With all of the opinions about Wenger staying or going, I thought I would throw this one in. According to the rumours he is not allowed to coach the defence for whatever reason. At the beginning of the season when Bould was coaching them they looked better but since the rumours it looks like the effect he had on them has diminished which would suggest that the rumours are true. And if he is not being allowed to coach the defence, what is he doing there, coaching the forwards? (well that would explain Girouds form I suppose). And if hes not allowed to do any defensive coaching would he want to stay as Wengers no.2? Which is why I ask the question, will Bould leave?
Thats a great point. Will always be a arsenal legend. But is he damaging his reputation by staying as he is an expert in all things defensive, and reducing his future career aspirations. If he stays and the defense gets more and more sloppy no one will hire him. I cant see him staying if things continue.
Its all a shame because before I moved to medway and decided to support my local team the mighty gills . I supported arsenal because I was a defender at school and the gunners had the best back 4, 5 in the premiership. How I would love to see them playing in there prime again lol.
The notion that Bould coached the defence for 3 games then was no longer allowed to by Wenger is far from proven. We should reserve judgment on this point until we get a clearer picture.
Highly doubt the rumours about him not being allowed to coach the defence are true. as you say they cropped up at the same time as our defence turned terrible, but it could just as easily be a story created by our bad defending, rather than our bad defending being a consequence of it.
It is very far fetched to say that the ASSISTANT MANAGER was only allowed to coach the team for 3 games, before being told to feck off. Seems VERY far-fetched.
Firt of all I never said 3 games and I have never heard that he was only allowed to coach the defence for 3 games, except the comments here. The rumours I heard were that Bould was coaching the defence but Wenger thought it was detracting from the offensiveness of the team so made him back off. There were then rumours of a difference of opinion, then a bust up and now there are rumours he is not allowed to do defensive training at all (but I find that a rumour too far).
Why would wenger allow bould to coach the defence for three games, see that we had not conceded a goal and then tell him he was not allowed to coach the defence again Anyone who believes this to be the case really need to stop reading all these conspiracy theories, only someone with a death wish, or wish to be sacked would do something so stupid. It was clearly just a coincidence that we played well in the first three games, then reverted to type (i.e defensive blunders) the media, as usual put 2 and 2 together and came up with 54.
The story was that Wenger was unhappy with the offensive performance so scaled back the defensive coaching. Ergo the defense began to get worse. Arsenal are still struggling to score goals. Read a recent interview with van Persie about the difference between Arsenal & Man Utds coaching. It sheds a lot of light on how much better Man Utd are.
Story holds zero merit whatsoever and if we traced its origins it'd probably be one of those scummy sources like goal.com or the Sun
Let's actually examine those first three games. Sunderland (H) - One of the most negative performances you will see from an opposition, they barely attacked us. Stoke (A) - This was better because we dealt with Stoke set pieces, but even before Bould became our assistant manager, we had started to come to terms with Stoke and their one tactic. Liverpool (A) - That was a complete team performance, our midfield was sensational and we kept the ball for fun, the defence were not ever under any constant threat to really get tested. With hindsight, we clearly read too much into those first three games. As for Bould, he comes across as a proud man, so if he is not allowed to coach, then I doubt he would stand for it. so if this was the case, a man like Steve Bould would have left the moment Wenger told him that he can't coach his team.
Fabregas after moving to Barcelona: “I’ve learned a lot tactically, personally,” “I know my position on the pitch a lot more. Before I was free to do whatever on the pitch at Arsenal, and I wasn’t tactically good. “I was playing wherever I wanted, up and down. Here I have to work much more for the team, individually, and think about the team tactically.” van Persie on his training at Man Utd: “The way he trains is refreshing. He is truly one of the best coaches in the world. “I’ve had a lot of good trainers, but it’s the way he prepares our team for games. “Every match is different so every training session in build-up is unique. “We know exactly what to expect. He wins points for us through his training. “We’ve won a lot of games by the odd goal — they are point winners. “Consider the game against Chelsea. I scored after a low cross from Antonio Valencia on the right. “It might seem like a fluke, but the whole week before the game was spent working on that move. “Another example is my goal against Wigan when I cut the ball inside and shot with my right foot — again this was a situation we trained on.” To me, after reading things like this, which are direct quotes from recent former players, and watching the games, it isn't hard to see that Arsenal are toothless and clueless, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Wenger had scaled back on the defensive coaching. In his mind, it's to concentrate more on the attacking side - because scoring goals wins games. But not conceding goals means you don't lose. In addition, the BBC’s David Ornstein also said on 5Live last night that Wenger has taken power back from Bould with regards to the training sessions. He's very reliable, as the BBC don't get many things wrong.
I don't think we should get hung up on rumours too much. At the end of the day, unless it comes out of the horses mouth, we should treat them as tabloid gossip. As for the quotes above, maybe they were being complementary to their new coaches? Every coach has their own way of doing things and Wenger has his way. He was successful before but not anymore. Everyone has a best before date, maybe his has been reached?
When at Villa, Pires stated that when he was at Arsenal, rarely, if ever, did they work on defensive coaching and work off the ball and it was all about attacking and pass and move. That tells you all you need to know. In the first 3 games, Arsenal were very functional, Wenger likes fluidity. I can actually believe this story.
I suspect nobody told Pires about the defensive training, as tracking back was not his greatest attribute (good player going forward before I get slated).
Would you leave if your boss would have promoted you and doubled your salary ( and gave you a free Emirates season ticked as a bonus) on one condition: you are not allowed to work? Would you leave?
Now read that statement and tell me how inane that sounds. Not allowed to work? Seriously? THen those first couple of games Bould was "working" were just what? Wenger got jealous and forced Bould to stop managing and nobody has spoken to the media about this? This is one of the most far-fetched conspiracy theories of all time. Sure Arsenal might not have the best training style, but the fact that such a BS claim is out there is baffling.
A conspiracy is when you have all the facts. When Villa equalised against Arsenal, any half decent lip reader could make put Bould was saying "How many times do I have to say it to you?" Whilst looking at Wenger reproachfully. Put two and two together and it isn't as far-fetched as you'd believe. I don't and won't pretend to know what's going on at Arsenal, but there was a definite change in shape and tactics since the first international break which is there for all to see. You have to ask yourself how Arsenal went from being functional and conceded 0 goals in 3 games to conceding in every game for 9 games running and 14/15 games. Against Liverpool and Stoke, I saw a structured and well drilled side that were tough to break down. Now I see a fluid but free-flowing Arsenal side capable of scoring one but conceding 2 in any game they play in. It's possible Wenger wanted to restructure the tactics but has shifted too far towards the attacking side of the game.
Conspiracy theory's aside, Wenger's tactics and organisation has a lot to be desired. Wenger is trying to play a free flowing fluid system, but to play that, it has to be incredibly organised, like Barca are. Also what is blatantly obvious is we don't have the quality of players available to play such a way. Apart from Cazorla and Wilshere, there is a significant gap in quality after that. Wenger's teams of the past had quality all over the park. Any player of his successful period would walk into this team, whereas today, only 2 or maybe 3 could get in, and that on the bench of his past teams!
