REALITY CHECK: IT ALL POINTS BACK TO THE MANAGER by Uche
How do we all feel about Arsene Wenger? Ask this question several times and you will get different responses from the same individual, depending on when you ask the question. A day after winning the FA Cup, the majority will tell you that Wenger is the man. We beat Chelsea to win the Community Shield and Wenger is still the man. The season starts, our squad deficiencies get exposed in a couple of games and, suddenly, Wenger is not quite the man. Three games played and five points dropped already. Clearly we are not going to win the league. We were never going to win the league with our squad deficiencies so we need to stop saying that. Arsenal has potential but potential is not a guarantee of success. Potential only implies the possibility of success if improvements are made in the right areas. Arsene Wenger is a man who never does enough. That is just the way he is. Nobody understands how a winner like him became the way he is today. Maybe it is the stubbornness that comes with old age because old people are notoriously stuck in their ways.
Everybody everywhere has always known we needed a defensive midfielder. We have been lacking one since Patrick Viera left over a decade ago. Wenger being the person that he is spent many unsuccessful years trying to prove otherwise. He still hasn’t succeeded. The emergence of Francis Coquelin was purely accidental. If Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta never picked up those injuries they got middle of last season, Francis Coquelin would still be plying his trade in some championship team or perhaps sold for a paltry sum to some mid table team while our problems persist.
It is very weird how a problem with a team can be so glaring to everybody but the manager who makes the decisions.
This Arsenal board may feel they struck gold with Wenger and in many ways they did. Who else could deliver a football stadium and two decades of success on a shoe string budget? No one we know of. But in appreciating Wenger, the board has over indulged him to the detriment of our team. How possible is it that Arsene Wenger answers to no one? How possible is it that Stan Kroenke and all the other board members can see as clearly as everyone else that we have a striker problem – and yet none of them can instruct Wenger to buy a striker? What dirt does he have on them? What exactly is in his contract? Wenger is easily the most powerful man in football today. Think about it. His employers are too scared to tell him anything, no matter what he does. How possible is it that a team as big as Arsenal can be plagued with the same problems year in year out and yet they never get fixed adequately? The way Arsenal is run is a mystery. Pundits look at us and shake their heads. We defy explanation.
The issue with Wenger is not that he does not try. You cannot accuse him of not making an effort, after all, the current Arsenal team is remarkably different from the team that had the likes of Eboue, Denilson, Squillaci and Almunia not very long ago. But Wenger is a man who fixes one problem at a time. For some strange reason, he cannot sit down and fix all our problems at once. Before the transfer window of summer 2015 opened, there was much talk about Arsenal needing a spine. By spine, pundits like Thierry Henry were not talking about wholesale changes. All he meant was a world class goalie, central defender, defensive midfielder and striker. Henry was spot on. So what does Wenger do? He goes on and buys a world class goalie in Peter Cech. That is very good. One down, three to go. And what does Wenger do next? He goes back to sitting on his hands, his favourite position of comfort. All it took was injuries to our first choice central defenders for this deficiency to be exposed yet again. Calum Chambers is not the guy you win the league with. Like Carl Jenkinson, he should be on loan somewhere honing his craft.
We are a Francis Coquelin injury away from a total collapse of our central midfield and Olivier Giroud continues to prove to pundits that they were right in saying that he is not good enough to win us a title.
So where does all of this leave us? It is back to reality, and here is reality for you. We are not going to win the league. We have dropped five points in three games already. That is not how you win the league and we have seen this movie before too many times. By the time we start playing, the league leaders are out of sight. Here is also another dose of reality. Arsene Wenger will not fix our problems in this transfer window or any window whatsoever. If he miraculously buys Edinson Cavani, that still leaves a hole in defensive midfield and central defense. Wenger will not buy three world class players in one week. No. That is what he normally does in three years. The quota for this year has already been filled by Peter Cech. That is it for this window and I will be thrilled to be proven wrong.
So this is the advice I give to myself and anyone who supports Arsenal. Support your team the way Newcastle fans and Sunderland fans support their team. They know they are not going to win the league and they know they are in for disappointment but they still support their team because theirs is a love affair that defies understanding and that in itself is the mystery of fan support. Peace .
Uche Edochie
Lagos – Nigeria
The House of Rahman and its representatives still insist Wenger Out!!!
I don’t care how our season ends (With an EPL Trophy or Not)………. Wenger should just retire with Honour! He’s an oLd man already….. He won’t manage Arsenal forever……
Wenger out. I have been saying this for a while now. Look at us 3 matches played and we are already 5 points behind the leaders.same old crap. By week 8th we will be midtable. We have to play Chelsea and manure. By week 8th you all will want to see Wenger out. Mark my words! I swear on it
Then annoyingly, we will pick up the pace, have a good run of wins, push to the top 3 and ending the season believing next season we can clinch the league.
*rinse and repeat
we are 5 points behind the leader, correct. but if one or more among crystal palace, spurs, and united can take points from city, while we repeat beating chelsea, then i don’t think we will be as stressful as today :-).
# one rule. win your games!!! you are one who hopes that man city, chelsea, liverpool and man united just drop points and hands us the EPL huh?
Wenger has no idea what it means to be the manager of a top club in these years of excess money. He doesnt know how to find the gems like Klopp did at BVB or Simeone at Atletico and doesnt know how to jump in the market and play with the big boys. He is stuck thinking this is 1999. It is 2015 there is a ridiculous amount of money in football, to win it all you need to spend and spend big, specially in the EPL with at least 3-4 other teams spending big every year.
Every team has spent big already and have improved their squads.
Sterling and Otamendi have brought competition for places in City. United with Depay, Schweni, Darmian, and Scheneiderlin is a better team than last year. Mourinho saw that last years squad was not enough and acted immediately, with resolve and are a better team for it.
Wenger is still responding to Neville, who the frack gives a sh*t about Neville, do your fracking job and stop responding to every idiot, even though they are right you are either naive or arrogant, I think you are both which is the worst kind.
Imagine if for one second, Arsene hag left at the end of last year, and Klopp, or Simeone or someone else had taken the reins. Just imagine for one second if Cech would be the total of our transfer spending, with Sanchez’s best friend Vidal changing teams, should we not have brough that type of quality in?
Would a new manager play cms as wingers? Would he not asses our defenders and maybe add some steal there. And most of all would he continue with Giroud as our main CF?
If your answer is no, then its obvious that House of Rahman is right. WENGER OUT!
Now everyone is giving thumbs up for Wenger out?I was a bad person last month and constantly bombarded for saying Wenger should leave.now everyone is just saying what I have been saying for ages
sorry to steal your thunder Sean, to be honest a lot of us have been asking him to step down for many years now. Last year he seemed like he was willing to spend big and was willing to change tactics by slotting Coq in to the DM position. He seemed to have changed a little, he seeme dless stubborn, less set on tiki taka. I for one thought, ok his hands were tied before, he couldnt buy quality, but now he is and he is even willing to change the way the team plays. I was fooled!! Arrogant basterd! How does he dare not strengthen the team? How does he dare keep making the same mistakes over and over again. I want him out! There is no way we are winning anything this year and the FA just isnt enough.
i was thinking the same thing.. they have seen the truth after just 3 games.. hahaha.. tho there are still a couple loyal wenger subjects still left out there cuz i’m sure this comment will get a couple thumbs down..
and the lord of the gurus says
WENGER OUT!!!!!!!
ANYBODY IN
i will be so pleased if we performed so badly this season and drop out of the top four so that deludedinho resigns.
why?
because the brainwashed and deluded AOB cannot see beyond their nose.
and if it so happens we dropped out of the top four. the eyes of the AOB will be opened and reality will prevail.
Even if we win our next twenty matches WEng
Mathematically speaking wenger out is a constant
Modified
and the lord of the gurus says
WENGER OUT!!!!!!!
ANYBODY IN
i will be so pleased if we performed so badly this season and drop out of the top four so that deludedinho resigns.
why?
because the brainwashed and deluded AkB cannot see beyond their nose.
and if it so happens we dropped out of the top four. the eyes of the AOB will be opened and reality will prevail.
Even if we win our next twenty matches WEnger out!!!
Mathematically speaking wenger out is a constant at all values of temperature, concentration, trophies, injury, pressure etc.
Ooooops, LOL – Freudian slip no doubt.
If Mr wenger do not sign a wc Striker, then i will just relax, support the team and pray we pip Liverpool to 4th position.
You have this 4th place mentality…….. I dn’t knw if u have any idea what it feels like going above 4th…… ITS GLORIOUS UP THERE!
To the author… You know it’s 38 games yeah?? not 3??… 5pts dropped, 105 still up for grabs.
Arsenal will have my support, win, loss or draw. Whether Wenger buys three more players this window or zero. But so sick of the gloomy predictions.
This squad has shown the scintillating form that City are in. No reason why a few wins can’t give confidence and form to build a season upon. Early days.
37,
Always enjoy your level headed and informitive posts on this forum, often the glaring minority in a sea of crestfallen, neurotic Gunner zealots. Lol
I concede that three games are a very small sample size to make definitive prognostications about our beloved Atsenal this season, however its very difficult from my vantage point to discredit the overall sentiments of the original post.
Sadly Arsenal will continue to field an unbalanced starting 11 that as King Henry has steadfastly pointed out is deficient in three critical areas to seriously challenge for the EPL and cause problems in Europe. I support OG, BFG, Le Coq, but sadly all three are quality squad players that shouldn’t consistently feature in the first 11. Add to the equation that Ramsey on the wing kills the width and speed dimension that Ox/Theo bring and Ozil craves. Why buy one of the most creative midfielders in the world if you congest his area and remove one side of the pitch,
I just left
Damn scrern froze. Lol
I honestly think most Arsenal fans are just confounded by why Le Prof continues to field the same unbalanced squad and refuses to address glaring needs in his team.
Ive never been a Gary Neville fan but its hard to disagree with alot of what he has to say in this instance.
@josh37 you are a typical akb,blind sheep following a blind sheperd.Wenger is everything wrong with arsenal and that is 11yrs without a title.You cant use stadium debt excuse forever,the work of manager is to win titles not building structures.With wenger NO title whether you like it or not you delusional AKBs
Secondd that Josh 37
HAHAHA Hafiz.By the way can someone answer this question for me.Is Cazorla not a better no 10. than Ozil when both are inform and is Ramsey not a better box to box player than Cazorla when both are inform and do not even deny even if you have your own opinion.Why not put Cazorla in Ozil’s position and put Ramsey in the box to box position where he plays best.Can you imagine Giroud on the wings and Mertesacker at right back.I for one still stand by my word that Ramsey is a better box to box player than Cazorla yet peeps will deny.Which position did Ramsey play when he was at his best some seasons ago.To me he is better than him in that role.I remember the man utd match last season yh.Also Cazorla can do anything Ozil can do and do it better including shooting.I mean what is this we are not accepting the realities of the team but we ourselves are forging our favourites into the team.Do this and you will see we will be better.I just do not get it at allllll.Please share your views on my comment on what you think
Kev the problem is, that was some seasons ago. The 2013-2014 season to be exact, where everything the man touched turned to gold. One could easily argue that every season before that, as well as the immediate season following that (start of the 2014-2015 season) the man was bang average. He was trying to do too much, much more than he was capable of, and was large contributing factor to why we got off to such a bad start.
Matter of fact, it wasn’t until he got hurt, and Arsene moved to the trident of Mesut/Santi/LeCoq that we went on our run. More importantly, we had a players on both wings that provided natural width, as well as the pace and desire to get in-behind vertically. Next thing you know we were the in-form team of the second half of the season.
Wenger might be appeasing Ramsey by telling him to drift in between the lines and get on the ball, but he still should have some tactical awareness and understand that he can’t keep popping up on the left side of the field in the final 3rd hunting the ball. This leaves us with no penetrating outlet on the other side of the field when we recycle and look to the opposite end.
Mesut and Santi thrived with at least two players to play balls through to, and yesterday highlighted that we only had one – Alexis. Giroud always shows back, and Ramsey always drifted in right next to them.
Grioud thrives on services from wide areas. So what does Arsene do, play Alexis on the left to cut in and shoot, and Ramsey on the right, who keeps popping up on the left and in the middle. Result: no width, minimal service.
Until Arsene goes back to what worked – Mesut/Santi/Coq – and wide players wide – Alexis and Ox/Theo – we will continue to struggle scoring goals. A new CF could be helpful, but that person might experience the same frustration Giroud does if nothing behind him changes.
Hahaha you make me laugh.Takme Coquelin out of that team and a lot of goals will have been conceded and i dare you to deny it.I dare you to also admit that see Santi Cazorla in the next 2 seaso n as a long term player over there.Its obvious you do
Hahaha you make me laugh take Francis out of that equation and i doubt we will have been that good though others helped.After all he had the highest interceptions in 2015.Listen its simple as ABC i remember the man utd match as soon as we moved Ramsey top his best position the match changed for us and we were in the driving seat yet peeps will deny.Ozil and Cazorla i am still thinking of how any other manager will put them in the same team, and it will work long term.This is not right.From what you are saying too we might as well sell Ramsey to a top team which will play him in his position and i also expect him to be less i njury prone and eventually becoming world class.Its so simple this thing i can tell you will not work forever yet keep denying.Ozil and Cazorla in the same team a big no.I want Cazorla in his best position and that is no 10.Put Ramsey in box to box role and lets see which team will do better if your choice or my choice.
So you’ve made your rebuttal to my “laughable” comment, yet you’ve failed to acknowledge that prior to and following Ramsey’s great goal-scoring run, he did nothing special, and as a result Arsenal were constantly 4th. The moment he’s out of the side and Arsene is forced to properly balance the team, we go on a ridiculous run.
Everything Ramsey touched that season turned to gold, but he was not able to sustain, and produced nothing remotely close to that prior to it. Conventional wisdom would then say that season was the exception, not the norm. To make matters worse, he and Arsene have both seen him have that exceptional season, and now every time Ramsey is on the field all he can think about is replicating that, and his selfishness – runs and shots – hurt the flow of the team.
Yes Coquelin properly balances the team, but your question of what manager would play a Santi and Mesut style pairing?
Umm 2 time champion’s league winners, 2-time Euro Winners, world cup winners – Xavi and Iniesta for one.
2014 Champion’s League Winners – Real Madrid – James/Modric & Toni Kroos
2014/2015 Premier League Winners Chelsea – Fabregas & Oscar
2014 World Cup Winning Germany – Ozil and Toni Kroos
And Kev, I’m not anti Ramsey, I’m anti fielding an unbalanced team. I don’t think he should be in our first 11, but I still think when he plays within himself and isn’t just searching for the glory he has a purpose to serve.
Everyone talking about how much of a magician David Silva is right now. Is it a coincidence that he’s got Navas on one touchline, stretching the backline, running at defenders, and trying to get in behind, and Sterling doing the same on the other? Watch what Chelsea do with Pedro wide on the right and Hazard wide on the other.
Arsene seems to be the only manager stuck in the past trying to play an Iniesta type Center Mid player on the flank. That worked years ago, but Spain had to change because they became too predictable. Come on Arsene.
adam kemp still around?
Mic check 1 2 1 2! Check out my graaaavel pit…
Oh reality check, nevermind. Lemme live in the dreamland little while longer
Which midfield was better?
Cazorla/Coquelin (2014/15) – Thumbs Up
Arteta/Song (2011/12) – Thumbs Down
Ramsey is WC… true engine… did anyone saw TW14 or Ox????
@Twig how about
Song and Vanpersie
Coq and Giroud??
Song and Vanpersie have never played midfield together.
Their partnership alone got us the 3rd place.
Doesn’t matter. They didn’t play midfield together. Please see the original question.
i just think the team is to unbalanced playing Ramsay on the right were he spends most of his time in the middle is ridiculous leaving our right back exposed especially when you have the ox and Walcott on the bench and whose fault is it that the team is unbalanced the man who picks the team it does not matter if we get a world class striker if we keep playing players out of position
anyway on to Newcastle next hope we get the 3 points COYG
WIN OR LOSE/ WITH OR WITHOUT WORLD CLASS PLAYER
either KB CAVANI REUZ LEWA GOTZE KRYCHOWIAK CARVALHO ETC COMING / NOT
i will still be a gooners forever!
#YaGunnersYa
Same Old Stories All The Time…Henry, Nasir, Van Pussy Amongst left 4 de same very reason…They all know Wenger crazy except the fans
This is going to hurt.
They all left forr trophies right?
Well I envy fk Vhelsea cuz Drogba stayed until he (yes HIM) delivered the UCL to Roman.
Of course you will all say it was about the money…but he said so himself…he felt he OWED it.
@Uche
You and others like you can be like NUFC or Sunderland fans. Who only have faith in your team when they’re winning. And think they should never lose.
I’ll continue to support AFC and AW “win, lose or draw” with the same tenacity as well as faith
PEACE…
You are right NY, after all we are all Arsenal supporters, have been for decades, but only very few of us are AW supporters. I dont see the correlation between the two. He was a fantastically successful manager for a decade and now he is not. It is as simple as that. Arsene is no longer a successful manager, a lot of us think that he is actually hurting the team that we love and support. So I fully agree with supporting the team under any condition, but it is only the team i support, the manager should leave his job to a younger, hungrier manager.
@JimBeam
I hear ya dude.
I support AW with the thinking, he’s not 100% at fault, nor is he faultless. Yeah, he brought and hand picks the players for every match as well as drills them in the tactics for every match. But these are professional footballers with many years of playing time as well as a vast array of footballing knowledge with them. They share in the blame for the wins/draws and losses. They’re not academy youngsters.
And what I find puzzling is, with all this footballing knowledge out there on the pitch, our players seem unable to improvise and/or adjust during matches. I don’t know if it’s AW’s directive that they continue forcing a square peg in a round hole till it fits or what. We lack real leadership on the pitch. Someone who keeps us from looking like headless chickens at times.
I don’t fault or blame AW for his tactics when it all goes pear shaped. Because AFC play a certain way, and I do like watching this style of play. I do fault him for his favouritism in team selection, especially when we lose or draw.
I’ve been an AFC supporter long before AW came on the scene. And will continue to be long after he’s gone. Win/lose or draw. H*ll, even if they were to be relegated…
But keep this in mind. Even if he were to retire next season, we’ll still be stuck with most of the same 25 players we have now…
Peace…
@NY with your thinking, all managers would keep their jobs indefinitely. Obviously the players are also at fault but it is the manager who chooses them them to play a certain way, it is the manager who plays them out of position and it is somehow the manager who fails to inspire them.. .
Sorry bud but Wenger has run his course. This job for life sh*t is really hurting the club
The writer gets it .
Gazidis’ spreadsheet is allergic transfers
Isn’t it bemusing?The season that were supposed to finally challenge the big boys for the league title is increasingly looking like the season that we finally miss out on champions League qualification.All courtesy of the untouchable, unquestionable Sir Arsene Wenger, the founding father of Arsenal, well according to the akbs
haha, right, why don’t we just throw in that Chelsea are “looking like they will miss out on CL qualification” and Leicester are “looking likely to challenge” in there as well seeing as we are making ludicrous assertions.
i seem to remember you saying this end of august 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008…… bit of a pattern here….serious medication not low-grade smack with street name of “cohesion” bought from dodgy looking french pensioner drooling his pernoud and reminisching about l`age d`or might be what you need
Yes, and I see Real Madrid and Juventus fighting off relegation as well.
Why was a top side like Liverpool sitting back and not trying to attack? Time wasting really? why?
What it comes down to is we struggle against teams that park the bus. If a team like Crystal Palace tries to play with us we win.
We should get more crosses in and be more direct against teams that only want a draw. I still can’t get over Liverpool not trying to win.
The ball boy gives the Liverpool keeper the ball and he plays it off his knees off the pitch and then goes after it. Top sides should try to win games.
Gary Nevil for example, a c*nt of manure legend, but he knows a lot about football and is pretty much always close to the truth when he speaks.
What kind of response is the ” i do work for 20 years and this job and i do know what i wrong and right”? You can be good for 19 years and ruin your self for a single year. Wenger is a curse to this club, and we will never progress as long as he is around. It is arrogance when you play with Giroud up front and Ramsey on the wings and without a back up Dm and think that you can win the leauge. What a tool.
I Arsene i Trust. You people trust him to do what? Wining the Cl? winning the Epl after 10 years? Do you people know what Facking 10 years are?
when you have delusional people like ny gunner ,josh37 and the lots( akbs) supporting an expect in failure,then we are doomed to mediocrity .
3 games into the season, 1 loss and people like you are whining like Arsenal just got relegated. Chelsea are sitting on the same amount of points as us too. Get a grip!
You were doomed to failure with a name like CLEM…CTFU
Winning the FA cup kept Wenger in the job, finishing 5th should help remove him..
That you people are into Ramsey bec of his heritage is one thing. But dont get the idea that he somehow is close to Cazorla and Ozil. Both of them are world stars where Ramsey is one half season wonder.
Cazorlas football brain and footy talent is superiour for the cm role. He can play with both of his feed and its hard to get the ball off of him. Passing is also suprb.
Ozil. Is better footy talent then Ramsey and his vision is no match for many other football greats in the world let alone Ramseys.
Favorisem is one thing which is killing us, and i do hope that sooner or later we will end up with a proper manager who doesnt give a single Sh*t about players moods.
Ramsey is a good footballer, a tireless worker that unfortunately has no place in this squad. I understand the homegrown dynamic and Arsenes unquestioned loyalty to his stable of youngish English talent, but that policy is sadly the prevailing cancer of Arsenal football @ the moment.
Ramsey has nowhere to play unless you displace Santi or Ozil, who are far better players imho. His inclusion in the starting 11 eliminates any threat from the right flank and compromises Ozils ability to play balls to the channels or behind the D.
Walcott, a $130K a week supersub that offers nothing as a striker against well organized, physically imposing defenders. He belongs on the right flank, but where would Ramsey play?
Glass Joe Wilshere, the 2nd coming of Diaby in the treatment room whos best days are many years passed even at the tender age of 23.
With $80-90M in transfer fees from there sales, think Le Prof could find a DM and striker to improve the squad?
It’s funny that our team picked up momentum (we had good balance) in the late stages of last season when Ramsey was injured but things seemed disjointed soon as he returned from his injury. I see people argue that atleast he runs around and makes an effort, I ask how does that actually benefit the team in the greater scheme of things ?. Giroud also makes an effort, how’s that working out for us ?
surely teams that performed well last season are strengthening a good example is juventus getting sandro,mandzukic,dybala,zaza,cuadrado on loan they want to show reaching the final of uefa was not luck…look at us the manager feels the team is good enough.gary Neville has spoken sense
Juve lost some of their best players like Pirlo, Vidal and Tevez. Overall I don’t think they’re a stronger team given those losses.
The only reason wenger keeps playing Ramsey is because he heard Barcelona would pay £50M for him ?
Wenger is showing that Ramsey can play on the wings too,
Who knows, if Ramsey would have scored a few goals by now, we might have got a £50M offer for him ?
On a serious note… We are ?
ramsey shud play b2b,santi and mesut shud battle it out fo cam(competition)….natural wingers pliz i.e TW14(dnt c him as cf),AS17 n ox….le coq nids cover….and omg OG REALLY nid sm1 to show him the way
You lot are a disgrace. You know how many fans of other teams would die to have the squad, manager and success (past and present) that Arsenal have? Just the other day a Liverpool fan said similar words to me and it is not the first time I have heard it. Making top 4 for the last twenty years, the majority of that time on a shoe string budget while losing all our best players every year is a marvel and massive achievement. Only since 2012/13 have Arsenal been able to spend top dollar on world class players without losing any, and guess what? Five trophies in two and a half years and you lot call that failure? Smh
It seems the majority of you act like us winning is something that should ALWAYS happen, regardless of hundreds of different factors involved, almost like Arsenal have this divine right to keep winning and NEVER lose! What folly! Life is about winning and losing, and if you know anything, winning all the time is NEVER possible. Look at Chelsea, last seasons champions yet they also have had a tumultuous start to the season standing on the same amount of points as us!
Have some faith in our team and manager and stop acting like a bunch of spoilt brats.
Once a decade would do me …. For the 7th richest club on planet with highest gate prices large fan base and big sponsorship deals I don’t think that’s too much to ask or perhaps I’m being obtuse !! The spoilt brats argument has become old and tired … Life is nasty brutish and short just want our team to be winners once in a while …and no I don’t count fa cup as sufficient and certainly not carling
2nd
Let’s look on the bright side…..
At least Balotelli is off the market. 😀 😀
If Arsene Wenger thinks like half of you guys, he would have left this club and coach clubs like Man City, Monaco, PSG etc, hunting for glory. You guys will never appreciate him when things go right. A bit of failure? Boom… WENGER OUT. It is a fact that we have past the level of having Giroud as our main striker, which the boss and board have identified, who is readily available? I am very sure the club is monitoring a class striker. Let’s be patient. In the first half of the match, our boys were shaky, but we all saw the impact of a coach at half time on the players in the second half. The was a lucky day for Liverpool just as Sunday was a lucky day for Chelsea after going one man down. Let’s hope we get a good striker who can instill final-pass confidence in our current crop of classy mid fielder.
These are so called professional players,
Most of them earn more money in a week than the average joe could earn in ten years!
Shaky? Why?
These games are not a world cup final!
Are you shaky every time you start your job?
Unless you are a crackhead, I very much doubt it ?
Why would he leave he’s hot one of the cushiness jobs on planet football .. Pliant board pliant fans massive salary big city … U r kiddin this guy will only leave in a wooden box if he has his way
People complaining about chambers and him not being a player you win the league with need to compare him with other teams 4th choice centre back. For example who is Chelsea 4th choice behind terry, cahill and zouma? Who is man city’s 4th choice or United or Liverpool?
Our first choice 4 players for the double pivot are, coquelin, cazorla, Ramsey, wilshire, our next choices are arteta and flamini in that order. People need to compare city, Chelsea, United and Liverpool 5th and 6th choice players for the double pivot with arteta and flamini, before suggesting we don’t have depth.
I totally agree that in giroud, Walcott and welbeck we do not have a world class striker, But they are still 3 very good strikers, whilst currently our 4th choice is probably Joel campbell. Please name Chelseas 4 strikers or man city’s 4 or Liverpool, United? Fact is we have depth but we lack world class quality in that position, whilst giroud aside all our other 3 strikers are just as comfortable on the wing and griezmann, hazard, Pedro and one or two others aside are bloody good out wide.
So should be replace anyone else in the squad? Well I don’t think there is a need, but chambers for example is far too good for u21 football and at his Stage of development needs to play every week to improve. So he needs to go out on loan. I would replace him with a Ron vlaar type signing.
Joel.campbell, similarly needs to play every week and he is quite simply no higher than 4th choice for CF and 7th choice for the wide role, behind alexis, Ramsey, chamberlain, Walcott, wilshire, Welbeck. Personally, I think he needs selling as he is too far down for any role and we need to bring in a 1st choice centre forward allowing giroud to be his deputy whilst Walcott and welbeck provide the injury cover.
As for the midfield, I think in arteta, flamini and rosicky we have a reasonable 3rd choice midfield. We still have plenty of spaces in the squad without shedding their experience. All 3 players would be adequate cover to play against the Bournemouth. Watford. West Bromwich, Norwich etc and play in the early rounds of the cups and dead rubbers in the champions league allowing the likes of coquelin cazorla Ramsey ozil wilshire to rest
If everyone was fit this would be my current best x1
Cech
Bellerin Gabriel koscielny Monreal
Coquelin
Chamberlain cazorla ozil alexis
Walcott
With my next best x1 being
Ospina
Debuchy chambers mertesacker gibbs
Flamini
Campbell wilshire Ramsey Welbeck
Giroud
How would i Improve that? I would bring in cavani to the first x1 allowing Walcott to switch to his best position with campbell dropping out of the 2nd x1 to be Loaned out or sold.
I would sign a proper dm in the javi Martinez. Carvalho mould a real enforcer to protect the back allowing us to play 4141, with coquelin becoming the deputy in the 2nd x1.
My final 2 changes would be vlaar as 4th choice cb or similar to replace chambers who would get a premier league loan to aid his development, plus an experienced 3rd choice keeper who would accept that he is 3rd choice, allowing Macey to get a loan.
That would mean our 1st and 2nd x1 would include 21 players classed as over 21 plus bellerin. The remaining 4 places in the 25 Man squad would go to the experienced 3td choice keeper, and arteta, flamini and rosicky who would add experienced injury cover.
@atid
Well laid out Gooner…
Some sentiments I agree on. Some are just asinine.
To state something like “Callum Chambers is not someone you win the league with” is equivalent to saying that Mikel at CB is not someone you win the league with. CHELSEA HAVE 3 CBS! No team in their right mind can predict for their 2 CBs to get injured simultaneously directly before a game. Nobody. It’s completely pointless to say that Chambers is useless because he had a bad game…a game that he played once in a bloody blue moon when our entire defence got wiped out by bad luck. You cannot have more than 4 CBs on your team. It was bad luck Chambers played. Chelsea have 3 CBs. This is a stupid point that cannot be argued.
Let’s now address the striker issue. As far as I can see there has been very limited striker movement this window. Benteke or Martinez were pretty much the 2 choices. While I do not argue both may have added to the team, neither would have added the amount that the price tag dictated. Simply put – you can only buy what you are able to buy – and I tend to agree that if you can’t buy a particularly better striker than retaining your team dynamic until you can beats adding maybe 1 goal a season for 30m. I’m sorry to disagree on this but unless it is physically possible for us to ascertain a WC striker, or at the very least, a striker who offers something vastly different, then there is NO point wasting money on them.
Third point – DM. Coquelin showed he is a good DM last night again. He also showed his naivety. I agree another DM would be good and then we allow Flamini to leave or sit in the dressing room as good support before sending him upstairs if he is done playing. I can imagine he’d be a decent coach along with Arteta. The problem is – does any great player want to come into a team and not be guaranteed football? No. So it won’t be as easy as just offer the money and they’ll come. We are not City/Chelsea who will pay an extra £20k a week so the player is ok sitting on the bench. It doesn’t happen.
Now what you’ve really missed is the fact our team DOES have deficiencies and ways to solve them. Wenger is currently pissing me off because instead of strengthening we are sitting here with nothing to show for the transfer window but a keeper who is past his best and could dwindle by the end of the season or before. There are plenty of positions on the pitch where we can improve – tactically and with staff. SO buy a LM. Buy a DM. Hell, buy a CB and make wholesale defensive changes. But most importantly – add SOMETHING to the team. There are areas we can improve, so add to them. If you can’t get the position you want sorted because of the market, sort out other areas so that the problems are pasted over. Don’t say “we are looking for quality” and ignore all quality outside 1 position.
Ultimately I still feel Arsenal’s biggest problem right now is ourself. We are shooting ourselves every time we play without width. There are 2 ways to stretch a team to give yourself space – width and movement. Movement can ONLY be used if it is at pace and with Giroud + Ramsey you lose ALOT of that pace. Currently we are easy to defend because you keep us in front of you and we can’t run in behind. At least with width you open holes to pass the ball into. We do neither. Wenger needs to sacrifice a CM or Giroud for pace or width. It’s just part of the game. You can’t play with slow narrow football. It does not work, no matter how great the passing. THAT is a reason to be pissed at Wenger – not the fact Callum played or we haven’t signed a WC striker. There is logical reasons and then there are picking fault on circumstance.
P.S. I stand by my original assessment of our squad. We COULD win the PL – we’re just not going to.
Wenger Out has proudly been my matra for the past decade. I remain dedicated in perpetuity to that singular cause regardless of the situation.
For the good of AFC, the muppet must be chased out, the task of clearing out the arsenal closet of parasitic organism falls to the collective strength of equally concerned fans alike.
This is the best article i have read on this blog for years, great write up Uche! As for “Wenger Out”? The likes of people like us have been screaming it for the past five years or so on this blog and other fora on and offline.
Now I am glad most Gunners are coming around to see it our way. Wenger is currently the most experienced coach in the EPL yet he acts like he has no idea whatsoever what the EPL is about. Asides not buying enough to give us depth in quality (which is very essential in winning the EPL), Wengers style makes us an easy team to defend against by playing central midfielders on the wing, who always drift to the center of the pitch when we are on the attack. So only what the opposing team has to do is simply pack the center with a lot of bodies thereby making it very difficult for us to penetrate.
A coach with Wengers experience in the EPL should know better but unfortunately as someone pointed out its either Wenger is damned arrogant or naive, and again unfortunately, i think he is both.
“Everybody everywhere has always known we needed a defensive midfielder. We have been lacking one since Patrick Viera left over a decade ago.”
Stopped reading here as it is now obvious that the writer is a fan of less than a decade, Vieira was a BOX 2 BOX midfielder, Gilberto Silva was the holding CM.
Get your facts right and it’ll be worth reading.
The people disagreeing with you are the morons who after one loss in just three games are calling for Wenger’s head. You are 100% correct and I also picked it up when I read it, Silva was our DM NOT Viera. Intelligence is few and far between on this forum unfortunately…
Wenger out like…three seasons ago. Give Koeman a contract
I hate 4th place 🙁
But if we don’t sign anyone in the next 7 days I don’t see us overtaking Chelsea, City or United.
I don’t see us taking 1st 2nd or 3rd
Please Sign Krychowiak or Bender
Please Sign Cavani
I agree with the essence of the aticle.
just a few specific thoughts:
“We have dropped five points in three games already. That is not how you win the league and we have seen this movie before too many times”.
Yes. We have also seen rsenal winning the EPL recovering from several points behind back in the Henry Vieria years.
“So this is the advice I give to myself and anyone who supports Arsenal. Support your team the way Newcastle fans and Sunderland fans support their team. They know they are not going to win the league and they know they are in for disappointment but they still support their team because theirs is a love affair ”
Indeed it is a love affair and we should support in any case with all our hearts and souls…but I do still think that we have a shot…its only been three games, and we didnt count on the factthat Cech would have a stagefright…
Forget it, this website just won`t function………….
Wenger v Maurinho. They both answer to one man, not a committee.. That`s how they keep their jobs.