A lot of people, myself included, believed that with five signings made and good results achieved against Swansea and Dortmund, our boys had turned the corner after the mauling at Old Trafford.
Well if they did, it seems they stumbled down the deepest, darkest, dirtiest dead-end alley one could possibly imagine.
The defending in yesterday’s 4-3 defeat to Blackburn was, as Alan Jacobs from The Run of Play put it, “shambolic”:
“Four [goals conceded] to Blackburn—Blackburn—though Arsenal’s defenders managed two of those themselves. It seems that no matter who Arsène Wenger puts in his back four, the selected players are immediately deprived of even the most basic powers of spatial awareness. I suspect that the team doctors, when they examine the newly signed, are using some hypersophisticated technique for removing the exteroceptive faculties. The Daily Mail ought to look into this.”
It is difficult to draw any serious conclusions about exactly what is going wrong with our team at the moment — a need to integrate new players, a lack of collective confidence or some other third, fourth or fifth suggestion could be to blame. That something is wrong is undeniable.
When you see Johan Djourou, the calmest of calm of our defenders, making simple mistakes at the frequency that he did yesterday, it is hard to fathom. When you see Alex Song bundles home the tamest of free kicks into the wrong net, it is hard to deny.
Here’s Jacobs’ again:
“The strangest and worst moment of all came early in the second half, with Arsenal leading 2-1. Mauro Formica stood over a free kick for Blackburn a couple of yards outside the area on the right wing, and lofted a chip so gentle that, had it landed on a butterfly, it would have done little damage. But it did not land on a butterfly. It landed on the knee of Alex Song, who seemed to have no idea that a game was being played in his vicinity, and rolled peaceably into the net. No Blackburn player was in the neighborhood.”
Diaby did something similar at Old Trafford a few seasons ago, you might remember.
It is difficult, after this loss, to deny the conclusion that our ambitions as supporters for this season need to be checked.
However unlikely a league title success was to be achieved against club’s that throw their money around like Chelsea and the Manchesters City and United, that chance is realistically gone. Four points from five games, including three defeats, is not the start of a team that will be champions.
I will not lose belief in this team or the man who so passionately wants us to find success. I can’t.
But I am a little worried.
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Arsenal FC are a club currently riddled with 2nd rate average over paid players, managed by a man well past his sell by date.
Amazing how many Arsene FC fans are so blinkered & blame the board.
FACT: We dont have a board, nor do they select the players. nor do they coach the players, nor do they insist the coaching staff stay the same after 15 years.
Kronke – Sell up up now whilst you still have some profit & fuck off – or have the decency to refund us season ticket holders the 6.5% increase.
Wenger – Do the honourable thing & resign.
This is all of dannys making…. for selling to stan, for spiting Dein, for not welcoming in usmanov…. that’s the real issue… everything in life stems from the top… Our top now says nothing & does nothing except agree murals, agree to sell our stars, agrees to spend not all it makes, agrees to not buy stars, agrees to not compete, agrees to not put in one penny of their own money, agrees to keep things broken the same, buck stops now with silent Stan, not arsene… AW with fizman & Dein were unbeatables, without garbage, everyone is looking & blaming the wrong place… Remember the top at Chelsea before roman? Or Leeds or west ham? Arsene is a manager not an owner, he has proved he is a brilliant manager and proved he is a crap owner as this is what he has been left to do by dannys spite… Not surprised he is silent eh? Fuck off you useless silent yank cunt! We want our arsenal back…
If your worried now Andrew what will you be like by Christmas. Wenger is finished maybe he needs new surroundings but things have got so bad at Arsenal he should walk.
The day of reckoning has arrived , thank god at least we have a goalkeeper, but what a farce last season when we should have bought Schwartzer,he wouldnt pay another half million, its common knowledge how slow Mertsacker is and not fast enough for Premier league, he pays 12 million for a 17 year old kid ,when we are losing our two most experienced midfielders , he thinks Walcott and Chamack will get us goals , fat chance, we have lost any hope, Wenger go please go , if you go we can regain at least hope, we have no hope as long as you are there ,you have filled our football club up with overpaid kids ,that are poor players , we need them all shipped out .
Why is it when we sign a player he loses his ability /desire his ego goes into superdrive , why ? do they go into the comfort zone and think theyve made it and dont need to try , Walcott look at him he`s a joke now.
Walcott,Chamack,Koscielny Djourou ,Gibbs,Mertsacker,Ashavin,Squillaci, he has fringe players that get paid 60,000 pounds a week , we are still paying Denilson 60k a week , Wenger go and lets have a clear out.
totally agree with doublegonner
Wenger’s tendency to give the captain’s armband to a player he doesn’t want to leave instead of a leader is the most apparent problem. The defence would be a lot better if you had the leader at the back. It’s unbelievable that we can’t keep a line anymore! People go on about Stoke not playing football, but they look stable in the league. How many teams go down trying to play football and how many go down defending well as a team? This is survival! We’re fucked, I can’t see Wenger turning this round. His only hope is our home form. Pat rice is a legend but he captained a team that was inconsistent. It’s so obvious that we need a Keown, a Viera coaching. Winners.
Gotta say this unfounded respect for djourou is totally rubbish. He’s a muppet. Constantly making mistakes and a glare that has two brain cells. He’s the perfect example of the new player prototype. Great athletic ability, no craft. Statistics are great about his effectiveness but they say anything when read how you want, are probably how wenger defends to himself over the whiteboard about how this is a competitive team. I don’t think any of these players would make the starting lineup of the first three and you are trying to say it was a successful signing period. Come on. I can’t even be bothered watching this team anymore.
Ps. Ten pounds on a bet that if all these players stopped wearing snoods and shaved their heads they would play better.
Well Andrew,your site is at least not running crap like LG.Thats one of the worst sites ever run by a human being .There is utter tripe being spouted there. Anyways coming back to Arsenal, our confidence at defending is reflected by the fact that whenever a throw is made from deep in our own half , there is no one near Sagna or the LB willing to take it or fight for the header.I simply think we dislike the ball being up in the air.
Totally agree with Jonno. Djourou is totally useless and makes key and basic mistakes in EVERY game. Sometimes he gets away with it but a lot of the time he doesn’t. Every time I see he’s in the team, I groan then have to watch him make more mistakes. Can people not see this, I just don’t understand. Just buy some decent defenders, it’s not hard!
Painful as the defeat was, ,what made it worse was that someone like Samba could issue a rallying call to make it a living hell for Arsenal and going ahead and doing just that. With generous help from our team. If, after the inclusion of new, experienced additions, same mistakes surface, where is the problem? It’s like the movie Spacejam where some alien force saps all the essence from the players. Let’s just hope it gets better from now on. Well, we can always hope, can’t we?
@Andy, Firstly i really admire your loyalty for Arsene and all that he contributed and achieved during the late 90’s and early 2000 which also made me a huge admire of your club and the fantastic sexy attacking and defending football you played at very very “high standard”. Note those words HIGH STANDARD. How you say that the results achieved against SWANSEA and DORTMUND were good results causing your boys to TURN THE CORNER makes me realise how low the expectation of high standards have sunk. A number of years ago these games would have been a cake walk for your Gunners. SWANSEA, DORTMUND come on man, are you telling me you were convinced with those performances. Your not West Ham a poor little family club that caused a little spark during the 70’s and 80’s your a fucking big club. The way you describe your club makes me believe you will still be content if Arsenal finished mid table. “I will not loose belief in the man who so passionately wants us to find success. But your a LITTLE worried. Like everyone else, I cant say what’s going to appen in the next few games, but remember i did state that i was unconvinced with the signings and could see more shocks along the way.
Andy, lead by Arsene this club is no way near turning the corner and it staggers me how you can say this based on the finishing of last season and the beginning of this. Your head is in the sand and i suggest to you its high time you took it out, because from where im sitting your in trouble. I still pray i make a total fool of myself by being wrong. Up de ammers.
By the way all, did you boys see the performance of your Lansbury for my ammers, i know it only the championship but he is pulling up trees. Wenger could do with im or will Arsene sell im to us next season.
Shambo how about £5ml
i’m at a complete loss for words. i buried my head in my hands after this. i could have cried.
Some people predict problems, others need to bump their heads. Or in our case, get a serious concussion! It feels as though the only thing left to support is a cannon with a few balls lying around.
A catalogue of shambolicness, by shambogunner.
Brought to you in association with breeding mediocrity ltd and the people that brought you hit comidies – Mikael sylvestre, seb squillachi and manuel almunia, amonst others.
08/09 season;
27 sept 2008 Arsenal 1-2 Hull. Shambolic.
29 0ct 2008 Arsenal 4-4 Spurs. Shambolic, were 4-2 up.
1 nov 2008 newly promoted Stoke 2-1 Arsenal. Shambolic, couldnt defend.
15 nov 2008 Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa. Shambolic.
NEXT GAME 22 nov Man city 3-0 Arsenal….no pride after previous home loss. gutless.
10 dec Porto 2-0 Arsenal. absolutely shambolic defending and keeping.
21 april 2009 Liverpool 4-4 Arsenal, 8 goal thriller masks SHAMBOLIC defending.
10 may 2009 Arsenal 1-4 chelsea. A hiding at home.
09/10 season;
12 sept 2009 City 4-2 arsenal. Shocking defending.
25 oct 2009 west ham 2-2 arsenal. west ham come from 2 down outa nowhere.
9 dec 2009 olympiacos 1-0 arsenal. Shambolic.
16 dec 2009 newly promoted burnley 1-1 arsenal. awful stuff.
24 jan 2010 stoke 3-1 arsenal. FA CUP- knocked out by stoke. Shambolic.
31 jan 2010 Arsenal 1-3 Man Utd. Mauled in our home stadium. Shambolic lack of drive.
17 feb 2010 Porto 2-1 Arsenal…nothing learned from the earlier defeat from same team.
27 march 2010 birmingham 1-1 Arsenal. Almunia is asked one question all day and fails in the last min. phillips equalises after we have 197% possesion. Shambolic defending.
14 april 2009 Spurs 2-1 arsenal. gutless performance after the 4-4 draw at our place.
18 april 2009 wigan 3-2 arsenal. Gave away 2-0 lead with 15 mins to play. Disgrace.
3 may 2009 blackburn 2-1 arsenal. lead lost again because we cant defend corners, or in general play. Flappy-handsky has a nightmare, again.
p.s we are told we have identified our frailties and will be making the necessary adjustments in the summer. Chamakh arrives on a free and 19m is spent on koscielny and squillachi.
2010/2011 Season;
18 sept 2010 Sunderland 1-1 arsenal. rosicky blazes over from the spot, we crumble and allow a last min equaliser after owning the ball.
25 sept 2010 Arsenal 2-3 west brom. ridiculous, shambolic defending.
7 nov 2010 Arsenal 0-1 newcastle. Lumped ball into our box, no pace on it and Carroll outjumps everything freely to head into an abandoned goal. Scandalous defending.
20 nov 2010 Arsenal 2-3 spurs. more hurt for us fans as a two goal lead is surrendered at home and we go down with a whimper. more shambolic defending.
FOLLOWING GAME braga 2-0 arsenal, a team we hammered at home cruise against us.
29 dec 2010 wigan 2-2 arsenal. nzogbia sees red and wigan still pegs us back after leading 2-1. nothing new there then.
FA cup arsenal 1-1 leeds. went out last season to stoke and this is how we kick off this years campaign…lucky to get a pen in the dying moments.
30 jan 2011 arsenal 2-1 huddersfield. an undeserved win.
5 feb 2011 NEWCASTLE 4-4 ARSENAL. im not even going there again. newcastle take 6 pts off us for the 2010/2011 season.
FA cup leyton orient 1-1 arsenal. embarrassing display. right result.
CARLING CUP FINAL arsenal 1-2 birmingham. relegation bound birmingham beat us in a wembley showpiece in front of millions, laughing stock AGAIN.
20 APRIL 2011 spurs 3-3 arsenal, another two goal lead thrown away, nothing being learned. humiliating.
next game bolton 2-1 arsenal. wenger and rest of squad scarper down tunnel at full time leaving Wilshere to offer consolation to travelling fans. awful defending.
last three games;
stoke 3-1 Arsenal
arsenal 1-2 villa
fulham 2-2 arsenal.
our manager says theres nothing wrong with second in march and we go on to finish fourth and play a CL qualifier vs udinese..,,i suppose theres nothing wrong with finishing second in a weak CL group aswel and get drawn against Barce either.
we are told, this time from Gazidis aswel that we will be working hard in the summer to recruit. wenger tells us no-one is leaving. nasri and our cpt leave, we miss out on alverez to inter and jones to utd by delayng and foolishly and arrogantly thinking (A. we are the only interested clubs or (B. the player will choose us over, eh, I dunno Inter Milan and Man Utd respectively.
deadline day we panic buy players that could have been brought pre asia tour and given time to form understanding with their new teammates. I suppose Arteta was the marquee signing, even though he wudnt get near the utd or chelsea or pool line-up.
2011/2012
0-0 away to newcastle.
0-2 at home to liverpool.
8-2 away to man utd.
1-0 at home to swansea, although they had the better chances.
4-3 away to blackburn.
NEWSFLASH- the shambolicness hasnt popped up out of nowhere, its been here for years and is here for the foreseeable future, we are neck deep in the shit because of the managers ego, thats the bottom line and he is now starting to lay the blame at the players feet. we cant sack him beacause no one will want the job or have the ability to rversethe situation, we just have to ride it out now and hope that theres not too much damage done.
wheres the multi milion pound oxlaide chamberlain Iv heard so much about?
And there i was thinking this all started after arsenal got Koscielny. I guess the real problem is that it’s so damn difficult to identify the real problem
wow, that’s the first time i’ve ever heard you not jump to the talk about the silver lining in the dark cloud. Now that makes me a little bit worried…
Please do not put Ashavin as starting XI anymore. How many sloppy goals can we afford to loose. I think we need one reliable central defender like Gallas or Adams. I don;t know how Arsenal can revive this season, they already got one leg out of the top 6. Holly smoke, I have no mood to wear the Arsenal shirt this season. Let go of Wenger is unavoidable. Do it now. Come on Board of Arsenal, make this decision please.
Morning Drew,morning all,
Well like a lot of gooners this morning I’m hung like a race horse and plenty worried.
What to do? Realistic_Gooner assures me that as supporters we have power. I gotta be honest I don’t feel very powerful. Wenger will not leave and the board will not remove him or change his tactics.
Zonal marking if it can be called marking at all has not worked. I really have no answers and don’t feel qualified to tell the doomers what to say. God knows after the last 6mos. they have the right. The room will be full of them today in full cry. I’m going to slink away for an early hair-of-the-dog beer and sulk. What awaits at Shrewsbury? I feign think.
PS. Thanks for the posting Drew nice to see someone’s up to good.
The examples given of shambolic defending is not surprising. What amazes fans is it is
been there all the time. I think the gunners are the only team who can slip leads 8 out of 10 times. This is really unacceptable.The buck stops with Wenger.
All the se past seasons he has refused to address the defence problems. Finally he may have to pay the price for this poor,poor defending.
If Arsene/Arsenal aspire to win games and trophies,he better look into the defence.Iam afraid he will finally be axed to save Arsenal .
As far as I know any other manager could have better prepare the gunners defence. So in a way what Clichy said could be true.The gunners don’t practise defence drills during his time.This poor defence has been there the last five years.Remember Silvester and Campbell in the team to face Barca.This is really laughable.
I know this is only the fifth game but it could be aharbiger of things to come. Then what?More time f for Wenger?Forget it.Hhe is continually linked with wc kids. He better note the present is more important than three years in the future.If the gunners continue to struggle,he will finally have to go.
I think we have lost everything that makes us feared by the opposition.every club knows dat wen u float the ball into our box 2 out of 10 times u get a goal,it has been lyk this for well over 5yrs now,d only pple in our team today and five years ago is Arsene Wenger,Pat Rice nd d rest of the coachin staff.since 2005,we have used 10 centre backs,toure,campbell,senderos,cygan,gallas,vermealen,djourou,squillaci,koscielny,and nw metersacker,3 right backs,4 left backs,we have used more defenders than our supposedly title rivals,i use suposedly bcos we hv been kiddin ourselves over title ambitions,more defenders than manu nd chelsea,we have used more midfield players than they have,and more strikers nd goalkeepers than they have,dat jst shows dat we are an unstable club and unstable clubs dont win trophies,they only slip down d table.if our epl record this year 4rm febuary were all in d same season,where wuld we be,exactly where we r now on the table.we are in a state of freefall and the coaching staff has got no clue as wat to do,if they did,it wuld nt have continued this season.GOD help us.
@shambo (stato, stato, stato), a master class of stats man, need you say more. And @Andy thought the boys had turned the corner! @Hanrik, Gallas, now there’s a player whose only crime was to want to win so much that he allowed it to get to him mentally when other players kept making so many mistakes and strikers were not consistently taking chances. After being hounded out now gone on to do a very good job for the Tott’s.
@ opus, its deluded fans like you that makes me sick,so,for me to say we could have conducted our transfers a little earlier like manu utd,to give the team a lil bit of time to know each other,in your deluded opinion,means i should be a man utd supporter? So if some other teams are doing thing differently and its efficient for them,wouldn´t it be wise for us to do the same ? No, not for you,because another team thought of it first,we shouldn´t adapt,right? Fool,adapt or die out.
@ gunna shah
Dude we are all deluded,angry, bitter and in my case hungover.
The real problem isn’t you or Opus it’s that we’re losing in a humiliating and regular fashion. Let’s try to hang in there together. I’m afraid we as gooners we are fast becoming an indangered species with absolutely no protected refuge.
@shambogunner It’s hard to understand for me how so many people out there cannot see the facts. Great analysis by any rate, thanks.
@Hanrik His name spelled Arshavin, not Ashavin. And I was not aware he is amidst our defenders. I guess, he scores those own goals himself, first pretending he is Song, then he disguised himself as Koscielny. What a tricky man, that Ashavin!
Players scoring own gaols like that? Bribes? (Which I think is not to be dismissed entirely, folks. Some of the results have been so bizarre.) Or they are just shit.
Get rid of Wenger. The only thing is, who would replace him? Kevin Keegan? Steve McLaren? Sven Goran Ericsson? Martin O’Neill? Apart from O’Neill, the others are third raters. The Madrid Kid is waiting to take over from Ferguson.
Who has served succesfully and loved Arsenal before? The answer is ……..
George Graham with David O’Leary or Tony Adams as assistants?
Well, what if… Gervinho would have passed to a free in the box RVP when Arsenal were 2-1 up… RVP was totally free with the goalie displaced. Gervinho went for himself and lost possession. A 3-1 lead would have sealed the game in my opinion. Dont forget Blackburn were a team in shambles too. Sure our defense was poor but with a win all could have been different.
@Mike
You know, there is a tons of decent coaches, and after Europe 2012 qualifier ends there will be even more of them. I don’t think all of them any worse than we see now in Arsenal.
@Mike You say they all third raters. Are you seriously rate Wenger as first or second rate?
@ Mike
I’d like Martin Keown or Lee Dixon the problem with that is we have a manger and despite how he is presently managing the job is filled for the time being.
My inclination is to think that things have to improve after yesterday but I said that after the ManU mauling so it quite evident I know little or perhaps nothing.
However, on the good side the surf is great and the beer is cold and my mother-in-law is leaving for Montreal for a few weeks!
Shambolic !! True nothing New ….Arsenal have gone backward. Once they were aiming for title now they aim for 4th Finish and some how get the sponsorship money by playing for CL. Lost faith in AW once we went down to MU. Watching arsenal now a day you predict that they will give away the lean easily.I am already looking at season end it seems arsenal would be in 12 or 15 position. Poor Squad and an poor management.
I guess the ideal situation to replace wenger would be to promote a manager from the B team. Arsenal should have had one of the legends coaching in the youth set up so we could maintain the continuity and havea manager who knows the club inside out.
BUT wenger apparently does not intend to leave EVER so no preparation is made for the future as far as management is concerned. Look at Barc Pepe was a b team coach and because of his knowledge of the club was able to come in and function quickly, he was put in the B team setup with the intention to take over the first team someday as he has done now.
Because of the way Arsenal is setup it is important to have a coach come from with in someone who has spent a while in the youth setup as well.
Wenger does not intend to leave ever so he wants no other coaching around.
Wenger is bigger than the club and that should not be HOW he has still remain in this job so long is really puzzling and now some people are lowering the standards of the club to accommodate him BUT keep wenger let him stay forever don’t fire him raise the tickets again while the product on the field is average and MOST of all CHEAP, so basically you pay more forless, that’s Bad economics if you ask me.
BUT its not the Boards fault (partly) and wengers fault (mainly) blame everything else except these two.
@ shambo man you got guts to type all that WOW!!!! BUT you for one nowhere i stand
Facts don’t lie the only constant is wenger we have failed to prepare for this season by making a real mess of the summer and based on this alone wenger should be fired. he has lied, connived, outsmart, deceive, and totally turned his back on the fans WHO may i remind u he said last season he does not care about when he was interviewed.
On the owner stan apparently doe not even come to the games, all he want is money he does not care a dick about football so the people who were crying down USMANOV
what say you now?????? at least he love football and would not sit and see the club in this ridiculous situation were in now.
@kel
Well kel that’s fine, bringing in another coach at this time would be a tough but perhaps vital if risky gamble.
But to some extent you’ve said it yourself, the coach isn’t going anywhere and the board is not going to remove him. So back to square 1. My question to you is the same one I’ve posed to everyone. What as supporters is our role besides paying for this thing and being bitterly dissappointed?
Get your collective heads out of the sand, will you? Can’t you understand that, no matter how many gifted players we manage we throw at this team, we sorely lack a technical team manager to mould the players into a proper team. Arsense Wenger’s time at Arsenal has long expired, and he has NOTHING else to give to this team. Football nowadays is all about tactics – every game is carefully planned in a particular way depending on the strength / weaknesses of the opposing team, and the plan should be flexible enough to adjust to such things as a red card, strategic injuries, own goals – all things which do happen! Our defenders have no co-ordinated plan on how to close ranks and defend collectively, particularly against strong fast teams. Because we seemed to defend well against Swansea (who are they anyway – not one player of repute?) we are led to belief that we have good defending tactics. Sorry but I am fed up with this Arsenal; but please don’t blame the players. AW has screwed us supporters enough, and should be put to pasture before we are fighting for salvation.
hmmmm… we may need to relax and step back and breath a little fellows
it is a bad patch but let us not make rash and hasty moves
@ unchained
Pull yer head out pal.
@suffering…
hey you have to hold man. We are going through a rebuilding
I’m as dissullioned with the defending as all of u. Dont get me wrong. Awful is a nice way to put it. However, because the focus is all on the defending(justifiable of course) I’m going to give what I thought were positives to that game:
Gervinho looks awesome. The majority of the times I have seen him this season he is always a threat. Somone who is very direct and looks like he can assist and score at anytime. Full of confidence he seems to have settled in extremely well and this can only be a good thing. Someone who could be a real asset to us this season.
Arteta also, though he faded in the 2nd half, looks to have settled in well as one would expect with such an established midfield player.
Though Song made 2 big mistakes yesterday, I would asses his return so far as good. Superb against Dortmund and superb yesterday apart from his 2 woeful mistakes, his contribution looks like it will be a good one.
The goalkeeper is also first class. Not a problem position at all now and someone who you really want in the side, for his personality and ability.
Walcott also looks like he could have his big season. 3 goals in 6 games is not a bad start and he always looks menacing.
In that first half as well, the trio of Ramsey, Song and Arteta absolutely bossed that midfield. Absolutely outstanding in the middle of the park and bear in mind this is without Wilshere. This is surely something to be hopeful about that a trio in midfield can go to an away match in the premier league and dictate play so impressively.
The other positive, although he wasn’t playing yesterday, is Frimpong. Just the kind of character and player we need and someone who I feel could really be a huge player to us this year. Him and Song holding in the middle….can u see much getting past that?
This is not to deflect from the shambles of yesterday’s defensive performance. There is no defending that and there is nothing to cover it up and it has to be addressed. Mertsacker looks 10 million pounds of junk on that performance. Koscielny wasn’t good. Santos had an edgy debut and the collective defensive effort just wasn’t good enough. However, I do also feel there were positives to take from that game and from this season, however gloomy it may look. Sure we’re not title contenders. I thought that ever since the off. Is this the weakest group of players wenger’s had? I think so. However, with what i see in front of me and the positive signs, a top 4 finish is whilst the best we can hope for, also well within our reach. Its the best we can hope for this season but if we do it it would be an something to build on and keep the stability in the club going. I see no reason why we can’t do it and though the start has been horrific in the league, I feel a perspective needs to be kept and there are certainly signs to show that 4th is, in spite of recent events, something fully within our grasp.
@John. Dream on man
Nice header Andrew.
My take is as supporters we should do our part. Yes I believe Arsene put us in this calamity, because he didn’t act fast enough to rectify the players moving out this season and replacing them accordingly. Only a simpleton would believe that he did not know that Cesc and Nasri wanted to leave. In fact Cesc himself admitted Wenger helped reduce the fees.
Whether Wenger should go is anyone’s guess and should be put up for sane discussion if we all genuinely love ARSENAL FC. There are the pros n cons and another period of transition is looming if he goes. Repeating my first point, we as fans must support the PLAYERS to ensure this new team are motivated should Arsenal move to this phase.
Defence. Yes there is a major organisational problem defensively. Others have highlighted it before my comment. We lost to a Blackburn to that is in shambles, nothing more to say there.
Usually in any corporations there are KPIs put in place for the major office bearers. I do not know what is expected of the coaching team and the head coach. But it’s suicidal for a major football club like us not to have any KPIs set in place from the stakeholders. Over to you Board.
Repeating my point again, lets support the team. They need it because managers come and go but we supporters will always be here. Let us be the support pillar should any harsh decision land at the coaching staff’s department.
Assuming we don’t sack Wenger in the short term, how do we shore things up to see us through the next few games?
For starters I think we need to play both Song and Frimpong in midfield, to break things up and protect the back four. At CB, we are stuck with two from Koscielny, Djorou and Mertesacker for the next few games. I would stick with the German and Frenchman but none of these combinations fill me with anything but fear.
Santos looked ok going forward but well off the pace at full back especially second half, so am thinking we need Gibbs back. No doubt he is injured again…?
Arteta and Gervinho looked useful, so I would have both of them, plus RVP, and then the remaining outfileder is a lottery. Walcott is rubbish, Arshavin a shadow of the player he once was. Let’s have a look at either of the two newbies I hear so much about – Ryo or Ox-C. Next week’s assignment is against another centre back we could not stump up the cash for. Hope he doesn’t use it as an opportunity to show what we missed.
At least nobody has suggested Willie Young for defence coach!
With this lunatic wenger in control things are not going to improve and the best will he quit alongwith the dummy board. I bet another trophyless season for gunners. When you buy dummies and shits like djourou, song, kos, cesy in goal and the latest mule mertesekar in defence, walcott, arshwin and chamak to score goals the results such as blackburn is most likely. The five players wenger signed I am sure will not even to get into the reserves of manu, chelsea or Mancity. I also do not rule out the possibility of the club involved in relegation battle at the end of the season.
I am firmly in the camp that says that the Wenger era has come to an end and he should leave the club and not be movd upstairs.I cannot see him leaving or the board sacking him though. If they let him go they would have to pay him a large compensation package(why is it that football managers get a pay off when they get sacked but all Joe Public get is a security guard to see them to the door). The other problem is that any new manager would have the same squad of players to work with so would need to be a great tactician first and a world respected person second as in the transfer window he would need to be able to attract quality players without the promise of European football. Any new manager would want to build their own tean which would mean that money would have to be made available and I cannot see the Board agreeing this to any protential candidate. They would pick someone that was in the Wenger mold and someone who was a yes man to do their bidding. We also have the problem of having two major shareholders who are billionaires but have different attitudes towards the direction of our club. One has the backing of the board but does not want to put money into club and one is offerng to invest but gets shut out. I do not know what will happen to address the current issues but if things stay as they are we will become a middle table team playing in a half full stadium.
Well I’m a little late to the party because my internet was down the past few days, but shambolic is very correct. That was inexcusable. Although I didn’t think we had turned a corner before the game, I thought we were slowly building our way up again. And to be fair, the first half was ok. I remember thinking that Gervinho not passing to Van Persie for what would have given us a 3-1 lead could cost us. But I did not expect us to come out so poorly in the second half. If we can’t handle Blackburn’s ‘onslaught’, and boss possession against them, and we can’t defend a set piece without panicking the way we did, then really I worry. We are having the start that Liverpool had last season. Can we avoid having the season they had, and fight our way back? There is still a long way to go and it can easily happen. The really disappointing thing is that we are a much better side than we are showing right now. But if the players play like that then we have no hope. No chance. That was plainly, not a performance we should accept, and I really hope the players had their heads knocked about and their butts kicked in training.
Djourou’s form since the back end of last season, has been utterly terrible. He’s been completely hopeless even when playing for the Swiss. He needs to get his head on straight.
Carling Cup tomorrow. I wonder who will play? Hopefully some of the kids will come on and perform well enough to be in contention for a starting berth in the league. I’m still shaking my head at how poorly we played on Saturday, and how poor the effort was. Until we went 2 goals behind, and were left with too much to do. Typical Arsenal that.
It just occurred to me that Arsenal needs to score a massive 25 goals to attain the same goal difference as Man U! (+17GD plus -8GD) and only if the latter stop scoring!! And it is only 5 games played! We will need 20 goals to catch up with Man City’s GD of +12!
Our season is over even before it has began!
How much longer is this going to go on?
The stats are there for every one to see, thanks to shambogunner.
The same mistakes are being made time and time again.
The only reason we got away with it for a while is that we were able to outscore or match the opposition on goals scored, we can’t even do that now.
Which teams at the start of the season would you have expected to be fighting off relegation?
Swansea, Blackburn, Newcastle, we have just played them and have struggled in all of these games, if we can not beat them, no disrespect intended, then we are in trouble.
The truth is that no team starts with apprehension against us, and worse still probably expects to beat us.
Even if we had managed to sign all the first choice players we were constantly linked with, the problems would only be masked over and would still exist.
Something is wrong at Arsenal at the running of the club, the coaching, the management, the board who knows. Until that is rectified we are screwed.
Arsenal died when it left highbury, we have just been seeing the death throes for the last 5 years. The club died when they decided to change the badge from the majestic crest we all knew and loved, which was steeped in history, to this piece of corporate sh*t that we all just had to accept as supporters. This was all done for money, ‘to make arsenal more competitive’ we were told. What have we, as supporters, been given in return? Shame, horror, disgrace and disappointment. Not just this year, not even just last year but year after year for far too long. This is not the club I grew up supporting, it has no atmosphere, no passion and this is no fault of the supporters. This is all because of the structures that have been put into place to make money and supporters be damned. I mean a 6,5 % increase for this sh*t??? Are they have a f*#@ing laugh!?!?
The working joe has been priced right out of the stadium…so that we can be the laughing stock of european football? Things are beyond bad, the rot goes right through. We as supporters need to make our voice heard in the only way we can, with our money, the one thing they seem to crave more than pride or respect.
Those last minute buys Arteta & Benayoun are the types of
purchases a club makes in December transfer window when
they are trying to avoid ”relegation”.
Is that where we are in September ?
Get Dennis Bergkamp as coach NOW
promote Wenger to the board
I was speechless for so long but i now have the guts to talk. What on earth could we have done better to win the game. The determination on Samba’s face later on the bicycle kick was not any thing but a win. The look on Persi’s face when Gervinho selfishly refused to slid the ball to him for a third goal to me was the prophesy that we were destined for doom. No wonder it came easily.
Let no one blame Jourou please. He is a center half and was played at right back after Sagna got injured . We must not lame the guy at all . Blame the moron who sold Eboue yet he had no better replacement for him. This guy is utter rubbish with no tactical oita of football. Hell on earth. We needed Frimpong and Song in the second half to counter the physicality and strength of Blackburn. Am fearing for the worst against Cahill cause he is twice better than Samba. Gervinho is partly to blame for his selfishness. Am afraid unless we win the champions league this season we may not play there any more.
Arsenal died when it left highbury, we have just been seeing the death throes for the last 5 years. The club died when they decided to change the badge from the majestic crest we all knew and loved, which was steeped in history, to this piece of corporate sh*t that we all just had to accept as supporters. This was all done for money, ‘to make arsenal more competitive’ we were told. What have we, as supporters, been given in return? Shame, horror, disgrace and disappointment. Not just this year, not even just last year but year after year for far too long. This is not the club I grew up supporting, it has no atmosphere, no passion and this is no fault of the supporters. This is all because of the structures that have been put into place to make money and supporters be damned. I mean a 6,5 % increase for this sh*t??? Are they have a f*#@ing laugh!?!?
The working joe has been priced right out of the stadium…so that we can be the laughing stock of european football? Things are beyond bad, the rot goes right through. We as supporters need to make our voice heard in the only way we can, with our money, the one thing they seem to crave more than pride or respect.
SAgooner, i agree with you completely on this. Well said.
During the summer transfer window Arsene Wenger was supposed to buy players to strengthen the SQUAD & get rid of the has beens/nearly rans/never rans. He hasn’t IMO strengthened the squad because, as is showing now, we have long term injuries, again, that haven’t been addressed with strong enough signings.
He has not bought in ANYONE to take the place of Cesc & Sami. Arteta is a luxury squad player who can be played when we have injuries.
He has not brought in a good old fashioned goal-poacher, which we are crying out for. Gervino is too busy trying to get the ball elsewhere on the pitch when he should be in the box waiting for the chance of a loose ball to bang in.
Mertesacker is a great signing but you cannot bring in one solid player & hope that all defensive problems across the back will be sorted out. No more Vermalen for God knows how long & Koscielny just isn’t strong enough.
& DON’T GET ME STARTED ON DJOUROU! This 47yr old man has a better idea about defending than he does.
Where are the young players that Arsene has been bleating on about for the past 6 seasons? If they are at our club don’t loan them out, PLAY THEM. If you sign youngsters, like Oxlaide-Chamberlain, PLAY THEM.
I don’t want to see my team play pretty football. All i’ve ever wanted is for my team to have passion for the the game & for the shirt that they should be proud to pull on their backs every week. Playing for The Arsenal is not your right. You should have to earn the privilage of wearing the famous red & white of my club.
I don’t think sacking the manager is the answer but he HAS to change his ways.
OOH TO BE A GOONER!!!
Arsenal died when it left highbury,….
Not true my friend(s). Arsenal are far from dead and aren’t going away anytime soon. A lot of the dissent among the supporters comes from the fact that they feel disenfranchised because the club is/has been on its way to becoming a global entity. It feels like the older, more traditional fans don’t matter anymore. That the club has ousted them because it has outgrown them. I can understand that feeling, but it still doesn’t make it correct. The fact remains that Arsenal HAVE to turn into this ‘corporate sh*t’ as you so eloquently put it. If Arsenal does not do that, THEN it dies.
Shame, horror, disgrace and disappointment. Not just this year, not even just last year but year after year for far too long.
You would think that these emotions didn’t exist in football earlier wouldn’t you? It’s always been there. In any case, there may be tough times right now, but I still have pride in my club. Pride in the fact that we do not run the way Chelsea do. Pride in the fact that we do not cheat both on and off the field. Pride that we built the new stadium for a new Arsenal, and if anybody loses their pride for the football club because of a few ‘tough’ years (Finals, Semi-finals, Top4- Yeah real tough times) in light of what the whole football world is experiencing right now, and where this football club is right now, and what obstacles have been put in its way, then I really don’t know what to say. A result can annoy me, disgust me, a performance can be shameful, but I have pride in my football club.. Until we pull a Chelsea and lose our soul, at least.
@ Andy Lee
Well AL,
You seem to have some reasonable ideas along with some desperate ones.
But just look around or better yet listen to what is coming out of the official club news.
Do you see anyone in power speaking of making ANY changes?
I’m afraid it will take more losses and perhaps a lot more before the current regime considers a plan “B”. And that in a nutshell has been the main problem all along.
I’m not sure which of the above contributors said it, but as long as we keep going to games or in my case here in the States paying outrageous money for cable and satallite football packages I suspect absoluetly zero will change. Too bad perhaps but I’m afraid too true.
Shambo,I am wordless after that stats report,its been determine that wenger n co has lost again rubbish teams n good teams and didn’t take their chances,how do u tell a manager his time is up thanks for taking up the pyramid and maintaining it for a while,but times have change and time for someone new to take control and lead the team to success.
Hopefully we can beat Shrewsbury Town. I am just disheartened and I love watching the 49 unbeaten video rather then these pathetic arsenal side. My Dream team arsenal is not allowing me to sleep every saturday and sunday with it consistent bad performance.
How much longer will it be before enough of us finally let the manager and the Board know that what we are witnessing is nowhere near good enough??
This is not about conceding 4 and losing at Ewood Park today, nor is it about conceding 8 and getting humiliated at Old Trafford. This is about months, possibly even years of failure for a club of our stature.
* Months / years of following a flawed transfer policy.
* Months / years of failing to hang on to top class players.
* Months / years of watching directors getting richer but not transferring their wealth into a solid playing squad.
* Months / years of massively over-rewarding under-achievers.
* Months / years of fleecing loyal supporters.
* Months / years of calamitous defending.
* Months / years of being lied to by the manager and the Board.
* Months / years of accepting second best and making feeble excuses.
* Months / years of stagnation with no improvement in sight.
Come on people – we can’t just sit back and watch this unfolding before us. We were unbeaten league Champions 7 years ago and now we’re a team that anyone would fancy playing against.
Surely the time has come for us to demand change from the Board and the manager?????
@kelo Von Stuaffenburg
That’s treason and heresey!
If you don’t wish to continually pay more for less.
If you don’t wish to endure the almost weekly humiliation by the likes of (and I shall only name) Ipswich,West Brom(twice),Stoke,Birmingham(in a year they were relegated)
S***rs,Mugmashers und so wiete.
If you don’t wish to wait until the very end of the transfer window to add long needed players. (it is after all within the managements perview to piss off the summer)
And if you don’t wish to see club “assets” sold off without timely or adequate replacements.
You can go root for Man City.
There, always a pleasure to get you lunatic fringe types straightened out.
The only reason for keeping Arsene Cunter on is clear.
Today, with the scores at 1-0 Arsenal, I lumped £50 on Blakburn to win.
Then after Arteta scored, I lumped another £75 on Blackburn to win again.
It was like finding money on the street!
When Liverpool rolled into the Emirates, I put a straight bet on Liverpool to win by more than one goal. The odds were stupidly high and so I put a £200 on it. I won enough money to have legendary pub sessionss for a whole month after that.
The Man United game was again, an easy way to make good money if betting on Man Yoo to win by more than one goal. Again, a straightforward £500 on that made for excellent gains.
The only match I had not bet on was the Newcastle game because first game of the season, you never know how the team will perform.
I don’t care if there is anything ‘unethical’ about betting against Arsenal to make money. What is ‘unethical’ is Wenger picking up £6.5 mil, Djourou calling himself a pro, Alex Song and Diaby earning the wages they do, the ticket prices Arsenal charge and the guff Wenger comes out with. So fuck him and fuck anyone who is content with the state of affairs at Arsenal right now.
Next time Arsenal are away from home and go a goal up, I shall bet against them again. Sue me.
@suffering from rickets – Sorry but I do not understand this. He is in SEVENTEENTH PLACE. WORST DEFENSIVE RECORD IN THE LEAGUE.
I ask again: would Liverpool or Man U put up with this? How long was Hodgson given to send Liverpool into the doldrums? They took action and acted fast. There is EVERY logic in sacking Wenger right here, right now. No heart, no passion, no desire, lost the dressing room, players going through the motions, lack of ideas, clueless defending, disinterested players, abject performances and pathetic excuses. Oh and all for a wage of £6.5 mil a year and a £111 mil wage bill. PLEASE.
Sacking Wenger in October and replacing him with Hiddink (whose Turkey adventure ends in November I believe) makes absolute sense.
‘Wait till January’
Heard that one before! Then when Jan comes it’ll be ‘no point sacking him now, judge him at the end of the transfer window’. Then when that closes it’ll be ‘no point sacking him now, give him the end of the season to sort this mess and judge him in May’. Then when May comes, it’ll be ‘let’s see what Arsene does in the summer window SIRELY Arsene HAS to see our problems and will make top signings now’. Then once you’re all promised Benzema and Pato but end up with Moussa Dembele; it’ll be ‘let’s see how the new signings gel’.
Then before you know it we would have sleepwalked until 2014. This HAS TO STOP.
You all said ‘wait and see how the signings gel’ well guess bloody what the signigns are as I predicted, SHIT. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys. Why on earth would you want to give Wenger More of a chance to waste more club money that can be left to the next man?? £56 mil spent this summer and I can see One half decent player in Arteta. The rest are pure gash. Yes even Gervinho.
He should go A.S.A.P
@ Herr Friedrich,
Horts Zu und wiederholen.
Ich liebe miene Klub
Ich liebe auch mien wenger
Alles sind zehr gut.
Now,place the suitcase unter dem tisch bitte.
Und laufen like hell.
Vielen Danke,
Suffering.
PS. Give Gervinho another week…then off to the eastern front.
Goodnight all, @ice here, @shard im sure every supporter has pride in their football club so i cant understand why you need to make such a statement for it says nothing to me. At the end of the day most supporters realise that something needs to be done about this now long term turn of events. All Wenger seems to be saying is that he still has confidence in the potential of this team, but when it looooses he says the team seems to have no confidence. The question is no confidence in who or what. Chelsea having no soul…..i thought you said we need the corporate shit!
@Shard what needs to appen at your club for you to suggest that Wenger might need to move onto pastures new?
up de ammers
IRRELEVANT you know what all this blogging is IRRELEVANT
all this post all this great post are nothing but irrelevant you know why because wenger doesn’t care neither does kroenke nor the Usmanov fellow nor the current board for them arsenal is just an investment they dont watch these place and read the blog as to see what the fans think about him they already know how we all feal about them and they give a squat
i think the problem is not the 6 trophiless years the problem is even before that wenger as a manager has never won a back to back title never won the champions league as a manager you are supposed to freaking win every year look at sir alex rember the 2 years that he didnt win anything their was an unrest at old trafford whether his days at manu are over or not
remember jose who didnt win anything for 2 years and was sacked
that potrays the ambitions of the club the board,fans and owners
this arses all of them are not accustomed to the daily taunts we as a arsenal have to face me leaving in Goa am surrounded by manu and Chelsea supporters failing at no point to bring it to my notice the kind of shamble at my club is in im so scared that i dont go to the pubs when arsenal are playing
but what can i do nothing do this a people have to go go through that NO
i remember once ferguson threw a shoe at david beckham just to show him who the boss can we see wenger doing that or even after last years performance jose was open to idea of selling ronaldo if he meets the right price just to show who is the boss
i remember the first match when chelsea very luckly won against wigan and jose came out and directly said we didnt deserve to win the match they played better
and wenger equivalent to that last year was i would be happy if i come 2 for the next ten years saddly he didnt manage that as well
the start of these year lots of names from kaka,zidanes sons, to jesus christ every one was linked to us and wenger promised us that for the first time he will by big what happened we lost alvarez to inter,lost phill jones to manu lost juan mata to chelsea
we went to buy hazzard and bought gervinho cause the later one was cheap
if as a club we cannot compete with team in termas of transfer market how the hell are we going to compete with them on the field
and another problem is that we have a freaking calm a cool attitude as fans if it wasnt for the increase in 6.5percent in the ticket price all of us would have been rather happy the way the things were going on all we can do as a fans is boo our own player and be satisfied with one all draw agianst dortmund hail as it was some sort of great achivement
write a blog about it and days later conjure something completely contrasted might i put in front of you that manu also drew against porto fergy didnt went saying ohh great result he freaking must have raised hell and the result is simple 3-1 win against chelsea
and its not the players as well djouro,kochesnly,diaby,arshavin,welcoot ,ramsey are all good players but the way they are played manu all so have some average player but the seems to perform cleverly,chicoritto, anderson ,evans ,valencia and the reason these people perform is because they are scared of their freaking manager if cleverly had got a red the way frimpong did against liverpool fergy would have not patted his back but would have screwed his happiness their and their
am i overreacting idont know if you think so then you are on of those people who pay 6.5 percent extra show up at the stands every week with their in arsene in trust banner when i see those banners i feal like doin the chainsaw massacre on them IN ARSENE WE TRUST we are not part of ‘arsene wenger fanclub’ we are ARSENAL FANS the gunners
some of you will point out that i have supposedly given to many examples about fergy Man u and Chelsea and jose
you will all will suggest me to suck thier lolipop if i am such a huge fans of thier fair enough but i will also put it front of these very people when they give examplaes of portsmoth,leeds why dont we looks at the sucessfull club and stop leaving in the past that unbeatabull shit as aged no body remembers that from unbeatabull we are now bull crape
but all this all this wasted energy of mine all that anger that i potryed is it relevant no we are still going to go to the emirates log on at home be dissponted come interpret our displeasure in terms of blogging and its a whole circle
what i suggest is do the libya and egypt at arsenal in way of internet use it as a toll start a freaking protest star hurling bottles at the games if we lose agian ok one guy doing crape will be thrown out but together i think we have trusted the future of out beloved club in this jacks hand to long it time we take thing in our own hand start a freaking revolutions isntead of IN ARSENE WE TRUST make a banner saying ARSENE WENGER F@#K OFF please take this displeasure you have to the stadium dont make a chore to go to the game get disappointed come home and do the samething again and again please let us win something these year atleast the world is supposedly to end next year
sirgovernor long time reader first time writter
Its a shame!!!! Leaky defense also drain out the confidence of offensive teams. We were against a team who’s manager was under fire by his supporter. Protest were going on. But we can’t dominate bunch of disillusioned players. Somebody quite rightly said, get over that ‘unbeaten’ shit and live in the present. Show me one area we can be proud off. Strikers(apart from RVP) ? (Don’t forget I was a little kid when we scored from dead ball), Middle field all scattered. Defense I don’t think I need to comment on.
After the worst start in what? 30 years or so, I would expect nothing less than what I’m reading here. This is Arsenal. This deep, rich history is surely going through one of its worst patches in its 125th year. Supporters have every right to complain and vent and scream and shout.
That all being said, I believe that there is enough talent here currently, and that we have shown enough quality play in most of these few early matches that we can right the ship.
Defensive consistency and excellence look a long way away right now, but the season is NOT over. It is still only September, and Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea have all dropped points. Manchester United look invincible and it is their title to lose but they will their own troubles before May.
Agreed it looks dire today, but I am going to try to do better as a supporter than some of our players on the pitch. That is to not to panic, to keep my head up and to always wear my colours even if I do get ridiculed in public. It will make the inevitable glory one day all that sweeter…
@Ice
I don’t know the answer to your question. I can’t look into the future and say what will make me feel that he isn’t the right man for the job anymore. One thing I do know is that I don’t take the 6 years without a trophy stuff very seriously. It’s easy to group them all together and say he’s failed. It’s too easy, and in fact I don’t believe it. The stadium quite clearly has been a restriction on the club’s spending and has affected Wenger’s ability to act as he would like. And we were told it was to help us compete and it hasn’t is a) ignoring that a project of that size takes time to pay off, and b) that the football world changed in the years since the stadium was planned and built.
Also the problem with the trophies argument is that I believe we haven’t had the ‘luck’ that is a necessity to win trophies. I know the saying about making your own luck, and to some extent we haven’t done that at times. At other times we have done enough and more and not been rewarded. Consistently enough for me to doubt it is just coincidence. And I do not say that lightly.
So with that out of the way about it’s been 6 years of the same (which it hasn’t), we come to this season. One of the reasons I was against a clearout of the ‘deadwood’ that was being demanded by many here last season, was because we needed to build on what we had. Any clearout and large scale change has the potential to make things worse, and even if things do get better, there will be a short term dip in output. I was afraid of that, and well, it is happening. I am not happy that Cesc and Nasri had to be sold (especially Cesc), but if Cesc wanted to go, then now was the best time to just change everything. Ship people out, change the team. And we’ve done that. The 8-2 would not have happened if the likes of Denilson, Bendtner, Eboue were still here. But room was being made for a new team to take shape. Not saying it was managed ideally- just that I don’t believe things can ever happen ideally.
5 games into the season and it has not been pretty. And yes the Blackburn second half performance has me worried for the first time about our ability to finish top 4. But then I look at the table and Liverpool are only 3 points ahead of us. And as we’ve been horrible, and they apparently have been fantastic, then I believe we will overtake them. Don’t get me wrong. I’m still worried and I’m not feeling optimistic. But I think we are a better side than Liverpool.
Oh and yes. I have revised my expectations for the season. Top 4. The Chelsea, ManCity and ManU money, and our change of an entire team, will ensure that we won’t catch them. AM I happy about that? Of course not. But I can accept it.
Ice
You always seem to have an issue with some word or phrase that I may use. In this case Pride. Well, I brought it up in response to someone focusing on the ‘shame’, and I feel I was fully justified in it. If it means nothing to you, then ignore it.
Chelsea did not lose their soul by becoming a corporate entity and I didn’t say that. I can’t really be bothered to describe it, but one of my best friends is a Chelsea fan from the older days, and he doesn’t really feel pride in his club’s victories. Sure he’s happy about it. But Chelsea lost their identity when Abramovich took over, and especially when Mourinho had them diving and cheating and surrounding the refs. Their behaviour was nothing but disgusting during that time, and I repeat, Chelsea have lost their soul. It’ll be harder for Arsenal to lose its soul because we have a richer history, but it is a risk. And bringing that up was my way of indicating that I am less than optimistic at this moment.
@1-nil
I want to believe you as you echo my words of last week. However, we then promptly went out and took another bitch-slapping, This morning Gazza says that removing Arsene Wenger is “not a road we are going down” (front page Sporting News). So there we have it.
Today we play Shrewsbury in the last competition we really figured in. Will it get better or worse? will we perform as we did away against Ipswich or Leyton Orient?
I don’t think it matters much what the supporters think or feel. The team goes up, the team goes down, the team goes sideways. You love your team,you pay your money and take the ride.
I agree with you that we have enough talent on the team. So then the rot lies somewhere else doesn’t it?
” don’t say you love me if it’s just a rumor.
don’t say you love me if there’s any doubt.
sometimes your can be just like a tumor
You’ve got to cut it out”
Elvis Costello, Lipstick Vogue.
1-nil to the Arsenal? I’ll bite your hand off for it.
@leftcoast
Careful what you wish for, boring George’s era was really methodical but at the same time a masterclass of defensive engine at work. Reminds me of why I supported Arsenal.
We lost another game but I think we gained something that we were lacking in the first month. Our Attacking game! We were back to our old self offensively and I guess defensively too!
I thought Arteta and Ramsey pulled the strings well and created plenty of chances for our front three. Its a good sign because Mikel didn’t take too long to adjust to our game. Mind you, Ramsey was out most of last year too! Its nice to see our free flowing passing game again.
Defensively, I thought we were a bit unlucky to conceed the goals that we did. That is all I can say! Koscielny didn’t play as bad as people make it out to be. There was nothing he could do with the own goal. He was there the whole time clearing balls and making interceptions. I think there just so much expectation because we have seen him shut down the likes of messi and david villa. We forget that he has only played 2 years of top flight football but you can see that there is something there.
I can’t believe how much hate there is for Mr Wenger. I understand your frustrations and why you want him out but I am a believer of his principles and I hope he stays on. I think its best for the club. Wenger and the board have managed to keep AFC as one of the best teams in Europe (Yes, no trophies but our record in europe suggests that) while being a self sufficient team and as Gazidis just confirmed, the Arsenal brand is just getting bigger meaning a stable franchise for years to come.
We have to see it as it is. We can not compete/outbid with multi billionaire owners Chelsea, PSG, Milan and City or the Global brand (What the board is working on) of Barcelona, Inter, Man U, Munich and Madrid but we still managed to compete with their likes every single year of that trophy less years. Wenger managed to build a team comprising of cheap buys and young guns and you still think he can’t manage? He made the team play exciting, attacking football that a lot of teams emulate. “They play football like Arsenal” is what you hear when a team is playing nice passing and moving game.
We have started slow and have been unlucky but I believe that we are slowly building up and will continue to improve. It’s just a matter of gelling together. Half of our starters last year are gone or injured but we’ve replaced them. I see our beloved team move forward from here! Hope luck finds us!
@ laninja
Nice, very nice Oh, yes I remember it well. Last week I watched the video of Patrick shoving Roy Keane against the wall in the tunnel at OT. Man those were the days.
Talk smack to those gents about mental toughness and get your whole hood lynched.
(sigh)
@Brisvegas
Dude, YOU are the master of bouyancy! I don’t understand how you do it but I do admire your abilities.
This Sarsparilla is for you Bris, Cheers.
Andy,
Sorry to hear you worried. But i have got my confidence back on arsene. It is time for him to sit calm and lose his head to realise that he can get things under control when he imbibes the confidence and sacrifice his flexibile intentions of the defensive line. This will allow the defensive line to get more focused on their duties though we may not play the best passing game for sometime.Also time and game plays a major role for the players to gel together. Song should primarily be covering the back four and it’s time that everyone plays the same position to gain the confidence. Our midfield and forward should be attacking without support from the back four of five(including Song).
We never pose any aerial threat , crosses or float during attack ,which we were doing a lot at times of Adebayor or Henry. Also it’s time that VanPersie should play as second striker linking midfield and we need to identify someone genuine in the squad to play the forward.Arshavin has to be rested or given some other role till he gains his form back.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings but just when you thought it could not possibly get worse….. One-nil Shrewbury.
Yikes!!!
1-0 down against another nobody at emirates! Yup fans paid a lot of money to watch that cramp,
leftcoastgoonertop
Stop complaining. Football is 90 minutes.Please wait for the referee to end the game.
@flyingdutchmen
Dude, I have to go back to work now could you post a score if it happens I have very limited access and if my Gila Monster of a boss catches me watching footie again I’m as doomed as our back four.
@Opus,
Don’t ever fucking presume to tell me what to do concerning my team.
You are free to root in your way and me in mine.
Got it?
I can’t watch the match,here in south africa its manu this and that so they only should one match at a time, yes so its manu vs leeds and guess who leading yes leeds 2-0 no just joking it the other way around, just watch the scores on bbcsports live scores.
Leftcoastgooner, sure thing ! Fingers cross for victory!
I had my tea during half time another 45 minutes of manu damn rubbishes! to go through,okay scores came through 1-1 nothing to get work up about,come on guys
Nothing change,but on bbc website there is picture on shewbury player jumping to head the ball n fabianski n djourou are watching if it went in,if they were watching then you know it went through but believe that was the first goal concede,not surprising
The scores have been refresh its arsenal 2-1 still time left 24 minutes
Thanks FDM I’m sneeking the peek.
Still 2-1 with 12 minutes left, I don’t know who score but hoping it chamakh n park they need more than anything. Ja, lcgooner but luv to see more goals to bring confidences to the players.
Scores refresh 3-1 injury time now so can call it a win leftcoastgooner
Thank you Dutch.
@opus, shard r u 2 related mentally, lol mate, @leftcoast eeeeeaaaaasssssyyyyyyy tiger. Its 3-1, didn’t i say those Doom Mongers were full of shit!!!!!!!!!!
theicehammer
Your point is……..??
Well, a win. 3-1. A debut for 4 players as far as I know (Park, Ryo, Ozyakup, Aneke) and I was impressed by Coquelin, Oxlade-Chamberlain, and by Benayoun. Gibbs scored a good header and looked ok in defense. Chamakh seems to be getting some of his touches back and that I hope bodes well for the future. Djourou still worrying though. Anyway. On to the league now. And off to bed for me..at least I have a win and some good performances to get me through my day tomorrow.
@opus
Sorry dude,
I admit I’m getting a bit too testy.
Old California saying… “when in doubt
mellow out”.
Down here in the Arse(nal) end of the world they showed Manure v Leeds. Interesting to see who played for Manu – Owen, Giggs, Berbatov, Park – therein you see the difference in squad depth. Mind you Berbatov apparently played some of the game at CB!
Still we won as well and right now I’ll take that no matter who the oppo is.
Agree with Brisvegas about the vitriol towards Wenger – way over the top. You can be vocal in your views but no need to descend to the level that opposing Manure and Spuds fans have been at for the last ten years.
That said, you can say what you like about our centre backs. There are jellyfish with more spine than them. Still, if we can nab a win against Bolton and a win at WHL the glass will be back at half full again!
leftcoastgooner
Ok, thanks.
Lighten up, Light up!
Hey Uze guys,
I just found a re-broadcast of the Shrewsbury match. It is on veetle so you need the player but it is very High def and will begin in bout 2mins. Here is the link.
I know most of you are in widely varied time zones but I hust now found it scrounging.
LINK:http://veetle.com/index.php/channel/view#4e76cc87520dc
@leftcoastgooner…
well put, and straight gangster too i might add…don’t apologize..obama does that too much for us already..how does that saying go ??? “and a child shall show them the way “…way to go kids…i’ve pulled my head back out of the oven..
The fact that we are SO RELIEVED having dispatched Shrewsbury means that we truly SUCK right now.
Is it a long term SUCKINESS or just a confluence of some bad stuff coming all together at the same time? Who knows? A coupleof things I DO KNOW is that it is a long season with still over thirty leage games to play and ANYTHING can happen.
Will our meltdown continue and will we find ourselves in a relegation battle for the first time in a hundred years. Or will we get it together and slowly crawl up the table once again as others drop points and lose form?
You know what I believe. It’s precisely why I chose “1 Nil to the Arsenal” as my monicker.
UP THE ARSENAL.
@Brisvegas, Spot on my Friend!!!!! Ur comment was the first and only one of my thought out of thousands I was totaly terrified as I read thru these comments. We all saw that we dominated that game and especially in midfield, we were spot on with Song and Arteta together, … As for Kid Ramsey, well .. I think he is still gottta have to find his way but I would put AOC right a way instead along with Arteta and Song. And lets not forget our beloved Lil jack too who s not far to come back.
I strongly beleive that we have enough squad to compete and good depth to sustain for a long campaign ahead, The only missing piece is Verma in our FB, but even Lil Jack has got a good enough alternative replacement.
@ Andy, I didnt expect u to be worried at this point and i wudnt if I were ya… look!!!, our display agst Blackburn were convincing enough to proove our ability in attack.. how many goals attempt on target we had?? ( which dont usually happen with a new Arsenal squad like this… 2009-10 you remember??? when we couldnt even have enough goal attempt but just running the ball ard the box with Cesc and Rosicky and the rest…. and yet we managed to secure 4th place at season end. This team is very very promising and to me nothing is lost with my hope remains high as I saw a gud promising, fit and well mixed of talentful young and experienced players and with a very gud depth. Plus when I saw the youth’s performance agst shewburry!!!!! that was wonderful!!!
And for those who hate Theo Walcott, You all must know that I am a big Theo and Song Fan, to me, Theo is one of the most feared and fastest player in the PL. Why do you think he is the national English team???? Those two lads to me are our best player so far and I wudnt even rate RVP as high as THEO and Song………..
Watching the game on tuesday brought back a lot of fond old memories,these guys played the kind of football we´ve been accustomed to,even when we were a goal down,i didn´t loose hope,cause the confidence and maturity displayed by the young guns was like a breath of fresh air for a drowning man,reminds me of the old gunners.This was probably AOC coming out party,but i keep seeing a real gem of a player in francis coquelin,my moment of the match must have been when he lost the ball in the oponents half,and race the length of the field to stop what would have been a sure goal,(as djourou was watching the ball again instead of the man) THAT FOR ME WAS PURE HEART,most of the youngsters that played that match,for me, are ready to step up to the big stage,i seem to remember us trailing 3-1 at old traford,when we took coquelin out, it got worse.Just my view,le boss is and will continue to the tactician,i´m just airing my bit.
@shard, never mind.
@Radads – I admire your optimism, and I even share some of it! But Theo better than RVP – sorry you have to be kidding. He should be an impact sub and no more IMO. Picks the wrong option too often for my liking.
we can do better i now we can i belive in aesenal though and though best team they just need to show it.
Bolton in 24 hours.
Can we or can’t we? I guess the truth is that we certainly can so the real question is will we? This used to be a fixture I looked forward to for 3 points and some goal difference padding. A win however, will do.
I know the in Arsene we trust faction will get upset by this but the manager has too much on his plate and needs to delegate more. I know this means a dimunition of control but 3 wins in 16 means something needs to change. I hope that doesn’t come off too spiteful it’s not meant to be just a recognition of the current state of affairs.
This too will pass of course and leave us hope that in about 24 hours is begins to change for the better and not the worse.
Guys don’t know if you here the rumor about bergkamp coming in to help out the coaching which was later denied by wenger, to be its honest it looks like if the ship is going to sink n wenger wants full responsible to sink like with him in it,that’s not gud guidance especially when you really haven’t throw down all your cards,wenger policies have been try and tested and failed,these are experience players who are willing to give their knowledge to bring a change,if you saw giggs,scholes,lampard,gonzalez and puyol provided teaching to the youngsters to get them where they are today,if keown,parlour and bergkamp can come in n provide some source of knowledge then wenger would have less problems to see too,he can’t be manager,finance director n chairperson all in one,yes I would like wenger to go but,arsenal is a side that struggle when important players and members are not there.
@bobbi how can someone be considered “something” if they have not showed it. For now just sit back and hope that Arsenal pick up @ least 13 points from the next 15 which again should put them in close contention of the leading pack. Until then, we might, remember, might be able to consider that they have turned any form of corner. Injuries permitting.
@flyindutch, i think Berkamp would be a fantastic addition to the backroom staff, but i believe Arsene would not really be ready to take on board any creticism of his system that may alter his philosophy. Berkamp would also realise that the quality he was accustomed to as a player 6 years ago no longer exsists.
The icehammer,nice to see you still contribute even though west ham is playing in the championship. I am not saying wenger should neccessary take on bergkamp,but there should be experience players that will lead and dictator the game which I haven’t seen arsenal do,maybe the game have pass the invisibles but they can lend a helping hand becoz, Arsenal cant even do the basics. All I want the team to do is to be successful I hate hearing about arsenal is playing for 4th spot. Its trophy season not rebuilding again, wenger is arrogant style is destroying him in every possible way.
@theicehammer
Hammer it’s not just that he doesn’t want Bergkamp who’s presence alone would be a lift to us fans if not the players (not that that seems to matter) It’s anyone. Asked last week if he had thought of bringing in a defensive specialist coach (Bould,Dixon and Keown were specifically mentioned) Arsene was angrily dismissive. His reply was to the effect that after as many years as he’s been at this he doesn’t need to answer this type of question. Oh really? Our goals against differential might suggest otherwise. We have run the same drills with the same coaching staff for a decade and a half. That alone would make one think perhaps some nominal change if only for the sake of freshness is in order. But it will not happen. Either we are going to improve doing what we’ve been doing or we’re going to go down doing what we’ve been doing. I hope it is the former but the results last 6 and a half years and especially the last 6 and a half weeks have made this gooner somewhat skeptical.
All that being what it may I hope the boys are ready for a heart and soul scrap and if we can’t whip the Wanderers then we go down like fighting S.O.B’s.
Attention all Gooners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Matchday grub has a new dimension! Gastro 2 Go! Check us out on St Thomas’ Road before the game! We got something special for ya! See you there. Come on the Arsenal!!!
More dissappointment guys,jack wilshere will now surgery the healing on the ankle didn’t do enough,wenger headlines“ I face the media bullets”,“ weird been the bottom 4” all you did wenger is extend your arrogant tactics,it time to give what fans want,success no more excuses.
Contracts deals for rvp,song n co,don’t be surprise the boys are skeptical about signing new contracts,cry beloved arsenal,we should be talking about arsenal line up and more,but the team is so shattered that at least seven players deserves to play and rest to watch off the pitch.
@the flyindutchmen
Morning Dutch,
Na wie gehts? Doesn’t seem to be anybody around here. How are things on southern end of the African continent. I guess this is the first day of spring for you guys(wie sagt mann fruehlings) here in Nor-Cal autumn has begun with a rainy day.
Too bad about Jack but he could use the rest and I think this would be a good time for Frimpong, the Ox and others to establish themselves in the midfield.
I’m hoping Andre Santos gets a run out and maybe Ramsy too. Aaron hasn’t looked his best and I hope he doesn’t go the way of Eduardo after his horrific break.
It’s been kind of a grim start but the only way past this stretch is straight through and over it. We have the talent,the question is one of tactics, execution and heart.
If we win we start the move back up the table,if we lose we will most likely dip into the relegaton zone if only for a short while and if we draw who knows?
well, it’s 06:45 here 15 minutes to go. Time for another cup of coffee and hunker down.
Come on you Gunners!!!!!!!
At the half. We look pretty good, have had the best chances, and have covered well in our own end. Nothing goal-wise to show for it yet but one good trend I’ve noticed. The habit of breaking our defense with one long pass like last year seems to have come to an end with Mertesacker. He may not be fast but more and more he knows where to be and when he challenges for high balls he wins.
THAT will do very nicely thank you.
3 goals
3 points
a century for RVP an assist and goal for Song and a very solid Per-Formance at the back.
Well done you gunners. On we go.
😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
glimpse of hope, van Persi: phenomenal, but the first touch of Gervinho ….. jemineh , and Walcot thump up
😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
Who is next? Anyway, thanks guys i am just too happy at the moment. wine will do for me. Good play.
the defense looked very solid today it appears some work has been done!
well don!!! no goals conceded am shocked:-)
Sori,leftcoastgooner i don’t speak dutch but afrikaans which is little taken from the dutch from the early settlers that came to sa. That right! we are currently in spring back to game yesterday,ramsey injury last season was horrific and players that return are not confident when playing, current example peter cech, as long as ramsey do what’s expected and reel the team to victory against strong opposition and demolish weaker teams this season could be his in the making, my evaluation should be rested now and then,as for kieran gibbs I believe he should play in one competition to avoid an early injury risk,I feel santos will be suited to ecl,leftcoastgooner if you want me to say arsenal victory meant they can take on the best well the jury is still out on that one,next week its spurs believe me wenger is eyeing a draw,further dropping more points.get back to you on that one.
@ 117 the flyindutchmen
I agree dutch,
Yesterday’s win pretty much means we won yesterday which is a good thing but it does not mean everything is OK now or that we should get arrogant.
The best part for me is that the team looked well organized defensively and we kept our cool in the heat of battle. Bolton has lost 5 in a row and our only other Premeirship win is Swansea so I’m not taking out my party hat just yet.
Important group match mid-week in the CL and then off to White Hart Lane will we will undoubtedly face a white hot Emanuel Adebayor. That I think will be a real test of progress and if we can come away with a point at S***s I’ll be happy.
later dude,lefty.
PS. Where is the boss of this blog? Are we orphaned?
I don’t know why andrew weber hasn’t refresh this blog news,getting tried of scrolling down to read n write, another problem that I fear is the attending of matches there is more empty seats then fans,if its the results then I can understand but if its the economy situation the board should work around it to avoid anymore disasters fans works up players.
Espn states that wilshere could be out for at least 5 months,can anyone confirm it,fans this season have been left ticketless(huge fee),furious, anxious, have been laugh at trophyless I got to say we as arsenal fans we have stood tall for how long? is not clear,no top team have been this low,is there a bright light at the end of the tunnel really had to tell2004- arsenal competing with manu for 1,2005 arsenal competing for 2nd place against chelsea, 2006, competing with liverpool for 3,4th place,2010 competing for 4th with spurs,liverpool and whoever,the light is forever dimming.
i know i mite get some stick for this but if the stories are true abut van persie and his contract then its really sad to say the least But my honest opinion is that we should let him leave i know he has been fantastic for arsenal the last 12 months BUT i fear his style and way pf playing does not fit the system we play the main reason being his speed, we need a big strong pacy finisher.
any how lets keep winning and see where we end up in 2 months
we are just a selling club now for the likes of man city and barcelona and all the money goes into the board of drictors pockts and not on the team wenger should be sacked he cares nothing for the team only the profits they make get rid of him before its to late or else there will be a revolt at the emrites stadium
So the media create a story and all of us have to go woe is me? Please.. Let’s leave the RVP thing for now. He’s our captain. Scored his 100th goal, in an important win. Can’t we enjoy that? Not if the media has its way of course. Arsenal are in crisis remember? So some negative news has to be found and focused on.
Oh and Arsenal don’t have a monopoly on collapsing it would seem. ManU vs Basel 3-3. After ManU were 2-0 up. Conceded 3, and got a late goal when Basel started backing off too much.
@shard
Well unfortunately it isn’t likely to signal anything like a ManU(re) collapse but it made for a wonderfully entertaining afternoon here stateside and for the moment has shut a few pretty damn insolent yaps.
More to come? We can only hope.
What’s the word from Hospital Ward N5? Someone has told me Gervinho and koscielny are out for the Olympiacos game…
I expect Rosicky to get a run and I hope to see at least one of Ox-C, Ryo and Frimpong in the side.
Hey Kel, maybe we good get Tevez…?
A very good start for us. A third goal would put us in a position to rest some people for S**** this weekend.
COYG!! Keep up the good work.
@Terry, Theo being an impact sub??? You might have missed some serious stat on Theo my friend!!! really!!!!!!!…… As for RVP, there is no doubt that he is a world class player but I just think that Cesc ‘s era has really spoiled him with good sneaking passes, whereas our actual game pace and style are not YET reaching that stage (Ramsey).
I personally think that Theo has made more impact so far with all the penalties he created, his assists and creativity with goal scored than RVP. And its not surprising to me if he has asked the boss if he can be put as center forward where I also beleive he is suppused to be. Please do not take it wrong to say that I underrate RVP, but Id love to see a 4-4-2 from Le Boss.And especially agst Totenham on sunday, I strongly beleive that we shud go for 4-4-2 or at least 4-2-3-1 with Frimpong and Song as holding mdfld together. Watching Totenham crashing Liverpoodle was a bit frightening to me and I just dont think that we can afford any more mistakes which means its a MUST but VERY DIFFICULT WIN.
SAGNA-MERTSACKR-KOSCH-SANTOS
—————SONG-FRIMPONG———-
THEO———–ARTETA—–GERVINHO
———————RVP——————–
By the way, a BIG Bravo to our lads for yesterday, both goals were world class and both The Arsenal way especially the second one with Rosicky and Santos in the speed Play and we generally played fairly well.You can really see the fast passes from Rosicky as a Veteran Gunner who really knows the Flawless Arsenal way of play. Do you guys know that he actually criticised Cesc as slowing down Arsenal’s Attack for he knows that Arsenal way is fast passes and speed. Im not a very big Rosicky fan especially after his Hamstring( I even thought that he is a deadwood!!!) but I could see some quality in him now playing along experienced and strong players. Im really convinced that we have enough squad for the season and all we have to win is The game agst Totenham at white hart lane this sunday to regain our CONFIDENCE back agn.and we’ll be having a good form to compete agst anyone.
However, it was a difficult game and playing those guys in Greece wont be easy!!!.
@radads Theo is a good player and a times a very good player. But when he took it upon himself to declare that he was the next Henry and started wearing the #14 Jersey (which in this gooner’s humble opinion should have been retired) he bit off much more than he could chew. Now that the Ox has arrived on the scene with all the talent and none of the rhetoric Theo will have to compete for his starting place.This is an excellent turn of events for the club if not for Theo. On a completely different note we have not seen the best of Andre Dos Santos. He is as least 5-7lbs heavier than when Dunga played him for the national side. Dunga was a disciplinarian, something that did not go over with many of the party-loving Brasileiros and a rigorous training regime is what is needed to get the most out of this exceptionally gifted if somewhat overweight left back.
@leftcoastgooner, so you get mad at Theo wanting to become like Thierry Henry and may be showing off with the #14 jersey??? Whats wrong with encouraging young stars who’s got the willing and the ability, to become like his boyhood’s fan?? Where Im from… we are actually happy when we see young kids looking up to somebody as their stars so that at least they do have a goal and objectives in their careers.
I see ur point very personnal and I dont think its the right way to judge players!! but then, what one can do when others just hate someone off their taste??.
Theo is now 22 and I think that he has made a huge progress in terms of his individual performances and experiences. We wud obviously see more from him this season so why dont we keep quite for now and watch???
As for Oxlade, im a big fan!!, to me he is the next Gerard not Walcott’s compet. I personally think that AW is still trying him here and there to find out where does he feel comfy on the pitch. But him being a winger last wednesday doesnt mean that he ll be a permanent winger at Arsenal. Me, you… nobody knows though, of what Le Boss and Pat Rice are having in the back of their mind.
@radads
Nah dude, I’m not mad at all Theo’s allright, and he’s had some pretty awsome moments maybe he’ll have one Sunday against S****.
But he ain’t NO Henry. #14? Nope. No way, forget it. #13 and a half.mmmmm maybe.
Those shoes are way too big. He’s not only not the player Henry was he’s not the man period. No fault of Theo’s but players of Henry strength, skill, vision and ability only come but rarely. Perhaps you aren’t old enough to remember Thierry dominated the big games. Repeat DOMINATED.
You may be right about Ox, he may be more of the Gerrard type but Stevie has a habit of playing more where he wants to then where the manager puts him so I hope the Ox is a bit more versatile. I guess we’ll see as time goes by.
And no, I have no idea what Pat or AW are thinking. I don’t even know where you came up with that one. Certainly not in my above statement.
@leftcoast
I agree with you about Theo and Thierry. Not the same player. The similarities stop at their pace, and perhaps with the side foot finish (though Henry did it consistently well for years) I love Henry, and he did dominate the big games. It must also be remembered though, that Henry never scored in cup finals. Not saying he wasn’t a big game player. But Theo can be as well. His first goal was in the Carling Cup final. He’s still only 22. And he’s been providing assists for RVP since the back end of last season. I think we need to sign him up on a new contract and keep him here. I’m not sure he can play as a striker yet though. Not even in a 4-4-2. His touch and technique isn’t the greatest and he’ll find it tougher to play in the middle.
Hey dudes,
Andrew’s got a new pre-derby posting up and so far it’s all S**** fans.
You way want to get over there and counter-flood so to speak
Do not quickly give up the journey is still far away there was a chance to become champion