It's relative to the resources that each club has and the financial position that each club is in. We've recently announced a profit of £25m, a substantial increase in revenue and around £200m+ in cash reserves. We spent £10m this Summer. That's not acceptable. Furthermore, we won nothing at all in the eight years prior to those two FA Cup wins. 2 FA cup wins in 10 years really isn't all that impressive, in my opinion. Given that we've had the 3rd/4th highest overall wage bill in the league even throughout the 'lean period', Wenger has achieved roughly exactly what he is meant to. Domestically, at least. To be fair to him, that's not an easy thing to do, especially when there are so many managers who have underachieved or who have not been able to bring consistency to their teams, but the fact remains that our team appears to suffer from the same problems every season, regardless of whatever player that we bring in or whatever alterations we make to the backroom staff. A lack of/a substantial amount of financial resources cannot have any bearing on a person's management skills and tactical acumen.
Again I don't think transfer spend or overall performance over 10 years is continuing to be mediocre when you've clearly improved over the last 2 seasons. I get the frustration over the lack of signings and I get the negativity, that you feel like Wenger is wasting another season by being stubborn tactically and off the pitch but it's still early days. There are still positives there, if you're willing to look for them. In the transfer market you've signed 2 really top players in the last 2 summers(some may argue 3 with Ozil) and at the moment it looks like you've learnt your lesson over letting players run down their contracts so there doesn't appear to be any Nasris or Van Persies that feel able to force a move and jump ship relatively cheaply after a good season. 2 FA Cups in 2 seasons on the pitch is really good and you've been comfortably top 4 for the past 2 seasons, an improvement from the last day nail biters in previous seasons. If this is mediocrity for Arsenal your expectations are set too high.
I personally have no beef with not winning as no one has a divine right to win anything. Its the continuous lack of trying that gets to me. We've many opportunities to push for the title but sometimes it feels like Wenger purposefully wants to get the maximum with the bare minimum. He seems content with just top 4 and anything that comes with it is a bonus. 2013 season, where we were top for most of the season, we just need another ST. Didn't have to be WC. Berbatov was available for £2M. He would have done a job to help out OG11. Giroud burnt out as he was our only ST. Feels like he's knowingly not trying to be 1st. His target is 4th. A club like Arsenal should target 1st every time. Falling short should land us in the top 4 anyway (Aim for heaven, land on a cloud).
Thank you. Most Arsenal fans are fed up with Wenger due to his stubbornness. If Arsenal finished 3rd/4th every season due to the other teams being head and shoulders above us, there would be few complaints. What's frustrating to watch is that the same problems with Arsenal are never addressed. And when we find a solution to one issue, we seem to create another. For example, we never truly replaced Henry. RVP was the closest we got to a striker of his calibre and we sold him. Fair enough, that boat sailed. You mean to tell me after 3 years, the best you can do is Giroud? Really? And then there's the DMF problem. We haven't had a true leader/enforcer since Viera. It's taken ten years to find one in the mould of Coquelin. But does Wenger buy a back up? Nope. So no we bite our nails every time he starts limping. Arsenal shouldn't be so light in that department. There were a plethora of options and no one was avaliable in the market? No one was better than Arteta? Pull the other one. And speaking of leaders, Arsenal doesn't have any. The Chelsea game made it painstakingly obvious. Every top team has a great leader. We used to have it in Tony Adams and Viera. We definitely don't have one now. It's not unrealistic expectations, we just want to Arsenal actually try and attempt to challenge for the title and not be tight and stingy.
Have we "clearly improved"? I don't think we have. We finished 12 points off the title last season and only started too look good when our coveted CL spot was in danger and when the title was already lost. Whatever improvements you think we have made are not enough for us to win the Champions League or the Premiership. I accept that we've added better players to our team - but what's the point if you don't utilise them properly and struggle to maximise their potential? What's the point if you continuously make the same errors and have the same lapses in judgement every damn year? This is not just performance related, but in the transfer market also. But this is exactly the same rhetoric being spouted by our fans for the last 10 years. As you're a Spurs fan, I'm actually quite stunned you're letting Wenger off the hook so easily here. City were already better than us, yet added £150m worth of talent to their team. Chelsea were already better than us and despite their slow start to the league, have added Kenedy, Rahman and Pedro - as the champions, they didn't need excessive investment, but they strengthened in positions they felt they needed to. And United, although they weren't better than us last season, have still made improvements in positions which they suffered from last year, so they look less vulnerable and have had a decent start to the season. We added one player. That's your opinion, but I honestly feel we should be showing some form of progression on the pitch. If the club are going to charge extortionate prices, it has to be backed up on the pitch. It hasn't been.
For me there's no two ways about it, Arsene Wenger has to step down for us to progress. We have stagnated. Except the big guys at the top also have no interest in sporting victories. If so we are screwed. Wenger is the man to make them profits without spending money. This is why we will be mediocre on and off the pitch. You need to spend money to make money. The giants of Europe do this, and they win therefore attracting new fans and big investors. We are happy with been there and about not being proactively aiming for the top. But hey what do I know...
Yeah, I agree with that. I think as fans we're always a bit disgruntled with our club's transfers and can be a bit fickle. For example, I think ourselves and United fans are probably a lot happier with our transfers now that Martial and Son have started brightly and had Giroud started this season as he played in the second half of last season there perhaps wouldn't be so much criticism on here either(although a lack of options would still be a concern). Arsenal only making one signing is just ridiculous no matter which way you look at it though. Winning the Champions League or even the Premier League is a long term process, not many turn themselves into contenders on the back of one huge transfer window. I get that you want to challenge for the title but that was a long way off 2 years ago when you'd just finished off paying for the stadium(I still don't buy this as an excuse but that's for another conversation). Whether you see yourselves as still a long way off challenging for the title, or not, you're closer than you were 3 seasons ago. I guess we're quite different in what we see at Arsenal, if you don't see clear improvement. I see a side that went without a trophy for a long time to a side that's won 2 FA Cups in a row. The second one is crucial as the first could've been seen as a bit of a one off but to go from 0 in 9 years to 2 in 2 years is a big leap. Then there's the improvement in the way you've upped your league form, pulling away from the battles for the last CL spot and the quality of player you are now signing. On the downside you've not improved at all in the CL, which is especially poor when you consider that reaching the quarter finals shouldn't be that hard to reach. Overall that looks like improvement to me. I'm still a Spurs fan, I just see it as undeniable that you have improved over the last 2 seasons. Where we'll probably agree more is that I don't think the improvement is any more than you'd expect. Much like Chelsea and City's improvement off the back of close to a billion in investment, you'd expect Arsenal to improve when given the resources to keep their best players and get a couple of big names in. And where I'll truly come across as a Spurs fan is that I think this will be the peak for Arsenal if Wenger stays in charge. I don't believe he or the club have changed enough to become a top club in Europe or a title challenger in the league and as the new dawn fails to materialise your appeal to the quality players you want to sign and to keep at the club will wane. I agree that this last summer of transfers was appalling, I agree that Wenger gets his squad balance and team selections wrong, all I'm saying is that the last 2 seasons are an improvement.
Well it looks like Barcelona are on to this Coutinho ****... Not like Arsenal would have gone in for him anyway.
Overrated in my opinion. We already have Ozil and Cazorla who are as good (or arguably better). We don't need another small number 10 in our squad. Why would we be in for him?
I want the player. I think he will be better suited that Ozil is. Ozil is not working out in this team. Coutinho has that X-Factor. He can make things happen for others and by himself. Ozil makes things happen for others and that's it. Cazorla is ageing and is goal-shy. Coutinho is the perfect #10 for us and the EPL
How did Coutinho's X-Factor reveal itself last season with his 5 goals and 6 assists versus the supposedly goal-shy and ageing Cazorla (fyi f*ck off, 30 isn't old!) with his 7 goals and 12 assists? I'll grant you he's a very good player but we're already stocked in that department and if we're spending money I'd rather we approach other positions first than one we already have 2 incredible players in.
Rumour section of the BBC has us offering Ozil a new contact to not let him get into the last two years of his current deal. Good move if true.
I'm still shocked at how much people underrate Özil. This is why it's uninformed to base an opinion on a career solely on stats. Just because he doesn't score a ton of goals or have an assist every game, doesn't mean it tells the whole story. It's the killer pass that helps somone with the assist that makes the difference. It's creating the space, dictating the tempo of the game. That's what play makers do. And Ozil is a master of that. Whilst a striker's performance tends to be more black and white (goals scored) or a keeper (clean sheet). The impact a playmaker has can't be quantified as easily. Only if you watch them play will you understand.
Well said. Also, I imagine people's opinions would change were the rest of the team to finish more of the multitude of chances he creates. Also also, big thumbs up from me if he signs a new deal.
Some of Ozil's performance in some of the bigger games has disappointed me because at times he just lets those games drift past him and he does not take control of those games like he does against the lesser teams, but the guy is just a joy to watch when he is playing well, we are not going win any serious trophies under Wenger again and every season feels like Groundhog Day , so at times it hard to get excited about Arsenal, but for me at least I can enjoy watching Ozil every time he plays, so hopefully he signs a new long term contract.
The worlds best number 10 making scoring chances for a striker who is probably in top 50 in world, who then misses them ! How good would Ozil look if passing to a WC striker to score the chances ?
I have no qualms with Ozil. He is one of my favorite players. His grace on the ball. I liken him to Zidane and Iniesta, the way the glide around. But my issue is with the team his playing in. His style is not a perfect fit. The team will need to be built around him which means, a top class mobile finisher and defensive protection behind him. If that's there then he is the main man. But the way Arsene has been playing in recent yrs will require a more agile #10. Someone not afraid to pull the trigger due to the lack of runners. It's why Coutinho for me is ideal. Someone who can take a kicking and come up with a moment of magic by himself if need be.
