That's because Real Madrid won the league last season. That makes them elite. Even so, this season they're 16 points behind Barca, and that's mainly because Barca have only dropped 7 points all season. We're 21 points behind United, and they've dropped 13 points. Regardless, Madrid can have one crap season if they want. We've had 8. If we'd won the Carling Cup it would have meant very little to our status as a club. Birmingham winning the Carling Cup doesn't make them elite either. It's the least important trophy. My point stands: Elite clubs don't go 8 seasons without a trophy.
Understand your frustration re: Arsenal and agree with most of your points but as of today Arsenal are still (just about) an Elite club. You have a 60,000 seater stadium and are amongst the top earners in Europe. You may not have the playing staff to match that but you are still comfortably amongst the top 10 in Europe. Top 10 is what I'd call Elite.
My point also stands, using set criteria is useless, as I have just proved to you, you can't use set criteria and then use a' but' but real won the title last season, so what, this is now. Juventus have been relegated for match fixing, would you class a team that has been convicted of match fixing an elite club?
Ok, to make things clear for everybody, the invincibles= ELITE, now who in their right ****ING MIND would label the current Arsenal to be elite, thus putting this team in the same bracket as the invincibles?
Juventus certainly lost their status as an elite club for a while, but have slowly clawed their way back.
Please read again: It was on my original list, so I'm not adding a `but'. Considering I started my brief list with the words "I'll hazard a guess", it's also a bit rich to criticize me for adding to it (even if I was ). All you've proved is an inability to argue for the contrary. For example, I could have brought up your ridiculous argument "what if we'd won the Carling Cup?", but I didn't. Suffice to say, we don't decide whether a club is elite on "what if"s. As for match fixing; is that something you'd like to add to the list of considerations for what makes an elite club? Forgive me for thinking you're a hypocrite. Anyway, Juventus recovered from that brilliantly. As I've said, every club has ups and downs. Arsenal don't have ups, not for a long time. That's why we're not "elite".
We are an elite club, we do not have an elite team. That being said on the Wenger issue - let him see out a contract till next year. He has rejected many big clubs - Real a few times when he was in Contract if football fans go on about loyalty we owe it to him now. Don't offer him a new one unless a miraculous change happens next year and start looking for a replacement. Moyes, Mourinho, Klopp, in the younger brigade and Ancelotti, Hiddink Van Gaal in the older brigade.
Ah you mean according to the in depth reporters from the sun who have proven themselves to be reliable in football matters for years. Wenger never seems to be a handed a new contract till the end of the last one plus or he usually never signs one till he has about 6 months left. That being said i tip my hat to the experts at the sun.
Why do the WOB insist on comparing every Arsenal team to them? There was only gonna be one way after that season and that was down. Happened to Chelsea as well. All good things come to an end.
Arsenal are an Elite club, they are ranked 6th by Uefa I'll take Uefa's rankings over Arsenal87's rantings any day of the week
I think that this is one of the real problems as far as Arsenal fans are concerned. The Invincibles were very possibly the greatest team to ever play in England comparatively speaking. It is possible that no team will ever reach that point of comparative excellence again. For Arsenal to be considered elite, a lot of Arsenal fans require the team to be as good as that team was. Liverpool still consider themselves an elite team. Chelsea finished 6th last year and think they are an elite team. Juventus are an elite team, heck I bet even Ajax consider themselves an elite team, but Arsenal fans won't consider themselves elite until they have a team like the invincibles again, and that may never happen!
Arsenal are ranked 6th by UEFA, whatever word you want to use 'Elite' 'Top' 'Big' etc it doesn't really matter, Arsenal are up there with the best clubs in Europe and no amount of whining can change that.
We just go outclassed and defeated 3-1 at home, you can be happy about being ranked 6th in Europe by Uefa. But nothing's going to change the fact that we're about to get dumped out of Europe AGAIN, and are going to end up with yet another trophyless season with nothing to show, but a huge amount of failures after failures.
