Ive been really busy and not found time to post in ages but have kept an eye on the forum. Just wondering heading into the final few games, with a couple of targets to play for, what would you be happy with? I think we all agree this season has been a disappointment after the summer spending and new found positivity fans seemed to have mustered up after a few seasons of being birdesmades but not the bride. But given the position we now find ourselves in what would you be happy with and what would be an acceptable finish? Top four? An FA cup win? Top four and an FA cup win? Settle for fifth and an FA cup final?
Top 4 and the FA cup would be great given how the season has gone, but I'd settle for either. Missing out on both would be a disappointment, but probably a fair reflection of the season to be honest.
Even if we achieved the very best we can currently hope for (FA Cup and top 4) there is nothing to be happy about. The running of our club is a shambles from the board to the manager. The only way anyone could possibly be happy about our 2016/17 season is if their expectations have always been exceptionally low, or that we've been so ****e this season that their expectations have eroded gradually so much that they're now happy with this. So in short, nothing this season would make me happy. Actually, that's not true. There is one thing that would make me happy. Wenger leaving us. If the board could follow him then even better.
Can just imagine you sitting at home in your string vest and piss stained pants chucking a half full can of special brew at the TV, with Wenger lifting the FA cup
Things to be fixed at the club to prevent any further decline. We've spoken about this to death on this forum, hence why it's now a ghost town. What is important is for the club to head into the right direction and this is what will make me happy.
Genuinely do not care about the top 4, i actually think it might be a good thing to miss out on it as it will force the players in particular to have a long hard look at themselves. i think the whole top 4 thing is turning into a millstone round our neck, miss it for a season and hopefully it will re-motivate the players and manager. The money is not important to us compared to what it was, between 2007 - and 2013 missing CL would have been very bad for out finances. FA cup is most important in my opinion, a trophy is a trophy, for all the praise spurs have been getting they have still won nothing in nearly a decade, and until poch wins something i will not consider him a top manager, he is going in the right direction, but need to win a trophy, even a league cup.
Totally agree, i think getting top 4 has become a curse for us. Benefited us greatly in the beginning but it's now become the bane of our existence. I'm frankly sick of it, unfortunately every other team now talks about it.
Allegri. Failing that... 1. Make Top four - This is integral in helping attract top players. (could be essential to keep Sanchez too) 2. Keep Sanchez 3. Win FA Cup. 4. Sign a large dominating DMF. A World Class CF/ WF and perhaps a young creative midfielder to challenge Cazorla.
Allegri. - agreed Failing that... 1. Make Top four - This is integral in helping attract top players. (could be essential to keep Sanchez too). Irrelevant and a myth. No other club struggles to get players or keep them when they miss out on CL. Perpetuated as a scare tactic so that Wenger can use getting top 4 as a 'trophy' 2. Keep Sanchez. Agreed 3. Win FA Cup. Agreed as long as it doesn't justify keeping Wenger. I'd rather lose the cup and lose Wenger than win the cup and keep Wenger. 4. Sign a large dominating DMF. A World Class CF/ WF and perhaps a young creative midfielder to challenge Cazorla. Agreed - although signing any players will have no discernible impact on our team if they're still going to be managed by Wenger.
ive also recently been thinking about this... Strictly results / cups wise: 1. I think if we win the FA cup it would be an OK season (bare minimum type thing) 2. if we only get top 4 I would not be 'happy' and would consider our season boring and a waste. 3. if we did both 1 and 2, I would consider it a good season tbh. HOWEVER, none of the above will make me 'happy' as I believe the problems at our club are not strictly linked to results / cups. The same problems we see year after year are the real cause of our unhappiness. 1.) Lack of ambition surrounding the club 2.) a board hat doesnt seem to be doing its job (10 or so players entering last year of contract) 3.) botched transfer window after transfer window 4.) no direction or identity 5.) last, but certainly not least, lack of winning mentality on (and off...) the pitch, and lack of overall mental stability. Ironically what our manager calls our 'great mental strengths' is completely absent in my mind, we just need the staleness to be gone from our club, and we need someone to come in and start buying players with character, heart, and steel. THUS what would really make me happy is CHANGE. As others have stated above, a change in manager would be most ideal, as I think it would help eradicate much of the above. After that, the board as well. Also, everything ive stated - it is the real reason why it makes no sense for Wenger to stay.
Pretty much this. You've hit it on the head. Of course if we won the FA cup it would be considered a success in terms of our current regime. To beat City and then Chelsea, who have been the best in the PL and have just won it, would be an impressive achievement. But i doubt that they could beat Chelsea, as i think they are too good and have a manager that better in all departments than ours. I think top 4 is a waste of time for us, it really gives us nothing in terms of football apart from money. We haven't had a good run for ages and simply look out of our depth. The CL has been an unwelcome distraction and got in the way of fixing the issues we've had for a while. I strongly believe that offering Wenger another contract is a waste of time and it only prolongs the inevitable. Getting top 4 would be bad for so many reasons, apart from lining the pockets of our shareholders and owners.
Missing out of Top4 and Europa League will be nice for a change. Really don't see why we take part in that tournament, it is all a scam, a distraction and a stick to beat fans with. See I gave you guys top 4. I would rather we do not make Top 4 and if Wenger stays, takes a good long hard look at himself!
Top four gives us optimism. It gives players like Sanchez what they require and most importantly it gives you an advantage when recruiting players. This is like Brexit. Anyone who thinks we will be better off out is in total ****ing denial.
Last time I checked, Man U and Chelsea attracted the very best players and they weren't in the CL. Arsenal will attract players even if they weren't in the CL. It's money and ambition from the club that attracts players. Ozil and Sanchez were attracted to us because of the money and a manager that used to have a great reputation but came to realise that it didn't match their ambition. But players are getting wise to Wenger and we are becoming more irrelevant every season. Now we have 6 clubs either better or on par with us. Also Wenger no longer has the same reputation he had years gone by. Even if he managed to scrape into top 4, you think a player wouldn't want to go to Chelsea, United, City or even Liverpool over us? I think Spurs are getting quite close to us now too. All they have to do is look at the horror story that was us versus Bayern to know that we aren't progressing as a football team. I mean, 5-1 three times in a row is seriously horrific. Gone are the days when we were beating Milan at their ground in the CL.
The only thing I would say about this is united and Chelsea attract players while outside top 4 because they have at least won titles in the near past. It's been 13 years since ours, and we also have a stereotype of the team that 'never wins anything'. I hope it's just as easy to attract players if we miss out, but not sure...
But do players really look at us in the CL and think i want to join Arsenal? Once get out of the league system after beating a bunch of bum teams, we look poor or crumble against any decent side. This has been happening for many years now, that's why i'm fed up of us being in the CL now. It's boring and mundane, we're so predictable that it's become pointless in the CL. That's why we need time to build a team so that it is good enough to challenge for the CL.
Just so happy we will be missing out on Champions league. So Wenger's target not meet, so let's see if he feels so smug announcing he is signing a new deal!
