Despite the fact that Arsene Wenger has been speaking recently about Arsenal fighting until the end of the season, he was well aware that any chances of us challenging for the Premier League title had long gone. So I don’t really understand why the boss was surprised at the downbeat atmosphere at the Emirates stadium as the Gunners beat West Brom on Thursday night.
Maybe, though, just maybe he is starting to get it because he actually admitted in an interview with Sky Sports this week that he and the players do feel guilty about not being in line to be champions of England when the dust settles on another disappointing campaign.
The Frenchman was also asked about why he thought that Leicester had done so well this season and his reply was perhaps more telling than he intended. The Foxes are hungry for it he said and that immediately prompted the interviewer to ask whether Arsenal lacked it and of course the manager then backtracked a bit.
Wenger said, “It’s very simple. We all feel guilty and we are all looked at like it’s a shame we are not winning the league because Leicester are at the top.
“But on the other hand, you have to say Leicester have not stolen the points. They have earned them, they have quality. If you look at the PFA Team of the Year, they have many players in there, so they are good players.
“It will be interesting psychologically to study Leicester because it’s a very interesting case. There is a theory that says to go to the absolute utmost of your talent you need to suffer in life. When you look at the Leicester team, not one career of all these players was obvious, like starting on the red carpet at 18 years of age in the Champions League.
“Many of the players have been rejected before… it is an interesting case. N’Golo Kante, nobody wanted him in France for a while. That is a good explanation for his character.
“These players had a dream that was not easy to obtain, but when they are in a position to reach it, they are ready for the fight. The lesson of the season is Leicester. Maybe they are not the most prestigious in quality of the passing, but they found a way to be efficient and have shown mental qualities that are absolutely top.”
Then asked about them being hungrier than us he said, “That is the difficulty of being honest in the media today. As soon as you come up with a quality it shows that you don’t have that quality. They were hungry and efficient. My team is hungry also, but we have to deal with many problems and many competitions as well.
“When you play on Wednesday in Barcelona and then Saturday morning, you go to Crystal Palace or Everton, it changes things. Next year, I predict that Leicester will have more problems.”
Does it sound to you as if our manager is really feeling guilty and sorry to the fans? And what do you expect him to do about it?
what I hate about some of our fans they will wait for a single win and talk as if we r ucl champions.lets not kid ourselves no more its time for change
We don’t wanna hear a single word from the abated lips of that man!
if he feels sorry for himself and loves Arsenal dearly, he should tender his resignation with immediate effect…….That would appease all the wounded fans more!
End of…..
exactly we don’t wana see his face no more.this is now becoming very alarming,we r now a laughing stock.funny how wenger before the game talked about if u want to be entertained then arsenal always do,well we were flat very flat.seems he is out of ideas am so pissed
Not enough he should give back the 8MIL he stole on his soo called wages …..
“what I hate about some of our fans they will wait for a single win and talk as if we r ucl champions” – I would argue the exact opposite, there are more- many on this site- who act with a kneejerk response to a bad result, using it to be negative. As Freud said, ‘hate’ is the reaction of the weakminded to preserve the ego.
u really gonna quote a guy who has had most of his thesises disproven in later years?
I do see your point though, but looking at the bigger aspect of this, I atleast think that the failures that incite anger in those fans is due to the history repeating itself, whereas in the opposite direction, there is a single good result which will make people go “We’re going to win the league”, as if it the more probable possibility.
I was going to buy a new Arsenal shirt this year, but I think I’ll rather have the shirt of Totti’s last season in Roma. That is more worth having than a piece of cloth generating profit to Kroenke.
why isn’t it letting me reply to you?
Perhaps buzzwords, let me try this:
Yes I stand by that. A lot of Freud’s theses have a ring of truth in them. I think people certainly love a negative bandwagon and certainly react disproportionately more so than to a positive stimulus. Haven’t you ever seen someone having a bad general time of it or just a bad day act with misplaced negativity or aggressiveness? Just look at Trump fans, BNP members, N*zi Germany. The unsuccessful, and or undereducated looking for a scapegoat for their diminished egos.
dont bother reading it lads…
nothing will change for years.
im half pleased i will save more than 3 grand by not renewing my season ticket. can spend that on a music studio
put it off for too long.
leicester please dont mess it up
Thanx muff for the advice…can now devout saved time towards drinking to banish Sunday evening blues.
Just a thought:
Arsenal chaned stadiums to make the team better…Hasn’t happened.
We’ve changed majority shareholder…Hasn’t happened
We’ve changed medical staff…Hasn’t happened
We’ve changed assistant senior coach…Hasn’t happed
We’ve changed players…Hasn’t happened
Could we consider changing Manager?
Just wondering.
It is both the squad and Wenger, but with a better manager (which almost anyone would do) we should be able to get some smart player transfers.
Just look at Atletico Madrid:
They have a good GK – so do we
They have good fullback – so do we
They have a decent midfield – so do we
They have two great attacking and playmaking players (namely Griezmann and Koke) – so do we
They dont have a good striker (Torres) and the squad just mediocore (and young) – the same goes for us.
Although, Atletico Madrid are doing great
The only difference between and them us is:
1) A great manager
2) A good Captain = leadership in the squad
There is another important difference – Atletico Madrid do have a majority shareholder who cares about them as well though. He apparently re-mortgaged his house to service a loan for a player, I would be happy if ours would just stop taking money out of the fans and club.
Where as on the other hand players like Walcott, Ramsey, WIlshere and Ox have been handed the red carpet. These players haven’t paid back their debt to the club, fans or manager, how long have they been at this club? But they can get away with it. Their ok with mediocrity. The manager also accepts this. Do you think other good managers in big clubs managers would let players get away with poor individual performances like this?
Nonsense in the end about too many fixtures. We were out of UCL and still dropped many points since then. So why is he using the fixtures as an excuse?
get out and take rambo gabby mertz debuchy gibbs walcott ox giroud flamini arteta rosicky jenkinson sanogo and coquelin with you.
We have easily the worst manager in the top 10 teams.
just get out
arsene Wenger won’t be remembered as greatest coach of arsenal if he continues…he need to resign this season, it will only get worse if he thinks he can resign by winning triple next season
To the AKBs, no one is taking away Arsene’s past achievements. But his repeated failures are too glaring, obvious and constantly repeated to be ignored.
He does not have what it takes to find the best of the best, to mould potential into the highest quality, to make a team sweat and bleed for the club. Half his wards look like they’re just clocking in at a factory job, rather than earning £140k/week for running around and flopping to the ground like a 4 year old. When you look at a Walnut or Lampost and compare with a Campbell or Sanchez, and then look at Arsene’s selections, the only conclusion can be that he’s totally lost the plot. This must end.
The future without Arsene may looks scary, AFC will face many bumps but steel is forged in blazing fire
How wenger continue to play giroud baffle me,the most laziest,slowest and predictable striker in the premiership. 99.9 percent of world top coaches WILL NOT have him in their team. I have never see him create a decent chance out of nothing. 2 or 3 times today defoe was very inventive. Due to wenger selfish french euro championship desire he is playing that snail instead of welbeck or walcott. With the way our team is setup a world star striker can score 35-40 goals per season (watch the 2nd leg of our match against barca again),but mr bean will never buy. I have never see anyone who dnt like success except …….. .
All true – I cannot find anything wrong with any of your comments.
Although he has NEVER been a #1 striker for a top club, I have defended Giroud in the past from some of his deranged detractors simply because his goal production ratio had been comparable with some other “top” strikers. (Costa etc.) And facts are facts.
But it is also a fact that Giroud cannot score to save his life right now. And he is offering almost nothing on the pitch in any way. So why is he starting? And how can Arsenal hope to trust him in the future?
So, at this point, the only logical move is to find another striker for the future. For this season, I am sure any Arsenal reserve striker could do better.
Giroud is not lazy. I accept other adjectives, but certainly not LAZY
Saying sorry wont make up for the 1001 failures you had.
And no one is behind you everyone wants you out
Apparently Giroud needs support. Yes that world class striker that hasn’t socred in the league for 3 months, he needs support. Forget about being bad in games and missing many chances, first touches going awry, he needs support according to Wenger.
This club is stooping so low, we haven’t got a striker to score 20 goals in the league. If Sanchez played the whole season he would’ve got to 20 from the wing position. Thats about it.
And what does he do,brings on Walcott moves Sanches to left when Campbell was the better option for that wing. He moves Coquelin for Ramsey why I don’t get it. Wenger now is scraching his head for making team selections when Welbeck Awobie, Campbell start, we look and play with excitement but when he plays Giroud Ramsey we look so boring. He has to admit that players he has bought in the last 2 years have not really performed in most of this season games. Wilshire when he came on did well and hope he can make it to the end of season for us. Would like to see him with Coquelin or Ellerny as Ramsey doesn’t create much. So bench Giruod Ramsey Bellerin, bring on Wilshire,Welbeck Chambers. CB
1. Wenger started Giroud and Ramsey for this game ONLY because of favoritism. There can be no other logical reason.
Coq is better at controlling and distributing the ball from the deep position. And Giroud’s terrible form makes him an automatic non-starter. ANY Arsenal defender could have done better.
2. Bellerin’s defensive header was the worst in football history – the kind offered by 8 year old school boys who panic when in a tight spot. Thankfully Mert handled the ball to prevent the almost-certain Sunderland goal (and win).
Bellerin’s header would have been perfect were he a Sunderland attacker but he is supposed to be defending for Arsenal.
Giroud and walcott are all part of the worst players arsenal has ever had.
They should be put in the wall of shame
Giroud has scored a lot of goals for us over the past 4 years
Was he doing us a favor? And don’t say he scored a lot of goals, u should say he missed a lot of goals for us over the 4 years. Arsenal is a gr8 team and to have such a striker? for 4 years? Even Spurs have a better striker, and we are the one supposed to compete in 4 competitions..
In Arsene we…….
Stay in the same predicament we have for years!
Please resign and let the club you say you love go.
Everytime I put an Anti-Wenger comment it would always be removed.
But whenever I put a pro-Wenger comment it’s always there.
The FBbI, my friend. The FBI.
Hahaha……..i know where u stand mate
For how long mate? Seriously….. Yeah, maybe 8-10 years ago i think all fans were, in Wenger we trust.
But we are currently going nowhere. Look what’s happening at the Emirates. Fans are not going to games anymore because they’ve had enough of the same mistakes over and over again.
Arsenal football club
NOT Arsene football club
Our team isn’t hunger at all.
Our player’s are on fatter wage packets than the Leicester players, hypothetically… We are full, With no desire or interest!
The pressure was on … again!… But this time for 3rd spot and next week it will be for 4th… And hopefully we will finish behind Utd, West Ham and Liverpool with no European football next season.
Since Arsenal fc are more interested in Brands rather than trophies, they should brand their own soft drinks at the Emirates next season:
~ Joker – Cola ~
“The Bottler’s Choice”
‘Sponsored by Afc’
Lol! Epic. Funny enof, Arsene’s cousins have not dropped a single comment.
I have never been completely comfortable with blatant demands for the manager’s departure.
But I do want Arsenal to take the next logical step in finding a good manager for the future so it all works out the same:
New Management by Next Season!?!
I would have preferred us having these bad times if we had changed our manager a long time ago,atleast we would understand that it takes time to build a team,than having the so-called most experienced coach in the game of football and still flopping,failing and underachieving over and over again.
Arsen winger is absolutely nothing nor even a piece of s*** anymore @ Arsenal. excuses upon excuses we’re tired of the same bull s*** different days we need him to quit his a** out of the club Arsenal fc is not Wenger fc enough is enough
Also I’d like to point out that recently our fullbacks have been poor recently when in a good attacking position. Their crosses are so bad, and both bomb forward at the same time, leaving defence exposed. Then you look at players like Rafinha, Bernat, Carvajal and the likes (basically 2nd choice fullbacks in big clubs). Those players have really good crossing accuracy even though they are second choice.
Mert, was right about one thing recently, We attack and dominate then we end up conceding.
The amount of poor shots in games like todays, makes you wonder if they actually atke shooting practice/sessions in training or is it just pass and pass and more passes.
I cannot remember the last time Ramsey offered an accurate shot on goal or even made a good attacking decision in the final 3rd. Same obviously for Giroud and Walcott.
And, as you clearly stated, the lack of good service from the FB’s is obvious.
So it is not just one player that is killing the team. The mediocre play is often spread throughout the squad – too many players offering only average play.
This all adds up to another fight for 4th place. (It would help, however, if Wenger started benching some of the under performers).
Well Ramsey has a shot accuracy of 46%, up 10% from last year, Walcott’s is 61%- neither are bad finishers. Alexis Sanchez’s is 55% but he’s having one of the highest shot counts in the league, although a lot of these are self-created sights of goal. Walcott in particular has a very high finishing rate; for the last 4 seasons- the same as Thierry in his last 4 seasons, & just 1 percent less than Aguero. The problem isn’t his finishing, it’s getting into the correct situations with regularity, fear to take on the shot, and other aspects of his play like beating defenders.
Used to be a huge Wenger fan, still believed in him even in difficult moments in the last 2 years…it is getting more difficult each passing game
He is even beating that this season (and not in a good way)! That has to be our worse year in a long time for 3 reasons:
1) On paper we were the most equipped (when looking at the challengers in front)
2) Again injuries came swinging at the worse time (when is that going to change)
3) The league was there for the taking
So how did he messed it up is mind blowing…and allowed to make the same mistakes & doesn’t seem to be held accountable:
1) Not spending smart on the right players (Striker anyone?)
2) Not prioritizing the league as if we were ever goign to win the UCL
3) Does he even take time to look at who we’re going to play & preparing accodingly
He’s run out of excuses: sometimes the referee, other times the schedule (and he was saying that Leicester might not be sharp enough because of lack of schedule now looks like a fool). Other times the mental make up, other times our lack of whatever defending/goals (blaming the players), other times the conditions (pitch,…)!!
I mean when is it your fault as a coach for not setting up the team properly, training them properly, having a proper medical team making sure injuries (and bad ones at that) to key players are minimized!! And also having a clear plan of what your fighting for & prioritize the right thing when looking at the squad because clearly we were all over the place & ended up losing everything!
Sorry pressed wrong button , you are right
No problem mate, the worst is if the club wanted to replace him with one of those new great coaches coming to England we can’t anymore cause they’re all taken! And we’re stuck with him & depend on him to change things up…Wasn’t Guardiola taylor made for Arsenal?
Elneny was MOTM for me. Again a very high passing accuracy.
@ Admin
Well done for adding a voting poll to this site.
I only just noticed it …. right at the bottom of the screen.
I see that Bud some how managed to vote 83 times to keep wenger! ????
He just voted for 84th time
PLEASE COME OUT TO JUSTIFY OUR POOR SEASON WENGER GANG..RANIERI FLOP IN GREECE..KINDA IN CHELSKI..BUT NEVER UNDERMINE HIS MOTIVATION AND ENTHUSIASM..HATS OFF THIS MAN, CONSIDERED A FAILURE WHEN ARRIVE AND MAKING A TEAM WHICH FOUGHT RELEGATION A YEAR AGO INTO ( IF A MIRACLE HAPPENS ) WORTHY EPL CHAMPIONS…EMIRATES MOVE EXCUSES FOR YEARS..THEN INJURIES..THEN 200 MILLIONS IIN THE BANK..SAME LAME EXCUSES..NO MORE THAN THIS. REBUILD IS NEEDED FROM TOP TO BOTTOM..WE CAN GO FEW YEARS BUT IT IS A MUST. SURE WILL NOT BE ANOTHER 12 YEARS, TRUST IN CHANGE.
Hi gooners!
very disapointng to draw with sunderland
its evn more painfil to finish fourth yhis season
i think yhe only way to make wenger leave is to stop buyng the tickets and entering to the pitch as fans ..if this happen..if this happ3ns for 6 or 7 games then the board will listen to the fans..surely the frenchman is very annoying, how can you leave campbell on the bench and play walcott?
Gentlemen
I think there is still a certain arrogance even amongst anti-Wenger supporters.
4th place is not at all guaranteed.
Mind you as many have stated , fourth place is playoffs ( crap for everyone except Kroenke )
But more importantly what’s the point of fourth ?
To end up being beaten time and time again ?
Look if you are Spartan Donesk or whatever anf have achieved a CL spot , great. But we think we can win it.
Seriously was this CL group stages not embarrassing ?
Sack the guy, let us flounder for a while and then come back like an avalanche
its funny how a coach gets paid top money, but doesn’t deliver. Now I miss hafeez great fan
Walcott is our worse player (clearly) and may be one of the worse player in the league at the moment…
Back in 2004 arsenal decided to build a new stadium. Wenger was at the peak of his success and could have left and gone to a club with plenty of money. Instead he chose to stay with arsenal knowing that his best players would be sold. CL qualification was vital to pay off the loans. It could have all gone wrong an we could now be bankrupt with th stadium sold to pay off our debts (to tottenham?).
We owe wenger a lot. I suspect that last summer Kroenke would not release funds for more players.
That being said, I think it is obvious to us all that Wenger can no longer win the PL. The many missed opportunities this season have to be down to the manager.
I just hope that Wenger resigns at the end of this season. My other hope is that Kroenke sells up or realises that sucess on the field is required to “grow the arsenal brand”.
It is such a shame that our most sucessful manager who then guided us through the difficult period of paying off stadium debt could not win the PL one more.
yes mr wenger study Leicester’s psychology rather than changing your attitude. The problem is with ur stubborn attitude.Thing is you think you can win the premiership on the cheap, but you cant cause you can’t motivate the players ffs.Leicester winning the premiership will give you one more reason to say see i told you we don’t need to spend big money to win the league, but you had 12 attempts to do so for the past 12 years cause our team for those year was better than Leicester squad and you still didn’t win a thing.Just because you have a mouth doesn’t mean you could say anything show some respect for the fans , stop blaming the fans its the mediocre players who you have at the club that needs to blamed.And you as well for not spending any money on outfield player in the summer. I mean you seriously thought giroud upfront will win you the league?. You are hoping good players will come cheap when all the stars are aligned .but we need good players all across the pitch not this bullshit.I’d say pretty much everyone is average in our team except Alexis. Aaron ramsey was a good player but you have ruined his career as well by playing him on the wings. Cazorla is good but inconsistent. And i don’t care how many assists ozil gets he hasn’t done anything when the going gets tough he is the first one to crack under the pressure just come running at him he will lose the ball.WALCOTT IS NOT A FOOTBALLER FULL STOP. You should have been ashamed when you got beaten 4-0 by Southampton that should have been your cue to ignite some belief and passion and hunger in the team,but your cocky head made you think no one is there to be afraid of its just a small Leicester fc in our way we will catch up with them.Now they are gonna lift the trophy while you start making excuses for next season already. Top players not available blah blah blah and same thing over and over again.Loser mentality has taken over this club and you are the reason MR WENGER.
That’s my rant on arsene wenger.I hope he visits this site:).
WENGER OUT!KROENKE OUT!GAZIDIS OUT!:)
And i did not watch the match today as well:) I am done with mediocrity 🙂
What can I say!!!! A sad story which never ends.. Never delights after the new year starts.. This sufferings is for last 11 years… Cant see any improvement.. Never saw again a talent bunch like Henry,viera, pires, lungberg, campbell,lauren,overmars, bergkamp…. I just have no words except swallowing the sufferings…. I was completely backing arsene for what he has done for these many years. but now I am feeling that he must either move out of club or make him available for any other club. The most culprit is the Board and shareholders… They never want a change.. Hats off to the coaches like simeone, klopp and Raneiri.. These guys with limited resources done well and shown how tactical changes must be done. The stubbornness of Arsene is killing AFC.. Why the hell we require dead woods like Per, Giroud, Arteta, Flamini, Ramsey??? If you look other clubs they have changed massively.. I would be happy if our manager changes and add the talents like Aubameyang, kroos, kante, Stones and Morata. If small clubs like stoke can get arnautavic, everton can have leighton baines, and so on , why can’t we buy expensive players??? Arsene says Arsenal is one of the top clubs but how is it a big club with dead woods with no accuracy… I am very sad… very sad…. very sad….
In Arsene we RUST.