We have all heard the old football adage about a manager pinning up in the dressing room some criticism of his players in order to sting them into extra effort to prove the doubters wrong, but I am not sure if Arsene Wenger has ever tried this little psychological trick on the Gunners.
Maybe he should, with the Frenchman under extreme pressure that will only increase unless our team can find some good performances and results between now and the end of the season. If he was looking for something to use then I do not think he could do much better than the Daily Mail report in which the former manager and Liverpool midfield star Graeme Souness gives his thoughts on the current situation at the Emirates stadium.
Souness did not hold back and as well as predicting that this season would see the end of Arsenal’s annual involvement in the Champions League and our team finishing way down in sixth place, he really tore into the Arsenal players, accusing them of being weak personalities who do not have what it takes to help Arsenal to achieve the glory we are hoping for.
He said, ‘Arsenal usually falter in February or March, then reach the top four with a late run in April and May, but I don’t see it happening after the defeat to West Brom.
‘As long as there are doubts over Arsene Wenger’s future, it gives the weak personalities in their squad another excuse.’
It is hard to argue with him in some ways, because we have been awful of late. On the other hand you could say that we have been further away from the top four in the past and have managed to turn it around, but will these words from Souness rally the Arsenal players and encourage them to prove him wrong? Or is he right this time?
Bob.
Arsenal won’t make top 4 and Wenger should stand down.
Early exit in the Mickey mouse cup.
The title (as if) gone in February.
The usual capitulation in the ECL last 16.
The usual race for the glorious Wenger trophy.
Qualifying for a trophy we have never won in 60 years.
Arsene contract extension.. repeat over and over.
Chelsea will win the League with no Europe
like Leicester did last season.
Do we rally need ECL?
Yes, yes we do.
We have a cheapskate club who has trouble penny pinching as is…
With a look at all the players contracts running down there’s a lot of work that needs to be done over the summer.
Champions league not only adds revenue but is a draw card for incoming players as well as potential exits.
If we lose Mesut and Lexi (I still think Ozil will stay.) as well as fall from the top-4 we really don’t look like a top-6 squad let alone top-4 or challenging.
I was wondering this week if we still had big, professional personalities in the dressing room like Arteta, Rosicky and Flamini to keep others in check would our season have been running smoother and more togetherness in the squad?
Wenger mentioned this once, about the EPL winners having winning it due to their lack of UCL in that season, so why didn’t he do for a season or 2 to break the EPL curse? always having answers for other teams but he has none when it comes to his team..
we won’t make it this time, everyone above us really wants to stay up there and I don’t see even Spurs bottling it. Everton will happily catch us
If our players and manager are not taking any notice of what is being said by us the fans why would they take any notice of an obscure , failed, ex-manager?
you are right, they all are deaf when it comes to such matters, all they care is their salaries and hair styles
I honestly don’t mind if we miss out on the top four this season. We are losing Alexis anyway and I’d like to see Ozil leave but I suspect a bigger team than us won’t want him. Usually I’d say but we need it to attract the biggest players but our stigma of getting there will stay intact despite missing out for one season. And I don’t think Arsenal are gonna go for the top top players anyhow, it’s not like we couldn’t get a Xhaka or Mustafi without CL football. If we do miss top four I’d like us to miss out on Europe altogether but that’d be highly doubtful.
I was thinking the same way. If Arsenal doesn’t get top 4 then I would prefer 8th. I know that sounds bad but I think that’s what Arsenal needs.
I think there is a better than 50/50 chance we will finish in 7th behind Everton. That would mean no Europe for Arsene.
We are level on points with Everton and have yet to play them again. Lose to them and 7th is a real possibility. To me of the 3 non-CL places 5th, 6th and 7th, 7th should be considered as a second place trophy to Wenger’s 4th place trophy, its a lot better than 5th or 6th IMO.