Arsenal FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 10/11

walrusgumble

jordainius wrote: »

And even then we had the Cup Winners Cup to distract us from a horrible league campaign. Let's not mention the final!

or the way george graham left the club or paul merson's problems becoming public and tony adam's issues being well know. fun times eh?jesus really now when you look at it, are things that bad? (as oppose to 1994-1996)

When Wenger came to London in September 1996, there was no gold. arsenal had a rickty old stadium, players who came from the drinking culture, old school hoof the ball up the field. He changed this so quickly, which must have been tough if he had sometimes opposition from established players/and legends at the club, you know typical english type of players.these lads and most of the football world (well uk and ireland) knew nothing about him. we all know that he completely changed the mentality and physical fitness of the players . christ for 3 solid years the fans took ray parlour as a big time important player - ray for england. ray parlour!!! tony adams had a great season in 2002. martin keown, previously a bit part player was a major and possible our best defender at the club - all under wenger.

and brought international names to the club - remember overmars was tipped to go to united during euro 1996 - he was hardly a small name or someone we knew nothing about such as petit and vieria. he amused people that one day the club would win the league unbeaten -what happens, one year later he has the football world eating their words

surely he can't really believe in the things he, at least publicly, says now a days? his reaction when players do something stupid says it all. surely he does not want his legacy become a farce? what the hell is pat rice's role at the club? - he aint a skrinking violet - is he simply there as a symbol of the past? no good cop - bad cop regime. even with the players they have and the games gone, they should at the very least, be brining it to the very last day - feck it, they should be on top. its mentality

i don't buy what fabregas is saying some of it is self serving - didn't he win the world cup and euro's and have mentality to bang on the managers door by proving it was wrong to leave him on the subs bench? didn't he share the same dressing room as leaders like bergkamp, henry, campbell, and vieria? (well the first two leaders in the sense of play by example) and he complains about the lack of leadership - ahem but what is that black armband around his shoulder mean?

arshavin is very quick with it off the wall twitter comments about the world and he is a top international? rosiky - sorry sick note - captained his country. van persie could hardly be considered a new kid on the block any more.

i really hope wenger is giving them a hairdryer treatment. but i was worried when i heard a report that wenger is not type of guy and only likes "nice guys" in the dressing room - ah so this partly explains why guys like william gallas were banished. wenger sent his old team to a specialist in order to stamp out the terrible discplinary record (which veiria would storm out - classic) maybe he has to get charlie - winning - sheen on board

the untitled user

bamboozling wrote: »

I like Arsenal a lot and I'm disappointed you couldn't win the league this year.

The fundamentals of Arsenal's team is good but there are some parts that need to be cast adrift.

Gael Clichy today was horrific and indeed has been for most of the season. If Clichy was on my team I'd treat him the same way as Billy the Limpet in Mean Machine. Terrible player. A new left back is a necessity.

Also Fabregas is going in the summer and that 30 or 40 odd million could prove very useful. Aaron Ramsey will have no problem stepping up I feel but it would be no harm at all to buy a creative midfielder for around 10 million.

WS had a great season and is a real find and the long term solution to the Goalkeeping problem. To borrow a phrase from across the pond he's your 'franschise' goalkeeper for the next 15 years.

One more thing needed I feel is a quality winger someone like Antonio Valencia who has the ability to skin defenders and puts in consistent, quality balls unlike Theo who frustrates the shít outta me watching him. Someone like Alexis Sanchez for 25 million would be a big investment but quality wingers like him aren't hugely common these days.

I don't see Central Defence as a huge issue once Vermaelen gets back. Djorou done good this season and Koscielny isn't bad. I think whats needed is a Tony Adams like figure to provide leadership.

That's my take on it anyway from a neutral perspective.

As a fan this is pretty much the conclusion I've drawn. We need more reliable deliveries from out wide for certain, a fullback and winger would be nice. We also need to add a bit more width in order to stretch the backline and give Cesc/Nasri/Arshavin/Wilshere more room to thread passes through.

CBs should be ok, our biggest let down is our organization more than any deficiencies of individuals imo. Djourou/Verm are certainly aggressive and strong enough to form a formidable partnership, they just need someone to work with them on positioning a bit more.

Another aspect is to get us defending from the front better. I feel we don't have the workrate up there to force the errors in the same way United or Chelsea do. Even earlier today there were a few examples where when we lost the ball our attackers just stopped and jogged back into position. At United/Barca if they are close enough to press the defenders they press the living out of them, we don't do this enough.

On the striker issue I'm torn. I know we haven't been taking our chances much, but I think this is more down to a) the type of chances we create and b) the current confidence crises. We when play with Chamakh for example, how often do we make a good delivery for him to get on the end of? Instead we let the box get crowded, which shows up his lack of ability in tight spaces. And same with Bendtner, not the most reliable finisher in the world, but he's does create a very big threat in the box, but instead we use him on the wings too much, where he looks awkward and struggles to get behind effectively.

If a proven goal scorer like Cavani/Benzema say came available I'd have no problem going for them, but I don't think they will necessarily solve our current woes.

OPENROAD

Landmark post for me, and want my 10,000th post :eek: to be in the Arsenal thread

Bit flat after the match today, so will post some Arsenal/non Arsenal images that make me smile

Cantona's Collars

/\ Bet you wish you had some of that team still taking to the pitch for ye these days.

OPENROAD

10,001, Arsene from today

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/-we-have-not-been-stable-enough-defensively-

OPENROAD

zerks wrote: »

/\ Bet you wish you had some of that team still taking to the pitch for ye these days.

aww where is the gif gone ? always cracks me up that one

eigrod

Do Gunner fans think Wenger will still be in charge next August ?

lordgoat

Openroad - your VC love disturbs me. Congrats/Commiserations on the 10000.

Also Zerks that gif make me laugh alot for some reason. It's just really well done.

OPENROAD

lordgoat wrote: »

Openroad - your VC love disturbs me. Congrats/Commiserations on the 10000.

Also Zerks that gif make me laugh alot for some reason. It's just really well done.

Its all about the eyes and the music of course ahh

Cantona's Collars

OPENROAD wrote: »

aww where is the gif gone ? always cracks me up that one

Fixed it for you,the look on Fabergas' face is priceless.

sonic85

eigrod wrote: »

Do Gunner fans think Wenger will still be in charge next August ?

i think he should be left in the job IF he tries to change things up a bit. im just waiting to see what happens in the summer. id leave him in the job and get david dein back in to work with him ASAP

OPENROAD

eigrod wrote: »

Do Gunner fans think Wenger will still be in charge next August ?

Actually the one thing that is starting to worry me is that he may have had enough, his body language in the last few weeks have been worrying particularly his interviews, he really seems down, am just starting to wonder if he might walk away for a new challenge, he would have plenty of offers.

cson

OPENROAD wrote: »

10,001, Arsene from today

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/-we-have-not-been-stable-enough-defensively-

Gotta say that the bit about the attitude is a pile of ****e; we clearly do not have a winning mentality atm and the least he should do is recognise it.

sonic85

zerks wrote: »

/\ Bet you wish you had some of that team still taking to the pitch for ye these days.

class! pure class

the untitled user

cson wrote: »

Gotta say that the bit about the attitude is a pile of ****e; we clearly do not have a winning mentality atm and the least he should do is recognise it.

I wouldn't read much into that, he's just trying to deflect press away from the players and onto him. Probably afraid too of criticizing the likes of Cesc and Nasri in public should it drive them away.

wandatowell

OPENROAD wrote: »

the team is so close to achieving something special, all it needs is a few players.

I think its alot more than just a few players we need at the Arsenal.

We need a huge overhaul of the squad, cant put an exact number on it but big changes are a must.



also that pic of gilberto cracks me up :P

amacachi

Need at least a new left back, and I'm not certain about Sagna yet either. I don't think Squillachi has been awful and once he and Koscielny can be kept apart things are usually OK. So we should get rid of Clichy and sign 2 new players.
In midfield we HAVE to get rid of a few players. Take the money and run on Fabregas, I can't see him fetching much over 20 million at this stage but we should be talking it. Get rid of Diaby, bloody useless. Wouldn't mind awfully if Arshavin went too. Rosicky shouldn't be on a football pitch. In terms of signings I'd go for Joey Barton, no-one else I can think of has such a great combination of crossing and thuggery, two things we're definitely missing.

Main thing we need to do though is go 4-4-2 or 4-3-1-2. Whatever else we may need we need two players up front and at least one pacy player behind them.

Blatter

How confident are you lot of finishing in the top 4 next season?

I'd just like to hear the views of a few Arsenal fans on this, there was a bit of a discussion on who are Liverpool the most likely to overtake if they were to finish to 4 next season.

I personally think you will finish in the top 4 as long as Wenger stays and the squad is strengthened adequately if Fabregas leaves. Even if those two things didn't happen, I would still fancy you to finish top 4, but just not as confident.

cson

@ amacachi: Sagna is quality, he's one of the best if not the best RBs in the league. As for signing Barton - thats madness. I don't think we need that type of player but if we did I'd be looking in Scott Parkers direction. That said, I wouldn't want either, they're limited workhorses.

amacachi

cson wrote: »

@ amacachi: Sagna is quality, he's one of the best if not the best RBs in the league. As for signing Barton - thats madness. I don't think we need that type of player but if we did I'd be looking in Scott Parkers direction. That said, I wouldn't want either, they're limited workhorses.

While the Barton thing was partly tongue-in-cheek he put in more fantastic crosses in the first 10 minutes against United last week as I've seen Arsenal put in in an entire match in years.

SOCCER4LIFE

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

How confident are you lot of finishing in the top 4 next season?

I'd just like to hear the views of a few Arsenal fans on this, there was a bit of a discussion on who are Liverpool the most likely to overtake if they were to finish to 4 next season.

I personally think you will finish in the top 4 as long as Wenger stays and the squad is strengthened adequately if Fabregas leaves. Even if those two things didn't happen, I would still fancy you to finish top 4, but just not as confident.

Call it arrogance, but I think we'll finish in the top four next season. Maybe even second!

And speaking about arrogance...

If I can find the wager, I will...

But hand on my heart I think Man U will fall out of the top four before we do!

gosplan

wandatowell wrote: »

I think its alot more than just a few players we need at the Arsenal.

We need a huge overhaul of the squad, cant put an exact number on it but big changes are a must.

Disagree. Most of the players we have are perfectly adequate. Our first 11 are good enough to beat any team.

We're just playing without any confidance at the moment.

The Muppet

Papa Smut wrote: »

Call it arrogance, but I think we'll finish in the top four next season. Maybe even second!

And speaking about arrogance...

If I can find the wager, I will...

But hand on my heart I think Man U will fall out of the top four before we do!

I'd say it's possible Arsenal will struggle for top 4 next year. The Vultures are circling on Wenger , If he goes you are in real trouble. I have a suspicion Fabergas has the same deal Ronaldo had at United and he will go this summer.
United and Chelsea are stronger If City get into the CL they will definitely strengthen putting them ahead of you. That would leave you fighting for fourth with Spurs and Liverpool. Thats anyone's call.


Looking at the league table and remaining fixtures I think you may well only get 4th this season


Arsenal are in a pretty precarious position at the moment, the decisions made in the next few weeks will have a major influence on their future. If Wenger goes I would fear the worst for them.

KeithAFC

No tactical approach, no passion, no heart, no desire, no good defending, poor finishing. POOR.

KaiserGunner

flahavaj wrote: »

What makes you think Arsenal have any right to have the same expectations as these clubs?

He has kept them comfortably qualifying for the CL every season with a fraction of the net spend of any of these clubs. Any Arsenal fan I know with any bit of sense knows calling for his head is moronic in the extreme.

This here really annoys me and gets under my skin. Why wouldnt or shouldnt Arsenal have the same expectations as these clubs? Arsenal are a massive club and by all accounts we have money to spend, so if there are holes in the squad and players are available to fill them then the club should be going out and attempting to get them. Im not saying Wenger should go but he has a massive summer ahead of him and has to get it right.

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

How confident are you lot of finishing in the top 4 next season?

I'd just like to hear the views of a few Arsenal fans on this, there was a bit of a discussion on who are Liverpool the most likely to overtake if they were to finish to 4 next season.

I personally think you will finish in the top 4 as long as Wenger stays and the squad is strengthened adequately if Fabregas leaves. Even if those two things didn't happen, I would still fancy you to finish top 4, but just not as confident.

Im not even thinking about the possibility of finishing outside the top 4. Arsenals ambitions are greater than that. Arsenal were for the last few seasons touted as favorites to drop outside the top 4 and it never happens. I go into every season with the view to winning the league title not just finishing top 4, a bad run of form (admittedly a real bottle job) recently isnt going to make me worry about Liverpool or Spurs overtaking us as we still have a better side and squad.

amiable

KaiserGunner wrote: »

This here really annoys me and gets under my skin. Why wouldnt or shouldnt Arsenal have the same expectations as these clubs? Arsenal are a massive club and by all accounts we have money to spend, so if there are holes in the squad and players are available to fill them then the club should be going out and attempting to get them. Im not saying Wenger should go but he has a massive summer ahead of him and has to get it right.



Im not even thinking about the possibility of finishing outside the top 4. Arsenals ambitions are greater than that. Arsenal were for the last few seasons touted as favorites to drop outside the top 4 and it never happens. I go into every season with the view to winning the league title not just finishing top 4, a bad run of form (admittedly a real bottle job) recently isnt going to make me worry about Liverpool or Spurs overtaking us as we still have a better side and squad.

KaiserGunner

gosplan

KaiserGunner wrote: »

This here really annoys me and gets under my skin. Why wouldnt or shouldnt Arsenal have the same expectations as these clubs? Arsenal are a massive club and by all accounts we have money to spend, so if there are holes in the squad and players are available to fill them then the club should be going out and attempting to get them. Im not saying Wenger should go but he has a massive summer ahead of him and has to get it right.



Im not even thinking about the possibility of finishing outside the top 4. Arsenals ambitions are greater than that. Arsenal were for the last few seasons touted as favorites to drop outside the top 4 and it never happens. I go into every season with the view to winning the league title not just finishing top 4, a bad run of form (admittedly a real bottle job) recently isnt going to make me worry about Liverpool or Spurs overtaking us as we still have a better side and squad.

Bang on.

It's really impossible to know what to do though.

The lack of bottle which has cost us everything this year won't be solved by buying one or two players. It's ingrained into the team and either Wenger solves it or we need a new manager who will.

I'm still not for replacing him with whoever we can. Spurs, Liverpool etc have spent big and are both probably not going to be in the CL next year.

Obviously if Guardiola said he wanted to move to Arsenal and Wenger went upstairs, that would be perfect but I really don't want to see the club chasing a manager all summer.

Wenger is a class manager and when he goes, we need a smooth transition from one class manager to another. Not a summer spent chasing Hiddink or someone only to sign god knows who at the 11th hour. We have all had our hearts broken this season supporting Arsenal and it hasn't been fun but we shouldn't simply assume that the grass is greener on the other side wherever it may be.

Pepe LeFrits

cson wrote: »

Gotta say that the bit about the attitude is a pile of ****e; we clearly do not have a winning mentality atm and the least he should do is recognise it.

Attitude and winning mentality aren't the same thing.

A winning mentality comes from winning and we haven't won anything.

A good attitude is something completely different.

Bounty Hunter

The Muppet wrote: »

I wouldn't be surprised if you did.

I'd be amazed if Wenger walked or was sacked.

O neill is a great Manager look at Villa since he left. Replacing Wenger would be a huge gamble imo, realistically who could replace him and prove to be as successful as he has been for you.



Fergies going nowhere:D

If this wasn't the arsenal thread instead of the Villa one I'm sure you be called a troll. I like and rate MON but surely him walking out on Villa unexpectedly as the season started having not signed anyone would be a key reason for Villa,s downfall not to mention the masses of injuries. Villa having a crap season should not make people think more highly of MON and even those Villa fans who were truly big fans of MON would scoff at the notion that replacing Arsene Wenger with MON would be anything but madness.

You would be going from signing cheap young potential world beaters to old overpaid underskilled workmen that will be near impossible to shift and all British.

Like fervie at utd, I expect AW to essentially never leave arsenal but the fact is that should he actually do so I very much doubt he would go to a smaller club than Arsenal. No disrespect meant by that but you gotta believe that the Milan clubs or Barca/Madrid (Jose&Pep) replacements would be trying their best to tempt him their way for example.

It's hard to know if Wenger will change afterall this isn't the first time these exact criticisms of him are being made but Arsenal are in a much stronger financial position now, a fact which may be emphasized even further with Kroenke now upping th ante. Maybe this might mean that the economist that is AW would be more willing to spend more as he would know as such a smart financial mind that he has less worries about overspending now.

jordainius

KaiserGunner wrote: »

I think his head in the sand photo is a dig at those who want to portray Arsenal as being in some sort of terminal decline. It's having a dig at those who are treating this seasons collapse as if it had never happened before, as though we had finished the last 5/6 seasons strongly.

Those who don't acknowledge we have been title contenders do indeed have their head in the sand.
Those who believe that we will fall out of the top 4 next season, despite the fact that that has yet to happen after it being predicted for the last 5/6 years, do indeed have their heads in the sand.

Everything you said in your post at the top of this page is bang on the money. The head in the sand photo can't have been aimed at you, not by a sound minded poster anyway...

L'prof

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

How confident are you lot of finishing in the top 4 next season?

I'd just like to hear the views of a few Arsenal fans on this, there was a bit of a discussion on who are Liverpool the most likely to overtake if they were to finish to 4 next season.

I personally think you will finish in the top 4 as long as Wenger stays and the squad is strengthened adequately if Fabregas leaves. Even if those two things didn't happen, I would still fancy you to finish top 4, but just not as confident.

I'd be very confident of a top 4 finish, but it's getting to a point where we need to be doing more than just that!

PHB

First off, I think personally that there is in fact very little money to spend and Wenger is just toeing the party line, as Fergie does for United.

Second, I think that with the resources he has had, the only managers who I think could do as well as him are Mourinho and Fergie. Wenger is in that league of managers. If he left Arsenal, Madrid, Barca, Milan, Milan, Juve, United would all be looking at him. The person who you get to replace him won't be in his league, so you should remember that.

Third, I think there is one serious issue I've always had with his management style which is lack of responsibility. He builds his team up in a weird way. They only ever lose because of circumstanes outside of their control. He never sees the opponents penalties and when he does, they were never penalties. I understand getting behind your team, but I think he builds his team up to really believe they were unjustly beaten, so that when they do get beaten, they don't learn from it, infact they learn the wrong lesson and don't fix it. It's why when they lose a big game in the crunch period, they don't bounce back, they go on freefall. I think that needs to change for Wenger to win the league.

Fourth, I think Fabregas is certainly leaving. His body language just screams it. However, I don't think it'll necessarily be to Barca. They don't really need him, at least for 2-3 seasons. Would he go somewhere else? There would be no shortage of people after him.

Fifth, I think the winners of the league will be much better next season. United have dropped lots of unnessacary points and will look to improve. Chelsea will defo be better. City are getting better, and Spurs are a player or two away from being very very good. Arsenal will need to make the right signings this summer, especially if they are replacing people.

enfant terrible

wandatowell wrote: »

I think its alot more than just a few players we need at the Arsenal.

We need a huge overhaul of the squad, cant put an exact number on it but big changes are a must.

Wenger should put all his effort into sorting out the defense this summer once and for all.

Clichy, Almunia, Squillaci out and a towering center half in the Adams/Campbell mold brought in. Clichy is too error prone, poor in the air and falls to pieces when the pressure is on and should be replaced too.

A back four of Clichy, Vermaelen, Koscielny and Sanga must surely be the shortest on the league so someone dominating in the air must be brought in.

If Wenger's back four were half as effective as his front six (Wilshere, Song, Fabregas, Nasri, Walcott, Van Persie) at their job they would have strolled the league.

How many point has Koscielny, Clichy and Almunia cost this season its ridiculous.

Arsenal under Wenger will always score goals its conceding stupid ones that costs them he should spend whatever is costs for a top proven premier league center back and left back in the summer.

jordainius

Pat Rice has yet to sign a contract and rumour has it he's going to retire in the summer.

Would a change in assistant change anything? I won't pretend to have a deep knowledge of the role of the assistant manager but I imagine Pat Rice as someone who sings off the same hymn sheet as Wenger, a man who has a lot of respect for Wenger and someone who'll just weigh in behind Wenger everytime.

I'd like someone who'll respect Wenger in a different way to Rice, someone who'll challenge him, someone with a win at all costs mentality, someone who'll tell the team to man up and get stuck in, someone who can see beyond the style of football and tactics we play and be willing to tell Wenger it isn't working out on the pitch and that he has to change something.

And someone who'll tell him during games the likes of "Don't f**king put Bendtner on at right wing, it will neither do him nor the team any good".

sonic85

the optimism from everybody here regarding our possible league position next season is a bit baffling to be honest. considering the way this current season has gone i wouldnt be so quick to say well finish in the top four. all depends on the summer i think - not just what we do but what the likes of liverpool spurs and city do. i think were in danger even if wenger stays. i cant remember a time when the squad has been so deflated and weak mentally. cesc could well leave as could nasri. cesc hasnt been great this season but hes still our only world class player in my opinion and any time ive seen us play without him weve been pretty poor. who knows what will happen - this wonderful record we have of qualifying for the CL every season wont last forever

sonic85

jordainius wrote: »

Pat Rice has yet to sign a contract and rumour has it he's going to retire in the summer.

Would a change in assistant change anything? I won't pretend to have a deep knowledge of the role of the assistant manager but I imagine Pat Rice as someone who signs off the same hymn sheet as Wenger, a man who has a lot of respect for Wenger and someone who'll just weigh in behind Wenger everytime.

I'd like someone who'll respect Wenger in a different way to Rice, someone who'll challenge him, someone with a win at all costs mentality, someone who'll tell the team to man up and get stuck in, someone who can see beyond the style of football and tactics we play and be willing to tell Wenger it isn't working out on the pitch and that he has to change something.

And someone who'll tell him during games the likes of "Don't f**king put Bendtner on at right wing, it will neither do him nor the team any good".

arsene only wants a yes man in that role. he doesnt want to be challenged. ive never seen pat rice stand up to wenger. id like to see someone like steve bould in that role. he has management experience and at least he might get to work with the defence a little bit which would be no harm

L'prof

PHB wrote: »

Fifth, I think the winners of the league will be much better next season. United have dropped lots of unnessacary points and will look to improve. Chelsea will defo be better. City are getting better, and Spurs are a player or two away from being very very good. Arsenal will need to make the right signings this summer, especially if they are replacing people.

Don't forget that we'll be a year older next year

If Spurs get Champions League football this year, then a top 4 finish will be very tough next year with Spurs, Liverpool, City & Arsenal all fighting it out for 2 places. If they fail to do so however, I think they'll take a step backwards making the task slightly easier.

jordainius

sonic85 wrote: »

the optimism from everybody here regarding our possible league position next season is a bit baffling to be honest. considering the way this current season has gone i wouldnt be so quick to say well finish in the top four. all depends on the summer i think - not just what we do but what the likes of liverpool spurs and city do. i think were in danger even if wenger stays. i cant remember a time when the squad has been so deflated and weak mentally. cesc could well leave as could nasri. cesc hasnt been great this season but hes still our only world class player in my opinion and any time ive seen us play without him weve been pretty poor. who knows what will happen - this wonderful record we have of qualifying for the CL every season wont last forever

It's not baffling. What is baffling is that people are acting as though we haven't already been in this position before. I wouldn't take it for granted, but time and time again we've been written off regarding making the top 4, yet we've made it every time.

wandatowell

gosplan wrote: »

Disagree. Most of the players we have are perfectly adequate. Our first 11 are good enough to beat any team.

We're just playing without any confidance at the moment.

Wrong.

Most of our players are not adequate, hence we are in this situation.

I dont buy that confidence excuse at all either, we beat Barcelona and then we start to fall apart. Should we be on a high after beat them?????

gosplan

wandatowell wrote: »

Wrong.

Most of our players are not adequate, hence we are in this situation.

I dont buy that confidence excuse at all either, we beat Barcelona and then we start to fall apart. Should we be on a high after beat them?????

I can't agree.

Given that our first team is capable of playing, and beating Barcelona, then we should be retaining them? No?

Also, I don't think you can really say that we didn't beat Bolton yesterday because of a lack of quality.

Mentally, this team are on the floor.

jordainius

Plenty of anger at Wenger, plenty of anger at our players- but not a lot at our board, the ones who at the end of the day control the financial side of things. Wenger is very supportive of what the board wants in terms of the wage structure, and transfer profitability, but we've seen in the past that he's not afraid to splash the cash.

In the summer of 2001, he signed Sol Campbell on a £90,000 a week contract while also paying him a signing on fee close to £5M, he signed Gio van Bronckhorst from Rangers for £8M on a £40,000 a week contract, Jeffers was signed from Everton for £8M on £35k a week, Richard Wright was bought for £4.5M and put on close to £30k a week, and Jun-Ichi Intertoto Cup was signed on loan (I think) too, not sure what wages he was paid though.

So a fairly heavy transfer outlay under Wenger's watch. That season we went on to win the double.

Similarly in 1997, he signed Grimandi, Petit, Manninger, Overmars, Boa Morte, Wreh, Mendez and Upson. Similarly, a double was won that season.

We need a summer (just one won't ruin the club financially) of activity similar to 1997 or 2001, we need the board to allow for one summer where the purse strings get loosened like in those summers and after that who knows what could happen.

sonic85

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6896576,00.html

Arsene Wenger has admitted another season without silverware has caused him to question his Arsenal philosophy.


The Gunners boss, who last claimed a trophy with victory in the 2005 FA Cup final, saw his side effectively drop out of the Premier League title race with a 2-1 defeat at Bolton on Sunday.
Wenger's men are now nine points behind leaders Manchester United with just four games of the season remaining and have slipped three adrift of defending champions Chelsea to third place in the table.
Fanciful talk of a quadruple evaporated during a miserable spell which saw defeats by Birmingham City, Barcelona and United end their Carling Cup, UEFA Champions League and FA Cup dreams, with the league now also beyond them.


Despite falling short once again, Wenger insists he will not be changing his approach, although he plans to make some changes to his squad over the summer.
"If someone can convince me that the principles are wrong I am ready to change, but I feel we try to play football the proper way," he told Arsenal TV Online.


Question

"When you don't win you question your principles, but you have to give yourself the right distance to see what is right and wrong in what you do.
"I think if something is wrong in our team, it is not the principles in playing our football.
"We have the quality, that is for sure. We have to strengthen the squad where it needs and make the right decision on that front. It [transfers] is always in my mind every day.
"The team have had an outstanding attitude and will not be rewarded because of small things, but small things cost you.
"It is frustrating because the team has produced the efforts.
"We have to be realistic that it [the title] is very unlikely now, but we have to finish as well as we can."


Next up for Arsenal is the visit of United on 1st May, in what Wenger had hoped could prove a title showdown, but where now an Arsenal victory would only seem to serve as a delaying tactic for the Red Devils' coronation or give London rivals Chelsea a shot in the arm.


Wenger accepted shortcomings at the back have proved too costly, with Arsenal missing injured centre-half Thomas Vermaelen for most of the campaign.
"We have not been stable enough defensively," he said.
"The numbers are the numbers - this week we have conceded six goals and you cannot afford to concede six goals in April in three games and win the championship.
"Defensively we have been too frail this season."

Galvasean

You just know we'll beat United now that it's too late :rolleyes:

I take it you've seen this.

Good insight, and a huge problem for us.

From 4.43 Giggs and Neville talk about the value of experience

amacachi

Never mind, Smut got it right on his third attempt. :pac:

Darn convoluted you tube tags with time in them!

Most telling part of that video is at the very end, I think Giggs says, "The managers a clever man, there's no way he'll let the team grow old together"

finty

gosplan wrote: »

I can't agree.

Given that our first team is capable of playing, and beating Barcelona, then we should be retaining them? No?

Also, I don't think you can really say that we didn't beat Bolton yesterday because of a lack of quality.

Mentally, this team are on the floor.

We beat Barcelona at home in a game they should have won easily. The true reflection was the 2nd leg, we got destroyed.

A good few of the squad simply arent good enough.

When it came to the crunch in any big game this year we were found badly lacking in composure, attitude, whatever you want to call it.

Some people have the right temperament and some don't. We have a team with great technical ability but who panic when any pressure is applied.

Can anyone honestly say they were surprised going into the last few minutes that bolton scored? I was almost expecting it.

I gave them the benefit of the doubt when they scored in the 99th minute or whatever against liverpool and thought we'd won that match....big mistake even then one of the blood rushing to the head clowns managed to give away a penalty.

Even against the spuds I never thought we'd hold onto 3-1. Its crazy that a team of professionals can lack composure to such a level.

And as for wenger, Ive lost count of the times hes talked about the great mental strength of his team this season. Its as if he thinks if he says it enough it'll come true.

I'm very sad to say that Wenger has lost it. He was the best manager Arsenal ever had, but its starting to look a bit pathetic at this stage.

You even get the sense that one of the interviewers was taking the piss out of him post the bolton match, asking him if he had any complaints about refereeing decisions.....just waiting for the whine to commence.

jordainius

finty wrote: »

We beat Barcelona at home in a game they should have won easily. The true reflection was the 2nd leg, we got destroyed.

Screw that. We beat Barcelona that night fair and square. Time and time again we've had to put up with losing despite outplaying teams, outplaying a team matters jack sh1t, the team who puts the ball in the net most is the team who deserves to win.

And until van Persie got the most ridiculous red card, a stupid decision which totally screwed us over, we were actually leading the tie over two legs. Losing a 180 minute game by just one goal is never a case of being "destroyed".

Fair enough, the last 2 months have been infuriating, but I won't accept criticism of how Arsenal played against Barcelona this year. We beat them at the Emirates and were in a position to go through until van Persie was mugged by Barcelona's 12th man (and I ain't referring to the crowd there).

Barcelona deserved to go through by virtue of the fact they scored one (just one) more goal than us. Nothing else matters, of all people, Arsenal fans should know that outplaying a team or playing prettier football than the opposition counts for nothing, the ONLY thing that counts is sticking the ball in the net.

That win over Barcelona was the highlight of this season, that was the last time we could feel pride in this team, Wilshere's performance will live long in the memory, van Persie's goal was outstanding, and Arshavin's winner rounding off a wonderful break and some great work by Nasri, Koscielny's performance was majestic at the back, made many important tackles, the team overcame a superior team that day, they kept going and worked their asses off. To hear an Arsenal fan say Barcelona "should have won that game easily" makes me sick.

finty

jordainius wrote: »

Screw that. We beat Barcelona that night fair and square. Time and time again we've had to put up with losing despite outplaying teams, outplaying a team matters jack sh1t, the team who puts the ball in the net most is the team who deserves to win.

And until van Persie got the most ridiculous red card, a stupid decision which totally screwed us over, we were actually leading the tie over two legs. Losing a 180 minute game by just one goal is never a case of being "destroyed".

Fair enough, the last 2 months have been infuriating, but I won't accept criticism of how Arsenal played against Barcelona this year. We beat them at the Emirates and were in a position to go through until van Persie was mugged by Barcelona's 12th man (and I ain't referring to the crowd there).

Barcelona deserved to go through by virtue of the fact they scored one (just one) more goal than us. Nothing else matters, of all people, Arsenal fans should know that outplaying a team or playing prettier football than the opposition counts for nothing, the ONLY thing that counts is sticking the ball in the net.

That win over Barcelona was the highlight of this season, that was the last time we could feel pride in this team, Wilshere's performance will live long in the memory, van Persie's goal was outstanding, and Arshavin's winner rounding off a wonderful break and some great work by Nasri, Koscielny's performance was majestic at the back, made many important tackles, the team overcame a superior team that day, they kept going and worked their asses off. To hear an Arsenal fan say Barcelona "should have won that game easily" makes me sick.

Dude you need to look at things a bit more dispassionately.

Barcelona walked through our offside "trap" on a number of occasions in the first leg. Messi missed about a hat trick of chances he'd normally take was pretty unlucky to be called offside for one chance he did put in the net.
Koscielny was brilliant alright, he kept having to make last ditch tackles cos we had no ability to defend in front of him, not really how the good teams do it.....

Sure we came back and scored 2 great goals and "won" the first leg, but it was only that, the first leg.

And as for your analysis of the 2nd leg, well thats as myopic as Wenger's was that night.

We were being run ragged in that game too. While RvP's 2nd yellow was ridiculous, he did put himself in that position by the idiotic carry on he was at for the first yellow. (some more mature behaviour from one of our senior players) Add to that cesc trying a backheel at the edge of our area and it shows how well our team is led.

We spent large parts of both legs hanging on for dear life. Thats the reality of the situation.

The defeat had nothing to do with the ref, Barcelona were far better than us. end of story.

jordainius wrote: »

Time and time again we've had to put up with losing despite outplaying teams

And as for your frustratations about us losing despite outplaying teams again and again. Perhaps you ascribe to Arsene's theory that its all bad luck or poor refereeing decisions.

I'm more of the opinion that every team in the league knows a few things about us. Set up your defence right and we'll pass the ball about endlessly in front of it, and slowly at that.
Even if we get a lead, keep it tight and we'll panic at the end of the match, giving up chance after chance until we let the opposition back into the game.