I am writing this before the kick off between Arsenal and Man United today and hopefully the Gunners will get the win and the three points we need to keep up with the current Premier League leaders Leicester City and back up the comments of Arsene Wenger.
The Frenchman was talking this week about why he feels that Arsenal are much more prepared for this title challenge compared to other recent seasons when we have been in a good position only to see the EPL trophy slip away in the latter stages of the campaign.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Wenger blames those previous falterings on the team spirit being affected by the club’s financial position and the subsequent loss of key players like Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and all.
He explained that because of our lack of economic power the best Arsenal players were always the target for other big clubs in England and around Europe and were often tapped up during the season. This not only led to these players losing focus and determination for the fight nbut it also affected the rest of the dressing room.
Hopefully Wenger is right when he says that this is no longer the case and that the current squad are highly motivated as well as having more quality, experience and maturity.
The boss said, ‘What is different is that at that time we were losing momentum. This time it’s the opposite. We are chasing and gaining momentum. We have had two difficult games recently but overall the psychological situation is quite different.
‘We were very young at those times, with the famous incident with Gallas at Birmingham. And the mood of some players was to get the next contract somewhere else rather than to win the championship because we had to sell.
‘When we went into April some players were tapped up to go somewhere else and it was difficult to maintain the focus. That’s not the case at the moment.
‘Now we don’t have that problem at all. All the players are focused and want to win and have great solidarity. It’s down to showing how good we are. The psychological situation is completely different. In 2010-2011, we lost it because the spirit was not exactly what it should be because of tap-ups. At the moment, I think on the spirit front we are all right.
‘This is a team that’s very hungry. They want to win and I think they’ve shown that in the FA Cup in the last two years. This team wants to do well and is very conscientious and my job is more to relax them a little bit. They do not look at what happened five years ago, they look at what is in front of them. It’s certainly top, spirit-wise.’
Is he right or will Arsenal fans be let down again?
Arsenal will NEVER win the league under wenger.
Wenger’s response could not be different. He is trying to tell the players not to give up. But the truth is he has not been able to make the decisions to make Arsenal winners. 4th place is not a sure bet especially with this team and the fixtures ahead.
AW is currently trying to see if he can get Kim Kallstrom back at the club to make sense of the season.
hahaha, excellent timing for this article!now hear Wengers conference:
-Look, eeeeer, man united is quality….we were jaded…. we can win in nou camp…. unlucky…look, look, look, mental strenght,…. look: we only buy when the player is better, than we already have.. look we’ll be active on the transfer market (then buys no one).
and for sure he’ll say this: look, eeerm, WE MUST GIVE AN ANSWER VS SWANSEA.
And i will say: i dont care. Why? because WE LOST THE LEAGUE TODAY. Were out of UCL too, and…. players arent motivated enough for the FA cup? Why? BECAUSE THEY WANT THE PL CROWN! and with Wenger, WE NEVER GONNA GET IT AGAIN…so…….
I AM FED UP big time….
WHAT THE POINT!!! if spuds win Premium League then MR WENGER MUST RETIRE!!!
USUAL CRAP from a CRAP manager! NO MORE EXCUSES WENGER HAS TO GO!
I am still confident
Arsenal will win
this seasons EPL.
As long as we win
our home games we can still take it to the wire.
The Spurs game is so vital now for so many reasons.
So yea still up beat. There is still a
long long way to go in this crazy season.
But it’s true the nine Cech Koz Mertz
Belerin Monreal Coquelin Ozil Sanchez+ Giroud
have kept us in this for 7 months on their own.
Need to keep the faith that Rambo
Walcott and Giroud will step up, that Wellbeck can
keep scoring and that Santi comes back soon 🙂
By the way congrats to Man City on your League cup win.
Sorry to say it but it’s time for something different, don’t know who but Wenger has past his sell by date. Let’s try a new approach like we did when we got some unknown guy called AW
At the moment it simply looks like as the standard at the top of the league has dropped, Arsenal have also dropped accordingly to maintain status quo. We aren’t making the presence of Cech count as much as it should because the defending has been so dreadful. And today, Gabriel simply came in and did what is usually Mert’s job: tame meek clearances and losing the guy he’s meant to be marking (marked an area of grass really well though!).
Wenger “could not fault the commitment and desire of the players”. Sometimes, performances just can’t be defended. At least four times our defenders brought it forward into the United half and nobody was moving or making runs for them. Not even coming in to receive it to feet. Wenger should be ripping their freakin’ heads off.
We’ve seen this pattern before though. When it gets to December, we’re doing well and a couple of our players come out giving it the big talk about titles in the media. Then the inevitable.
Of course, it’s far from over yet but in another pressure game we failed to turn up and failed to properly punish the weaknesses of an opponent (two midfielders playing at centre half LOL, hardly even challenged them physically and didn’t make it an issue for them). If we win the title, it’ll be because at least two other teams collapsed *horribly* in the final two months. We can only hope the styles of football Leicester and Spuds play catches up with them physically, and that Man City don’t go on a run off winning the league cup.
So, the kids from downtown Manchester showed the `toffs` from uptown London a trick or two, and good luck to them.
Arsenal played without purpose as has been the case for a long time now, you would never think they want to win a title. Great on paper, lousy on the pitch.
Centre backs did not control their patch. Walcott is a winger or nothing. Ozil and Sanchez seem to have written off the season or Wenger, or both.
On the plus side Welbeck took his goal with nonchalant ease and no post goal hysteria. Well done Danny nice to see.
Wenger looks old and tired and hardly the inspiration any team needs. I can sense “trouble at mill” come the end of the season, and a couple will be asking for their cards.
I don’t know about a couple asking for their cards but AT LEAST a couple should be GIVEN their cards!
@ Gunner Jack….. No matter what Wenger or the PR boys say, this is not a happy Arsenal.
Dear Wenger, how do you plan to motivate the ballerina collective you’ve created?
Take them to Disneyland during the week? Buy them a nice dress and a box of chocolate each?
Please, find a way, so that you can at least defend the Wenger trophy.
And after this season, please leave and take your top dancers Thea Walcott and Erin Ramsey with you. Take them home and practice together, find a theater in London and just do the ballet shows there.