In support of Arsene Wenger by Sam P
I understand the frustration of a lot of Arsenal fans, I really do. Personally I was hoping that the manager had an ace up his sleeve and would pull off another last minute transfer coup, but as we know that did not happen and the fans are fuming.
But hold on a minute, who could Wenger have signed realistically? Not a single one of those players that were signed in the last few days would have got in the Arsenal team, so what would be the point in paying good money for them? Even the likes of Pedro and Benteke I am not sure about.
I don’t think Pedro is better than Walcott and I don’t think Benteke is better than Giroud and neither does Wenger and that is why he kept Arsenal’s money in the bank. The one player he did sign, Petr Cech, is a great signing and apart from his disappointing debut, the keeper is already proving his worth and proving Wenger right.
It is easy to mock what Wenger says about team spirit and consistency, especially Arsenal are a big club with big ambitions, but when a club like Bournemouth or Swansea punches above their weight and achieves great things because of that same spirit, we applaud them.
The fact is that Wenger is our manager and there is a long way to go and a lot of things yet to happen this season. How about we stop moaning about the transfer window and start getting behind the team? Just saying like….
yup true. with me included .
i truly believe in wenger. he finished top 4 with squillaci gervinho djourou somg arshavin and santos and without a dm.
surely he can do much better with cech sanchez ozil cazorla plus a team full of internationals
Well, Its a subject of great divide among arsenal fans .. There are few better managers currently than Arsene. I truly believe that when a person is gone, its true value is felt.
Just imagine if Arsene at Real madrid, Barcelona(Which he refused to manage in order to remain at arsenal.) or City with unlimited money, The passing game that team will play, will surely blow everyone’s minds. There are lot of problems with him, but the ability that he has to generate the style of football is amazing. That will surely be missed. Just look at United, They are playing rubbish with a great manager. Arsene is the only good option arsenal has. Don’t tell me klopp or anchellotti, they can’t win anything at arsenal with limited finances..
I am one of “the very few” who still has faith in Wenger. He believes that the team can do the job so why shouldn’t we? In all honesty, I fear that the team will collapsed if he resigns. Which top manger is willing to fill the position of Arsene knowing that he won’t have 200 mil to blow in a window? Knowing that he will be under pressure to deliver CL football every season? Isn’t already at a top club? Will keep a cool head when raging fans get at him when we lose to West Ham 2-0 at home? Is willing to take the blame for his team just to keep them focus and protected? Has a reputation and ability to buy top players.
I could go a long way with that but there is a lot that he has to put up with. We all wanted top players but I would like to know which top player leave a top club in this window that we could realistically buy to improve our squad. Pedro? Probably but there’s not a lot. I’d rather keep this summer budget to purchase top quality in another window than knowing we spent money just for the sake of spending and pleasing the fans.
wenger is very good: but nobody is irreplaceable. if he goes we may have a difficult transition and we may or may not find someone better. but its not correct to say that no matter what he does, we are stuck with him.
wenger also has significant cons to go with his pros: he wont paying the going market rate for WC players and has a socialist wage structure that will stop the top-top players from coming to AFC.
I don’t know how many managers altogether you could say are definitely better than AW or more to point would be better at using less resources than the other three top opponents.
I don’t think Klopp is better, same with Ancelotti ..but I’d rate Klopp over Ancelotti because he tasted similar job to the Arsenal job by facing B Munich with less resources.
Pep, will not want to leave without winning the CL, so unless he gets sacked is not an option. A Madrids man just signed a very long contract. Mourinho is not an option. Juventus have been doing well, but there is only one team in Italy for a while now and it happens to be Juve.
If we are to replace Wenger the thing is we will need a manager who has proved himself capable of challenging opponents who continually outspend you. There aren’t too many managers out there who are an obvious upgrade on Arsene, we could always gamble. But like ArsenalGenes says ..we will miss him when he’s gone. People know this saying to be true ..but ignore it for the sake of a gamble or change of scenery.
Hmmm. We are gradually coining a new phrase (excuse) for Wenger. – a manager who has proved himself capable of challenging opponents who continually outspend you. How does this translate to football success. Why do we have to keep lowering our standards each passing day. I think no man is indispensable. Wenger has done great for Arsenal and we owe him that much but that does not mean another manager could not have even done better given the same opportunity (job security, long term contract and good pay). He cant be the only one in the world who can achieve what he has achieved. He will go some day and when he has left, Arsenal FC will not leave with him.
I’m talking about the man to be brought in, if he’s not at the least capable of that well then why bother bring him in.
The term ‘socialist’ perfectly describes our wage structure 3-4 seasons ago but I think we’ve improved substantially and the wage bill is much more reflective of the players contributions to the team. There’s no Squillaci, Arshavin, Chamakh, Bendtner, Djourou on the books earning the same as our best players!
no idea if these are accurate.. but still, googled it and the best I could see.
http://www.totalsportek.com/money/arsenal-player-salaries/
There’s really no players wages on there who I see as completely unfounded bar maybe Flamini and Rosicky, but they both wind down end of season. I’d definitely give Kos a raise as well if that’s accurate.
Okay then………. Pray he never grows old and Lives forever!………..but know this…..FOR LIFE TO CONTINUE, THERE MUST BE SUSSESSION!:………..you have to Look forward to Life after Wenger……Every commodity has it’s selling date, once it get’s past that, Value decreases…….. Wenger is past it bro….u just have to accept it that way and Let it go!
It is you who has passed your selling date even before you have begun! Some of you just keep bashing Wenger without giving any valid reason. All you echo is Wenger is not good or is past it or cannot deliver silver ware without any giving logical arguments. It is your ilk who don’t wish the club well. To you it is just change for the sake of it without regard to the quality of replacement! Is this really logical or helpful?
Exactly! Why can’t this team challenge? We legitmately competed for the title after ONLY adding ozil, and since then we’ve added players like sanchez, Cech, Coq, Gabriel, Welbeck couple that with monreal, bellerin, cazorla, koscielny’s form, we have a legimitate chance.
Plus don’t underestimate the unity, cohesion and team spirit flowing through the side which makes a big difference
Arsenal may be a big club but we are no longer big on ambition if that imaginary 4th place trophy is what we are about year after year after year. And of course as it appears we never find the quality that we do not already have. Let me see…Flamini, an ageing Arteta…. Now I like Arteta but he is getting slower. Surely we can find quality that matches ambition more closely. However I go back to my original point. Where is our ambition especially if we do not prepare to take on the big clubs to win the big prizes when we have the means at our disposal? We are grateful to Wenger for the past but how is he preparing us for the future glories beyond a make-believe trophy? Even Henry doesn’t believe Giroud to be able to lead our front line.
“we never find the quality …”: actually there’s lots of it out there. the amount he’s willing to pay is always a bit short of what is required.
and THAT is the real reason we come away empty handed.
Sure there are also idiots who still dont believe that climate change is men made. That doesnt mean they are right. There will always be fans who will support Wenger, the unknown is scary.
Its the Stockholm Syndrome.
It’s not really unknown when we are watching football all our lives and we are witnessing examples every season. You or people like you are always saying that fans do actually know a thing or two and can make our own minds up even if it goes against popular belief or that it should be common sense to everybody. But when their opinion doesn’t align with yours they have Stockholm Syndrome or they are idiots. Maybe you should put down the shovel.
Well, from reading all sorts on this site I would have to say that the majority of people who fall inline with your ideas are the very young, I’m not going to call them idiots though as I’ve never met them. The older generation who still support Wenger have witnessed different managers at Arsenal and have plenty of experience making their own minds up. Younger generation is easier to sway especially if your preaching nastiness as opposed to respect ..or insults as opposed compliments. I myself have witnessed three different Arsenal managers and have been watching football long enough to have a clear opinion.
Yes I have watched three Arsenal managers and I am adamant Wenger’s done all he can for the club.
If you believe we still play the best football in the premier league you are deluding yourself.
I happen to think that bar few games we play the most entertaining football in the league. But then again, no team can play nice every game.
@ ying yang
ExCtly I think a lot of the people on here are very young and very emotional hence the fits and outbursts that happen here on a regular basis. What those people see nowadays is clubs like barca, madrid, PSG, Chelsea, city paying insane transfer fees and wages and just automatically assume and feel entitled that AFC should be doing the same.
I truly believe wenger and this team can challenge
Same here. Witnessed three managers (if I don’t include Houston). Thing about this site is that admin says this is a site about Arsenal and football. But what you see here more than anywhere is a bunch of spoiled kids spouting insults at anyone not agreeing with their ideas. Of course, there are some other older doing the same but the idea is that admin here wants as many clicks as possible in order to get some profit on the site. There’s nothing wrong in wanting that. This is how life works. But if you compare arseblog, le grove (which is anti Wenger) or 7 am kickoff (in my opinion the best Arsenal blog) you will see there people treating each other with respect even if they have divergent ideas.
Budd, yesterday you told me I was wrong for banning a reader who just threw (in your words above) “insults at anyone not agreeing with their ideas.” I WILL ban anyone being abusive or giving personal insults for no other reason than they have a different opinion. Most readers want to discuss the football without being abused….
Admin, I am not sure why you keep all my posts replying to you in moderation. Is it because I am replying to you?
Oh, I see now, you actually deleted my reply. Nice one 🙂 Keep up the good work.
I do not advocate “Wenger out”.
I also feel Wenger royally mucked up this transfer window.
To name a few players who moved this transfer window who would have benefited Arsenal:
Draxler
De Bruyne
Martinez
Benteke
Dybala
Kondogbia
Vidal
Schneiderlin
That’s just a few, ignoring those who did not move or moved but were not in positions where we have a current weakness (incuding Pedro). While I do not believe Wenger should hang for not signing these players, by not signing these players he has set a dangerous precedent that his current team should be able to win the PL. By not achieving this or not coming close, he has to front the whole blame, which is probably enough to say he is no longer the man to take Arsenal back to winning things.
If you’re happy with 3rd/4th place each season then this is fine. Personally, I am of the opinion if that IS our lot, then we need to reduce ticket prices and make things more reasonable for fans who are NOT seeing the best team in the league week in week out. BUT I also believe we are the last bastion of English football not tainted by a state of mercenaries who will play for the highest bidder and have no pride in the badge they wear. For this reason I do not want to settle for 3rd/4th and now we are not paying off our stadium we need to challenge.
I’ll finish with this – while I do not WANT Wenger out, I will admit he needs to leave if his ability to manage and leave the club is no longer at a level to achieve the club’s goals. Take that as you will – I’ll be supporting my team until the last day of the season and after that I will make my feelings known as to whether Wenger deserves to still be our manager.
Good List but
I do not think Draxler and Dybala will improve the team…
Draxler is injury prone and Dybala is not proven….
both are young and inexperience and need time to adapt
Nicely put
Draxler – replacing who? Improving where?
De Bruyne – seriously? for 52 mil quid? Replacing who? Improving where? At least he will dislodge Navas. Fair point there.
Martinez – already sold in June. Probably a good shout but so far no sign of it after changing leagues.
Benteke – again, seriously? for 32 mils? How is he better than Charlie Austin at 12 mils? Improving where?
Dybala – meh. Not even on the radar of the national squad. Besides, look at him, too fragile for the physical EPL. When press stated Arsenal is interested Palermo claimed they will sell it for 50 mils. Pi$$ off!
Kongdobia – defensive midfielder. Wenger doesn’t buy defensive players. A good call maybe but lets not forget, in the pecking order Scheniderlin is ahead of him in the national squad.
Vidal – that’s a good one. Vidal in London. Tabloids will have a field day with his antics. Plus there’s the danger he will drag Sanchez with him. Good call from Arsenal not to think of him. Besides, where to play? Arsenal have enough B2Bs.
Schneiderlin – again, read his twitter. He probably can work as B2B and cover with Coquelin but he never wanted Arsenal.
OK, and then I ask you : what did LvG (allegedly better than Wenger) brought so far to United? Instability, spending ? How’s that good? Clubs sticking to their manager (see City) have a way better chance to win.
Hehe I didn’t say they were all signings I’d advocate – just signings that would improve Arsenal on the pitch.
Draxler is a LW. We have no LW. Alexis plays there but will ALWAYS cut inside. Draxler offers a more natural LW option and allows Alexis to move to RW or CF. Options.
De Bruyne – wouldn’t buy him cos of the price tag. Doesn’t change he WOULD have improved Arsenal. Same reasons as the above.
Martinez – when he moved is irrelevant, he moved and would have improved Arsenal’s attack. I don’t think we could have got him unless he was our number 1 target, but I’m not talking about who we SHOULD have signed – rather the fact that these players were actually available.
Benteke – he is a stronger striker then Giroud. At the very least he offers a more potent goal scoring threat then what we have, even if his link play leaves something to be desired. He is an upgrade or an option, take it how you like.
Dybala – good striking option, may be too weak, don’t know enough to say for certain either way. Still he moved and would have added something to the team.
Vidal – On the pitch would have been a great player. Would have allowed us to have a midfield of 2 B2B players against weaker teams due to his more combative nature. Would have improved us, even if not necessarily the most important signing.
Kondogbia – He may not be a Wenger signing but we’re discussing signings that should/could be made, not what Wenger would do. It’s clear Wenger signed nobody.
Schneiderlin – Doesn’t much matter what he wanted, so much as the fact that he was a quality player who did move. Given the right incentives, Arsenal WOULD have been an offer. I agree though, don’t really blame us for not getting him…much like I don’t really blame us for not getting any of these players!
You ask what LVG offers that Wenger doesn’t? Well nothing. I personally think he is a joke. I am not advocating spending a tonne of money. Nor am I advocating we sack Wenger in order to bring in a manager who does this. I’m all advocating is that by choosing to sign nobody and making no addition to the quality of our squad, Wenger has shot himself in the foot.
At what point do we look at the management of the club and determine they are doing a good or bad job? I’m pretty adamant that we don’t jump down Wenger’s throat for not signing players (though I’m disappointed) and that we give him time to show what his team can do. If he comes up short of expectations though, surely this is the time where we have to say he is no longer able to take us the step further? He CHOSE not to sign players, whether or not the perfect signing was available is irrelevant. There were certainly players available who would give us more options and each year the sums of money only increase because of the oil clubs. If he decides to no do it this year, isn’t it a sign of the future as well?
At what point can we be objective and evaluate Wenger as the manager if not after a season where he has chosen to sign no outfield players and has stated that his team is 100% good enough to win the PL as is?
What is this story with outfield players? We did signed one World Class player while guess what, none of the above are anywhere at the same level.
When do we evaluate? Boxing Day is a good milestone. Then we will see if any of these issue are indeed related. Keeping track of these players how they do and what Arsenal is doing without them.
I will say what I said when we signed Cech. I don’t think it’s a totally amazing signing. We already had 2 good keepers and I don’t think Cech will add many, if any, points to the team. So far he’s had 1 good game and 2 bad games, so the jury is still out. When you consider Ospina was doing excellently though, Cech was PURELY a signing of circumstance and not a signing of ambition/necessity/growth.
I would re-evaluate come Boxing Day, but I think in some ways that is too soon in itself. It’ll be a good meter stick, but the truth of the decisions will only really come out on the last day of the season. The most important thing is that we’re both in agreement to NOT be angry about the lack of signings and to support our team and past judgement at a later time once we actually know if Wenger has made a mistake. I only think it is naive to claim he has done well to not sign anyone…because the message that sends to WOBs or fence sitters is an extremely dangerous one that can easily force him out of the club when we start having a few dodgy results.
Cech already added one point to the tally. 9 to go. That’s a minimum the press is claiming.
BTW, have you seen the sensational save Szceszny had against Juventus? Looks this is the right medicine for him. Hope we get a Courtois on our hand here.
He also cost us 1 at West Ham so his tally is 0…
I’m not saying it is a BAD signing, just it wasn’t necessarily needed and didn’t really move the team in any direction. We kinda shuffled sideways on the path instead of moving forward or back.
I think the back four wanted someone like Cech in there. Especially in EPL because I believe Ospina will play the UCL games if we have a hard test after UCL. And probably wenger wanted to make good what he failed to do years ago. Who knows, I am happy though with him between the sticks.
Always enjoy your posts FFF but have to disagree on Cech. See a few – not you – offering up revisionist theories saying PC is no good, past it, no better than DO, Chelsea reject – for me that is AOB-ism in mental meltdown dredged from the bottom of a very big barrel. He has the ability to be massively more influential on our season than any of the names you list. And it is well reported that Arsenal made enquiries on Cech over a year ago as soon as TC returned from loan so it was planned. There is, and always will be, a chance he could flop but no-one could rationally criticise AW for buying him.
All ARSENAL fans want wenger out.All ARSENE fans want him to stay
If you really think that you need help. And if you wanna sound more credible and objective than change your name
Were you one of the 17 at the Emirates on Wednesday evening?
Although I am a supporter of Wenger, I am left extremely disappointed from this transfer window. I knew once Arteta and Flamini didn’t leave that we wouldn’t be getting a back up DM for coquelin for 1 more year which is fine. However, not signing a striker could prove to be costly. Giroud has gotten better every year and if he puts his chances away more this season I will be happy with him. Walcott really should just play on the wing though, although unlike others I truly believe Ramsey plays well at RM.
Later in games though when we need a goal he should play centrally so that ox/walcott can play RM
Lets support the Arsenal, but if we don’t retain the FA cup (we not winning the league or the UCL dammit) Le Prof would have failed us. For now I’m fully behind my team
You should ALWAYS be fully behind the team if you don’t support the manager fine, but what is this for or now bull sh*t
Spot on mate! 100% behind the Gunners
I think wenger wanted to buy a that’s why he made space.
He just trusted too much his instinct and ended empty handed. He has only himself to blame.
I support the arsenal snd whoever is s part of it. So if will supprt him but he has to deliver.
Also i don’t think it’s fair to a new manager to come as is now….
Walcott is better than Pedro??!! Any credibility of this article just went out the window. If your point is let’s support the club and move on, fair enough. No point crying over spilt milk. Just don’t ask me to applaud Wenger.
Morning Sam P and Bob. Ofcourse, that #Wenger Out will not happen. But #Wenger In! Will continue to happen. Have the carbon smokes of the last transfer window not exhausted by now after the engine had been switched off, and the gas has stopped burning. Let’s stop worrying over the past tense and look forward to what the present tesce will bring for us. Arsenal vs Stoke is my concern now. I want those 3 points.
Heard wenger has bn around for 19yrs eeh..lets say 8yrs of success and 11yrs of???11yrs of medeocrity has surpassed 8yrs of success yet he is still a demigod.luk shitty has ernomously expanded their stadium while enjoying success yet we alway give such as an excuse?i know we started new after the relocation but was it not possible to enjoy both?chelshit and spuds are planning the same and for the former they wld continue to thrive!the big question we shd be asking ourselves is WHAT MAKES ARSENAL A BIG CLUB??to many including me is history, the past and this is about to change if something does not happen.
The fact that so many don’t trust wenger and don’t want him to continue indicates that something is wrong with the club and management. Our fan is completely split and will continue to hear this same arguement for the remaining two seasons when wenger will either go or continue to stay without bringing major honours. My best bet is wenger has two seasons which includes this one before he leaves. However this topic will not go topic will never go away and will always rule this site. BUDD and Ny gunner will always believe in wenger and continue to be Wengers knight shining armour and there will still be many including myself that believe Wenger has passed his sell by date. There has been many times I hoped wenger will go back to being competitive but everyone who has a brain knows we will not win aby further premier titles or not one cl trophy while he has anything to do with the club.
Yes we may not win prem or Cl but I think what the majority of fans who want wenger in or out want to see is the heart and intention plus competitive attitude and tactics plus transfers, substitutions,flair and less talk and more performance from players who have not done anything yet. Imo wenger was good but the 442 of the late ninety s to 2004 wenger is over.
Wenger is a member of the board now and him and the boards core goal is to get top 4 and maybe win a prem without enough quality that cost much money. We are a selling club. Once ramsey Ox Walcott or wilshire hit their peek they will be sold for big money or hold or they will demand the club pay higher than that 140 a week bracket which the club won’t. It’s all about the money with this club and I have come to except that. That’s why I know longer spend a penny on nothing to do with arsenal. Does that make me less of a fan? I don’t think so. I think it makes me more of a fan with sense
@afc 92
you’re funny…Ha Ha!!!
I guess maybe this is his last contract, last two seasons at Arsenal, being here 20 years, he did a lot for this club, he won titles, he went invincible, he made incredible transfers, he made us happy… So, let him do his last seasons on his own way and have a little trust in him, he deserves that.