Merry Christmas from AFCB!

Hello to everyone out there,

With Christmas just around the corner I wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday season spent with family and friends.

Your support through 2012 — the sixth (!) year of the blog — has once again been hugely appreciated.

All the very best!

Andrew

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Comments

  1. More grease to ur elbows Andy, great great job, wonderfull, wonderfull, just splendid, splendid. Sweet sweet Christmas to everyone out there. Merry merry Christmas to all fellow gunners. Things are really really looking interesting

  2. All i care is us securing top three during this Christmas games.We are riding our luck and hope we boost it by adding a defensive midfielder/enforcer during this January and we shall be aiming for top three gain. United is an injury away from crumbling and chelsea may fight for top two as aresnal fight for top three.

  3. Have a very Merry Christmas everyone. Andrew, you’ve done an absolutely fantastic job with the blog, we’ll keep coming back. (wink)

  4. Have a merry christmas Andy and a happy new year. As I write this its another three points at Wigan, we may have just scrapped it ,but it is a win. They were not on top form but games like that you have to show determination and thats what the boys did. Lets hope they can move on even better

  5. Three points from Wigan (however they were obtained) is all we can ask. Warmest wishes for a safe and happy holiday.

  6. Merry Christmas Andy! I actually just found out about your blog about a month ago and I will definitely stick around for a long time.

  7. Thank you for your blog here. I would miss something if it would disappear. So best wishes for erveryone from my person too. 😉 😎

  8. Merry Christmas everyone.
    I got TWO Labrador pups!!! Brother and sister.
    Could not be happier really!!!
    Names anyone?

  9. Did any of you see how Spurs made Aston Villa look so ordinary.We struggled to contend with these young boys but Chelsea and Spurs pounded them for dead.Everton is winning very difficult games and with the resurgence of Chelsea the best we can realistically achieve is top four. Is Wenger the right man to take us forward. Absolute no. If you have the guts to shamelessly award a Ramsey a 5 year deal, then you must be on Drugs. This guy never stops jocking .I personally wouldn’t play Ramsey ahead of Arshavin,neither Frimpong. Never mind all being substandard compared to Ramirez, Oscar and others. We must renew our campaigns for wengers axing beacuse he is absoluting wasting time as he doesn’t intend to buy in January.I am equally afraid Chelsea may win the league with a Benitez while we continue to worship WENGER.

  10. I will only buy if i find an exceptional player in January. Is wenger on Drugs/ or whats really happening with this old senile man. You reward Ramsey a hefty contract and promise to look for a Messi some where all over the world to bring him at Emirates in January. Wenger must be running mad with these three lucky wins moreover most are penalties that we have crossed the corner. HE IS BECOMMING AN ABSOLUTE JOKE nad we must renew our fight against his exit because he is beginning to relax on his stupid ass yet he must be looking for solutions to the teams mediocre performances. It is obvious to even a mature managers that arsenal lack a defensive midfielder.Don’t remind me of Diabolical. Before shipping out Chamakh or Squillachi or Arshavin Diaby would be the first on my list.

  11. Delano-i am wit u!but coming back to other topic which makes me real upset yes got to do wit wenger,da lack of interest of david villa,just last week media had arsenal has david villa next destination but now chelsea have shown interest,Y MR wenger still got a job by us is beyond me,if wenger wants to get sumwhere shouldn’t he been targeting players that know how to achieve!

    Liverpool recognise they got a problem and daniel sturridge is heading there way but wenger again looking for cheap buys wit demba ba saying he wants to come here,I rather have someone that’s world class wit da quality to win,demba ba remind me of one those guys that have dreams of emirates but end up on da sub bench just ask chamakh!

    When u think of da january transfer market opening up u start wondering which players would want to step forward to a club that’s seems to going backwards,expect those who are playing for lower side clubs,but I was thinking what’s da purpose of having world class players but da manager has lost his image to understand today football and da reason to win and be call a champ

    It also beyond me as to what wenger sees in ramsey,da guy must be asking I must be awesum to wenger but can’t understand y other clubs not showing any interest in me

    As far as I see I don’t really see an improvement west brom 2 penalties which are questionable,reading I don’t think its worth bringing it up and wigan other penalty but shouldn’t arsenal be beating wigan witout a doubt,wit wenger saying that da team has turn a corner, must be a corner of what arsenal can possibly achieve which luks bleak !
    Until I see a trophy!in wenger we rust, I go by what I see of our history of arsenal

  12. For God sake not Demba Ba , did anyone see how he struggled last year ?he is not world class and does not belong with a team like Arsenal . David Villa would be a great addition , is our manager sleeping at the switch?

  13. Leftie

    Congrats on the puppies my lab is nearly 14 and still going strong. I have a friend with a dog called defor…. Defor dog

  14. Leftcoast- oja great of u to keep both,I lost my fifteen year old dog in october it was sad we had to put her down but it was for da best!

    Retsub – I am sure 14years of happiness and laughter

    I am off to google david villa,fingers cross arsenal got scared and have made contacted wit barc abt villa

  15. Guys much as i love David Villa,his addition to the squad wouldn’t help arsenal if a Defensive midfilder is not brought immediately. We have one of the best defense ,full of internationals but there is no anchor man to shield them in other words a Song. Besides bringing in Villa would mean a subsequent exit for Walcott who i rate highly compared to the rest of the strikers we have. Am beginning to think Giroud was a waste of money if Walcott is available for the same spot. He has pace to his name and good finishing ability compared to any other striker we have. He is a night mare to several defenses and many managers prepare their tactics basing on his presence. No other striker in the arsenal team could make a manager have sleepless nights on how to contain them other than Walcott. We must shift Arterta out of that position immediately and look for some one better.

  16. @The Flying black scarfed Dutchman
    Dutch I lost my Alaskan Malamute 16 years ago and it hurt so bad I never bothered again. If I hadn’t been given pups I would never have bothered but they are great.
    The Male is black and his name is Baxter as in Baxter black large animal veterenarian from NPR
    And the blonde female is Bonnie aka the Tan terror or blode justice.

  17. Oh yeah,
    Howzabout a little late gift in the form of 3 points and a clean sheet.
    now THAT really would ring in the New Year proper.

    COME ON YOU GUNNERS AND GOONERS!!!!!

  18. Delano, I agree we need a DM , but David addition would raise the technical level of the team. He could teach young players like Ox, Theo, Giroud about movement without the ball and finishing at a high level.
    If Chelsea gets David Villa on a loan , I will set my hair on fire…

  19. Leftcoast(bonnie & baxter)- they bring nothing but great memories,to leave 2012 on a good note three points will more than satisfy me,wit tottenham playing the black cats and west brom probably playing manu and not 4 getting toffees taking chelski,a draw and lost is a likely outcome,whether arsenal boys see it as a opportunity to get level and have a game in hand remain a concern.giroud should be clear of his injury as we have seen gervinho and walcott are not centre forwarders! As much as I think of who would be da definite win arsenal should do more than enough since newcastle played on wednesday,it was manu who they play,they also lost against them so whatever wind was in there sails have vanish,arsenal are more refresh and playing home on paper should be too much for newcastle to handle.
    Good thing gervinho is not as important as yaya is to man city wit afcon around da bend

    Delano- are u serious walcott been da only centre forward in arsenal team? Let me stress out walcott is not a striker and neva will be in da e.p.l as he is one dimensional like a horse wit blinds on, he can’t match up wit. stoke and manu defenders from toe to head and not leaving out not skillful enough to even match suarez!He is something that runs but not even a right wing as Bale knows how to cross in da ball in da box unlike Walcott,it leaves a lot to desire as too where does he fit in!

    Delano and gunfest-there is talk about mohammed diame west ham defense midfielder for 5million,sort of wenger buy range,but how he compete against yaya, fletcher and ramires leaves me wonder if frimpong madman will be da right man for this sort of job as his passing is a concern!

  20. Frimpong could be another Song in the future and he needs more games to fit in.But still not the solution. We need height and good physical presence in D.M. If i was Wenger and in absence of a DM i would rather play Koscienly there and guarantee a tighter defense than a 30 + Arteta playing there.

  21. Somebody better break out the large scissors and cut Theo that big fat check before Sir Alex gets him too!

  22. @12th man and all you Walcott haters, Need i mention anything on Walcott again.
    If that is not brilliance then what do you call it. I said it Only a stupid and insane man would risk loosing Walcott at just 23 years. I would have him to stay on any day than bringing D,Villa cause Villa will take time to acclamitise with the premier league.Walcott is a proven premier league scorer. I would love Ba joining us but i dont know who to bench on him and giroud. The lowest point of the game was again our midfield that allowed three goals from such a tired Newcastle side.In all fairness they were tired but managed to give us a good game. Where was Metasacker. He is the best in the business at the moment.His game reading and calmness is next to none. Above all we need to sign a defensive midfielder immediately before we can face Bayern Munich. There is no business looking for a striker that is sorted. We can as well buy Bigirimana over Chek Tiote cause the boy has been awesome for Magpies both at Emirates and O/T.
    Walcott has answered all questions and the burden is on the board to pay him the amount he is demanding instead of looking for a Huntelar or Villa. Am just worried about Spurs presence at the top. They seem to be winning hard games.

  23. Great game from Walcott and Giroud… Our defense is scary . How hard is it for a defender to look behind on his blind side to make sure, there is no one unmarked….twice?! We will see when we play Mancity if this team as constructed is good enough to finish in the top 4 .

  24. Delano & Gunnerboss- Its 5:30am, I am woken by laughter as I read ur guys comments, owk do let me wake up my girlfriend must ask how old are ur guys? almost just finish kindergarden, high school dropouts or just had ur first puff of a cigarette,serious are ur guys blinded from all da seasons he has been playing don’t allow one match to fool you,if he wants to play centre forward he should join da la liga where its less physical but then again he is a not a good passer. Now do I have to explain a ka- zillion times why walcott is a not a centre forward, during da newcastle game walcott ran wit da ball from outside his half but couldn’t pass da ball hard enough to da person on da right, also he got greedy he ran wit da ball to da right and it open up a huge space to pass to polodski but did he pass? Any1Delano & Gunnerboss don’t know? Owk no! At that stage newcastle could of had set up a different story like park da bus and walcott would be partially to be blame wit miss opportunities to pass! Now guys I want u to compare him to giroud who hold up da ball who knew how to work himself between players and able to take a chance when he sees it, he was unluckily to miss out wit da crossbar for his hat trick that what it takes to been a centre forward and he would of done it wit in a half an hour.
    DELANO AND GUNNERBOSS PLS DON’T JUDGE A PLAYER BY A FEW MATCHES!

  25. @12TH Man.Its just unfortunate that you got addicted to drugs at such a young age that you seem inherently impared to reason .
    I mean even a fool wouldn’t make such spacious arguments like you do. You risk loosing the respect the bloggers have for you on the blog. Perhaps you are a United fan and just pretending. That aside Walcott’s celebration with the English lads convinced me that he is willing to sign sooner than later and i would at the moment implore Usmanov to intervene and make sure nothing is left to chance even if it means monies being paid. Walcott crossed the ball , dribbled past players and the icing on the cake was the opener in a Henry Thiery fashion.On very rare occassions have i seen V.persie speed past the last defender in such fashion and finish like that with due respect.Winning our next 5 games may see us in the top two sooner than later.

  26. @Delano,
    if you scroll back enough blogs you will see that ALL of us have talked a lot of nonense, you also so cut the dutchman some slack. He has as much right to be wrong as the rest of us. Not to mention La Liga probably is a better fit for Walcott as a central striker than the Prem.
    Never-the-less Theo has made his point and if we don’t sign him it’s because Wenger is too cheap and stubborn.
    Cesc,Nasri,Song,Van Persie and now Walcott. What fucking blueprint for success is this. The Usual. My plan would be to sack the stick man put Bouldy in charge and pay Theo the difference.
    COYG!!

  27. DELANO

    I HAVE STOPPED WATCHING ARSENAL GAMES UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

    Just a comment someone wrote on 27 november! Copy and paste

    Leftcoast- thanks from one blogger to other

    Having to look at Delano comments he seems to have a love for walcott’s ability and have a history at arsenal, I will take back my comments that I made to delano and gunnerboss I too wouldn’t want any1 speaking negatively about a player that I thought was a class above da rest. we seem to differ with walcott and his role but we find wenger as a thorn for arsenal progression and ramsey as been nothing but average maybe delano knows something I don’t,but I go by what I see and by whats needs to change. Now for da everton vs chelski fingers cross a draw is on da cards, even though everton score

  28. Well said lefty and very true, I will own up to my share of nonsense. Personally I think Giroud and Walcott make a pretty good front pair. Given our history of losing top players I don’t think Wenger can allow theo to go.

  29. Well said lefty and very true, I will own up to my share of nonsense. Personally I think Giroud and Walcott make a pretty good front pair. Given our history of losing top players I don’t think Wenger can allow theo to go.

  30. Can Theo play up top & score goals, although Newcastle wewe there 4 da taking I can still say I told u so. Boys whats happened 2 da defending in Englandish leagues. There seems to b very little. How do manure keep winnimg.

  31. @12thMAN – Ur lucky, very very lucky. I stopped fighting here, but I won my last fight clearly(Rosicky 4 Ramsey last season) and that Chamakh was shit even when he was scoring. So, this is just clearly a walk-over.
    How many blogs have u scrolled over so far? Seen ma comments? Seen the team I want? Is it the same team playing now and doing well? Everyone of them bar the Ox on the right. I would’ve preferred Cazorla to be there and Rosicky hold fort at AM. But, as a great fan of the Ox, I love the team as composed bar the substitutes. Need I mention I have been talking a lot about why we should revert to counter-attacks(like in the days of Anelka) and play to our strengths(Walcott up-front?). Only a mad man would read my posts and still insult me directly(even when I said nothing to you). On a normal day, when you questioned why i said Giroud was not the one, i wouldve given instances and examples, but i left it that way so we could all be happy. Afterall, its Christmas.

    Anyways apologies accepted, but Giroud is still SHIT………………….

    Before Giroud scored, did you notice he was shitting all over the place. Newcastle were clearly tired and we usually do better in the second half, add that to the fact that we had a full weeks rest against their grueling duel with manure 3days before. No apologies cos Podolski is definitely way much better than Giroud in CF and Walcott for speed is terrifying. He will get those passes sorted soon cos HE IS NOT A MIDFIELDER. It is the midfielders that need to be the most technical in any team, especially with passing. A midfielder laying a misplaced pass is like a striker missing target, a defender failing to make a clearance and a keeper failing to catch a direct ball. This is why it is TEAMWORK and this is why Mertesacker will not be the CF eventhough he is the tallest etc.

    Giroud is not our best CF because we are supposed to be playing to our strengths, not playing to what we feel our strength is(aerial threat and physical presence my ass). With Walcott, the defenders already have nightmares and cant sleep cos of how they think about stopping him. This is a major psychological battle already won(game over) without a ball being kicked. Do you even know this? Why do you think the guys at Bayern feel they can win/beat us easily? Why do you think no top star wants to come to us? Its all psychological. You create that silly feeling around you by comments like 4th is like a trophy etc and you begin to stink in peoples eyes. If you appear neat and well-dressed all the time, people take you to be responsible automatically, its all psychological. So, in perspective, if Walcott does that hat-trick thing three more times, by Feb., the Bayern guys will definitely be singing a different tune. Finally, can Giroud take the ball from our half and run to the box on a counter or would he hold it and wait for someone else to run so he can pass? Take ur answer there.

  32. @theicehammer
    Hammer that’s the 64 dollar question.
    But Theo unlike some foreign transplants we’ve nursed to fame is true Arsenal.
    He wants to be Henry, not Van Nistlerooy,Raul or Zidane like some other once upon a time “Gunners”.

  33. Gunnerboss
    Anyways apologies accepted, but Giroud is still SHIT…………………

    Hmmmmh! Is it worth arguing, don’t mind me I am just pondering! even if its his first season and was top scorer in france
    and got elected for france national team,

    Arsebloggers comments we need a tall aerial man that can pass and hold up da ball we can’t match up wit da likes of stoke,manu and man city
    Gunnerboss I have been on this blog for a while and supported arsenal from da time nicholas anelka scored against newcastle in fa cup final, so don’t tell me how many fights u been on or how many u been times u been right becoz choosing rosicky over ramsey is what any1 wit a popiscle for a brain would of thought and of course ox would of played becoz walcott in da middle and they needed pace on da right,carzorla is more of a playmaker not a right wing with much pace.

    Everyone puts an assault that is harsh and in my case da assault was minor and dont really gives a shit for harsh comments which leaves u red in da face, let’s go in da new year wit new thoughts and beliefs,anyway da new year is around da corner if I don’t say happy new year in time then here its go. HAPPY NEW YEAR LEFTCOAST,DELANO,GUNNERBOSS,RESTSUB,GONER,THE ICEHAMMER,GUNFEST,KEL,SHAMBO,1nil,BILLI and MR ANDREW WEBER and any1 I Left out.

  34. Wishing all AFCB folks and Andrew a very happy new year.

    Glad to see our team end on a high note in it’s last game. Let the new year begins as a bright one for Arsenal

  35. I wouldn’t get to excited about 1 , let’s wait for at least 3 or 4 games to make a judgement on this new formation.
    Happy New Year to all!

  36. 1-nil Saint 36th minute.
    Our midfield sucks. Wilshere too.
    I hope we can find some aggression and come back but it’s another one of our tepid performances.
    How much money are we willing to part with for some consistancy?
    Or is that just throwing good money after bad?

  37. Own Goal So.Hampton.
    The buggers threw us a lifeline. Can we grab it and pull?
    1-1

  38. Interesting 1st half. This is when we need a centre forward who can hold up play… Giroud.

    Santi is having an off day as is Podolski and the lest said about Sagna the better.

    On the plus side Jack looks hungry and their keeper looks awful

    Prediction for the 2nd half.. Giroud to make the difference

  39. Gervinho and Ramsey on while Rosicky watches on. Lets see if they can minimise the amount of times they give the ball away.
    Walcotts obviously trying to get another decimal onto whatever contract he signs elsewhere by ignoring all teamates abd shooting from everywhere.
    Sagna and Gibbs woeful up to now.
    Arteta contributing nil either which is worrying

  40. Where was arsenal 2 day? 7goals was no where,yet arsenal was fresher than southampton not having to playing against west ham. Guys this is da arsenal we knew from a few weeks ago that was disguise by da 7-3 win nothing has change,newcastle was at rubbish as you can get, southampton could of walk out wit three points,ramsey and gervinho were rubbish, yet rosicky sat on da bench,gibbs and sagna were at there worst just unlikely sagna

    Where was walcott?, there was need for some1 to hold up da ball and some1 to get in da box and head da ball,I neva said walcott was shit but rather put in an indifference performances like 2 day ,if u had giroud played and walcott behind giroud would hold up da ball and fed walcott unlike da ball been kick to da front and no one really making use of it,I believe this also a rosicky sort of game.

  41. David villa is now just a fading dream having to come to le grove,as wenger and arsenal have admitted to putting a bid for adrian lopez from aletico madrid he been drop down da pecking order becoz of mr falcoa,my question to u is this really a player that we need or its just to suit wenger philosophy?

  42. “Gervinho and Ramsey on while Rosicky watches on. Lets see if they can minimise the amount of times they give the ball away.”
    @Shambo – Its really good to know people like you watch and perfectly understand this team.
    @Goner – “Gervinho was so bad, he made Ramsey look good.” Seriously, all the problems we have is just Wenger, not any formations or whatever. Like Shambo said earlier, what on earth is Rosicky doing on the bench?
    @Retsub – “On the plus side Jack looks hungry and their keeper looks awful.” This is why i call him our tiger. Their clownish keeper almost kept a clean sheet. How we never felt we should suck them up into our half and deliver the counter blow is what keeps on baffling me with Wenger. With balls falling out of the keepers hands like jelly why did we not start shooting? No, lets just stick to whatever plan we came to execute today. Remember, we NEVER have a plan B.

    Seriously, what is the point of playing Theo upfront when we are not doing the counter. The Newcastle game was post to post, infact they had more possession than we did. We scored three penalties to win two games before this. This certainly means we still have not developed the proper attacking tactics. Its such a shame to feel we just need to turn up and grab three points. You do that rubbish when u have a VP upfront, cos he just needs one chance.

    1. We have two speedsters upfront, but we have failed completely in harnessing this speed with the proper tactics.
    2. We cannot really blame him for starting the same eleven against a weaker Saints team. But, is it justifiable to blame the tired millionaire players? Cos, I feel another millionaire coach watched them during training, a coach who clearly knows their fitness levels.

    Using the same eleven will MOST OFTEN lead to complacency. Our archilles heels(Ramsey last season and Diaby). Tweaking it a bit(especially for tired players or inexperienced players like the Ox) brings out the much needed HEALTHY competition without which we have won nothing for 8 years straight. Right now, we are at our very predictable and stale best yet again. Gervinho, maybe, but Giroud and Ramsey are not the ones to pep things up when in search of a goal.

    I would’ve rested Arteta for a Rosicky start, Wilshere for DM or Rosicky for Cazorla at halftime after the nasty 1st half treatment he got. Sad, we could’nt grab the three points. I hope we’re not in for a shocker at the end of the season. Cos, If we don’t qualify for the Champs league, it’ll be the disaster of the century.

  43. @12th Man – Just seen ur comments. Nothing against Giroud though, I think he is quite okay for us, just feel we can do much much better.

    Now, I think whenever anyone is playing CF, the coach MUST suite the game plan accordingly. Long balls and crosses for Giroud or sit deep and Cazorla to Walcott for the killer counter. I dont know why this cannot be our holy grail.

  44. Alot of chirping about Gervinho,Sagna and Gibbs.
    Somehow when Wilshere sucks and gives the ball away repeatedly it goes un-noticed. I guess when your white and English that’s your perogotive.

  45. We were looking very good at the beginning of the season in the midfield. The Cazorla, Aterta, Diaby combination looked very solid. Diaby got injured as usual and Wilshere replaced him and our performance has been poor since then. Wilshere maybe a good player but the perfomance of the team has been bad since he came back.

  46. Wenger is quoted,”we focus on our own game and how we should play and not the opposition”.
    @Gunnerboss, i hear you talking about DM. Rosicky,Arteta,Wishere. In your view are any of these players any closer to Song. Talk about the physic to push off an opponent and boss the defense and midfield.Please dont remind of Diability. They are all light weight and lack the fight within them with the exception of Wishere.Only size lets him down.Even a mighty Barcelona has a G. Pique in their defense. Who is wenger to think otherwise.Wenger was lucky to finish fourth but i doubt whether Spurs will be denied their deserved position this time.We have very speedy players at Arsenal why can’t we play to their strength. Spurs is opening up teams by pace alone and look where they are.Even the game in hand seems a lost game already because WestHam is way so strong. The Newcastle score line was flattering of the rubbish we have at the moment. I was particularly keen to notice how difficult the game was despite the score line. I just hope he buys a defensive midfielder and we stop playing a high line defense which has made almost 6 International defenders at Arsenal look rubbish yet they are internationals for their country.We must see real fundamental change and that means even Wenger leaving if we are ever to win anything. I can,t wait to see Swancelona pile our misery come Sunday out of the F.A if wenger never learns anything by not buying.

  47. Let’s stop blaming Ramsey and Gervinho for all our problems , they only played 20 minutes. Our team did not have a shot on target in the first half!
    WE are where are on the table because we lack enough quality.
    Our midfield is a sieve , no DM

    Podolski is a good finisher , but not a winger lacks pace and ability to create scoring chances

    Ox is talented, but still to raw , he needs to gain experience playing for the reserves or on a loan spell

    Sagna is one of the best defensively in the EPL, but going forward he is mediocre at best
    Gibbs is ok going forward but a poor defender, overall I would consider neither among the top 10 wingbacks in the league.

    Is Theo despite his wishes a long term solution for us at CF?
    I think not , can not hold the ball, does go and fight for 50/50 balls. We must keep him because he is a very good finisher.

    As I wrote many times here a passing game requires a critical mass of superior technical ability in the players.
    We are unable to express our game and we panick anytime we face pressure from the opposing team. Wilsher and Carzola are very good , but it is not enough.
    What about a frontline of Rociski Giroud Theo ?

  48. Guys i very aware how good Rosicky is but you are as well forgetting Rosicky is about 33 years of age way past his usual best. Don’t expect anything new from Rosicky which you haven’t seen do in his entire career.Apart from his usual flicks and pretending to be threading passes they have all been ill timed and are always well defended by organised defenses. He pretends to be busy but age can,t allow him do what he did in his Dortmund days. Remember in the AC millan game how gae and tiredness caught up with him.We don’t have a Gigs or Scholes at arsenal and even if we had either of the them,the Manager in charge has no clue of how to use these aged palyers.I of the view that the earlier we ship them out and bring real new talent the better. With Wenger still in charge we shall never win anything. If he was willing to buy by now he should have identified the right players and finalising their contracts by the first week of January so that they acclamatise and save our season. But he is still looking for a quality player who will complement the likes of Ramsey,Gervinho,Chamakh,Rosicky and Diaby. He has mismanaged the players so much that he sturbonly refuses to release them despite there being clubs ready to take them. He is quick at getting deals sorted for star players leaving the club.He made a record of facilitating Songs move to Barcelona on hearing rumours that Barca was interested in just a day. This is a manager who reached the Champions league final in 2006 with only one star player in HENRY by beating the likes of R. Madrid,Juventus,Sevilla at their very best using counter attacking football and arsenal had the best defensive record in Europe that season until the finals when they were narrowly beaten by Barca. Has he played this sort of style any more since then, is he still interested and motivated to win any thing ever since, Has he tried out anything fundamentally new and it worked or not worked, Is he still interested in trying out anything new for the past eight years now?Has he showed any interest of bringing winners to the club,Does he personally ever sign these players independently without consulting? Is this the kind of manager interested in the club and willing to take it forward? Does he ever act in the best interest of the club? If try looking for answers it only comes to a conclusion that we are lost and doomed as fans.Wenger is a real joke.We have maintained top four not because of how good wenger is but based on our past glory. We are very likely to become the next top four team fundamentally falling out like Liverpool if this guy is not shipped out immediately. Its for those reasons that he fears Usmanov taking a big share in arsenal as he will immediately ship him out and bring a better coach to re brand and market the team to its past glory.I welcome the Sunday tie against Swansea and i hope the results influence the board to buy the real players we need because wenger is not ready or willing to buy.

  49. @delano
    The more inread your posts the more I am convinced you are a spurs fan. No true supporter wants there team to lose.

    And as for Spurs being in their deserved position…. Rubbish

  50. This may sound rude but Demba ba has just signed for Chelsea. This is a guy who said playing for Arsenal was his dream. Mata thought he was going to replace Fabregas at the Emirates chelsea bought him. Demba ba to me is far superior to Giroud,Chamakh but Wenger as usual thought it right that he isn’t any better than the strikers he has at Arsenal.I hear that his attempts to get Lopez have been thwarted through the window because he wants to pay peanuts for a striker of Lopez’s quality. Liverpool have signed Sturridge already and are looking for more to sign but wenger has still failed to find the right players. Walcott has equally failed to agree and it is now very likely that he is going for free in May or he is going to complement Chicarito /persie at Old Trafford.Only God knows why he still has a job at Arsenal.

  51. @ leftcoastgooner
    I agree, jack wilshire can do no wrong.

    Wenger has embarked on another very expensive experiment with the fans money, OPERATION ENGLISH, will it bear fruit??? if i were a betting man i would say NO because the manager has lost what he once had, its been too long.

    As i said a ways back wilshire is not a bad player by any stretch of the imagination BUT the world class tag he gets is totally going over board
    I think he is a very limited player not as limited as ramsey BUT limited non the less and for wenger to pay him a reported 85k a week is totally madness
    if you look around Europe you will find players younger with more ability.
    BUT its not his fault its the manager, nothing has changed we’re doing the same thing again just this time with english players, who WILL cost more and be less technical, so its very confusing. Wilshire may turn out to be world class BUT of now to pay a limited player all that money is irresponsible
    I ask again, have we improved in the last 5 years??? NO!!!
    Have things gotten worst??? YES!!!! Progressively

    Its a new year and we are 99% sure we wont win the league nor finish 2nd or 3rd so it 4th place as usual. same old same old.

    The game yesterday really showed us up, someone had the balls to mention tired BUT i wont even go there because the saint played all their games over xmas and we did not, so how are we tired???
    I really am convinced that this team is not as bad as it looks the problem is wenger who has lost the touch he once had and needs to be replaced.
    Yes we may have the occasional good games BUT holistically we have been very average and its only because the level is England is not as high as we might think is why we almost always get away with having very bad teams and finish top 4.

  52. @Retsub. Its not about being a Spurs fan. Lets be objective abit here. If you have watched Spurs games,they have almost similar players to ours with an exceptional Bale. The mixture of Lenon,Defoe and now Dempsy in midfield makes. Vertogen in their defense has been a revealation to them and has scored some crucial goals. Wenger refused to buy this guy in preference for Koscienly. Vermalen has been a joke ever since he was made Captain. The question is if we have almost similar players why are we so inconsistent and sometimes out played by inferior teams.The reason why i said we should loose early before things get better is to force wenger ,the board and the fans into action. The truth is clear for all of us to see. Sandro was quoted saying they have their targets on the trophy and not just top four. What does Koscienly say,” the race for the fourth spot has almost 5 clubs competing for it” @Retsub am i surely wrong to blame this moron of a coach and the mentality of his players typical of him that top four is like a trophy. Declare me innocent immediately please as i have no case to answer.

  53. @Delano true that Henry was the only superstar in 2006, but we had Pires, Adebayor , Song, Kolo we had 2 wingbacks in Clichy and Eboue who were rampaging down the flanks. Every since that high mark our talent level has been deteriorating.

    I am now jealous of Swansey when I watch them play that used to us.

    Theo is playing hard to get because he can see from within what RVP, Cesc other saw a team crumbling and rotting from within…

  54. Delano
    Please tell me the last time Spurs finished above Arsenal? Haven’t checked but its a long time. So that makes Wenger a moron right?

    Lennon is far more erratic than Walcott and I suspect Giroud will come close to Defoe in the scoring stakes

    Things arn’t perfect at our team, but Spurs arn’t better

    As for Demba Ba he was always going to go to the highest wage bidder. If Abramovich sees a bright shiny thing he will buy it. Arsenal cannot compete with that sort of mentality and shouldn’t.

    Jack Wilshire is going to be a world clas player. If he hadn’t got injured I believe he would be there now. We desperately need players of his ilk and with his heart. If we don’t pay him a relatively good salary he will go elsewhere and then get classed with Cesc, Nasri, RVp etc

  55. “Jack Wilshire is going to be a world class player”

    now where have i heard that before , errrrrrrrrrrr let me think
    Nicklas Bendtner, Djourou, and GOD knows i can go on.

    I only hope that next season we wont be saying the same thing that he will and more like he is

  56. Errrr let me think, who said Djourou and Bendtner would be world class, not me for sure..

    In my opinion and I stress my opinion if you can’t see how talented Wilshire is, you are missing something. Before the injury he was a super player and he is well on the road to getting back.
    I believe Wilshire will be our best player, what he lacks in talent he makes up for with heart

  57. I never said he’s not a talented player, all i ment was that people are branding him world class when he is clearly, clearly not and i still think he’s limited.
    That’s one of the major problems in the UK people starting branding people world class after a few game then 5 years later were still waiting for them to develop. Until i see wilshire run game, only then will i take notice, for now average.
    And my boy heart will only get you so far, ability is the major factor in modern football.

  58. Oh I see its a uk problem now I understand. I get to the Emirates on a reasonably regular basis and I can honestly say that no one in the 60000 crowd has ever described Bendtner as world class except his dad, similar case for Djourou. I suspect that applies to most of the 60 million people in the uk as well,

    Of course skill is the most important factor, but ask yourself this, how good would Vieira and Roy Keane have Ben without their tenacity. That’s the X factor I am referring to.

    Jack Wilshire AVERAGE? I think we must be watching different players. Oh sorry I forgot us Brits have that problem don’t we?

  59. Of course its a uk problem!!!! where people in sport after one good performance are herald as world class, i can go through names till am sick that got that title, and sadly never lived up to it.

    “I can honestly say that no one in the 60000 crowd has ever described Bendtner as world class except his dad, similar case for Djourou.”

    Are you for real???? The 60000 attendance at the Emirtes does not represent all the Arsenal fans, as a matter of fact some of the people there are neutrals.

    BUT i’v been many places and on many blogs these last 7 years and a lot of people predicted that Bendtner and Djourou and a whole host of others i just can’t go into right now would be world class and ON THIS VERY SAME BLOG.

    I agree with roy kean having the x factor BUT Vieira always had high ability
    that was seen by AC milan.

    And as i said before wilshire is not a bad player BUT for people to brand him world class as have been done in many quarters is crazy he is very limited, if you can’t see that then YOU know what you look for in a midfielder.
    And to compound that we pay him ridiculous money that he would have never gotten anywhere else, noway in hell can anybody convince me based on what i’v seen of wilshire or any of the others that signed that they deserve the increase that they got. A increase yes, BUT not the amounts that they got. How do you justify wilshire on a reported 85k a week and wenger and the board keep fussing about giving walcott 90k

    Every time we do the samething over and over. I hope wilshire turns out to be the world class player we crave because we need it BUT if he doesn’t then as usual we are stuck with a next overpaid player on our hand that we can’t sell.

  60. Two things on my tiny mind this morning.
    1) Not directly Arsenal related (that I know of)
    Is Fernando Torres finished as a top-class striker?
    2) I’m looking at our next 4 league fixtures: Man$ity(h),Chavs(a),Hammers(h)and The filthy merseyside scousers(a).
    If we can swing 8 or more points out of this stretch I think we will have done well for ourselves. but 7 or less may leave us in precarious health to make the CL next year.
    Remembe,r not only are we playin 3 contenders for these places (Man$ity,Chelsea and Liverpool) but during this stretch Hot s***s have QPR,Norwich and West Brom. True the Baggies are not a push anymore and they do have ManU(re) next but you can expect them to take at least 6 out of their next 12 points. Therefore, it is VITAL that we keep pace.
    That being said after 5 undefeated, how much is left in our best run so far?
    Transfers anyone?

  61. Kel

    We are obviously not going to agree on this and it seems pointless banging our heads against each other. I would still be very surprised if anyone’s (excl parents) had ever described either Bendtner or Djourou as world class, but lets leave it at that

    Happy New Years to all you Gooners out there

  62. @Leftcoastgunner, the chances really look slim as we may be light years away from top four sight by the time we finish four of these games. I just hope YamVilla comes fits in immediately because i dont see Arteta playing all those games at defensive midfield without wearing out or getting injured. I just don’t know when Diaby will ever play for Arsenal. Why on earth was Frimpong loaned

  63. @Delano
    Loaning Frimpong,refusing to play (and I will only name) Arshavin, Park,Miquel,Eisfeld and Gnabry.
    This is the exact type of Pig-headedness our team is well past affording. Still Stick Man persist as we drop further down the premiership pecking order and table. This is why Black scarves and Le Grove Types are become so prominent. There are no reasonable checks or balances on our manager. He prepares theonly players he wishes to play only the system he likes and after almost a decade of fruitless results there is still no sane change in sight.
    I will always love and follow my team but God it is so fucking painful at times.
    Oh well I guess nothing changes until something changes. What will it take? a mid-table finish? We may well see.

  64. Gooners please please tell me what type of a signing will the sham be. Will he make a difference @ UPTON PARK. Who gets rhe better deal. Shambo give us a rundown of whst he can or cant do. Did Wenga stutter his progress???. Up de ammers.

  65. The Icehammer- congrats on chamakh neva thought big sam would be desperate for an unuse player,I believe with some t.l.c he will be up and running,big sam likes da long crosses so it might be chamakh game if somehow getting his head onto some of those crosses,how bad can it be it only a six month loan, who knows he might have a point to prove when we meet on da 23,ex arsenal players have been good at that,or he might not play due to contract obligations wit us.

  66. Very Interesting Interview by Philippe Auclair on Arseblog The Arsecast Friday.
    Take a listen Guys.

  67. @12man ta very much. Im actually happy with the acquisition, Andy Carrol does nothing 4 me especially @ that salary. Cole although no world shaker is a better all round player.

  68. @Hammer,
    The Moroccan will bring you hard work and goals.He wants to regain his pride.
    He does not fit in our system…and you must remember we only play 1 system.
    Even when it doesn’t work.
    Hopefully however, it will work against the Swans on the morrow. A win or a loss please, the last thing this already jaded squad needs is another cup-tie.

    Come on You Gunners!!!

  69. I think manure have added something to his game, he is a better player than he was last season. Sorry to say but Wenger was scuppering the Vans full potential, To see the way he took that first touch and brought the ball under is worth my entry fee alone….what a world class goal. Jo Cole was good also.

  70. @Ice hammer
    Jack is a fine young prospect and a committed gunner.
    But it’s not enough to be the English darling.
    Consistency is what we need from him and almost everyone else.
    Perhaps it isn’t the players fault but for me besides the 2 Germans (BFG,Podolski) the whole team has been up and down and up.
    5,6,7 goal totals on some outings and a myriad of goaless games.
    I truly believe we should whip Swansea and good.
    But, really no one knows which Arsenal will show up. I suspect not even The Arsenal know. THAT can’t be good.

  71. Guys whenever i see headlines praising V.persie goals it internally hurts.Its not for jealousy’s sake but what the Arsenal board and Wenger was thinking. V. Persie had arsenal in his blood from the onset if any of you genuinely followed the guy. For Barcelona it is messi, Juventus it is Pirlo, M.United it is Ronnie,For Real Madrid is suspect Casillas or Ronaldo. You just don’t let your invaluable player go at all costs. Other than Henry ,V.persie was quickly becoming the face of Arsenal. If Wenger was a man worth his salt ,he would have protested the V.persie sell at all costs. Demba Ba. Guys what is really in Wengers mind.I surely hate this moron to the extent that i would be hard to please even if he won the premier league now.Why do you miss out on a bargain like Demba ba a guy who cried out for Arsenal to come and take me. They could as well have made a partnership with Giroud or Walcott.He is superior to Giroud who needs ten chances before he converts one.Two goals on his debut.I will take anything either a win or loss from Swans. A loss will invite several advantages in that a panic burton will be reignited due to a clear fact that it is a totally another useless year for the fans and the high price tickets. Even if we beat Swansea there are several top teams we can’t go past. May be Wenger will be forced into buying so that we prepare for a fair attempt against Bayern Munich. Other wise we risk being the wiping boys of the last Eight.
    Guys did any of you see how Chelsea made a meal out of Southampton.A team which totally out classed us we were to get a draw.This shows the gulf in class of players we have and the rest of the top four teams have.With exception of Carzola and about two players the rest are mediocres who couldn’t break up Soton. Either Wenger doesn’t know what he is doing or it is the players who are bad but remember no player comes to the club without his knowledge.I would immediately sack even the scouting team for fooling the club this so long.

  72. Icehammer wt da hell? U should of won that,now we neva stop hearing of van persie great form and wenger will still defend his decision to sell, arrogant bastard! But really icehammer It was in da bag I definitely wouldn’t want to see that defender who was marking van persie for da next century, old trafford is not going to be easy but I still think its possible wit that carlos tevez goal sometime ago on da last day of pl

  73. 12thman, my only fear for westham when Tompkins plays @ CH is his lack of pace over 10/15 yards, that is why we defend so deeply. I no longer have a voice through shouting @ Sam informing him of that fact, especially after we went ahead. We almost got away with it. Any other squad player would have at least got a block on the shot.
    Who is Wenger going to purchase in the window.

  74. By the way @12th, what does blackscarf signify) Anything to do with death of a club?
    Even though Demba was on a free Wenger would not purchase him, for he does not involve strikers that just score goals into his system.>:)

  75. Both teams playing good tech footy Swansea very unlucky no to b ahead @ the break. RAMSEY HAVING A CHANCE AFTR FLOWING MOVE. But chose not to pull trigger & lost opportunity. Jack showed some flashes of skill& Thio looking dangerous when attacking through the middle. Both teams have given ball awav @ times but im positive about 2nd half. Come on gunners.

  76. Good play Walcott & Gir…..Asnl pen…. No Ram dive I think,Asnl pressing again…..shot by Asnl. …good save…. All asnl boys.Ram clipped own heel, no pen boys.

  77. Icehammer wenger would always find a fault wit a player that would be fruitful for us! david villa is only best hope,arsenal come out fighting hey! in second half,black scarf, fans demanding answers and changes to da running of da arsenal football club

  78. Ice hammer- that was a rubbish performance from arsenal perspective really they should of taken swansea out of da cup,swansea mind set was on defending after scoring da first goal, arsenal had swansea begging on da feet of that tempo football, da zonal marking is absolutely a waste of time,it only feeds lazy players to stand their ground and ball watch and that’s exactly what happen,arsenal are really dropping there standards this should of been a walk in da park since swansea had an eye on da capital cup,poor really poor!

  79. @12MAN Agree with you entirely about zonal marking issue & that Swansea seemed happy to defend aftr going ahead late on which I was surprised about as neither teams r designed for defending. Afrr going ahead you should haye seen it out sosolate in the game but u r oh so weak at set situations. The fact that Swansea has such an important game on Wednesday, you should have wan the game. SO POOR AS A DEFENSIVE UNIT, Still enjoyed game though.

  80. Very good game, But Arsenal can’t defend for love or money.

    By the way did you guys read wenger’s comments this morning what DOUBLE STANDARDS. Yet he pays himself 140k per week for doing not one shit.
    wenger’s comments today just cements the fact and removes all doubt that he is the one in TOTAL control of transfers and people can stop saying the board is not giving him the funds.
    This transfer window and the rest of the season will be very interesting.

  81. Guys the display was again pathetic at best.Ramsey playing almost 70 minutes defeats logic. Resting Podolski and playing Ramsey cost us the game. A return leg should seem easy on the cards but Swansea are a very classy team superior to us. Remember they played with some brakes as they have a realistic chance at the carling cup. If there is no change in the playing staff we shall be exiting the FA at the hands of Swansea again. With so many games coming the lest to expect was a replay.Am beginning to question Giroud’s ability. He is soon becomming a Chamakh. We needed an out and out striker but Giroud is crap and full of useless running. Our standards have dropped down the drain to the extent that teams like Swansea can out play us at our own game whenver we meet them.Am just getting sick of looking at Wenger with a pack of rubbish un motivated players. Carzola is nowadays a passenger and offers very little of recent and i give credit to Wilshere. Metsacker for once brought some calmness in defense otherwise Swans should have won this game straight and clear.I hope we get the right players before we face off with City this weekend as Aguero is out of that game.

  82. Oh no it’s time to slit our wrists again. Come on let’s get real it wasn’t that bad. United grab a draw at West Ham they are heroes, Arsenal do the same and we are pathetic I think not

    Facts

    Swansea are not a classier team than Arsenal 1 we are higher up the table 2 give it two or three years they will be back in the championship. Maybe I look through rosy coloured specs but Arsenal cut them to pieces in the 2nd half

    Delano you mentioned that Chelsea cut Southampton to pieces but you conveniently forgot they lost at home to QPR a team that hadn’t won away ages

    As usual the Ramsey bashing brigade came out, but what concerns me more is what is happening to Sagna? Here’s a really good players who is playing really badly. All of our creative play is coming down the lef

    Ice good luck with Chamakh. I don’t know if he smoked the wacky bachy but he started well at Arsenal maybe he just needs some TLC

  83. @Delano , I agree with you 100% regarding RVP. He left because , he saw mediocrity around him and Wenger did not give him any hope that he would improve the team.

    I read somewhere that Wenger said that he changes his mind about buying players from game to game.
    That is why he has to go! When Cesc and Nasri left Wenger didn’t move, only our humiliation (8-2) at the hand of Manu then he was forced to buy. He only went bought Carzola , Giroud and Podolski when , it was clear that RVP wanted to leave.
    There seems to be no planning , no strategy, just panic purchases , the man has lost his drive and he has to be sent-off

  84. Wenger Interview:
    “The Champions League is very important today, for everyone inside a club, to improve the players, to keep players here, so the first target is to reach the top four in the Premier League,” stressed Wenger. “I know people do not agree with me on this, but a top-four finish is a basic requirement for top, top level players. After that you want to win the championship or the FA Cup”

    And peoples wonder why i want wenger gone so badly, i thought it was supposed to be the other way around, aim for the stars and if you fall short you hit the clouds.

    Every time wenger opens his mouth about football issues i feel sick he’s talking more Rubbish as he gets older. When i tell you were doomed as long as this idiot stays incharge am not joking he’s totally lost the plot.
    oh well!!! better luck this weekend…

  85. @kel
    Agreed,
    but he keeps cash flow in the board’s pockets as well as his own so we are stuck with the stick.

  86. why we shouldnt lose at le grove vs mancity

    -its a week break without football plenty time to go back to da drawing board and seek a game plan

    -we dont have major injury scares

    -we are playing at home,i dont think wenger can afford another lost

    -it will be a great week knowing manu is playing liverpool which could end in a draw

    -mancini is more defensive minded when playing away so will park the bus by the box

    -no yaya toure or sergio aguero or kolo toure

    -jeleon lescott will have his mind elsewhere with wanting a move out of man city

    -mario balotelli playing with his mentor carlos tevez some golf,tevez praising him on his drama stardom

    -man city does not have such a great record at le grove, as arteta goal last time seperated them.
    A draw is just not appropiate for le grove ticket holders,

    LEFTCOAST- whether or not david villa comes to le grove remains a mystery, but what i dont like is how barcelona is treating us arsenal people,arsenal seems to be their puppet when it comes to buying players from us, for example it didnt take that long for song to be leaving us for greener pastures as arsenal allowed him to negotiate with others clubs esp.barc, quickly
    and cesc soap opera wasnt much of a drag as cesc left at da right age,whether they want to sell him and dont want to loan him out, is still upsetting as he isnt playing regular football so it cant be a huge loss as how can he even be part of their plans as he is playing da 4th choice striker behind messi,da chilean striker and pedro as i dont want this issue to drag on as da season is ongoing, david villa age is also a issue but i am sure his class will make up for that.

    Walcott is marketing himself around other clubs so i dont see arsenal stringing any deals that will suit his new beliefs,if he does go i doubt the dictator will replace him.

  87. 12th man

    Agree with you about Barca. It’s really annoying how they can pressure our players, but when the reverse happens they just write us off. Not that bothered about Villa because of his Age,.. My priority would be a debNsiven midfielder

  88. @ the black scarfed Dutchman
    Dutch WE gave them the idea that they could treat us as their academy.
    We raise and preen their teenage midfielders until they are ready to come to fruition then off,off my little starlets away to the land of Messi and much silverware.
    Well what’s in it for The Arsenal?
    If your a fat-cat board member a slice of the selling revenue.
    If you’re a bust-ass Gooner with your heart on the sleeve of your over-priced official team kit Jersey…nothing, nada,zilch,bubkus.
    I think it was Aerosmith that said it best…Same ole story,same ole song and dance….my friend.

  89. Wenger tries seeking cheap popularity from big clubs like Barcelona and MANCHSTER United by selling them players yet in reality these clubs never return the favour. This shows you how this French MORON has brought the image and reputation of our famous club in disrepute. Ferguson sturbonly refused to let Nani go to arsenal yet in reality the player has fallen out of the pecking order. To add insult to injury how on earth can Barcelona refuse the D.Villa deal. In truth he is way above age and has been effectively replaced by four good young strikers inclusive of Messi him self but Wenger can’t sell. ManCity refused to sell Edin Zeko to arsenal at the luxury of four strikers at their disposal. Guys how generous is Wenger to sell our best players to these top clubs. V.persie could have fetched us top dollars if we sold him to Juventus or any other bigger club.It is therefore not about the money but the stupidity of the manager to sell to his immediate title rivals both domestically and in Europe.

  90. Selling RVP to Manunited was criminal! First option was to keep him by bringing in quality players to surround him.Second to sell him abroad , even at a financial loss. Last option, I would’ve have insisted in getting Hernandez or Welbeck in return.
    We have basically saved united’s season and increased their chances for winning many titles for next 5 years. Please imagine how many games , they would have lost or tied this year without RVP’s brillance? When I talk to united fans now they can’t believe their good fortune and WEnger’s stupidity.

    Sadly united and Barca do not see us a rival but rather a feeder club , so there is no fear or respect there.
    We should put as much pressure on Barca as they put on us to sell them Cesc or even Henry.

    Wenger has to go because he is past it. 2 events for me crystallizes his senility and idiocy in the last 5 years :
    1- Selling RVP to one of our most hated rivals
    2- acquiring Frank Sylvestre who was a united reject and had not been getting regular first play in many years.

  91. We’re now 10 days into the January transfer window and there hasn’t been the slightest whiff of Arsenal movement. Yesterday, the manager played Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Francis Coquelin and Carl Jenkinson in an U21 game with West Brom. Andre Santos scored the Arsenal goal after a pass from … Abou Diaby. So, more than anything else it looks as if he’s concentrating on getting the players he has fit and ready for what’s going to be a hectic schedule over the next few weeks.

    But, with all due respect to those players, they’re not exactly the additions to the squad people were hoping for this month. I really hope Diaby stays fit, but then I hoped that at the start of the summer and he was gone for over 3 months. Does the return of a reserve left back, who has struggled this season, and a bit of match fitness for some players the manager rarely trusts when everyone is fit anyway constitute strengthening the squad? Gervinho, for all his faults, is gone to the African Cup of Nations while Chamakh and Djourou will spend the rest of the season on loan. Are we stronger?

    It is now Thursday. Man City come to town on Sunday. Is there time between now and then to complete a signing? Of course there is, but it seems unlikely at this point. If there was a real determination and plan to invest in the squad this month you have to think we’d have done as much of that business as early in the month as possible. As it stands, the only conclusion I can come to is that there is no determination to do that, there is no plan as such, and that if we do bring players it would be something of a surprise now

  92. With the transfer window open, i feel with the present team more than a striker we are in need of a player with Fabregas quality in the midfield who can sit deep and can dictate the play.

    I don’t think Cazorla,wilshere or Arteta are able to dictate the play and we lack creative ability in midfield. At games when arteta is able to we look good as a team since this allows space to cazorla and wilshere.

    Last season it was Song who helped us fill the gap with his lob and through balls and this season i expected arteta to fill but he couldn’t.

    To make things better the team definitely needs a review in tactics,formation and addition of players.

    Let me keep the formation we had with Barca when we won
    Nasri on left ,Van Persie on cf and walcott on right
    Midified Song, Fabregas and Wilshere.In the above formation always Fabregas position determines our line beyond which defense operates.

    In the present formation we have Cazorla who can fill in Nasri, Van Persie has to replaced with Two players Podolski Giroud/Walcott. Podolski has to play behind Giroud as second striker. When walcott plays podolski plays a little deep in parallel with walcott to allow him to run or make a run by himself. His physical presence can help us link up with cazorla on left with either Giroud up or arteta on the back.Without van persie and with podolski and Giroud still improving we cannot go to 4-3-3 and have to stick with 4-4-2

    Wilshere should take up the defensive role and also the deep playmaker role to dictate the play. Like last season arteta should cover up for WIlshere when he moves up and should be part of attack. Wilshere is capable of moving through the midfield from the defense holding and has the capability to both lob pass or through ball.

    Whenver wilshere sits deep ,cazorla should move from left to centre slightly to allow the creative play.

    Ramsey is supposed to be the player to replace fabregas but still is nowhere near to it .

    The other option would be to have Coquelin in Defensive role and wilshere next to him still dictating play and interchange places with Coquelin, with arteta/rosicky in the amf, cazorla in left and with Giroud/Podolski/Walcott in centre with ox/walcott in right

    But i still feel with wilshere it may work or might not. So we definitely need someone who can dictate the play.

    Arteta is not able to take up the ball from defense and ready to deploy an attack getting past one or two players or able to find a running forward.

    Cazorla is not able to provide the centre creative role as expected , he is dynamic ,good but better fits in wing and will be effective when he moves towards center or gets roaming role

    Podolski cannot play CF alone ,looks impressive when he plays deep and behind the striker.Against newcastle he was behind walcott and linked up play superbly.

    Giroud lacks pace and penetration needed but still he has a good feet and a bad composure, will look good with a support striker .

    The socialistic wage strucutre is a dumb one from wenger and root cause for all our problems.I am frusturated with his recent comments and he should never complaint about players earning 200k . When he is ready to play a 19 yr old 50 -60 k , what he expects to earn when he is 29. He himself makes the mistake and blame players for 200k. Any talented player would think of why he should play in this team when someone warming up bench is earning the same. I would term this as mismanagement.

    Wenger has to get rid of this scrap wage structure and stop supporting with nonsense comments to it .Rather than finding reasons to support it he should plan to use his funds properly , than spending on a player who cannot fulfill his potential,warm up bench and couldn’t sell him in market.

    Everyone make mistakes, even the same wage structure principle might have been good when we were financially restricted and almost all our players were on same age. But still holding a load of players we can’t sell and selling our best player truly needs a revival .

    It is truly time that wenger realize his mistakes and take corrective action to it with proper additions.

    Let’s hope best for the season.

  93. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1295542/wenger-upbeat-walcott?cc=3888

    Am currently banging my head against a wall BECAUSE when wenger talks these days i don’t know what to believe anymore his mouth is just full of LIES, LIES.
    Please wenger stop taking us for fools i don’t have a masters degree BUT i know what is right from wrong and what you have been doing these last seven years is bordering on insanity.

    You’ll pay for it eventually wenger know doubt about that.

  94. i have been looking at da arsenal blog for a while @leftcoast saying wenger arrogants in which he willnt leave, @delano & gunfest inassisting wenger should go,mean while u got @voley gun with a long paragraph of arsenal and how they should play and the wage structure and lastly @kel going crazy like his political leader has fail him

    Wouldnt it be nice if we had da same ratio of stadium fans as we have on this blog chanting for wenger to be sack, i dont know how too take care of stress but i am glad too speak about it then keep it bottle up. no matter how we look at it, all fingers point at wenger,even if arsenalfc beat man city 2morrow it will only be awhile before we lose da plot against west ham or swansea and start wandering what let wrong and wenger will continue with da excuses,i will only buy a player if i need too.

    My point is i can write of who should play and not but the team list will be given to a man who cant even see whats wrong with a team maybe should watch da game from a high part of da stand like rugby managers do and able to tactical change da game. He says who to buy and who to sell and decides who to play and take off and how to play. Mutiny on arsenal ship for wenger to walk da plank!

  95. I seem to be the only one defending Wenger, so I will stand up and be counted. It’s going over old ground and I probably support Wenger because I am a little older than most. I lived through a very blank period until Arsenal appointed there physio Bertie Mee in the late 60″s and we tasted success for the 1st time for ages. Love him or hate him, Wenger is the most successful manager in Arsenals history. Ok so we have had a barren period, but it has coincided with stupid amounts of money being pumped into Chelsea and City. I am pretty sure Aresenal have a spent less than most of the competition and succeeded in moving to a fantastic stadium which will serve them well for many years.

    Ok that said Wenger has his faults ( this is going to hurt). Despite liking the guy for his industry and the fact that he tries really hard ( unlike one or two other lazy sods) Ramsey hasn’t reached the required standard and needs to be loaned out…. Ouch.

    At the end of the day sadly football is money driven. There is a direct corralation between bank balance and league position. This is why teams like Swansea may have a couple of good seasons, but eventually they will fall away

    Maybe the time is approaching when Wenger needs to go, but I can think of very few viable replacements.

    About 99 per cent of English clubs would gladly swap places with Arsenal inclusive of a lot of Chelsea supporters I know who are sick of the way there team is run.

    Everyone is entitled to there opinion, but my opinion to all those calling Wenger an idiot is that he has more knowledge in his little finger than a lot of his critics.

    I await the barrage of abuse, but am I the only person who believes in Wenger..I can tell you that in my experience the crowd at the Emirates have mixed emotions, but he still has a loyal support

  96. @Retsub,
    The Old Wenger spent 11 million on Reyes when we were only 2 points behind ManU(re) at Christmas.
    The old Wenger spent 4 million on Francis Jeffers!
    Something is not right. Either he is lying or he is covering for someone else’s lies which is very much like lying.
    What the **** is up?
    Are we secretly losing money or hemmoraging capital somewhere.
    Could the news of our true fiscal situation be so damning and damaging to the club as to warrant such obfiscation and double talk.
    Where is The Arsenal as a club really?

  97. @Retsub.For heavens sake its not about money but the mental state of the manager. Forinstance if we go in the same market for strikers and one buys Michu at 2million pounds the other gets a Chamakh /Bendtner although he is slightly better . Now where is the logic.
    The club is not being run professionally like a company. I don’t know whether the team manager is the PRO of the club and if that is the case then Wenger is the worst PRO i have seen .He is bordering to stupidity by going public with stupid statements that he is going to buy players yet he is buying time.It has been obvious for our competitors to notice that we lack a defensive midfilder but Wenger never sees that and sees an Arteta in the shape of Song. He has the charisma to wait for the special talents of Diaby to come through injury as his position is guaranteed in the starting line up. In essence buying a replacement in that position is fatal . Am reliably informed that Ramsey was dropped off team captaincy from Wales due to his technical inability.Wenger reciprocates the favour by awarding him a five year contract.No one in the market is even willing to buy and neither do you hear any rumour about him. I equally have a feeling he is going to start the game today ahead of Podolski. I don’t understand why Wenger never bothers to fill the puzzle.This season it has been clear that the missing link is a Mvilla kind of player but he is just adamant and sturbborn to buy . The possible feeling is that he gets commissions off these players secretly for rewarding them with contracts at arsenal. Is any one aware of Diaby’s contract situation cause it should by now be left with a year or so.

  98. Delano. If its not about money, why have Arsenal , United, City, and Chelsea consistently stayed at the top. Why arn’t Exeter, Torquay, Mansfield challenging for the premiership. I will tell you w hy…. Wonga, spondulicks, greenbacks, call it what you like they don’t have money.

    M,villa has proved himself to be trouble. If he is so great how come nobody wants him

    And am sorry but suggesting tha t Wenger is lining his pockets at the expense of the team (if that is what you are suggesting) is plain insulting to Arsenals greatest ever manager

  99. This lot are the worst excuse of a football team without the ball and defensively you will ever see.
    We dont have one half decent defender.
    Starting Diaby is nothing short of ridiculous…are we that bad that we can only put out a half fit guy whos no games under his belt vs the champions.
    And on top of it all they charged so much for this game that the away team returned 900 tickets.
    The club is a joke.

  100. @Shambo am equally shocked. Am still puzzled with the patience arsenal fans have got to endure at the expense of this rubbish performance. Wilshere was the only player who played with passion. The rest were utter rubbish.We should have lost even if we were not 10 men. For how long are we going to endure this WENGER ERA. Small clubs like Sunderland and the likes made City fight for a point but a top club like arsenal fell flat and we were out played with a team whose best players were out. I just wish Wenger his luck as he fools so many fans while his pockets are bulking. Just disgusted as i don’t see arsenal getting a point at Stamford bridge.

  101. Fuckin’ eh you guys.
    The lot of you have been here long enough to know I’m no quitter.
    But this is a lost campaign.
    copy and paste this one for when I’m telling somebody else not to talk smack.
    1) We will not win a trophy.
    2) We will not qualify for either the champions league or the europa cup.
    and le pfofessor isn’t going anywhere.
    Until this team losses money for the board we are stuck with the stick.

  102. Delano,
    Hes gotta go, and Gazidis and Kroenke.
    Does anyone think Kroenke is sat on his ranch worrying about the teams performance up to this point? If he is worried about anything it will be more about the negative attention the £62 charge for away fans tickets that saw 900 of the 3,000 allocated returned.
    Prem Chief R Scudamore today backed Citys fans stance against the shicking prices.
    Arsenal fans are beung fleeced every week and keep coming back yet a team that have to pay once a season refuse the price on principle.
    This clubs reputation is really starting to suffer, already the world regards us as a feeder club and now fans dont want to come to the stadium for what is supposed to be a glamour tie.
    Retsub how can you say Wengers pockets arent being lined at the expense of the club?
    Hes on more money than Ferguson, hes second only to Mourinho in manager Saleries, he was awarded this contract off the back of keeping fans in the dark with smoke and mirrors and lies, ie selling our best and promising reinvestment only to then string us on saying he believes in this group. He signed an IMPROVED contract a while back off the back of balance sheets and NOT on field performance. Then he talks about integrity and obscene amounts of money being spent, financial fairplay and how he wont overpay on a player fee or salary. Hes a hypocrite because he signed that contract for more money while the club was regressing under his watch yet he risks everything with key players by allowing their contracts to run down and offers the Matas of the world substandard wages whilst he continues to earn big.
    He is costing the club financially because he isnt worthy of his salary in terms of football management and he is costing the club any progress because he is a slave to this obsession he has to be proven right about his philosophy. he wont even change the formation!
    He started Diaby today, ludicrous and smacks of favouritism once again, hes the must fragile guy in world football but if hes able to tie his boots hes ALWAYS selected, he wasnt ready for City or any other PL opposition today- Madness.
    He persists with Gervinho- Madness.
    He said he didnt sign Ba because he was too similar to Giroud- sheer lunacy.
    He once again drags his heels through another transfer window even though we need reinforcements NOW!!!
    He needs to leave at seasons end while theres still a chance for him to leave on good terms and while we still have the likes of Wilshere because if he stays he will potentially cripple us for years. Heres why; if you think the club is struggling now financially and bekieve the tripe your being fed the what do you think it will be like next season?
    No Champs league money.
    Even less transfer activity because theres no funds and wage cap and lack of CL football makes it near impossible to attract quality, as hard as thst is even now, just imagine.
    It costs £13 for a fish and chips today at the emirates, what will it be like when they really need your cash for revenue?
    Family Day out at the Emirates will cost you £200.
    Wenger, Gazidis, Kroenke. Three of the biggest bullshitters you could ever meet but theyl be ok when the shit hits the fan, or should I say when the shit hits the FANS because we are the ones who have been suffering and will continue to suffer qhile these men continue to call the tune at our club.
    Money grabbing lieing deceiving patronising hypocrites all of them.
    All aboard the Wenger Carousel for 2013

  103. @retsub, Wenger did well infact fantastic in 1st 7 years, but come on mate those days were measured by what your boys wan, dont you agree,…. SO TELL ME what have you wan in next 7 years or last 7 years. Every year the team seems to get weaker and softer. It does mot seem to be workimg with the lack of quality leaders. I m a hammer & will always be but I say what I see. West ham r a bogg standard team that can wag its tail from time to time. Stop being so blind as if “ou did not see “. Wenger is trying not to be a great manager by constantly purchasing non leaders. Its poor so say its poor, thats all. Forget other teams, @ present Wenger’s results are bloody bogg standard and he needs to change or go. All he needs to do is buy a diff type of player. He has enough that can create.

  104. @shambo – Puzzling. “Starting Diaby is nothing short of ridiculous…are we that bad that we can only put out a half fit guy whos no games under his belt”
    @leftcoast – Nice. “But this is a lost campaign.
    copy and paste this one for when I’m telling somebody else not to talk smack.
    1) We will not win a trophy.
    2) We will not qualify for either the champions league or the europa cup.
    and le pfofessor isn’t going anywhere.
    Until this team losses money for the board we are stuck with the stick”

    I just told someone today Wenger will leave us when we do not qualify for the champs league next season. Aiming for fourth is completely absurd, but, this is why we WONT make fourth. Aim for the EPL and fourth could be a little compensation, but aiming for fourth is a total disaster. People like Retsub have seen better days and for all i care, I think he is right in some ways. But, this manager can actually do better than what he puts out week in week out to fight for us. He just makes us look for who to blame on the pitch. What was Diaby doing starting in the first place? And some of us are gonna say “Diaby is very good”, but it makes a mockery of all of us. Sacrificing Diaby instead of the Ox for Metesacker (who should’ve started himself) was the ONLY thing to do. Now, we will start blaming this and that…………..pure bullshit. Just direct all your blames on Wenger. Diaby or Ramsey will not be my scapegoat anymore cos no one should tell me the richest manager in England does not know how to pick a team anymore. He is done coaching, he should resign honourably before he takes us to relegation.

    He claims we have a complete squad hence the need not to buy this January and probably this summer too cos Diaby is like a NEW January signing and Ramsey is his favorite pet. But, where is this imaginary squad? He never plays Arshavin or Rosicky anymore, we just have a squad on paper……on the pitch?……he just messes things up and causes everyone to fight with the analysis while he sits back and makes money, taking no blame whatsoever……Where was he when shitty were pressing for the first ten minutes?……..Why couldn’t he reorganize immediately like Chelsea did against barca or like how he did in the second half?………Mourinho is ten times the coach Wenger will never be. I respect him for the ability to train and organize his team to play top matches even with nine men.

    If this guy doesnt leave us this summer, Retsubs worst fears will be real again and we WILL nose-dive. I hope it wont be too late for a cash splash then cos which EXCEPTIONAL players would wanna come play non-champs league footy for ya?

  105. @shambo, sorry bout hammers performance mate, left energy @ Manure game. Wengers boys looked like boys against mem. One dimensional, no plan B, stupid lookimg mamager who will not change. Agree with you but some judge sucess as top 4 & balance sheet or dividends 4 the board & tkt £62

  106. Here it is. Wengers weekly wage at Arsenal.
    You ready???………€9M per annum.
    Thats €173,570 per week.
    Thats €36 for a 4 year contract.
    Thats 1 Demba Ba 7.5m, 1 Michu 2m, 1 Smalling/Jones 7m , 1 Vertonghen 8m, 1 Dembele 10m….etc etc etc.
    Or alternatively Arsene you CAP yourself at 100,000 and offer RvP an extension when he had two years left on his contract and offer Mata the wage he deserves and Valencia the extra million they wanted, how bout that.
    Jesus theres just so much shit we probably dont even know the half of going on at this club it turns my stomach…where are all the people that cared about what Arsenal was gone?
    David Dein, Lady bracewell smith?
    As long as the ignorant tow the Wenger sheep line and back him and his blatant liesand deception then we are fucked.
    Wenger Bkames the board, board says he has money, fans are bemused, transfer wimdow closes, gap between ourselves and contenders lengthens, we exit cups without a whimper, Wenger says judge me in summer, Wenger goes on holidays, Wenger says club are looking to improve squad, star player (nornally cpt) demands exit- goes to rival you finished double figure points behind only two months back, Wenger promises replacement, Wenger says clubs want obscene amount for THEIR STAR MAN, Wenger reneges on promise and dips into french middle of the road clubs, Wenger unveils a Gervinho/ Chamakh, fans are bemused, Gervinho/Chamakh signs lucrative 60,000 a week + contract, Theo Walcott is bemused- ‘if their worth 60,000 then surely Im worth 100,000’, Wenger says squad has matured and learned from mistakes and hidings, Diaby and Rosicky injure eachother in a freak game of Monopoly gone wrong- due back mid January, were 12pts off the pace at christmas, Club says weve even more money now with sponsorship deal, Wengers says we only want quality, Wenger says he is on the lookout, Gazidis says funds are available, Wenger says Jan transfer window doesnt work, Wenger says returning Diaby and Rosicky like two new signings, transfer window closes weve signed a 7 year old mexican paperboy for $4- Wenger says he has great potential, drive and a great set of teeth, February sees us eliminated from fa cup, March sees us exit CL, Wenger says judge me in May, Gazidis says Wenger is Arsenal, Kroenke buys another 500acre ranch, Arsenal finish 20pts off eventual winners, Wenger says fourth is a trophy, rumblings our star player wishes to leave, Wenger goes on holiday……..

  107. @retsub, every manager in the English league knows more about game than me or you…….:-/ whats your point. R u saying I cant comment. Some r rubbish, lie, steal (brown paper bags) cheat you name it. Why would Wenger not want to line his pockets?……….because thats sucess/reward for some people, it matters not where it comes from, its business not personal.

  108. I couldn’t have said any better Delano and Shambo. the Americam Kronke does not care about Arsenal , it is just a cash cow for him. As it was said above Wenger will leaves us at our lowest point, the new manager will need to rebuild from ashes.

    We made the CL last year because and if Manunited win the title this , it will be because RVP.
    All RVP wanted is Wenger to bring in quality players, look how he is thriving playing with Quality wingers and wingbacks?!
    We need the courage to say goodbye to Wenger and thank him for what he brought to the club. Otherwise , the man who brought us much glory in first 5 years , is the reason for our decline.

  109. I’ve

    Maybe I need to clarify. For all his faults I don’t believe Wenger would line his own pocket to the detriment of the club. Just my opinion but I believe he is an honest guy ( except what he sometimes misses on the pitch)

    I’m certainly not saying anyone can’t comment, that’s the beauty of a blog sharing opinions.

    There must be other Wenger supporteRs here though?? Speak up guys

  110. Retsub,
    I really cannot believe you are appealing for people to come out in support of Wenger, 173,000 a week he earns for these displays and these signings?
    You need to worry about your Club mate, Wenger will be fine when he leaves Arsenal. But Arsenal will not be.

  111. Well Retsub,
    I have to give it to you. you’re a rock.
    God bless.
    Will the scales never fall away?

  112. Well, I guess I’m the other Wenger supporter who feels resigning immediately is the best option. I dont know how else to support a man who cannot buy top top players, but sells his most valuable players every year. Shitty are now officially stronger than we are, when did we last take second in EPL? We are all wasting time, cos believe it or not, WE WILL NOT QUALIFY FOR THAT CHAMPS LEAGUE next season except we get the sort of boost only a new signing can give. A returning Diaby is a crassly inadequate sick joke.

    But, @shambo – this is pure cold humor…”Wenger Bkames the board, board says he has money, fans are bemused, transfer wimdow closes, gap between ourselves and contenders lengthens, we exit cups without a whimper, Wenger says judge me in summer, Wenger goes on holidays, Wenger says club are looking to improve squad, star player (nornally cpt) demands exit- goes to rival you finished double figure points behind only two months back, Wenger promises replacement, Wenger says clubs want obscene amount for THEIR STAR MAN, Wenger reneges on promise and dips into french middle of the road clubs, Wenger unveils a Gervinho/ Chamakh, fans are bemused, Gervinho/Chamakh signs lucrative 60,000 a week + contract, Theo Walcott is bemused- ‘if their worth 60,000 then surely Im worth 100,000′, Wenger says squad has matured and learned from mistakes and hidings, Diaby and Rosicky injure eachother in a freak game of Monopoly gone wrong- due back mid January, were 12pts off the pace at christmas, Club says weve even more money now with sponsorship deal, Wengers says we only want quality, Wenger says he is on the lookout, Gazidis says funds are available, Wenger says Jan transfer window doesnt work, Wenger says returning Diaby and Rosicky like two new signings, transfer window closes weve signed a 7 year old mexican paperboy for $4- Wenger says he has great potential, drive and a great set of teeth, February sees us eliminated from fa cup, March sees us exit CL, Wenger says judge me in May, Gazidis says Wenger is Arsenal, Kroenke buys another 500acre ranch, Arsenal finish 20pts off eventual winners, Wenger says fourth is a trophy, rumblings our star player wishes to leave, Wenger goes on holiday……..” I like it.

    @Retsub – What you are so afraid of will definitely catch up with you again. Get to grisps with this thing. Manure took out their last money, took off Berbatov and got RVP. What is happening now? It makes us all look like fools. What are we doing with all that money in the bank? We bought jibberish and leaves who wont give us titles, but because they are cheap, Wenger lines his pockets yet again. Because you are not getting the heart attack whenever we play rubbish does not mean millions of supporters are happy. Very soon, Cazorla will be rubbish right in our faces and the supporters are gonna want him out and Wenger will begin to field his Ramsey ahead of him. How long has it taken us to know Giroud or Diaby is shit? Yet, the manager MUST be right for fielding them ahead of others.

    We can all talk what we like, but if this guy does not strengthen us by buying, then we will be in for it. There’s the Celta Vigo striker with a funny name, there was Michu once upon a time. Where are the so called scouts? Here, we buy a Podolski and play him perpetually on the left (so he does not have the opportunity to show us what he can do), while we go ahead experimenting in a lot of games with a below average Giroud.
    How long have i said here that Walcott and Podolski are way better than Giroud? How long did it take the most expensive manager in the EPL to find this out? Just when we had any sort of balance, he destroys it by tinkering on trusting Diaby just returning from injury. So, WHERE IS THIS BIG SQUAD NOW? What if Diaby did not return? Please, let us take our answer there.

  113. GUYS WENGER IS A COMPLETE JOKE AROUND.DID ANY OF YOU SEE GIROUD TAKE ANY SHOT AT GOAL. IN 90 MINUTES I ONLY MANAGED TO SEE A WALCOTT SHOT. THE COACH DOESN’T KNOW HIS TEAM. PAIRING TV&KOSCIENLY WAS SUICIDAL AS BOTH ARE THE SAME AND HAVE NEVER PLAYED BETTER TOGETHER. Its obvious Metasacker has been our best defender and could have evenly matched Edin zeko in the air and for the ball.He opted not to play him. Why do our defenders defend infront of strikers. Is this Steve Bould’s influence or Wengers . Am just shocked how we are always caught having to chase strikers. This guy must be joking. An inspired Arsenal team used to win games even when down to ten men or rescue a point but it is impossible nowadays. Emirates has been a slaughter house for all arsenal’s batterings and one wonders when we will ever create a fear factor at home. If you can win home games and you can’t win away games then we don’t deserve to play in Europe again. I just hope we don’t play there again so that we all loose. At the moment it is the board gaining at the expense of the fans. Champions league money goes to the board,star players money to the board. Its better we are out of Europe and incomes dwindle as it will pump some sense of rationality amongst these three morons of directors.

  114. I’m thinking we WILL have to do a Chelsea and win the UCL to qualify for next seasons competition. BUT, we clearly dont have a manager willing to play flexible footy like a RDM did. Instead, he’s gonna get a hammering after the window is closed and we wait like shambo said for the summer yet again. I’m sure Gervinho leaving is why we lost yesterday. If only we had Gervinho to call upon.

    If Cheski could survive barca away with ten men, I dont know what excuse Arsene has for messing up yesterday? Gibbs has been our weak link in recent weeks now, how many people have noticed a lot of goals conceded are from there? What has Wenger done to solve this?

    The Ox should’ve remained on the pitch and Diaby sacrificed, this should’ve been the main talking point. The Ox would’ve been able to run up and down and complement Sagna more. Wilshere and Cazorla go in the middle while Podolski blocks the left with Gibbs. Get the ball to Cazorla to look for Walcott on a counter should’ve been the game, but our rudderless ship always gets no directions or inspiration from the bench until halftime…..especially when it matters.

  115. @Gunnerboss , the difference with Chelsea an us , they had Drogba, Lampard , Cahill, players with strong characters with a never die attitude. Only Wisher and maybe TV have those qualities. Most our players are soft and weak minded ready lay down at the first sign of adversity.

  116. Wow that stirred up some interest. Too many points to respond to, but a few responses

    shambo I guess I wasn’t looking for support for Wenger, but more for support of my sanity. Surely I am not the only one out their?

    I have supported Arsenal all my life and that is a whole lot longer than the majority of people here. After many years of winning nothing I saw some success under Bertie Mee and George Graham. Without doubt
    Wenger is the most successful manager in Arsenals history. Now I may have a missguided senses of loyalty (note the may) but I will be eternally grateful for what Wenger did for the club.

    Whilst the last two years haven’t been great, we were unlucky not to win something in the 5 years preceding that, Eduardo breaking his leg etc

    So maybe I will stand alone in support of Wenger. Maybe I am wrong in my support, only time will tell. But I will not stand by and see a great man like Wenger be called an idiot, cheat, liar etc

  117. “Wenger told reporters: “There is urgency [in resolving his future]. I want it resolved by Christmas.” This is dated 1 Nov 2012

    Yet its 2013 and still no resolution. So i’ll tell you whats going to happen
    1. News broke about 2 weeks ago that walcott was close to signing a new deal all of a sudden its gone quite again which makes me wonder if this was done as a delay tactic to not sign anybody new.
    2. Then low and behold around the same time wenger comes out then goes back on his initial word of making a new signing buy saying that we have to sort out this walcott issue first before we can sign anybody. all this time the contract window is getting smaller. See the pattern of delay tactics.
    3. Then when the window shuts he will say that he though walcott would have stayed and we would not have has any need to buy. Real Pattern eh!!!!

    I really expected walcott to be sold BUT i think that nobody has comes in for him as well and that’s because he not good enough, he has improved i must confess BUT am sorry he won’t cut it for me and other clubs am sure have come up with the same conclusion, the pool bought sturidge instead of theo.

    Ultimately the fans are to blame for this situation as i’v said before i nomore blame the players its gone beyond that, the manager is the one to be blamed
    and as long as he stays we are doomed.

    BUT guys i’v listen to wenger for many years and of late he’s beginning to be a little critical of the players in public which is unlike him and am worried.
    He has also started this new highly expensive English Experiment, This suggest to me one thing and one thing only and that’s wenger signing a new contract. As soon as we go on a good run he will pen a new deal mark my words he has no intention of leaving, he has all the power in the world at Arsenal with no pressure, why should he leave????
    And i’v always said that the club and wenger is smack full of double standards he complains about ridiculous money in the game YET look at his salary per year.

    The fans are to blame and only the fans can remove wenger and until the stadium keeps turning up empty then its a waste of time.

    wenger is a brilliant thinker, he planned this from the very start to make sure he stayed in control.
    1. Make sure we get an owner who does not give a crap about football.
    who in there right mind would put Kroenke before Usmanov,
    wenger will!! because Usmanov is football man as well as a businessman and wenger would be held accountable.
    2. Surround your self with a set of executives that are not football people, Gazidis for one. So for everything football wenger must be consulted because there is noone else on the know at the club, and that’s how wenger has set this up.
    Even if we finished outside the CL place he would still be here because there in noone else to run the ship. What a perfect plan by wenger.

    VOTE with your wallets its the only way to stop Arsenal from ending up like monaco under wenger rein.

  118. And i forgot to mention even if they are to select a new manager wenger will have to be involved because there is noone around the club with the ability to do this, so you see how deep this shit runs. A club totally dependent on the all say and all do of one man. I hope Arsenal as a club learn from this experience and NEVER, NEVER give a manger this kind of power again.

  119. @gunnerboss- guess giroud must be shit in your eyes and walcott cant do any wrong his da perfect angel for you last week game against swansea he played da whole game as a striker while giroud at least made da keeper work three times with saves while walcott miss cue a shot a goal, giroud played with a cut knee and created an excellent pass for gibbs to finish while walcott played da invisible man. Same thing yesterday walcott played da full length game had one shot on goal but lescott was in da way, before that walcott was da invisible man, giroud came on second half and had one shot on goal which went wide, second half was atleast watchable with arsenal playing da long ball to mertesacker and giroud.

    I really enjoy that paragraph @shambo on wenger buys, but you cant turn your eyes on a player who is atleast making an impact note arsenal are not playing to what he does best and say walcott must play as striker when he cant even show himself on da pitch when going get tough. So give credit where credit is due ! we all must eat humble pie now and again with this unpredictable arsenal side

  120. restub -this guy is no lucky charm to us 1 win in 17 games, not a record fans can be please about, i wonder how many times does this guy referee our games in a season. This game was our own doing which ever way u look at it.

  121. I’m sick of hearing about how fabulous Wilshere is.
    What a pack of Shite.
    He still couldn’t hold Patrick Vieira’s jockstrap in his fucking teeth,
    What Wishere is is white and English and that by far is the best part of his game.
    (when he can stay on his feet).

  122. 12th man don’t disagree it was our own making, but whenever I see Dean I fear the worst. There is footage on u tube of him supposedly celebrating a Saha goal against Arsenal. It’s stretching it a bit, but bad things hppen when he is around.

    Lefty, Wilshire is no Vieira yet but he’s heading in the right direction

  123. Leftcoast,
    Brother….Im surprised at you.
    If you think Wilshere is that far behind Vieira then where does that leave Diaby, Walcott, Gervinho and the rest of them, how far away from Vieira are those guys for commitment to the cause?
    No Wilshere yesterday would have meant a 5-0 loss he was the only one chasing and disrupting them whilst also trying to get us moving forward, city had three men booked and 1 red carded all for fouls on him because he puts his body on the line for Arsenal.
    Walcotts a joke, hes a five aside guy who finishes off the move but if he were in the middle phase of it hed mess it up because he cant pass or control the ball, it has to be laid on with the pace of the ball near stone dead for him to have any success.
    Kel is right, noone else wants him at his salary demands because he doesnt cut it, he has no drive and definately no bottle, hence why hell be rewarded at Arsenal, financially, which is of course what this games about, money…according to Arsenal AFC anyway.
    Wilshere is the best we have because he is the last person at the club with a vision of what we were because he grew up looking at Adams, Wright, Bergkamp, Henry, Vieira…. he knows what this club was once about, we set new standards…fucksake our crest says FORWARD..but Arsene Wenger thinks thinks that it is Arsene FC and has lost the plot.
    Tell me this somebody, anybody.
    If you invest in youth, selling your stars and hedging all your bets on a youth policy while fans suffer while they learn their trade, bear with me, how can you then set a wage cap???
    If you buy a young guy like Walcott at 16 and give him 25,000 a week, then reward him at 19 with a 50,000 a week 4year extension, then at 23 offer him 85,000 for 4 more years and he signs…what do you do now when he is 27???? you wont pay 100,000 a week wages so this ‘policy’ os doomed to failure before it ever began…you will never get to see the days of inexperience returned with quality because the policy is fundementally flawed because unless the player and agent are happy to go through their prime and last contract at the same salary as their previous two or even three then the player can not stay at Arsenal.
    Its just so ridiculous the more you look at what Wenger has done.
    Wilshere is reportedly now on 85,000 a week…so what will his next contract be worth a week???
    Degree in Economics my left sac.

  124. @shambo
    A lot of what you have said is true and money ruins football in my opinion. Before the big bucks came along anyone of a number of clubs could challenge for the title and teams like Forest, Villa and Derby succeeded. Unless they become a rich persons toy I can’t see it happening again.

    But just for the sake of clarity ( and your left sac) if Arsenal don’t pay Wilshire the sum quoted somebody else will and then you get a Nasri, RVP type situation and all the doom merchants surface.

    Now you can rightly say that a lot of the other players are on inflated salaries and nobody wants them. But with wages being determined by supply sand demand , I’d argue that Wilshire is on a decent wage. Isn’t Nasri on £150k a week. I would take Jack any day.

  125. Just like 12man said, we all here resemble fools because whenever any sort of player is in front, others have to adapt a pattern of getting the ball to him without which he becomes useless. The problem I have here is that we seem to have forgotten completely the art of counter-attacking. Who would be the best pick as CF? Walcott and Podolski….PERIOD. Can Giroud run? So, in other words, if Giroud is playing we should do long balls and more crosses to the box. Possession game should be paused immediately Giroud comes in, cos it does not seem to work with him. Why I say Giroud is shit is cos, so far from what we play some others seem better suited to the CF.

    Magreed bought Anelka from us as a superstar, what happened to him in madrid? Lasted one season, but helped in the champs league win and that was it. Madrid will not use Anelka the way Arsenal did because that means looking for a Bergkamp type player. So, let us stop fighting and reason properly. I’m not the one that sets up the tactics.

    Its was so sad to see Ramsey playing ahead of Cazorla in the second half, Cazorla pushed passes from our half to Ramsey in the other half atleast two times. How on earth does our coach expect Ramsey to do better at distribution or whatever than Cazorla in the final third? It should be the other way round. This has been my main grouse, its just that we end up blaming the poor players. It was so clear for all to see Diaby was as sloppy as a bitch in labour and yet he got more than an hour and the effervescent Ox was sent to rest on the bench after about a 10th of the game.

    This is our main problem, not who puts his body on the line or who runs up and down the most. Are we saying Cazorla is not good anymore? I saw this coming. Fight only Wenger

  126. @gunnerboss are u serious no wonder arsenal have no game plan and are one dimensional if they play against reading da counterattacking football they will win becoz reading open play football and are poor quality, but when they play different opposition its just too predictable and easy workout what to do counterattacking,now shouldnt you have 2options one play da fast pace counterattacking and second if does not work out you can cross da ball like da midfielders do almost 90% and there will be sum1 heading da ball in,its so easy for u to judge without looking of da different of having pace and placing da ball in da net.

  127. @12th man
    Sorry Dutch, we don’t do that. The Arsenal way is to knock the ball around slowly and without any obvious intention. Then, just as we have the oppositon lulled into complacency they score two goals in rapid succession and take all 3.
    We do have a plan “b” this year. We will sell our best player to a long hated rival and by doing so secure our own fucking doom. Or was that last year’s plan “B”?
    Too clever by half plus or minus a few drachma.

  128. Wenger was stubborn , is stubborn and will be stubborn.

    So it is not going to change but i still agree and believe he is one of our best managers and he is honest, but not willing to adapt to the present circumstances and expect a miracle to happen in financial fair play.

    His lies are his reflection on his leadership qualities on believing his players, and will to achieve things in the way he wants to or board wants to, without any attention to fans expectation

    My worries are:
    1) We don’t have a league top scorer to secure us the 4th spot unless the team gets up and puts up a fighting spirit as a whole. Chelsea,Liverpool and Spurs are not going to give up as they proceed.
    2) Wage structure – This will keep us always fighting for the 4th spot or sometimes lower with whatever finances we have.Even financial fair play is not going to work the way wenger expects. Players salary will come down and wenger will still have a big list of bench players and it doesn’t even prevent our star players to move as long as other teams runs in profit, they will afford. Financial fair play will give a revolution in the way the revenues get generated by the clubs and surely smarter clubs will find ways to increase their revenue. One such idea of mine is an Arsenal Theatre or Virtual Arsenal Stadium in overseas countries.
    3) Injuries to Cazorla and Arteta – This is something inevitable if wenger plays them every match.
    4) Possession based football – The team will not able to command possession or dominate unless they find a player who can dictate the play.
    5) Ramsey,Diaby and Gervinho will realise their potential and become star players one day , but we won’t be able to afford them on that day.

    Please wenger ,just shut up your little boy talking or whatever you have and be realistic to the present needs and concentrate on the tactics of games and think about silverware rather than coaching your players for future and expecting them to be loyal or sell them for good price.

  129. Somehow someone hypnotize wenger to get rid of that wage structure. I am scared that someday it will put us into relegation zone when we have bunch of our star players injured and our future stars in bench lead the way into first team with a bunch of market denied flops.

    Wenger will neither buy as he always considers injured players as a new signing and nor will be able to sell.

  130. Am loosing more and more and more respect for the manager everyday when he comes out with interviews likes this, if this does not confirm that we need a new manager then i don’t know what, I which i could have a one and one with wenger to tell him a few pleasant words, my patience is all but gone.

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-boss-arsene-wenger-claims-1536089

    So we are 21 points behind the leaders and “WE HAVE A GOOD SQUAD”

    And how the hell can’t we find no body to improve this very average team.

    And i want to ask wenger one more question, if walcott doesn’t sign until Jan 31st then will we wait until that time to invest????

    As i said in my last post all this talk is delayed tactics nobody of no significance will come in.
    That’s why i can’t understand after all this time and all the the things that wenger says which he keeps repeating every season that people come here and defend him, how could you take a man serious??? when he says, this team is good, and the the worst of the lot ” he can’t find anybody to improve this squad” wenger has lost it.

    This is because of the power he has, too much, its destroying the club, this is the most divided time in this clubs history, all the big decisions are made with out the fans in mind, all they want is our money, and to hell with us.
    As i’v said before i love this club BUT Until i see the money being used to address the glaring issues in this team they will not get a dime from me again as long as wenger is in charge new sponsor or no new sponsor.
    am fed up with the lies and neglect.
    wenger you can go jump in a lake your the devil in disguise…

  131. When is the penny going to drop here?
    Its been 6 years now and its the same EVERY game.
    Whethers its off the back of a home loss vs a big side, a loss vs a poor side, a replay vs a div 2 side or the next game after the exit from a cup, this team just approaches each game with a criminal lack of drive r purpose.
    Every fucking game is the same. No urgency, no pressing, they all want easy ball to feet, Walcott falling over his own feet.
    Giroud applauding himself the one time he does keep the ball.
    What has happened to Cazorla? hes the new Arshavin.
    is there any goalposts at london colney?
    Get Wenger out whether its that he cant motivate them or that he bought the most passive, unaware bunch of players in world football either way its his fault.
    Do they know this is all they can win?
    Do they think the Bradford game was a bad dream?
    Bunch of overpaid boys that think there playing out on their front green with jumpers for goalposts.
    Get the fuckin fingers out.

  132. Guys am watching the game 1st half and it looks dejavu again. What the hell is Giroud doing on that pitch. PODOLSKI would have been more deadly.Again another self destruction burton by Wenger again. Mind you Michu is not yet on that pitch.I hope we score to avoid penalties.

  133. Should we loose this game.This moron of coach must go .Lest he watches all the remaining matches alone.Demba ba has just scored for Chelsea, Ronnie has already scored and this bitch of a coach never saw anything different between Demba and Giroud.Giroud never understands what it means to put the ball in the net. Complete rubbish.Again Wilshere is playing his heart out. Walcott is doing the same but Giroud spoils all the formations up front.

  134. 70mins gone. Laudrup has made 3 changes trying to win the game.
    What has wenger done. Looks like hes still preoccupied trying to zip his coat.

  135. Good player that Sagna is, he offers very little from an attacking perspective. In fact his left foot crosses were more accur ate.

    Well done Jack getting better every game

  136. A great manager once said ” you are what your record says you are” … So our position in the league 6th and 21 points behind the first is well deserved .

    I read all these useless arguments about tactics , one player over another.
    What has been one constant at Arsenal over the last 15 years? Wenger
    What has changed over that period of time ? Players

    Wenger still has the same coaching philosophy , he has not forgotten how to coach in the last 7 years. The quality of players is not the same. I would contend that if he had in his squad today players like: Henry, Viera, Kolo, Campbell, Cesc, Pires, RVP, Petit, Kanu, Ashley Cole… We would be competing for a title!

    I am now convinced that Wenger was never a very good manager. Was it Dean behind the decisions to bring all these great talents? Were there great scouts who left the club?
    One thing is sure , I no longer trust WEnger’s judgement on players. Hence he should leave.

  137. Oh please, get real. i fully understand people compaining about Wengers current performance, but trying to suggest that the great years were despite him is so funny its hilarious

  138. @shambo
    “Little Willy” fluffed his lines more than a few times before a finish that I am much grateful for.
    Even that though was not the toughest part of the play

  139. @delano -giroud miss a couple shot on goals, average performance i agree,but his performance was no more worst than walcott, so i am not sure what match you watching, but like @gunnerboss u will be arrogant like wenger and still insist that walcott can miss sitters in front of goal and he just cant be wrong, so lets see now! his corners kicks went far away from the attacking players, first chance on goal one on one with da keeper he does a suarez act instead of scoring which nothing came off, second chance with open goals insight he kicks it straight at danny graham not forgetting he lost the ball on numerous occasion,great going mr invisible man,walcott.
    now delano and other giroud haters-yes giroud didnt score but didnt he laid gibbs wit a pass for a goal at swansea and again for wilshere last night,no eat that humble pie with both ur hands!

    give credit were its due even though walcott is english and have been overated there will be times were he will come good in certain games and have bad games not to remember same with giroud i am not a fan of him but hate it when one player must be hated by others and other get all da credit for been awful.

  140. @Restub – mr @gunfest does have a point watching arsenalfc these past few years da calibre of players he has brought in as pretty much been average with out the mr dein and others, yes! i will put giroud in there as well, the fans have been been through the good and bad times for example a few years ago arsene told us these players are the future nasri, van persie, ramsey,denilson,djourou and much more and they should be competing for titles and now some of them are not wanted targets and some of them ran off to win elsewhere,these guys that left didnt regret it. if wenger cant see a eight goal drubbing at old trafford, numerous opportunies to win silverware, a number of opportunies to buy quality players in da bargain range, has no feelings to what the fans are suffering with,dont see the weakness in da team and change it, why does he deserve to stay? becoz the players might put on poor performances if he left well whenever there is a door closing there will be a door opening for a new chapter of success, lets step up and remove only our number one issue for success mr wenger!

    leftcoast and others-did u see how wenger jacket didnt want to zip up, poor bastard it more like a sign saying everyone not going to zip up mouth shut and listen up to his nonsense any longer.

    there news of wenger been interested in napoli main man- cavani, like that going to happen not with these fatcats board of directors and wenger who lost it all.

  141. 12th man

    Fair point and I agree that the calibre.of players has deteriorated. What I object to is the suggestion that we won trophies despite Wenger

  142. hmmmh okay u stay strong retsub,if you want us to give da man some praise for what he done, fine he got it for those trophies, now move on dont let da die hard fans suffer becoz wenger trying to correct his errors these seasons with fragile unconsistent players.

  143. Well I give Wenger a lot of credit for our playing style and getting the most of the talented players for the first 7 years. I am doubting his judgement when we see his track record for the last 7 years.
    You don’t have to be one world best paid manager to realize that Frank Sylvestre was a mediocre defender, a reject by Fergie. Squillacci was not even a first choice at Lyon .
    He actually thought that Denilson could play DM , Chamakh, Ramsey, Djourou, Kos, Almunia, Gervinho and many more … are players who are good enough to Arsenal’s jersey

  144. @12th man i didnt mean to be personal against Giroud. I criticized him because he started the central striker role against Swansea and indeed Walcott started on the wing.If we watched the same game as i think you did, You could have known that Giroud splandered alot of chances in the first ten minutes due to his un seriousness in the box.I personally saw Chamakh fall down the pecking order because of his so called interplay by holding up the ball for advancing midfielders.Don’t get fooled by Giroud my friend. A real striker must be greedy and ruthless in the box nothing more nothing less.Credit for the assist but then we should have burried Swansea in the first ten minutes at the Emirates. Walcott missed sitters but the desire to score and shoot at goal at any opportune time was evident. Credit to their keeper who was having a beast of a game. I love Giroud as a striker and not a hold up player. His role is to score and shoot at goal. Simple.@David dein what business has he got to do with fans venting their frustration to wenger.Hypocritical of him because it very clear that the game during his days was great with great players and has deteriorated nowadays.I hope we win at Stamford bridge once again although i dont see that happening other than another thumping or a draw. Am sure if we are thumped Wenger will immediately open the money valves.

  145. Walcott signs 100,000 a week contract even though hes only worth half that.
    100,000 a week for a guy whos fast and a good finisher…but cant dribble, anticipate, control a pass, head, tackle, track back, he cant hold up the ball, hell go missing when you need him….and what does this mean for his next contract when hes 25….does he get bumped up to 140,000 a week when we wernt offering this to the best striker in the world and wont offer it to sign big names.
    The logic of this club is ridiculous.
    Walcott signed because noone came in for him. Pool signed Sturridge…I cant believe Van Persie wasnt offered a big money deal when he had two years left but Theo is worth 100,000 having mediocre scoring and assists record.
    Stupid men in charge at this club

  146. So walcott gets what he wants,but there a question that remains. walcott was allowed the chance to talk too different clubs so who were these clubs?, a real brain twister,i just cant think of hearing or seeing any establish prestige clubs asking for his signature,i sightly feel wenger and the board were pressurized into this one or walcott was not loved elsewhere and came to le grove.

    delano- giroud has got to hold up of ball until da midfielders come aboard, that part of his game, looking back at thierry henry i believe we do need a pacey,hard working and good finisher of a striker not that giroud is not good enough but becoz of the system of counter attacking which does not suit him
    he just lacks da pace that an arsenal striker needs.

  147. @12thman. Am happy you are in consonance with me. Dont you think if we played the two assuming Giroud had good technical ability in the box they could complement one another.
    Think about the matrix. Combining Walcott with pace and Podolski whose cultured left foot and accuracy are superb on the attack. This would do wonders but Wenger wants the fellow country man not to fail just like he has done to Diaby and now Squillachi at the expense of fans feelings.Whatever podolski doesn’t have in terms of height he compensates with power and accuracy.@ Walcott am personally very happy not because i love him but for the prospect of him playing for our title rivals and scoring against us. In all fairness very few fans wouldn’t be happy with the most senior player and leading goal scorer staying with us . All we need now is atleast a defensive midfielder and we shall he a chance at top four or even top three if we turn on the heat starting with a win at Stanford Bridge.It is winnable if we attack them at breathtaking pace since they have an important Capital one Cup to play for soon.

  148. @delano- i have been saying that for a while if a team plays another match during the weekdays we might have a upper hand with their mind elsewhere and which players they rest but it hasnt work out on so many occasions as we still run out with a draw or nothing.

    u must agree with me @delano that walcott has been with us for along time and his childhood stage has expired some time ago with all da stars leaving us with da media tracking them walcott had plenty of time to learn da basics and whats require of him but he still a raw talent thats what upset me, its not about kick and run its also about playing da one two and linking up with others. questions will be raise about whether he matchs da new price tag .

    delano -while u watch polodski play have u seem him run out of steam becoz i cant seem understand why unless wenger whats to give others a chance but polodski takes it like a sportsman so he doesnt take it too heart still a concern

    leftcoast- do u know sumthing we dont on da transfer market there was sumthing on a new player with a five letter name,zalah i guess

  149. @delano- realistic buy for defensive midfielder would be diame from west ham, my personal choice would be rossi from roma but da when it comes to wenger probably kosciencly but just someone who will be active to run and up not forgetting with leadership quality.

  150. This is another embarrassing performance . Being runned ragged . Like men against boys! This is the difference between having world class players throughout your team and a team with a lot of average players.

  151. 12thman, diame better player due to competitive nature of prem, e also has more drive & desire. Dont think he likes your kit, so wont want to go, thats what he told me anyway. Look difficult 4 Asnl 2. finish top forward. Team not looking good enough.

  152. Last week Diaby was STARTED Vs City with no PL time under his belt in months, today it was Arshavin who was brought on away to Chelsea having not played a competitive PL game in ages.
    You cant expect Arshavin to come on into a London derby at Stamford bridge when your chasing the game and deliver, yet the man says the squad is strong enough.
    I just dont know.
    Giroud done better but he wont get you goals, Walcott will get you goals but wont work for the team. Mertesacker thinks he can play a high line though he has zero pace.
    So much has to fall right for this Arsenal team to win, yet so little has to happen for them to be beat.
    And once again we see the ungracious manager offer up a token handshake just before he hightails it down the tunnel.
    If he doesnt bring in quality, quality that should have been in last summer AND before the vital City and Chelsea games, then he has to stand down in the summer because either the players hes bought arent good enough or he cant coach.
    Either way the book stops with him.

  153. @ shambo
    Wenger step down!!!!!
    That and a flying donkey we will never see.

    Wenegr sat on the bench the whole first half as we played rubbish, at least change the personnel around, do something, saysomething. I’v lost all respect for wenger. To watch this team and say that you can’t find any player to make it better is total madness.
    21 points behind UNITED and that’s all he can say, am sick to may chest with wenger. We keep doing thing in the reverse.
    The players we should keep we let them go, the players we should sell we don’t, and we pay them 100k a week, NO part of theo walcott is worth that amount but what do you expect when you pay jack wilshire 85k a week.
    With Arsenal and wenger your sure to get more madness than anything else

  154. RVP just scored again and reenforced my point about selling the best and keep the not so good
    Everytime i see him score i blame wenger.
    wenger i wish i could see you in person to tell you a few unpleasant words.

  155. How do u think we would pay for RVP today? We need a fuckin striker. Diaby getting 3 games a week, Arshavin to come in and change the game??? Wenger has lost it completely. Why can’t people see it.
    he persists about not finding better players and no one wanting to leave his club in Jan. Excuses excuses.

  156. Wenger is like a stupid mad dictator wanting to trigger an Atomic bomb. He seems to be in a class of his own and takes opinion from no one.In fairness i think Wishere did his part, Walcott did his part but Carzola is lost for crying out loud. Diaby is a continuing joke.We need a complete fighter in that area not a Diaby or an Arteta. The defense is just rubbish because of a defensive midfielder. Had i been Wenger i would play Koscienly there as a DM than any of these bunch of idiots.We are a complete joke under Wenger. He chooses to play high line regardless of the opponent. He chooses to bench Podolski and Ox only to reward his son in law Diaby and Ramsey game time. there is no desire on the touch line. This moron of a coach flatters to deceive but in reality he has no love for the club. Spurs battled United to the death and they earned a deserved draw. But there is no desire to win in these mediocre players and their manager. In truth it will be a miracle if we can dare beat Spurs ,Liverpool or Everton to the top four. What hurts so much is that this Moron is arrogant and seems un touchable at the moment regardless of all fading hopes. Giroud being better than Demba ba is a mystry to me considering how rubbish he is playing there. He just can’t score. It is the coach who spoted this Frenchman to be so prolific.The future will be bright if we started playing Europa and of course with out this Moron of a coach.

  157. Kel,
    I dont say he should be sacked anymore because that should have happened a while back, so now I just say he should step down because as little chance there is of that, there is even less chance of him being sacked.
    Its like you say, we were two down and being overrun in the first half but he doesnt get up and instruct the team, the only time he is animated is when he argues with the fourth official, there is no other manager that whines souch at the F.O, at this stage Id say they dont even listen to him even if his point is valid.
    Yes we are a whopping 22 points off the lead and its not Feb yet, Liverpool have had a dismal season and are level with us…but Wenger will not mention how far we are away from the leaders because he will deflect attention away from this by talking about the race for fourth.
    Its fuckin sad actually that this deluded, stubborn, senile man was actually right about something….cos right now fourth would feel like a trophy to me.

  158. @Shambo
    Well that’s one thing we can agree on. Le Stick-Homme will not go away easily. I’m convinced that at this very moment he still believes he can turn things around by doing the same thing he’s been doing and that it is everyone and fates fault that it hasn’t yet come off right.
    But until the team goes so far down the board can’t make any money on it he will not go.
    What incredibly feeble excuse will he tender now to explain the lack of any attempt in the transfer market. The team is too good? As it now stands we are not only 22 points from the top of the table, we are only 18 from the bottom.
    Over to you Retsub…

  159. @12thman, your quite welome to Andrew Xmas Carol cause he’s costing us dearly with no return. Im sure a manager as knowledgeable as Arsene can get the best out of im cause Big Sam cant.
    Sorry to say, 4th spot looking unlikely especially as few players playing consistently to potential. Why do the boys arrive @ club with good reputation then fade a short while later. Was Wenger ever so special, if yes whats changed so much. Fewer points gained ever in Arsene’s reign @ this point of season & I thought last season was poor.

  160. I knew someone who does not watch our matches will start complaining about Cazorla. How dare you complain about our BEST player? Diaby gave away the ball and Chelski scored, yet Wenger does not still see that Wilshere is our best bet for DM for now besides Coquelin. Sloppy Diaby MUST be kept on the bench till he can learn some quick thinking and agility. He was a disappointment, he failed to hold the midfield again.

    Anyone saw Coquelin my boy today? He was awesome…. His best position is at DM, yet Wenger somehow does not seem to remember this.

    I already noted that Cazorla was behind Ramsey in our last game for much of the time. And he was like the LCM left central midfielder. How on earth is this justifiable? Now, is Wenger claiming Wilshere is the better attacking midfielder to Cazorla? It actually amazes me when fans buy rubbish like this. Cos, no one seems to protest about this or even notice it. We fans have a problem. It is the same Reyes problem, Walcott problem(though not too pronounced cos he got some games in CF), Arshavin problem and it is going to be the Cazorla problem now. Majority of our fans side the manager a lot cos they know no better. I got shocked when Shambo claimed selling Song and RVP was good cos Song was going out of position and VP was a bad influence. Delano all of a sudden sees nothing good in Cazorla, but claims Wilshere is doing fine. Have we thought for once, the more accurate Cazorla should be the one running behind the strikers and not Wilshere? Have we thought Giroud should not be starting any any means? i would start Walcott CF and Cazorla behind him in a 4-5-1, the rest would sort themselves out. Midfield battle would be my priority to control and win. You play to your strengths always FIRST, the rest of the team sorts itself out after that.
    I do not mind selling a VP for 24mil, but did we replace him with a Falcao or Cavani? How on earth do you sell the best player in the EPL and not replace him? Is it hunting us now? Is it hurting? Now, this(finishing 6th) is the ultimate price for our sort of sick and thrifty business. VP labelled us as lacking in ambition. Fans started hating on him. We brought in Podolski(not enough), but the Cazorla buy was a miracle. Now, with VP in the team, we would’ve had a decent shot at the title. But no, fans booed the best player in the EPL when he paid his way for a friendly in Germany and the coach decided there and then he had to sell him. I’m beginning to think our fans are our real problem, not the woeful decision making Wenger. Cos we think no player is bigger than the club, but we also fail to see we have a manager that is indeed bigger than the club right now. Have I missed anything? Shame on you all

  161. Lefty

    Thanks for the intro. Appreciate that I am about to get crucified

    I could argue that the first goal should have been a free kick and the pen looked dubious to me. But at the end of the day we were totally outclassed in the first half

    Things got better after half time and at least we made a game of it,

    Once again I thought Sagna was poor and lots of our attacking play ended with him.

    Guys I am not going to try to defend Wenger today because the battle may be a little one sided,..

    The next 10 days will define our season. Excl the Brighton game, the next three games are at the Emirates. In addition the transfer window closes,

    The weight of dissaproval for Wenger is gathering pace and if things don’t go we’ll over the next 10 days maybe you will all get your way.

    I sincerely hope not but appreciate I am in the minority

  162. Just a throw away line, but how many times lately have people taken a snapshot in time and used it as ammunition against my team ( examples Spurs battered united until the end to get a well deserved draw. Lets ignore last week when they couldn’t beat Qpr. Chelsea were wonderful the other day against villa, couldn’t beat Qpr or Swansea though.

  163. I heard an observation today that really resonated with me. Arsenal in the first half looked scared, like against Manunited, Man city . Our players know that they do not have enough quality to win against these big teams. Hence they have an inferiority complex .
    That’s what happens when you sell your world class players and do not replace them like for like.

    Wenger and board are so shortsighted…the cost to try rebuild a team that can finish in the top 4 if we miss it this year will be very high…as compare to spending enough to remain in the top 4.
    Aiming to only finish in the top 4 is a recipe for disaster. Teams that aim to win the league and build their teams to do so are the team that finish in the top 4.

  164. If you want to know how tough it is to get back in the top four, Ask Liverpool, Ask Everton and Ask Totenham. It is highly visible that unless we win the Champions league, we shall not play in Europe again. I have for once given up any scintilla of hope in this team. @Gunnerboss you are right about Carzola being played more behind. But guys did any one notice Sagna’s performance. Is n’t it the right time Wenger rests this guy in some games for Jenkins. Jenkins would be superior to Sagna in terms of pace, height and crossing. Wenger is getting it wrong. I can’t blame Ramsey this time. He surely wasn’t at fault this time but Diaby. I can’t see this team beating Liverpool and the lest we can get out of these fixtures is two points.

  165. Gunnerboss, I so agree with u about RVP aspect & the fans. I find it difficult to comprehend how people can make honest comment while blinded by their loyalties to their club. It has been the same for most good players Asnl have lost due to Wengers lack of ambition. Some people need to get their head out of the sand. The club is slipping, the standards r not the same, I have been watching your U19. in the NEXGEN & your u21s, the standards r slipping. Wenger is not communicating with Brady enough, its all much of the same.You need more bulk in the middle for proper defending & let the Jacks & Carzola”s play. Jack is doing far to much, he will injure himse again.

  166. @retsub, your still doing it (define the season) the past 6 or 7 years have done that, Wenger is doing that. Westham r poor because of manager & players not spurs, Chelsea Asnl, manure, ect.

  167. Ice

    I have a lot of affection for the hammers, my Mother lived near the. Boleyn road. I saw my first ever game at
    upton Park an fa cup replay against Oldham, must have been around 1966. West ham arn’t a poor side, they just lack the financial backing of the big boys. Every time they get a good player he gets gobbled up,. Read Cole, Defoe, PArker, Ferdinand, Ince.. The list goes on and on.

    When I say the next few games will define our season, I believe if we can’t pick up some results from the next 3 leagues or sign any new players, Wenger will be in trouble. Fool that I am I still believe Arsenal will finish top 4′ not that that is good enough.

    In answer to your last question I believe Aesenal lack a leader on the pitch and haven’t had one since Vieira. I don’t think Fabregas was a great leader and although RVP was a great people person I believe he lacked leadership on the pitch. I am not convinced Vermaelen is the correct choice either. I believe they need a powerhouse on the pitch to lick them into shape. Long term I think Wilshere could be the man, but maybe not yet.

  168. Wilshere is technically good but leadership is not only about that. We need a big physical presence who commands respect and fear in midfield. No league player fears wishere.He is not a Viera,not a Yaya Toure. Please save the young man that burden.Vermalen to me is good but a joke of a captain.He can,t shout at players infront of him to get back in shape because on several occasions he is also not in shape.I remember seeing Gallas calling back players in front of him to get back to defend.Vermalen has instead deteriorated ever since he became Captain. Conceeding goals at will and i haven,t seen him score in a long while for now. Can’t he ever call back his midfield players to get back closer so as to avoid strikers running at them.I personally feel Vermalen’s Captaincy has in a way affected our performances so far this season.

  169. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1309524/arsene-wenger:-arsenal-threw-away-title-chance?cc=3888

    When i read interviews like this i want to through my self off a cliff, what is this idiot (wenger) talking about?????

    If united are not a good team, and let me say this, United have been a average team for about 3 or 4 season now BUT yet they are always around the top fighting for the title, BUT if they are not a good team then what can you say about us, we’re are 22pts off them!!!

    SHAME ON YOU ARSENE WENGER!!!!!

    The taught was that when other teams run into financial problems then we would be there to pounce on their best players, That I think was the purpose of not spending the money. Yet he says he can’t find any players that would make this squad better, what a laugh!!!! I can name about 20 players off my head that we can afford that will make this squad better.

    Wenger does not want to spend money he wants to continue to buy average players and pray for them to come good while the poor fans suffer. He’s going to surprise us with some average player in jan.

    Well i’v been fed up now for about 6 years and i know me alone not going to the games won’t affect the club and for what its worth i love this club BUT
    As long as wenger remains incharge i will not spend a dime on Arsenal, not one dime because all my money goes into filling the pockets of wenger and the board while the team suffers.
    Not going to anygames not buying any replica nothing so wenger you are not going to get a dime off me you cheap, selfish dictator.

  170. As close and contentious as our loss was to Chelsea it’s hard for me to bee too over critical. The Mata goal came after what should have been a booking on Ramires. The penalty WASN’T pure and simple. We dominated the second half. And yet, we again found a way to get nothing even with chances in the last 5 yes 5 minutes of added time.
    Are we unlucky or cursed? Or does it matter?
    If we do not secure all 3 points v. The Hammers today I think the jig is up.
    Even at that it hasn’t been a very lively jig.
    Come ON You Gunners!

  171. Now one season doesn’t make a season, but having taken a lot of flak recently it’s my turn to crow tonight. Hope all you glass half empty guys are enjoying this

  172. Retsub please mate your going to glote after beating US, whst West ham………..West ham……….W E S T. HAM. Ha, haha ha heeee he. Crow away my friend, crow away. Boy oh boy, oh boooooyyyyyy.

  173. Ha ha ha ha he he he ha ha. No point ha ha no ha ha he he….. No point…..taking ho ho ho ha ha he heno point taking you serious from now on. You make statements like that after 3 & 4 good wins….. Dont vou?

  174. Retsub,
    Great win, looking forward to watching the highlights.
    One thing though, Im pretty sure none of the people on here that have an issue with Wenger and the board crow when we lose.
    It seems you cant differentiate or be objective with the current ( repetitive ) situation at the club.
    There was a recent net spend of PL teams since 2008 on justarsenal.com….Arsenal were rock bottom..sales minus purchases…rock bottom. Also theres an article from an American whos club was bought by Kroenke with a striking similarity in fortunes compared to us. Sale of marquee players and ticket price hikes met by silence.
    Youve alot of homework to do I think, if you do it you might not want to crow over one win vs West Ham, especially off the back of some shockers.
    I know I will look like a dick now for this post after a great win, but the reality is still there and the longer Wenger and Kroenke and Gazidis are in power then the longer the recovery and clean up will take.

  175. Ice,
    Ha! Thanks bro, just tryin to add some perspective though…did you notice how many empty seats inside the ground tonight.
    Fans are starting to vote with their feet. They had better invest before next week or it will only get worse.

  176. Shambo, ice

    1 you don’t look a dick and 2 am not gloating at west hams expense. Maybe I have my rosy coloured specs on, but whatever happens I will stick by my team.

    To be honest I get a little fed up with all the negativity. I know things arn’t right and we are a long way from being at the top again, but I do see some chinks of light, Wilshire, Cazorla, Walcott, Podolski and Giroud (yes Giroud)

    Shambo interested to hear your thoughts on Usmanov, The current owner silent stan does nothing for me, but I would truly hate to br in a similar position to Chelsea

  177. It’s a nice win and a chance to watch a replay without having to cringe.
    But we have too many deep-seeded problems to be papered over by the
    shellacking of the Hammers.
    PS Does anybody know WHY Podolski always gets the hook?

  178. Retsub,
    I know I dont like the current hierarchy, that includes the manager, but I dont want Ushmanov either…ideally Id have Stan gone and the shares distributed among genuine Arsenal people…like we were ten years ago. Id like the manager to be forward thinking, he was forward thinking when he arrived but he has changed into a pale shadow of his former self into a man clinging to past ideals and techniques. He either cant identify good quality bargains or is afraid to take a risk on proven international pedigree. Hes sells our best to rivals yet cant convince other PL teams to sell to us, its either that or he isnt interested in proven PL players, which is folly.
    To be quite honest Retsub, there is so much Im am disgruntled with mate I cant even put it across right at all.
    Right now we need a Tiote/ Wanyama/ Diame or Cabaye in the middle and a Lissandro Lopez/ Jovetic/ Villa type to get us into fourth…these are not my preference, moreso who I would consider Wenger to identify and be willing to spend on.
    We need to be rid of Squillachi, Bendtner, Djourou, Denilson, Arshavin, Chamakh..all because they are sucking the life out of the club and are on shocking wages. Rosicky should be let go I dont know why he was offered a new contract last year if he was going to be treated this way..he was exceptional in his comeback in CL in Greece and got subbed at halftime…hasnt featured since though Arshavin/ Coquelin have.
    Outside of these things that need addressing there isnt a hundred things that need doing, reduce the ticket prices and general cost of bringing your family to the Emirates simultaneously creating a sense of occasion and atmosphere rather than paying £14 for a fish and chip and going back to your seat half pissed off. We were a club all about identity and Arsenal FC was about everyone, not just who could afford it.
    Finally, and crucially all I really want to see is ambition. Maybe he has already secured this with the signings of the homegrown players who should have a built in determination when it comes to all things Arsenal, like Adams, like Parlour, like Vieira.
    If we can show some ambition Im convinced we will have plenty of great days abd memories like Adams left footed beauty vs Everton…but we are far far away from that as it stands now.

  179. Shambo
    Well written I can totally relate to most of what you have said. Will be really interesting to see who Wenger brings in. Be great to see some new players as long as its not Nani

  180. @shambo I was offered tkts to watch game but short notice. Attendance shown as over 60k on Sky Sports news, was told at least 12-15k missing. @retsub how can u make constructive criticism with tinted glasses on. Take them off please & I might take vou serious.

  181. Ice,
    Arsenal release an attendance figure based on ticket sales bro, not actual footfall on the day so if they say there was 60 thou its on sales including season ticket holders but I can assure you it was more like 45,000 thousand tonight and Im certain some fans are making a statement.
    I missed the incident with Potts, only seen the goals after, what happened the kid?

  182. It was nice win for us today, I hope it gives confidence to some who have struggling of late. Unfortunately our season will be uneven for the rest of year . For once we saw a glimpse of the “old ” Arsenal – pace, flair and killer instinct.
    Is there another good Arsenal blog ? This is ridiculous !

  183. I JUST CAN’T BE CARRIED AWAY BY 5 GOALS AGAINST A HAPLESS WESTHAM. THE REAL DEAL IS LIVERPOOL OUR IMMEDIATE COMPETITOR FOR EUROPA CUP.

  184. What happened to this blog? Anyway, here is a good arsenal blog guys.
    aclfarsenal dot co dot uk

  185. I thought Ramsey played well…

    Hi everyone, belated happy new year etc. Plus ca change and all that. No new blog posting in ages, same old roundabout arguments ! At lease we are consistent. Unlike our team who I am convinced has been bought out by a Malaysian bookmaker and that is the only explanation for our up and down form. Well that and the fact that we are also just a teensy weensy bit crap!

    Nice second half this morning. Podolski was brilliant.

    Retsub I admire your commitment mate. These are tough days. I just hope we can pull off a cup victory and sneak into 4th spot and Wenger can retire with some dignity intact.

  186. Hey Terry we;lcome back from the wild. I have designated myself the lone Wenger supporter. If nothing else it does help keep the blog lively.

    Ice, sorry i have Arsenal blood flowing through me illuminatng the specs not much i can do about it I’m afraid. I’ll critisise where appropriate (Arshavin drove me bad, I dont think our full bnaacks give us much from an attacking perspective etc) but i guess i will always be biased.

    Delano we are not challenging for a Europa cup place, we are after the champions league. OK a little harder this year but we have achieved it every year under Wenger

  187. icehammer-congrats ice diame choosing to stay on at the hammers, however big sam job must be on the line west ham looks like sinking like alan pardew castle, andy carol was missing ice would of made an positive impact.

    5-1 big deal! If i was one of those ticketholders i would of stil stayed at home, west ham is a diffcult team to put a bet on for a win, i would agree that was the old arsenal that was display last night,whats distrubing why on earth is arsenal been set a test against liverpool, isnt the pool not the team that should be competing with the fulhams and broms, thats what i am talking about have our standards drop so low that we are no match to the mans.

    restub – yip u stil da only arsene lover! keep your fingers cross with reading attempts looking to lure arshavin away

  188. ice
    steve bould -i have this fantasy that he will our vicente del bosque, coming from the junior ranks, that what barcelona are trying to create with vilanova,but going to wait for the arrogant bastard wenger to leave first! like a damn mosquito that refuses to go away.

  189. http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/man-city-fast-becoming-among-biggest-clubs-world-man-utd-slip-3770521#.UQJRjX3TXMI

    When unspent, money yields next to nothing. When money is spent on stars, you reap more from selling their shit. We are ridiculously naive atbest, spend to reap more. Our silly professor or Masters in Economics manager cannot understand why Real Madrid is the richest in the world. If Ronaldo’s paraphernalia sales alone fund his salary, what justification do we have for not goin for top talent?

  190. nice story about Chippy Brady

    As the two clubs he holds dear meet in the FA Cup fourth round, the Gunners hero tells Nick Szczepanik why he was ready to pay £40,000 of his money to rescue the struggling Seagulls

    When Brighton take on Arsenal in the FA Cup fourth round at the American Express Community Stadium on Saturday, many supporters will reflect that, in part, they owe their handsome surroundings – and even the existence of their club – to one of their opponents’ living legends.

    Liam Brady is an Arsenal great, immortalised in the giant murals on the walls of the Emirates Stadium in recognition of seven memorable seasons in the Gunners’ midfield, and he continues to serve the club as head of youth development. But Brighton are also close to his heart after he managed them for two years from December 1993 to November 1995, and he decided to take a hand when the club faced its darkest hour.

    Brady had resigned, disillusioned with a board of directors who were overseeing a near-terminal decline in the fortunes of a club that had played in the top flight for four seasons in the early 1980s. When it became known that they had sold the club’s Goldstone Ground to developers, fans’ fury boiled over. A home match against York City in April 1996 was abandoned after a pitch invasion and an attack on the directors’ box.

    The next day, Brady met reporters outside the Goldstone and announced that he represented a consortium that hoped to buy out the existing owners – a remarkable display of solidarity with a previous club from a departed manager. “I just felt I had to do something to stop what was going on,” he explained. “It was a bad time in the story of Brighton & Hove Albion, but I really enjoyed myself as manager and you could see that there was a real passion in Sussex and in the city for the Albion and they deserve a really good football club. I certainly thought that the people in charge didn’t really care about the club at all, and that it needed to get some people in who would try to move them out and would have the club’s interests at heart.”

    Part of Brady’s announcement included an offer to pay £40,000 that the developers wanted in order to allow Brighton to play one more season at the ground that had been their home since 1902. “The directors were saying that they had to ground-share with Portsmouth or Gillingham because they didn’t have 40 grand. So as a bit of a publicity stunt I said I’d pay it out of my own pocket to keep the club at the Goldstone. Dick Knight was pulling the strings behind the scenes, but because I was saying it, it probably got more coverage than it would have done.”

    Knight, the key member of the consortium, became Brighton chairman a year later, but too late to save the Goldstone. Instead, he led the struggle to bring the club home from a two-year exile in Gillingham to temporary accommodation at the Withdean Stadium while a new home could be found and built – a struggle that would last 14 years. “I was first introduced to him when we were trying to help youth development when I was manager,” Brady said. “A guy called John Keehan was trying to help me get a minibus and start looking after the younger age groups, because there was no money forthcoming from the people in charge. John mentioned that his brother-in-law Dick was an astute businessman and was somebody I should talk to. Dick led the campaign brilliantly, supported by a lot of people down there who are a part of the story as well.”

    Brady had intended to take a fuller part, but a call came from north London that he could not refuse. “Within about six or eight months I got the offer to be head of youth development at Arsenal and it was just too good to turn down,” he said. “I had my family to think about and it was a dream job for me. Dick understood completely although we both had it in the back of our minds that he would be the chairman and I would be the manager – but with the number of managers he sacked, it’s probably best that it didn’t happen.

    “I still live in Hove. Arsenal are very much the No 1, but Brighton are right up there among the clubs I have huge feelings for, and it’s great to see where they are compared to what it was like then. The supporters are happy and you can see on their faces the pride that they feel about where they are now.”

    And for Brady, this weekend’s fixture feels somewhat overdue. “I always wanted this match. When Dick really needed the money, I was hoping Brighton would draw Arsenal at Highbury or the Emirates in a cup-tie for much-needed finance. They’re in a different position now, which is great to see, and you have to give credit to Tony Bloom [the present chairman] and the Bloom family for taking it to where it has got to. Dick had to fight tooth and nail to get the stadium planning permission and some of us helped keep the club going, but when Tony got involved he brought with him the financial clout that was needed.” So Brady put his hand in his own pocket? “I did indeed. I was one of Dick’s financial backers. And no, it wouldn’t be polite to ask the figures.

    “I hope to be there on Saturday, but we have an FA Youth Cup tie against Fulham that’s due to be played on Thursday. If it’s called off because of the weather it will have to be played on Saturday. Otherwise I shall be at the Amex.” Enjoying watching some of the graduates of his youth programme, no doubt? “Yes, we’ve got Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Wojciech Szczesny, all from our youth development. We’re pleased with the contribution we’ve made.”

    Brady predicts an Arsenal win, even with Brighton unbeaten in 2013. “I watched them beat Newcastle in round three and it didn’t surprise me, you smelt an upset,” he said. “But the fact that Brighton play football might suit us – and by ‘us’ I mean Arsenal – and we can win through. There’s a determination among our players. Winning a replay at the Emirates might be the nicest way, but I don’t think Arsène Wenger would want that.”

    And there is no part of Brady that wishes the Goldstone, now a retail park, was still there to stage the game. “No, the club is where it had to go. We all realised the club was snookered at the Goldstone. It was never going to be a stadium for the Championship or the Premier League. But the people involved were prepared to cash in on the location and bugger the consequences. That had to be stopped, and it’s a great story for all of football where Brighton have got to. It just shows you what can be done with people who are passionate about their clubs and about football – and not interested in just making money.”

    Chippy’s: CV: Liam Brady

    Born 13 February 1956, Dublin

    1971 Joins Arsenal as apprentice. Makes debut v Birmingham in 1973.

    1974 Makes Republic of Ireland debut against the Soviet Union.

    1979 Wins FA Cup with Arsenal and named PFA Player of the Year

    1980 Signs for Juventus, winning two Serie A titles. Later plays for Samp-doria, Inter, Ascoli and West Ham.

    1991 Appointed Celtic manager.

    1993 Resigns at Celtic, moves to Brighton, then in the third tier.

    1996 Starts running the Arsenal Academy. Still there.
    ry ahead of tomorrows game

  191. Arsene says he will not b signing any “miracle” players during this transfer window. Also the club must not rely on outside help but instead concentrate on inside help.
    What the hell is a miracle player & is “outside help” new Arsene buzz words for new signings. Wouldn’t signings become inside help once signed. Confused.

  192. Hi Ice
    Was beginning to wonder if the world had ended, it’s very quiet on here.

    They did just about enough to win, but they weren’t great. Santos was truly awful, the fox commentator said he was the worst player he had ever seen wearing an Arsenal shirt (he obviously never saw Gus Ceasar). Giroud had a good game and got two good goals, Diaby didn’t get injured. Szsesny didn’t have one of his better games. It got better when Wilshire and Walcott came on for the last 20 mins

    As for signings I just don’t know. Wenger said he has two players in every position. I would discount Arshavin, Santos Squillaci etc

  193. Well the big German Meter was dreadful on the second goal , he plays soft!
    What if Gibbs get injured ? Would we have to to rely on Santos? In that case we won’t even finish in the top 6.
    It was nice to see Giroud play well and score, I want to see him confirm against strong oppositions.

    I am trying to imagine how are we going to finish in the top? We need Spurs to implode for us to have a chance.

  194. into the 5th round of the cup! that’s like a trophy these days isn’t it?! nice goals by Giroud. I hope he can continue this form into the Liverpool game. but how crap is our defence? blind schoolboy midgets could not do worse at times…

  195. Gunnerboss
    Good observation and very true. Big game on Wednesday wonder which team will turn up. If he can stay fit and get a few games under his belt Diaby may make a difference.

  196. Retsub, I reckon wenger will play Ramsey in that deeper midfield position – and assuming Wilshire and Cazorla both play, Diaby will be on the bench. Ramsey has had a couple of solid games and hopefully he can continue. Mind you Diaby had a MoM performnce at Anfield at the start of the season when he was fit so he might get in ahead of the Welsh lad. Fingers crossed Giroud can keep scoring. Let’s see which Arsenal team turns up on the night!

  197. Terry you may be right and Ramsey is definitely on the up at the moment. Seems to me that its quite rare these days for the whole midfield to all play well at the same time (as Ljunberg , Pires etc used to do). The only one playing well consistently is Wilshire. Cazorla on his day can be brilliant. If we get 2. Or 3 firing on all cylinders and the defence doesn’t have a mad 5 minutes it should be good enough to see off Liverpool.

  198. What the hell has happened to A Weber?!?!? This really isn’t a blog anymore. There is nothing to comment on. Other blogs move from game to game. This is THE SLOWEST blog site on the net. Do you think he’s lost all his fingers in a freak car door incident?

    Since A Weber’s last blog about football (West Brom), we have lived through 11 games and Liverpool tmrw ….

    Bradford 1 – 1(3-2)
    Reading 5 – 2
    Wigan Athletic 1 – 0
    Newcastle United 7 – 3
    Southampton 1 – 1
    Swansea 2 – 2
    Manchester City 0 – 2
    Swansea 1 – 0
    Chelsea 1 – 2
    West Ham United 5 – 1
    Brighton 3 – 2

    So as per the great Aussie saying …. “where the bloody hell are ya?”

    OR, maybe it’s a very clever social comment on the state of Arsenal ….. errrrrrrrr, no.

  199. This bitch of a coach is again conspiring to loose out the D.Villa bid to Mancity again who really don’t need him considering the tournaments they have to play in.For heavens sake we are a team in the Champions league and all preparations must be to go past Bayern but nothing in practice neither theory attests to that.It is never on Wengers mind and he seems already set out to say we lost to the better team that is if he is graceful at all in defeat.Every thing is just disgusting at the Emirates at the moment. If the board is to blame then Wenger is part of it in equal measure for having acquiesced to whims of these big fat cats. What da hell has this American got to do with our club if he fears loosing even a penny of a shilling.

  200. This weekends FA Cup upsets still gives us the faintest hope for silverware.
    But, if we want even a glimmer for a Champions League spot we had better win today. Not even a draw we come close to doing it.
    There is officially NO slack left in the line
    We must sail,bail or row. The Arsenal cannot take on any more bildge.

    Here’s hoping for all three.
    Come on you Gunners!!!

  201. Pretty good to see some consistent performances in second half.

    Slowly giroud and podolski are proving their worth and Ramsey seems to getting his form back.Hope he gets some good advice from Beckham.

    Arsenal will become a good team next season with few good additions now and if diaby and rosicky find a way to keep them fit .Failing to sign now will result in repeat of the same next season but with a guarantee of fourth spot as new signings take 6 months minimum to adapt to arsenal style.

    I still feel the team can have up’s and down’s in terms of results and not sure if we can make fourth .My only worry is our wage structure which will again be our villain in holding on to our good players in forthcoming seasons.

    Has Andy left this blog to be the first man to land on Mars? Even then i am confident that Andy will do a post when NASA makes the network available.

  202. Sad to say but I think this blogs had it……only a dozen or so bloggers active here. Sad but I think Andy has way too much on at the minute and will look this blog up again in time.
    Before I go just wanna say Wenger, Gazidas and Stan have signed their own death warrants, this time was a pisstake too far.
    Two weeks ago he was saying the club was working hard, he cut a post match press interview short because he was ‘busy’ but now were seeing the all too familiar pattern coming to the fore….False promising- lies- leading fans on- distraction/ deflection talking bout Newcastle- placation with timing of announcement of ticket freeze, even though this should go without saying. They think fans are cattle and that we have no brains and this will appease us.
    Obviously the game tonight is massive in the short termbut it wont be tha game that will cost us, those games will come in their plenty as the season goes on.
    No CL 2013/14.
    Fuck you Wenger and the imbecile spineless shortsighted Gazidis.
    We tried to sign Villa but Barce wouldnt sell…blah blah blah like there was no one else out there. Us fans are all slack jawed dollar signs and thats it.
    Ice, lefty, delano, retsub and all…check out A Cultured Left Foot blog…chat you guys there hopefully.
    Thanks Andy for all your work.

  203. Shambo

    I think you may be right, but I think we should give Andy a chance to respond. I took a look a a cultured left foot and it is a very busy blog , it would be a shame for all the characters on here to get gobbled up. If we do go it would be good to go en masse… Might be funny to invade them

  204. @shambo, I met Mr Brady last night @ the FA youth cup game @ Barnet ground. It appears that his time is soon to b @ an end with the club. Asnl u18s were very very very fortunate 2 win 2/1 in an extra half hour.

  205. May 2014. And oh Andy, ta for having me mate, apologise 4 sometime to critical, yr probably pissed with it all over thlast five years. Appy retirement.

  206. @All uze guys
    Shambo I’m afraid yer right though I’ve been hoping for a miracle.
    (How like a gooner)
    Anyway leave us wait until after this game and if we lose there be no reason to keep venting here as it’s been all said.
    I for one would like to go over to some Hots***s blog and fuck it up.

    What ever happened to poor old Drew anyway?
    I think his heart went with Cesc.
    Oh well, COYG!!!

  207. Guys even in wenger’s early managerial days there are question marks about him wanting to spend money.

    Aldo Platini recommended wenger for the job on NANCY in france and we all know they got relegated right BUT here’s what Aldo said when relegation occurred which i find very funny

    “Aldo defended the appointment of Wenger and stated, “It wasn’t wenger’s fault. He had no money to spend”. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! interesting…..

    @ shambo
    Every season its always the same excuses and lies BUT yet the fans keep going back, WHY??????

    We all know the freeze is a gimmick and a PR stunt when they had know intentions of doing anything with the tickets in any case.

    I think some Arsenal fans are the most gullible i have ever come across especially on this blog.
    I remember distinctly a couple season ago a comment on bendtner which i will never forget and gives fire to my point of some Arsenal fans being too gullible.
    bendtner miss a host of chances in a league game and the excuses on this very blog was that he just became a father so maybe that’s the reason why he missed the opportunities. haaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! i still fall down laughing when i think of that.

    I can quote a whole lot of excuses that have been made when the truth was easier to see.
    Wenger and the board proclaimed to us that when the financial crisis hits that we will be well placed to take advantage, now is that time!!!, there are a lot of clubs in debt which have good players, better ones than we do, clubs like valencia come to mind, why don’t we raid them??? I’ll tell you why, because all along we never had the intention too, they fooled the fans into thinking so.

    look at this season, are you telling me that there is no player across europe that will cost about 15mill that will not be an improvement to what we have??? its shocking and dam right disrespectful when wenger says these things, he really thinks the fans are fools.
    All the past players who say nice things about us and wenger are looking for a job at the club BUT deep down they know the truth.

    I am now totally convinced that David Dein Was the one behind all the signings we made Because wenger has never been on to spend big on players.

    The products that have been on the field these past seven years have been rubbish so the ticket prices should not be frozen but DEFROST and they should tell us that they have no intention of winning anything then maybe i might accept.
    But when you charge a arm and a leg and buy average players and profess to us that they are the best i find that insulting.

    To conclude i spent some time talking to some fans of other EPL teams and the one constant is this, its one thing if people feel you mad or even stupid BUT when people starting laughing at you its time to packup, they laughed at me and the conversation deteriorated because i hit back.
    people say wenger has lost it BUT these days i question that comment i think based on evidences he hasn’t lost it he never really had it.

  208. Kel..stadium a quarter empty again tonight, fans starting to vote with their feet.
    Lets see Wenger and Gazidis panic now.

  209. I can see a hero emerging in the team and may carry us single handed in many more games to come. Most of you might think either wilshere or Giroud. But i think it is Walcott with the kind of maturity he is showing in games. Wilshere is someone for future.

  210. Guys i watched for about 30 minutes and that was it.
    To me Vermaleen seems the most un inspiring Captain i have seen all over.The issue is the Strikers are doing enough to win us games by scoring but the defense is always fighting to conceed goals. We played on the counter attacks and won 2-0 at Anfield. At Emirates we were so guilty and stupid in the game plan.The defense was caught on the break and one questions why Vermaleen never organises these guys to come back behind and defend. It is just a simple footballing fact. Put players behind the ball and don’t allow spaces for Suarez and Company to run into. This imbecile of a coach never learns. We had the chance to close on Spurs and Everton seem to be disappearing from our raddder. Top four is becomming very hard and Wenger was happy with the draw and quickly praising the spirit and quality in the team.What a joke.

  211. It looked like we will win the match , but we didn’t. Our second half consistency is a welcome note. Expected a substitution with either Ox or Rosicky to allow Walcott to flourish in the middle. But it’s okay as we looked to create many chances. Reina reflexes is too poor and liverpool may need some good keeper.Shots from Walcott and Giroud would have gone in ,if they were little bit high.

    Wilshere had a very tough game and bit tired due to constant running at the end .Ramsey should have shared a little more of attacking burden from him with surging runs in middle and lofted passes. Wilshere and Ramsey complemented each other well.

    We had most of our players attacking from left (Podolski,Giroud,Cazorla,Wilshere ,Santos and sometimes even Ramsey) , but Walcott and Sagna in right proved as dangerous as the left side.That’s why i called Walcott as the new hero.

  212. Did you guys see wengers press conference After the match??
    Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha !!!!!

    As i said yesterday people can say your mad or even stupid BUT when people Start LAUGHING AT YOU its time to go.
    Wenger has lost the plot, totally lost his marbles and i hope he does not go out and panic buy any players this late because the last time we did that we ended up with a whole lot of very average players santos for one.

    So wenger if you or anyone affiliated with you is reading this don’t buy anyone now, please, because i can’t trust you to spend the money wisely as a matter of fact don’t buy anybody else for the remainder of your contract, because frankly you SUCK at it.

  213. wenger why don’t you move Vermaelen to left back and put kozzer and BFG at center back????? They are all world class players, you said so yourself.
    Arteta will be like a new signing and so too diaby AND when gibbs comes back he will be another new signing.

    for 31 fu*king days we do spit now a panic buy.
    If gibbs had stayed fit you would not have been looking to buy because you trust santos, when we all know a replacement should have come in long ago to complement gibbs, so why this signing now????
    You idiot………..

  214. Guys, thought it was about time to pop my head in.

    To keep it brief, work and life has simply taken over and I’ve burnt out a bit. Still thoroughly enjoying following the Arsenal this season but just haven’t had the energy to contribute any meaningful content over the past month.

    I’m currently brainstorming a way forward for the blog. My feeling is to become a sort of editor for it, allowing community members and writers to send in their own articles. Those that are up to standard get published, those that aren’t don’t, giving passionate young writers or those that simply want to have their say a chance to write to a lovely community. Quality over quantity would be the focus.

    Any thoughts on this suggestion? Any other ideas?

    Take care,
    Andrew

  215. Andrew with your support I think that is an excellent idea. Despite the varying views, I sense a. Feeling of community here. Not sure my litary skills pass muster, but would be happy to have a crack

  216. Andy,
    Good too see your keeping well.
    Anything to keep the blog alive and fresh would be brilliant, but it could be a tough ask editing other individuals contents and views and it would also be vital that a writer maintained the ideals and themes that you brought that make it so popular.
    But its great you havent given up on the blog and whatever works between now and the time you recharge would be welcomed by all!
    Think weve signed Monreal.Quality wing back type but what about a Striker and DM?

  217. So we have swapped a big brazilian pudding for nachos. looks a much healthier option. anyone who can get into the spain squad in this day and age must be quality but as Kel says it smacks of desperation.

    Andrew – shame you are not able to maintain your involvement in the blog. I am not sure the best way forward. If there is someone who can provide a match analysis each week as a trigger for the comments that would be good, and then i reckon you only need one other posting per week on a specific topic – could be tactical analysis, player ratings, preview of upcomiong games anything really.

    i read Arseblog because i enjoy his writing style – nice mix of analysis and humour but have not joined the live blogging because i can’t be arsed paying. i like this blog format where you can dip in and out of a conversation and for the most part everyone on it is respectful even when they hold opposite views on a range of weigthy issues like Wenger’s doona coat, whether santos is more crap than chamakh, or if our defence the worst in the world! (like there is any doubt there!)

  218. Half a loaf is better than nothing at all. The defense is not the problem but the tactics are the problem. What the hell do we have to press teams up the pitch yet the safest way is to seat behind and counter on the break. Most of the defenders we have are top class but they are told they must press up the pitch by joining the midfielders.
    I just hope this moron of a coach doesn’t get tempted to experiment the same against Bayern Munich. He is so stubborn that he never learns and doesn’t care doing the same thing all the time and expecting a different out come. All we need is shift our defense back abit and our season will be saved and may be top four acquired. At Anfield we allowed Liverpool dictate the game with all the possession but came out with two good goals and three points by just sitting back. The inconsistence of the coach and lack of imagination denies him any game plan for the opposition.
    I welcome the buy and would love to see him on the pitch come Saturday because a scenary of Santos on the pitch is scarely.At center half we have an un used Miguel who is equally good. I would be comfortable playing Thomas Vermaleen at RB, Metasacker and Koscienly and Jenkins in the back.If you notice Two of them have height on their side and a very good compliment other than starting Sagna who looks tired and not on form. Sagna is not an Evra for heavens sake. His defending has been a laughing stoke of recent and against a physical side like Stoke i hope to see Jenkins given a chance this time around.

  219. Hey ice great news, be good to have the master back.

    I have a ticket for tomorrow’s game and I intend to enjoy myself. COYG

    If Ramsey gets on the pitch I hope he gets the opportunity to accidentally assault Shawcross

  220. Andy
    If you are going to put together a rescue package for the blog, I think you need to act quickly. I think Ice and I are ready to turn the lights off. As
    Gunner Boss pointed out the only time the blog gets busy is when we lose. Given that we seem to be running into a form period, it’s gone very quiet. Not too many congratulating the team on a difficult but well deserved win

    I was at the emiratesamazingly today a friend of mine has club level tickets, which cost £2800 per annumwhich. Nice seat a free programme and a beer at half time

    It took at least 12 minutes before Nacho got a touch and that was a throw in. Apart from a couple of lapses he looked pretty solid albeit against a poor Stoke side. The only tactic they seem to employ is to play three or four passes then push it back to Shawcross who hoofs it upfield hoping Crouch would get his head on it,

    Arsenal on the other hand were very poor in the first half, which seems to be the norm these days. Amusing at half time the club supporters make there way to the lounge where copious amounts of beer are poured and ready to be sunk. However, for whatever reason nobody is allowed to touch them until the half time whistle blows. So 500 fully grown men stand then poised right hands outstretched waiting for the whistle,,, most anusing.

    The second half was a little better, but it was obvious to most people that changes needed to be made. Wenger as is his custom waited until the 70th minute before sending on Carzorla and Podolski. The atmosphere in the crowd changed immediately and the positive vibes extended to the team. Stoke who were woefully short of ideas decided they would kick there way out of trouble and Wilkinson in particular began to kick lumps out of Walcott. The linesman on that side tried hist to keep his Stoke shirt covered up but failed abysmally and missed a number of nasty fouls. Having committed yet another assault
    Arsenal were awarded a free kick just right of centre on the edge of the box. I remarked to my friend at the time that the only player with any hope of hitting the target was Podolski. Podolski made a deal about getting the wall back 10 uyards and then slammed a deflected shot into the net. But wait a moment off came the Lino,s black shirt to reveal his Stoke colours and he flagged for offside, now I am a pretty mild mannered sort of guy and you’ll notice i never swear. But on this occasion I and about 80pr cent of the crowd launched into a verbal assault on him.. The ref luckily saw sense and overruled the idiot.

    The last 10 minutes was a scrappy affair, the highlight being the crowd chanting One nil to the football team and verbal abuse at Shawcross who was booked for a Ramseyesque type assault.

    It must be painfully being a Stoke supporter and having to tolerate the rubbish they played.

    all in all a good days work given other resultsn

  221. Didnt get to see any of tbe game but a vital win and other results really went our way…team selection was risky but Santi and Pod made the difference accordimg to reports.
    Would like to hear from someone how Giroud played and also Monreal…
    And can you believe it….a clean sheet!

  222. Shambo
    I think we are the only ones left!!

    Good news about the no goals conceded, but I think it said as much about Stokes attack as our defence. They were clueless.

    Montreal looked pretty sound. At first it looked liked nobody trusted him and he didn’t touch the ball for ages, he certainly played within himself and didn’t take any chances, late on he made a really good run and put in an excellent cross, something we don’t see a lot of,

    Giroud was fairly quiet. He ran around a lot, but got very little service. He strikes me as very strong on the front post, but Sagna in my opinion is a poor crosser of the ball. When Monreal settles in it could get interesting

  223. well a win is a win at this stage of the season it no important how you play BUT most importantly the end result, this next month will be the most important in the whole scheme of things
    Spurs won today as well so it looks like its going to be tight

  224. Our left back position will be extremely weakened against Bayern. If Santos plays, we’re screwed. But even if he doesn’t play and Vermaelan takes over, we’re still going to suffer because he mostly passes backwards as a LB and doesn’t do many overlapping runs. When Gibbs plays, we look very threatening going down the left flank. I really worry about this position. Guys, what can we do about this? Just thinking about it is giving me sleepless nights.

  225. Goner

    Assuming Kos, Verm and the BFG remain fit, I think Verm will go to left back. Another option is to play Sagna there. But you are right if he plays Santos we’re screwed.

    I have always been very optomistic about these type of games, but this will be very difficult . Beating them over two legs with an under performing defence is going to take some doing

  226. I think you are right Retsub and TV will get the nod. Probably the safest option in the circumstances. Interesting about our defence – the table shows only three teams with fewer goals conceded than us – $ity, Chel$ki and Swansea. When you think of all the abysmal goals we have conceded from individual errors, our goal difference should be much better.

    I for one have decided to remain upbeat about the rest of the season. I think we can beat Bayern. I don’t think they are that special and over two legs I think we can nick it. Then there is a decent cup run, and we re still in with a real shout for 3rd or 4th.

    Go on you lot, call me deluded!

  227. @Terry indeed you are deluded.Beating Bayern over two legs to me sounds a big joke.We shall have to play different tactics on both occasions otherwise with a tactically inept coach like Wenger we are as well as out.
    Simply we shall have to play anti foot ball tactics on either of those occasions and just hit them on a counter attack. Otherwise we can’t beat them in open play on both legs.

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