Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger announced after the club’s 4-3 defeat at the hands of Liverpool, that his side were not physically ready for the Premier League, with some of our most influential players not fully fit from over the summer.
Wenger stated: “Physically we are not ready. You are in a Catch-22 situation with the Euros – do you give the players a rest and start the season without many of your players? Or do they play in this kind of game and get injured, like Ramsey today?”
Wenger said this despite feeling confident his side were ‘physically ready’ for the Premier League, after the win over Manchester City in the club’s final pre-season fixture. Arsenal had a good pre-season and did look strong in their fixtures. However clearly the level wasn’t the same as what the Premier League and what Liverpool would hold and as a result Arsenal suffered.
Arsenal’s lack of physical fitness was just one of many reasons that contributed towards the loss. Having our three most prominant central defenders out of action due to fitness was not ideal, whilst Ozil and Giroud were also missing due to a lack of pre-season training. It meant that Arsenal went into the match on the backfoot before we had even kicked off and Liverpool took advantage of that.
However a lack of ‘physical fitness’ is largely down to Wenger’s fault and so he cannot look anywhere else besides himself for answers. The injures of Gabriel and Mertesacker may not have been caused by Wenger, but he did have a number of weeks to rectify the situation by signing a player to replace the long term absentees. Ozil and Giroud were both given extended holidays so that they could ‘recover’ from Euro 2016, however we saw some players that played for France in the final of the Euros, starting for their respective clubs this weekend, with no problems at all.
Arsenal desperately need to ensure that the players are physically ready as well as mentally ready for the challenge that faces us next week, because to be possibly six points behind the leaders two games in, is not going to be a pretty sight for the Arsenal.
By AH
I’m so frustrated, words cannot describe how much I am.
I wan’t to respect the old man, I do. I recognize his many contributions to the club. But I cannot take it anymore. I truly LOVE Arsenal FC and I wish we had better than mr. Wenger.
@Bulgarboy…This is so frustrating. I honestly love and respect Wenger…but he is beginning to really get on my nerves.
Why he’s the only one who doesn’t see what we need, and the urgency? I’m completely tired of talking about the same thing year after year.
Someone is definitely lying to us fans…either Wenger or the Board, or both.
my worry is are we going to lose Ozil and Sanchez?
but most probably Arsen and the board will have a deal going on that Arsen will not spend this season being his final year and they will fool us and the players in thinking the new manager will splash the cash, and we all know they will bring in a passive manager who they will control over finances
The whole world can see we are short on consistency in performance. We are not hungry enough, not fit enough, not passionate enough. There is always something missing, always an excuse.
I am done criticizing the players! I have faith in them, the same way Wenger does. The issue lies elsewhere, and we all know where to point.
Cheers mate.
@ Admin : In response to your comment on the previous post.
So instead of putting up valid arguments, you chose to mock me. Good job Admin..Very mature of you..Expected no less from from an AKB..
From your attitude I have to assume that you are absolutely ok with the turmoil our club is in..It is good being all optimistic and positive but a wise man said ” Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.” Have you not considered what happens if things go down south..Do you expect guys like Koscielny,Ozil,Cazorla,Alex,Mert to stay at the club when we fail to challenge for the title yet again..And don’t behave like this hasn’t happened before..Isn’t this how we lost the likes of Henry,Nasri,Hleb,Cesc,RVP,Song,Sagna ??? I do still support the team and will forever but that doesn’t mean I will turn a blind eye to the quite obvious problems we are in..Awaiting your response..
My comment said “Wow you have a crystal ball! Please send me next week’s lotto numbers!”
What I am implying is that you are predicting a doom and gloom scenario that may be completely wrong. And we are not going to know until the end of the season.
I would have said the same thing if someone had written “Arsenal will do the double and everyone will be ecstatic.”
You are not stating a fact it is purely your (pessimistic) opinion. Nothing to do with AKB or AOB or whatever nonsense you want to label it.
Personally I don’t think we can call our club to be “in turmoil” simply because we lost one game with half our players missing. If we lose the next 37 I may agree with you!
Sorry Admin. I completely…100% disagree with you on this.
We have consecutively lost on the first day of the season for 3 years now (I hope I’m right).
We have consecutively lost out of the champions league in round of 16 for 6 years.
Call this doom and gloom if you want. But we are sure to loose some high profile players if we don’t push for the title this year.
And yes…I have a crystal ball. I predict it on the basis of the continuous occurrence at our club for a while now.
Was Ozil injured?
Was Giroud injured?
Was Koscielny injured?
Did we have to wait for Gabby to get injured before pursuing a CD?
Too many questions and so few answers…and because I say these things does not make me love Arsenal any less.
@ Roe-hahn, good comments.
Asano is not a top striker?
Ok fair enough…But it isn’t a matter of just one game..Its about Wenger’s refusal to strengthen the team each year..For 3 years running he has failed to bring in a top stiker..This same thing keeps happening year in,year out. Which other top club starts their season with just one recognised striker ??
Vardy rejected us in the middle of the Euro’s almost two months ago..why have we not signed another striker?? Have we even looked at any other targets…?? If Lyon wanted 40 mill for Lacazette why did we under bid for him ??
Per was injured on 22nd Jul. why have we not signed a defender yet ? Even after being humiliated at home by Liverpool why are we still negotiating Mustafi’s transfer fee ?? Why are we looking at cheaper alternatives when our primary target is Mustafi and he wants to join us ??
How can you be ok with any of this Admin ?
The fact is that Wenger is very well paid to run the club. He knows the capabilities and moods of each and every player. He knows who may be ready to make the first team and who doesnt. He knows what we need and how much he can spend to get it. He knows which players are open to an Arsenal move and who isnt. We the critics only have a small proportion of the facts but we pretend that we know better than someone who lives and breaths Arsenal every single day….
I really doubt Wenger knows ALL these things you’ve stated. I really doubt it.
If he did, we won’t be making the same mistakes over and over and over again.
My conclusion on this matter is that we are being lied to by someone. It’s either Wenger or the Board, or both.
admin I understand where you are coming from, but I see the same situation 180 degrees opposite.
1. The fact is that Wenger is very well paid to run the club. – This I agree with, in fact I think he is overpaid for what he delivers
2. He knows the capabilities and moods of each and every player.
I don’t believe this and it is hard to reconcile this with his management of Giroud during his barren spell last season when Giroud was not capable of scoring a goal and hit was clearly not in the right space. How come he keeps thinking Ramsey is capable of playing on the right wing when clearly he is poor on the right and his best position is in the middle.
3. He knows who may be ready to make the first team and who doesnt.
Again I see it different, if he did know how come he completely missed Coq’s readiness, he was ready to sell him. How come for 15 games last season he thought Giroud was ready for the first team when clearly he wasn’t?
4. He knows what we need and how much he can spend to get it.
We have needed a striker for years and he doesn’t seem to know and says money is not an issue.
5 He knows which players are open to an Arsenal move and who isnt.
If this were true how do you explain Vardy?
6 We the critics only have a small proportion of the facts but we pretend that we know better than someone who lives and breaths Arsenal every single day.
We all live and breath Arsenal and we all see the same games and performances on the pitch.
As Johan Cruyff said “Football is simple, but it is difficult to play simple.” Let’s not make it seem like everyone is wrong about what this team needs and only Wenger knows. It simply is not true.
you just made a really valid point Admin
“Wenger is very well paid to run the club”
Firstly he clearly is NOT doing his job properly then is he? as EVERYBODY could see this happening a mile off,
Secondly he gets paid very well to run the TEAM not the club, if he’s running the club then what does Gazidis get paid for??
there cant be any doubt in anyones mind that he’s running the club and the team into the dirt and he JUST ISNT deleivering the results that the fanbase deserve.
OK if theres a policy of NOT spending money thats fine, THEN LOWER THE TICKET PROCE EACH YEAR !!!! DONT keep spouting lies and half truths AND if he gets paid very well to run the club then “RUN THE BLOODY CLUB AS A FOOTBALL CLUB NOT AS AN INVESTMENT BUSINESS”
Wenger, although having hundreds of injuries and abuse from the fans, still got us to second place. That was amazing, but if the PLAYERS had have played with more conviction when we were close to the lead we could have run away with the title. Why is this Wenger’s fault?
Wenger bought the players, it’s his job to motivate them or employ an effective strategy that allows us to garner points when off form,
ranieri did not start the season with a better squad than arsenal but his tactical and motivational prowess ensured that Leicester saw themselves over the line
how many times have we collapsed when being in a good position? It’s not coincidental anymore, wenger does not have it in him to take this team any further and this year with an abundance of forward thinking managers he’s about to be truly exposed
Admin who’s responsibility is it to make the players play with conviction? Me? Or you? Why does he earn a drug cartel wages annually? Please stop trying to defend the indefensible. The whole football world sees the glaring flaws including insiders like our greatest legend, King Henry
@admin
Your comment is showing 3 likes and 4 dislikes. It should be 2 likes and 5 dislikes, I thumbed you up by mistake!
ADMIN COMMENT
***Wow I better disable the thumbs then in case you actually know what colour you are pressing!
Its not about losing one game. The fan is concerned about the ambition and the strategy of the club and the manager. Each and every year the club deceiving the fan who are hungry for success and championship, every year they buy one player to sale the season ticket when it was required three or more world class players to compete in the league.
More to the point Pat my old mate
who is responsible for this ??
its like selling a product to the customer and then stating that its NOT fit for pupose!!! I mean why? it was not a surprise when the season started, everybody knew. its throwing the players under the bus rather than taking responsibility for the debacle yourself.
Same old Wenger
This summer and especially this disgustingly cowardly statement has firmly convinced me that Wenger need to be outted he is systematically destroying what the whole club used to stand for.
I personally feel so angry yet sooo powerless but with every passing day my disgust at Wengers behaviour grows ever more intense.
The whole situation is a disgusting tissue of lies and deceit and its all stemming from Wenger and Gazidis
Someone in an earlier article mentioned Van Persie and his statement when he left four years ago and its now turning out to be pin point accurate.
We are a football club NOT a financial institution
WHERE HAS THE BT MONEY GONE ???????????? why are we quibbling over ten million for a defender we absolutely need ????
Go away Arsene yoir day is done we dont want you here anymore
10 mill. you say ??? It took us 2 months to improve our bid for Holding. Bolton wanted 2 mill. for Holding but we bid 750 thou. 2 months of negotiations to save a mill. for one of the brightest CB prospects in England.
Typical Arsenal haggling.
We think we’re saving money, but in retrospect, we’re loosing.
I’m not saying we should buy a player for £100m, but I’m sure you’ll all agree with me that Ronaldo has paid back his worth of the £80+m he was paid for (over many times).
Silly haggling is killing the club.
Someone is definitely lying to us fans. It’s either Wenger or the Board, or both.
Dude has already helped Real win the CL twice in the last 3 years..Something we can only dream of..
Real Madrid are set to pocket minimum €94 million after winning their 11th european title, Atletico Madrid will get €82 million all together in performances related bonues and market pool. We take in-depth look at the tv rights money distribution system used by UEFA.
Arsenal got 100 million just from the Premier League for coming second and being shown on TV the most….
So where is THAT money going??
we have money left from the kitty last season and the season before and this money comming in from BT sports so where is it going?? cos its NOT being spent on what we need??
questions need to be asked as its clear that we are in need of an overhaul ? who is able to do this ??
they keep investing the money so there is not so much in the bank,
my theory is that one day soon Stan Kroenky will sell his shares and take 60% of everything when he leaves, just think all that cash invested if not spent its 60% his
and Arsen will work for Stan in his new club in the USA
Something isnt wrong at Arsenal. Alot of things are wrong in Arsenal and until change happens, expect the usual to continue to happen.. ..disgusting scenario. Very irritating. …..
Ahhhhh !!!!
For three years EVERYBODY and thier uncle has known we needed another CB and also a striker and a CDM
we have added just one of those three players and even he didnt start on Sunday
Yet everyone in the world knows how much extra revenue is comming in from the BT sports deal and Wenger wont spend any of it !!!!!????? where is it going then ?????
(steam coming out of my ears at this point)
The old man did great things for us as a club when Dave Dein was there Now he’s inept, stupid and stubbornly arrogant he need to GO and go asap.
Rant over
(Steam still in abundance)
Remember that Muzzi Ozcan guy..The guy who claimed on twitter last year that Arsenal will make the signing of the summer..He mentioned that we would sign a player from the Bundesliga and everybody thought it would be Reus or Lewa or Auba…Now come to think of it he might have been talking about Xhaka..So it took Arsenal a full year to complete Xhaka’s transfer. I wonder how many times Wenger negotiated the transfer fee..
@ Roe-hahn
Mate its making my Blood fizz !!!!!
the published figures for our profit and loss ect would indicate that we can spend far more freely that we are, is it Wenger ?? Or is it Gazidis or is it both??
Frankly I dont care what is obvious is that the supposed Tactical Genius (Wenger) is either loosing the plot or has finally reached a point where he is forgetting what he has or has not said and is starting to tie himself in knots with his lies.
He clearly feels that every disaster is someones elses fault and refuses to take responsibility for anything at all unless its a win.
made me laugh when I read in the mirror last week that he said “If Arsenal dont play heard and win something this season he’ll leave, but if they do he’s ll stay” dont know the veracity of the article but it made me wonder who he thinks the responsibilty for winning trophies lays with ??
8 million a year we pay this madman !!! times that by 20 years and then realised we could have brought in Messi and ronaldo for what its cost us to have 12 years of dross !!!!
The board and management are rotten to the core and are basically just liars. They are lying about their financial situation and lying to us fans.
In fact AW becomes more like The Riddler every day….he talks absolute nonsense.
We cannot afford these players that we are supposedly chasing….we cannot afford them and this damn Emirates stadium has become a damn curse. It’s like a library…has put the club in debt and has no atmosphere whatsoever. Highbury was far far better. It just so happens we played our best football there too!
I have been very harsh
on Walcott and Chamberlain
for a long time but credit
where its due so I fully
acknowledge both their goals were fantastic.
Theo getting in behind at pace and placing the ball
across the keeper into the far corner is his trademark strike
and he did it brilliantly and with class.
Ox thundering past defenders finding space and crashing it home
again is what he does so well so give him the ball and let him get on with it.
“IF” these two stay fit and in form they will give Arsenal
“direct power play” something the tippy tappy almost killed off.
Agree with you on Walcott. He gets a lot of abuse from fans here but on his day he is devastating. The problem is these performances are too few and too far apart. He needs to keep himself fit and work on his consistency and his defensive work rate.
A lot of fans seem to forget that Walcott is the highest goal scorer at the club(among current players) and a genuine goal threat. Also one of the few players who turns up in the big games.As for Ox,he needs a good run of games under his belt. This could finally be his breakthrough year.
Wenger should be managing the players physicality. If he knew some would not be physically ready, he should have replaced them immediately with players that would be ready, be it from within or new signings.
For me it was obvious weeks ago that Welbeck and Mertesacker would miss the first half of the season, they play in the same positions that we already all knew needed feeling. Then he also knew that giroud ans koscielny, again those 2 positions, were not going to be available, still he did nothing. He also knew weeks ago that wilshire, ozil, cazorla and ramsey again all similar players in terms of creativity for the could be missing for the opening game, instead of gambling with them why not keep John toral at the club until August 31St? Or bring someone else in? The final straw was when over a week ago we lost our 3Rd centre backing Gabriel. He should have been out the following day and signed at least 1 centre back. Chambers and Holding should be training with the first team but at 21 years old should be playing u23 football or getting better experience on loan.
The list goes on and on and by now my fizzing head cant remember all of the reasons I feel the club are betraying the fans, however they are many and valid.
Walcott is or could be a great player if he was not so innordinatly scared of injury and positively lazy, If he would take the time and effort to change this then he could be worth the money we have been paying him for so long.
The Ox is another one who needs to put some effort in and make it his season instead of the silly schoolboy errors he made last season.
As far as the season goes we are not in free fall mode just yet but its very very hard NOT to see that comming when there have been no real efforts from Gazidis or Wenger to rectify the disaterous situation at the back and front of the team. again I refer back to the quibbling over ten million for a dfender that we ABSOLUTLY NEED!!!!
If you value the player and wont accept another you HAVE TO PAY THE ASKING PRICE!!!! I mean jesus we pay Wenger almost as much each year to avoid these scenarios where we need emergency buy in’s and no one quibbles about HIM not doing his job !!!!
We wasn’t physically ready? ? ? What a load of bull ?!
I think that you find that the only one who wasn’t ready, was Wenger, himself! ?
Our team was not physically ready he says? Then whose fault is it? Liverpools or the fans? We were not ready simply because our stingy and stubborn manager refused to buy the right quality and quantity of players to strengthen the obvious positions we are weak in.
They were not physically ready cos Wenger has not brought in the right players and they are not really into what they are doing? maybe the attitude of the players is that they are getting paid and and the attitude of the board and the manager is leaking down to the players??
The only person who is responsible for the is Adolf Wenger he is supposed to manage and he clearly isnt he has not bolstered the squad with new acquisitions and this is not helping the team building spirit
Football is a simple game, Cruyff said. It is! We need a new manager!!!