It’s a case of too little, too late, once again for Arsenal. by Konstantin Mitov
I am ready for the slating that will come my way for not being to optimistic before we’ve actually done something. A lot of people believe that we will finish 4th if we somehow win our remaining 3 games, but it still lies on the hope that West Ham tripping Liverpool, because otherwise I don’t see City slumping up in 2 games.
So on to yesterdays game, truth to be told Southampton didn’t have much to play for yet in the first half, they were the better team and Cech made a great save, but we survived 0-0 to be honest. In the second half, we took some risks. We started pressing and they made mistakes.
It still took a touch of genius from the big man Alexis to get up front. I want to take a small break here and ask you how many times has Alexis saved Arsene in his time here? And Arsene speaks in interviews that the club comes first. Funny enough, Arsene always comes first, but I’ll get back to him in a moment.
So after our goal, we scored a second through a string of comic defending out of Southampton and some nice play from us, which killed it and saved our hair slim chance of the top 4. The top 4 is massive. If you evaluate the FA cup and the top 4, the latter brings so much more to the table in terms of ability to sign players, money, prestige, playing the best teams in Europe and so on and so on.
But, if we look at it, we signed Xhaka (who was excellent yesterday to be honest), Perez and Mustafi, all players who we could’ve signed without champions league football. If that are the signings we’ll make, you wonder if the top 4 is really that important on that front, because I want to be targeting players like Aubameyang, Reus, Greizmann, not some unknowns.
Another point is that, if we want to keep Alexis, we need to dig in big in our cash reserves. Not only for the fact he is the one player that truly deserves it in our squad, but to add players of the same caliber next to him so we can improve.
Now I want to address the issue as to why did we start pressing yesterday and we didn’t do it against teams like Watford and West Brom and Palace who easily took us apart. Yesterday we took risks and they payed off. Against United, Xhaka tried to shoot, got lucky and scored. Nacho got lucky against Leicester, but you know what, you can blame luck all you want, but if you don’t shoot, you don’t score.
We can play the perfect passes to the penalty area, but if we don’t direct the ball goalwards, we will never score. We are where we are for a reason and that reason is here every season. Remember Lasagna gate? Remember when we were like 7 points behind Villa, but scrapped the top 4 in the end? Remember when Everton had 1 point and a game in hand and we still pipped them with 5 wins on the bounce?
Why do we go into free-fall? Every season? We stop playing at some point and at the end we wake up, just to get 4th? Our point tally will be around 70 points, which is where we usually are. How about making it 85? Those extra 10-12 points that will transform us to contenders.
And lastly back to Arsene and the fact he is everything here. He craves power so much, he laughed off the chance to add somebody to the staff to help him, maybe a director of football. I will finish with this. Arsene is an employee here, nothing more. He is not top of the food chain at Arsenal and if the bosses demand a director of football Arsene has to accept it or leave.
This summer is massive. It will indicate if the board members actually have any power and any desire to adapt change, or Arsene will become the Arsenal universe itself. Hopefully, but unlikely it will be the latter.
Same Story, Different season…..
Hoping we win the FA Cup though. I don’t know if Wenger will leave anymore.
The transfer window after this season will be massive for Arsenal. Lets see who is leaving, who is coming and if Wenger stays or leaves and what happens to the board. i just hope the fans wont be taken for granted this time around as We all know that something ain’t right with this club.
#ChangeIsConstant
#ArsenalIsABigClub
Another grumbling moaner.
I know Wenger has been criticised this season, but there is no better manager than Wenger. He has got the whole club right. It is profitable, growing, cultured & consistent. This club is the only club in the world that can be sure of success for the next 10 years. Further than that is a matter of good appointment & consistent quality. Wenger has set the club on this path. It is easier to destroy than to create. Buying success is not so difficult. Maintaining quality without continuous investment needs external wealth funding the club. Once that external funding ceases, the club begins to die. Arsenal is set up by an economics master. It has a football system that is proven. It is the envy of most other clubs & the media are totally jealous that Wenger has done it against all their attempts at sabotage. The point you are really making is that clubs can spend a bundle of cash and still get nowhere, whereas Arsenal have not spent bundles and as far as I`m concerned have been far more successful that most clubs. Twenty years and always in the top 4, most clubs would give their right hand(if clubs had hands) to finish in the top half of the table. They overspent trying to buy success and had to sell their stars to survive. Some of our more “delicate” fans are always shouting out “spend some f***ing money”. Spending money as Man U are finding doesn`t always buy success and Guardiola having spent a bundle is not setting the Premiership on fire. I guarantee though, we will still be hearing the same old chants of spending money, no matter what our results.
KUDOS ARSENE.
Am I the only one who wishes that Arsenal don’t make top 4 ?!?!?!? Bcoz the way i see it, its the only way to force change its the closes we will get to doing something different after years & years of disappointments , disaster & utter embarrassment. I hope we don’t make top 4 I believe things just mite change
Good morning sunshine. What is up, moaners?
Another our Great Arsene’s victory. Here’s lovely world of Arsenal spread, when you are happy you shine a light onto others, onto life. It always starts with you this light. You feel it first internal and then you pour onto external. Only when you overflow with the happiness you can pretend that you actually share and give happiness to others, happiness is a state of mind. It’s just according to the way you look at things. Every day, you could think at any moment that something amazing is happening somewhere in the world and be right about it. You are amazing just the way you are, Arsene our Great Leader.
Great win guys. So happy. Congrats to all associated with the club. I love the Arsenal.
Thanks Arsene Wenger for keeping the focus. It ain’t over until its over. The Top 4 positions are still attainable if we continue to win our matches because I don’t think City, The Poo and Manure will avoid dropping points in their last few games.
COYG.
This Jembut fool is either a Spul-troll or some mug just as deliusional as Kroenke. Either that or a foreign-plastic who hasn’t been alive long enough to have witnessed other managers take the reins at AFC.
Or, it’s Arsene the cat-fish – Arsene is that you…?
C u next Tuesday.
Another poor self righteous ignorant ungrateful moaner.
Let me break down Arsene’s top qualities of a person to be the best manager in the world:
1. Leadership- Wenger has this quality in abundance. All the players under his rank respect and follow him.
2. Tactical Superiority- In the modern game tactics are a very crucial part of the game. You have to have superior tactics before the game. Also, you should be able able to change your tactics during the game if necessary. Wenger has excelled at this.
3. Long term vision- Again Wenger has vision for players and nurtured many young players to be become world class players. He has consistently achieved the champions league spot with Arsenal despite the club losing really good players. His vision for a better Arsenal through the debt ridden years (for the stadium) is worth applauding.
4. Recruitment- Wenger is the best in the world at recruiting and nurturing young scouted players. He always goes for value for money world class players like Oezil and Sanchez.
5. Setting the right formation- As football has evolved teams have to change their formations according the opposition they face.
Hence, Wenger is the best manager in the world right now.
ARSENE KNOWS BEST.
My delusion detector is off the charts!
You should be proud of Arsene as true fan.
Sing with me now, One Arsene Wenger.
@JembutArsene
1. Leadership- Wenger has almost zero leadership qualities. Just look at the results, performances, and how he handles players, but the ultimate proof is if you listen to what ex-players say about him. They all say Wenger isn’t a screamer, he doesn’t make certain demands of his players. He usually let the likes of Adams, Vieira, etc, take on a lot of the leadership needed.
2. Tactical Superiority- Wenger is tactically inept, and arguably, the worst manager at any top club from a tactical perspective. More than a 10 year wait for a different formation proves this.
3. Long term vision- Yes Wenger did fairly well during the debt ridden years, but his long-term plan over the last four years has been laughable! Half our squad are out of contract in 14 months, meaning their valuations have plummeted if we sell. No effort to go for the league whilst all our rivals were weakened as they went through their respective transitional periods. Allowing so many average players to stay, which meant constant regression, leaving us in the position we’re now in. The club’s reputation has been damaged because of one humiliating season after another in Europe, making it harder to convince quality to join.
4. Recruitment- It has been diabolical! Wenger always ignores the positions that actually need strengthening. He has signed quality, but has also signed useless players as well, and players that don’t even fit into his rigid system
5. Setting the right formation- I agree exactly with what you have said on this point, but it doesn’t apply in any way, shape, or form to Wenger. He’s played the exact same way for over a decade!
You’re are being deliberately provocative, but most likely, you’re a troll. Either way, it’s always nice to give you guys a reality check with FACTS.
When the money was not there AW built a wonderful young team but saw it decimated by injury and vultures. It took some tough seasons and changes to start over but prudence allowed us to build slowly and know the club is very strong again. How is that possible if Wenger is so flawed? Wenger explains his position most eloquently. Wenger believes his approach to squad building requires greater skill than buying established players, but is not concerned that his rivals in the Barclays Premier League will try to muscle in on his territory. The fact that man utd, Chelsea and later man city were spending hundreds of millions on world class players and arsenal were relying on a bunch of kids and selling off the better players they had then. After years of deliberately refusing to spend money available to him, he suddenly decided to spend £90 million this summer. That really makes sense because other’s strengthening too.
Football is all about money. If you haven’t worked that out by now, I can’t help you. Having said that, a club can spend badly as man utd did. Spending big is a necessity but not a guarantee. If you’ve got a washed up, like Josa Moo, you can spend big and fail. Arsene wenger is the manager of arsenal. He manages the team. He is given money by the club and spends what he is given. He doesn’t own the club and he is not a shareholder, nor is he on the board of directors. He is employed by the club to manage the team, nothing else. He is given a budget to work with by the club. Stan Kroenke is the majority shareholder of arsenal. He and no one else decides how much to spend. That’s because he owns over 67% of the club and has a controlling stake. Arsenal spent £90 million this summer because as the majority shareholder he decided to spend that money. I hope that’s cleared it up for you. Two doubles, an unbeaten season, record FA cup wins and the fact he is arsenal’s most successful manager certainly make him a club legend.
Look at the whole argument on here. Recent wins look different it’s not like our boring starts we had for seasons 2014/15. This looks pacy, crisp attacking. High up the pitch pressing, everytime we lose possession. Calm assured Defending, winning duels. Midfield pivots breaking up attacks. Le’ts see if Stoke Away next yields the same approach or not. But it’s exciting to watch, even the haters should admit that.
M0rons’ logic: Telling AKBs to stop living in the past, all the while bringing the past to slate Wenger , bunch of hypocrites, very slowly and with some caution people are seeing improvement and potential, we are getting better whether you like it or not , if we win the next 3 games which are all winnable then will you keep going on about our great Arsene’s credibility? We are looking like clicking and its exciting for our fans who haven’t had this feeling for a while, i just struggle to understand why most you dont want us to do well individually and collectively, most of you are the most baffling people on here.
Anyway, it’s been a very good few weeks. I’m excited to see us play, which is new. Let’s make it another 2yearsof our Arsene to stay. Let’s make it count.
Enjoy the result, Stoke up next!
COYG.
a very long senseless comment, couldn’t read it. the first sentence you said when money was not there, I remember him saying that we are moving to the Emirates to compete with the best in the world, only to move to the Emirates and compete with likes of Spurs and Liverpool for the 4th spot.. I don’t see any improvement in this team, just a normal way to finish the season when our precious 4th spot is in jeopardy. selling the best players coz they are more ambitions than Wenger and his entire management has been the norm at Arsenal, Sanchez will leave and we will remain with the same soft average players
Guy, must Arsene see the need to answer every question asked? Is there something in his contract that says he must give an answer to every question?
I think our football is still pretty good to watch and has the potential to be vintage.
The fact that our football remained good, if ultimately unsuccessful, throughout the times we couldn’t afford to lose Ozil and Sanchez allows me to respect Arsene even more.
Look how Sanchez played like amonster last game vs Soton, if not Our Great Arsene motivated him, who else? You?
Sanchez will stay as Arsene will convince him too.
KUDOS ARSENE.
Look how Sanchez played like a monster last game vs Soton, if not Our Great Arsene motivated him, who else? hehehe this is so funny mate, Sanchez is a professional footballer and he does everything for his own image, not coz Wenger motivated him. If he is leaving, that’s the way to show the potential buyers that I can give my all in any situation, and he is setting his own records on the process, NOT coz Wenger motivated him, coz he is a real professional..
how many people have Arsene motivated? why are all the players not playing like Sanchez? coz they all have the same manager who motivates all of them, why are they different? do they have their own coaches?
Of course every manager has his own way of motivating. We cruised the game. Utterly dominant in every single way. I can’t remember seeing a side so shocked into submission. We had more heart, more structure about our play and way more purpose. We beat them tactically and physically.
Wenger praised the collective pace of the team and the commitment of his players. I’d say enjoy the moment.
COYG.
your master ain’t consistent that’s the problem. where was he with his motivation when Palace was killing us, or West Brom. we lost so many games that we should have won, players looked clueless in some of them, disinterested, they lacked motivation, and Wenger was seated on his seat folding his hands looking clueless as always
So, Arsene has fixed that lately and you haven’t notice it yet?
Manure, Soton, City, etc, it’s up and down, but i think this new 3-4-2-1 system suits our team, and all thanks to our great classy Arsene.
lately? why lately? where was he 5 or 6 years ago? we started playing poorly some few years back, and now he just fixed that and he is back to being God?
A very simple question – What is the point of building something if there’s never an end result?
Wenger seems to be forever building a squad capable of winning, but never actually wins, or even gets close to winning!
Yes Wenger is given a budget like all other managers, but also like all other managers, he can improve that budget by selling, but he chooses not to. Arsenal have only brought in just over £40 million through player sales over the last fours. That is an incredibly low figure in comparison to most other clubs.
We don’t need to bring the past into play to slate Wenger, because he’s currently at his absolute worst, in the present! It’s amazing you think we’re on cusp of something great under Wenger when we’re struggling (yet again) to make the top four, and we’re currently a whopping 18pts off a team that finished mid-table last season. Why cannot Arsenal progress like Chelsea?
@JembutArsene
Arsenal are a massive club. Do not for one moment underestimate that. It’s just unfortunate we are not in the hands of an ambitious owner who will do anything to win. No one was absolving AW of his slightly recent setback, but that was only pointing out that he is not the sole reason for our problems as a club.
A massive club? everything going on now are not reflecting what you preach. this is a downward spiral we are heading, the old man is really old and stubborn.. we should try something new
I understand all the pessimism still. Arsenal are traditionally a big club. Being a supporter is about having hope that your team will do well regardless. If you already knew what the result would be because its been like that for the past 12 years then why bother!? As people keep saying, one could do something else better with their time.
If we had a decent season and get top 4 at the end of season I think you can see a unified support for the club everywhere. It’s not rocket science. COYG.
First of all, the setbacks at Arsenal are not recent. It’s the exact opposite!
Secondly, of course it’s not just Wenger. Kroenke, and the board are huge problems, and will remain that way even after Wenger is gone. But there’s no doubting, that Wenger is a major player with the problems at Arsenal. Remember that this is a guy who has a huge say in what goes on off the pitch. All other managers are just in charge of coaching, and sometimes play a role in transfers, but Wenger’s responsibilities go way beyond that. He is partly responsible for the infrastructure at Arsenal. Just the other day, we all saw Wenger strongly brush aside the notion of a director of football. That again proves how much power he has, which makes him more accountable than any other manager at their respective clubs.
Mate, you label optimism as delusion. Are we not allowed to dream that this season, all the pieces of the jigsaw could now be in place, even though our manager has seen better days?
Personally I have enjoyed Wenger’s way of playing more than any other in my time obsessively following Arsenal since many decades. Wenger is still a good enough manager to win the Premiership, provided he has enough quality players to work with.
The teams that spend the most have the best players. That’s why those very same teams nearly always win.
Great sides don’t appear as if by magic, whoever the manager is.
Only an imbecile would think otherwise.
Arsenal fc have spent amount this summer for a change. It’s still considerably less than man u and man city but it means that wenger has a squad that gives him options for once. Now, he can actually rotate effectively without taking huge risks. He can rest players more easily which will mean fewer injuries.He has options up front and in midfield and he has solid cover at the back. We’re in with a shout and I remain cautiously optimistic.
And it’s always nice to give the unevitable reality too.
Arsene may not be perfect, but Stan is silent and will have the final say, and if AW will be here for 2 more years, stop the moaning and get behind the team.
Or you will not be missed. IN ARSENE WE TRUST.
When the money was not there Leicester won the league
The club don’t belong to Arsene
His contract has ended so no new contract
He’s already made millions from a Arsenal
Some on here look at things dispassionately when it comes to issues around Arsenal unlike you Wenger out keyboard militants who seem to believe you are pushing him out by commenting on blog. Kroenke is the main issue at arsenal fc, not wenger. Whatever anyone thinks about wenger’s ability as a coach, he spends what he is given, like all managers. Overall financial policy at arsenal is decided by the owner, not the manager. This is how it works at all clubs. The idea that he had hundreds of millions at his disposal all these years, but chose not to spend is absurd.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.
Howard said when Arsenal had no money, same reason as Leicester but the difference is they won the league, what’s Wengers excuse? Arsenal is always superior to leicester in every department, but they pipped us to the title. you are running around the bush with Kroenke and financial policy blah blah blah! I know the answer though, Leicester had Ranieri and we still had (have) the specialist in failure. our trophyless years are counting
Leicester’s stunning title win is the 2016 football fairytale, and we had lots of injuries mainly to Santi.
Leicester’s title was the stuff of fairytales – and it was – it was nevertheless a staggering achievement which was firmly rooted in sport’s eternal verities of desire, spirit, honest effort, sound organisation and inspired light touch leadership, albeit liberally sprinkled with the magic dust of goals, guile and superhuman endeavour as supplied by the outstanding triumvirate of, respectively, Vardy, Mahrez and Kante.
we have been in LC’s situation for more than 10 years, why haven’t we done that even once?
“it was nevertheless a staggering achievement which was firmly rooted in sport’s eternal verities of desire, spirit, honest effort, sound organisation and inspired light touch leadership, albeit liberally sprinkled with the magic dust of goals, guile and superhuman endeavour as supplied by the outstanding triumvirate of, respectively, Vardy, Mahrez and Kante”
so we lack all of these stuffs in our team that’s why we win nothing, so you have answers but you are just being deluded.
Leicester had simply capitalized on the weakness of others, chelsea on downed tools, our injuries piled up mostly Santi, crap manure van gaal.
exactly my friend, wenger is not a coward to capitalize on the weakness of others… thats why he let the lowly leicester win the league
he is just waiting for other teams to strengthen so that he can have a fair fight to the title
Haha best counter strike ever to the apologist.
we couldn’t capitalize on every big team changing management, we found our way to losing again. while the relegation threatened team climbed all the way and did what we couldn’t do. and still you mentioned the factor as injuries, as if injuries were something new at Arsenal, it hit us surprisingly
I’ve often thought about the point Konstantin mentions, regarding why we never make the effort to win those extra 10-12 points that would make us contenders. I reckon it’s because it was never essential to guarantee top-four, but this season demonstrates how that approach is getting risky.
In seasons gone by it might only have taken one top-striker, or adequate cover for injury-prone players, or even just proper team management to avoid the perennial mid-season collapse. Now it requires signing at least 3 experienced world-class players.
I live in hope that the increased competitiveness of the league environment will make Silent Stan & Gazidis more worried about their Champion’s League money, and prompt a less disappointing transfer window to what we are used to.
I’m not holding my breath though… Arsene will probably buy one decent player, then spend the rest of his budget on “Promising players” that spend the next 6 years on loan to Championship teams.
Geezus, Konstantin, give the guys some credit. We beat West Ham, it’s because they are a poor team. We beat ManU, it’s because we’re lucky. We beat Soton, it’s because they had nothing to play for. Can you for once take your head out of your arse, and face the facts? Have you heard the saying “you make your own luck”? Yes, luck can be a factor and make a difference sometimes. But it shouldn’t take anything away from our recent performances. And they have been stellar, to say the least. You talk about our “big man” Alexis, yet the last game was the first one in probably over two months where he finally showed up. How many times has he saved us this season? I don’t know. How many times have Giroud saved our bacon? You keep forgetting that the game of football is a team sport. It’s a collective effort, and everyone is playing like a group rather than individuals. Without Ozil’s pass, Sanchez wouldn’t have scored. Without Alexis and Ramsey, Giroud wouldn’t have had the easiest of headers. So for once, stop blaming everything on the manager, and start giving the players some credit too. I’m going to finish by reminding you about something called faith and hope. I get it, you’re not an optimistic person. But FFS, give our guys a chance. We still have 3 games to play. We still have an FA Cup final. We still have a transfer window ahead of us. What if we do get the top 4, and win FA Cup final against Chelsea? What if we do re-sign Sanchez and Ozil to new deals? What if we do get MBappe or Griezmann? Is it all likely to happen? Probably not. But I, for one, am hopeful that we’re going to turn that corner and things will improve rather than get worse.