Brixton R - I could not agree more with every single statement you have made. I grew up liking and admiring Arsenal, i have now developed a real dislike for them now. A team that i want to continue to win nothing to prove Wengers idealogies wrong. Was speaking to a Gooner mate of mine yesterday and he actually agreed they are no longer a top four side but also he said what can they do to change it, how can they replace Wenger and his ideas ? My response was that Arenal have steadily become a worse side in comparison over the last 6 years and they are one a slippery slope , how long do you give him? They have all the qualities as a football club to be challenging for the title but the management has to change. I would love to see Wenger go and Arsenal challenge for the title once more.
My brother is a Gooner and said the rot set in when he didn't really replace that Terry Henry when he left (and the free scoring dried up) and when Paddy Viera went (complete lack of midfield grit). He charts their gradual decline from that point to where they sit today........17th...... When Newcastle announced initially that Barton was transfer listed we discussed him joining Arsenal and my brother said he was exactly the player they needed but the last player Wenger would ever sign. His belief is 'building with youth' had to come undone at some point and panic buying Arteta & Benayoun (both decent players mind) was never going to fill the gaps. Arsenal currently are truly beatable and play like we did on Saturday and no reason at all to fear them. Read also Chelsea into that statement as the defence is aging badly and SWP's pace will create chances.
For the past few years all Wenger has banged on about is that the young players he has are good enough and they just need time. Add to that the fact that each season Arsenal have a run of form that brings them some big wins playing sublime football for a month or two and then? Groundhog Day, they melt and fade, losing games they should win. The fact they play such good football when on a winning run disguises the fact that they lack backbone and when the chips are down they conspire to throw it all away, just look at last season. How long has he been told to get a decent centreback or two? Goalkeeper? But he just won't do it because, it seems, others are pointing out the weaknesses. Cahill, Samba, Dann, all would have improved Arsenal but he's got Mertesacker who has never played in the PL before. As the other top teams have bought big this year they've been left behind and in his desperation he still makes derisory bids for players because HE has a value he won't go above. Contrast that to Fergie who has stated in the past that sometimes you have to pay over the top for the benefit of the team, that's why United are never out of the running. I could go on but the bottom line is that his judgement is so flawed they are now reaching a situation that can't be clawed back without three or four really big signings and a change in philosophy that sometimes you have to win ugly. Lastly, there's been a joke going around for some years now about the menu for an Arsenal end-of-season dinner menu, usually doing the rounds in March, which when I first saw it had on the 'whine list' Cabernet Empty 2005 and 2006. The last one I saw this year had Cabernet Empty 2005 through to 2011 plus advanced orders for Cabernet Empty 2012!
