I don't think anyone glossed over the results, they were both obviously bad. Fergie however has lost games to lower league opposition in both cups before: 2011-12 - Palace beat them in the League Cup 2009-10 - Leeds United beat them in the FA Cup 3rd Round 2007-08 - Coventry beat them in the League Cup 3rd Round 2006-07 - Crewe took them to extra time in the League Cup, then Southend beat them next round 2005-06 - Drew with non-League Burton Albion in the FA Cup 2004-05 - Drew with non-League Exeter in the FA Cup. I recognise that, if Arsenal had the record United had in other competitions through this period we'd be able to gloss over it like United fans can, but as cup runs have been largely poor from Arsenal in recent years it makes last year much harder to deal with.
Money plays a huge part, and therefore trying to progress more than people who can afford to progress much faster than you becomes a bloody miracle (or a failure on their part).
It doesn't explain why we've gone backwards over the last 8 years. It's one thing to progress slower than others; another thing to not progress at all. It also doesn't explain our ineptitude in Europe and the Cup competitions. Finally, it doesn't explain how Spurs have managed to catch us. Are they progressing faster than we are too?
A guy is more likely to stay when abuse isn't hurled at him. Its virtually a non-factor but I was just listing stuff.
It might have been virtually a non-factor for Cesc, Nasri and Van Persie, but you can imagine it would be a factor for someone like Eboue, or Arshavin.
It is not so much selling them (although in the Cesc and RVP cases we made mistakes), it is the lack of intent to go out and sign a top replacement for them. You look at Dortmund, they sell Goetze and go out and buy a top quality replacement. Spurs sold Modric so they go and get Dembele. Even Liverpool lost Torrees and went out and spent £35M on Carroll (worst transfer in history but the ambition was there). What have Arsenal done? We replaced Nasri with Yossi Benayoun, a Chelsea reject. We replaced RVP, the best striker in the world with a striker who only had one top season in France. We replaced Fabregas with ****ing Ramsey at first, a disaster so big that Ramsey lost the plot and we had to go into the market a year later and take advantage of Malaga going bust. Since 2008 we have sold/loaned/released Diarra, Flamini, Gilberto, Denilson, Song, Coquelin and even Criag ****ing Eastmond and who have we brought in to replace a single one? We have been crying out for a DM for YEARS but we don't show the intent required to go out and get one. We are relying on ****ing Arteta who isn't even a DM anyway and is being given an incredible amount of workload to do (considering his injury history, we are very very lucky he has not picked up a serious one with Arsenal yet). We replaced Clichy with a fat Brazilian. We replaced Gallas with a has been that was never that good in the 1st place anyway. We even replace Bendtner with ****ing Park who at the time we only got for as cheap as we did because we were meant to be losing him to military duty. Those are not ambitious signings. They are budget signings, signings that are made to ensure Arsenal meet the minimum requirements (top 4 finish) and anything on top of that is a bonus. I don't mind that we prioritise the league over cup tournaments. Especially when we are playing lower league teams that we should be able to beat with our reserves. What ****s me off is how we prioritised the Bayern Munich match over the Blackburn one, for one reason and one reason only - MONEY. We all know that we have zero chance of winning the Champions League. You will all cite me "well Chelsea won it" or "Porto won it" but as unlikely Champions as they were, at least they were littered with players who have experience of winning trophies on a regular basis, and are able to grind out results against the best teams in the world. Everybody at Arsenal knows that getting to the QF of the CL would generate more money than WINNING the FA Cup and that is why we prioritised the former. Not because we wanted to win the CL, because we wanted to maximise our revenue. That is NOT ambition.
True. The main point I was trying to make is that players leaving is far more complex than simply the manager failed or the board is evil
So what if we can't win the CL. I'd rather we go all out than accept defeat. That being said we should expect better cup performances Ambition doesn't have to be flouting huge money. I'd rather we spent little on quality players than throw exorbitant amounts just to satiate the desire to spend big money.
Agreed. Variables will almost always have differing levels of importance, but it pays to recognise them all
Go and try to win the Champions League by all means. But not at the expensive of trophies we have a realistic shot at, just because an extra home time in the CL QF would earn us more revenue than going to Wembley twice and winning the FA Cup all together.
Which is why I said better cup form is needed. That being said CL is more of a priority than FA Cup. League trumps them both
Yeah, we hear a lot about ambition, but if we give up on trying to win the CL and PL and focus on the cups then that seems to say it more than not spending money you haven't got. We do need players this year though, so it will be interesting to see who we bring in. Wenger has a tough time deciding where to focus. With us obviously short at the back, I would think it better he starts there, than up front where we did pretty well last year and can reasonably expect improvement. Glad I am not the manager, and makes all the posturing about how much money we have more curious. Still, I wish I knew what was really going on in the transfer market. So far press reports have been wildly inaccurate, so I guess we will just have to wait. I have not been impressed with City, Chelsea or United's signings, so I am not that upset yet. I suspect that the transfer market will hot up in a week or two. There seem to be a lot of managers trying to work out what they need and who they can let go, and that goes for us too. Nobody wants to pay 40M for a squad player or have no more money if a bargain shows up. Still I'm sure that Wenger knows expectations are raised and he needs to spend something. I think when it comes, it is not going to be something expected.
I have not been impressed with City, Chelsea or United's signings, so I am not that upset yet. I suspect that the transfer market will hot up in a week or two. There seem to be a lot of managers trying to work out what they need and who they can let go, and that goes for us too. Nobody wants to pay 40M for a squad player or have no more money if a bargain shows up. If arsenal had brought in Fernandinho Navas Jovetic and Negredo I suspect you would have a very different opinion on the quality of the signings
@batman - We didnt only go in for Cazorla because Ramsey went off track. We had gone in for him the previous summer as well but been unsuccessful. Which basically shows that actually when Fabregas went we tried to bring in a repalcement of a good level - peopel don't realise how much goeso n behind the scenes.
City have spent 100m on four quality players to strengthen their squad. What do you expect: ronaldo messi and neymar to turn up here?
I've heard Moyes with his vigorous training had injured their best player and pissed their second best, they also got defeated in his first game. So why is Moyes being considered to be in here?
