we have had it for what 8 yrs in a row now….. Stop your whinging and get behind our team……………
Im not ready to let Wenger leave… Even if he made some mistakes… Who would you want to rebuild this team? He is the best man for the job IMO…
I would love to resign Flamini but I doubt Milan would let him walk… Maybe with the Bekham signing they would be open to it?
Also for our CB problem the answer could be Micah Richards who is worried about the overhaul at City and has always been a huge Arsenal fan… I read somewhere that he still likens his own play to Viera/ Sol… A pairing of him and Toure would work great IMO. 1 beast in the air, one more finesse, both capable defenders… I think Richards is the ideal addition at CB…
@ butterfingers – We all say how well we are going to do in the next game but then we lose, or draw so saying get behind our team, its hard for us to do that completely because in our minds we are expecting to drop points. That is why this Kyiv isn’t just a CL game. It could get fans behind our team, get some confidence and morale back for the Chelsea game. We have Rvp, Ade, Cesc back and we are at home. CMON U GUNNERS, show Kyiv what we are made of!
@ MoMoney – Arsenal without Arsene is like Strawberries without cream, however both can surive on their own. Its better to have them combined but this is the season he has to prove!
OK I prefer strawberries with sugar but that’s me! The thing is AW has been successful because he has been able to find talents no-one has ever heard of….He tapped into Africa, S.America, etc..thru an amazing network that the big clubs have now tapped into or created themselves. His next project is two-fold. And, it will work if given patience and time: 1) Pay your debts 2) Build within. Explanation; We needed a Bernabau so we built it…Reverse the trend AW created and he is doing it! The cost? A few seasons w/o reward..The actual pay…Bankrupt MU…And, seasons upon seasons of unlimited spending…He is an Economics graduate…I say let AW go though; Because he has no vision. He is an absolute incompetent idiot. Bring in I dont know jay-jay help us out?
The other thing that fuckn urks me about you Arsenal bloggers is that you think AW could care less about this club! It’s irrationale and immature like this current team! That’s why you build within…Another good read “The Prince, By Machiavelli….You build an empire by slowly bankrupting and deceiving your enemies. If we were on a ship and I was reading this blog I would say mutiny…
hartwick.. we cannot bankrupt Chelsea, nor can we bankrupt Man U. Chelsea’s owner has too much money, and Man U could always find someone with similar money to buy them if they were desperate… Get real.
And Machiavelli’s “Il Principe” or “The Prince” was a book written we study in Italy very well. It is about POLITICS and only politics and the theories in it cannot be compared to football or anything else. Is Wenger supposed to fake his death, kill Fergie, Luis, Jose, Roberto, Fabio and every other good manager also?? Niccolò Machiavelli was a political theorist his theories only deal with politics and using it for anything else is why people make a mess of the book.
To build a empire in football.. you have to be willing to change as i have said many times. That is the mark of a great manager. Until Wenger proves he can change, by getting rid of his rubbish youth over experience policy, then we will continue to go season after season with no trophy. Youth cannot compete with the experienced talent that the premier League has in it now. You have to remember that the league is different then it was when Wenger entered it. Wenger was the one who really started bringing other nationalities to England in the way he does. But the PL is now the best league in the world with all teams buying the best players from all over, and such young players cannot compete with the best experienced players in the world. Not to mention a lot of the players we have are shit. You want names to buy. De Rossi, David Villa, David Silva, Mich Richards, Xabi Alonso, Miguel Veloso, Diego, the list goes on and on. If the board is correct and Arsenal have all this money they can spend. Those are the types of players we need to seriously compete. If we don’t have as much money as the board says we do (i think 70m was what they were claiming at one point), then just say “We don’t have the money right now”, we are reasonable people and would understand that. This way Arsenal fans know we will need to wait 10 years or so for our debt to be paid off to have a serious chance to push for the title. Its not political science really its fairly simple to figure out. The board needs to tell us where we stand in terms of money, so we know what Wenger is working with, if we dont have that much money then it would relieve some pressure off Wenger. But dont be fooled by this Machiavelli nonsense. You cannot bankrupt a football team as if they were a country.
@Demetrio,
You fool place your manager now and be done with it! Are you saying Wenger as you call him is bad for Arsenal? Common sense says that spending on players will not bring you a title! Simply put Machiavelli’s theory is applied to both politics and business. And, in the business model mercenaries although effective in the short term fail to hold loyalty in the end. AW is not a hired mercenary but a loyalist and whomever you bring in will only be as successful as the money you pay him. Wenger is a man of honor and respect and will see this team through. Don’t tell me what your so called list of players will do for this team…My guess is either you just became a Arsenal bandwagoneer or you haven’t managed a world class team let alone a household in your time.
Regards
@Demetrio,
Please re-read the shit you spout..because I’m ashamed to be an Arsenal fan with fans like you..”hartwick.. we cannot bankrupt Chelsea, nor can we bankrupt Man U. Chelsea’s owner has too much money, and Man U could always find someone with similar money to buy them if they were desperate… Get real.
And Machiavelli’s “Il Principe” or “The Prince” was a book written we study in Italy very well. It is about POLITICS and only politics and the theories in it cannot be compared to football or anything else. Is Wenger supposed to fake his death, kill Fergie, Luis, Jose, Roberto, Fabio and every other good manager also?? Niccolò Machiavelli was a political theorist his theories only deal with politics and using it for anything else is why people make a mess of the book.
To build a empire in football.. you have to be willing to change as i have said many times. That is the mark of a great manager. Until Wenger proves he can change, by getting rid of his rubbish youth over experience policy, then we will continue to go season after season with no trophy. Youth cannot compete with the experienced talent that the premier League has in it now. You have to remember that the league is different then it was when Wenger entered it. Wenger was the one who really started bringing other nationalities to England in the way he does. But the PL is now the best league in the world with all teams buying the best players from all over, and such young players cannot compete with the best experienced players in the world. Not to mention a lot of the players we have are shit. You want names to buy. De Rossi, David Villa, David Silva, Mich Richards, Xabi Alonso, Miguel Veloso, Diego, the list goes on and on. If the board is correct and Arsenal have all this money they can spend. Those are the types of players we need to seriously compete. If we don’t have as much money as the board says we do (i think 70m was what they were claiming at one point), then just say “We don’t have the money right now”, we are reasonable people and would understand that. This way Arsenal fans know we will need to wait 10 years or so for our debt to be paid off to have a serious chance to push for the title. Its not political science really its fairly simple to figure out. The board needs to tell us where we stand in terms of money, so we know what Wenger is working with, if we dont have that much money then it would relieve some pressure off Wenger. But dont be fooled by this Machiavelli nonsense. You cannot bankrupt a football team as if they were a country.
Regards
To be honest, this is the first ever Arsenal defeat that I do not feel bad about. We just didn’t create enough. Our right side was giving not only me, but also the central Midfield the blues. A FB-CM-WINGER is a VERY crucial aspect of a team’s mobility and we had non of Sagna-Cesc-Theo/Eboue who makes that triangle and we had to contend with Robinho and SWP on that side. It didn’t help that we tried to use the right more than the left. Having said that, There is nothing wrong in the side that a new captain’s selection can’t fix. Almunia is not the man for me and I would not give it to Cesc until his form picks up. Being criticized for form and leadership at the same time might be too much for him at the moment. Temporary Capi for now will do.
We are a scoring team and we are always going to concede a goal or two in games. We need to score more, and with Eduardo getting back in training(SF: You were right), RVP right now is the best striker in the EPL, him and Robinho are in their own class skillwise. Ade is twice the player he was last season. We just need Cesc to get out of the funk he is in currently and there is no team in the world to beat us at our normal best.
I would like anyone to remind me if there has been any game post B’gham that Gallas made a mistake that lead to a goal and we won the match. We have lost every match that he has done that and that highlights the reason we didn’t win the premiership last season. Players are not willing to put their limbs on the line to bail out their Captain. I have been saying that since February on this blog and I believe with him not being our captain, just sit back and enjoy the ride.
If you believe in karma or luck, just like Man U had the luck last season, This could be our season. We have failed miserably and still we are just 1 point worse off than we were last week and we have a say in 6 of the points we are behind, which will cut it down to 4.
This championship will be soo much sweeter…
Talking about leaders, the natural leaders we have in the side are Rosicky, Sagna, Cesc,Clichy, Toure, Eduardo, Denilson in that order.
The tears that I have been shedding over my troubled club these past few weeks are still flowing. The most talented group in Europe can’t hide now. Too many bad beats, chasing clubs that won’t lose in Liverpool and Chelsea, young Theo’s shoulder… Maybe next year London! We will be champions of Europe however! Fuck off Reds, Blues and United fans!
How after the 3 0 loss to city can wenger play song in midfield when he is a back 4 player.To play diarby wide an Song in the middle is just stupid Diarby was a replacement for Viera. After half time he moves Song into back takes of Diarby when Denilson was haveing a poor game.Wenger neads to play players in positions he bought them for,even Fabicass is not playing well because he needs Diarby in the middle so he can feed front runners.As for RVP he only has one foot give him a ball on his right and he has to turn 180 deg to go forward And Clichy has really gone backwards, and Sagna cant even cross a ball without hitting the player.Look i love Arsenal but Wenger needs to spend on Experienced players you cant run a team on puppies you need some Dogs in there.