Fiberglass, that took a while! But you have hit the nail on the head with many of your points. No one can argue what Arsene has done for the club, i doubt any other manager could have done so successfully with the budget constraints that he has. I dont think wengers talent for spotting a good youngster have faded, i think a huge amount of our problems on the pitch can be attributed to things like Team Spirit, Maturity and Leadership. the last one being particularly important. We need a leader with a never say die attitude to every football match, be it leyton orient or barcelona. We are crying out for someone to come in and grab the bull by the horns and just go with it, recognise the talent on offer and temper it with patience and determination. Wenger is one of the best in the world at spotting youth talent, but as far as his selection of captains, im not so sure. Every successful team on the world has a leader, Arsenal need one now more that ever
They weren't my points by the way just getting that clarified. I thought the bit about this team coming to the end of its cycle really interesting, too many players haven't taken their chance and need to be moved on.
yes i know that!, i was merely chipping in with my two cents worth, and yes on that point i agree too many have been massive underachievers
I think next season is the watershed. Either Arsenal fly and win multiple trophies or we fail and have to sell our best players at the end of it...unless Kroenke bails us out. We're in a much better state now than at the start of last season: Defenders: Djourou and Koscielny are now a lot more experienced. That puts us on 3 pretty effective centrebacks GK: Remember how we were crying out for one last season? Flappyhandski and Almunia? Now we have Szczesny, the wonderkid, and Fabianski, the passionate and strong performer. DM: We were stumped by Frimpong's injury. Really stumped by it. We now get to choose between him and Coquelin, with Coquelin looking a brilliant prospect. CM: Emergence of Wilshere and the return of Rambo. The future pairing we are so desperate for. If Fabregas stays, then we have 4 extremely talented CMs in those three and Nasri. Wings: Arshavin did badly, no two ways about it. But Walcott has shone this season and with Arsenal looking to buy wingers out of Alvarez, Gerinho and Mata, we will have a great wing form. ST: Van Persie has done beautifully. We're all tentatively hoping his injuries are behind him and he can kick on next season. Chamakh is a great 3rd choice striker but we do need to buy another one. None of our players are WC fatigued this time around (I know that applies to other teams but we struggled with VP, Vermaelen and Fabregas, 3 key players) Assuming we can keep Fabregas and Nasri, I can't see a single position we are weaker in than before. In fact, we appear much stronger on paper.
On paper being the key there. Regardless of whether we are stronger on paper, the team still lacks the heart and soul that it so desperately needs.
I agree. I think that comes down to seeing ourselves as a lesser Barcelona. We need to define Arsenal, and our style of play, as a definite I feel.
