Draw may secure 3rd but Wenger proves every day he won’t cut it by Konstantin Mitov
Hello fellow Gooners. Dreaming of a Premier League title tilt next year? Well then you’d hope a miracle happens and Arsene Wenger leaves Arsenal. We’re really ending a poor season in a poor way. We’re likely to finish third but we really blew it again.
After dropping off to Monaco in the CL and going out of the title race on week 10, we made a good spell which leaves us limping over the finish line in 3rd place. We have one own-goal to our account from 3 games against average opposition.
We play an out-of date style of football which leaves us surrounding the enemy box with no idea how to break in. This is not from yesterday. This dates back at least 7 years in which we play the same way. And in those years all we managed was an FA cup.
Even the kid in the next block knows how to set up a side that will counter Wenger. The jury is out on whether Wenger is the man or not, and despite statistics showing no top 2 finishes, one FA cup and 5 straight years of 1/8 final elimination in the CL Wenger has a major support in our club.
I really don’t know how he does it, but truth is there is a bigger chance to sack the Queen of England than Wenger. We need a desperate change of approach. Modern football managers are innovative. Pep Guardiola’s style at Barcelona is now outdated and you can see he failed in a Bayern squad that dominated Europe.
Wenger’s style didn’t work when we introduced it, and to this day it still doesn’t work – and it won’t. Its figured out, the game has moved on, but one thing Arsenal haven’t moved on in 20 years is the manager. The amount of trophies Man United, Chelsea and even Man City won in the last 10 years is marginally better than ours.
You have to ask yourself the question of why can’t we compete? Don’t tell me we don’t have money, because we splashed out 42 million on Ozil, 35m on Sanchez and we can afford to pay more than 10m for youngsters like Calum Chambers. Putting up an article on why Arsenal failed to break down Sunderland will just be another walk-through on why Wenger has failed for 10 years.
I know people in England like to give time, but i think we gave Wenger far too much time to achieve something and he didn’t. Unless the other teams give Wenger the title out of sympathy, we will not win it. We are not even trying our best. We have a good squad, and we cannot place correctly the players in it.
Ramsey, Ozil, Cazorla and Wilshere. All players of similar game play, all looking for that number 10 spot and they literally cluttered in the middle while we have only one man in the box and nobody making runs down the wing.
We don’t have a proper winger in the squad. Nobody to take a player one on one and get past him. If we want to win a game, what about a substitution at half time? – not at the 70th minute. We could’ve rotated more. We could’ve started both Walcott and Rosicky, yet we only shifted Coquelin and the left back.
Arsene will not retire like Ferguson with the title in his hands. It’s not going to happen. If he was able to adapt, he would’ve done it already. Get Ancelotti, get Klopp, get somebody, anybody. Just change the way we play. Give me something new to get excited.
I will just point out some of the things a new manager would bring, like…
1) Signings before the last day of the window
2) Better fitness preparation for less injuries
3) New tactics and ideas on how to break teams down and how not to get hammered by top clubs
4) Players that will fill the gaps we’ve had with the keeper, the defense, and the lack of a good striker
5) Rotations, so we don’t wear our team down.
Each of the five points is as equally important as the others. Let’s paint the Arsenal machine in a brand new shiny color. Bring fresh blood on the table. Remove the yes-man role of the assistant coach. Let’s show ambition on the market.
Over the past 10 years the forums of Arsenal have circled around the same problems. We’re like a broken record. But it’s the hope that kills you. Hope that next year will be the Arsenal year. Like it was in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and so on until 2015. Like the title of the first movie of one of the greatest movie trilogies of all times, we need…
A new hope!
Konstantin
Spot on article by u Konstantin.I’ll give it 10 out of 10.
Of course, Konstantin is one of my “A” students.
I think JA should temporarily bar people if being too negative, writing off the whole club before even transfer window arrives is not only too negative but is also very naive. God only knows (fos) how our team will look come next season not too mention how our opponents will look regarding whos missing or whos sold etc.. so in my opinion the author has basically pulled this one from the preverbal asshole.
Fixture list has not arrived, how well off do we look – or how badly have others fared… doesnt matter ill pull this one from my ass says the author.
I know were babies naturally come from, but you definitely made it through the back door. WTF??? What do u mean “bar people if being negative”??? How about sack Arsene for repeatedly or characteristically acting cluelessly very often???
We are all entitled to our opinions, and that includes you there, Mr. Rumpelstilskin.
We are supporters if im not mistaking.
Yes, we are supporters, but not morons or clueless robots. Don’t feel bad, man. Freely say whatever sh*t is on your mind, but let other freely let out their sh*t too.
Bras support breasts but it doesn’t stop them from getting stressed!
@ArseOverTit
Deadly…
@YingYang69
Why is it, that when a person speaks the truth about Arsenal and Arsene Wenger, that’s based on factual evidence, it’s always deemed…negative?!
You even accuse the writer of being naive, are you kidding me!! We have the same problems every season, yet some how, people refuse to blame Wenger. Now that’s being naive! I just can’t understand how AKB’s can keep ignoring the facts.
Third man i havent read too much from you before so i dont know if you are one of those idiots which for years said that they would rather win fa cup than to get our Wenger trophy but then when we won fa cup they done nothing but belittle our accomplishment and where very quick in doing it.
I am not one of the fans who sees no wrong in Wenger, i will criticise if i feel he warrants such. I have no time for the idiots who seem to be critics full stop, they save up all there creative writing skills for when we are out of form… and even when we are in form or reaching a final it will be faults still that they speak of or see.
Im not going to go over the period in which we had very little money or for some very little ambition. there are two sides. This is a different time now starting from when we purchased Ozil, its two seasons in now and we have reached two finals. The team has room for improvement and i believe ground will be made.
First off, I am not one of these idiots who screams for Wenger’s head after every defeat. In fact, I was a supporter of his up until the 3-0 defeat at Everton last season (although I wasn’t oblivious to Wenger’s faults, and my support had been waning for over the years).
I have supported Wenger during the tough financial years, but the last two seasons have proven that even with lots of money, we still can’t compete. Last season we badly needed to strengthen CB, DM, LW, CF positions. So what did Wenger do? He ignored all of those positions and only added quality to the CAM position even though we were already very strong in that area with the likes of Cazorla and Rosicky. So Please explain to me how were Arsenal ever going to compete with our team so weak and unbalanced? I also really you weren’t like many other fans who were hoodwinked with the Ozil signing.
So did Wenger learn from last season? No he didn’t. Still no DM, no top quality CB (although Chambers is definitely one for the future), and no top striker.
On another note. We were better than Chelsea last season, but despite this, they’ve quickly progressed, whilst we have gone backwards. Why is this? Could it be that Mourinho is a much better manager? To put it simply, he saw the weak areas and fixed them, whilst Wenger can’t even see the weak areas, which has been 100% proven with the last two summer transfer windows. And don’t even get me started on Kim Kallstrom haha.
See therein lies the problem – you say “spot on” and judging by the thumbs down presumably an equal number think Mr Mitov is spouting half-baked rubbish. I see below there are some hailing the article as “the truth”. If the skewed and contrived view of one keyboard wanabee manager/tactical supremo is deemed to be unassailably true then we are in a whole heap of trouble. The guy is clearly upset, with a sense of entitlement and conveys a fake insight in to the workings of the club and everyone at it. If he was a fan of Bayern, United or Real Madrid he would be up and running with his rants on their forums castigating their failures this season – and re-arranging history to match his own personal view of the world. Until someone with proper expertise in myriad areas of sports science, football coaching, business, finance, law, PR, media, marketing, human resources etc etc has unfettered access to all board meeting minutes, records of all discussions with players, full player medical records, details of all contacts with agents, other clubs, other players, seen copies of player contracts and negotiations, understands the financial imperatives, interprets the business accounting, has reviewed the business plan, has knowledge of the employer/employee contractual relationship between Wenger and the club, has intimate insight in to the goals and objectives of the business and the club – then everyone is filling in the gaps with their own version of events and will necessarily always be a long, long way from anything close to any “truth”.
Last season: 24 wins, 79 points, goal diff +27
This season: with a game left – 21 wins, 72 points, goal diff.
So apart from goal difference and position our performance dropped/went backward.
We won the FA cup, but at present I am not feeling too good about repeating that achievement.
Peeps here know where I stand. I believe big change is the only way forward. Sadly AFC won’t be thinking the same.
This season goal diff=• : +32
So if we had won the league with 21 wins and 75 points like Man Utd did in 97 would you have said we went backwards? Point totals mean little – it is only a measure relative to the strength of the other 19 teams.
Have you any explanation as to why you think AFC won’t be thinking the same way as you? They don’t want to improve? Scared to sack Wenger?
Don’t change a winning horse, or something like that.
The Arsenal board is making money in a steady state with Wenger. For them, I imagine trophies mean nothing more than additional cash and the possibility of getting more fans who consequently will generate more money. As long as Wenger provides a steady income, i guess they’re happy.
Great true article.
Wenger out now
A manager can only change if the fans know how great is their team and what the team needs. I remember, Arsene wanted to sign Hazard, a lot of arsenal fans discouraged him by saying Hazard is overrated and can’t cope with EPL and the reported fee is too much for him. The same case to Suarez, Arsene wanted him and he was ready to meet Liverpool asking price but due to pressures from the fans on the issues like behavior and other bla bla Arsenel decided not to go far from where he offered. To day the team lack a great ST, the fans need to put pressure to the manager to look for a world class striker instead they are just fooling themselves with the hold up play. There are players like Alexandre Lacavette, Rahim Stering, Karim Benzema and Higuain who can change the rhythm of our play and both of them knows how to kill the games unexpectedly, they are available and we need to try and sign among them. But what is paining me much is the many fans think OG is world class and there is no available striker to improve from what we have. Henry said OG is doing well but he is unsure if we will win the league depending on him. This means, Henry knows that collectively it is possible to win the league but if you want to win the league with some games to be decided by your striker OG isn’t capable of doing so. What is very fun, bunches of fans turned on his back. They like the ‘hold up play’ (HUP).
We get it – someone has to take the rap and it usually Giroud and Arsenal are a WC striker away from winning the league. But the reality and an appreciation of the footballing landscape and history says it ain’t quite that straightforward.
1) We had Wright, Henry and Van Persie leading our front line for 20 seasons – what happened in the 17 of the 20 seasons we had with no league title? Our top scorer in 1998 was DB10 with 16 goals.
2) Ronaldo in his 6th season at Real Madrid, 310 goals to the good and one La Liga? How can that be? And with everyone’s fave rave Benzeman in tow with an unimpressive 15 goal haul (to go with his 17 and 11 in the two previous seasons).
3) Aguero top scorer this season and best striker in the league – zero trophies. Ditto for Suarez the year before. Van Persie with 30 and Rooney with 27 won nothing in 2012 and SA bought City home with 23 goals.
4) Lacazette – Ligue 1 top scorer, no cigar for Lyon. PSG walking away with it and with a top scorer on 19 goals.
5) Top scorer in Bundesliga plays for Frankfurt. Bayern dependent on Robben and Lewandoski who have scored just 3 more than Alexis and Giroud whilst pissing the league.
6) Juve strolling to the title with a massive 20 goal hero in Tevez. Jackson Martinez top scorer in La Premiera and winning nothing – Benfica top scorer on 14.
7) And a bit of perspective, teams score goals that win titles – it is not all about personal glory, and our second striker Alexis in his first season matches or out does in all comps the likes of Higuain, Dybala, Lewandoski, Benezeman, Muller, Robben, Suarez, Dost, Costa.
I’m not against Wenger but what’s been happening for a while now is that we keep managing to make negative records. More recently was we went goalless in 3 consecutive home games. I really want to see him leave on a high but it’s becoming more harder to see that actually happening. Yet I still have hope for the next season but I don’t know how long I can keep telling myself that…
It would be nice to win the league, and even nicer to see how much we could get when I sell the trophy.
Hahah! Lol!
when we sign a top clinical striker then maybe. if not.. no chance!
I don’t believe we’ll be winning the league next season. I think Chelsea will win it 🙂
Unless Wenger is retiring – No.
I absolutely appreciate everything that Arsene has done for the club, but I would agree that at this point, his inability to be flexible at key moments in time – tactics prior to a game, tactics during a game, player rotation, substitutions in key area, accurate purchases at key areas, team selection, etc. – continues to hold us back.
I’ve said for the longest time, Arsene finally stumbled upon a properly balanced side through injury – Ramsey got hurt, Jack got hurt, Arteta got hurt, Flamini got hurt – and he was forced to play a true CDM in LeCoq (which we’d been crying out for years), wingers in wide positions, central players centrally, and wasn’t able to force Jack and Aaron into the same side – a combination that’s never gotten us anything but 4th place. And what happened? We went on a ridiculous run.
How did Arsene screw it up? He’s failed to rotate players, so now the folks that were playing great, now appear tired, jaded, and ineffectual (Santi, Mesut, Alexis – who were all 3 responsible for really galvanizing the run. Even LeCoq looks a bit worn out). He doesn’t trust playing the players that he should’ve slowly introduced/rotated earlier – Theo, TR7, Paulista. And because both the Ox and Welbz got hurt, he’s gone back to trying to force an attacking mid to play wide. The moment we lost our balance the free flowing goal scoring has dried up.
To make matters worse, he immediately defaulted back to forcing Jack and Aaron into the same side. Result, 0-0 draw.
His desire to be stubborn wears players out, causes them to get injured, doesn’t keep them fresh to perform, doesn’t allow us to breakdown teams that should be nowhere near us, and leaves us unbelievably susceptible to giving up goals on the break.
Titi said we need reinforcements down the spine, and he’s correct, and it starts with replacing Arsene. If not, we’re going to continue to come just so far, and then be disappointed.
even with the invincibles Wenger couldn’t win the champions league, what do you expect this old man to win with a team that is visible even to the blind?…..its as if Wenger is just scared to drop some players, its as if there is one evil spirit disturbing Wenger whenever he is inside the emirates stadium that enables him not to identify underperforming players, this old man can’t even fix his players in their normal positions and we are here disturbing ourselves!
Invincible doesn’t mean you’re not visible buddy, LoL
Wenger is past his sellbuy date. If he loves the Arsenal he should retire even if he wins the FA cup again.That got him out of gaol last year this year it shouldn’t.
Time to Arsene and many thanks.
Leaving on a high by winning FA cup 2 years in a row is a worthy finish to his manager career, asking me.
‘You have to ask yourself the question of why can’t we compete? Don’t tell me we don’t have money, because we splashed out 42 million on Ozil, 35m on Sanchez and we can afford to pay more than 10m for youngsters like Calum Chambers.’
Well I will tell you it’s about money. Of course it’s about money. So those three signings and you expect to win the title?
Chelsea have £1billion, £1000000000, in loans from Abramovich. That’s on top of all the money they earn as a club. That’s how much they’ve spent.
Man City have spent countless millions, £200m just on a training complex. And when they splash out on youngsters it’s not £16m like Chambers. Mangala cost them over £30m. Not to mention their wage bill is over £40m a year more than ours.
As for United. They spent £150m in this summer alone. In fact, over the past 18 months they’ve spent more in net transfers than we have in 10 years. Not to mention their deals. Remember our big new kit deal? The second biggest in the league? £150m over 5 years? 30m a season? Well United just signed a £750m deal for 10 years. £75m a season.
Any assumption that we are on a level playing field in terms of money is foolish. We have enough money to maybe challenge for the title and hopefully win it if we spend it well, invest in young talent and hope they fulfill their potential. In short, spending wisely.
Everyone praises Diego Simeone to the hilt, they say he’s one of the best managers around, so why aren’t Atletico winning the league again? Because they can’t compete with Real and Barca in the transfer market. They can’t buy Bale or Suarez for >£50m.
Wenger isn’t perfect, he’s far from perfect. But he’s still a very good manager.
Well put. I also keep hearing the same drab story that Arsene has had over a decade to win the title again and failed miserably…that couldn’t be further from the truth and here’s why. Only up until a year ago, did we actually start spending big on players, for obvious reasons like the Stadium expenses. Secondly, whilst going through this financially tight period, many of our best players left, putting Arsene Wenger and our club into a real predicament. Yet under these circumstances, we still managed top 4, all whilst the City’s and Chelsea were spending exhorbitant amounts on players. In any reasonable account, we actually over achieved. I admit, this season is ending with a bit of a disappointment, but the fact remains we are looking better than ever before and the fact that we beat United, beat City, beat Liverpool and drew with Chelsea (the top teams) shows that we are on the way up. Not to mention two trophies last year and hopefully another F.A cup this year. In my opinion, if we win the F.A cup, Wenger has still warranted enough reason for him to continue as manager and for him to keep building on an already well established squad he has built over the last 2 years. I am excited to see who he will bring in for the next season and I still believe we can win the BPL if we strengthen our CF, DM and GK position.
tiwg try to decode my message( even with the greatest team we ever had Wenger couldn’t win the highest trophy, so what do we expect with a team that arteta captains?)
So, rumour has it that we have agreed personal terms with Vidal… Hmm. Dunno what to make of that sh*t but it could damn get me high.
Only way we would have a small chance to win the PL, is if we signed Hummels, Vidal, Pogba, Reus and Cavani. Those 5 would give us a small chance.
To give us a good chance add Suarez, Ramos, Lloris and Bale.
Paul Pogba is not worth more than £30M (that’s me being very considerate—my personal opinion, though).
Sterling, I dunno how much Pool will sell him, but he f**king does not deserve anything more than 100K a week (in fact, it should be about 90k).
Theo Walcott should stay humble and develop himself, he’s not worldclass in any way and not worth any stupendous wage.
GIroud should either be sold or kept as our second—just being considerate, actually he should be third—striker.
Arsene should start wearing glasses, he does not see things as they ought to be, he’s lost sight of reality.
Mo can’t give OG even a bench on his team
For me the problem isn’t Wenger. The problem is people’s expectations have been too high over the last few years. We’ve had a tiny budget money generated from player sales to pay off debt then left with very little to spend. We’ve overachieved if anything. Seriously what top quality manager would have wanted to manage at arsenal over the last few years? Yeah we’ve got money again now but it takes time to build, more big budget clubs than ever competing for not enough top top players. It’s ok to say we should have bought this and that player make lists but realistically it’s not possible. Should we have paid 30m to rent a player like falcao who everyone on here raved about saying if we bought him we’d have won the league. There’s risk with any player but to me Wenger’s building something special again. He’s not lost anything he still knows quality players.
Also complain about the lack of changes in the team but with Welbeck and the ox out injured and theo still not 100% there the players that offer something different, what do you expect him to do? And don’t say Theo’s fine it’s not worth pushing him then losing him again for a long period. To me it seems like Wenger wants to keep certain players happy until the summer as to not risk loosing them so he can build on what he’s got.
Some people will never be happy anyway it’s a fact. There’s a type that will seriously never be happy. Want silverware then undermine the FA cup after we win it. If we win it again this year then that’s a massive achievement. Wenger will improve the team again this summer and we’ll definitely have a crack a the title next season. Try backing the manager of the team you support because it’s the only reality there is.
I think if the club in financial difficulties is still willing to pay the manager £8 (yes 8) million a year then if the intent to hire another top coach was there by the club we could have attracted top talent, timing permitting.
Southampton punch above there weight and they do not have the revenue of AFC so I don’t see why we shouldn’t expect more.
I blame The board, for their contentment with the status quo and lack of ambition. Arsene made himself part of the furniture and until the house is cleared he will remain even though he is now a rickety, non functioning chair.
8m a year is nothing when your overachieving year in year out. Can argue it’s not his job but he’s done far more than manage the club it’d take two three men to do what Wenger does. Other clubs pay more than that paying off managers they continually sack. Takes all the fans blame for everything despite all this having to deal with selling top players every year players he’s turned from nothing into superstars. I’ll always say it but without the money made buy his player transfers the club would have another 10 years without any money to spend.
& yes Southampton have done brilliantly this year this year tho arsenal have overachieved for many year were always there you could throw a Southampton at me every season but do they stick round?
Some fans deserve the Newcastle Pardew effect. You get what you wish for.
That’s the problem. Wenger doing 3 people’s jobs.
Jack of all trades master of ….
So is Dybala confirmed as a juve player?
Alexandre Lacazette is what we need most, if we miss him we must go for Rahim Sterling
Rosicky: “I can’t tell you anything at the moment. When the season finishes, we’ll see if I will continue for another season .When you’re not getting the games you want or if you are not even part of it, it’s difficult for every player”
I hope he stays he deserves to win the pl title with us
I don’t think he will wait that long;)
And he always wears the arsenal wristband. #Legend
Wenger on signing a big name striker: “It’s not necessarily linked with the money. I’ve shown many doubters I’m ready to spend.” benz/higuain/cavani ???????
how Sterling’s a traitor and a money grabber but Van Persie and Nasri left because they wanted to succeed in their career
So wait, some fans are telling that they need to buy Gonzalo Higuain who can’t score against Dnipro in Europa League semi final will definitely win us the title?? Crazy fantasies !!
With Giroud as top striker Arsenal will never win EPL and that’s a fact. We all know he’s mean and won’t sign a competitor for Giroud so let’s just forget about EPL for now.
My worry is his predictability too and am afraid we may fail to retain FA trophy. If Aston Villa defend deap, Benteke is capable of hitting on the counter and a single goal may just do the trick as happened against Swansea. Had Sunderland scored yesterday, they would have beaten us too.
Wenger is an ageing gunfighter who still in his heart & mind believes that he is the fastest gunslinger in the premier league!
what an amazing article , well done to you . best article i have seen on here in a very long time . very honest and truthful and not full of shite , unlike one or two serial writers i could mention who bore us to tears with their victorian style of writing . at last somebody with balls and perfect vision to pen an article . keep it going sir .
Have to agree Wenger is no longer the fastest gun in the west, or in north London for that matter.
Title next season? No….! Arsenal have to find consistency, at the moment they`re a bit like a brides nightie. Poor selection and tactics that won`t change until Arsene bows out, then we can get serious again .Myself I can imagine Klopp in the drivers seat but Wenger controls the board and is in bed with the money man Kroenke so it`s up to `Silent Stan` I`m afraid.
c’mon man…i have an itchy feeling you said all this last season,the season before and the one before that….and guess what??….it’s just so sad you will say that next season….Arsene remains the best we’ve ever had but he has lost the plot..
Truth be told, I just don’t see Wenger leaving any time soon. And again, if he does leave, “IF”, who takes his place? I’d rather prefer a Carlo Ancelotti or a Guus Hiddnk, but their availability is not yet assured,