Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013/14 mod warning post #5144

Alfred Borden

I am done trying to reason now. We each all have our own opinions and i respect that but please dont knock the great man, he is the most important figure at this club since Chapman.

enfant terrible

gnfnrhead wrote: »

Last summer was really the first time we could and we ended up having our best title challenge in many years. Had Chelsea and City not gotten the financial backing they did, we would have been there or thereabouts every year.

Yes its hard to criticise Wenger greatly up until last summer.

Everyone here and elsewhere knew we needed a top striker and a physical presence in midfield.

To be honest he and the board made a mess of it.

Suarzez or Higuain, one had to come and they blew it.

Chelsea too needed a striker, they had Torrez and Ba and added Eto.

We had Giroud and Bendtner and added Sanogo ridiculous.

For a club of Arsenal's stature to have Giroud, Sanogo and Bendtner leading the line is shocking.

We are seven points off top with that strike force, what could a Higuain have done for our season and you have to blame Wenger for that.

You have to ask yourself would any other top manager start a season hoping to challenge for the title with those guys up front.

Alfred Borden

enfant terrible wrote: »

Yes its hard to criticise Wenger greatly up until last summer.

Everyone here and elsewhere knew we needed a top striker and a physical presence in midfield.

To be honest he and the board made a mess of it.

Suarzez or Higuain, one had to come and they blew it.

Chelsea too needed a striker, they had Torrez and Ba and added Eto.

We had Giroud and Bendtner and added Sanogo ridiculous.

For a club of Arsenal's stature to have Giroud, Sanogo and Bendtner leading the line is shocking.

We are seven points off top with that strike force, what could a Higuain have done for our season and you have to blame Wenger for that.

You have to ask yourself would any other top manager start a season hoping to challenge for the title with those guys up front.

Agreed about the strikers. Disgraceful. Higuain really would have been perfect.

jonneymendoza

Bridge93 wrote: »

I'd wait and see how the FA cup goes. If Arsenal manage to f**ck up the FA cup given the teams still in it then I think there'd be reason to move on. That would be reminiscent of the League Cup loss to Birmingham.

i bet u my car that the same people defending wenger will still back him even if we fail to win the fa cup. another 10 years of the same and some fans will be happy

Mr Blobby

enfant terrible wrote: »

Yes its hard to criticise Wenger greatly up until last summer.

Everyone here and elsewhere knew we needed a top striker and a physical presence in midfield.

To be honest he and the board made a mess of it.

Suarzez or Higuain, one had to come and they blew it.

Chelsea too needed a striker, they had Torrez and Ba and added Eto.

We had Giroud and Bendtner and added Sanogo ridiculous.

For a club of Arsenal's stature to have Giroud, Sanogo and Bendtner leading the line is shocking.

We are seven points off top with that strike force, what could a Higuain have done for our season and you have to blame Wenger for that.

You have to ask yourself would any other top manager start a season hoping to challenge for the title with those guys up front.

Every team has weaknesses that need to be strengthened .
Liverpool need a good holding mid and a better centre back but we don't hear people calling out Rodgers because he didn't sign one.

Same with Mourinho not buying a better striker.. Eto,Ba and Torres are not nearly good enough to lead the line for Chelsea.

Just seems like people are venting and are using Wenger as their target.

Alfred Borden

Akpom recalled. might get a chance tuesday

wandatowell

Why is Arsene cancelling press conferences?

Interesting to see the fans reaction at the next home game

Sergio

Disgusted as everyone else is after yesterday's shambles and all you hear from wenger is we have to focus and respond against Swansea on Tuesday night!
I'm fed up of the s***t talk to be honest.Weve definitely improved overall this season but anyone can see we have big problems facing the bigger teams no heart no fight at all in the current squad part from one or two players.nobody can argue with me because the record speaks for itself 6-3 away to city 5-1 away to Liverpool and 6-0 yesterday against Chelsea not to mention the 8-2 hammering at old trafford a few seasons ago.

Mickeroo

jonneymendoza wrote: »

i bet u my car that the same people defending wenger will still back him even if we fail to win the fa cup. another 10 years of the same and some fans will be happy

What will you complain about if we win it though?

enfant terrible

Mr Blobby wrote: »

Every team has weaknesses that need to be strengthened .
Liverpool need a good holding and a better centre back but we don't hear people calling out Rodgers because he didn't sign one.

Same with Mourinho not buying a better striker.. Eto,Ba and Torres are not nearly good enough to lead the line for Chelsea.

Just seems like people are venting and are using Wenger as their target.

Eto is good enough he scored in the last 16 of champions league on Tuesday and scored the first crucial goal against Arsenal yesterday.

He is a big game player still even if he's not as good as he used to be and could very likely lead Chelsea to the title this year.

Mourinho doesn't have great strikers but they are good enough to win the league.

Wenger's are no where near good enough to win the league.

No one is calling Rogers out because no one thought they would be challenging with the resources he's got.

Sergio

Mickeroo wrote: »

What will you complain about if we win it though?

It will be fantastic to win it and get some silverware back into the trophy cabinet but the issue still remains that we crumble under pressure from the top teams so our mentality has to be questioned and I blame the manager for this.

Mickeroo

enfant terrible wrote: »

No one is calling Rogers out because no one thought they would be challenging with the resources he's got.

Nobody expected Arsenal to challenge either until they had the audacity to sit on top of the table for most of the season to be fair. Which makes all the condemnation seem a bit silly to me.

If we never looked like challenging but coasted to 3rd or 4th plenty folks would be delighted that we didn't make hard work of it like the last few seasons and see it as a platform to build on but because we punched above our weight our current position in the league is seen as a failure and the club are going downhill as a result.

greendom

Raf32 wrote: »

Agreed about the strikers. Disgraceful. Higuain really would have been perfect.

And Higuain would have been a Gooner had it not been for Suarez.

enfant terrible

Mickeroo wrote: »

Nobody expected Arsenal to challenge either until they had the audacity to sit on top of the table for most of the season to be fair. Which makes all the condemnation seem a bit silly to me.

If we never looked like challenging but coasted to 3rd or 4th plenty folks would be delighted that we didn't make hard work of it like the last few seasons and see it as a platform to build on but because we punched above our weight our current position in the league is seen as a failure and the club are going downhill as a result.

I agree Arsenal performed better than most expected but that makes the failure to buy a striker even more depressing.

We have the best no 10 in the world passing it to Giroud,Sanogo and Bendtner.

Do you not agree he and the board messed up the summer window?

tayto lover

Soups123 wrote: »

A good fcukin rollicking hopefully and a lot of thinking

Too late with that.
It should have been done after the City match.
Disgraceful yesterday and some of them not fit to play for this great club.

.jacksparrow.

greendom wrote: »

And Higuain would have been a Gooner had it not been for Suarez.

Some people at the time said higuan wasn't worth the extra few bob and Wenger was right not to spend the money.

Absolutely ridiculous talk.

brianregan09

We simply have to buy a top name centre forward this season and at the back we still major investment the likes of gibbs,monreal ,sagna are super 95% of the time but when we come up against teams that actually atttack us they can't cope

gnfnrhead

I think people are underestimating how big of a loss Walcott was. He was one of our best players last season but has had two big injuries this season, which has really limited his appearances. Walcott, Giroud and Özil would have been a lethal combination. Add in Ramsey and it is easy to see why we struggled so much in recent months.

enfant terrible

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Some people at the time said higuan wasn't worth the extra few bob and Wenger was right not to spend the money.

Absolutely ridiculous talk.

Was a joke in for Higuain, too dear, switch to Suarez, won't sell, sign Ozil, no striker.

Could they have tried Suarez in June and if no go, get Higuain or anyone to give us a chance at the title.

Mickeroo

enfant terrible wrote: »

I agree Arsenal performed better than most expected but that makes the failure to buy a striker even more depressing.

We have the best no 10 in the world passing it to Giroud,Sanogo and Bendtner.

Do you not agree he and the board messed up the summer window?

Of course, it was a shambles though I think they redeemed themselves to an extent at the end by signing Ozil. Not strengthening in January was also a big mistake but I think losing Walcott and Ramsey for most of the season have more to do with our failure in the end.

Alfred Borden

I really dont have a problem with the full backs tbh. Its the fact we have no wingers playing that they have to push forward, up and down the line which then exposes them on the counter. When Theo comes back we will be alright on the right and we need to play an actual winger on the left then not Santi.

greendom

gnfnrhead wrote: »

I think people are underestimating how big of a loss Walcott was. He was one of our best players last season but has had two big injuries this season, which has really limited his appearances. Walcott, Giroud and Özil would have been a lethal combination. Add in Ramsey and it is easy to see why we struggled so much in recent months.

Massive loss especially with Ox missing so much of the season. The injuries mean
that Ox is now being over-used. He's been poor in the last 2 games. He will benefit from the suspension.

.jacksparrow.

Walcott is so injury prone though, should we be relying on him anymore.

Mickeroo

Raf32 wrote: »

I really dont have a problem with the full backs tbh. Its the fact we have no wingers playing that they have to push forward, up and down the line which then exposes them on the counter. When Theo comes back we will be alright on the right and we need to play an actual winger on the left then not Santi.

Is Theo due back for the last few games? Would be a big boost to have him for the run in and also the cup final if we get that far.

greendom wrote: »

Massive loss especially with Ox missing so much of the season. The injuries mean
that Ox is now being over-used. He's been poor in the last 2 games. He will benefit from the suspension.

Playing him in CM against a team like Chelsea was daft too, I'm sure he'll end up playing there full time eventually but his best position by far for now is on the right.

Alfred Borden

Mickeroo wrote: »

Is Theo due back for the last few games? Would be a big boost to have him for the run in and also the cup final if we get that far.



Playing him in CM against a team like Chelsea was daft too, I'm sure he'll end up playing there full time eventually but his best position by far for now is on the right.

No think he is defo out, missing WC too so might be a stretch having him back for start of next season.

enfant terrible

Mickeroo wrote: »

Of course, it was a shambles though I think they redeemed themselves to an extent at the end by signing Ozil. Not strengthening in January was also a big mistake but I think losing Walcott and Ramsey for most of the season have more to do with our failure in the end.

That's all I was saying, it was a shambles.

It's when you lose your two best players that you really need your striker to bail you out, like the chances Giroud had against Munich and Chelsea recently, could have changed those games.

The fact we just recalled Akpom from Coventry to presumably replace Bendtner as 3rd choice says it all.

If Giroud gets injured we can start Sanogo in the semi final and have Akpom on the bench

tayto lover

Right a little perspective -
As I see it,

1. We are missing our injured players.
2. We were set up poorly for the games against the big teams and as a result we shipped 17 goals in 3 games.
3. We were lucky last week against Spurs. They bossed us and raided down our right. I made a comment during the match thread " if we play like this against Chelsea they will hammer us".
4. We did play like that and duly got hammered.
5. Gibbs and Podolski are not up to the standard when playing together.
6. Wenger should have fixed the weaknesses in the intervening time and set the team up far more defensively yesterday. Arteta and Flamini should have started and we should have had two banks of 4 playing closer to our goal as many lesser teams do when playing us.
7. We made it too easy for Chelsea and that is Wenger's fault.
8. The team did not play with "fire in the belly" and were easily bossed. Poor motivation.
9. Giroud missed a good chance before Chelsea scored which might have changed the course of the game. I was pro-Giroud for ages but lately he has been worse than poor.
10. I am not a Wenger out person but Jesus he does make a mess of things quite often. I hope he has a good look at things and really tears into the players for that embarrassment yesterday. They deserve it. The performance was gutless and an embarrassment to all Arsenal fans.
The club is bigger than any manager or player.

.jacksparrow.

But haven't we heard this hope Wenger tears into the players before talk?

I thiought arteta said he never seen him as angry as after the pool game.

Wengers bollickings don't seem to strike fear or hit home with the players.

cson

tayto lover wrote: »

Right a little perspective -
As I see it,

1. We are missing our injured players.
2. We were set up poorly for the games against the big teams and as a result we shipped 17 goals in 3 games.
3. We were lucky last week against Spurs. They bossed us and raided down our right. I made a comment during the match thread " if we play like this against Chelsea they will hammer us".
4. We did play like that and duly got hammered.
5. Gibbs and Podolski are not up to the standard when playing together.
6. Wenger should have fixed the weaknesses in the intervening time and set the team up far more defensively yesterday. Arteta and Flamini should have started and we should have had two banks of 4 playing closer to our goal as many lesser teams do when playing us.
7. We made it too easy for Chelsea and that is Wenger's fault.
8. The team did not play with "fire in the belly" and were easily bossed. Poor motivation.
9. Giroud missed a good chance before Chelsea scored which might have changed the course of the game. I was pro-Giroud for ages but lately he has been worse than poor.
10. I am not a Wenger out person but Jesus he does make a mess of things quite often. I hope he has a good look at things and really tears into the players for that embarrassment yesterday. They deserve it. The performance was gutless and an embarrassment to all Arsenal fans.
The club is bigger than any manager or player.

That's a fair assessment I think.

What I will say with regard to the last part is, while I agree, I think Arsene has earned the right to spend the money the club has now after steering us through the transition to the new stadium and commercial deals that have us secure financially.

That should have happened last summer and in January but it hasn't happened for whatever reason; I don't know if its a reluctance borne of not wanting to pay over what they value a player at, not having the right people at the club to make deals happen or not having the scouting and player acquisition teams at the club coming up with the goods. Whatever it is; something in that regard has to change. It's not as if the players aren't there; we could quite easily have gotten the likes Higuain, Sakho, Strootman to name but 3 players who would improve the team - Arsenal would have been a very attractive proposition to them pre move.

Alfred Borden

If i was wenger i would make an example and sell someone like Podolski, show hes not gonna take anymore crap. All the players love him and seems to be the one offering all the craic but he isnt good enough to be starting so toss him out show he is serious and any that dont like it, toss them too.

Ulysses Gaze

The current Wenger situation reminds me of what happened to Brian Clough.

Clough was a great manager, one of the greats in English Football, but after 1980 only had sporadic success (2 league cups) until he retired in the 1990's.

Maybe Wenger has reached the end in terms of winning major trophies? Not all managers continue to win throughout their career. Ferguson is an anomaly.

It's hard to tell what season this thread is referring to. Change the name of the missing player, adjust the date of the collapse, the name of the team that embarrass us in the Champions' League and it's the same thing for the last 10 ****ing years. And the same people will still defend it year after year after year.

Mickeroo

Mickeroo wrote: »

What will you complain about if we win it though?

That we didn't beat anyone of note on the way to the cup?

Mr Blobby

Deleted User wrote: »

That we didn't beat anyone of note on the way to the cup?

Apart from Spurs,Liverpool and Everton :pac:

Sergio

Mr Blobby wrote: »

Apart from Spurs,Liverpool and Everton :pac:

We've had a good run in the cup to be fair so will credit the team for that

Very worrying this development of social media blackout and the cancellation of the pre match interview.

Wouldn't cost the board that much to sack Wenger at this stage.

Would be a crying shame if we won the FA Cup and he wasn't involved.

emergingstar

People who want Klopp: He has sold his best players without financial constraint and now fallen way behind.

tayto lover

Deleted User wrote: »

Very worrying this development of social media blackout and the cancellation of the pre match interview.

Wouldn't cost the board that much to sack Wenger at this stage.

Would be a crying shame if we won the FA Cup and he wasn't involved.

Not a chance of the Board sacking Wenger in my opinion.
He makes too much money for them.

tayto lover

tayto lover wrote: »

Not a chance of the Board sacking Wenger in my opinion.
He makes too much money for them.

Only got a few months left on his contract., If he's intimated to the board that he's not staying, well, it wouldn't cost that much.

Mr.Micro

tayto lover wrote: »

Not a chance of the Board sacking Wenger in my opinion.
He makes too much money for them.

Well it all depends on what the board is satisfied with. A balanced accounts book and qualify for the CL each year? Anything else is a bonus. Is Wenger happy with that?

Mickeroo

emergingstar wrote: »

People who want Klopp: He has sold his best players without financial constraint and now fallen way behind.

Gotze had his buy-out clause activated and Lewandowski wouldn't sign a new contract.

Mr Blobby

emergingstar wrote: »

People who want Klopp: He has sold his best players without financial constraint and now fallen way behind.

Not true!
BVB have a very strict financial structure which they cannot break. Lewy and Gotze got a huge pay bump in wages when they moved to Bayern.

And they've fallen behind Bayern because nearly their entire squad is out injured.

gnfnrhead

Deleted User wrote: »

Only got a few months left on his contract., If he's intimated to the board that he's not staying, well, it wouldn't cost that much.

Wouldnt make sense to sack him at this stage, and it would create a huge backlash against the board. If he wants to go, let him announce that he is stepping down at the end of the season. He deserves that much at least. With that announced we wouldnt have to rely on a temporary manager for the final 10 (hopefully) games while looking for someone new for next season.

Mr.Micro

gnfnrhead wrote: »

Wouldnt make sense to sack him at this stage, and it would create a huge backlash against the board. If he wants to go, let him announce that he is stepping down at the end of the season. He deserves that much at least. With that announced we wouldnt have to rely on a temporary manager for the final 10 (hopefully) games while looking for someone new for next season.

Yes, it is up to Wenger. I read in the week that Guardiola left Barcelona because he could no longer motivate the players. That to me, is an interesting enigma. Perhaps Wenger has the same problem with some of the players?

Wouldn't make sense, but neither does not signing a striker for 2 years.

Ah lads to be honest talk of sacking him right now is utterly ridiculous. It would totally destablise the team. Our season is still on track for a good finish. Was very disconsolate after yesterday ill admit and i believe failure to win the cup and achieve CL football would signal the end for Wenger. However I honestly dont think it would make sense of any level to bring in a new right manager now. It would be totally counter productive.

I do think though Arsenal fans deserve better then what we are getting at the moment. The lack of business in the transfer window was truly and utterly disgraceful and were seeing the fruits of it now.

WoollyRedHat

Deleted User wrote: »

Very worrying this development of social media blackout and the cancellation of the pre match interview.

Wouldn't cost the board that much to sack Wenger at this stage.

Would be a crying shame if we won the FA Cup and he wasn't involved.

If the board decide to sack him, then they should follow him out the door tbh.

Alfred Borden

Some great debating going on here boys, nice to see everyones opinions even if we all dont agree.

Nemeses2050

Deleted User wrote: »

Very worrying this development of social media blackout and the cancellation of the pre match interview.

Wouldn't cost the board that much to sack Wenger at this stage.

Would be a crying shame if we won the FA Cup and he wasn't involved.

We just lost 6-0, so I'm sure club won't go gloating about it and posting interviews from the players... Anyway Wenger did give his post-match interview to Arsenal.com

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20140322/wenger-on-defeat-penalty-and-title-race

Nemeses2050

Nemeses2050 wrote: »

We just lost 6-0, so I'm sure club won't go gloating about it and posting interviews from the players... Anyway Wenger did give his post-match interview to Arsenal.com

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20140322/wenger-on-defeat-penalty-and-title-race

Id have every last one of the fúckers in training at the crack of dawn this morning for that shambles yesterday.

Sloppiness is poor enough but the lack of effort and facilitating such space is utterly unforgivable. I don't ask much of teams i support but for one key key ingredient...effort. If you go down then go down fighting in a blaze of glory. Downing tools and whimpering into the night is not good enough.

Herbert Chapman would probably turn in his grave if he thought this is what the club has amounted to.