So if you were expecting a Pedro match report I’m sorry, this is a Geoff end of the year report and I’m feeling pissed off so please read on, if you are one of the few that are happy with what you’ve been seeing, stop here and go to Arsenal.com you won’t like what I’m about to say.
Please, do you think you are talking to children Mr Wenger? Do really really have to come out with comments that you would give to a 7 year old to placate them?
We pay too much money for the garbage that too often these days comes out of your ever more bizarre press conferences. So if we lacked a bit of zip because we lost a two goal lead at Villa Park, what did Portsmouth lack? They lost their last game 4-1 and to West Ham at home.
Yes I know we we won, but only just and that 5 minutes of added time felt like 20 minutes.
If it wasn’t for a bit of brilliance from William Gallas and an Almunia like flap from Calamity James we may have lost that game we lacked a bit of zip in, I counted one shot on target, but then I was looking away in disbelief for a lot of it, So forgive me, there could have been more than one.
That’s disgraceful for any Premiership club, let alone the Arsenal.
It must be tough earning £80k a week like some of our players do and having to play twice in the space of 2 days, when I played football, sometimes it was a double header, one game after the other, many times I would play Saturday and Sunday, but you know what, I looked forward to it, otherwise I would have done something else, these young players of yours in many cases earn more in a week that many Arsenal fans do in a year.
Do people in football not realise how unbelievably privileged they are? I know we’ve said many times that Arsenal need to win ugly, but that wasn’t ugly, that was shocking, winning at Villa Park would have been ugly, but this was Portsmouth for Christs sake, at least apologise for a crap performance, get rid of the shit players and go and buy some decent ones instead, we’ve put up with this mediocrity for three years now and frankly we’ve had enough, don’t spoil 9 great years by being stubborn for 3, the fans will turn on you and no-one wants that, we think you have done wonders for this club, but there is a limit.
You’re wrong Arsene and I believe there are people on the board that have told you that, we the fans have told you that, the press are telling you that as are the ex players, so what, and we’re all wrong?
Every game we play I send out the rallying cry, we all get behind the team, you send out a shit side that plays like a shit side, then you come out with excuses, let’s have the last three games worth of excuses shall we.
Liverpool – You said we were the better side yet the whole footballing world said we weren’t, they said we were lucky.
Villa – You said that their management knobbled the referee, Jesus we should have been 4 down by half time not one up, we were lucky to get a draw, no matter how much we felt robbed.
Portsmouth – You said we lacked zip, Adebayor was crap and he wasn’t even playing against Villa for goodness sake.
Why can’t you just admit that we have 4 or 5 players that aren’t good enough, get shot of them and spend some money, our money, do that and we can clean up, everyone but you can see that.
Why is it that successful people so often fall from grace because they are too stubborn to think they are wrong, go and read Margaret Thatcher’s autobiography, learn about stubborness, see the light before it’s too late, we all love you, but the love affair won’t last for ever.
We can rule Europe with 3 or 4 top signings, that’s all, we won’t do it with what you have. Certain players need to be sold and everyone but you knows it, I won’t name them, but you must deep down know, you had the invincibles.
I didn’t go to the game today I watched it on a link, I didn’t go because I was protesting at the rudeness and aggressiveness of the stewards and from the holes I saw all over the ground many others didn’t go either but for some reason the announcers lie about that as they said we had 61,000 there, you may all think that you can lie to us for ever, but you know what, you can’t and next season when your experiment fails, as it invariably will, you’ll see people protesting with their feet, and however many fans you think you have waiting in the wings, they won’t be there, why? because the fans aren’t as stupid as you all think they are, many will be worried about the future, many will not want to pay to see what you are now serving up week in week out.
You act like you and the team are the victims, no sir you’re not, we are the victims, I woke this morning to hear that at least 100 retailers are about to go under, they say more people will lose their jobs than at any time since records began, you and your team on the other hand are recession proof and will always have a roof over your heads so please don’t have us feel sorry for you, we don’t.
Pedro went to the game yesterday with Finestcuts who brought us over a bottle of Vodka, all the way from Poland, so Finestcuts, thank you so much my friend!
Let’s hope you read this Mr Wenger and find out what the realities are in the real world and get us a team that will make the next year a little more bearable.
you only just realised keyser
i knew it before it even begun keyser…
and if we get no signings ” i predict a riot!”
Never posted here, but have read every post for the last year or so . Its always been enough for me to just read the article and the comments, cause its a sort of therapy in a way (after a poor game) and just good fun otherwise. But of late I’ve been feeling that the view here (and in majority of arsenal blogs/sites) has been getting more negative than it should. So I thought I’d say whats on my mind and why I feel that its being overdone just a little. (btw just fyi, i like the site and the authors, mainly cause its a place where opinions are welcomed and there seems to be some mechanism for people to voice their view and debate without things getting ugly)
1. People complain about us dropping way too many points, but all the other “big four” seem to be doing it as well. Fulham drew chelski, boro almost drew united., pool lost to spurs (i think). the leagues tighter, there are no freebies and its affecting everyone not just us. and i think our expectations should factor that in.
2. Gallas – these are just my thoughts on him. I think we are better-off with him than without, he as a leader to an extent, a flawed one but a good one none the less. and he plays with his heart on his sleeve, just the number of goals he’s scored this season shows that he isnt part of the problem. (though the penalty against villa was poor, but that goal was down to the fact that milner was able to make that pass from their half, only because there was no left winger in hi face, nasri was infield 10 yards away)
3. winning ugly – i know for the largest part we sucked against portsmouth and created little. but we won, and thats important. i have heard a thousand fans say “i’d rather win ugly than lose playing beautiful football”, you dont hear that after a game like yesterdays much? Btw the season after the invincibles, when the side was more or less the same as the one that went unbeaten, we won a scrappy game against portsmouth 1-0 with a 30 yard strike from sol and had no other shot on target the whole game, as the last game of the year to go into new year 5 behind chelski, just for a bit of perspective.
4. david villa – i know people tout villa as the most desirable footballer we could get. i think thats a bit of FM mentality. He’s small, and would take time to adapt if at all. He is no torres, torres is tall, strong and a bit of a gladiator who doesnt shy away, villa isnt. in my opinion. if its a striker who can conjure something out of nothing we want, we already hae one, vanP. we just need him in the attacking 1/3rd more than he has had the chance to be in the last few games.
5. denilson – the reaction to him is something i dont get and i think shows how we overdo criticism and take a overly -ve stance on things sometimes. at the start of the season a lot of fans hated him, everyone says they would take sidwell, barry etc over him. did you not see how he turned away from them both with such ease in the villa game? thats something thats integral to a good attacking central mid, and neither barry nor sidwell can do what denilson can, though admittedly he cannot tackle (or head the ball) like they can. but i know which one i would rather have. denilson for me has been great this season and he will go on to become twice the player that barry or sidwell will ever be.
6. diaby – people hate him as well. i think he has all the potential to be an excellent box to box midfielder, not this season but he will, if he remains injury free, mature into a fine b2b midfielder. but this season is too early for him. but that doesnt mean he is crap, i for one would hate to lose him. same with song, why everyone says he sucked even after he plays a decent game, i dont know. it was the same with flamini, everyone said he wasnt good enough for arsenal until last season, and now everyone would kill to have him back.
7. eboue – again a figure of hate. he was hailed as the “best right back in europe” during the CL final run. i dont think players go frmo that to shite, just like that. he is ok as backup at RW and an excellent, excellent backup at RB. why would you want to sell him?
8.Wenger – I dont know about this since I am no really a paying-fan. And I do not part with any of my money to support arsenal, so this is just a question i guess – are people not willing to cut wenger some slack because of all he has done for arsenal over the last 7-10 years? Or has the average fan in london run out of patience in the 3 win-less years?
I am not suggesting that there arent problems, or that we are missing a creative wide player and a CM who can tackle and run and has experience. Nor am I suggesting that wenger doesnt make mistakes (he seems to be pathetic at any sort of defensive coaching completely), big and costly ones. But I just dont see the justification for the kind of negativity there that seems to be prevailing of late?
Sorry for the incredibly long post, pent up posting from a few weeks i guess
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p.s – either of pedro or geoff said that the last min goal that villa scored was because we didnt have a defensive mid, who would have been covering knight. I dont think so, the ball came into the box and there were 3 arsenal defenders and 4 villa players, one arsenal defender (dont know who was the culprit) should have been marking him, not a defensive mid. that was just lazy defending from one of the back 4, nothing to do with not having a def. mid.
Indian gooner, Hi from me..
Nice post.. I don’t agree with a lot of it but I’m sure Geoff and Pedro welcome your views..
its affecing us the most i.g look at where we are in the table
denilson’s the reason why we have conceded so many goals
thanks avenell. it would be good if you could mention what you dont agree with?
i usually just enjoy reading what everyone else has to say but today i just felt like saying something (which turned out to be a lot) .
read the other two post’s above india then you might get the drift of why things are completely shit at arsenal
BBK – cause he isnt playing the def-mid role well enough? Thats definitely not what he is built for. I think he still does a “decent” job breaking up play, but sitting in front of the back 4 just isnt his thing.
Indian Gunner,
all good points, i agree with some and disagree with others, most notably…
Eboue – is ok as a backup right back….but would Fergie play gary neville in right midfield, left midfield and centre midfield in 50 games over 2 seasons? absolutely never. Would Rafa play Dossena in midfield for the next 50 games?? no way. With a good attacking midfielder there instead we’re looking at 6-7 goals per season and 6-7 assists minimum….last year Eboue had 1 assist…no goals….pathetic, i could clock up that much productivity.
Dropping Points – yes teams are doing it, but we’ve dropped 10 more points than liverpool with an easier fixture schedule, we still have to play 2 of the other big 3 away, UTD and liverpool dont.
Diaby – by the age of 22.5 you have to start turning it on week in week out, theres only so long you can be learning.
Agree on Denilson, think he’ll be a fine player. But he needs a strong midfielder in the toulalan / gilberto / senna mould next to him – you will never get the best out of him asking him to take on so much responsibility at such a young age.
at the end of the day he’s the culprick who lets these players just swann in and score dont bother to track them he really is dumb in terms of positioning and tracking players half the goal have come from him not marking up properly
Nice post Indian Gooner, your opinions are welcome.
Eboue wasn’t the best right back in Europe… this seems to be a myth that has gathered support over the last few months. If Eboue was the best right back, why did we buy Sagna?
We bought Sagna because Eboue regularly left us exposed defensively… remember, the season he played ok… we finished 4th on the last game of the season. Not a good season for the club or the defence.
As for the Villa goal in the dying seconds… if Gilberto or Flamini were in the side, would Zat Knight have been able to get a shot off? No way… because they’d have been there to put him off.
People don’t mind winning ugly… the problem is, that wasn’t really winning ugly… that was the same lack lustre uncreative performance we’ve come to expect as standard this season.
As for the comment on the top 4… that doesn’t hold any merit with me. If the rest of the top 4 are dropping points, that makes it all the more disappointing. When your competitors are having a poor time of it, you hope your team has the tools to capitalise.
Sadly, due to the poor summer, we don’t have those tools.
Right… I’m off to bed! Catch you all tomorrow!
denilson has not been that great look at where we are in the table
see ya pedro
Thanks pedro.
Yeah I would agree that eboue was no where near the best right back in europe, but many fans called him that, just an example of hyperbole, my point being that just as he wasnt the best then he isnt as bad as he is made out to be today.
I agree he was not the best defensively (though he had a mean-mean tackle back then) he offered a lot more width than sagna going forward.
I agree, but we didnt need gilberto or flamini we just needed toure (i think he was the culprit) to be in his place. anyways that wasnt a particularly essential point or anything..
1. If other teams are dropping points we should be above them then.
2. I never liked him being captain but he has handled himself well since.
3.I don’t mind winning ugly, but inbetween we should be winning beautiful (once this year)
4. Don’t know much about Villa but I would like a less clumsy striker.
5 Denilson. a sideways passing Cesc (good squad player)
6. Diaby I like him I don’t see he fits in . (good squad player)
7.Eboue I can put with him but he is an embarresment to the Arsenal shirt.
8. Wenger needs a chance to put this right. Give him some decent money an see how he goes. If he gets it wrong in the summer the pressure will be too great.
Hows that buddy?
gambon, yeah you are right. cant see fergie doing that.
with diaby, maybe its the injury, i dont know? but I think the talent is there to see, the consistency is obviously not. and I would be willing to wait on him..
Last season we were much stronger then we are now and still we ended up 3rd we were embarrist by man-u and tottenham in the cups and you say we are over reacting are you sure india?i dont know about you but losing them games like that is not very fun to me, then you say eboue isn’t that bad,did you not hear what sort of reaction he got against wigan INDIA?Arsenal are suppost to be a big club in england and wenger behave’s the way he does what over big club try’s to sign crappy” youngstars” that could never emmulate the likes of the old back 5 and the team’s of 97-98,03-04.
much better, thanks!
1. my point being its a harder league, lower teams have arguably improved, its not a free ride against anybody for any of the top 4. the winner this year will have a lower total than before. just a thought..
4. yes i never thought of ade as anything more than a super-sub or temporary fix. but villa we dont need, in my opinion.
5. he’s better than that i think. and he has a bright future
8. I hope he does “put this right” ..it would be sad for him to end on a low..
IM SO JEALOUS OF MANCS RECENT SUCCESS. I EXPECTED US TO DOMINATE ENGLAND & EUROPE AFTER 2004 BUT ………………………..
Indian.. we are not too far away with our views then.
Are you in india?
Where do you watch the mighty Arsenal?
then wenger and the board went nuts on a little bit of sucess franchise and decided to make us a laughing stock
also the new stadium halted the progress aswell avenell and completly wiped us out of the top 4
Franchise… but we built the best club stadium in England if not the world..
Surely that would set most clubs back a few years.
Now is the time to move on!!
yes that hurt, both the games you talk about. and so did imploding and not winning last year, when we were perfectly placed. and i have been shattered this season too, especially after the 4-4 vs spurs.
but when i think more objectively (atleast i think i am thinking objectively) i think a lot of the youngsters can make it and we might not be that far off it..and maybe things arent as bad as they are made out to be by most. but then thatis only my opinion and i can understand why others might not feel that way.
Avenell 95% bad management IMO
BBK we are not out of the top 4 yet..
and all teams above us are in debt up to there eyeballs.. long term we are cool!!
india i cant understand how you think things are not bad we are struggling to make the top 4 for a supposed big club this is the way big clubs do not behave
yup, am very much in india. and i watch the mighty arsenal at home
(home fluctuates between bombay and bangalore, for those who know the cities)
OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!!!!
There was an “Arsenal fan” or should I say “arsene fan” on football matters. He won fan of the match and when asked who would finish 4th, in regards to us fighting with Villa for it, he claimed that we would win the title because Wenger says we can still win it. He said if Wenger believes we can do it then so does he. In arsene he trusts. What a cunt. Why is it only AKBs who get on tv?!?!?!?!?
BBK – i think/hope that we will make the top 4 by the end of the year. dropping out of the top 4 would set us back substantially.
and to try and explain i think that we arent too badly off because i think maybe we are just 1-2 players short of a great team..
I’m not jealous of the Mancs, forget the Mancs, we’re The Arsenal not Manchester United.
We’re not there yet but we’re working towards it.
Boy Better Know Sho – Heh, so you’re back to Dooooooom ?!
We WERE 1 or 2 players off a great team but since Flamini and Hleb have gone we have gone back a lot. Not it will take a lot more to match or better what could have been an all conquering team of last season. Instead of building on last season we went backwards. What a shame.
Its 5am here in india. I need to get some sleep!
Its been nice talking to you guys, I appreciate the exchange of views.
Even if I dont post, I always read, so I am always here.
Adios
Keyser the truth is if we continue the way we have in the last 3 years we would never get there it has taken Pool 18 years and they are still not sure if they would get there. Forget their CL victory that is the only thing of repute they have won in almost two decades. U can add the UEFA cup under Houllier if u want.
Right now i’d defo take 4th spot but that could change both after the transfer window and again at the end of the season. Things always change. Who knows, we could actually end up challenging for the title,,,but i wont be holding my breath.
Indian Gooner Goodnight mate and don’t be shy, get your arse back on asap.
on a parting note, I kinda agree with stu, losing hleb and flamini was a big blow. cause it meant we had to rebuild, if we had kept those two (more hleb than flamini) it would have made a world of difference….that is very frustrating..
I was watching our 03/04 season on sky earlier. After we drew 2-2 at sky wenger said “i expect other teams to improve and its up to us to improve aswell”
yeah about that Arsene…
Bye Indian, come back again whenever.
Its a strange thing with most of the pool fans I know. They havent won anything for 18 years, as you say, yet every season they are optomistic. I dont know where they get their enthusiasm from.
thank avenell!
i will!
Franchise – The truth ? What are Liverpool looking to build that we already have ? If they’d had their success 10 years later they wouldn’t have just surpassed the Mancs they would have smacked them silly and we say we’ve been mismanaged.
The only clubs around or in front of us have either had silly amounts of money invested in thm or have always been some of the biggest clubs in the World.
avenell – As a rule who were the biggest clubs in England before the Premiership, it’s before my time, but I’ve always been told United were some sort of sleeping giant and most of the facts back it up, while Liverpool were backed by massive investment ?!
Keyser when u are supporting one of the supposedly biggest clubs in the world like Arsenal might be, should be or are, trophies is a must. Good trophies specifically. I wasnt born in N5, i didnt grow up behind the stadium. I started supporting Arsenal in the 80′s cos they were up there with Pool and were like the underdog champs every year they won the league in the 80s. Wenger has done fantastically to take us where we are now. I want to see my team win trophies every season cos i expect them to do it especially when the manager tells us every day that they are good enough. So that is why i get jealous when i see the success MAncs have achieved under Fergie. He has done things that Arsene can never match in his life time and i dont really care if they are richer than us.
Stu they have won the odd cup..
There are planty of clubs who have won less (geordies)
We don’t do so bad we will come back the stadium will pay for that..
Anyway goodnight Stu, Gambon, franchise ,BBK and all!!!
And Keyser whoops ..
goodnight..
Keyser I want to see us lift the Prem again. The CL is overdue for a top manager like Wenger.
Liverpool had good management .. Man U always had the most money.. plane crash, busby babes , George Best, Bobby Charlton ..
Franchise – If you don’t care, then what’s the point discussing it, and you should have just put that at the start of the post.
Fergie couldn’t do what Wenger did, his greatest achievment was in 99′, I don’t get how you say it’s overdue ?!
Good Night Avenell and tnx, heh was chatting to some old skool manc fan and he was going on about how Livrpool just bought the best players or something.
Night Ave
i would suggest rather than ‘fergie cant do what wengers done’ we should be saying ‘wenger cant do what fergies done’. Sustained excellence for 16 years including 2 european cups.
Keyser u always blame our demise on injuries or lack of money that is why i said i dont care if they are richer than us. i dont need to go over the details again we are in the state we are mostly becos of stupid decisions wenger has made. in summary he rids of his experienced players too early, he persists for too long with piss poor players and his over reliance on youth
Gambon the truth is Wenger takes too many important pitch matters for granted. he revolutionised diet, nutrition and training but his team are still suspect with set pieces
Franchise – Heh, I blame what ? it’s there for anyone to see with half an open eye, do we have injuries ? Yes, have we had as much money as United ? No.
You dont care because you can’t refute it, has he made mistakes ? Yes. Are all clubs equal ? No.
gambon – You can suggest it, but you’d have to look at the reasons behind it to understand it.
It’s all opinions though franchise. In my opinion if we didn’t have wenger we wouldn’t have had champions league football every year since his arrival. Football and the premiership especially has moved on massively and become a hell of a lot more competitive, all the other three of the “top four” as clubs have a big advantage over us, and that advantage is ever increased until the emirates money kicks in properly, and the only thing that has kept us in touching distance of them, and ahead of the rest in the prem, is wenger.
Many other managers in world football could have achieved what fergie, benitez, and mourinho/grant/scolari, but noone in world football could have done what wenger has done with us. On top of that if wenger was gone, just like we can’t pay the top money for, and to players, we wouldn’t be able to pay the wages that the top top managers demand.
As a club we have to rely on youth, as it’s the only way we could dream of competing with the top teams, we have to buy young players and develop them ourselves, as we havn’t and won’t for a while be able to buy the finished product, it’s just that losing hleb, and flamini, along with the injuries, have meant that the core of our current team is undeveloped, and not ready yet, but we couldn’t afford ready made top players, so when the ones we have leave or are unavailable unexpectedly we can’t just buy a replacement, we have to wait for younger ones to develop, or buy ready made players who aren’t and will never be at that level
Man Utd were smaller than us financially when they signed Ferdinand, Rooney, RVN, Veron etc
We built a new stadium to compete with UTD, a £170m club, we are a £225m club and we still arent competing.
A, wenger is on £4m pa, we have a wage bill that is only beaten by very few clubs in europe.
Keyser Wenger pointed out that our bad defending last season cost us the league did he do anything to rectify it. I would say no cos we are actually a poorer side defensively. Injuries are part n parcel of the game Keyser that is why u have a squad with ‘fringe’ players u can rely on should injuries creep in. what can Ramsey, Wilshere, Gibbs, Randall offer us on the bench at the mo. Not a lot hence ppl like Eboue are played out of position.
A part of the reasons seperating fergie and Wenger us undoubtedly the money given to them. But its also their mentality. Is Wenger had been at United instead of Fergie it probably would have panned out differently.
The mancs as a club are cunts, their players, their fans and their manager now are all cunts. The tradition between both clubs is totally different.
Wenger has a football mentality whereas Fergie is win first and the football has been 2nd priority.
Also Wenger being an economist doesnt want to waste money on superstars when he could just invest. Fergie always spends what he has.
i thought wenger was paid substancially less than fergie/benitez/mourinho/scolari, even sven at city?
gambon – You’re joking right ? United were smaller than us financially ?!
Yeah i do agree with that stu. Wenger is a philosopher, he is very principled, rational, and is a football purist, whereas fergie is a winner, and that’s it, do what it takes to win, simple but effective at a club like utd
Wenger is comfortably one of the best paid managers in the world. We also have a wage bill that dwarfs liverpool.
That is the problem A. Wenger feels he has done so much for the club hence he cant be questioned.
yeah i apologise, wenger is very well paid, i thought he was well paid, but didn’t realise as well paid as benitez or fergie.
Keyser, we are significantly better off than utd have ever been (apart from the last year or 2).
If UTD could spend 27m on rooney 4 years ago you can be damn sure we can now
I wouldn’t say that franchise, but wenger is very different from most managers. He’s become part of the club, rather than being an employee for the club, and always acts in what he feels to be the club’s best interest, but doesn’t feel like he has to explain himself or try and impress anyone like other managers or a normal employee
Franchise – What’s that got to do with what I said ? Yeah part and parcel of the game, oh that explains everything we can wrap that one up. What is your argument here ? We’ve had an inordinate amount of injuries, if United and Liverpool get the same sort of players out then fine.
how do you work that one gambon?! Having a high turnover isn’t that same as having ridiculous amounts of liquid capital!
Stu – Good points, and that’s it, Fergie has almost never had to worry about money, even less so in the last couple of years.
gambon – I don’t get what you mean ?!
I just don’t get the massive over-reaction in the last couple of years. I remember the feeling pre wenger, in early-mid nineties when we ended mid table and fans were worried about relegation, the fact that it’s now a crisis when we’re 4th is incredible. It’s like some fans can’t remember pre-wenger years, though I guess the younger generation wouldn’t be able to so maybe that’s it?
Rooney – Metatarsal twice
Ferdinand – recurring back injury
Silvestre – Ligaments whole season
Scholes – knee most of last and this season
Neville – hardly played for years cos of ankle/knee injuries
Solksjaer – lets not even go there
Hargreaves – out most of last season, out until the end of this one
thats just a list of some of the injuries UTD have suffered
every team suffers injuries only arsenal seem to blame them
A things have changed. Accepting mediocricity as fans of a big club like Arsenal is unacceptable especially when following the club as fans is very costly and we have a colossal wage bill
Well those injuries didn’t happen at the same time, or to first team players in the same way.
We currently have rosick, cesc, and theo, all first choice, out at the same time for a long time, not to mention eduardo, and kolo.
There’s also the fact that utd can afford to have players who cost between 10 and 20 million on the bench week in week out to come in if there are injuries, and we won’t have that sort of financial power for a good while.
Fergie is a legend end of.
Arsene is one in the eyes of Arsenal fans only.
Keyser, we are stronger financially than UTD were in 05/04/03/02/01/99……thats what i mean.
If wenger isnt being given money thats a different thing, and if theyre doing an enron and fudging the accounts thats another thing. but if everythings above board we’re very strong in that respect.
Franchise – Eh ? See and thats it why bother, United got injuries, what have you listed how long were they out for and who and what did United replace them with and how ?!
If you didn’t care you wouldn’t come up with lists like that, because the comparison isn’t even close, thats’ seriously your reposte ?!
rooney last season started 25 prem matches
scholes 22
fergie 35
rosicky 15
vp 13
eduardo 13 (though granted he wasn’t first choice at the start of the year)
diaby 9
not quite the same….
we do seem to have more injuries, and we could cope worse if we had the same number, and same duration of injuries.
gambon – United for the last 40 years have had the highest attendances in the league, we’ve built a 60,000 seater stadium and moved in a couple of years ago of which we’ve yet to still see the real benefits, United didn’t have to build a new one they rebuilt the old one and it still holds 15,000 more than ours.
United don’t have a small squad, they’ve got a squad worth hundreds of millions, they don’t have one player costing 30 million they have 3 up front alone, thats 30 million pounds pretty much what Wenger’s budget probably is.
Yeah we’re doing well, yes Wenger has money to spend and he’s made mistakes, but comparing it like that ? Thats beyond a joke.
ha i meant ferdinand, not fergie
Rosicky has been injured for almost a year only a stupid manager would rely on him. Theo was mostly ineffective. Cesc being injured is normal most teams suffer this. it is not that bad considering the fact that he has been hardly in the treatment room since 2005. u dont have to spend 10-20 million for any players if we kept the experienced ones or bought the right players in the first place.
why is it that only arsenal players have serious troubles in their personal lives that force them to leave the club?
Sol
Reyes
Hleb
Then we have the loyal servants that have been betrayed
Pires
Cashley
Lehmann
even Vieira
A why didnt u add hargreaves, neville, silvestre to ur list
Franchise – What are you on about now ? If you don’t care, then leave it.
What has all of that got to do with direct comaparisons with Arsenal and United, the injury list doesn’t even come close.
Players have been betrayed ? What a joke.
cashley betrayed,lol
at this stage of the season we could do with good squad players like fletcher, giggs, scholes, neville and o’shea. they cost the club nothing as they all graduated from Mancs academy. They are all key components of Fergie’s squad. Where are the equivalents at Arsenal we have chased them all away. Sidwell, Upson, Bentley etc
because i was trying to do equivalent(ish) players. Their top striker is rooney, ours is vp, their good midfielder is schols, ours is rosicky….
neville would probably have still been first choice, but isn’t that important, silvestre hasn’t been first choice for years at utd, or second choice!
neville didn’t play at all, but with brown they’re basically like for like, neville was maybe a bit better then as put down how retarded he is now to injury, silvestre would’ve only occasionally made the bench!
hargraves started 16 games, 7 subs, more than all our injuries….
Franchise – Why do players stay at United, because they are at a massive club have been their since youth and are payed shedloads of money, Scholes and Giggs have been first teamers almost their whole careers, they are at the tail end of their career and you’re comparing them to Bentley and Sidwell ?!
Scholes and Giggs are United Legends, how does that comparison make sense ?!
and they spent a shyt load in the summer A,buyin midfielders wide men and renting tevez
If i were offered a salary increase based on my performance and my employer reneges on it i would be pissed of as cashley was and i would consider my options if i have them.
What do u expect from the supposed best LB in the world then that wasnt valued at his club. Even Vieira advised he didnt accept anything less than what he deserves
rosicky has indeed been injured for ages, but it isn’t a case of relying on him, it’s a case of him still being on the wage bill, so we can’t spend big and replace him properly whilst he’s still at the club.
sidwell is an attrocious footballer, i’d have song, denilson, or even ramsey starting ahead of him any day, he’s on par with randall, but less talented! Bentley is a complete bellend who shouldn’t be anywhere near the club!
It would have been nice to still have upson, but he wanted to leave for first team football, so fair enough! With our defence back then he wouldn’t have broken through for years, even if he might scrape into the team now
and what is all that bollox about 1 year extensions for over 30 year olds? Lehmann had one year left in him. Pires had at least 2. Gilberto at least one. They were all shipped out b4 they could blink
arsenal were offering cashley exactly what he wanted but they were refusin to pay his agent 5k a week directly out of ashleys money so he would pay less tax, deins angle was he’s your employee you write his cheques,that was one of the reason cole was pissed,an im with arsenal on that one
Keyser i bet u would be surprised to find out that until 2007 season scholes was on 40k a year. our wage bill doesnt suggest we pay peanuts at £107million. 30 mill more than L’Pool who have better players in almost every position.
Franchise – I still don’t get it, Cashley never blamed Wenger, he said he was always a great manager to him, Dein came back to Cashley with the improved offer and what he wanted, but Cole still said f*ck it I ‘m going.
..and that still doesn’t explain why he was meeting Mourinho and Chelsea in some hotel ffs.
Because franchise we needed to free up the money to sign their replacements, and they weren’t physically up to starting every game, as most 30 plusses arent. We don’t have the luxury of being able to keep paying oldies to stay and use their experience etc AND bring in players to replace them.
oh gosh,lehman was finished,dont fool yourself,the man was a sever panick creator
bergkamp that is bollox. Dein probably consulted Arsene who said he wasnt worth 60k that 55k would be more appropriate. We didnt value him and we lost him.
liverpool players arent even good,everyone is is just way below par
liverpool are just taking advantage of everyone elses off year
Lehmann was finished and Almunia was the answer. 2 blunders cost him his first team spot Almunia makes 2 every game now and still plays
i think liverpool are better than they’ve been before, but they still aren’t great. I agree with bergkamp, the only reason they’re top is because everyone else has had big problems
franchise,its in ashleys own book,he was offered slavery wages,and arsenal wouldnt pay his agents fee’s because they said he was ashleys employee an ash should pay him,it is far from bollox,cole was out havin meetings on some james bond shyt
L’Pool have lost once Berg and if u say they arent good then we are worse than shite
liverpool are good,but their crap to watch and i know a decent team would blow them away
Franchise – I knew you wouldn’t have much to come back with and you haven’t surprised me in the slightest, look at where you’re taking the comparison, Liverpool have better players in almost every position ? They’ve taken 4 years and Benitez has fucked around with about 180 million and this is the best challenge he’s put up in the league and they’ve had fuck all injuries, even their best performance of the season has come without Torres.
They’re fucked with debt and they haven’t even started building the new stadium they’ve been planning for the last two decades.
I’m pretty sure thats what was in Cashley’s autobiography about Wenger, Dein was the go between and he came back with the offer too late.
franchise,thats right,were just playin way below par,our best players cant produce against fulham hull and stoke,thats why liverpool are running away with it,certain guys turn up when the world is watching,its an ego thing at arsenal
Clubs dont pay agents weekly that is an arrangement the player can have with the players.
The facts are there
60k a week was agreed with Ashley and his agent and at the Dein said it they could only offer 55k
I wouldnt call it an off year, Liverpool are on corse for 85 points, not too shabby
liverpool could well be choppin half their squad in the summer anyway,rafa will have to use a few kids to pay for his stadium,bet he will walk
franchise,the extra 5k was for ashleys agent,55k is what ash wanted in his pocket,but he wanted 5k a week for his agent and the club said no
gambon,its a shabby year all round
man utd are gonna win the league anyway
stevie G has done a joey barton except joey didnt need 6 mates
utd are dodgy too though bergkamp. Ronaldo is getting worse and worse, his performance tonight was an embarrassment. An injury to rooney could fuck them completely
i dont know the facts berg but dein agrred 60k at some point and reneged on the agreement. we couldnt dare do that with Henry. Why? cos we valued him so much
anyways lads, off to bed
nighty night
no he just refused to pay the 5k to the agent out of the 60,he wasnt denyin the 60 ,just wasnt willing to debit 5k week to an agent that sets up meeting with adidas aka mourinho
A i think liverpool are just on form,united know what they have to do
Cashley is a cunt anyway but i believe he wasnt as valued at the club as he should have been
i bet even Wenger would admit to himself that he has done a lot badly in recent years.
Cashley was too thick to work things our for himself, he was a great footballer but he listened to the money grubbing leeches too much.
Isn’t Cole’s agent the same one as Pennant ?!
at the end of the day ashley was a shyt striker who broke both his legs then wenger made him into a great left back when his career should have been over age 16,ashley didnt exactly value that did he
nah pennant has homo sky andrews,ashley got involved with pini zahavi
Wasnt everyone formerly a striker?
Bottom line is the contract talkes went on too long and Ashleys hear was turned by more money being offered else where. He WAS easily the best left back in the world. imo Clichy is probably a better person but will never reach the heights that Cole reached, for whatever reason.
Hah thats it Sky Andrews, I swear I’ve seen them together on tv or something, they’d make a great pair.
Pennant was another plum.
agreed stu,but he did spout crap about slave wages and insult millions
the thing is ray parlour was very cash rich,had an estimated 7 million banked, he wasnt earning 55k a week so ash cant have had money worrys
you sawhim on that programme,sky andrews is a knob,he thinks he is the man because he is the only black agent,he is a nobody,when big moves go down he will get pushed off the commision by the super agents that are banned
Stu when u think of the contract problems we have had with
Ashley
Edu
Flamini
Pires
even the great Dennis
it doesnt speak well of the club
ashley was moved on by pini zahavi,the same guy that kept settin up vieriras transfers,the ones he kept bottlin last minute,and anelkas deals
Ray Parlour, now there was a professional you could always trust and who truly loved the club. A real Rarity these days.
dennis? there was never problems,only the one more year situation but never a problem,and flamini? he was offered a deal a tyear before he left,the only crime was not dumpin him in the reserves and keepin diarra
hey wenger is going to bid 8 million for given according to the express
Its all Wengers shit over 30 rule.
I remember the crowd cheering “1more year” over and over again, in reference to Bergkamp. Wenger heard the crowd that night, so at east we know he can hear it.
wenger can hear everything,but aint a lot as simple as one more year for bergkamp
8m pounds? Fuck off, thats way too much! They can keep him for that.
the thing about given is,he is a busy keeper,if we became title contenders next season an defended properly would he have the concentration to be able to stand and wait and pull off maybe 1 big save late in the game?? all i ever see is him save plenty and concede just as many
i mean the keeper sunderland bought last season was meant to be shyt hot but they drained him an messed him up
Bergkamp was great and really loved theclub took a pay cut to play out his years here and turns up at reserve games.
Legend and my all time favourite Arsenal player.
Exactly Bergkamp, thats what counts at the top level. Rarely do we get bombarded with shots. Concentration is the key. Given has been facing 10-15 shots a game for 10+ years. Can he make the transition.
this is shay given we are on about not fucking craig gordon
Keysers, your favourite, my favourite and probably the same for a lot of other people. Probably the best too.
its hard to get a good keeper these days,if you fire 15 shots at a keeper you would expect to see plenty of good saves
dennis is probably the most importnat arsenal player of the last 30 years,thats for sure,he was the man who started the change
Given is easily better than Gordon but i still think we can do better.
no but gordon was a good keeper up north,i think it was a reversal,he has good concentration but didnt enjoy being a busy keeper