All i see are comments calling for arsene wenger to be fired. It's not all his fault, he loves this club as much as we do. You may not like his methods, but it should all work out well in the end. It's the board of directors who are the major issue, with a complete lack of ambition, and not giving wenger anything to spend in the transfer window.
Hear. Hear I for one must admit that there have been times when I have loaded the blame in Arsene's direction. Just to set the record straight I think Mr Gazidis should face the press and the fans more.
I agree with you on the Arsene front some people give him stick he does not deserve, i think a lot of people forget what he brought to our club all those years ago. However, i think after six years of going through the same procedure in regards to team set up, transfers etc, i would surmise that Arsene is unwilling to change his beliefs in a dynamic footballing world and that unwillingness to change may cost us another season without silverware. I love the free flowing football approach, i really do but it must be tempered with results and for the last six years................we havent won anything. Iam a huge arsene fan, But he does come across as very stuck in his ways, football is an ever evolving game and we dont seem to have taken that on board. Anyway, in summary yes your are right give wenger a break but i do hope we see some serious improvements this year, i think seven years without a trophy might prove too much for some fans
Of course and please dont think im being dismissive of arsene and all he has done for us, he is a legend. But after the last six years are his beliefs helping us or hindering us?
The naysayers may say that his beliefs are hindering us, but look at it this way. Nobody else has a squad this talented and young. Some have more talented squads, but are ageing, some have younger squads, but with less talent. All we need is an on field leader, someone like scott parker, and i believe we'll have a serious chance at some silverware this year.
ah im glad you mentioned the leader bit, below is a copy of a post i put up 10 minutes ago. agree with luvgonzo it has to be a mix, but again our biggest problem on the field, a leader! We are cyring out for someone to set an example, grab a game by the scruff of the neck and thrash it out, someone who can take stock of whats going on around him in a football match and plan appropriately. If arsenal can crack this nut we will do so much better this year.
If we had had anyone else in charge over the last six years, then we could have been battling it out with the Spuds for a Europa league spot.
I'm speculating of course, but given the limited resources, I think another manager would have struggled.
Mate that's just guessing. We know that: 1. The board have come out on numerous occassions claiming Wenger has money to spend should he want it. 2. Wenger has stated his distaste for the huge sums of money thrown around by Clubs. 3. Wenger is an economist and also a socialist. He is also a huge advocate of the self-sustaining club. I think its just as stupid claim 'it's not his fault' as it is to blame him entirely. I agree the board are partly to blame too though. What we do know is that most of our TOP transfer targets in recent years have escaped us due to the club not meeting the required transfer fee. The self sustaining model is great but to really be the best financial risks have to be taken. Had we added 2-3 Top Class players last Summer we would have won the league and no doubt re-couped the money spent. Surely that's a better plan than signing your 4th or 5th choice because the others were more expensive. We had a bid for Jagielka rejected last Summer and who did we get instead??..Yes that's right Squillaci. Paying the extra 2-3 Million is normally worth it. However, I believe if Wenger was handed £150 Million transfer war chest he would not be comfortable spending it whereas some managers would absolutely relish that oppurtunity. For Wenger its a matter of ethics.
Maybe Wenger isn't to blame for the lack of transfer activity and funds aren't available. But money was spent on Gervinho that should have been spent on a centre back if that is the case. Only Utd scored more goals than us last season, it was improving our defence that should have been the priority this summer! What Wenger is certainly to blame for is tactics. Our lack of organisation at the back comes from laziness in training and LAZINNESS is what it is. We are a top flight professional team, we should be drilling the defence as much as practicing the pretty football. Our play from set pieces (attacking as well as defending) is a joke, we supposedly improved that over the summer - it didn't look like it during the Emirates Cup. As for our attacking play, it is easy to get 80% possession when all you do is pass it around on the half way line. We seem to have no strategy for scoring a goal, it is pass, pass, pass. You could hear people at the Emirates Cup begging someone to have a shot. That was our problem towards the end of last season and is always a problem against teams that park the bus and let us have possession on the half way line knowing full well we won't do anything with it. So maybe Wenger can hide behind the board and Gazidis when it comes to our transfer policy, but when it comes to our pathetic tactical approach to games the team's failings are there for all to see. Those failings are the fault of the manager. It sometimes seems as if the only tactics Wenger has are 'go out and play your football lads'. When you have some of the best players in the world in your team, players like Sol Campbell, Gilberto Silva, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires, Dennis Bergkamp and Theirry Henry then tactics aren't important. When your goalkeeper and back four have been together for as long as Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Adams and Bould then you don't need to drill the defence. When you have a partnership up front like Bergkamp and Wright then you don't need to worry too much about how to break down defences. When your first choice back four includes inexperienced players like Gibbs and Koscielny then they need to be drilled, they need jobs to do. When your attack has RVP, a second striker, playing on his own in the middle. Then you need a plan as to how you are going to get the ball to him and what happens when he drops deep and there is nobody in the box. For whatever reason, we can't sign superstars anymore. That means that we need to be on it with tactics. Wenger has failed over the last few years to make any tactical changes to the team. He has signed too many short, attacking, flair players and not enough big powerful defensive players. If he is not willing to change his approach then he needs to go! Rant over!!!
How can you point out that Arsenal scored more league goals than everyone bar Utd yet go on to suggest that they have 'no strategy for scoring a goal'? I can't trust a person's analysis when they desribe Wenger's tactical approach as 'pathetic'. Arsene would stroll into the manager's position at any club in the world, which would be swiftly found out if the club ever ecided to hand him is P45.
I know we are frustrated over the delays with both Cesc and Nasri, not to mention the seeming lack of movement on the transfer front. If you can accept that the prospects of Cesc and Nasri affect who we look to bring in and that the clubs who currently hold the players we are looking to bring in have themselves to look for replacements amidst what is a holiday season, then perhaps we can appreciate that not everything can be as straightforward as we would like. At least that was what Arsene had to say today and I can see his point. In many ways it's like being in a property chain. So I think it's time to cut Arsene some slack. If our money is the cause of some delays then we need to take that up with Ivan Gazidis. Y'know, the guy who hides behind while Arsene takes the flak.
Has anyone ever thought Wenger would pocket more thru your club's stocks, dividends and $#!^ -if he runs it on budget, than spends lavishly and winning something - impacting the bottomline for the club and himself. Having said that I have utmost respect for Wenger and what he has done for English footy - Arsenal - best footy team by miles in England, better than Chelsea.
I respect and like Wenger for what he has done for us in the past but that doesn't mean that I will continue to blindly support him in the future. He has been unable to fix the continual problem of mental weakness that we have had in the last 5 years and we appear to have hit a brick wall in other areas too. I also refuse to believe that it is the boards fault for not giving him money, I think it is his stubborness that stops us spending the crucial extra 10 million rather than a lack of funds.
I still think it's a bit of both but the problem has been steadily growing as we all know and so should they. The mental fragility of the team was tested to breaking point last season and I dearly hope this is addressed by the next weekend.
I fail to see how the mental fragility of the team can properly be addressed when the home fans are so quick to jump on their backs. Surely there's no coincidence in the fact that, last year, Arsenal were top of the league in away games but only fifth in home games? Could this be to do with the atmosphere the home support create?
