Aha.... Yet I am here defending your manager and still taking the time to care about Arsenal. They are still the 3rd team for me....... yes glory hunting.... and considering my 2 other teams are Liverpool and Halifax Town your argument becomes even more absurd!
It often seems to be that those who want Wenger out present ideas of people they'd like to come in, and those who don't want him to go simply say "tell me exactly what difference he would make and what would make him better than Arsene!!" then sit back and criticise because no-one knows EXACTLY what a new manager would do. It's like when you've got a girlfriend, and you've been together a while, but the relationship isn't perfect. You know it's not perfect, you know the good points, and the bad points. At some point you have to make a decision about whether you want to be together, or find someone new. Breaking up and finding someone new is scary, because it could turn out better, or it could be worse. You might never find someone so good again, but eventually you reach a point where their bad points, and knowing that they're not "the one" and it won't last forever, drives you to go through with the breakup, because the risk of something better is worth taking. That's where a lot of people are with Wenger. They're prepared to take the risk of things being worse, because if they're better, they'll be so much better.
Surely though if you want somebody else to come in and change the set up, then you need to have some idea of what that would entail and then give a decent argument as to why it would be better. Otherwise it just sounds like a whole lot of speculative wishful thinking. Also it doesn't necessarily follow that simply because you take the risk and make a change things will be 'so much better', they could quite easily be 'so much worse'. I'm not opposed to hearing why a new manager would make things better, I'm just yet to hear anything other than 'he'll shake things up, give them a kick up the arse, change tactics, attract players and we need a change' I've not actually heard anything with any substance that makes a convincing argument.
Surely when the two biggest issues with Arsenal are a lack of tactical variation and issues with playing staff someone who will alter both of these seems an attractive prospect? I'd like to see someone who will delegate and involve coaches in the way that SAF does. Someone who will concentrate on the team. I wouldn't be averse to Frank de Boer - he is young, progressive, plays good football, delegates very well, has a track record of developing great youth as the former head of the Ajax youth sector, has assembled a good team on a tight budget, has won back-to-back titles and is currently sitting top of the league for a 3rd season. You can say he lacks experience, you can say the league is weak. Any appointment will be a risk, it's calculating if it's a risk worth taking, and everyone has a different tipping point.
Fantastic article, sense is really what is needed at a time like this, and as arsenal fans maybe we should be looking to read more articles from ex players and managers that are not connected with the club. They have no emotional attachment to arsenal and can look at it from an outsiders point of view which is refreshing in many ways. Major respect to Gary Neville for that.
One sentiment in this thread I agree with is that Neville tends to be fairere than a lot of pundits. Another one, which surprised me a bit was Roy Keane. The first time I saw him as a pundit on an Arsenal match there were other pundits slagging Arsenal off and he pretty much turned around and said they must be watching another match because he thought Arsenal were playing well. He went on to defend us wiht some of the determination he used to have as a player. It seems some of the competition we had with Nevill and Keane when they were players left them with some respect for our club and as a result I have a lot more respect for them as well.
I would have said the biggest issues at Arsenal have been not enough money to spend to buy the quality we need and selling our best players, both issues to do with the board rather than the manager. If the board stay true to their word and give Wenger almost £30m extra per season to spend on the squad, then I'd think he should be given the chance to show what he can do with it. I think it would be out of order to sack him after him keeping us in the champions league on a shoestring for the last 8 years - and then to give a new manager all of the money.
Exactly! Especially when he vary rarely wastes money. Been saying it for ages Arsenal are 2 or 3 quality players short of really challenging for honours. Imagine what this side could do with Fabregas and Van Persie still here!
Come on Kyle stop being such a mopey Goth. RVP wanted out as soon as he refused to sign a contract and Fabregas was always going to leave. Not much Wenger could have done about that.
They're footballers, could have offered them more money to stay. But he didn't, in true Wenger fashion.
We all know Wenger has a big say in these matters. It's as much his fault as it is Ivan's/Stan's etc.
Where are you getting that from ? If anything, the agents are the ones who throw a spanner in the works.
It's common knowledge, only the truly naive would believe otherwise. He has control of almost all aspects of this club, thats why we're suffering. He's a jack of all trades, master of none. He was a master at exploiting transfer windows, he was a master of tactics, but he put too much on his plate for him to deal with, and yet he refuses to pass some roles elsewhere.
I think it's a very weak argument solely blaming Wenger for RVP and Fabreags' departure, only the truly naive would believe that.
Where on earth do you get this information from? How do you know this, or is this just how you think it is?
