I think there is one slight difference, I doubt that in the past, through our failures, the manager came out saying failure was the new trophy and that everything was fine, lol.
There was no such thing as the CL and it's riches before the early 90's and the League Cup was not thought of as a Mickey mouse trophy either
True, it's a real lack of ambition to say we are achieving all we need to achieve. What message does that send to the players who want to win trophies? BTW, there is talk on twitter that Sagna may want to leave. He's at that age when Arsenal decide to cash in. And I think Jenks signed a new 5 year contract.
Most teams who offer cheaper ST's also only allow you to watch League Games.On a game by game basis our cheapest season ticket is cheaper than the cheapest at Anfield
Our cheapest is cheaper than Anfield, but my ST which isn't the most expensive one at Arsenal, is the most expensive season ticket compared to other clubs.
Not sure, because we're never going to win the CL with this team are we? I suppose it keeps the money rolling in so that maybe, one day, we could challenge for the league or CL. I wonder how naive that statement sounds though. Wenger won't spend it, and the board don't want him to.
Who say's the two are mutually exclusive? Who say's you can't do both? That's a MYTH Wenger has set up to pretend like the 2 are mutually exclusive, that's either one or the other, when it's not. Chelsea, and United have both won the League Cup's and qualified for the UCL when they won the trophy. Chelsea have won the FA Cup on quite a few occasions as well, while also qualifying for the UCL. So the two things are not mutually exclusive, you can get both. We reached the final of the League Cup in 2011, you telling me had we won it, we Wouldn't have qualified for the UCL that season?
It's funny how Liverpool are mocked for winning the League Cup last season as they're only in the "Europey" league
the CL has ruined football and arsenal are caught in a catch 22 situation. football was about glory...about winning trophies...about trips to Wembley...watching the captain lift a cup... now the League cup and FA cups are considered mickey mouse trophies and coming 4th is everything. FFP means nothing and will not until they replace the CL with a competition for CHAMPIONS ONLY and they re introduce the uefa and cup winners cups. The CL is a form of financial doping...it's great when your in it but then being in it is all that matters...I'd rather spurs win a cup this season but I am in a tiny minority. No one cares about anything other than coming in the top 4 and winning the prem or CL. It's bred fake fans who boo at half time, plastic atmospheres and mercenary players that my kids struggle to relate to and a god awful money grabbing culture that is sucking the soul out of football
the problem with this strategy is that the players see their peers winning stuff and getting glory. They see not a cat in hells chance of winning the CL ,so to them 4th place means nothing. So they leave. Even a League cup might make them think " mmmm its not so bad at arsenal , we CAN win things. "
Well the reason they all focus on the CL is for the money. Its clear that Wenger thinks getting into the CL is a result , why ? The cash that it brings and theres the rub. It used to be about footy, now its just a business. Say what you like about bacon face , he would SH1T himself if manure finished 4th , HE wouldnt see it as a trophy.
Its like 4th place is some f@ckin Nirvana , thats the be all and end all. Empty trophy cabinets and the bean counters snorting their pleasure at the end of the financial year . Long gone are the days when fans seeing their team succeeding ON THE PITCH and against their rivals was all that mattered .
I really fail to see how us finishing in he top 4 every season for 16 years is a bad thing. Every year under Wenger we have got to watch CL football. We get to see Arsenal play against Milan, Barca, Juventus, Madrid, Inter etc etc etc..... Our team competes at europes top table of football and we are top seed. Other fans would love a chance to see there team run out in the competition - look at how City and Spurs fans have reacted in recent years. We are spoilt by the fact we have never dropped from it under Wenger and thus do not appreciate quite what a privelidge it is to be in this competition. It's not that Wenger or the board see this as a trophy, but rather it is the bare minimum they try to achieve. They will not let anything else take there eye off the ball, which is CL qualification. Our financial model is rather dependant on continued qualification and the clubs ability to attract top talent is highly effected by the inclusion in this competition. For the top teams it is very important to qualify for the CL on a consistent basis, particularly with the FFP comming in. Not getting into the top 4 would set us back and piss everyone off even more. I think the board and Wenger are simply pointing out the obvious, that in the modern day of football for a club like ours it is of utmost importance that we qualify for the CL. That does not mean they do not want to win trophies, it doesn't mean they purposely lose - infact in our trophyless period we have had the privledge of watching our team in the CL Final, a couple of League Cup Finals and some exciting title races. There are fine lines in football and with just the smallest differences we would have a very respectable trophy hall over the last 7 years. Any fool who wishes we would drop out of the top 4 "to teach the board a lesson" or "force them to spend some money" are deluded idiots who have no idea how football works. All it would do is set us even further back, take us longer to get to a point where we can compete at the top financially, stop us getting hold of the players we want and infuriate everyone involved with the club. It would simply be really bad and not have the effect some people think it would. CL is the minimum, IF we manage to win a trophy on top of that then that is fantastic and i'll celebrate like there is no tomorrow! (its been a long enough wait!). But i won't insult the club for giving us consistent CL football and looking to the future. Whether we agree with how they are doign things or not, i think it's silly to throw around thsi rubbish about how Arsenal think top 4 is a trophy and are really excited by it. Once again it is the minimum.
But at least back then you had the sense that the players actually cared, and would try their very best to win for the club. Whenever I watch the team now, I can't shake the feeling that they don't give two ****s, and the ones that seemed to do (e.g. RVP), jump ship at the first opportunity. Of course it doesn't help that our team constantly changes, and thus I (and I'm sure many others) cannot form an emotional bond with any of the players. In fact, the last time I felt any sense of extreme goodwill to an Arsenal player which has continued throughout was Eduardo, and I'm sure many others would agree with me on this. Also, the fact that the tickets are so ****ing expensive doesn't help either, it doesn't affect me so much atm because I'm working in Australia for now, but whenever I go back it's financially crippling, I really don't know how some fans can afford to go to every game. (especially Arsenal87, who I'm guessing is 25 years old)
You say it's silly to throw around this rubbish about how Arsenal think top 4 is a trophy, well, here is Wenger's words for you: “Our main target now is to focus on the championship,” Wenger said. “People are always asking the same question, but the first trophy is to finish in the top four. That is vital for us. Let’s win our next home game and we will be fine. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...e-just-like-winning-a-trophy-this-season.html) "For me, there are five 'trophies' - the first is to win the Premier League, the second is to win the Champions League, the third is to qualify for the Champions League, the fourth is to win the FA Cup and the fifth is to win the League Cup." (http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/10/25/arsene-wenger-champions-league_n_2016704.html) So it's Wenger coming out saying finishing in the top 4 is a trophy, and that makes him look very very silly. Rather than calling a 'trophy', he shouldn't try to sugar coat things, and simply say it's the bare minimum we need, why call it a trophy to try and hoodwink the Arsenal fans? He's basically now living in his own little world, and has invented his own criteria, oh people say we're not winning trophies? Well I'll just invent a trophy, finishing 4th is now a new trophy, there, Arsenal are winning trophies. If we do fail to get top 4, the reason it will piss everyone off even more, is not simply because of dropping out of the top 4, but because it will only confirm what many fans have been saying, that this team has regressed badly under the board and Wenger's policies, failure of top 4 would basically be a cultimation of the bad direction this club has been going, and with the way things are right now, top 4 is hardly a guarantee with our current form.
:-D, correct, I am 25! Although I can afford to go to the games, I have actually quit eating inside the stadium, cause i'm not paying f--king 11 pounds for chicken pieces, and chips and a pepsi, chips that have become poorer in quality compared to before, the chips are now thin, and less! I did try the burger at the weekend, for 4 f--king pounds, and it was sh!t compared to the ones you can grab outside for 3:50. You can have 2 burgers outside, one before and after game, for 7 pounds, with a big bag of chips from the golden fish place for 1:30, all for less than 10 pounds, add a drink and it comes to like 8 pounds, compared to the stadium where you get less, and lower quality, for 11-15 pounds, f--k that.
