Sunday the 28th of August, 2011.
The day when the Arsenal Football Club, our club, were handed their heaviest defeat in Premier League history, conceding eight goals and slumping to 17th on the table.
It was painful. It was embarrassing. It was surreal. A six-goal loss to a team we aim to compete with each and every season. Not good enough, under any circumstances.
But.
But. But. But.
IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.
It might prove to be the end of one era and the start of another, but it is not the end of the world.
This has been the most difficult pre-season at Arsenal since I can remember. We’ve lost a host of players including two of our best, in circumstances that have left us crippled and short on numbers from day one.
Yes, the managerial team are partly to blame. They left things far too late.
But look at Nasri’s comments upon joining City and tell me he didn’t make things difficult for Wenger. Look at the way Barcelona have acted and tell me they didn’t make things difficult for Wenger.
We have a truckload of money but could not even think about spending it until Champions League qualification was confirmed. It has been confirmed but Manchester United away, the most difficult fixture of the season, came a week too soon.
Looking at a line-up decimated by transfers, suspensions, injuries and more late injuries, we were never going to compete. Jenkinson and Traore at the back? Coquelin in central midfield? Ozyakup and Sunu on the bench? Not a chance in hell.
A result this spectacularly bad could turn out to be vitally important to the future of this squad and future of Wenger. The silver lining of an 8-2 loss is that you simply cannot get any lower.
This is a reset point. There is no point looking back. There is the season before the transfer window closes while the squad is still being organised. There is the season after the transfer window when the squad is locked in.
Unfortunately we played Liverpool, Newcastle and Manchester United during a time when we were crippled. Alternatively you could see this as an advantage: we may well have struggled to get good results with a full squad later in the season anyway.
A thought: if you had to choose between three losses in the Premier League and qualification in the Champions League to three wins in the Premier League and missing out on qualification in the Champions League, which would you take? It doesn’t address our problem but it does offer some perspective.
Wenger has money, he knows the areas of the pitch that need to be strengthened and he and his managerial team has three days to sort things out. South Korean striker Park Chu-Young is on the way, we have the money to purchase Gary Cahill and a third blockbuster midfield signing must be made.
The manager is not stupid, he knows how the fans feel and he knows what will make them happy. His task is to juggle their expectations with his own as well as the realities of the modern football market and make the appropriate decisions. I trust him to do this.
Personally, I feel quite calm about things. I still look at the nucleus of our squad, at players like Vermaelen, Sagna, Szczesny, van Persie, Wilshere, Song and Ramsey and feel confident of recovering from this. These are terrific players with heart and pride who simply do not see second-best as acceptable.
Neither does the manager. At 3-1 down the manager took of Coquelin, our defensive midfielder who had a fine debut, and replaced him with Chamberlain, an attacker. Wenger wanted to fight back, he wanted to get it back to 3-3. It backfired spectacularly but as long as we maintain this attitude we will hold on to our status as a title contender.
The next three days are vital for our club because we need to bring in players. We simply cannot compete without reinforcements. But until the window slams shut and we see the state of the squad then I see it as impossible to make a judgment about our ambitions and expectations for the season.
As I mentioned earlier yesterday’s result marks the pressing of the reset button. Good or bad this is a new era for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal but as always, I look forward to our response with open mind and open heart.
Thoughts?
Spread the Arsenal love by leaving a comment.
Am surprised that some people still advocate for Wenger to stay on and correct things. My honest opinion is for this guy to go and the club get a new coach e.g. Ancelloti or Raphael Benitez. If a manager cannot correct a mistake in 6 years, then he has no business managing a professional team. Period!!
Love the way there is nobody commenting , i hope that reset button works out for ya.
Great article ,but but ,what will you say if AW does not do any of what you hope will happen.2 days and counting
Mate what plantet are you living on??
Get a grip that team is a disgrace pure and simple a fuking joke!!!
same bullshit for the last 6 years!
No heart and no soul they rolled over and died!!
Time for big changes NOW!!
I’ve supported arsenal 25 years now and thats the worst team ever played in an arsenal shirt! time people like you wised up and take off the arsen wenger tinted glasses cos very soon it’ll be to late!!
” …South Korean striker Park Chu-Young is on the way …”
That one statement sums it up.
If you are still too stupid to figure it out, than you and the rest of the AWB doughnuts will help Wenger drive this club to the same fate that Clough did for Forest: he marched them up to the top of the hill and then he marched them right back down into lower league obscurity.
You have been saying this since i started reading this blog. unfortunately Arsenal has not won a cup in these years….I wont buy this positive over dose!!
“A thought: if you had to choose between three losses in the Premier League and qualification in the Champions League to three wins in the Premier League and missing out on qualification in the Champions League, which would you take?”
Hmm… how about three wins in the Premier League AND Champions League qualification? Who said it has to be either or?
Look, Wenger has been given more than enough time to fixed things and he’s failed dismally. We all knew a long time ago that Nasri, Cesc, Clichy and Eboue wanted out. We all knew how pathetically weak our defence is. We all knew how bad our injury record is, so why didnt our manager, who earns £6m a year, make sure that we signed enough quality players to give us a better chance of coping with those problems?
Wenger’s time is up. It’s time to give someone else a chance.
For people who have been fortunate & privileged enough to go to Highbury or the Grove for longer than I bothered watching football on TV and those who want the manager out , I will ask you one question: What status did this club have in the world before this manager ?I believe if Wenger wouldn’t have been there Arsenal might still have been a mid table club playing football the “hoof the ball & run after it” way. That man has got us success & recognition that only UTD and Liverpool in England have been higher than us. I believe certain ideas of his are flawed and certainly in no way am I absolving him for some part of the blame for this ,but he deserves better than this.
Andy, you know me well, I’m usually the eternal optimist, but even I admit I’ve bottomed out. We’ve got more red cards than goals this season!
Amy Lawrence at the Guardian pretty much sums up my feelings (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/aug/27/arsenal-arsene-wenger-transfers) – Arsenal have no power in the transfer market any more – no nuance, no eye for improving the team, no matter how good their business of selling players has been like. I mean, why the f%^% are we concentrating on buying so many wide and forward players when the defence has been hamstrung _for years_?!
I know we need a striker, some midfielders, but the reason we haven’t won anything in years is not for the lack of scoring, but because we’ve conceded WAY too much.
Case in point, the United game. If you went up to anyone who knew football who didn’t know the scoreline and said ‘WOW, Arsenal managed to score two goals at Old Trafford yesterday’, guarantee you they’d assume Arsenal managed to beat United. That’s until you told them they have conceded eight.
The fact is the transfer business at Arsenal has been stuffed since Dein left. It’s no coincidence that we’ve suffered from poor decisions from the back room staff. I’m all for playing entertaining football but finally I’m ready to accept that there is no excuse for sucha poor performance last night. I realise there was a lot of injuries, but United had injuries at the back as well and their ‘second tier’ defenders are leagues ahead of ours.
Sorry, it’s been emotional.
How short is human love, memory and patience! I believe Arsenal and Wenger will bounce back. Let us all continue to support Arsenal and pray for it. In the next three days I am optimistic that Wenger and his team will do something refreshing and reassuring.
Go arsenallll i have no reason to dout u after all its harder than it looks keep heart am behind u all the wa success in the negotiations good luck wenger we realy need u ian nzomo from kitale kenya 254713153981
Right behind you mate (the blogger)
Wenger keep on denying his fault. He just think that qualifying the Champions League is enough for his job. He is damaging Arsenal, I wonder how good the players he can sign in these 3 days. If he still in charge, no hope for our team this season. We can;t even finish in top 6 of the table. Get rid of this teen trainer. Period. No team will afraid to play Arsenal now.
The Arsenal Board are happy to take our money for tickets and merchandise but are not willing to spend some money on players. Time we started boycotting games until they start spending some money on players. You can help save our team by doing one of the following: Boycott future games until we spend 70 Million on new players or Bring a red card with you to the games! Lets show the red card to Wenger and the Board
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Arsenal/266192366741705?v=wall
Andrew, you are the eternal optimist and optimism is the fuel at the bottom of the tank that this Arsenal engine is running on. The gauge is almost on empty.
What I find funny is it appears that everyone in the world, bar those responsible for filling the tank, knew that we were running out of fuel.
Arsene claims that he is determined to make things right. You damn better mate, that’s your job.
If the hurdle is in fact the board, why does he not do a Martin O’Neill on their arses? Or at least threaten them.
Something is not right and I feel that the whole secrecy surrounding the club is unhealthy too. Why is this happening or being allowed to happen? Who is calling the shots?
How many new supporters have we attracted over the last six seasons? Is there a way to find this out?
Cheers.
Maybe it is time we realized some of the boys we have developed are not very good!!! Ramsey would never make any other top 6 side yet we see him as one of our better players?
Darragh
The Manchester defense is not leagues ahead of ours. If that dodgy striker had scored the pen it could have been three at Old Toilet.
The fact is they have a better forward line than ours. That’s the difference.
We have a shit forward line and no matter how many good defenders we get things wont change.
Our forwards don’t defend and they waste far to many chances.
Look at Udinese in the week. Walcott had more chances than their whole side yet they score 1 had one disallowed and hit the post.
We need deadly strikers not the powder puff mob we have at the moment.
The defense will get better if we defend further up the pitch.
Our best games last season were the Chavs at home and Barcelona home. In them games everyone were hassling their players. That’s where it has gone wrong.
I would rather see forwards who scare the shit out of the Mancs so much that they dare not bomb forward. However with our ball watchers up front it is easy.
When you enjoy what you are doing,u will automaticaly do your best.
Does these players enjoy playing for arsenal,the style the culture,the history?.
There’s so much pressure to obtain silverware that i don’t think any player in our team currently is enjoying playing football.
arsenal should concentrate on arsenal and not what other teams are doing.
I honestly think we have the players.For example look at wilshere,experience is nothing when your decision making is top notch.Regardless of age.
—sigh– —switch on ipod– — listens to john mayer’s slow dancing ina burning room–
The Manchester keeper is a dud and will ruin their season.
You will see. They look awesome at the moment riding on a crest of a wave but that keeper looks really dodgy.
So he saved a pen. It should have been retaken to be honest.
Our striker should also have all dead ball kicks taken away from him as he flatters to deceive.
His free kicks are totally shit yet some still believe he will score from them.
Instead of blaming the untried rookies and those who should never wear an Arsenal shirt. Take a look at our new Captain. Where was he yesterday, in fact where is he every week.
So he scored a goal. In out team a good striker will score many goals.
I was at Old Trafford yesterday, and despite the appalling result, the away support was superb. Don’t think there are any fans in world football who could be that loud while watching your team concede 8 goals. Brilliant.
I believe most of the fans are too hasty with their judgement, early in the season. We are in an INSTANT MICROWAVE result oriented environment. Please wait till a couple of days then review your judgement. For me, IN ARSENE I TRUST. Please compare the track record of all the possible replacements mentioned with Arsene’s and you’ll see that the Prof is a class act. This is a bad patch that will tapper off soon.
Have to hand it to Manure – they looked really good – fast, strong, movement off the ball was fantastic and quick one touch passing. Everything that we had aspired to over the last few seasons but never really pulled off. Having said that we were abject especially in the last quarter. Total capitulation. I admire your optimism Andy but I think you are becoming increasingly isolated! I agree our core team is (well it was before the two traitors left) the equal of our rivals but our next eleven are weak as piss. I would love someone to do an inside job on the workings of the club because clearly something is not right. For all his faults I don’t think Wenger is stupid. There has to be more than stubbornness and tactical naivety behind this. But I do think the time has come to change tack and if that means a new manager who can unite the team and fans then so be it.
Whoever suggested Benitez should be shot though! And Tommy Smyth says we should get Martin O’Neill. No thanks.
Love this article!
We have to understand that our season starts against Swansea. We know that Wenger will not pay inflated prices (and we should not get into that habit), and to do this, you have to push negotiations to the wire, to deadline day.
A pundit, a blogger, let alone “Manager of the Decade”-Wenger knows our weaknesses, and will surely do some key transfers in this transfer window.
But we should put this loss into proper context:
-We were missing our main defensive unit (Verm, Sagna, Gibbs, Song, Frimpong)
– Ball possession of both sides were nearly equal
– We managed to get roughly 80% of MU’s shots (both total and on-target) without a proper “creative-outlet” type of player. And those were quality chances.
– Rooney and Young were RIDICULOUSLY on-form. Young would probably only score 5 of those wicked curlers in his entire career (and unfortunately for us, 2 happened in one game). Rooney wouldn’t score from free kicks more than 4 times in a season (and unfortunately for us again, 2 happened in the one game against us)
– We did not take the “damage limitations option” and change Arsh-Walcott for Miquel-Lansbury. Had we done this, we could’ve kept the score at 3-1, easy. But that’s not the Arsenal way. We DECIDED TO KEEP ON ATTACKING, by throwing in Chamberlain for Coquelin. And I love this decision to keep on fighting and attacking. We continued to get quality chances until the end.
– Remember than United usually had terrible starts to their season, but they showed “mental strength” (whatever the pundits call it) toward the end of the season. Why can’t we do it? Especially with our increase of “British mentality” in the first team.
Keep the faith Gooners! Our EPL season starts against Swansea.
Cheers, all the way from Indonesia
It’s easy to point the finger at Wenger, the reality is the whole situation that Arsenal finds itself in is a shambles.
The ownership of the club remains in limbo, the board is too old school and needs to embrace the modern game including salaries otherwise we will never retain players, they will move to chase the buck just like the players now playing at Man City.
Dein had foresight pushed out for a number of reasons 1 being the intro of silent Stan who is now majority share holder and board member, get Hill-wood out and Dein back, Arsene had his best years when Dein was there, this partnership needs to be reunited and able to shine again.
There is a lack of direction from above leaving too much pressure on the manager, the board members at Arsenal need to step-up or ship-out!
Look at last year we missed out on Mark Shuwarzer for a couple of hundred grand the cost was 3rd maybe 2nd in the league and our first trophy in 5 years, this was clearly a mistake who is accountable?
Now the pre-season just gone, the Fabregas and Nasri saga, it appears even Mystic Meg could foresee that the pair was leaving, where was plan A or plan B it appears non existent.
Arsene has requests that fans are united and we get behind our team, I agree but how about some transparency? First game of the season no Fabregas or Nasri despite being on the payroll, both played for their new teams straight after joining coincidence or injustice to the Arsenal fans?
It’s 2 big days in our season, our team requires more men and less boys and not bargain basement players (like the new player from Monaco) we require proven quality.
Get rid of the dead wood Arshavin, Squillaci, Chamakh, Traore, Bendtner, Diaby. They are not good enough, if you consider only Arshavin would start for Bolton, it’s a joke!
Put the inexperienced boys out on loan, Jenkinson and Ramsey (his head is not right, scared of the tackle understandably, but needs to sort this out).
We need a new team with depth. Wenger needs to sign a minimum of 5 quality players by the end of the transfer window.
Defenders, Jagielka, Hangerland, Cahil or Mertesacker 2 of these defenders listed in order of priority and Baines, Alex is a Chelsea reject and is not quality.
Midfield Hazard and M’Vila.
Striker time for theo to step up and Arsenal play 4 4 2
As things stand Arsenal will fail to qualify for CL next year Wenger will be sacked, Bergkamp will be appointed by January. This is avoidable but Arsenals board must take responsibility and act now!
My thought reflects yours perfectly, and in Italian I have written it.
This is to look the truth with lucid eye, in constructive way, without sensational newspaper titles.
…this is being a Gunner!
Andrew grow up it is time to stop defending arsene when the facts are plain obvious that the man is trying to steer a rudderless ship from sinking. The team he put up against manu was the worst in the club’s history. No more excuses of injuries and players leaving. Arsene has no vision and should learn from fergie. The players he had signed so far this season illustrates that he was bent on destroying the club and a sort of revenge to please his benefactor david dein. When you throw peanuts you will get monkeys and nothing else.
The eleven apart from rvp none of the players turned out against manu would would find a place even championship sides let alone wear the great arsenal shirts. The arsenal scouts who recommended players like djurou, arshawin, rosicky, diaby, vela, almunium, denislon, fabianski, squallachi, koschielny should be sacked forthwith and of course the retarded manager.
EL TEL oh dear! Are you serious with that comment? Please please please say your not? You sound like Arsene Wenger, “the defence will improve”. What is wrong with you mate? Have you ever watched football before? Did you even watch the game?
The defence is and always will be the problem. Wenger likes attacking, he has a great attacking mentality which is attractive to watch and we all love watching it. But the defence the last 4 years+ have been no where near strong enough. Djourou is an absolute joke and makes so many mistakes its frightening that he still gets a game. 2 full backs who are so so far away from being good enough that they wouldn’t get into a championship team! Shocking of all is the mindset of the manager to go to Old Trafford with no defensive plan at all. Who is the defensive coach at the club? Whoever it is should be fired a long long time ago. Clueless, with the worst decision making abilities I have ever seen.
Now Andrew, you have to be the most optimistic Arsenal fan I have ever heard ha. I am with you in support of Wenger, but he needs to prove all his abilities right now and sort our worryingly poor squad out. We are going backwards with our preparation, players, tactics and more importantly how we the club is running. The Board have to go! They need to be out now! They just want to fill their pockets without giving anything back to the club! Wages have changed in football and our structure needs to adapt to this if we are going to compete against the big boys like we should be and like we did for 3/4’s of last season! Kroenke worries me and he has no love for teh club, just another business to him! We do not want this.
£40 million aprox Wenger had to spend before the departures of our best 2 players. Thats around £90 million that we have to spend which needs to be immediately invested. And South Korean potentials are not the answer. We need established experienced players all over our team. Raid Everton of Jag’s and now with the gap at left back of Leighton Baines. Gary Cahill is a must straight away. Up the wage structure and prize Kaka from madrid with the guarantee of first team football and throw some money on Hazard from lille. Spend it now as its needed!!!
Lastly, the experienced players in the side need to sort themselves out too and start playing for the pride of this club and the badge! Disgraceful how they were practically giving up yesterday and if you saw what Rosicky did with the first free kick, thats exactly what I mean. His lack of effort and passion is shocking, a role model for the young players coming through. Such a joke. All players, all staff and all of Arsenal FC need to stand up and be counted now! This IS a crisis and its time for everybody to earn their wages, knuckle down and start working hard for the future of this great football club. Start showing some passion for this team! And show the fan’s why we should continue to show our loyal support for this club!
Next 3 days are crucial
Watching the shambles of a match on TV, I could not be more proud of the away support. The commentators even mentioned it over and over that if they could not see the score line, they would think Arsenal were winning.
Undermanned and tactically naive, our Gunners were absolutely outclassed. That being said, it was match day 3 with 35 to go. It is not too late to salvage the season. Call me optimistic, but I agree with Andrew: THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD!
Most of the posts above are correct- this was a disaster waiting to happen. As gutted as I am my main fury is aimed at the way the Arsenal baord and manager treat our supporters like we are morons. We all knew Fab and Nasri would leave- even with them we werent good enough- and I agree with some of the posts above about Ramsay – he is average at best.
We will now be blackmailed into paying extravagant money for second raters because we fxxxx about all summer when a blind man could see the squad was way short of class.
If moneys the problem or the new owners have decided to take the money and run then at least be honest and tell us and AW should be resigning if this is the case.
Also whats happened to the money from Tourre and Adebayor???
I am expecting us this week to pay $50m for some ten year old from primary school so that we will make a profit from him in 10 years time.
A prediction- we will sign one player maximum this week Cahill probably.
If we bring in someone like Arteta then its really the end- he is so good all the big clubs round the world are trying to signhim;;;;;;;;;;
This will be a disastrous season and it was all so obvious.
I am angry, humiliated, sickened but unfortunately not surpised.
We live in hope – its all we have left.
Andrew,
That is a nice article, optimism is the way forward. we have to fight back, lift up our heads and move forward. we have a great squad and we all know that without any doubt, its just that the strategy employed backfired.
Those results could turn out to be a blessing in disguise, lets keep the fire burning like the fans who kept on cheering to the very last whistle.
Cheers
A simple question, Why Mr Wenger always like to play Ashavin. He has been off form since a year ago, I mean completely. Why not give more chance to Chakmakh to partner up front with RVP? Sigh… always play 4-5-1, no plan B at all.
I’m still hurting too much after yesterday to further comment on it, I don’t I ever will. Me pondering why we were raped (that’s the only world that properly describes what it was). Everybody knows why, so I’m moving on.
In positive news, the club will refund the match tickets for all those who traveled yesterday. A nice, albeit expected move. But it’s good to see that the club officially acknowledges a) the support, b) the unacceptable performance :
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/arsenal-thanks
And Park Chu-Young is likely to sign today or tomorrow. Two pieces of news that are bound to make even the most desolate Gooner crack a quarter of a smile.
*I don’t think I ever will.
*Me pondering why we were raped (that’s the only world that properly describes what it was) wont achieve anything, nor make me feel any better about it.
I should pay more attention next time. Apologies fellas!
What I find most distasteful is Arsene’s lack of honesty with us the fans and the boards total reluctance to spend money. Yesterday was nothing short of a disgrace and we have players wearing the Arsenal shirt who shouldn’t be. No fight or spirit, just spineless and in terms of new signings, who would want to play with that bunch of “no hopers”.
Good article,A lot of fans are calling for Wenger head but personally, it doesn’t matter who the Manager is, if the board does not break the wage structure, we will not be able to compete.The Arabs have taken over clubs in key European countries and moved the goal posts,If you want to compete, you have to pay.Top class players attract only 100,000 plus in wages.United were forced to pay that for Rooney to keep him,Chelski have been paying that to their top players since the competition got hotter,our 80 or 90mill budget is supposed to cover wages as well,we won’t be able to compete with that.Someone mentioned Benitez,he spent millions and still could not win the PL. we have punched above our weight in the last few seasons and now that our top players are moving for the Arab revolution, its time to take stock and readjustment our thinking.This result is the best thing to happen ti Arsenal in a long time and if the board wants to make money, they have to invest or see their values drop.They have been too content in the past as Wenger worked miracles.Magic didn’t last now reality check.Break wage structure and top players will time and they know they will become even better under Wenger.Put pressure on the board not the Manager,he said yesterday that we can’t compete with our wage structure,the board have not been listening to him but they will now after being humiliated and seen as a bunch of money grabbing losers.Kroenke is even worse that is why he found Arsenal attractive.I haven’t heard of any of his clubs getting top players mediocrity and money is his game.Get him OUT NOW OR WE ARE SUCKED.
Rosisky is shite – has been since we bought him. Arse-Shaving is also a bag of shite. Walcot needs to stop talking so much shite and put in a few decent performances. His 2 goals in CL are covering the fact that he has no brain and there is rarely any end product. RVP is looking forward to Swansea game in a lack of respect type of way. Rich coming from a team 17th in table.
Gooners,it’s time we start thinking realistically what we are up against this year,no 1 challenge a need for a world class player tha
t clubs will fear not rvp who is always 50/50 or wilshere and gervinho that is work in progress but someone that fans and players will want to be excited about want to see and play with,there is no hope if there is no believe, wenger and board have over years save up the money and didn’t want to spend,if they want to see full stadiums then they must start giving,there is a saying the more you give the more you shall receive,fans have been faithful to wenger for far to long,wenger who hasn’t been pressurize until now,must start delivering and no more work in progress players,with arshavin and rosicky I just can’t figure out why they are even playing in the eleven, they are like prunes thats are dry out and waiting to return back home,we got rid of denilson and others that are a waste of time,it time we start answering the questions whether we are a club that players enjoy coming to,for winning trophy or just a selling club with no real desire to win accept for 4 th place.
Panic Button anyone?we’re on the special menu this season!
If Arsenal sacked Wenger (who is respected by his players, present, and most past players), who could you bring in that would do as well? All of the names mentioned have not done what Arsene has done – Ancelloti, Benitez (how to wreck an Italian champion and world giant in one season!), and I’ve even read Moyes and others. Without bringing in Mourinho (he would be the one to turn the team around, especially given the war chest that Arsenal/Arsene seem incapable of spending), there aren’t many others out there capable of taking this team as is and making it great. Van Gaal? Van Cruyff?
Whatever the case, Arsenal need several experienced, tough defenders, a goal scorer with killer instinct, and several (say, 3) new midfielders (2 creative, 1 defensive/holding). should i rattle off names? hazard, goetze, mvila, ayew, marin, canales, subotic, van der wiel… why is it that a team like Man Utd can get ashley young for around 15M but arsenal can’t pull that off? just saying
Hank — everyone wants to blame AW, but I think it goes beyond his head all the way to the top. And I don’t think Raphael Benitez is the answer. You could argue he certainly splashes the cash, but most of his signings at Liverpool were busts. I’d rather deal with AW’s frugality, at least his contribute, albeit long-term.
In Arsene I trust. If you can not stand behind your team, please go support another. Did Barca not ship 5 unanswered goals past Madrid in the Santiago Bernabau? Was Chelsea not thumped 3 nil at the bridge by sunderland?
Please I see this as a positive. Get behind your team or go support Man City
Howdy Drew,Howdy all.
Thanks for the early posting it’s always good to be able to run home to mama when things go wrong.
What can you say? Bad day at the office.
Swansea don’t look like such a sure thing anymore.
The truth is it’s been such a free fall since the Carling Cup I just don’t get upset like I used to. I hope thing get better but in the meanwhile I need to keep what wits I still have about me and get use to DOOOOOOOOOOOOM.
Few days ago,we were singing AW’s heroics & praising the players for qualifying Arsenal for the 14th consecutive UCL group stage.Today,we want AW sacked & the team disbanded because we lost three points.Yes AW is to blame.He has never signed a player above 18million nor believe in signing established stars & is willing to sell off any of his stars at the right price even when the team is in need of such player.But all these do not really contribute to the six trophyless years.Arsenal has suffered more from bad luck and ‘psychological melt down’.3 winless finals between 2006 & 2011 as well as close shaves at the league title have made up the trophyless years but we falter when we were closer to glory.The solution is not in signing costly players but in building a strong mentality in the team.The onus falls on the fans to motivate the team.They just took up the challenge with their deed at Old Trafford.As fans we need to ask less questions & support the team more.
@andrew, At this moment in time i think Arsene needs to CALL IN INTERNATIONAL RESCUE.
But, but, but its not the END OF THE WORLD, Nasri making things difficult for Wenger, Barca making things difficult for Wenger, Manure fixture came a week to soon, suspensions ,injuries, SILVER LINING OF AN 8-2 LOSS, there is no point in looking back, (isn’t blogging all about looking back) , couldn’t think about spending truck load of money, never going to compete with JEN and TRAORE (QPR) at the back (who promoted them), squad still still still still being organised, choose between three losses in Prem League or ……what did you say, we were crippled, Wenger HAS MONEY and knows the area of the pitch that needs to be strengthened, the manager is not stupid and knows how the fans feel, he knows what will make them happy, so you still trust im. Andy where do you dig up all this fossil. All of the above is part of the problem, excuses excuses excuseeeeeeeeeeesssssss.
@shard’s ,People blame Arsene because they cant find the ACTUAL CAUSE for the problems, what the f–k are you talking about, dont disrespect people like that, thats the biggest load of rubbish i ave ever heard. Does Arsene know the ACTUAL CAUSE and if so why not do something about it before the 8/2 raping.
By the way The AKA icehammer, not sure what went wrong.
@shard/Andy, very very sorry mate im getting mean in my old age although i wish the players got mean sometimes.
@afolabi kayode, your doing it now, how or why do you accept and recognise whats going wrong and then follow it by saying but but but……….BAD LUCK ……………..BAD LUCK………BAD BAD BAD LUCK, PSYCHOLOGICAL MELT DOWN, CLOSE SHAVES. The solution is in building a strong mentality and the ONUS falls on the FANS to motivate the team.
@afolabi let me tell you this, the players who are lucky enough to be promoted through the academy from the age of 9 to 16 should have or be taught about the need for mental strength. If they have not by this age then they are released. In the years that follow they play youth and then reserve football. At this point they are aged 18 and released on loan to become battle hardened. What are they then being on the pitch in an Arsenal shirt if they are not mentally strong and motivated. If the onus as you put it should fall on the fans, why is Wenger being paid millions every year, and the fans pay millions. The asking questions part, is it allowed when the team is back in its glory days? Hello, Mc’fly, think man think and how many times have i told you not to come in here!
just ask urselves 1 question would djouaru kosclieny alumnia eboue diaby denilson squallici bendtner ashavin rosicky bin allowed 2 stay at ne other top club with the level of performances they av bin putting in over last 2 years but they r cheap sumthing stinks at our club wheres the money gone we r a west end club n we need to stop shopping at primark
For those of you who believe that Wenger’s hands are tied by the board, here’s a good post worth a read. From a poster on Le-Grove:
Thomas. it’s up for grabs now… says:
August 29, 2011 at 12:35
Match & Others…
Wenger had not achieved anything significant if we are to go by salaries. We paid 4th highest and finished 4th. So not even a hint of over-achieving there! In fact the evidence points to Man U as being the over-achievers. We all know City will buy the title.. And more… But you must admit Ferguson has done well. God only knows how those wage bills will look like for City last season and this year in particular.
Not counting this summer’s activity…
In the last 4 seasons Man Utd have spent ONLY A NET 19,350,000 on transfers.
In the last 4 seasons Arsenal have made a NET profit of 14,300,000 on transfers.
For the 2009-10 season. Wage bill.
1. Chelsea £172 million
2. Man City £133 million
3. Man Utd £131 million
4. Arsenal £110 million
5. Liverpool £107 million
http://www.footballticketsonline.co.uk/top-five-wage-bills/
Match, you profess to have read the accounts. Therefore you will know that the board is on record as saying ALL proceeds from player transfers is available to the manager to spend on the team. For Wenger to blame the board, or as one piece suggested over the last few days, the scouts, is abdicating his responsibilities entirely. The manager is responsible for every current player that puts on an Arsenal Jersey. Not every manager gets all the players he wants. We pipped Man U for Ramsey’s signature and so it will also work against us. We’ve just snookered Lille by the looks of reports on Chu-Young. We won’t get players if City or Chelsea want them. That’s a no-brainer. We’ve just snookered Lille by the looks of reports on Chu-Young. However, the players that do arrive are still the manager’s choice. Every Player that is training on London Colney today was brought to the club by the manager, not the board.
If you have read my previous posts last week, the financial reports, (the actual evidence available to us), all point to money NOT being the problem at all. Quite the contrary. Wenger has finance available to him from three sources since last season. Profits from property sales, (short-term), player transfer profit and Income from the football side of operation. I know there are other factors such as salaries etc to play and it is a balancing game. Effectively we have a pot of money and must balance the amount paid for the transfer and the salary. However, you will not convince me that money is an issue, having read the financial reports.
With the money from transfer profits, the profits from the football operation, the money coming in from property sales, the 125 million sitting in the bank outside of these the evidence points to this club having huge financial muscle at the moment. The balance of salary caps and fees etc is a factor but Wenger has chosen not to spend the resources available to him. I for one do not believe he has been forbidden. We cannot compete with some clubs, we all agree on that, but we sure as hell could do better if the accounts are to be believed. Unless The Chairman, The CEO and The Chief Financial Officers have all lied!
This is what I want to hear from Arsenal and Arsenal Fans. Mistake are happen in life and we should give the chance to re-build that mistake perfectly. As about Arsene Wenger, he should be given another chance to prove himself and to show what is he capable of. He has been a manager for 15 long years for Arsenal. he has done a great job in here and we really appreciate this. a massive loss last sunday isn’t a big thing at all, MU are slitly better than us and our top players are injured as well as suspended too. The team Arsenal played with Gay-Chester are almost all from reserved team part. Arsene has been trying to settle down things and we have to wait what he does. We have to keep faith in him as we always had been to. So, in “WENGER we TRUST” and I’m sure that we’ll gonna puts our hats off for Arsene soon.
I really respect you Andy. Keep positive when most of the fans including those who kept the positiveness turned their head off (including me). I love to see your writing, full of beliefs and it always written well with some strong points. Today, in this post, I cannot see any strong points, it just became weaker. You were repeating what Wenger has said to all of us after the game.
Transfer deadline is approaching but the only news we heard that looked to be real is the coming of Park. I fancy the South Korean style of play and their work rate so I believe he would be a good addition. But I’m still waiting for the other deals to be happen. Look like we cannot get Hazard. Is it so hard to give some money because we are so desperate into it. We have money in our pocket, why won’t he spend extra for this time ONLY. ONLY for this time because we are so desperate. Even with Cahill, why won’t he go out there just give the money. Nasri was in the last year of his contract and we sold him for millions (I know that Man City is a stupid example but come on man..only this time). Just give the damn money. We also need a LB not because I don’t believe in Gibbs but he’s too quickly got injured but I don’t see any sign that we will get a LB.
What happen to Arsenal that I love? Maybe the board maybe the manager and maybe both but the thing I want now is only some addition for the squad. Eight players out is not a good reason. We got many players out for many seasons. The thing that get me upset this time is the fact that we have two players out because of suspension and players who were sit on the bench were mostly consists of players who were waiting for their debut. Arsene, board or whoever managing the players in and out. Please, the away fans yesterday were incredible. They showed their love and passion, now time for the management to show us some love.
I’ll just copy and paste my mail that got published in the football365 mailbox this morning:
It’s an interesting feeling, losing 8-2. When I was in school I was on a terrible team comprising a lot of kids who had never played and was thrust into central midfield because I was one of the only people who had kicked a ball in his life. After a while you get used to scorelines like 5-0 and 8-1. In a way they become much easier to cope with than 3-1 and 2-0. At least in the routs you never really had chances to waste. There was shared responsibility all around, and you couldn’t blame that striker for missing the chance because we’re four down already.
But I was never that competitive anyway and I could rarely get myself motivated. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a professional footballer on the wrong end of 8-2, especially when you’re considered to be at least close-ish to your rivals. I feel for young guys like Carl Jenkinson, who are needlessly put in impossible situations because of transfer market negligence.
I fear for Arsenal right now. Who is going to want to sign for a club that sold their two best midfielders, can’t/refuse to pay the wages necessary, and just gifted eight goals to the team they claim to challenge? Is the savior Gary Cahill going to watch that match and think, “Oh I’d like to play with that Johann Djourou”? Is any creative midfielder going to fancy working with Arsene Wenger, who seems more forlorn than ever? Even good luck — because let’s face it, it’s not every day Howard Webb gives the away side a penalty at Old Trafford — becomes a form of punishment, as the most reliable penalty taker in the team passes it tamely to a goalkeeper who in previous matches had looked a bit dodgy. To say it can’t get any worse is a lie; though it’s unlikely they’ll get stuffed like that again, the result will loom large in the minds of the players and fans for a long time.
I’ve always supported Wenger, and while I know there is going to be some petty gloating from the Wenger Out crowd, but I think it’s time for him to go. You can’t lose 8-2 to United as an Arsenal manager and keep your job. The thoughtful, witty character of 5-10 years ago and the man who stood defiantly among the Man Utd fans as he was sent to the stands two years ago is no more. Half a year ago Arsenal fans were looking forward to a cup final and a second leg against one of the best teams the world has ever seen. Wenger has had absolutely rotten luck (the sudden and random emergence of teams like Chelsea and Man City, dubious refereeing decisions in various Champions League ties, injuries to vital players at vital times). His plan should have worked, but it didn’t. Any grace I would normally give him is negated by the fact that he’s making the club’s goals impossible to attain. He’s given Arsenal fans three league titles, a superb stadium, Henry, Pires, Vieira, Cesc, and a really long undefeated run against Sp*rs. But his current position is untenable. It hurts me to say it — I’ve only ever known one Arsenal manager — but if the club is to move on then Wenger has to go.
please n please Aserne Wenger,do all u can to bring in our squard Cahil,Hazard n Ateta.No matter bing behind the squard n trusting in you,we are tired of heart attacks.THE GUN IS NOW SHOOTING OURSELVE……….
Hey c’mon people,
We were in it until 7-2. It was that eighth goal that broke our back…
1NTTA
Succinctly (AW has no counsellors)….AFC needs a good team coach and tactician. AW is always outgunned by Ferguson and Drogba….and frequently by others (eg Stoke, Bolton). Frankly AW is tired, outdated, past sell-by-date. A good coach will know that Gibbs is not a fullback…much better midfield or LW; our backs are too often attacking and pack the opponents defence, leaving little space up front; opponents winger frequently have field day with so much space in our defence; also affected is Theo whose skills much better used up front; PRIME PURCHASES ARE CH AND LB.
So many other issues…RVP, as Cesc, are clearly not best leaders on the pitch…..needs sorting. Discipline must be controlled…AW failed again.
Many rumours hit on the net suggested that we are set to sign Andre Santos. If it’s true (but I will never forget the Ricardo Alvarez case) then it’s a bit relief because I just said that we are unlikely to sign any LB. Hopefully, hopefully the news is true. Seems like he’s a good LB with a great attacking ability.
Seriously though,
I can no longer recognize this team or its supporters. Oops, what supporters? Sure, I see the cannon on the shirt and some familiar faces who even managed to play well (Walcott, obviously), but that was about it.
Yes, we have injuries, and several key players missing, but there seemed to be no tactical adjustment to our circumstances whatsoever. Has Wenger really become that obdurate, clueless and lacking in imagination? With half the squad missing, why not just park the bus and try to grind out the 90 minutes? Sure it couldn’t have been worse that this abomination. Spanked by a 6-goal margin by a team even younger than us. Brutally exposed by a team as ruthless as we once were in our day.
This was a monumental embarrassment spanning three centuries, over 120 years in the making and it came only a few months after that other slightly less monumental embarrassment at St. James Park, which has NEVER been achieved by a Premier League club.
Something is badly wrong at the Arsenal and I am finally beginning to wonder if management really cares about winning football at our club anymore. As for Wenger, I just don’t what to think. I like to think that he is trying his absolute best to spend and bring in the requisite talent, but his options until recently were limited. I am more concerned that his quality as a football coach is clearly slipping just when we need it most.
C’mon AW get it together. Show Andrew, me and millions of others that our longstanding faith is going be rewarded sooner than later. Despite everything, no one should write off the season in August and what a strange thing that is to say that for a Gooner…
1NTTA
I love Andrew’s perspective; it is just a reflection of his optimistic mind.
99% of what happened to us against man u was negative, agreed. But would anyone care to see that minute but symbolic 1%?
How many goals did we score in our last two premiership matches?
Yes, we were buried with 8 goals but I still saw our head beyond the ground level with 2 goals.
Fans, this is not the end of arsenal, it is the beginning of a new phase.
Wenger could be funny; he knew he was going to lose and he lost honourably and boldly; never allowing the temporary immediate to thwart the better which is to come: I learnt courage from Wenger.
There’s hope for a tree that’s cut down …
Arsenal is bouncing back firing on all cylinders and conceding less.
I understand the anger aimed at Wenger currently, im a fan too and feel it too but if we had beaten United at OT then AW would have thought this team was going places and probably not bought anyone, had we lost, he would have blamed the injuries and suspensions, but the fact we got beaten in the manner and by the scoreline we did, I have no doubt, players will arrive. Hopefully, its the signings we have been craving. Im not calling for Wenger’s head, not yet anyway.
We got 2 weeks to get our injured players back (Sagna, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Wilshere) – 4 first teamers! Frimpong is back too and after Swansea, Jenkinson, Song and Gervinho all return and we will have a stronger squad. We got 2 days to get the signings we need. Park Chu-Young looks set to sign, we need defenders (preferably 2 CBS) and a world class name in midfield. It’s never been easy supporting this team but thats what makes it beautiful (not witnessing 8-2 defeats) but feeling all the emotions in football.
Up The Arsenal and for me still In Arsene I Trust. We will see if that trust is foolish or fair in the coming days but I love this club and this defeat isnt going to make me crumble away. I wear my shirt with pride and instead of putting more pressure on the gaffer and players, Im getting behind my boys. However, hard it may be!!
I strongly feel that Wenger should leave…. That is the only option left.. Why are players not willing to play for us???? Matta refused to come instead joined Chelsea for the same transfer fee… cahill doesn’t want to come.. Why???? All because of Wenger’s attitude. I appreciate that Wenger has made us loads of money that cant buy us trophies!!!
Please Mr. Wenger resign, do you need a even bigger loss to leave? please join our technical staff and let a new era begin!!!!
I disagree with Wenger on certain points but no way should he leave…yet. I think the squad has been threadbare in the past 3 games. The management is definitely to blame to a certain extent, I think we have wasted time in the transfer window and should have signed the players we wanted early on. I don’t buy the reasoning that we had to wait for CL qualification or confirming the sales of Nasri & Cesc before buying. The club has had money for transfers all along if the board is to be believed. Not addressing the defensive shortcomings is unforgivable to say the least. As for the 8-2 loss, personally I think it was down to tactics & not just missing personnel. But it was also down to everything going right for the opposition on the day. FIVE of the eight goals would have each been a matchwinner in any other game (Rooney’s 2 freekicks, Young’s 2 spectacular strikes & the penalty) but unfortunately for us they all went in during the same game. For those preaching gloom & doom, these people are idiots who are portraying the image of first time football fans. Let’s wait for the full team to be available before judging. Having said that, Wenger HAS to invest in the team. Gary Cahill, a leftback, I would like to see another centreback and an experienced central midfielder e.g. Scott Parker. And it worries me that today morning (30th Aug) and I still don’t see any of these signings.
One more thing I’m “confused” about. Wenger says he has made signings which technically he has. Ryo Miyachi, Joel Campbell, AOC. With all the injuries & suspensions, why have we not even seen Miyachi or Campbell on the bench at least? And I absolutely disagree starting or even playing Arshavin. His body language is horrible & his skills and attitude are even worse, Rosicky should not be starting as well. If indeed Wenger believes the players he has signed are “super quality” (I quote him here), then let’s see them on the pitch.
I’m glad we lost 8-2. If it had been 1-0, Wenger would have called it brilliant. As it is, I hope Swansea get something at the Emirates so we can finally stand up and say, yes, it IS the team that is the problem and not the class of opponent.
I have loved Wenger, he HAS been great. But it’s time to move on and it pains me to want the crisis to deepen so he has no choice. I can’t believe I’m saying that but it’s true.
Somehow this has to be his very last chance. Sob. When will we be GREAT again???? not for a while me thinks.
For God’s sake stop making excuses for Wenger. He knew full well Fabregas and Nasri were going. He had £40m in the bank and made no attempt to find and buy quality players.
He makes a pathetic and contemptuous offer for Cahill, and alienates the Bolton Chairman.
He has been a top manager for almost a quarter of a century, and by now he should know how to maintain a quality, strong team, with adequate back-up.
Can you name any manager in the WORLD who would field a player against Man Utd who last year was playingn non=league football . Who would bring on an 18 year old who’s experience is limited to a handful of games with a League One club.
Look at the Man U bench on Sunday — Giggs, Ferdinand, Berbatov to name a few.
I barely recognised one name on the Arsenal bench.
Lets stop prattling on about Wengers record. It’s the here and now that matters. Wenger has DESTROYED Arsenal Football Club. It’s too late now to recover this season.
I predict elimination from the champions league at the group stages, and a bottom half premiership position by the end of the season.
Wenger looked a broken man after Sundays debacle. He should take the course that any manager in his position would take, and resign at once.
Who to replace him — I don’t know — I’m not the Arsenal Chairman.
All I know is that this man is responsible for the destruction of one of the top clubs in the world, and it’s time for him to pack his bags !!!!!!!!
Jenkinson is the worst Arsenal back i have seen since pascal Cygan.
Why was he bought. Miquel would have been better than him. Christ if your going to play Jenkinson you may as well bring back sol campbell and play him haha.
I am an optimistic person, but i am being tested to my limits now. I believe AW will make the signings we need and crave by the end of this transfer window….
1x CB ( it will be Cahill)
1x LB (this will be Andre Santos)
1x Creative midfielder (Hazard, Martins or Mvilla) id love Honda but that wont happen.
1x Striker (Park chu Young is coming) although this stinks of a dud signing… better off bringing in rodallega if you want a back up striker that has played in the PL… who are we going to bring in straight away to play striker if RVP goes out injured?? Chamakh is slow and his touch is terrible.. his footballing brain is good but lacks the skills to lead the line for Arsenal.
If we can bring the above in then i say we can compete for fourth spot. Forget about competing for top spot… with cesc and nasri gone we are re-building again. AW stated last year the team was built around Cesc. So who is it built around now??? It’s still Cesc and he is gone…
And RVP is not a captain… Vermealen should be the captain.
Man U can beat us by the same margin or more even if we play again next weekend.
I still have faith in Wenger, he’s given me lots of pleasure over the years. It does concern me however that he only seems interested in buying lightweight wingers. Please Mr Wenger go and buy some bulky players with Vieira like mentality..
One crumb of comfort is knowing that Ehtihad is the arab word for unite(d). is that why Citeh fans show there backs when they score lol
Hey guys! First time poster here. Love the post and the comments although some people exaggerate a bit. Nevertheless, it’s always entertaining to read so I thought I’d join in.
I totally agree with Mr Andy (Enjoying the blogs. Well done, mate). It is not the end of the world! The truth is, 1-0 or 8-2, it is still only 3 points lost. I’m not saying it was OK to lose by that much but considering what transpired that day, we can call ourselves unlucky.
Here are the excuses/reasons why:
1. Everyone was talking about how BAD Arsenal players were but let us not take away how good Mancheaters were in that game. The crisp passing, the tireless running and the precision in the finishes. Sublime. (I can sense that someone is saying “why don’t you go support them then?” Because they played like how we’ve been playing for those past trophy-less years, just not in the important games I might add). Rooney’s free kicks? He doesn’t do that often enough and he had 2 that game. Ashley Young’s curlers? He’s done that before but twice in one game? We were Unlucky.
2. The fact that we were missing valuable players screams danger in itself. We didn’t just lose talented players, but the ones that bring steel and grit to our game. Song, Wilshere, TV5, Sagna and Frimpong (I think he’s going to be big for us this year when he channels that anger of his). No one was covering for the full backs when they bombed forward. Usually, its TV5 then Song slides in to the middle or vice versa. I think those players were sorely missed. We were Unlucky.
3. A lot of people disagreed with Arsene Wenger’s decision to go for it by taking out our CDM Coquelin. I thought that was a brave and gutsy move but this is probably where me and the gaffer share the same beliefs where losing 2 goals or by 10 is the same, it’s 3 points. We decided to go for it, went horribly wrong but in this case, who wanted to give up? The people who think we should park the bus for damage limitation or going for it? Again, we were Unlucky.
New signings or not, We’ll be fine. A few tweaks here and there and we should be at the top end of the table by the end of the year.
Arsenal is not completely fucked.
– First, we had an extremely tough start to the season. Liverpool is in great form, and Manchester always have a great squad.
– Secondly we were under a fuck load of stress what with losing fabregas, then Nasri (which technically was a good move, as Nasris contract was near end.)
– Thirdly in the Liverpool game the goals WERE kinda flukey. Frimpong gets sent off and they punch in an own goal and a cheapey. In the Manchester game like people have said before me, we got extremely unlucky. Firstly with the four great shots (Rooney,Rooney, Young, Young) the penalty. Also we got a penalty which was saved well by the Manchester keeper. Technically we didnt play THAT badly, i mean, yeh our defence could have been a little better.
– Fourthly, A LOT can be done in one day of transfers, for all you kno Wenger has a huge trick up his sleeve. We could still sign a big name. Wengers done it before!!
there is a day left… where are the friggin’ new players? i’m so confused. i doubt more than one new player is signed now. hope i’m wrong.
These are the worst of times yes but we are the arsenal. Whatever happens let us hold together. whether the disagreements were about Dien vs Hillwood, Nasri, Cesc, Wenger etc. They will come and doubtlessly they will go but the Arsenal will always be there.
victory through harmony
Either 1-0 or 8-2, a lost is a lost. Let it be. There will be an answer.Let it be.But the gunners are becoming runners or deserters.Who will save Arsenal?
@Jet
07:00PDST.
It looks like Mertsacker from Werder Bremen and surprisingly Andre Santos the Brasiliero left back.
AW says there is another signing or two to come.
We shall see.
These are good signings but could and should have been completed weeks ago.
wie sagt mann auf Deutsch ” Besser spat als nie aber besser niemal spat.”
sorry dudes no umlauts on my keyboard.
Cahill and Mertesacker will now compete with each other and Koscielny to play with Vermaelen.
WE NEED AN ATTACKING OR CENTRAL MIDFIELDER TOO
Yann M’villa seems to be our next target.
The Rennes midfielder’s agent told the Mirror today that talks with us are “back on”.
Who beleives that we would have made these efforts had we not been completely obliterated by Man U on sunday?
It certainly says something that we have to be humiliated before we attend to matters that obviously needed taking care of from the start.
@GunnerBoss
No news on Cahill here.
What do you know and where did you here it?
@emmanuel Ngala
Stick it up there United lover.
One of the stupidest “suggestion” ever uttered:replace Wenger with Raphael Benitez! This is a guy who spent Liverpool into ublivion, and I’m not sure any of the players he bought are still there. He could not survive at InterMilan- because he wanted to spend the club into oblivion too! Remember Ngog, Dossena, etc?
So we had a bad loos to ManU(without 8 regulars). The team needs some tweaking. I am sure AW feels let down by some guys last Sunday, and will be gone by Wed. The greatest culprit being Traore. I have been praying for 4 years for Wenger to be rid of him. He will also clear out some dead wood like Almunia/Squillaci to save money on wages. We have the likes of Miquel and Coquelin in the squad to take their places.
Arsenal will come good with some targeted signings.
Im no arsenal fan but if there was one manager i would like to see at my club it would be wenger.The man is a genius at finding players and he must have the best scouting system in europe.The football they play sometimes on a par with barcelona.Hes made arsenal into one of the most respected teams in europe and that ramsey kid looks better every time i see him.So they put a weakened team out against Utd and got battered.Qualified for the champions league,again!A central defender and a wingback essential and jack to come back.I see no crisis at arsenal.top four again this season or better.Watch out swansea!
Well it appears we definately have signed Park, with Mertesacker and Santos to follow. I was reading the various blogs and Arseblog seems to feel that Dick Law is a liability and is messing up transfer deals left, right and centre. He was at the heart of the Cahill bid and an earlier approach for Joel Campbell (?????????) the player didn’t even turn up for a meeting with Law. I guess I’m puzzled why it took an 8-2 humiliation for us to start signing players, they are usually signed during the summer allowing a bedding in period and adjustments for players to get used to playing with each other. Our bedding in period now includes CP and PL competitive matches, where if things go wrong we will get punished. I’m afraid for our club this season and I feel the manager and board have to take full responsibility. AW has kept faith with players who are nothing short of useless and all the rubbish about the squads strength, Cesc and Nasri going nowhere and about 20 people all working very hard to get deals done, its just patronising, does he think we’re all idiots!
Any new signings yet lads? Still waiting for confirmation. Whats the latest.
The new signing will be chuyoung park,santos and mertesacker must still be confirm but 95% there are coming to the emirates,I going to love saying mertesacker, lets hope they bring maturity,skills, leadership and winning abilities. Cahill saga is believe to be over,sad but we can always get him again, still 25,mertesacker can you believe? But who do we still need? Hmmh! Next target! Mr scott parker someone to take the game by th game by the balls,we can just sneak him away from spurs before 11 2moro,let’s see what happen,but kaka is what we need in the creative field,come on wenger.
Sori,icehammer I know he means a lot to you,but we can take him on loan and when you come back next season then you can have him back ,icehammer you have been a blogger for a quite a while I appreciate your comments on this site.
ok guys calm down, lets give him(arsene) till end of this season to redeem himself before we ask him to go,yeah!… give me five man.
@mr.cool
The calm down atittude is good and groovey cool and props to you for keeping the calm with so much panic around. Bur Asene and co. have had years of warning and many summers counting this one to get things together.
If his head is on the block (and I doubt that it is) he has NO ONE to blame save himself.
These moves are good but LATE. You need only to thumb back through the pages of this or any other Aresnal blog to know these changes have been long,long overdue.
If you or I were to tend to our business in this fashion we would have long been fired.
Do you doubt that?
@Brisvegas Gooner
Welcome aboard mate and good comments.
Where the heck is Brisvegas?
@ leftcoastgooner – Brisvegas is Brisbane in Australia, of course. My home town and obviously Mr Brisvegas’ too.
Some great comments today lads, keep it up.
Andrew I think you should have stayed in Sweden mate. Why has the manager not addressed the squad issues before now. If the answer is that he was waiting for CL qualification then does that mean to say he is not trying to build a squad that can win the EPL.
The Arsenal ship is taking on water the next 24 hours will determine whether it sinks or not.
Shrek2be
Arsenal were 5th the season before Wenger took over. Stick to the armchair supporting mate. How many tiltles have manu won since Wenger took over.
This idea that Arsenal were some kind of nothing club before Wenger is AKB propaganda, We have not won anything for 6 years wake up.
boris-aus I see your spouting nonsense again as you said the other week.
take it away Boris-Aus as below from the other week:
I can not wait till we beat Pool, Udi and put up a fight against MANU and tell you whinging idiots to shut up.
VCC said we have two billionaire owners.
Mate if you co-owned a business with someone you didnt know or like would you put 100mill into that company with the very real possibility that the other guy who has a slice of the business you have a slice in may own the whole thing in 12-24 months time?? Answer that and get back to me…
The transfer window has 14 days left until then you can not bang on about wenger going.. who would replace him?? can you imagine the upheaveal of the place and all the players that wenger has place his trust in… You supposed ‘fans’ are short sighted morons… who booes their own team?? Its disgraceful.
Im ashamed to be associated as an Arsenal fan the way half of you idiots act and go on.. We are doing fine. As Gary neville said teams go through cycles.. just have some patience… do you kno how many teams that are out their that win nothing and wont for another 50 years… Be proud that you support a club which actually has some history… actually has a chance of winning anything.. and that plays beautiful football..
otherwise get lost
End of Boris.
Oh I answered back and pointed out that Stan the man owns 70 percent of the club so that should not stop him from spending money on players. Don’t forget the amount he has already spent buying those shares. He is the major shareholder it’s his decision if he wishes to sell his shares. He controls the club.
By the way don’t ever fuckin quote Gary Neville to us.
@ leftcoastgooner:
happy to be wrong. an attacking midfielder will be nice now. where on the east coast are you?
@jet
West coast dude,
Aptos,California.
Thus the little bear flag of the Republic.
To be truthful though I am originally a
sorry got disconnected
….product of Cumberland County Maine.
another state with a bear flag.
On balance I agree with your comments. There is little else to do (from a gooner pov) but to keep calm and carry on.
Personally, I went straight out and bought the new away shirt. I love my club (while hating a performance that I pray I never see again).
God bless all the gooners at Old Trafford who sang their hearts out while their world was collapsing before their eyes in the second half. That’s something to remember too right?
@Borris stop castigating Jenkins. The lad is a good left back but our style of play exposed him so much. Remember he had a great game in Italy. In all fairness Traore should have never graced the arsenal shirt.He was abysimal and diabolical at best. He was worse than Silvestre at arsenal. Thank God he has joined QPR.Total lack of position sense,out placed and he even couldnt cross into the box. I saw Nani always smiling while he bombarded the left flank and the moroon was no where to be seen. I will forgive shez for the game and this must be the last worst show he has given us left we give Manone the gloves. We must stop joking around in goal.
@leftcoast:
sorry, posted question after long night on call. i shouldn’t do that. i was in southern maine for 7 years, now in cleveland