Drinking Poison and Wishing Your Enemy Dead by Toronto Arsenal
After Arsenal gave up a three goal lead against Anderlecht, Arsene Wenger looked furious and I did not see him shake his opponents hand before storming away. The look on his face was that of a man in pain and distress but what I cannot understand is what he expected. According to Nelson Mandela you cannot drink poison and expect your enemy to die.
When the whole world realized years ago that you cannot win the premier league or the champions league with a poor defense Arsene Wenger decided to defy logic. When at the beginning of the season supporters and analysts pointed out that our defense was too thin Arsene Wenger gave everyone the usual run around and the transfer window closed. The consequence of that unreasonable stubbornness and tactical myopia was what he witnessed from the dugout this evening – the surrender of a three-goal Arsenal. He got precisely what he deserved and I do not have any sympathy for him.
For a man so intelligent and with previous history of success to continue to stubbornly hold on to a tried and failed approach to team composition is beyond my comprehension. Why he believes that all the leading teams in Europe are wrong for having outstanding defensive midfielders is beyond comprehension. I am not sure what he is trying to prove. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid all invest in defensive midfielders capable of disrupting play. For Wenger he continues on the perilous path that he has travelled in the last decade and met with resounding failure. Jose Mourinho may have been disrespectful in calling him a specialist in failure but does Arsene Wenger’s behavior give anyone any reason to believe that he is not aiming for just that.
The problem with Arsenal as a football club goes beyond personnel. Tactical approach is a fundamental part of what ails the team. Arsene Wenger’s tactical evolution has atrophied and he is no longer capable of making the changes necessary to keep the team in contention. If he loves this team half as much as he has always stated it is time for his m to start thinking of setting the machinery in motion for a successor. Any more of rag-tag approach we are witnessing will result in further damage to his success of previous years. It is always better to leave when the ovation is loudest. For those who say we cannot find a better replacement I want them to realize that when the plane carrying Manchester United players crashed in Germany, painful as the event was, the club did not fold up. Arsenal will continue to exist long after Wenger is gone.
You cannot drink poison and wish your enemy dead. Wenger cannot fail or refuse to put the necessary defensive structures in place and hope that his opponents will fail or refuse to exploit it. The person who drank the poison is the one who dies from it. Not the enemy!
Toronto Arsenal
Get Fabian Schar/Virgil van Dijk and Geoffrey Kondogbia/Grzegorz Krychowiak in January. Simple as. Focus on a replacement for Arteta next summer (Khedira/Schneiderlin?) and invest big in a new left forward to replace Podolski who will obviously leave in january.
Ramsey should also be sold. We should be glad a 100 million pound buy-out clause wasn’t inserted in his contract last year as we all wished 🙁
we can now sell him for any price without much struggle..his youtube videos from last year will surely convince other fans 🙁 🙁 🙁
But wenger is to blame.. come next year, he will come up with a formation that will make Alexis worse than Santos 🙁
#the sad times are back 😥 😥
Wenger is soo good at converting people that he converted himself from an invincible to specialist in failure 🙁 🙁 how worse can a coach be??
Sell Wiltshire – not Ramsey Wilt spends 6 weeks in the sick bay for every half game he plays – on his return it takes him 6 weeks to get sharp but before that he is back in hospital bay. Sell him!
@SAGunner
RealTalk…
It’s true Wenger is fully too blame why he never bought in replacement defenders for Vermaelen and Jenkinson is beyond me
This team has so many problems that it need someone build it from point 0 with fresh ideas
And new players
If the players are going to comment all I want to hear is “we were awful tonight and got punished we let ourselves and the fans down” enough said. Even pardew or other under fire managers mention the fans and that they are either happy for them or apologise when the team has let them down. How often do the players or wenger mention us? It’s like we don’t exist and we are lucky to be allowed to support a club like arsenal.Grrrr! I predict a riot, I predict a riot!.
@ Ronny, word!
@thando. Exactly. Rip it up and start again yes. Starting with a new. Manager. #david dein and Roberto martinez.
@ronny331 first bring david dein,i dont trust roberto martinez(doent buy world class) but i believe that dein would bring a mananger that suit us
Man, I can’t even read articles anymore, all I just wanna do is comment and reply comments. I’m just so damn sad and pissed off.
Indeed, football has evolved, just like everything else. Everything you knew back then ain’t practicable today. You just can’t ride a horse on a highway thinking you can overtake a Lamborghini.
Seriously, I’m trying to hold myself back here, I’m just so damn angry with Wenger. This man used to be one of the most revered coaches, even his enemies back then won’t speak ill of him. That’s the Wenger I knew and supported.
Some of you think I just woke up one day and decided to be anti-Wenger; the truth is that I really liked him for everything. But the man changed and now thinks he is god.
OMG!!! F***k you, Arsene for destroying the reputation of this great club!!!
Not only the club but his reputation too
Yeah, @Thando. But his reputation is invariably the reputation of the club too.
This whole thing about him basically hurts becuz when u visit other blogs where u have non-Arsenal fans and they are talking sh*t about him, u are forced to defend him becuz u can’t talk shi*t about ur own manager, it’s as good as talking sh*t about ur club before folks that already despise ur club.
@kickassfan Im tired of defending a guy who doesnt want to learn,the game has changed and he needs to get on with it(stop acting as if he knows it all)
Thando, exactly
Wengers mind stopped working 10 years ago – He has not noticed that football has moved forward since than. He is a pig headed dithering, senile, imbecilic stupid old man without the slightest clue about dealing in the transfer market. The big boys will not play for him – the bloody stupid tit!
Fire the twit! Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaassssseeee
I’ve made a list of players we could sign to strength our Defensive Department.
Don’t say that these players are all world class, but they would definitely strengthen us:
CBs: Vlaar, Reid, Davies, Hummels(quite unrealistic but nevertheless I mention him)
Schär, Laporte, Rüdiger, Kongolo, Van Dijk
Dms: Carvalho, Wanyama, Schneiderlin, Diame, Kouyate, Kondogbia, Sissoko
And if Wenger says there are no players available he is deluded!!!
lol see thats the thing that hurts the fans the most, there are ALWAYS players in EVERY transfer window available but we are told to believe otherwise *smh*… can’t wait for the january transfer window to see if Wenger VALUES THE FANS 4 real!
I would take out Van Dijk and put in Zapata in that CB list.
In DMs or CMs I would add Vidal.
Wengers stubbornest has bear fruit, and is effecting us, let players go and not replacing them! We need a dm and a centre back! Song, and vermaelen were never replaced, now we are seeing the results!
@greg a wrong move wenger made was to stay when we won the FA cup
In reply to some questions,
Who chose the team?
The two CBs Mertesacker and Monreal were chosen based on previous games.If we had good until the 3-1 scoreline and would have won,most of you wouldn’t have complained or cared to.
Why Arsenal sold Verm?
Arsenal sold Verm because he wanted first team minutes when he was not into form and most were blaming him in last year and suggested Verm should stay at bench at most. Also if we wouldn’t have sold him, he would have be having an injury as he is still having for Barca right now.
Why Wenger didn’t purchase Fabregas?
Wenger beleived purchasing Fabregas meant Ramsey, Wilshere, Rosicky,etc. should not have got into first team as we were having too many attacking players, also at that point we wanted Ramsey always to be in the first team. If we played Ramsey and Fabregas,as double pivot that meaning less defence and many of you were saying we don’t need Fabregas, we have Ramsey.
Why couldn’t Wenger sign a replacement?
Wenger were to sign replacement for Vermaelen, fine but we only didn’t wanted only CBs but the quality ones to be the backups. Now anyone please tell me, were there any defenders quality enough to play backup CB roles for Arsenal? Among a very few available, Either they wanted first team football, or rather wanted to stay at their clubs only. Well can anyone do anything, in these situations? If Arsenal somewhat would have bought names just for numbers for 3-4 years and in case they wouldn’t have performed well, then we would be screaming again for Wenger’s head for not buying quality.
On complaining Wenger not “performing” being offered a 8 million a year contract?
Its not Wenger’s fault that he was offered 8 million a year contract, as well as he have done his best to manage this team who never had the luck with injuries nor with the referees. If Wenger didn’t cared, he wouldn’t have bought Shad Forsythe.
Some say that Wenger don’t cares for not buying Cb replacement, he is just happy with his salary. If that was the case, he wouldn’t have bought Debuchy and Chambers as well as Ospina as replacements. He would have been happy after securing the 8 million a year contract?
P.S
If we win a game, we are the best. If we lose or draw a game, we are the worst. We can complain and blame others all day long, but we can’t support the team during the game even. During the game, if we concede a goal we all start blaming the defenders during the game even not considering what could the eventual result be, but if we score 2 or 3 goals keeping a clean sheet, we act as we are the unbeatables. Also some of us react here like if we concede even a single goal, fans complain that Arsenal can’t defend properly, If we keep a clean sheet, we all praise the attackers but not the defenders for keeping the defence tight.
Most of us here come only to complain but many of less here can have a theory to support their arguments. For example the injuries matter, most of us say, that Ozil, Debuchy, Giroud got injured because of outdated practice sessions, only a few reported that it was because of the contact during the game, as it mostly had been the case.
FFS get behind the team, we under estimated Anderlecht, we committed mistakes, we got the result. Now let’s focus on Swansea game and the team should try not to commit the mistakes again. COYG!
The so called fan like you makes wenger look good. There were a number of defenders and DM midfielders available for decent price. Why are you still trying to defend wenger. This guy is done and finished he needs to go. Let’s Save Arsenal from further humiliation.
Please name some of them who were quality, ready to be a backup, wanted to leave their clubs for considerable amount?
@lethal prince 9 You tell us who would want to back up per and arteta knowing they that they are better than these two.we dont need back up,we need players who would go straight to a starting line-up
Honestly speaking, I do not get what your point is. Wenger’s activities in transfer windows only highlight the ambition of the Board and the club. If Man U (without European football) could get Di’Maria and Falcao, what exactly is your point about players not wanting to leave their clubs. I do not think it is that difficult as Wenger and people like you would want us to believe. It all boils down to determination which is a product of passion and ambition.
You forget to mention that he has a major problem – not many of the big boys want to play pretty football only – they also want to win – this leads to their refusal to come to Arsenal as they know Wenger battles and is totally inept in the tfr market – the guy will say to himself – why must I join a manager who accepts mediocrity as his yard stick? Wenger is not well like amongst the players. They can not say this out loud because the pig headed senile old fool will not select them to play –
Then What about Sanchez, Ozil, Debuchy, Ospina? They came just here just because they wanted playtime. I guess Sanchez only wanted to play football which he was not getting in Barcelona and not win trophies. Same for Ozil. He joined Arsenal because Wenger was the only manager who had trust in him? All these players wanted to join Arsenal because they will get what they want.
@Lethal Prince 9
Thank You for the common sense…
So what’s the way forward? Is the season lost already? Out of the League Cup, staring elimination in the UCL quarter finals (the price of finishing second), 9 point (or is it 19?) points off the pace behind Chelsea. We never seemed to find our rhythm since the start of the season. Maybe it’s hangover from winning the capital one trophy 😀 😀
I agree, the haters were silent at 70 minutes and would have stayed silent, even though the team had played badly. Yes, we are fickle, but so what.
It’s the team (including, of course, the manager) that has to take responsibility.
I’m not blaming any individual, but the only way I’m going to be able to get over this game is if Arsenal go through (in second place, inevitably) and then beat whatever giant club they’re drawn against in the next round. Make it to the QFs at least, in other words.
Reality, we have no leader down the spine, no one to give the team a shout to steady the ship.
The manager? – never stands up and gives any instruction
The two captain?
Arteta is not a CDM and everyone knows it. He’s too old, too slow, can’t lead from that position.
Per has not been the same player since he was dropped to the bench in Brazil. He has not come back as the same leader that used to visibly get on the boys during the games. He needs to be dropped to our bench as well.
The goalkeeper – Never says a word, and who would really respond to him? He hasn’t built that level of respect.
The only person down the spine that leads is Alexis, and because he doesn’t speak English that well he leads by Example.
Much as Spain has had to learn with the loss of Xavi, Xabi, Puyol, David Villa, Iker’s loss of form which has him quiet – without a leader down the spine, you’re toast.
Wenger made per and arteta our captains based on age and reputation not on performances,for koz would have been a great captain.a captain is a player who put the club(fans) first,who always hate being on the loosing team, always performs at his best and doesnt need to be vocal because he is already respected by his team-mates
wenger would have left if we hadn’t won the FA cup now 3 more years of this
Anderlecht disaster is ‘a warning’ for Arsenal, says Mertesacker lol now he is angry
He blames the attack,but he need to look at his performance first before pointing fingers
On whether he will strengthen the defence in January…
Wenger: ” Honestly it’s not the worry tonight” loooooooooooooooool
Lol god help us
What is the worry then?
Actually, we had one of our best games yesterday. In fact, we could have blown Anderlecht by up to 5-0 (just as much as we could have lost by 3-4 oddly). But the Anderlecht coach told his players something at half time. I don’t know what he told them, but at half time he made substitutions immediately and that turned the game around. They had a bit of luck as well, as they should have had a player sent off, and their first goal was offside. I believe we lost the game in the substitutions. With Arteta gone, we couldn’t control the midfield anymore. Removing the OX and Welbeck also made us to lose impetus going forward. Ah well! The things that could have been 🙂
Wenger let go off three defenders : Sagna, Verm and Jenk and replaced them with two defenders : Debuchy and a young inexperienced Chambers. Its simple maths FFS. Learn to get it right you fool.
Well, Wenger will also tell you that he promoted Bellerin! LoL
I know people here love Bellarin but he is not PL quality. He is just not. He is the defensive equivalent of Kagawa. Talented but not made for PL. Wenger better not thinking about making him a future starter here. Loan him and then get rid of him. #BitterTruth
He also sold Djourou and Miquel and did not replace them.
Apparently we made a last minute £22m bid for Cavalho on 31st Jan but for some inexplicable reason his club did not want to sell him as there was a much higher buyout clause in his contract. AFC has the cash, we pay the highest ticket prices, AW is the 4th highest paid football manager in the world and we are totally ill prepaid for the season.
As for Diaby………………
As much as it hurts me to say it, the horrible one from CFC would have closed out the game at 2-0.
@enfieldgunner
Cavalho was not brought because the 3 parties that have ownership over him did not agree to the deal. Get the facts right next time…
I bet you’re right. In that case if AFC had done their homework they would have known that there were multiple parties to obtain agreement from and that would be very difficult at the 11th hour. But the real point is why are we making stupidly low bids at the last minute on deadline day?
Awesome Piece…I concur with everything it has outlined…Wenger being furious (with who in particular I still can’t understand) doesn’t change the fact that he got what he bargained for when he refused to attend to the obvious efficiency of the team before the season started
Don’t want to sound fickle minded. But Ramsey is getting on my nerves. FFS execute your basics first. Hold the ball. Make good passes. Win the balls. Make good tackles. When you are sure you are doing all these right, then start bombing in the box. For God’s sake we have not dearth of players wanting to be in the box. You are a deep lying midfielder and not a striker that you are obsessed so much with goals. No doubt i was thrilled with his goal scoring last season but he was doing the other things right too and he balanced it very well.
And with the need of 1 more important goal desparetely, momentum with the other side, a chance at free kick to bury the game and Ramsey steps up to take it ???? Even when he was in form last season, he did not take the free kicks. Ozil or Cazorla did. Last night we had Sanchez. Can someone explain who took that decision. And what was that old, stupid and annoying f#ck was doing on the sidelines watching all that??? Sucking his own di#k?? Ohhh i am still reeling with frustration.
And that is why Wenger you need play Poldi and Rosicky more often. You play them 10 min now and then and expect them to produce a magic wand and rescue Arsenal in those kinds of dire situations. Have you ever heard of a term “match sharpness”. So f#cking clueless. Arghhhhhhhh!!
I want to write an article 🙁
Yesterday’s match showed the importance of a World Class DM. When Arteta was on, we controlled the MF very well. And he was having a good game. Making good tackles, breaking up the counters on numerous occasion. Mind you he is still average quality. Think the wonders a Woorld Class DM will do for us. #WengerSuckYourDi#k.
And don’t get me started over Flamini. If Wenger starts Rosicky in place of Flamini nothing will change. Heck we might even score a couple more even though we would let in 4-5. Flamini is the worst Footballer to play this sport. Not even 3rd division quality. Period.
Waiting to hear what the BEBA (Blame Everything But Arsene) brigade have to say about last night. No doubt something along the lines of ‘we would have won if the ref had spotted the off-side’ and absolutely nothing about out Origami defense.
Really tired of Arsene’s lack of tactical nonce. We have one game-plan and that is ‘we’ll score one more than you’ except… we don’t!
I love the Gunners but since (and including) the 2005 season we just don’t have a Scooby Doo how to set-up our stall. Let’s face it, we were lucky to beat Hull in the FA Cup final for Peat’s sakes!
Dreading the ManU game with Big Bird in charge!
Next summer we need to get rid of the older players like Rosicky, Arteta and Flamini
Mertsacker can stay but needs to come of the bench.
Our striker situation needs to be resolved. Welbeck and Giroud are not good enough to be number 1 striker. Either make Sanchez striker and get Reus or Draxler OR get a top striker like Cavani, Huntelaar, etc.
This January, must get a top defender AND DM.
Just read the ‘Untold Arsenal’ write-up – Stopping the Match After 60 Minutes
What a load of BS! Are these guys seriously for real? Definitely creative writing at its finest. simply put; Do no say anything negative about Arsenal’s performance because you don’t understand a thing about football and obviously are not an Arsenal supporter. Gosh my intelligence feels diminished by such clap-trap!
Who writes that BS Wengers mum
Why is anyone not talking about snail stupid lazy martersacker who hav cost arsenal many games…..play bellerin in rb and pear monreal and chambers is far better than hundred of this stupid snail….how on earth is arsenal the club where germany drop their unused snails and lazy players when we already play short two of scescny and arteta and flamini
@precious. I am frequently having a dig and criticising per, I can’t help myself. I set high standards and have high expectations for my beloved club. Per simply is not good enough. Read back over the previous articles and you’ll see myself and others have unfortunately been on his case for a while now. Wenger should have seen this coming after the world cup performance.
the season is over i don’t feel that arsenal need any more frustrations along the way, as it stands injuries and fitness are things players and manager must look after.The mesut ozil injury was lack of proper communication and Wenger saw Ramsey wanting to be subbed but still did not care to look at him, arsenal have been bad lucked this term and this match after losing to team conceded from offside position from the first goal.
I said when we won the FA cup against Hull we would have to suffer another 3 years of Wenger.The man will never buy the players we need so we just have to wait until he leaves and stop moaning.Nothing will change until he is out.Can’t wait until june 2017
@Ronny, that’s the reason am always surprise about those fans that get a privilege to watch arsenal live at the stadium, what are they doing?? Are them really fans like us?? Did they feeling what we are feeling?? Am not even from europe, am from Africa but I believe those fans are like me, they will have done something to show there anger. Banners?? Anything???
@muda. I agree with you. I heard the other day that akbs and wob’s were fighting near to the ground, such a shame it’s come to this. The type of vocality rhe Newcastle fans I feel is not deemed ‘arsenal like’ and would not be accepted in he stadium. Can you see us paying for a plane to be flown over the Emirates? 🙂 it’s going to kixk off soon though I feel unless wenger shows some humility, respect and honesty to us hard working fans that want the best for our club. For me the things that aggregate me about wenger are: his inability to be honest, adapt and take sole responsibility. He appears arrogant, will not take advice or pro active criticism from anyone. Also he appears not to learn from his mistakes but keeps slogging away with the same tactics or players whilst the results suffer. It’s like his ego is making him have the need to say ‘I told you I was right’, rather than ‘you know what that didn’t work but I took a brave risk learnt from it and know will try something else’