Last couple of weeks have been really bad for us three game losing streak is not acceptable. Our boys did come back from a really bad start of the season to fight for a top 4 spot so we must not forget that and hope that they can put another run in. Right now all we can do is hope and pray because it looks like wenger is not going to bring any one in or sell some of the dead wood which is holding us back. For the first time i fear we will not make champions league next season as the departure of Cesc and Nasri have really hurt us because we haven't replaced them with players of their caliber. It's another season where we are in the same situation lack of transfer activity, injuries and a manager who seems to think he can fill major gaps with 3rd rate talent. I hope the return of sagna and Jack really gives us a breather because we really need it. It kills me to say this because he has been one of our best managers but Wenger is holding as back along with a reluctant board. your thoughts
Welcome to the Arsenal board Santino I think you'll find a majority of fans agreeing with you. Not many of us relish criticising Arsene but it is precisely his inability to turn things round that has brought us to this. Perhaps his hands are tied by the board. Perhaps despite their claims that there is money to spend, there actually isn't. However it seems strange that we should not be cash rich since we haven't spent and have boosted out income with an increased capacity along with property and player sales. What really got to me was Arsene being unable to influence the team in last year's meltdown. This seems to have carried over to the start of the season and we all know why that is. However we appear to be in another trough with Arsene not addressing defensive deficiencies, let alone tactical faux pas. So no it isn't looking good and I wouldn't be surprised if he did have to go before his time. He should take this board with him, especially that tiresome CEO, Gazidis. Where do we go from here? Well, we need changes. Changes in personnel, management and playing. Perhaps medical too. In the absence of these changes it will be more of the same.
I think you can take it as a certainty that the financial situation, the board's strategy and the constraints placed on the manager will remain, whether Wenger goes or not. Looking at the team's finances, I just can't see where there is room for any other strategy. We can take a swing on 5 youth players, for every one Hazard or Goetz we sign. Remembering that either of these could turn out to be a Arshavin or a Rosicky, and there is no certainty that they will be a success. You have to judge Wenger in isolation from the financial situation. The reason I want him to stay is that I think players like RVP, Wilshere, Ramsey, Mertesaker, Koscielney, Ox, Walcott, and Vermaelen are more likely to stay with him at the helm, than if we get a new manager. I don't think we can afford a cleanout and bringing in a lot of new players that are loyal to a new manager, and suit his style of play. Look at Chelsea and AVB.
Well Mr Toledo One could say - look at the revamped Sunderland or Newcastle. To me Chelsea's problems also stem from their policy or buying and by that I refer to simply buying and not having a policy of renewal, meaning youth. AVB was just thrown into the deep end. I think a manager who came in who could carry with him a beacon of hope and change would win over the players. Arsene for all the great he has done has been tactically deficient IMHO. I say this with heavy heart but all managers have their day. It is the same in real life or rather life beyond football. Arsene should realise this. That said, I do not think all our problems are of his making. The rest is down to the board. Cheers
Like other overseas fans, we follow THIS Arsenal because of its brand of football - created under Wenger's era. We have not interest in what happened before his arrival. i.e. George Graham and colleagues' boring football. Despite that, for his own sake, I think Arsene should take Real's offer as an exit route to replace Mourinho. Replacing Arsene will be very difficult. Certainly we hope it won't be Mourinho. Despite winning trophies at Chelsea, Ambramiwich sacked him for his boring football.
Well, Its all about perspective. What if we get a new manager and the board dont give them a decent transfer budget? They may expect the next person to come in to work on the same budget as Mr. Wenger did. The truth is there's nobody else out there that could consistently get Champions league football while making a profit on transfer dealings. We have to STOP selling our best players - this is where i honestly believe the heart of our recent troubles lie. Who is to blame for this? Well I dont know for sure but from listening to Wenger's commenst it seems it's mainly been the board. They get an offer for a player that appeals .. and they cash in. (Wenger constantly stated that he did'nt want to sell Fabregas and Nasri.) It seems to me the situation is this: 1. Wenger does not want to buy 'big name' or 'big money' transfer's, He believes the key is signing and producing youth. So he plugs away with this strategy. 2. We sell an established player. 3. Rather than buying an immediate replacement we wait for one to come through our youth system. 4. We sell and established player. ..and the cycle continues. In the six/seven years since we last won a trophy we've been close to winning the league twice and exceedingly close to winning both the Champions league and Carling Cup. (all of those squads were just 1-2 top players short) If we stop selling our top players Wenger will deliver success again.
This cycle is the most frustrating aspect of Wenger's reign in a nutshell. I don't think it's financially unsound to replace established talent with established talent once in a while. After selling Fab and Nasri, many were waiting with excitement to see who we bought in the midfield department. Although Arteta has done well, relying on Ramsey for the creative spark in midfield has cost us big, he's a talented young player but he's no Fabregas.
and things would have been different if Walcott and Arshavin had delivered the sort of help we expected.
Agree The Bear with your analysis but Suker has a point in that buying the occasional & needed established face won't hurt. May even help quite a bit. Someone like Scott Parker would have been a good addition.
Yeah I know I completely agree. Last Season I felt we were 1-2 players short before we even sold Fabregas and Nasri. However you have to say that if injury's had been kinder to us, Wilshere hadnt been out for soo long and Joel Cambells work permit was'nt rejected we would no doubt be in a better position in the league. Saying that, I still think we will make top four (and who knows what we could still do in Europe).
True. Arshavin is a complete mystery to me, I have no idea how a player with that much ability can be sooo awful and look so disinterested.
He always looked lazy, a bit like Berbatov. English fans don't generally like this kind of player even though they may be very successful. They just dont create a good impression, if their performances drop. I think he has lost some pace. He was always a low percentage player, the opposite of Ramsey, but he would create 3 good chances a game, and score the odd one himself. Unfortunately, he has lost the speed that made his close control exceptional and allowed him to create a yard or two of space to get a shot away or play a killer pass. Rosicky is the same.
Sunderland and Newcastle are both well below us in the table, and not in the CL. Not sure what your point is? Interestingly Newcastle's debt is very similar to ours, but it was amassed buying players not on a stadium. As a result their wage bill is below 50M. Their manager is following a financial model more stringent than Arsenal's. If anything they have modelled their resurgence on us.
