I was saying the same thing to my Gooner mate yesterday. I can't wait till the 29th, buzzing already.
There were a few Arsenal fans suggesting that maybe Wenger should have bought Barton. He would have added something to the side that is clearly missing, however, welldone for NW and Tony in getting him over to Loftus Rd. Wenger is a good manager, he had money to spend and in my opinion should have splashed the cash on Samba, Cahill and one or two others that would be up for a fight. He did get Arteta which is a good bit of business though. S'fnny how HW can invest in new players which transform our team and yet Arsenal invest and it doesn't seem to help them. Fingers crossed we can get revenge over Arsenal as I was there when they beat us 6-0 at Loftus Rd
Barton on a free or Arteta for £10m...hmm....let me think. In signing/selling barton and arteta, two clubs have done great business. One of them is us...and the other ain't arsenal.
Arsenal should have got both as both bring different things to the team. Getting Barton (and SWP) has got to be the best bit of transfer that NW has done.
Is Wenger past his sell by date as Northolt suggested, or is he suffering from that same problem we had with the goons, lack of support from his board? Lets face it, they must have pulled in a few quid from the sale of Fabrigas & Nasri.
He has let his principles get in the way of building of building his team,he has money to spend but refuses to pay the going rate and until he changes Arsenal will continue to struggle.
Never been a Wenger fan. Used to love Arsenal when it was about UK and Irish players before the Wenger foreign legion came in. He's so unapologetically anti-Brit it's untrue. Wouldn't have even thought of including anyone from these islands back in the day (exception of a young Walcott who could be molded into the Wenger way). Brit inclusions in recent years signal changes in outlook that, rather than improve things, seem to have confused a game plan that lacks the fluidity to assimilate the characteristic styles available these days. Ironically, Wenger's approach has not only played its part in stifling home grown talent, it's also restricted the development of foreign prospects where for every Fabrigas, there are at least two unattended talents withering on the vine on or behind the bench. Money aside, players grow best where there are regular and assured first team opportunities. Ambitious clubs like Rangers need to learn from the likes of Arsenal. You need just enough players around to furnish a 25 man squad that includes 13 probables, 12 possibles and several youngsters. That's how Fergie's played it. Despite their comparitive wealth, Man U. can appear stretched for options at times, especially towards the end of the season. However, that means that the Andersons, Parks and so on that looked short of the mark a couple of seasons ago, have now become established greats. Over resource is a bad thing. Less is more. Armand Traore is a case in point. In the Arsenal model he is little or nothing whilst at Rangers he quickly becomes significant. Wenger is not and never has been the football boffin he's lauded as. Far too limited in outlook and imagination. Imo that's the reason Arsenal have threatened so often and delivered so little throughout his tenure. So does Wenger need to go now? Of course not. Us Rs will be all the better served by his sticking around for years to come!
Agree with all that Brix. I've enjoyed watching Man U over the years and one of the reasons for this was the number of British players always on display. Watching Arsenal, I felt like I could be watching Real Madrid or someone. Always found Wenger's teams so arrogant too...I'm really enjoying their fall from grace!!
I don't think that Wenger understands the need for a blend of abilities in the team. He seems solely to focus on the really talented players, but does not have any room for the players that Warnock describes as “bread and butter” players. How he could do with a Shaun Derry in his team. When Arsenal were very successful they had lesser talented but fully committed players in their team alongside the very skilful players. Would he look at a Parlour, Keown, Bould, Dixon or Winterburn these days? Probably not. More fool him.
Lot of you guys recall that he inherited Adams, Keown, Dixon etc. Quite true, but these are the guys who sing his praises the loudest for changing their approach entirely. Clearly something has gone wrong recently (and for me the real lack is a Viera type figure - what a player in his prime ). Personally I love the way Arsenal try to play, and there must be room for at least one team like this in the Prem. They may struggle to win things now, and have the most critical fans of anyone, but I for one am delighted that someone has some principles and is going to stick to them. Laudable though their 'achievements' are the idea of watching Stoke and Wolves identikits every week would be horrible.....
I see what you're saying Stan but I grew up playing and watching football as played by the peoples we all went to school with. We are pretty diverse and so the UK game includes Anglos, Celts, West Indians, Africans, Asians, Turks, Greeks etc. at all levels. At pro-level I want to see the best we produce here with anyone coming in from outside adapting to our ways. What I don't want to see is someone hijacking a traditional club and putting a Euro spin on things. You don't see many French, Spanish, Italian or German players in the parks of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales... They have their own styles and own leagues - none of which include clubs full of Brits arrogantly strutting their stuff without so much as a by your leave to the home nation. And whilst the notion of the Euro way being key to international success is a proven non-starter, it doesn't mean our way is either. But for me, win or lose, it's all about the preservation of our football culture - the pro form of the game we all learned at school and that's equally suited to wintery nights in Swansea as well as summery days at Wembley. Wenger's screwed up on all that. For him it's been a case of when in Rome do what the French do. Doesn't work does it? Abject disrespect, that's why.
Wenger may have the funds available, but the best and most-proven players in Europe don't want to play for Arsenal. I'd struggle to think of a single Arsenal signing in the last 10 years who has made a real name for himself elsewhere before joining the club. Their best players are brought in as unknowns (Henry, Fabregas, Anelka, Nasri, Vieira, Pires, Hleb...), become the players they are at Arsenal and then they're sold. Arsenal won't replace Nasri and Fabregas because the club can't attract players of their calibre - they can only produce them over time. It's not a recipe for success.
Brix - I understand and to an extent agree with your point. Just think there is more than enough room for Wenger and his style in our game. For all the critics - he is one of a very small number of managers to win the premiership, only one of which is English (though I may be wrong on this - can't remember when Leeds won and how old the Prem is) and one of only 3 to win it more than once. He managed the only team in the modern era to go through a season unbeaten. He has never spent the money that Urinals, Chelski, Pool and now Citeh have, but has usually competed with all and done better than most. This may all be coming to an end now, and knowing when to go is an art in itself, but respect is due.
Rarely enjoy watching Arsenal under Wenger, Stan. There's precious little heart, spirit, character, whatever you want to call it, about them these days. Functional enough, successful at times - though not nearly enough to justify the hype. But I'm not interested in seeing a load of skinnies darting around. I'll pay to watch the very best of the game I grew up into. More intense but with flare and audacity as well as technical skills and tactical variety. It's not that I don't want to see players who were brought up elsewhere. I do. Cantona, Ginola, Zola and so on: players that gave us character, style and skills but adapted to the British game and fitted in. Bergkamp, Overmars, Viera, Fabrigas did achieve pretty much the same thing but few others in all the time Wenger's been at Arsenal. As for your point about Arsenal's failure to attract established players, the question to ask is why?
Brixton, I think we will have to agree to differ on this one. Nice twisting of my words re 'failure to attract' at the end though! Final point from me - I strongly suspect that the football you and I grew up on - Rangers under Jago, Sexton and (bit later I know) Venables- was not meant to be typically English, but an attempt to be more European.....
