I’m not sure who is going to provide my ears with more propaganda this week. The Politicians, celebs and elites attending the Copenhagen summit (Meat free Monday), or Arsene Wenger, with his, ‘everybody’s fault bar ours‘ speech.
‘We have nothing to be ashamed of. It all went Chelsea’s way and I was not especially impressed with what happened on the pitch’
Really?
Almunia
Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Traore
Song Fabregas Denilson
Nasri Eduardo Arshavin.
I guess the first thing Geoff and I were wondering was why Denilson and Song both got a start. One can be stomached, two in the same team leaves me wondering how much Wenger truly rates wonderboy Song. A perplexing midfield trio. Don’t give me defensive stability either… Denilson does not offer stability against the power of Chelsea. The only way we were going to beat the scum from out west was to outplay them. For me, you play your best players…
Arsenal dominated the early possession, without ever really having a cutting edge. If playing football in the final third won you trophies, we’d be putting them in storage to accomodate an over crowded trophy room.
Chelsea gave us the first scare when Anelka capitalised on some sloppy play from Nasri. He broke into the box, Sagna got in between him and the ball and pulled him over. The ref decided it wasn’t a penalty, Arsenal fans could breathe again… it was stone wall for most.
It struck me early on that our game plan was slightly flawed. We were hitting the wings and whipping crosses into a forward line with an average height of about 5ft 7. Kind of like me trying out punch Mike Tyson in a bar brawl.
The first warning signs that Chelsea were warming up came when Drogba managed to get a free header in our box. It did make me wonder what the manager talks about before the game? Do they highlight the oppositions strengths, or just gloss over them and hope certain players don’t turn up?
Nasri had the first shot for Arsenal. He jinked inside Ivanovic and fired into the arms of Petr Cech.
Traore managed to get himself booked after a minor tussle on Frank Lampard… surprising after the ref allowed Mikel to get away with a cynical challenge on Eduardo.
Arsenal broke forward with Eduardo controlling the ball, he fed Arsh who cut tha ball back and played it into an empty box.
Then came the moment we were dreading. Terry passed to Cole… Cole crossed to Drogba… Drogba deftly flicked it in off the upright… the trio of filth combined to put Chelsea ahead. Gutting.
Soon after, the most hated player in football, Ashley Cole, whipped a ball into the box, the keeper and Vermaelen failed to communicate which lead to the Belgian slipping it into his own net. Poor defending from a team who continue to ship goals at an alarming rate. This was something I warned about earlier in the year… when the goals dry up, what happens?
The second half started, Song came off for Theo Walcott. Fair play, Song wasn’t exactly having the blinder people were hoping for.
Arsenal started well. Eduardo forced a save from Cech, the ball deflected out, Arshavin took an age to shoot, the ball ended up in Cech’s hands, Eduardo raised his foot above Cech’s shoulder, he dropped the ball, Arsh scored. Goal disallowed. Arsene, when a footballer who is 5ft8 has his ankle higher than a 6ft5 keepers shoulder, the ref is going to blow up.
Vela and Walcott didn’t really impress me. I think Theo is one of the most over hyped players at Arsenal and I really don’t believe he deserved a massive great new contract based on what he’s done for Arsenal. Vela hasn’t had a lot of time to shine, so it would be unfair for me to critique his performance today. Needless to say, we’re struggling to replace Robin effectively.
Chelsea absorbed the pressure and continued to dominate us with their power. Drogba demonstrated his superior strength when Traore literally bounced 6 feet off him after an attempted shoulder barge. Shortly after, Arshavin suffered the same indignity when challenging Ivanovic.
Shortly after, Drogba capped off Arsenal’s shameful afternoon by slotting a shot into the top corner from a dead ball situation. More world class keeping from Almunia, more humiliation for the home fans.
Lets not beat around the bush here, today really was a pitiful result. We were out played, out powered and out scored by 3 goals and we’re supposed to be competing for the league? The shame of it was we all knew it was coming. We all knew deep down we didn’t really have a chance. It’s ground-hog day, it’s December and we’re out of the Premiership again
So what did we learn from today?
- Well, playing the ball out wide and looking for crosses when you’re playing against the best aerial defence in the Premiership is dumb. Playing crosses into the box when you’ve got no one above 6ft is dumber
- Denilson and Song in the same team is unambitious in the extreme. People thought Geoff was joking when he said this would happen, sadly it wasn’t a joke… it was a prophetic statement.
- As for Song dominating the midfield. Well, we didn’t see that did we? I thought his performance was shoddy at best.
- Our goalkeeper needs to be changed. I don’t know how long Wenger is going to let him play badly before he ships him out. We’ve allowed 41 shots to land on target this year, we’ve conceded 18. Un-fucking-believable.
- Money buys you experience, power and winners. When has an Arsenal team ever achieved success without those ingredients?
Very disappointing. If this team is ready and it’s no longer young, well, we’ve got some serious shopping to do in January. There is only so long you can keep on talking about tomorrow.
“In England people think that the Solution is always to buy”
Arsene, that’s what people think all over Europe and guess what? They’re fucking right. We’ve got ourselves a young team of players who don’t know how to win. We need super human players like Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Bobby Pires. We need to start giving the real talent games and stop trying to stop gap with poor players.
Talk about finishing all you like, we didn’t create chances. Blame the referee, we’re not entitled to get every decision. Moan about missing Van Persie, he wasn’t going to keep Chelsea out three times. We’ve got the same fundamental problems we’ve had for the last three years. No power, not enough world-class players and a lack of a winning mentality. We’ve lost to Sunderland, Man City, Man United and Chelsea. That’s not title-winning form. If we continue to ignore the issues we have with the squad and continue to praise how young they are and how amazing the business model is, we’ll always be here, every year, moaning about the same things.
Arsene’s got it dreadfully wrong again, just a little later than he did last year.
The kids are no longer kids, they’re failing adults. Time for a rethink.
Ratings:
Almunia: Give me a keeper who knows how to communicate with his defence, has the guts to come from crosses and can stop shots. If anyone knows of one, please forward his name onto keeper.solutions@arsenal.com. 5
Sagna: Some typically woeful crossing from the Frenchman and a terribly clumsy challenge in the first half. Harsh on the crossing. I guess asking a full back to hit one of our ‘target men’ is a pretty impossible task even for the most gifted of wide men. 5
Gallas: Terrible mix up for the two goals. He’s there to stop dangerous balls and he failed. I wasn’t overly impressed with his Drogba hug at the end of the game either. 5.5
Vermaelen: Not his best game. He should have been more composed when clearing the Cashley cross and he could have given a penalty away in the second half after rugby tackling John Terry. 5
Traore: Not a bad game considering how many people consider him to be the weakest left back to ever wear an Arsenal shirt. 6
Song: I thought he had a very poor first half. He gave the ball away cheaply, struggled to keep up with players who are 7 -8 years older than him and hardly dominated in the way so many people promised he would. Not just that, he suffered the shame of being hooked off for the equally average Denilson. 6
Denilson: Why oh why would you put him in the same team as Song? Surely one defensive midfielder is enough? Passed better than Song, but offered nothing of note to the game. Irritating how often he smiles when he plays badly. A very odd decision from the coach. 5
Cesc: Never really got into the game. Against more powerful opposition, he needs to be protected. He wasn’t, so he couldn’t perform. 5.5
Nasri: Looked lively in the first half, but failed to really impose himself past the first 20 minutes. Very disappointing. Am I the only person who feels like all our players are indentikit versions of each other? I feel like I’m playing top trumps and I’ve got 5 Alfa Romeo’s (There’s a metaphor in there somewhere)… Rosicky, Nasri, Cesc, Arshavin, Vela… they’ve all got the same qualities, all got the same weaknesses. 6.5
Arshavin: Sorry? He played? I can hardly remember seeing him! Struggling to motivate himself playing in our team? Well, if that’s the case… he’ll miss out on that move to Barca this summer. They’ll only want players who perform. Time to think about the team who pay you £80k a week, time to stop being such a girl and get over your World Cup failure, time to start delivering on that reputation you have. 3
Eduardo: What happened to our confident, cool, calm striker? Where did he go? He was off the pace today and very quiet. Like he normally is, bar the goals. 3.5
Subs:
Walcott: I’m sorry, as an outed xenophobe, I feel ashamed to admit it, but I just can’t get excited by the pride of English football. He gets the ball, either touches it behind him, 15 feet in front of him, or palms it off as a pass. Very average and totally undeserving of a 60k a week contract. 5
Vela: Eduardo off, Eduardo 4 years younger on. He even has the problem of not getting penalties because he looks like the Crozillian. 5
Rosicky: Kind of got things going, should have started really. Must have been pretty shocked that he is finally fit and the coach preferred to stick Denilson in there. A bit like finding out your boss has asked his 13 year old son to head up a multi-million pound project at work instead of putting you forward. 5
So a day on and I’m still getting ‘Happy Days’ text messages from Chelsea fans. Geoff and I were planning a podcast for this morning… kicking off that chapter of Le Grove off with a miserable episode didn’t seem right.
Still, we must dust ourselves down and hope that Manchester City’s dismal run of draws comes to an end when we beat them this week. I have a spare for that game, 2 for Stoke and a few others if you’re interested.
Have a great day Grovers! See you in the comments.
Le Grove is now smart phone compatible!
Pedro
Geoff
Balls.
balls!
Men against boys.
All foreplay, no penetration!
We lost to the best team in Europe
Spot on with the ratings Pedro.
What a load of cock!
We turn up for a game against a team reknowned for bullying other teams off the park with a team with a lightwieght team amd one player over 6ft (Traore). WTF did we think was going to happen?!!!
We were bullied for 90 minutes, and some players (AA 23 mostly) didnt even look interested.
Traore was MOTM for me, at least he got stuck in, and refused to get bullied.
Chelsea were solid, but we ran out of ideas when we got into the final third, we need to freshen things up!
Typed, changed, typed changed again. Too down to say anything meaningful.
top ten
Not again. Why does eduardo wait soo long before he pulls the trigger???
When are people going to realise that wenger is never going to change sio its time for him to go now!! He has failed to address the issue for the last 4 years now.
We will beat stoke 4 nil next Saturday and wenger will praise the team and say we can still win it
arshavin needs to sort himself out. If he doesn’t want to play football then he can f*ck off!!
12 Men against 11 boys
Wenger, Wenger, Wenger…….We’ve played the same system with the same players for 99% of the season so far. Why then, did you decide to suddenly change things up yesterday and deploy to supposed DM’s?? Stick to what has been working and go for the kill. You obviously had zero faith that would work.
I have to say I think Walcott is getting some unnecessary flack. He got given 45 minutes which is only about a 3rd of what he’s played all season. I thought he looked like the only one who wanted to go forwards. And Wenger is slowly but surely ruing this kid. He is doing the opposite to that he did with Thierry. He taught Thierry to be selfish and attacking and turned a winger into a striker. With Theo he is turning a striker into a winger! We all say the opportunity where he could have off loaded a shot but he stopped and looked for the next pass! Why? Because Wenger has played as a winger for so long that Theo now thinks his job is to find the next pass to someone in front of him. Why has Wenger done this? because he doesn’t want to spend money and buy a fucking right sided winger!!!! Something that we have missed since Freddie and Bobby left us.
Damn right with the ratings and dear god can we get rid of Almunia. I remember Dave Seaman – top draw keeper. I think he would be better now even at his age.
I am sorry I am going to say it – Arshavin needs to track back more. The first goal was his fault. If you stop the cross they do not get a chance to score. I don’t care what else he does because in my book he is not Bergkamp, Pires or Ljungberg – They were not only class but worked hard. I love the little russian but he is not Cesc is my book.
Give me Ray Parlour, Paddy V and Keown any day of the week. If we had those three we would kick chelsea off the pitch.
Get in Shawcross, Lloris and Flamini.
morning
great post Pedro, thanks…
I am gutted, absolutely gutted – I wanted to be proven wrong by this lot, but I just have to say (without any glee) ‘I told you so’…
I thought Song was doing well and would have kept him on at least Cesc could get forward but with Denilson there, Cesc had to try and do the work of two men.
One thing I kept thinking yesterday and it worried me was imagine if Sagna was Eboue yesterday, he would have being booed again, Sagna was terrible,Gallas was woeful, they looked like men who were out on the beer and no ways motivated whatso ever, Chelsea were there for the taking, they were no great shakes, they didnt leave 3rd gear.
If they beat us playing well fine but no they should pondered about winning 50-50 balls and won 3-0, comfortable day out for them.
Completely agree with the post, I went to the game and frankly it was embarassing to watch.
Walcott Eduardo and arshavin all seem to have completely lost their way. It’s very worrying. Theo suddenly looks like a really shit version of Lennon, whereas last season it was vice versa.
I dont agree Nas was 6.5 when he didnt track Cole for the 2 crosses. Edu was the worst player on the park, no confidence what so ever. We should have shots from outside the box instead of crossing the ball to 5ft 10 players.
Wow – I really fucking ruined my last post! I meant Wenger has played ‘Theo’ as a winger for so long!
I can’t type with this much anger inside me!
Get rid of Wenger did someone say?! Get a grip!!!
I also think Song did ok and was shocked to see him taken off instead of Dennilson who I had even forgotten was playing at all. I still can’t understand how we lost by 3 goals and it’s something Wenger needs to address. It’s just shocking and he needs to buy a top-class striker in January now that RVP is out for the season.
Denilson was definitely guilty for not snapping into a challenge on Terry when he could have done quite easily. Terry than knocked it to Cole and we all know what happened next!!
TAIG, Walcott gets a lot of stick, as Wenger disapproved him going to this U21 nonsense but was told to go fuck himself…
this is solely TW’s fault for being unfit and running around like a headless chicken, losing each and every one on one…
Lets face it, it’s no longer about beating the big teams, it’s about developing a team until they’re good enough to beat the big teams.
Surely Wenger should have also said Nasri ” you dont let Cole get forward, Arsh you defensively weak so stay with Ivanovic as he wont bother going forward” but what happens Arshavin is on the right and allows Cole forward
Morning Pedders, you’ve touched on something I’ve thought for quite a while – we have too many midfielders of the same type. So often we change the personnel with substitutions but we don’t change the options we have on the pitch. Wenger has failed to get the balance, something he talks about interminably, of the team correct. He has far too much yin and no yan and we’ll always look one-dimensional because of that.
Like most of you I can’t even be bothered to wheel out the outrage based on us being “outmuscled, outplayed and outfought” because we’ve seen this every time we play a top 3 side since Paddy/Flamini left.
Our only hope is that this latest setback will cause a rethink and the fact he openly criticised his players for the first time post-Sunderland suggests he may break with tradition and buy ready-made quality in the areas where everyone, but himself, can see we need it.
Whether he does that or not will define the path we take for the next 2-3 years, if he makes the wrong decision a further 3-4 years of merely aiming for 4th spot awaits and a steady haemorrhaging of our squad by loss of the remaining quality players we still have.
Excellent post Pedro
Rocky, or maybe Wenger could have put Theo on him? Nasri is hardly noted for his pace is he?
teerex – “I still can’t understand how we lost by 3 goals and it’s something Wenger needs to address. It’s just shocking and he needs to buy a top-class striker in January now that RVP is out for the season.”
But Wenger wont address it. He has already dismissed everything that happened yesterday. And he wont buy in January will he. Well, not any proven players anyway.
SUGA – You would say no to playing for your country would you? Come on fella. Can you honestly say that you think Wenger has been doping the right thing by using him as a make shift winger for 3 years??
You’re right tonyadamsisgod, he won’t buy, so we have to rely on the players already in the team to deliver, because there isn’t any other option.
Exactly Pedro but at least NAs is more defensive minded either way should have tried to pin him back
taig,
You can dissect and vivisect and blame the players of choice. As a team we were pathetic yesterday. No sense of direction or anticipation at all. Simply completing motion, no urgency. With benefit of hindsight it is amazing we lost only 3-0
Hate that i was right but when we were scoring 6 past blackburn & everton I said this team was fundamentally weak and we would struggle, and the AKBs like A just buried their head in the sand.
Depressing post Pedro but entirely true, we keep on getting humiliated by teams like Utd & Chelsea and its getting ridiculous.
Will wenger change things? no chance. I honestly think he’d rather finish 5th with this team than make the tough decisions that are needed.
Its time to get the removalists in @ The Emirates. There are some players who have to be shipped out & replaced, & this has to happen until the right mix turns a fixture like that last one around.
And as for Copenhagen. When the wall came down 20 years ago, all the commos had no where to run, so they joined the green parties. Now they use “climate change” as an excuse to bring down capitalism.
Hey all,
Spot on Pedro with the post..I haven’t been on here a while, i was always coming on just to whinge, so i thought i’d fuck up a little and let the team play. Well, here we are and as u said Pedro, same ol’ Arsenal at the same time of the year failing in the premier league once again…… I tell ya, how long can we keep using the “Keep the Faith” comment??? Its getting old & i’ve had faith for the past 4 years with nothing to be delivered for it..Fuck your faith! and fix the problem cause it ain’t going away!!
I think your abit harsh in sagna and song. Sagna never stopped working and song was making good tackles, and even man-handled drogba. The problem was that gallas left the first cross go for drogba, and it still had to hit the post 17.5 times before it went in. It was bad luck for the second, but nobody was marking cole, who put the first cross in. He was always gonna try it again but nobody paid him any attention. The last was just bad keeper positioning. If eduardo pulls he trigger earlier, we might’ve had a chance. Now for the northern monkeys.
No motivation whatso ever, we lost to Sunderland with lack of motivation but we all thought was due to Internationals etc but against your derby rivals and supposed title rivals you roll over and say ass fu9k me without any kube.. Sorry for the language Pedro but its just one of those days.
TAIG – But Wenger wont address it. He has already dismissed everything that happened yesterday. And he wont buy in January will he. Well, not any proven players anyway.
I think he will this time and he’s not one to come out and say that his team were outfought especially after saying that the team has come of age. I’m hoping that he does buy Chamakh in January as since Ade left we have had no aerial threat and that was obviously missing yesterday.
Arsene Wenger, with his, ‘everybody’s fault bar ours‘ speech.
‘We have nothing to be ashamed of. It all went Chelsea’s way and I was not especially impressed with what happened on the pitch’
——————————————————————————-
Actually Pedro, AW is press conference said “even though Ref got turning point decision wrong, it doesnt mean we dont have to look at ourselves in how we condeded goals”.
bnsb – I couldn’t agree more mate. My comment wasn’t really about yesterday’s performance as we were shocking all over the park. But why Theo is getting this much stick ahead of other is weird and I just think Wenger is holding back a talent for the sake of saving the pennies.
FUCKING embaressing. That’s the same team as last season, nothing has changed. Oh how fucking stupid does he look now not replacing ade nothing up front at all yesterday – i couldn’t wait to ship the cunt out but you get £25million for a player – you spend it on another 1 – even 2!
What really sticks in my throat isn’t that we lost, at the end of the day Chelsea are a great side, it’s the fact that after the game wenger tries to tell us that we were unlucky!!! UNLUCKY ARSENE!? what fucking planet are you on!!!!!!! Have we been UNLUCKY for the last 15 matches then!!!!!!!!
He’s already coming out saying he doesn’t want to buy. I have had enough. It’s been coming all season. He has to sell some of these players – like pedro says they are all the same. 5ft 7inch players with no heart or bottle.
I personally could not believe that in the build up to the game you have our players coming out and saying “If we lose it’s not the end of our season” WTF??!??!??!?!?!
WE are playing Chelsea at HOME – we think we are the best side in england and we are going into the game making excuses for if we lose before we have kicked a ball??????
Champions. Not a fucking chance in hell.
Pedro did you watch the Barca game?
Danny Alves kinda full back is what we need. On his day which is quite often, he is virtually unplayable
Great Assist for Ibra and there was a ball he fed to Messi in a 2 v 4 situation in the closing stages of the second half. Messi missed the chance though but the pass was world class
For a man that raves about technique, Wenger has signed some ‘dodgy’ players. Sagna is 100% athlethe no finesse no composure whatsoever. He was like our RW yesterday but no end product as usual
defenders hate defending facing their goal. send in danger balls that force them to. we fucking conceded two goals in such situations.
PUT THE CROSS BTW THE DEFENCE AND GK
who the fuck was sagna hoping to find with those hanging aerial balls???
Arsene is still living in the past. Im 100% convinced that we need a Defensive coach for a start. His backroom staff sucks. His methods are too one dimensional
his policies are frustrating. I want to believe in my manager. Wenger can still be that man. But his stubborness is a fucking hindrance
teerex – I can only pray you are right my friend!
Fine post Pedro.
I thought Traore played well.
During the Barca game, the Danish commentators kept talking about how Barca & Real would get a tonking from the Chavs, and how having beaten a brilliant AFC they had shown themselves the best team in World football.
Well, I didn’t see a ‘brilliant’ Arsenal. I saw a team that looked like losers.
TAIG – it is just plain stupid that someone is asked to play in both seniors and U21s: was Rooney ever asked to do this playing for Manure? was he fuck…
was Lennon asked?
and because of not having any proper rest and preseason, TW is now below Lennon in the WC pecking order, judging on current form…
Gnarley, you can never get rid of capitalism, it’s just the type of capitalism. Controlled capitalism or free market capitalism, and most “free” democratic countries have controlled capitalist policies.
Wenger isn’t a commie, but he’s a stubborn idealist who truly believes he’ll create a world class team with who we’ve got.
Oh and one other thing;
When the fuck is Wenger gonna come out and criticise his players, they are so wrapped up in cotton wool its unreal.
Wenegr probably has them at the training ground now telling them they are awesome, and they were robbed by bad decisions and luck.
Listening to his after game speeches makes me think he is either too proud to admit he was wrong, or mentally ill, and sadly im starting to think its the latter.
I for one would love to hear him say something like “there is money to spend and from now on everyones playing for their place in the squad”
But no, he’s just dishing out long term contracts to anyone that knocks on his door.
Sagna and Clichy are good full backs – but what the hell is the point of having 2 fullbacks that run the length of the pitch and put balls in that NOBODY IS EVER on the end of????!??!!
It makes them look useless when they are actually good players.
It was always obvious that any team capable of keeping a clean sheet would beat us this season. We’ve conceeded more goals this season than we had at the same point last year, but yet we kept deluding ourselves that we were better defensively. WRONG!
taig
The table doesnt lie. Two matches lost in a row and now we are scrapping for fourth place with Spurs, City and Pool. Villa and Everton are in worse form than us.
we were so one dimensional it was embarassing – watching the game, I just knew what is going to happen next…
whenever we did something unpredictable, it was just a shit crab football backpass, ffs…
Arshavin I think is a great player no doubt but wasnt at the races and man above he is not entitled to do the Thierry shrug the shoulders and should apply himself more.
Sagna I also really rate and find his display hard to take as he was in superb form of late amazing aginst Ireland but was totally asleep yeaterday.
Denilson offered nothing in my mind and loks so very out of his depths.
Traore done well.
Gallas is off in the summer no doubt, spineless display.
Walcott you cannot critise as would have thought a run down the middle would have suited him better.
The battle for 3rd is open, 2nd if Manyoo lose a few.
Wenger always says – they scored from their first shot, it’s unbelievable…. OR…. they had 2 shots all game and they scored two, it’s unbelievable.
Errr no Arsene, it is believable, because unlike the Top 6(!!!!) we have a keeper who is Championship level.
Cech, Van der Sar, Given, Reina, Friedel and even Gomes ffs are streets ahead of our pathetic excuse for a keeper.
And that isn’t even including Jaaskelainen, Kirkland, Robinson, Green, Howard, Gordon, Jensen, Sorensen and James. I would take any of those over Almunia. The man’s a joke.
Suga – I agree, its not right at all that he was asked to do both. Capello and Pearce should be deciding for him. All I meant was that if I got asked to play in both, I probably would.
Gambon – Too true about the cotton wool mate. And its got to the point where even if he did want to criticise them he can’t because they would have an emotional break down considering they have never been told anything bad about their football by Wenger EVER before!
finestcuts,
we have to consistently win and THEN hope Manyoo loose.
Why did Wenger chose Denilson and Song? Well, for all those who went to the Standard Liege game they would have seen a very effective dry run, when Song went forward Denilson covered and visa versa, this system also enabled Song to close down higher up the pitch while also having the advantage of completely freeing Fabregas to do what he does best without worrying about the need to defend.
We played Chelsea off the park for the first half hour but after our mad five minutes, of which, neither Song or Denilson were directly to blame, Wenger obviously needed to try something different.
Good post, by the way.
Gambon – he did criticise the players after Sunderland – albeit tamely. What I’d like him to do is say ,a someone said earlier, that the players need to justify their starting positions and play for their places.
I’d also like him to say he will address the weaknesses in the squad in January but apparently he’s already vetoed that idea.
Is Sagna that good really? Really?
Worst Arsenal performance ever??? Probably…
I think so. No fight, no determination, completely smashed.
Where too from here though? What Chelski have done is show the world how to beat us.
And how? Line up a good defense, bully us off the ball (at home no less) and take your chances.
We’re just not good enough. It’s painful to watch, no Arsenal team should be getting done 3 nothing at home -especially against the Chavs! ! !
I’m dreading the midweek mauling on offer at Man City… and really not looking forward to our Cup game against the Irons.
What the fuck has happened to the Arsenal??? I’m too depressed to write on anymore today : (
Gutted, but i think wenger should learn from this i agree with the post! hope we get a few wins now to get the young pups back.
I don’t think the problem was Song and Denilson. I think we lacked penetration going forward. AA23, Cesc, Dudu and Nasri failed to penetrate the defence so in the end we lost.
I also think that for once Miles is right, our midweek excursions against Liege sapped energy from our players. We failed to up the tempo when we should, so much that when we broke away on a 2 vs 3, by the time we reached their goal it was 8 vs 3 in their favour and no short at goal
I think there should be a probe in May for virtually throwing another chance of winning the league
unless the unthinkable and improbable happens
MIDGETS ‘R’ US
and to add theo is shit
London, the dry run was effective in that we won the game, but it also dried up our attacking threat and didn’t really give us that much more solidity at the back.
and it’s not even their fault – Arshavin, Cesc and others said it a few times that additions are needed: without presence we will look like mugs against physical sides with quality…
brick shit houses, my arse – Senderos would do better in DM than Denilson, given that he is about 4 inches taller and has more adventurpus pass on him…
but hell, he said a stupid thing or two, Wenger took offense and froze him out…
this sort of result ystdy which was to be expected puts games like westham, sunderland and Mancs into perspective
2, 3 and 3 points dropped respectively
AW wasn’t impressed with Chelsea. How could he be? They only managed to score 3 goals against us at our home. They were awful and we were unlucky eh AW!
Talking of cotton wool.,Chelsea are past masters in softening opposition, are they. Within 10 minutes Drogba laid into Vermy and got booked. Cesc was clearly targeted by Obi Van Kenobi(or whatever that guys name is) and when that happened referee was at his pontificating best.
Question: who gave away cheap ball leading to third goal?
I’d like Wenger to make a fucking apology to the fans for once!! 60 fucking thousand people made that hellish trip through stormy weather and terrible for transport problems. They sat there singing for the Arsenal in the pissing rain for 90 minutes and got given nothing in return!! Mick McCarthy apologised to his fans when they only just lost 1-0 for fuck sake! We get trounced 3-0 and Wenger doesn’t say a word!! Why? because he thinks he is oh so better than any of us. He thinks that Arsenal is his club. And he knows that the fucking board full of saps will still congratulate him on a successful season of making money for them!!
I echo a lot of people no here when they say the ”performance” yesterday has ruined their week.
I apportion some of the blame on Wenger, namely the long term decisions he’s made which have brought the squad to where it is now, however a good deal of the blame also lies on the players who let him, the fans and themselves down.
Wenger has to stop only looking at the bits of the game that interest him – i.e. creative midfield passing, and look at the ugly stuff – defending and having a decent goalie.
Pedro you are far too kind. Almunia for me gets a -5.I have 0 faith in the guy. Just before that freekick I told my mate that was definitely headed in. the midfield 5 apc is ok. As for the foward trio they shouldnt have been rated at all.they were that hopeless. I thought Traore did fairly ok on his wing but Sagna was insufferable! Come to think of it the whole game was insufferable. One day i would gladly wipe from my memory.I am so fu*king stressed and all my Scousers,Chavs and Mancs fans arent making it any better by rubbing it in.Fuck!!that game was more than depressing!!
Arsenal Slogan should be
‘You never smell an opposition goal coming’
We are masters of signing defenders and turning them to dodgy
Fabregas
Chelsea didn’t dominate us but the match did perfectly highlight the deficiencies in the squad / team. The Chelsea goals came from breakaways and a free kick I would have saved, 100% Almunias fault, yes Drogba hit it hard but it hit the net chest height on the side the keeper should be standing for a free kick from that angle, pathetic keeping we will win nothing with that clown in goal.
But drogba, utter cunt that he is, was magnificent and the real difference between the sides. We had shit up front they had one of the best strikers in the world playing very well. They had fuck all chances and scored 3, we had the ball all game and barely mustered a shot on goal because we have no strikers in form or with any confidence.
Is it a blip, will our front line come good again without RVP or a new striker? I honestly don’t know but eduardo looked very far from a Premiership CF yesterday, no pace, no strength, no confidence to shoot when he had the chances, no movement off the ball so the midfield had nobody to pass to hence the return of crab football. Vela was no better when he came on and Arshavin was rubbish down the centre I just can’t see why people think he is good there.
So the hope for the season now rests on the shoulders of Nik. Suddenly everything doesn’t look so rosy.
they say going into half time and conceding is demoralising to a team. We conceded two. Jeez
Taig – yours 9.43. I got effin soaked yesterday. Twice. Ashamed to say I left before the 3rd goal. I stayed for the humiliation last season Man U and the blue scum. I wasn’t going to hang around in endless queue’s just to get another soaking. Wenger’s fucked.
London
No marks!
chary – “Wenger has to stop only looking at the bits of the game that interest him – i.e. creative midfield passing, and look at the ugly stuff – defending and having a decent goalie.”
A-fucking-men to that!! Do you think Wenger even goes through defensive drills in his training sessions?? His philosophy of attack, attack, attack just doesn’t cut it anymore. Defensive competence is what wins football matches. If we were good at defending we’d all be sitting here saying that a draw isn’t a bad result.
JoeBaker – I truly feel for you man!
I remember a few months back have a discussion on here regarding the inefficiency of our full backs. I said something about it costing us in the big games, and it has done once again.
Our full backs are the luckiest in the country, they are given the freedom to play like wingers and spend most of their time in the oppositions half.
Lucky because they aren’t very efficient, they can 90% of the time not find a man with their crosses. I have seen Clichey, Sagna, Eboue,and co. for years now and can count the number of good crosses they have made on my two hands.
I would really love to see the stats on our crossing because it is an absolute joke! It is so obvious that they do not practice this at all, and that shows incompetence at management and coaching level.
bnsb
Who was it then?
If you cant sneak through a tough defensive wall then the next option is to smash it down with force. Who do we honestly have that can do that!
A&N – Unfortunately that is all too true!!
London – you are right, dont know what i meant, sigh
TAiG – what happens when someone has too much control of a clubs direction is that no one dares to question his strategy. Other people in the coaching set up can see what Wengers doesn’t – or chooses not to – but are too scared to say so, Why did we get rid of monkey man from pour defensive coaching team ? did he say something out of turn, like Big Phil, and get frozen out also ? Again we see Wengers girly strop because someone has upset him, he fails to put the good of the club above that of his affronted pride.
Sagna, Vermaelen, Arshavin, Rosicky, Nasri, Gallas, Eduardo. All established first teamers prior to coming to THOF.
That is well over half the team. It is not true that AW doesn’t spend.
& to me the Sunderland loss is a bitterer a pill to swallow than losing to a fine Chelsea team
taig
You are free to laugh – Denilson, Vermaelen
All their 11 players that started are just better than ours, not one of our players would get in their team. If we rate head to head maybe Gallas or Verma could come in for Carv, and Cesc for Lampard. But that is it. Their keeper is better, Ivanovic is better than Sagna, Terry is a world class CB, and Cole is miles ahead of Clichy no matter how much I hate him and Traore doesn’t even come close. Mikle and Essien and Song and Denilson, no need stating the obivious there. Cole is better than Arshavin, Anelka is better than Nasri, and Drogba is waaaay fucking better than Eddie.
Also they are more of a team than we are and played together for longer, they are settled in together. So what the fuck did we expect?
Yesterday I was watching and Arsenal – Spurs replay at the Grove, except we played in Blue and Spurs played in Red and White.
Oh and morning by the by, a bit pissed off and forgot my manners…
During the summer, myself and one or two other suggested we should have bought Richard Dunne from Man City. Many scoffed at the idea.
After yesterday, I am convinced we missed a huge opportunity to sign a quality ‘physical’ centre half. We keep getting destroyed by Chelsea cause Drogba in particular can do what he wants, as he is unopposed physically.
Anyway, Dunne ended up at Aston Villa, and who bet Chelsea earlier this year – yes AV.
Gallas and Vermalean are good footballers but fall well short of what is required in centre halfs to win the EPL.
I was in seated just beside RedAction. No mercy from the weather. Funny enough at 2-0 we were all still believing.
2nd half was frustrating to watch seated behind the chelsea goal, especially cos we pegged them back for about 20mins without any shots on target
I ask this question
a) were we toothless in attack as a result of our players
or
b) because of chelsea’s defensive strngth
or
c) both
if the answer b or c then why couldnt we put together a similar defensive performance being the home team and at the worse coming out less diappointed with a draw????
cos wenger dont do defence. Defensive coach needed asap emails to caseforthedefence@arsenal.com
The argument about overlapping FB’s is so old hat. This is the modern way.
Who set up both Chelsea’s goals. Who set up Barca’s goal?
That Sagna struggled was down to the Traitor having a fine game. And Fat Lamps double teaming him
Tony Cascarino believes Arsenal will struggle to win trophies because their goalkeeper and two centrebacks are not commanding enough. Despite all the praise he has received this season, Cascarino believes Thomas Vermaelen is not the commanding defender Arsene Wenger’s side desperately needs, and their humbling Premier League defeat against Chelsea yesterday, illustrated Arsenal’s deficiencies.
Cascarino writes in the Times: “Arsenal spend time perfecting their passing and movement, but it’s a shame they don’t do more defensive work.”
“They can’t deal with crosses — the ugly side of the game doesn’t come naturally.”
He concluded: “Thomas Vermaelen is not the dominating centre back Arsenal need, especially when the goalkeeper is not commanding.”
—-
Today even he sounds like a saint to me
TAIG,
I sat and watched the game with a a chelsea mate of mine, and I told him that wenger is ruining Theo.
He IS NOT a winger. We have no real pace up front. My mate couldnt understand why he doesnt play him up front. I reckon Theo will end up drifting off to another team at this rate.
Denilson insetad of Ramsey..? does he really think that is a good choice..? Instead of Rosicky..? The one good thing he did, is actually make a sub before the 70th minute.. In fact he did all 3 before that.. He NEVER does that.. It shows what he must have really thought about it.
the thing is, cheslea didnt actually play that well.. But they didnt have to did they.. Despite the fact that they had about 4 shots, they scored 3 goals.. And we had to watch Given go to man City, when no one was really that interested in him.. Joke.
Did you see the stewards at the end of the game walking around the stadium..? Apparently someone had sent them out to look for the Arsenal players…
Having slagged off our full backs I must say that my biggest concern was over Traore but he played quite well.
In fact 2 of the goals were scored from Sagna’s side where he allowed cuntley to cross.
This begs the question, if our full backs cant attack properly, and are only OK at defending what is the point having them in our team?
We might as well play CB’s like Senderos and Silvestre who will stay back and defend properly!
Spot commentary. The players deserved that savage attack you dished out, besides it is what they served us yesterday. Too many effing pansies around. To god I would take Mad Yens in a heartbeat ahead of Almunia, at least he has fire in his belly unlike our weak goalkeeper.
Supergunner, check the video clips of the press conference. I sense you are still upset that I dug you out over your tactics comments yesterday…
London, the dry run… against Standard! I think anything would have worked against them!
I’ve had texts from Spuds, Bindippers and Chav’s this morning… it’s been grim… very grim.
Franchise. Had we gone in a half-time 2 up, we too could have played with 10 players permanently in our own half.
The Chavs compressed the play and we just couldn’t get behind them.
You cannot deny we looked fine until they scored.
Arsh should of been up front, as he is willing to track back but by far the best finisher (eddy warms the bench) theo on cashley (keeping him back) ramsey (who will shoot from 20yards and has more steel about him) for denilson…. Still might of lost but would of had more effort on goal.
Fran, I did watch Barca yesterday… they’re a dream of a team aren’t they? Ibrahimovic is everything I’d like Bendtner to be. We could have had him a few years back if we’d just bought him instead of asking him to trial.
Barca really do know how to defend as a unit… and their attacking play is unbelievable. How good was Puyol yesterday?
that sunderland defeat really put the pressure on this game. had we beaten sunderland I reckon we could have afforded this defeat and still have some chance of the title. Not now.
I actually thought the tactical mistakes were far greater against sunderland than against chelsea.
chelsea are just much better than us and would beat virtually any Arsenal team on any day. sad fact but they will be champions.
Did someone say Sagna is a good defender? You must be having a laugh. He left in two crosses from Cashely that led to goals. He just stood there and didn’t try to force Cashley unto his weaker right foot. Going forward he’s even more woeful and his crosses are neither dangerous nor accurate! Athlete he may be but footballer he is not! He came with a good reputation but i would rather have Eboue in that position now and that’s saying something. Remeber Lauren? That’s what a defender is supposed to be like!
As for Aluminium or whatever he’s called, someone please tell him that there is no point in standing on the side of the goal that you have already asked your defensive wall to cover. He should have been standing on the uncovered side so he could see which direction the ball would go but the plonker was standing behind the wall and make a comical dive when the ball was already nestling in the net! Genius he is not!
Good post.
Totally agree with the Walcott part. i think hes as frustrating as watching Diaby.
Everyone bangs on about Vela like his on Par with Arshavin. lets face it i could lob kirkland and bang in goals againt Sheffield UTD for fun.
But i certainly couldnt be a match winning super sub for arsenal . Nor can he.
Denilson was marking JOHN TERRY for a chelsea corner.
Enough said.
embarassing.
tara.
Arshavin has such a big mouth for a little geezer.
he hasnt been at arsenal for a year yet he has already said things along these lines -:
– Barcelona are the best team in the world.
– liverpool fans r better than ours
- i dont fancy playing football anymore
– wenger should buy this & that.
does my brain in sometimes.
Raddy we always or mostly look fine but we find it hard to hurt teams of good quality. Liverpool were the last convincing victory we had over a top 4 side. 3-0 at home 2 seasons ago. We always struggle in these games.
that is what the crab is all about. we looked good at OT earlier this season but the final ball was missing. Arshavin brilliance took us into half time with a 1-0 advantage
Hurley, Richard Dunne could have done a job. Sometimes as Arsenal fans we get to caught up with technical players.
Sometimes you just need players who know their position…
Sol Campbell was hardly an amazing passer etc… but he was a great defender…
Nik Anelka would have offered us something completly different to what we currently have up top, yet we ignored his availability.
Arsene didnt find Ibrahimovic fit to play for Arsenal and we have wankers like Diaby and Shitvestre playing for us.We dont have a proper winger, and a proper goal keeper.What a fucking disgrace.
Pedro do u see the way barca players press when they loose the ball. Those guys are twice as fit as our lpayers. We have players with low centre of gravity who should be able to play at such a tempo when defending but wenger doesnt ask this enough from his players if nnot they would do it.
Arshavin was below par yesterday but boy did he work hard, he was chasing and harassing Chelsea players all game. Out of this team only Verm, Gallas, Cesc, & Arshavin have spirit and drive, the rest look like they cant be arsed when the going gets tough.
gazzap I agree. I think I got more pissed off about the Sunderland game yesterday. Especially since they then go and lose to Wigan. We have won one of our five matches against top ten teams and lost four. Not good enough.
Stevie -
“Denilson was marking JOHN TERRY for a chelsea corner.
Enough said.”
Unbelievable, hey! Such basics.
Just watched Wenkers post match interview on BBC Sport. That myopic cunt really is priceless.
I know I sound like a drama queen but I’m devastated. Our goalie is absolute fucking shite he should nevre be wearing an Arsenal shirt. Gallas let both if coles’ passes get past him. Wenger is deluded. If we’d got the goal allowed we still would have lost. Can anyone tell me the last time we scored directly from a free kick? I don’t remember one last season. Wenger’s time is up.
And I agree about Gallas hugging the chavs. He can fuck off with Arshavin
i dont think gallas and vern had to bad of a game,but huge problem is there mentality is the can out score oponents they dont keep clean sheets so that puts alot presure on attacking players to much in my view a a good defence always beets a good attack and chelsea have an expectional defence and a very good attack. chelsea did not dominate the midfield at all but what they did kept it extremly tight and because all of our attack on the deck and we no target that header ball and real point man.a large part of problem is that we cant keep a clean sheet you know if chelsea or manu score early that keep the lead but this team cant the go on lapses in contrentration.the team is that bad sagna is one best right backs in the world vern and gallas are very good as a team they defend well enough they quite good but nowere as good chelsea.on reflection the team is that bad inn fact pretty good but when going up against a team who has such a tight defence goals wont come easy so its very important as a team you fight a clean sheet,also i would have expected alot better aa edwardo and nasri.what is clear wenger needs to get top class keeper and another striker but a target man,this team can defend very well but its clear its more important to out score than to defend well thats the real problem and almunia does not real instill alot confidence
The only proper goal we have conceded was the drogba free-kick.
The other 2 goals and the Sunderland goals were down to rubbish defending and easily avoidable.
Drogba’s free kick wasn’t that good. coco was nowhere near it.
The thing that disappoints me so much is that before the game everyone was talking about the importance of the midfield battle and how this was key to the game.
Whilst non of Cesc, Song or Denilson (btw, im with you Peds, I nearly put my fist through the telly when Denilson smiled after passing the ball out for a throw-in!) had a good game, they manged to Lampard and Essien fairly quiet.
The fact that we were non-existant in either defence or attack mean that Chelsea could just win the ball comfortably at the back and play it forward without having to worry about it coming back. They just by-passed the midfield.
No heart, no fight, no intelligence. Just stubborn adherence to tippy-tappy football with no end product.
GUYS
Please read even though we same the same thing again and again ; but a slight different angle .
Do you remember Keown jumping down on Horse face van nis when he missed a penalty and Ray giving him a dig .
I also remember being at a Leeds game when Milner and Smith were elbowing Tony and Bouldy .
Tony sent milner thru the advertising boards with a crunchng taclke and wagged his finger to say “don,t fuck with us son”,
Yesterday , I see Gallas hugging Drogba when we have lost !!!
WHO IS OUR TONY , RAY , KEOWN , FREDDIE , PV4
GRIT , BIG , WINNERS MENTALITY !!????????????
Denilson ? Theo ? AA ? Nasri ? Eduardo ?
WE ARE TOO NICE ,
Fran, I thought Chelsea were just as fit as us yesterday which is shocking when you consider their age compared to our team.
We simply looked like boys out there… in the main, because we are.
Too fucking true Jules.
How many of our current crop do you connect with?
I’m with A&N… very few.
Vermaelen, Cesc, RvP, Arshavin and probably Clichy.
Outside that, where is the love for the club?
I thought our midfield played well, Essien, Mikel and lumpolard hardly got a touch for 60minutes. At the end of the game it was all chelsea but that is understandable as heads went down and Wenger changed the formation.
It takes a great great defence to win the prem league these days. under wenger we will never have a decent defence. so we will never win another title under wenger. the bar was raised, but wenger was not able to move with the times.
He can entertain a crowd, I will give him that. If we want Arsenal to win the title we do need a new manager. I have been saying this for about 3 years.
THE 04 TEAM IN TUNNEL
Other team must thought , fuck this is going to be tough , 7 players over 6 ft , pace , power , grit
AND NOW IN THE TUNNEL !?
People massively underestimate how much an utterly useless, nervey, weak, quiet GK can disrupt the whole teams focus. If your GK is worrying your CB’s you can rest assured that your CB’s will start to wobble and then worry your midfielders.
This obsession with small nimble technical players isnt getting us anywhere. They cant defend and they get bullied all over the gaff!
Ray Parlour once said that when he played, AW never practiced defensive drills and set pieces, I think it’s becoming more and more obvious he wasnt joking.
And can someone please tell me who that dopey twunt in goal was hoofing high balls to ALL GAME?!!
Eduardo & Arshavin V Terry & Carvalho = WHAT?!
I like this blog. it is usually spot on, but I have to raise some questions. you say we need to buy. I say fuck that. why? who were our 3 worst players yesterday? arshavin, sagna and eduardo by far. together they cost us around 28 million (14 arshavin, 8 eduardo, 6 sagna). why should we spend when they dont turn up. Arshavin’s head is gone, he should start respecting those who pay him, rather than talk to the media all the time. certainly not world class by him. eddie? where was the first touch son? even I can kill a ball with one touch. and sagna and nasri? well the cunt got 2 assists on the flank we were suppoisedly stronger on. none of them turned up and they cost us a shitload of money.
I am surprised noone has mentioned cesc. we are so used to seeing the man make 2 assists per game that anything less is not good enough. yet he was a giant yesterday. I was at the game and he bust his gut for us. if we could win games on his heart alone, we would be champs. and rather than slate denilson or song or diaby or bendtner or eboue, slate the expensive prima donnas we shipped cash for. at least the others have heart. I would take nik over ALL our attacking options bar rvp.
So pissed off yet you know it won,t be addressed Pedro ,
Lots of issues to be addressed but we lost to the best team in england and one of the best in europe so it has to be put in context.
HOWEVER if we want to challenge for honours we have to come out on top in these games. our team is simply not good enough. we need a team of 16 top quality first teamers to allow for injuries/loss of form and we simply dont have that.
wenger has to be big enough to admit his policy is flawed and buy in jan IF he has money available.
too many of these ‘great young players coming through’ simply dont make the grade and we are are suffering year after year.
All this mutual respect and hugging bullshit started with saint thierry henry, arsenal legend though he is he was also a shitty captain.
Players need to do their socialising off the pitch, I do not mind Eboue and Drogba being mates and going clubbing together, what they do in their own time is up to them.
On the pitch we want gladiators, we want soldiers who will die for the cause.
We do not want to see our guys shaking hands, sharing jokes and hugging after spending 60quid for a ticket and seeing the team lose.
Jules – I applaud you! Get Wenger’s email address and forward him your post because it is ALL thats is wrong with Arsenal right now!!
And I tell you what, some player be it from the youth or from another club, could really make a name for himself at Arsenal by being a fearless bruiser and a break up man. The fans would love him from that first crunching tackle onwards. Look at how we fell in love with Flamini when he realised what his strengths were!!
we do actually need a couple of Parlours in this team now. where will they come from?
could Ramsey fit into that bracket? maybe he could. He didn’t play that well at sunderland but at least we didn’t concede with him on the pitch. He was trying hard and closing space even if his passing was a bit off.
Then perhaps Lansbury could come back and add a bit of spirit to the midfield. Wilshere maybe too. We need players that can keep a defensive shape. Nasri and Arshavin just couldn’t give a shit yesterday.
titan – all you’ve said there is that our manager is shit at spotting true talent. In that case we need one that isn’t so I agree, lets get rid of Wenger!!
gazzap – Fuck me I’d even take Sidwell back at this rate!
I still think we missed out on Cattermole. I know, I know, most people don’t agree but I think he would have made players like Mikel and Essien work a damn sight harder than they had to yesterday.
I long for the days when people used to hate us because we were an ill diciplined bunch of thugs…
Who didn’t secretly enjoy our red card record?
Where is our nasty streak?
Cheers TAIG
I know you think pretty much as I do .
Its so fucking obvious and so frustrating .
I don,t condone thuggish play but would,nt a part of you want to see someone put a real crunching tackle on Drogba to let him know he is in for a tough time rather than letting dominate then giving him a fuckng hug !!!!!
spot on Jules, there is no one of good ol’ school bruisers in this team – that is why a good few people on here wanted Cana…
Cana, Jones, Sakho, sorted: the only people they would kill is the opposition…
Let’s get Joey fucking Barton in.
AW is ‘shit at spotting true talent’ ???’
WTF is that……
Rubbish
titan- “I would take nik over ALL our attacking options bar rvp.”
Spot on.
I think all the NikB haters are starting to realise that he’s actually a very useful player for us. He gives us a completely different dimension and could’ve at least given us an outball against the chavs.
The thing that worries me about Eduardo is that surely he is doomed in this new formation? He is your classic predatory second striker in a 4-4-2. When it comes to 4-3-3, he doesn’t have the pace and trickery to play wide, or the physical presence to play up top. I think we have a serious problem.
Come to think of it i’m actually baffled as to why we didn’t switch to 4-4-2 yesterday. Surely:
Nasri Cesc Song Rosicky
Eduardo Arshavin
would’ve been a better option?
We’ll be out of the cc on Wednesday. I don’t fancy West ham away in the cup. I am usually so positive.
plus, a goalie – neither of our GKs is a title winning material…
Get Keown and Parlour on the staff !!
Even Dennis could be a nasty fucker if he wanted to be
perfect combination , the most beutifull player to watch who knew how to give a good dig if needed .
gazzap if you think lansbury and wilshere are gonna solve our problems then you’re as bad as Arsene!!!
Keown must have fallen out with Wenger as the latter just doesn’t give a fuck about defending, does he?
freezing out Senderos is the best example – he should be kept fresh in the ressies, but he is not getting ANY games…
Me too GM.
Feel very negative today.
MC will put out a very strong team. We will play the kids , get mullered, and the press will have a feeding frenzy about how the ‘experiment’ has gone wrong etc.
So effing predictable…
Yep Suga3
and he goes to Sunderland for 5 mill . oh and we lost
Cold night away to Bolton !?? Same result ?? probably
We don’t need to get physical, we need to play better and score more goal. We destest oppo cheaters. So I definitely disagree, and believe we should take greater measures to make the sport fairer. How many of you were horrified by “Tiny’s” tackle a couple of seasons ago. We want to stamp anything of that nature out of the game. If you like rugby, fair enough, watch rugby, but football is not about that.
I dont get that.
You’ve just been torn a new one AT HOME by one of your suppossed rivals for the title (yeah right!), and you finish the day by trading hugs and kisses!!!
WTF is that about!!!
I think the moaning about the decisions is pretty weak.
Chelsea should have had two penalties anyway…
gazzap, Wilshere our saviour? don’t make me laugh – we need size, it does matter…
Spot on odub
read my 10.20
WE DID NOT HAVE THE TEETH TO BITE CHELSEA YESTERDAY. AS ONE OF THEIR FANS TOLD ME WE STILL HAVE MILK TEETH AND WE WILL ONLY LEARN WHEN WE INVEST SOME MONEY AND BUY MEN WITH REAL TEETH.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2749758/Wengers-best-bit-of-business.html?OTC-RSS&ATTR=Football
Every team thats has success has a few hard men!
Arsenal – Adams, Keown, Parlour, Vieira, Bergkamp…..
Man Utd – Keane, Butt, Cantona, Neville, Fletcher…..
Chelsea – Terry, Lampard, Essien, Mikel, Ballack Drogba……
Those players are what I call balanced. They can all play football and they can all mix it and put in ugly shifts too.
by the way did anyone see how fucking AWESOME Puyol was last night – he was insane!
It is interesting how the kids play so well in a CC environment, yet show little of that form in the Prem?
Carlos looks a different player when he’s with the kids…
Hi Big Raddy , how are you ?
OR
Man city won,t give a fuck about the comp , the kids will win and Wenger will think everything is ok !
finest,
watching Obi Mikel getting away with blue murder, I’d like to have Cana to kick the shit out of him – besides, bigger player is more likely to get a decision after a rash challenge, as small ones are perceived to be just outmuscled and/or overreacting…
Jesus christ what are lot going to do when kroenke buys up and says to wenger “this aint good enought heres 100mil go buy some quailty” and wenger says “sorry I do not spend money im off to PSG”, FFS, i reckon most of you if you found your miss’s in bed with your best friend would “seek councilling and resolve your problems” instead of fucking them both off, which is what got to happen at arsenal, to many people fucking over the fans and the majority of the fans to fucking scared to lose wenger, why the fuck do you keep something if it aint working, arsenal was here and sucessful before wenger and will be after, except it will be harder next time cos wenger as taken us so far back
It’s too easy to say we were bullied (the media’s brainwashing campaign is working!)
Once again, we beat ourselves. No point having 67% of the possession if you don’t score. We put no pressure on their back four at all, Cech must have been bored sh*tless. Although AW just ended up sounding bitter, he kinda had a point about Drogba; I bet he has never had to do as little as he did yesterday to come away with two goals and a victory.
I don’t think we were bullied, I just think we are good enough.
Suga – spot on about or GK’s and about Cana doing a job on Mikel.
Chipo Bendtner is another cradle CF imo. we need tested and proven players. VP is just makng a name for himself the rest of our CFs imo have done nothing in football to date.
there are satrikers out there Wenger is just a stubborn stingy man.
Ordinary Niang of Marseille would give us something different in attack. Why should Lyon be signiing a player of Lisandro Lopez quality when we had money?
Gross misconduct every window.
Exactly Suga, Obi Mikel should have had disciplinary action taken against him by the ref, there is too much cheating going on, the answer is not to get involved.
I’m afraid AW has lost the plot . When Aesenal were at the top,they could have stayed there for a while. Instead he got rid of the old gunners who could have contributed for a few yyears more.
His project youth aint working and he is blind to the problem areas in the team.
If he thinks he is in demand elsewhere let him find out it won’t be a bed of roses. Of course he would have money to spend but results counts. The bosses elsewhere won;t be accomdating to his whim and fancies.
He could be shown the door elsewhere with his beautiful soccer getting nowhere.
jimmy did you forget a “not”?
it was like the men (chelsea) showing the young boys how to play. who are we kidding? how good are boys are they are no match for MEN. this is the same problem we had against sunderland. do we have some one like lampard or drogba . they are men they can fight!! our young boys might be world class but they cant fight . when two teams are of very good quality its the fighting spirit the makes you win. look at arshavin. he has been acting so dumb lately. asking wenger to buy some worldclass players. i tel u arsh first you should play like you are one. We SUCKED!!!
*don’t think we are good enough
i was very suprised my lack pace and zip there was in the teams attackers because aa nasri edardo all are pacy quick players and passing was very poor there was just no zip and that was the only way the going win this game chelse a had phsycal advantege so this team need to use speed and passing movement which they usualy have and just did not happen because usual abaility they have i know they would chelsea that plus the fact sagna had a nightmare of a game,the fact is january market while to yet so its very important the senior players like aa risicky fab edwardo realy step as team that includes defending well as a team and today,i gues teling thing is we have kept a clean sheet in such a long time
TAIG
exactly , I fucking hate Rooney but you would,nt say no to a bit of his attitude would you ?
Pedro Wenger is always calling on kids like Vela in situations that more seasoned pros would even struggle in. That is why many have been blaming Wenger for not mixing things a bit when we had the whooping boys at home earlier in the season.
Vela has been out of prem action for most of the season all of a sudden he is meant to come win us games against sunderland away and 2 goals down at home against the chavs
Jimmythegun – Its not so much about getting bullied but more about not being strong enough to compete. I dont think anyone has said we were intimidated, just out muscled. If we came up against that defence a few years ago, players like Vieira, Gilberto, Parlour and Bergkamp would think “right, the fancy footwork isn’t working so lets get a bit physical”.
People can say all they want but strength is a huge benefit in football. Can you imagine how much harder Denilson had to work than Lampard yesterday!
Jimmy-we were bullied.
I saw our players bounce of chelsea players. At one point Ivanovic simply pushed arshavin away like a one would swat a fly. What pissed me off was that when Song tried to do the same on Lamps he conceeded a free kick.
Pedro – this is because he played with the kids a bit more…
to top it all, I did not see Vela & Eduardo together on the pitch AGAIN – shame, as their mutual understanding is awesome…
and we should have played 4-4-2 with Vela & Walcott on the wings with Eduardo & AA23 as 2 strikers, with Fabregas & Song in the mid, yet we persisted with the same formation with no personnel to do the job…
Eduardo really2 was a joke yesterday. He can’t hold up the ball, lacked of creativity and his passing and dribbling was so poor. Very bad performance from him this season. Sagna was so sux in that match too. Two opponent crosses from his coverage flank that led to the goals, where was he? He just played crosses when he got the ball, u thought we are Chelsea or Aston Villa, with tall and powerful strength players at the front??? His crosses was very terrible but he did not take it. I prefer him at left side instead of right. I felt very angry with Sagna today. I believe his performance is the worst,looking for the 90 minutes displays.
Jules – I’d like to harvest it and stick it in all our players!!
Franchise – that last comment about Vela couldn’t be more true!! He could have been a great player for us already if he had been given the chances that the marmites have been!!
Stick it up Gallas ,s arse after hugging Drogba taig !
When you have to listen to the “men against boys” comment after EVERY Utd or Chelsea game you know something is wrong. No smoke without fire and all that……
Good thanks Jules.
Just pissed off.
Jules – What a prick. I struggle to be civil to a guy I’ve been marking when my team wins, let alone when we lose!!
me too Big Rad , good to hear you are ok .
A&N I understand what you are saying, but surely anybody could bounce little Andrei, does that mean he shouldn’t be in the team? I’m not a fan of AA, but most people on here love him!
That incident did not characterise the game, the fact that Chelsea barely touched the ball in the opening 20 mins and we still didn’t score did.
finest, sorry but this is just a naive point of view: if you have a monster on your side, their monsters will be less likely to get into the kicking business – now they calculate that if they kick some small players hard enough at a risk of a yellow card, then they can take the best cogs out without any retaliation…
if a small player wants to kick back, it usually look ferocious and gets a booking outright – to play 4-3-3 in the Prem, you need a large player in each of the 3s and please don’t tell me Diaby & Bendtner are the answer…
Great, great post Pedro, at last someone else can see the emperor has lost his clothes, and some of his kids are not that good.
They certainly have no heart and definitely don’t deserve massive contracts, to think of the players we used to have and failed to give them contracts, I can remember singing one more year all night at Highbury to get Dennis a contract extension, Song gets a 6 year one, fucking joke.
jimmy, AA is my fav player – I was just trying to illustrate the inconsistencies of the referee. The fact that Arshavin was even trying to battle invanovic is admirable, but its not just Arshavin you look at the team and the majority of them are little weak guys.
Jimmy – of course we play Arshavin but you balance that by putting in a Vieira next to/behind him. And we didn’t score against Chelsea because they had/have a very strong and industrious defence that contained any threat we thought we had. Every header was won by a focused chav. Every cross was hacked away by a hard working chav. Everything in the 6 yard box was caught by a commanding chav.
TAIG
with ref to my earlier point re Van horse face .
As a gooner did,nt you think ,fucking ave some of that you cheating cunt!! Ok it may be ott but it showed a passion , a desire , aggression , you ain,t going to beat us
I do not see much of that in this side .
Some of say about Bentner , ok not the best but at least he tries and has some balls about him .
then you look at Diaby , lol . please !
Morning Geoff
read my 10.20 if you will
therein lies the problem !
what should have been in the past 12 months:
Out: Almunia, Toure, Diaby, Ade
In: Given, TV, Cana, Jones
its all about mix of power, pace, skills
art of attack and defence
worldclass key players, reliable role players
very decent to world class goalkeepers
manager being in control of team
manager being very demanding of his players
manager reinventing his stale beliefs and policies
A&N – agreed about the ref and our team of midgets – just not about the qualities of AA
My point is that Chelsea didn’t have to play well to win, just like United in the CL second leg last year. I hope Almunia, Denilson and Eduardo payed full price for tickets yesterday, coz all three were spectators.
Jules – I cant stress enough how much we miss that spirit and desire. Wenger has told these kids that pretty passing wins you games but it doesn’t. The amount of times I have to listen to my manager bollock my team because we are technically better than the oppo but aren’t as hard working makes me wonder what Arsene says to his kids at HT. “dont worry boys, yes your 2-0 down but just keep passing the ball and we’ll be ok”. 3-0.
Fran, all those attributes fit Barcelona. What a team, they have power, pace and skill. A home bred defender in Puyol who is willing to die for the cause, and a goalkeeper who is world class.
Where do you start about yesterday ? not easy is it.
Was awfull, and how ever much I like Wenger I can’t see things changing while he is at the club, his buying policy is weird to say the least, 17yo who are for the future, no experiance in the side and all to similar type of player
Song and denilson in the same side dont go. Where is the strength anymore ? It was men v boys and to easy for the chavs, embarresed I was. It’s great having the flair and beating wolves away 4-1 but when you come up against the big boys it aint working, mix it up a bit, we still have not learnt our lesson from last season Cl semi. Am fed up when he says we cant buy cause it could kill another player, well so what, this club aint won f all of late and we need to but quick.
What is up with Arshavin ? and Eduardo just looks like he has no confidence one bit
SUGA3
yes , that would be something we miss caleed a spine
called even
LAST NIGHT I WATCHED THE MAGIC OF MESSI AND THEREAFTER ESPANYOL BEING CRUSHED BY KUN AGUERO. WHY CAN’T WENGER BUY AGUERO? HE IS THE MAN…EVEN REYES HAS REDISCOVERED HIS FORM AND GOT AN APPLAUSE FROM THE CROWD WHEN BEING REPLACED BY MAXI RODRIGUEZ.
We don’t have 1 player who can score a free kick. Surely that’s not right. Set pieces mean nothing to us.
A&N – And a striker who is technically awesome and also a bit of a nasty cunt at the same time in Ibrahimovic!!
who is wenger gonna buy..??….who is not cup tied chamakh is cup tied so are the others in wenger’s radar…the others are too good or too bad for arsenal….
Jimmy.
Good point about Chav’s not having to play at the top of their game.
To me, it was once more a case of what might have been. Had we scored first, we would have seen two fine teams playing attacking football. Instead we saw, attack v defence. And as usual defence won.
Because the CHavs CAN defend, whereas we have to keep attacking to maintain a lead.
suga3 i feel players like aa and edardo who can play alot better,i think people are looking at this in wroung way this team dont defend well enough a team dont dirty work well enough its all about going forward,all chelsea did is make the most of this teams mistakes nothing to specail but the defence was immence,although the lack of height was an issea but i would have expected alot better of aa nasri and edwardo
Who cares if he’s cup tied, we won’t win it anyway.
Our sights should be higher than Numchucks anyway.
if you field a team of midgets, if you start kicking them, you’re nonsensically less likely to get booked, as the ref is more likely to believe the culprit claiming that the opponent is overreacting IMO…
What’s with the Copenhagen shit on the site. So, lets build a new stadium. Travel to games far and wide. Then, ask for warm tap water in our tea!!????!!
If I want tea, then I want bottled water, boiled in a kettle.
T – There in lies the problem. 99% of Arsenal fans said we needed at least 3 players to come in. Now we will truly pay the price because yet again Wenger thought his children could do the job. Yet again, they haven’t.
Tiag, what made me laugh was Bendtners comments about Ibra a few months back…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1190807/Bendtner-Ibrahimovic-way-Ill-worlds-best-striker-2012.html
TAIG.
Can you really see AW spending €60m ?
Aguero would be good, and he can take the free kicks. But ay wish list is fantasy as AW will buy no-one in January
Jules, you got that right, that make me vomit, pair of chav cunts, on the pitch too.
Geoff -
“Our sights should be higher than Numchucks anyway.”
The problem now is that I bet Numchucks sights are higher than Arsenal so what about the really good talent. No chance.
Micky, it’s a piss take.
I’m going to put a new green initiative on there everyday this week.
Any ideas will be welcome.
If Wenger thinks we’ll ever win anything with that lot, he is more delusional than I thought.
Cheers Geoff!
Give Wenger his P45, I’ve had enough of his arrogance.
A&N – Ha ha, you never know!
Big Raddy – I wasn’t suggesting we should have bought Ibra! But used to have those players at the club. Like Bergkamp, one of the best natural footballers of all time. He also loved a dirty challenge, a snide elbow and wasn’t scared to mix it with anyone!!
DB10 for manager!!
I’m with you on that Geoff. He’s become like rednose as well blaming everything except the fact we’re shit.
Ooops, Pedro. I’m so friggin angry, I am having a go at everything today.
Lets hope this yank bloke gets his other share, or whatever he needs. One thing all business men understand is how to make money. People attack AW on the grounds that he sells to make money. Man U bought a player called Ronaldo that we couldnt afford. Oh, and they made about 40m out of him.
Geoff – This is what I said earlier:
“Mick McCarthy apologised to his fans when they only just lost 1-0 for fuck sake! We get trounced 3-0 and Wenger doesn’t say a word!! Why? because he thinks he is oh so better than any of us. He thinks that Arsenal is his club. And he knows that the fucking board full of saps will still congratulate him on a successful season of making money for them!!”
Arrogance is the tip of the iceberg with Wenger!!
Oh, and they one a trophy or two as well.
But why not TAIG ? We should have bought Ibra. We had the money.
If you take the money from summer sales and add €20m we could have signed him. ANd in todays money, that isn’t a lot.
But AW will not buy top quality at market prices.
Perhaps we are now seeing why Barca etc weren’t interested in AA. He is brilliant but inconsistent
Hands up if you wished Arsenal played like Chelsea??
For those of you who are hoping Arsenal buy big there may be light at the end of the tunnel.
Kroenke on taking charge of the Denver Nuggets spent big to get Allen Iverson, at the time one of the biggest names in NBA.
I don’t want to play like chelsae. I want to play like Arsenal. At the moment we play like west brom being descibed as “arsenal like”
Song wasn’t that bad yesterday, why was he taken off?
feel sorry for Cesc who needs and deserves to have a better partner with him
Big Raddy – Oh I see what you mean. To be honest I’m not sure if £60m on Ibra would be my first choice signing but I definitely think Wenger must be told he has to spend. I’ve said before that his job is not to save us money. His job is to use whatever money he is given to improve our squad in anyway he can. Right now, if he was given £100m to spend he’d have to use all of it to get us back to where we should be! If he says that he doesn’t need to spend £200m I’d accept that but in the summer he told us he didn’t even need to spend the £50m or so that we made. What is he looking at????
why does he persist with denilson, he aint good enough defensivly or going forward (mr fucking average)
theo and eduardo have yet to prove they will make it at arsenal, theo 1 trick pony drives me mad, give me lennon over him any day
eduardo can only play in a 4-4-2 therefore meaning he aint needed as wenger only wants to play 4-4-3 with 2 supporting players in andrey and nasri or rosicky
5 years ago 1 of our players would have let drogba’s ribs know they were there in the first 5 minutes, to many pussies in our squad
all the talk of matching them physically, wat rubbish
A&N: That’s the first flicker of light I’ve seen today. We need a business man at the helm.
It is amazing that all those Song and Denilson lovers are keeping their heads down today.
Not to mention all the AKB’s.
After all, the value of his 29.???% share just went down.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_5733983,00.html
we should get him back
And please the likes of A who come on here saying no player is worth over £15m cos that is Wenger threshold, please take a look at the likes of Torres,Ribery etc who are worth much more now that the SUMS their respective clubs paid for them.
Geoff do AKB’s still exist?
Geoff, Song was solid enough to be fair, he is just shit with Denilson IMO…
good point about the AKBs tho
A&N Denver Nuggets don’t have Wenger in charge !!
Michael they’ve been all over me this last week with Song, the greatest DM in football.
Most times the cost of Quality is relative unless maybe when English players in the league is taken into consideration
Anelka return at £15m would have been a bargain IMO. we would have definitely won 07/08 and probably better challenged in 08/09
who would have been his first choice if similar offers were on the table???
I think our misery will continue on wednesday…
I can already see our kids get whooped
Suga, solid as an immovable object. Like a fence post.
goonermichael – you would think not after that display but I’m sure they do! i think we can expect to seem the after the Stoke game!!
my point is Sagna cost only £6m for a reason and Eduardo cost around £8m for the same reason.
hate to say it Eduardo might be a better finisher but Carlton Cole is better suited for the premiership. I would keep Eduardo over Cole but expecting him to lead the line alone against most prem teams is being over ambitious IMO
I am not going to discuss it further, Geoff
I’ll stick to my ‘we need big strong fuckers’ line today
Geoff Says:
November 30, 2009 at 11:20
Suga, solid as an immovable object. Like a fence post.
Ha ha, golden!
Geoff – please don’t pat yourself on the back re Song – he was probably our best player and he only played 45 mins! Says it all!
A lack of a DM didn’t cost us the game, the lack of penetration did.
Franchise I think Eduardo is being asked to do a job he can’t really do. When he was with tt in the league and bendy in the cc he was pretty good.
I think Song plays way better without Denilson on the pitch – both at the same time = crab football…
Franchise – I think Carlton Cole is awesome. He could do well for us if we didn’t have Wenger as manager. Arsene would never play him!
SUGA3 Says:
November 30, 2009 at 11:23
I think Song plays way better without Denilson on the pitch – both at the same time = crab football…
Yep! Wenger obviously knew we didn’t have enough to beat Chelsea so changed his set up for the first time in ages and look what happened!!
Yesterday was like sex lately with my wife……early on, lots of foreplay and no penetration when the whole was left gaping…….then a big black guy came and fucked us up the arse (well that boit doesn’t happen)……..men versus boys again friends, just like Old Trafford……….But some strong players in Jan Arsene….Sharky
I like song personally but there was a funny moment when the commentator said “while all the other arsenal players instincts were to go forward” I thought he was going to say Song looks sideways
GM exactly my point hence the ‘would keep Eduardo over Cole but expecting him to lead the line alone against most prem teams is being over ambitious IMO’ line
if Wenger knew he wanted to play 433 why didnt he plan for this even if it meant he had to sell some to buy
VP IMO wld have struggled against an organised chelsea side too
where is the flexibility in tactics?
why play 433 if ur CF cant give u presence centrally?
If only we had Valdez for a keeper!
Valdez? blimey, motivated Boruc would do…
imagine manunited playing michael owen as a lone striker
i dont think so
Ashley cole raped us yesterday, sagna in particular
that was painful – but anointing chelsea as champions on the back of it is a little premature. it was only a couple of weeks ago that arsenal were genuine title contenders, now after two bad results we are no-hopers. let’s try and retain a little perspective here. there’s a long way to go and plenty of life in the title race. keep the faith!
Lets not get on Eduardo’s back , this was only his 2nd start in a row. We have to give him time to adapt. RVP was useless for the first 4 games this season, and people were saying he would never adapt to a 4-3-3!
i really don’t understand eduardo. How many hour u need before u shoot the ball into the back of the net?? Ohh dear me..
Other team must thought , fuck this is going to be tough , 7 players over 6 ft , pace , power , grit… hahaha.
Please mr wenger. do something about our arsenal. Please buy WORLD CLASS STRIKER thats cost maybe 10 to 12m pounds during jan.
Switch back to 4-4-2
I miss lehmann
Pedro Says:
November 30, 2009 at 10:22
Too fucking true Jules.
How many of our current crop do you connect with?
I’m with A&N… very few.
Vermaelen, Cesc, RvP, Arshavin and probably Clichy.
Outside that, where is the love for the club?
—————————————————————-
If you ever criticise local academy players then i quote this. Stop saying things when it suits you, i agree that having academy players as your spine is a great thing but they need to be good enough.
A&N eduardo is not gonna become drogba overnight nor in the next 10 years. why not play to the strngth of your players?
@Arse&Nose – Well said
Kroenke on buying Lady Nina’s shares took over Arsenal and bought Aguero, Chamakh, Viera, Sakho and Matuidi to revitalise Arsenal’s premier League campaign.
Wenger commented after the takeover….”This is the time to challenge the teams like Chelsea and Real Madrid” Wenger said. We will not have any excuse for not winning the league this season, added Wenger…………CONTD.
for all wanting carlton cole… he’s out for 4 months!
we would probably still have lost but I would have gone for a diamond midfield like chelsea did with 2 up front.
…………clown………………
…………back4………………
………….Song………………
….Nasri…………….Rosicky…
…………..Cesc……………..
…….Eduardo…..Walcott……..
front two of Bendtner and VP would have been better but with what we got i would have played differently
Morning all..
Fran: No I can’t imagine Man U playing Owen as a lone striker and that’s it’s exactly what we done in playing Eduardo on his own.
You have to ask yourself why? I’ll tell you “Wenger ball”
this is the year we walcott plays centrally my ass
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1232012/Andrey-Arshavin-refuses-dwell-Chelsea-defeat-Arsenal-star-insists-We-win-Premier-League.html
chelsea have scored as much as us but have conceded 10 goals less. boring boring chelsea a lot say
Is it true that we need at least 4 to 5 players with 6ft tall above to win the title?? gosh.. i think this season we are not goin to win anything. no defence power n no creative skills striker!! Mr wenger is too arrogant and don’t want to spend expensive quality player. Hmm.. but its ok if chelsea win.. but please don;t let manu win.
Fair play with the ratings! Both as bad as one another yesterday and why he took off Nasri just when he was getting into the game is beyond me. All the while Denislon starts in our midfield before Rosicky we will win shit. Rosicky is stronger, quicker and has a lot more flair than the most un Brazillian to ever play the game!!
Whichever way you cut it, our midfield was shit, it really was like men and boys.
Also sticking non stop crosses in was ridiculous tactics when the height of our strikers was 5’8″ at best.
arsenal has now conceded 3 own goals against all the big teams we play,first diaby then alumunia and now vermaelen.
its fucking humiliating
Geoff
I think the midfield was better than the defence and the attack though
Geoff for the record Song was good yesterday, please dont go blaming him for the team’s ineptitude.
We had most of the so called talented players on the pitch but nothing came of it. I missed me some so-called-marmites (Eboue,Bendtner and Diaby).So was Song when he got subbed.Could this fixture have come at a worse time?It was raining cats and dogs and our pretty passing couldnt be done.
Mimi that’s cobblers, he was going to be immense and he was rubbish.
Mimi i actually thought we passed it well. what have we learnt?
I love how people say that all our players are identical and then say we should sign Aguero
Crustacean arsenal side rears its clawy head
The difference was in defence, the chavs blocked every shot and closed everything down around the box… …they layed their bodies on the line, while we let the feckers stoll on in!
btw if anyone wants I have a spare for city and a ride out from london… …no crazies welcome which probably excludes most of you!
Kinghenry – “please buy WORLD CLASS STRIKER thats cost maybe 10 to 12m pounds during jan”
Errr what World Class striker costs 10-12m and would be available in Jan? Dream on!
Chipo Aguero is small but explosive and strong
Sergio Aguero has opened the door to a move to Chelsea by admitting he is prepared to leave Atletico Madrid.
The Argentina striker is determined to see the season out with the La Liga strugglers, but is willing to change clubs at the end of the season if the price is right.
Stamford Bridge boss Carlo Ancelotti is a confirmed admirer of the 21-year-old and would ideally like to add him to the ranks in January, when Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou are expected to be called up for the Africa Cup of Nations.
But Aguero said: ‘I’ve always told the club that from now until June I’ll stay here. Then we will see what they do.
‘If in June the club still needs money, there are ways to help.
‘This is my home, but if the club have to sell me, I must go. I know nothing. Now I need to concentrate on getting us into Europe.’
Aguero starred in Atletico’s 4-0 victory over Espanyol on Sunday, scoring twice and making the other two. It was only their second League win of the season, leaving them 17th.
Reinforcements: Carlo Ancelotti is expected to strengthen his Chelsea squad in January
Atleti’s debts will make it difficult to resist bids for their star players, particularly if they lose Champions League revenue next season.
Aguero has a buy-out clause worth £54million, but Chelsea will open the bidding closer to the £40m mark, which would still smash the British record £34m that Manchester City paid Real Madrid for Robinho 15 months ago.
Ancelotti and Atletico may try to convince the former Independiente star to move this winter, but a compromise would be for Chelsea to sign him in January and loan him back to the Spaniards until the end of the season.
The Blues, whose FIFA-imposed transfer ban has temporarily been suspended pending an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, know it would be a risk to wait until the summer to get their man.
Manchester United and Liverpool have previously tracked Aguero, but it remains
just like frank ribery
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1231916/Martin-Samuel-Sorry-Arsene-Wenger-Arsenal-boys-just-Premier-League-roadkill.html
if 11 technically gifted midgets are having an off day, then how do u beat 11 strong athletes
u cant its impossible
when its going smoothly, its ok, when were not at the top of our game, we lose, and it doesnt matter who were up against, fucking vela, he will never make it at arsenal, hes so weak he makes eduardo look strong
A lot of people keep pointing out the midfield were good yesterday… they creates bugger all and Chelsea walked through them whenever they fancied it.
how can a midfield with denilson in it be any good, hes passing is sideways at best, weak in the challenge, does not win headers and has the heart of flea
thank fook nov is over..
our worst month by far
stop this aguero talk, he is another skilful midget-we need power.
Damn it Pedro, i’m biting!
No one is saying that the midfield was good, but the likes of Song and Cesc had ten times the influence of the likes of 28 year older superstar Andrei Arshavin. He is constantly being held up as an example of what money can buy you…
…an inconsistent, whinging, non-team player whose head drops as soon as his first trick/run doesn’t come off. Nasri was even worse and Lead-uardo might as well have stayed at home.
6 PL games in Dec.
We really need at least 15 points from those.
would i rather have aguero than eduardo ystdy? definitely yes
Judging by the possession we had I thought our midfield did well, what we lacked was a cutting edge in the final third and as a team I don’t think we were disciplined defensively…We should have been more pragmatic in our approach, we seemed vulnurable from counter attacks…I think the way Manu approached them at Stamford Bridge negating the threat of their fullbacks was the way to go. I think we were tactically naive but going gong-ho would have hastened our demise Pedro!
ribery or nasri
40 mill on aguero?
not worth it, wenger would rather build another training ground
Eduardos problem is that he has too much on his plate.
We need to make sure he gets voted off the x-factor, only then can he fully concentrate on football!
ribery is another lightweight i think
they cost more for a reason even in the midget world
haha ribery lightweight
I thought that Brazilian that plays for Seville was good, anyone?
Fabiano??? i would take him Geoff. AC Milan refused to pay £18m for him in the summer
guys by next January Walcott would have been 4 years at the club.
Watching the el classico yesterday, one’s struck by the physical size of both teams, even the smaller ones are tough cookies
geoff, by signing a striker wouldnt that be stopping the development of the great theo walcott and carlos vela and who can forget our injury free dutchmen
yes i like fabiano and most managers who find themself in our position, would look to sign a striker, but lets not forget who runs arsenal and makes the decisions
without wishing to seem negative… cesc is just not ready for the captaincy. the sooner wenger deals with that issue the better. give it to vermaelen or do a capello and rotate it through the team.
where was the bite in the last ten minutes yesterday? even if the ame was lost we could still have been snapping into tackles and kicking lumps out of them, like standard liege did to us. that’s what leadership on the pitch is all about!
Arsenal were no more than Premier League roadkill.
Chelsea were a speck in the distance and they barely knew what hit them.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1231916/Martin-Samuel-Sorry-Arsene-Wenger-Arsenal-boys-just-Premier-League-roadkill.html#ixzz0YLPi3MN5
I think we need a goalkeeper first and foremost
fucking arsenal
AK – Martin Samuel is bang on the money! All true!
Choy – Agreed!
Come on guys it was just another mauling from a top team we should forge it,we can still win the league BELIEVE,i thought vermaelen and song were sensational dealing with drogba and essien they way they did,vern took his goal extremely well what’s the point of defending when you have got a defender like that…..
That report about ARshavin in the Mail made me shake my head:
“But after being one of Arsenal’s better players at the weekend, Arshavin declared he was feeling good again, perhaps buoyed by his former club Zenit St Petersburg securing Champions League football for next season by beating Spartak Moscow 2-1 on the final day of the Russian season to finish third in the league.
‘My family and I would like to congratulate Zenit for winning bronze medals in the Russian Championship,’ he said.
IF WE GET BEATEN BY MAN CITY BECAUSE OF ARSENE’S PERSISTENCE TO PLAY KIDS THEN THE BASHING WILL GO ON AND ON AND ON!
Even stoke will now up their confidence.
BRING BACK DEIN!
At least Arshavin doesn’t wear stupid nation team sweat bands like someone else does.
Wenger fucked us by not mixing it up…we need a bag of liquorice all sorts. Players in the mold of Keown, Adams and PV.FFS, I would even take a Rooney type player as long as he mixes it up with the big boys and scores the goals. I know some people say where must we find these players…? It’s not our duty to find these players, Wenger and his staff are paid huge sums of money to do the job and unfortunately he has not done so.
I’m sorry but if Wenger is no longer doing his job and making Arsenal the most feared club in Europe then…you know where I’m going with this. You guys can disagree but once a leader has reached his peak then he can do no more and I’m afraid Wenger has reached his peak.
When is bendnter coming back?
Eduardo was well and truly shocking! A new contract he’s suddenly forgot how to control the ball or shoot without having 30 touches! Sagna was even worse and had Eboue been in his scummy boots it would have been last year all over again! Gallas… don’t get me upset. I’ll just leave it at that. Arshavin mate Russia are not going to the world cup, leave it at that, stop being so unprofessional, if u don’t wanna play for us then I can show you the door marked Exit! you were a disgrace.
Now onto the game, allowing our old no.3, the second most hated player in our history time and space to pick out two crosses is just beyond me! Someone Let him know that this us a derby! Tackle the C**T!! We lacked fight! It waS as if we weren’t playing in a derby! I disagree that chavski were that much better than us we always seem to gift these games to our oppnents! Man u, City, and now the scum if London! Apology from players is overdue!!!
I dont think we should be playing a full youth team on Wednesday. If the youths are not strong enough then a first team player should be used. look at right back for example. No way is Kerrea Gilbert good enough. bring in Eboue.
I would worry about Eastmond. I know he was good in the last CC match, but I can see him having a mare. Its like when Mannone came into the side. one or two heroic performances when no one is expecting it is one thing but when the going got tough, he fucked up.
Godhelpus welcome, you are now free to blog, Gunner win 1 I wholeheartedly agree with you mate.
I think Eboue would play on Wednesday
It is really difficult to keep a calm head reading the newspapers regarding the bitter reality.
I really did’nt think we would be stubbed out like a cigarette by Chelsea.
Anyway Wenger in the post match conference looked to be resigned to his fate.
Only when the tide goes out do we get to see who has been swimming naked – WARREN BUFFET
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is insanity. – ALBERT EINSTEIN
I have a bad feeling that both the above quotes seem to hell bent on proving themselves with regards to Arsenal.
I think we need…no, I know we need a few Lampards and Terry’s in the team. As much as it hurts me to mention those names that is what we need if we going to achieve anything.
A striker who is in the face of the opposition, hustling and bustling for every ball, a midfielder who is not afraid to give a crunching tackle and a fucking defender who lets the the strikers know he is around ala Adams.
I miss the Arsenal of 99/2000…thugs, but got the results that mattered.
Denilson is not good enough to play in the Arsenal first team
World class players lift their team in big matches and singlehandedly win games. Sure I ll get flak for this , but Cesc plays outstanding against average teams. I dont remember him winning matches against Man U , Liverpool or Chelsea.
Good news !!
wenger in for Ronnie Corbett !
great post!!!
it’s exactly how I saw it!!!
Sam the only reason why you see that is the fact that Fabregas tries too hard to carry the team against the likes of Man U and Chelski and it proves that he needs the assistance of a Muthafucker in there with him to break down the opposition while he creates chances at the other end.
http://engineersglobe.blogspot.com/2009/11/arsenal-broader-perspective.html
please rate this article
when will this cunt wenger learn that we will be shit untill he starts signing players that are 6ft plus,he also needs to realize this is england not spain.
six monthes down the line from the last mauling from Chelsea and we have learnt nothing.
Drogba steamrolling our defence, no bite upfront- to be honest i didnt expect any different.
I cant even see who we could buy even if we wanted somebody in jan which liiks unlikely.
It’s not over until the fat lady sings!!!
Buy two monster centre backs and push Vermaelen forward as the new DM.
Get rid of Almunia and buy a forward, world class.
The fat lady’s been singing since 6pm last night.
Susan Boyle sang months ago…
the fat lady sung her last song at sunderland
It’s a joke and is so disrespectful. That’s what Wenger just said about the Dutch FA.
Looking at Arsenal.com and Wenger boasting another contract extension with an 18 year old the day after we get trashed again by the chavs, now thats a joke, and that’s fucking disrespectful.
we say we need world class players but who would want to come to us,they will look at us and say they haven’t got a chance of wining any trophy’s if they signed for arsenal.
surely not BBK, she sang in August
Man you are inadvertently correct, but then I did say in August we were several players short.
The fat lady started singing at Sunderland last weekend – a far worse performance than yesterdays.
I am so angry I could sing a spurs song – Wenger/Arshavin/Rosicky’s post match reactions – someone just apologise for the sh*t performance and maybe we can move on! Whoever said earlier that we will beat Stoke 4-0 and Wenger will say everything is alright was spot on. Until Arsene admits we aren’t good enough we’ll keep being feed exactly the same boll*x and there’ll be no progression.
I would like to disagree with some of what Geoff and Pedro said..
Yeah most of the team played poorly…but it still seems that SOng and Denilson get most of the blame… I agree they should not play togther regularly it should be one or the other..
However they were not the problem… We actually did well in midfield…it was in the final third offensively and defensively that we failed..
Whenever a team decides to defend with numbers..we have no clue how to break them down…none of the attackers took responsibility and dribbled directly at Chelsea…all of them slowed down as they approached the box and passed it off to a teammate…I remember once when Nasri was free on the right side of the box…instead of driving further into to the box to cause panic by the defenders….he simply tried to cross in the air to the 5 ft 6 Russian and the 5 ft 8 Eddy…It makes absolutely no sense…
Also our keeper was at fault for the own goal…if he had simply told his defenders to leave the ball and go get it, that would have never happened…He stood there and watched Vermy poke the ball into the back of the net, then he threw his hands into the air.. We need a world class goal keeper, Lehman was great, Seaman etc….we need to get another one like them
But however the biggest ‘loser” is Wenger…he knows absolutely nothing about tactics….All teams have figured us out, just defend well with numbers for 20-30mins, then we get frustrated lose concentration then bang they hit us with a sucker punch…
Why dont we play possum sometimes and invite the opposition unto us? Sometimes this is the only way we will get space to play(use counter attack football sometimes)
Chelsea and Manure adjust their tactics according to who they play…but Wenger wants to play the same way all the time, so teams have us figured out
Really good post Pedro.
The problem at this club is that we know that nothing’s going to change.
Another team’s board and owners would be calling up clubs like crazy trying to survey the market for players they have so desperately needed for over 3 years…but at Arsenal…well I don’t have to tell you really.
A couple more selfless promotions for our annual charity, Kroenke buying a couple more shares and a bit more spin from Wenger and they’ll hope this all blows over.
I want a Champions League title…it’s never going to happen like this, and Arsenal will never truly be a great club.
B.B.K you must have been creaming your pants this last several hrs.
Geoff who says we can’t catch up? She hasnt sang yet!!
Geoff, she started singing when Veira buried that penalty, got sold and never replaced, we have been going backwards for years…once we seem to take a small step forward, we take the same step back, don’t win shit, and then amazingly take another few back when the transfer window opens.
We are the most frustrating club in the world. At least Ajax don’t feed their fans bullshit like they are the best and will win the European Cup or anything…
Eddy as CF has failed…maybe he will come good but we dont have tome for that….so I think a slight change of formation would be good now that RVP and Bendy are out
I think we should chang to the diamond 4-4-2 for now..Eddy needs support..its basically the same as 4-3-3 except the top triangle is inverted
So instead of this
……………….Back5……………………
…………………X……………………..
….X……………………………..X……
..X…………………………………..X..
…………………X……………………..
We have this
……………….Back5……………………
…………………X……………………..
….X……………………………..X……
…………………X……………………..
………..X…………………….X……….
I would play like this until RVP or Bendy is back
…………………Back5…………………….
………………..Song/Denilson………………
…..Cesc/Ramsey…………………….Rosick/Diaby…
…………………..Nasri/Arshy………………..
………….Theo/Vela……………….Eddy/Arsh…..
I think that lineup would do well until RVP or Bendy comes back..Hell we could even use when Bendy is back as well..
Nasri or Rosicky should not be used as wing forwards…they should be driving from midfield…
Nasri is just frustrating on the wing, we need them to drive through the centre with Cesc and shoot at fucking goal…instead of dilly dallying on the wing and slowing up play…
I think Nasri would be excellent at the top of the diamond…where he can go left or right and shoot at fucking goal, we know he has a good shot…Arshy can play at the top of the diamond as well or as support striker…
I think they would do much better there than what there doing now
Whenever teams defend like Chelsea we need individuals to take responsiblity dribble into the heart of the opposing defense and force the defenders to make errors…the players always choose the easy pass and let the defenders off the hook
nah mimi i wasn’t
keep taking them deluded pills tho mimi
Everyone just curl up and die!!That’s the kind of spirit we want!!!Why are people so pessimistic?
Duke, spot on, Mimi you are as deluded as Wenger is! Ja imagine Essien in the midfield next to Cesc and Rosicky, now that would be a good midfield.
Song and Denilson are not in that league, and that’s what we should have.
We don’t though do we. If we did, we would have won, not them.
Spot on Duke.
I’m not even bothered about the title, the Champions League or any of it. I just want it to hurt when we lose 0-3 at home and the opposition are only required to play at walking pace.
I want Wenger to come out and say it’s not good enough, I want the players to grab some of the passengers and ask them what the f*ck they think they are doing. Are any of them feeling like we are feeling today? I doubt it.
Wenger has created a little world without consequence. Lose and it’s always someone elses fault. Our football doesn’t work and the opposition were too rough. Season over by christmas and there is always next year.
We’re pessimistic because Wenger can’t see anything wrong with that performance save a bad ref, that’s why.
No Mimi, I want the fight til death spirit…
Jimmy, it’s the same every year, only the fans have to keep paying out.
Fuck us, at least Wenger and his players get rich, all with no consequence.
fair point mimi – some fans can’t wait to slate the players if they suspect they’re not giving 100 per cent, but as fans they start spouting suicidal negativity at first sign of a setback. the hypocrisy is amazing, but predictable of course. the same fans who walk out of the stadium with 75 minutes on the clock to go down the pub and moan that the team doesn’t put in enough effort. we can and will bounce back from this and yes we can still win the league – of course we can!
Mini, it’s not about being pessimistic, I hate it when I get called a pessimist, there are 3 degrees, not 2.
Pessimist, Realist, Optimist.
You my friend are being very very optimistic, we are being realistic. We are not going to win the league. End of. That is the reality. Saying we will win the league is being very optimistic. Being pessimistic would be saying we drop out of the top 4. Saying we won’t win the league is just stating the obvious, and I can’t see how anyone can argue with that.
not another one who’s on the deluded pills,you must be watching a different team to everyone else,a team that loses to man city,throws away a two goal lead a west ham then get’s beat by sunderland will not win the league.
I will see this line-up once again.
fabianski
eboue-gallas-wermealen-clichy
merida-song-fabregas-wilshere
arshawin-eduardo
It was not eduardo fault that he played badly. All wenger’s fault. Eduardo is not a lone striker, he is ery good in a 4-4-2 also carlos is.
But wenger is the man who has no tactical things.
He plays nasri outwide
he plays arshain on his worst position(he is a CF or CAM or something like that.
He don’t play eboue right back, he keeps starting almunia.
He keeps playing 4-4-2
He neer starts the talents of ela,wilshere,ramsey or merida. And wenger don’t buy good players because he is stubborn!!!!! Agree???? I think that wilshere can do a great job now as a winger(only winger arsenal has) Agree???
timao – yes we can still win the league but not if we continue with these sorts of results.
What is the common denominator in all the negativity…?
Players not giving 100%, I give Arsenal all I have every match day and every other day, I at least expect the players to do the same…!!!
There are millions of player’s 6ft+ out there.
Wenger needs to get his head out of his ass and start looking.
Geoff, I’am Dutchman you know but i can’t typ some things.
I’m writing the season off now to be fair. I will still support Arsenal with all my heart but just not expect us to win anything this year.
So my question is will Wenger hand Arsenal over to someone else in the summer?? Surely even he cannot deny he has (probably) failed massively and would find it too bitter a pill to swallow to go out and spend loads of money. I think he would rather hand it over to someone else??
I think our players are little girls, they don’t get a bollocking from Wenger or any other member of the team, if they do, they get upset and it is bad for moral. If you give a player a bollocking, you get the captaincy taken away, that’s the kind of team we are now.
If all 11 players are captains, it means one is. Everyone is regarded as equal. We need a player to fucking shout and point out mistakes and make sure they don’t happen again, not just give a pat on the back and say just keep doing what you are doing.
We got fucked down the wing against Chelsea. So would someone mind telling me how new centre backs will solve this? Drogba got between the two of them and the cross was perfect.
We did not press enough high up the pitch and we lost every 50:50 and got punished.
These magical solve everything players do not exist – the issue is in the application of talent. Give me Ray Parlour over any of our fancy dans, he was never the most technically gifted but he was disciplined and put in the hard work required at the top level.
We need the players to start putting in a fucking shift or otherwise they need to fuck off elsewhere – you can have all the talent in the world but if you don’t have the application you can join the scrap heap with every other Arsenal reject.
What world class players would want to come to Arsenal when we haven’t won fuck all for 5 years. Who realistically can we buy that would improve us? No one. We need size and talent, but in all honesty who the fuck can we get?
Wenger will not buy. We should all accept that. So what we need is someone to come in and stick a fucking boot up the arses of our team to ensure they get the maximum application out of them. Against Chelsea I doubt we saw 70%.
Listening to Wenger is like listening to a inmate in a mental hospital.
He is off his head.
Why am I dignifying your dribble with a response…
Bring in Guus Hiddink!
I think we went on a run last season after losing to man city in November…(until we met, you guessed right manu/chelski)…but we are better this season than last and the EPL is more competitive so you never know!
Anyway, I see the player of the month award is up for voting, Song to win that hands down!
Laters
Oh yeah.
Good afternoon everyone
sad fucking smiley face.
Listen, if the manager thinks we did no wrong how will the players ever learn?
Dutchman welcome! I agree with you by the way.
I’m interested to know BBK, if you say you weren’t “coming in your pants” at the prospect of being able to say “I told you so” how exactly did you feel at the final whistle? Did you feel sick and down or did a sense of vindication take over?
I was just sent a text, “What’s the definition of a shrewd Arsenal supporter? One that stays until the final whistle to avoid the crush.” I suppose not going at all would have been the shrewdest move yesterday.
I’m constantly amazed by how people can watch the same things going on on the pitch and yet come to comletely different conclusions. For instance, I thought Song was our best player in the first half. Alot of people on here thought he was playing well too, judging by the surprise that was expressed when he was replaced by Theo. If you look back at them, Pedro, at half time, yours is the only comment that suggests it was a correct decision. I suppose who you watch the game with, might colour your perspective somewhat.
I also thought Nasri was playing better than Cesc, Arshavin, Denilson and Walcott when he was substituted.
I thought we lost the game by too much dithering in attack and by a few ridiculous defensive lapses. But what the fuck do I know? Not a lot.
Project Wenger is over,Reality check for the grand illusionist
In recent seasons, there have been individual matches which have told seasoned football watchers that Arsenal do not have what it takes to win the Premier League. In 2008, we saw two of them. Away to Birmingham in February and away to Stoke in November. On both occasions the team’s faults were apparent and exposed. Yesterday’s home defeat to Chelsea told us loud and clear that there is not a cat in hell’s chance that Arsene Wenger’s team are, once again, anywhere near the requisite quality that is needed for a title-winning side.
Denilson: What exactly is the point?
Granted, the team was shorn of their first choice front man and left back, but that is the whole point of having a squad of 20 odd players. I don’t think I need to go into an extensive analysis of the match yesterday. In brief, it was boys against men, despite the relative experience of a good number of Arsenal’s roster. Chelsea showed more commitment, were more clinical and more cynical. They were, by a long way, a far better team than Arsenal. Tipped as champions by many very early in the season, we saw nothing to dispute that idea at Ashburton Grove. Manchester United without Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez will struggle to keep up, and there is every sign this campaign could turn into the kind of procession we witnessed in 2005 and 2006 under Jose Mourinho.
Wenger’s half-time substitution and the abandonment of his 4-3-3 in favour of a 4-4-2 showed how desperate the situation was, but credit to the man for, at least, having the balls to acknowledge his tactics weren’t working. Sadly, the switch brought Theo Walcott into the fray. A lad with incredible pace, and er… that’s it. The idea that Theo will ever make more than an average Premier League wide man can surely be put to bed now. Hopeless isn’t the word for his display. The other player that stood out as having a particularly poor game to these eyes was Denilson. His contribution was utterly minimal. The Brazilian national team give a chance to a lot of players and called him up in 2006 for a friendly against Switzerland. He didn’t get on the pitch and was never asked again. Quite simply, his level is probably the Fulham midfield at best. The odd corking goal is a pleasure, but I am not sure there’s much more to this lad. He simply looked out of his depth yesterday.
In October, Wenger addressed the AGM and told the shareholders, ‘I am really convinced we will win a trophy. This season we are ready to go for it in the Premier League, the Champions League and of course both the cups as well.’ The Carling Cup has too many good sides remaining, even if the Gunners kids overturn what will surely be a near full-strength Manchester City at Eastlands on Wednesday. Forget the Champions League. Arsenal are not at the races defensively, which at some stage, is an aspect of the game they will need to rely on. So, it’s all or nothing at Upton Park at the beginning of January, with a Wembley date in May, right? Not as long as Chelsea are in the competition. Frankly, if Wenger fields his normal mix and match FA Cup side, the players might have a free weekend in the latter half of January.
Arsenal have gone along the road of self-sustainability, but the game has changed. What the club should at least have tried to do is speculate to accumulate. Give the manager £20 million extra a season with the prospect of actually winning some silverware and generating more revenue through prize money and the attendant commercial benefits that come with success. Instead, it’s tight purse strings and nearly men. With this approach, no-one could have achieved any more than the current manager, and yet, he could have done better if he was less proud and would agree to an assistant coach who might tell him on occasion that he was wrong. Stop him making ridiculous decisions like starting an FA Cup semi-final with your most likely matchwinner on the bench.
The only real question now is whether or not the manager should be given the chance to spend the money that is finally available. Because with the existing set of players, Project Wenger will inevitably hit the rails at some point in any competition. Hence no trophies since 2005. The reports of record profits are a bit of a myth. With any figures released these days by the club, it should always be remembered that they are including money from Emirates and Nike that was handed over years ago to help build the stadium. Those long term deals – at bargain rates – are crippling the club now in real terms. The cash balance the club has includes a lot of money that has to be held as security on the club’s existing debt repayments, as well as cash that is allocated for future staggered transfer payments for players already at the club. So when Keith Edelman trumpeted the club had £70 million he was talking out of an orifice that was not seen on Arsenal TV online. On paper yes, loadsamoney. Available to the manager to improve the squad? Forget it.
Net transfer spends since the arrival of Roman Abramovich at Chelsea:
Chelsea: £166m
Liverpool: £103m
Manchester United (pre-Ronaldo sale): £99m
Arsenal: – £1m
That’s right, Arsenal are in profit on transfer dealings since the summer of 2003. With a team already in place, they won the title in the incredible 2003-04 season and the FA Cup 12 months later. Since then, the league has been shared between Chelsea and Manchester United, whilst the Champions League has seen wins by Liverpool and Manchester United. Arsenal have come close to glory on a couple of occasions, but with Wenger relying on younger players than his opponents, Arsenal have become the nearly men.
The problem, ultimately, is that the fans have to keep turning up, and Wenger’s team has offered just about enough hope to keep the turnstiles clicking. But there must come a point where – for the prices being asked – people are just going to say enough’s enough. Arsenal fans are paying the highest prices in world football to watch a team that doesn’t have what it takes to win a trophy. If we were paying less, we might by more acceptant of it, but we are paying so much because of the high earnings being paid to the current squad of players. And on yesterday’s performance, frankly, we are being cheated. Chelsea players are even more handsomely rewarded, but when it came down to commitment, they, at least, were a lot closer to earning their salaries, however inflated. Chelsea played like a team, but in the face of superior opposition, Arsenal looked anything but.
January can’t come too soon. A new keeper that the central defenders have an iota of confidence in is an absolute must. Decent experienced central midfielder and a centre forward of unquestioned goalscoring ability are equally vital. Van Persie’s out until August as far as I’m concerned, and Bendtner is the only other option as the kind of holding front man that Arsenal currently rely on. Is he good enough to carry the team to honours? Is he a 20 goals a season man? No. Impact sub, yes. Nothing more.
Wenger has to stop giving out false messages to the fans and concentrate a bit more on getting his players to perform. The fancy dan Brazil 1970 football is hugely entertaining against the likes of Wigan and Wolves, but it can be nullified by teams with real quality, as Arsenal will find out once again in the Champions League knockout rounds. The club made the semi-final last season by beating an unremarkable Roma side on penalties and a Villarreal team with half its best players out injured. If the Manchester United experience should have told the manager anything, it was that his team needed more than Arshavin and a new centre-back to close the gap.
However, the Highbury Square debt ensured that Vermaelen was the only incomer of note during the summer, in spite of the money received from Manchester City. Now Wenger has access to that cash, so let’s see it used and finish the season with some semblance of respectability. And clear out some deadwood from the squad either in January or the summer. God knows there’s plenty to choose from. Four defeats already this season. There were six in total last time around. It will be no surprise if there are more this time.
Arsenal are 11 points off the pace in the Premier League. For all the wonderful football we’ve seen this season, the Gunners are currently behind Tottenham Hotspur. The table doesn’t lie.
Arsene Wenger has 18 months left on his current deal.
I agree Geoff. One can only hope that he is bollocking them behind closed doors…
@ Geoff the answer is they won’t – but what you have to consider though is the fact that Wenger never criticises players in front of the media – he does that behind closed doors with video footage of the last game.
Just because it’s not reported doesn’t mean it’s not happening. But we do need someone (basically, not pat rice) with a more forceful approach to put the fear of God up our softies.
charybdis1966,no it was the feeling of i knew what was going to happen and didn’t get myself worked up because of that very feeling
Seems like every single newspaper out there is running with the farcical stroy of Wenger claiming Drogba “didn’t do much”. Fuck me I hope never does much to us then!
And regarding the post – savaged appraisal but differing from my opinion:
Song was one of best performers, if only through actually closing down and getting a foot in.
Denilson was efficient but uninspiring.
Sagna was woeful going forward and surprisingly, in defence where he is usually solid.
Nasri & Arshavin provided no cover at all leaving the full backs exposed. This my friends, is where we got fucked.
BBK we might not win it but we are still not out of it.
Don’t call me deluded,i choose to see it as a cup half full than the other way round.
Geoff – why do you conastantly have a dig at Wenger’s public statements? Surely it’s obvious that whatever he says to the media is part of a professionally managed PR front. It’s not about being deluded or even dishonest as some people (incredibly) seem to want to believe. It’s simply reflects a professional way of dealing with the mass media. The only people who really know what Wenger thinks about Sunday’s performance are the players and coaching staff. It can’t be done differently or any club would be in total chaos.
ok mimi we are not out of it
Tommo – There is no way that we should get someone else in to kick the players up the arse when its Wenger who should be doing that. He’s the manager and he hast to take responsibility for everything. No one is going to take notice of a No.2 shouting at them when Wenger is just telling them everything will be ok.
In a strange, roundabout way I felt similarly to you BBK. Once I found out Drog-breath was going to be available I feared the worst, and the return of lumpus maximus was the final nail in the coffin of any hope of us getting a point or three from this.
I was more annoyed with losing to Sunderland as I didn’t expect that – we should have beaten them. I accepted yesterdays result with a grim inevitability.
It still hurt like hell though.
It hurts to say this but Chelsea looked on another level to us, they were organised, soaked up pressure then decided to go for it as and when they felt like it. I mean look at their bench, Malouda, Ballack, Deco all vastly experienced players. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to work out what the problem is here. We lack experienced players, strong personalities and a will to win at all costs. Denilson runs around smiling all the time, even when he gives the ball away, walcott just has no control, to fast for his own good, ends up running and leaving the ball behind, Diaby just decides when he wants to put a performance in, etc. We looked like children out there running around after the ball. And the experienced players, Arsharvin and fabregas just looked fed up. Messi thrives on playing with xavi, inesta, etc, who has fabregas got to help him up his game. The saddest thing was that Chelsea hadnt even broke sweat by the time the final whistle had gone where as we had be running all over the field do nob all. We need some bulk in our team, some more experience, sevet cetin, viera, chamackh would be a start. Wnger needs to get ruthless, move on the ‘passengers’ and spend cos project youth is dying a slow death and its 5 years and counting!
TAIG – It can be anyone senior – I love Cesc but he doesn’t have the balls to lay in to his players when they aren’t doing the job they have been asked.
A couple of weeks ago Sagna had to tell Cesc to have a word with Arshavin because he wasn’t tracking back. He just shook his head, so Sagna wanders over and bollocks him himself.
This is what I mean – captain, no.2, whatever – people need a bollocking and no-one is up to giving it.
If you are advocating removing Wenger then would you mind telling me who the fuck – realistically – Arsenal can replace him with?
Mimi, cup half full/half empty could you applied to a cup with something in it, ours my friend is empty, well maybe 10% in it, if being generous, but that definitely does not make if half.
*if = it
Guys what do you think of my suggested formation change….With Bendy and RVP out we dont have a lone striker…they need support
So this is my suggestion
Eddy as CF has failed…maybe he will come good but we dont have tome for that….so I think a slight change of formation would be good now that RVP and Bendy are out
I think we should chang to the diamond 4-4-2 for now..Eddy needs support..its basically the same as 4-3-3 except the top triangle is inverted
So instead of this
……………….Back5……………………
…………………X……………………..
….X……………………………..X……
..X…………………………………..X..
…………………X……………………..
We have this
……………….Back5……………………
…………………X……………………..
….X……………………………..X……
…………………X……………………..
………..X…………………….X……….
I would play like this until RVP or Bendy is back
…………………Back5…………………….
………………..Song/Denilson………………
…..Cesc/Ramsey…………………….Rosick/Diaby…
…………………..Nasri/Arshy………………..
………….Theo/Vela……………….Eddy/Arsh…..
I think that lineup would do well until RVP or Bendy comes back..Hell we could even use when Bendy is back as well..
Nasri or Rosicky should not be used as wing forwards…they should be driving from midfield…
Nasri is just frustrating on the wing, we need them to drive through the centre with Cesc and shoot at fucking goal…instead of dilly dallying on the wing and slowing up play…
I think Nasri would be excellent at the top of the diamond…where he can go left or right and shoot at fucking goal, we know he has a good shot…Arshy can play at the top of the diamond as well or as support striker…
I think they would do much better there than what there doing now
Whenever teams defend like Chelsea we need individuals to take responsiblity dribble into the heart of the opposing defense and force the defenders to make errors…the players always choose the easy pass and let the defenders off the hook
Im not one of these people,who still think we can win trophy’s this season because we clearly can’t.People want to stick there head in the sand and hide the fact that we are not very good at this moment in time,but still want to lie to themselves to hide the honest brutal truth
Look, no matter how bad things get we should not call our manager a ‘cunt’.
Tommo – OK, your comment earlier was that we should ‘get someone in’ to bollock them and then you said ‘not Pat Rice’ which is why I went down that path. If it could be a skipper, great but like you say we don’t have one their who could do that in the right manner.
As for replacing Wenger, i would only list you the usual suspects I’m sure. Hiddink, Rjykard and perhaps there is some truth in the Guardiola talk. But we must remember that this club was around a long time before Wenger came a long and that Wenger himself was a nobody when he arrived. So who’s to say that there is a nobody out there that could be perfect for us?? The main problem we have now is that Wenger runs Arsenal and we are at his mercy. At last when Dein was around we had someone who could spot a talent.
mimi its over
do u really see almunia, denilson, vela, eduardo and theo turning into quality players overnight
theo has been with us for 4 years, 4 fucking years, shocking return from that 1 trick pony (1 trick being running so fast u leave the ball behind u)
I have to agree with you Geoff on this one. Wenger is loosing credibility in the media faster than a speeding bullet train enroute to tokyo
he should learn a thing or two about honesty when the chips are down.
imagine him playing down drogba’s performance yesterday. Yet we all wonder why the press like to attack us. Manager whinges too much
Supergunner, if I could understand your pigeon English, I’d probably be offended by your constant picking on me today.
Jeez, you really do hold a grudge…
only good thing to come out of yesterday was the gooner that threw his phone at lampard
bigging up average players is on course for potential failure 5 years in a row
the last time we won the league i was playing Pro Evolution Soccer 3
Well, get used to it because this is how it is and this is how it’s going to remain, because nothing will change with the present management structure. They have a clear list of priorities for the club and winning trophies is NOT top of the list at any cost. The only time anything will maybe change if if we drop out of the financial comfort zone of the CL. Prudent financial stability comes before anything else. The worst part about all of this is that we probably could do better without breaking the bank, but we have a egotistical manager who is inflexible and refuses to change his philosophy, even when it proves flawed. Oh well, it’s only football !!!!!
Franchise..this is the short term solution
……………….Back5……………………
…………………X……………………..
….X……………………………..X……
…………………X……………………..
………..X…………………….X……….
I would play like this until RVP or Bendy is back
…………………Back5…………………….
………………..Song/Denilson………………
…..Cesc/Ramsey…………………….Rosick/Diaby…
…………………..Nasri/Arshy………………..
………….Theo/Vela……………….Eddy/Arsh…..
I think that lineup would do well until RVP or Bendy comes back..Hell we could even use when Bendy is back as well..
Nasri or Rosicky should not be used as wing forwards…they should be driving from midfield…
Nasri is just frustrating on the wing, we need them to drive through the centre with Cesc and shoot at fucking goal…instead of dilly dallying on the wing and slowing up play…
We need to get Theo & Vela off the wing and put them in the fucking centre…maybe something good will happen
Timao, because we pay Wenger’s salary, that’s why, he owes us.
Ja, is it me or you posted the same thing like 10 times now?
Rijkaard is still largely untried and doesn’t have the most impressive of records. to say he could do a better job is stretching it somewhat.
Guardiola has managed Barca, thats it. If Wenger managed Barca I’m confident he would have had the same success. So same issue as above.
Hiddink would be a phenominal boss. But lets wait till May before hanging Arsene out to dry eh?
yip eventually his stubborness will cost him…i think he has taken us as far as he can with this philosophy. unless he changes. i think its time for a change. i really do.
Drogba and Anelka are awesome as a front 2, only Messi and Ibra come close and that is only because Messi is brilliant as I don’t overly rate Ibra! I would hate to play either of them, as they have everything needed. Pair of cnuts that they are!
It was weak, no focal point at the front 3, no physicality, no running at them with the ball; it was all tippy tappy eye of the needle. When it’s not working, change it, not bring on another alfa romeo(c Pedro)
As a CB, I thought Gallas should have cut out both those balls as the front post CB and when he missed the 2nd one there was not much TV could do.
It will be a big ask now for the team to pick themselves up from such a demoralising beating, but they did it last season and must do it now. AW needs to buy in Jan though, as I do not believe the answers to some of the questions are already at the club!
zorr0, you don’t rate Ibra? Watch his goal last night, he did in 5 minutes what Henry couldn’t in 55, and that is win the game against direct rivals and only other challengers for the title.
Geoff – his job description does not include destroying the morale and reputation of the club by making a lot of heat of the moment, frank comments to the media! or maybe you’d be happier with someone with the metality of Kevin Keegan running the team?
Tommo earning £6mil a year for no trophies is stretching it, it’s not like we haven’t given him time is it.
Every pundit out there including Freddie, Wrighty, Bergkamp and Veira has told him to buy, why do you think he deserves even more time, surely enough is enough?
That’s £16k a day, how much do you earn???
I really think we need a shake up from the top.Bring in Kroenke and Dein. Keep Wenger but let him work with Dein on getting in some proven players over 5ft 7.
Get some more intimidating defenders and a big frontman.
A decent GK wouldnt go a miss. Rob Green for me. Yaya in midfield.
not sure about a what new striker tho.
So you are saying destroy the fans and pamper the players that play like shit are you?
Tommo – This is all that is wrong at Arsenal. Fans such as yourself think the club will die without him!! You think there is no one out there who can do a better job than him? Nothing is a guarantee, especially in football. But that doesn’t mean you persist with a failing project. When would you draw the line if not after 5 years of trophy-less football??
Duke, not saying he is shite, but would you have him over either the chav pair?
Hannibal destroyed every Roman army sent against him, he camped outside of Rome for 16 years, he was unbeatable.
Then he went back to Carthage to face Scipio, then he got hammered at the battle of Zama.
The moral of the story is they aren’t great forever, Wenger has arrived at that point.
Scipio beat him because he knew his tactics, Hannibal had no plan B.
Sound familiar?
Duke I posted it many times because I want ppl to give an opinion on it…
I really believe we dont have a striker to play up top by them self right now…SO I advocate switching to the 4-4-2 diamond which is essentially the 4-3-3 with the top triangle inverted..
So the midfield would stay the same but the forwards would operate differently…
And also we dont need to play Song and Denilson together…
Use either of them as the DM….then pair Cesc with Rosick, Nasri or Diaby……
Get Nasri or Arshy at the top of a fucking diamond..
Then play one speed demon(Vela or theo) alongside a support striker Arshy or Eddy or even Bendy when he comes back..
Also why are our players so afraid to enter the box…so many times we cross and we only have 1 or 2 players in the box against 6 or 7 defenders….its ridiculous..
don’t give the media what they want, which is public controversy. if you have to give a player a bollocking do it behind closed doors. assume fans realise this is what is happening. it’s like the chancellor saying the ecoonomy is recovering – what else do you expect him to say?
Listen to me people, or I will send an army to destroy you.
What do you mean I’m delusional?
It’s a horrible thing but there are a two things I think we all have to accept as definitive and will not change regardless of how much debating, posturing and complaining we all do.
The team. Arsene Wenger will not buy ANYONE in January. We need to basically accept this as a given based on his recent history.
The formation. It will remain the same – it has been altered at all levels throughout the club, and tinkering with it does not change the personnell playing within in.
I love a debate as much as the next guy but some stuff, unfortuantely, feels like a waste of breath at the moment.
See where I’m going with this?
Lol at wenger’s comments about drogba!
Did you guys see how traore bounced off drogba! Even Verm scored an own goal.
What a striker!
Ok I’m off to the gym to try out my bionic arm, catch you all later.
To many lightwieghts not punching above their wieght,to many similar type players,and even more to come in,no punch. Wenger” we will win something this season”,he,s talking and looking like a turkey,and we all no what happens to them.
They seem to get pay rises!
zorr0, if money is not involved, as I think Barca overpaid, then I would choose Drogba, Ibra, Analka in that order on their best days.
If I were to choose today, I would go for Ibra, as he is 3 years younger.
Also I believe he is a better partner for Messi than any of the Chav boys would be…
And hang on a fucking minute – fans like me think we will die without him? Get a grip.
I am asking who would do better – Hiddink would be a fantastic boss did I not just say that? But what good is it dumping a manager midway through the season? Let’s get this one out of the way first.
And where the fuck did I say don’t buy? I would LOVE him to replace with better players but I don’t know any REALISTICALLY that would want to come to us and we could get – by all means share if you do!
Geoff – what I earn is inconsequential – and 5 years is a long time – but you are both preaching to the converted and making crass assumptions based on realistic observations. I know what the problems are, so give me some soloutions.
Tommo – We pay to keep this club going. We do NOT have to accept anything. The more pressure we can put on Wenger the better I say. Its about time he realised he has someone to answer too!!
Duke, the beauty of opinions! For me; Didhedive Dogbreath, then Anelka, then Ibra. That’s without Torres, Benzema and Villa entering the fray!
Arsene:
Buy Buy
or
Bye Bye
???
Tommo – I wouldn’t get rid of him now, of course not.
Arsenal really disappointed me.
They got to the final third and then seemed to lose their way.
Do they need to replace van Persie in the short term?
Problem is wenger doesn’t even say that we were not good enough, he is busy blaming the ref, the weather, the food and everything else.
Why can’t he just say we are not good enough!!!
zorr0 fair enough, except Benz didn’t do anything yet compared to the rest of the players you mentioned. Also what about if you take the age factor into consideration? Anything changes for you?
get yaya or ozil and zapata win the league.
get gignac in addition win the double.
add messi to the list, do the trebble!
this time 2 years ago we were top of the table, 5 points clear of chelsea with a game in hand and 3pts above Man Utd, also with a game in hand. a lot changed in the 2nd half of the season. the same thing can happen again.
choy – he doesn’t have to, there’s plenty of people like you out there who will say it for him!
be best now if wenger doesn’t spend, and then when he goes at the end of the season, the manager will have more money to spend.
I can see wenger going if we fail again, but i think he would find it incredibly hard to let go of the youth development side of the club. the players he has brought through from kids to the verge of the first team – he feels a lot responsibility towards them and wont want to let them down.
Ja Gunner I agree 100% that we need to shape up 442 diamond.
yes but he must accept it, and as far as i can see it he never has!
in a diamond 442 the width has to be provided by the full backs which is what we still do anyways although there would be mininmum 4 attacking players in the box when crosses come through
yesterday at times there were 4 players around the ball in wide areas and one to none in the box
but Ja who are we they would say
Armchair managers
Lol yeah we are armchair managers..
Franchise here is the funny thing..when Wenger swicthed to 4-3-3 i thought he would pair Cesc with Rosick or nasri and then have one of Song or Denilson behind them..
nasri has been injured and Rosick is till 100% but…..he has many opporunities to put them into midfield and he has not…
He sticks them as one of the wing forwards every time…but I think we dont get the best out of them there…Both Rosick and Nasri have powerful shots….on the wing they hardly get to use this..instead (nasri mostly) they dither around on the wing and wait for the full back to overlap to send in a useless cross…..they dont vary their approach enough..Nasri always cuts in ore waits on the full back..Chelsea just smiled and nlocked all the crosses with ease…
If nasri and Rosick were in the centre then maybe we would see them taking on defenders more often and getting shots
off
And for now we need to play 2 forwards as none of the ones avaialble can play alone…so we need one speed demon(Vela or Theo) paired up with a support striker(Arshy, Eddy, or even Bendy)
Use Nasri, Arsh or Rosicky or Cesc at the top of the fucking diamond depending on fitness opposition etc…
This way as you said we would have more playersin the box whe the full backs cross..
When the 4-3-3 was in full effect – albeit against some poorer opposition, it was the answer to everything and couldn’t be faulted.
The difference between now and then is we have lost RVP and the much-maligned Bendtner and they have been replaced by Nasri and Eduardo. Nik B gets a shocking ride from most fans, many of whom fail to see how hard he works for the team.
With RVP and Nik chasing down the opposition and holding the ball up, we could afford to carry Arshavin during those 15 minute spells when he pops back to the changing room to call his wife.
The very leaset I expect from Eddy and Nas is that they run around, both were pathetic yesterday unfortunately.
the problem with us playing one up top seems to be everyones looking for the main striker “who wasnt on the pitch” .AA really disapointed me yesterday, buty were noy out of it yet
hello all
great,
when we all know the winning league depends on how we beat bottom teams,we are to bitching and gloomy talk..
this melancholic discussion based on today,when still 25 games left..
well one thing is for sure,same set of people after 4 days will be back hoping for arsenal win,behind the team…so no point bitching,as we HAVE NO CONTROL on the situation…
in midst of injuries,this applies to fans and our players,where there is a will,there is a way,and still 25 games to go,where winning the league as usual depends on beating the bottom placed teams..and for sure we can beat them,as only one team is chelshit,not 18…
who would havew believed it -Bendtner to the rescue, we need him now!!
The diamond requires world class full backs to work properly.
If we switch to this stupid formation we will need more from our fullbacks who are shit and can’t cross to save their lives.
Pains me to say it but cuntley cunt showed us what a world class full back is yesterday.
This is what we should play until we have RVP and or Bendy back
…………………..Song/Denilson…………………
…Cesc/Ramsey……………………….Rosick/Diaby….
………………….Nasri/Arshy……………………
…………Theo/Vela…………………Arshy/Eddy……
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_5734241,00.html
Halo sound…
how tall is simpson anyone?
an angelic sound Pedders ?
Sabeel, agree with you mate. The thing is that we absolutely need to kill off small teams. ManU did it last year. They were horrific against the other top 3 but still went on to win the league cos they got the results against small teams. It’s not two horse race yet and we aren’t out of it as well. Still long way to go.
Arse and nose….the 4-3-3 we play now relies on the full backs for width anyway….
When was the last time you saw Arsh Nasri Rosicky or Theo really provide real width?
They havent done so because all of them except for Theo wait for the full back to overlap….
So switching to the diamond would make no difference regarding the full backs……
However it would give us an extra striker which is what we needed yesterday..none of the strikers available can play alone..they need support…..plus if you switch to a diamond…you should have more players centrally in the box when the cross comes in from the full back….yes our fullbacks are not good crossers but maybe if we had more players in the box..we would be more likely to get on the end of one of those crosses.
When we play the 4-3-3…many times its only the CF in the box…the 2 wide forwards dont get into the box, they are always beside the full back when he crosses and the midfileders are too slow to get into the box as well..this is where we miss Diaby because he can cover the ground and get into the box..
But maybe if we switch to the diamond we could have 2 strikers plus the guy who plays at the top of the diamond in the box as well…
So that would be 3 players in the box atleast…instead of 1 most of the time…
And also Wenger needs to tell the full backs to vary their crosses…they put in somes low hard ones as well instead of putting in the air for players who are all under 6 feet tall.
Whatever formation you play you need good players.
Both the diamond and 4-3-3 requires a monster of a Defensive midfielder, and super full backs-we have niether.
Song is good, but we ask too much of him.
I was thinking about the sound effect in Tom and Jerry, when the Halo appears above his head in an episode.
Your word is probably more appropriate!
gunnerthestunners..
glad atleast i met see one guy who sees that,what i wrote at 15.26
Most people know this,but emotion has overtaken them to talk and post in melancholic moods..
but one thing i am sure,when next game starts in 4 days,everyone will forget this grieving posts,and hopefully look forward,for what will be a first of next 25 games to go..
For the summer I would buy
1. GK (or maybe Fabianski will come good)
2. Yaya type player(can play midfield or CB)
3. CF(If Bendy does not come good)
Renew Gallas’s contract and keep him and Vermy together..
Sell Silvest and other dead weight..maybe Senderos as well since it seems Wenger has given up on him…
If we get Yaya and JD comes good we wont need another CB..
But we definitely need a goalkeeper and a powerful CF if Bendy does not come good….
He needs a powerful CF to be either backup to RVP in 4-3-3….or be partner to RVP in a 4-4-2 diamond formation..I think the diamond can work because its the same as the 4-3-3 except you invert the front 3 players…
like Ja pointed out the 433 we play at the moment wont be different from a diamond 442. the triangle up front would just be inverted and the CFs would play closer to goal.
A&N its a case of how do i get the best out of my players. its probably wengers fault for trying to play CMers all over the pitch. Where are our wingers???
the best 433 ive seen in the prem was chelsea o4-06 with duff and robben on the wings and dider thru the middle.
afternoon All..
well well it was a disappointing gamne and result,still im not giving up that easy..and i still think we have a far better potential and talent than chelski,but i will admit…it didnt show this time around…and ill even go as far as to admit that we might be short of a new goalie(get Akinfeev)and due to RvP’s injury it seems that we need a strong powerful striker…
that said this is the time to stand firm and not judge Our Beloved Arsenal on one game…lets see how this turns out…its a long season and we’re not done yet…wait and see…i still think its going to be a battle for London…but i admit chelski got the upper hand now..well lets buckle down and fight for it…8 points..thats nothing…
Go on you Gunners !!!
tom
I got it Pedro – or how about the effect/sound that appears above Simon Templar’s head ?
our 442 of 07/08 was the best weve had in recent times. with cesc, vp, hleb and rosicky. It was a smallish team but they held their own
Wow people still willing to defend Wenger after another hammering by the chavs! tut tut some people never learn do they?
atleast am with u tom on those views,do read my comment on 15.26
tomstoned it wld be intersting to see where we end. one thing i can bet on though is that it is more likely for us to drop more points than chelsea would until May.
the 11 points could end up being 18 or more
we should just try and remain in touch by that i mean maintaining a minimum 8 point gap until December at the least. im assuming we would win our game in hand
Tommo before you say I’m crass, learn how to spell solutions, what you say will sound more credible.
As far as asking what you earn, I didn’t really want to know, I was being rhetorical.
Irony is an amusing thing.
in other words all 6 league games in December are a must win
we should be more worried at the moment about those sniffing around us than chelsea at the moment
the race is not mathematically over but it is a tall task for this team
Arsenal fans have done their part by keeping the belief. Its time for the manager to start disbelieving in this team. Spend some £££££££££££££££
fart
I tell you what Fran been a fan for over 40 years seen good times,seen bad times! this current arsenal team will not win a sausage and its due to piss poor management the club is rapidly losing its way,dont like saying it time for AW to do the decent thing and leave, for him to say after a defeat like that there was nothing to be ashamed of smacks of a very desperate man who is clutching at straws IMO!!
That post was spot on! Do I think this team needs major surgery? NO. But at some point we have to look at ourselves and ask, ‘why do we keep losing?’. The answer is def. the defence.
It amazes me that the back 4 individually range from good to very good and yet they can be so poor as a unit.
Fucking hell. We need the Wenger of 97-98. A ruthless manager with something to prove.
Get in some fucking height and power in central defence. If that means dropping one of Gallas or Verminator so fucking be it. They get paid thousands of pounds per week, I couldn’t care less about hurt feelings. At this level Wenger should not be comfort grown ass men.
Year on F*&^ing year we have no dominant player in defence and after Toure goes what does he do, Go for the fancy type barely 6 feet in defence again. I like Vermy, but we need to look at the needs of this team, not the aesthetics.
“Wenger should not be comfort grown ass men”
What about overgrown ass men like Arshavin?
That guy has a massive arse.
Zeus i thought it was more of cole raping sagna yesterday.
Cheers to everyone (and the boys at Le-Grove) for helping me get yesterday out of my system.
I’m sure by tomorrow I’ll have my rose-tints back on and be predicting 10-0 to the boys against City! Sh*t, guess that makes me as myopic as Arsene! I can’t stay angry at them for long – BBK, I don’t know how you do it!!
Arsenal eh? We don’t half make it f*ckin difficult for ourselves!
Who can remember a good game Theo has had against a top 4 side in the league?
4 years at the Arsenal in January
The next big thing since Wayne Wonder
disappointing really
Anfield last year.
Emirates against the chavs in the 4-1 defeat, too bad he couldn’t finish though.
@JA
lol. How did you reach summer already? Thats a far way away yet, and if you are under any illusions that Wenger will buy in the summer you are sadly mistaken.
If he didn’t by this past summer when pressure was beyond overwhelming, what makes you think he will buy when we will all be distracted by the upcoming WC to notice we still have the symptomatic problems we’ve had for the past 4-5 years.
t hurts to be a gunner.
Hey Franchise..remember last year how we complained about Nasri being on the wing?
I thought he switched to 4-3-3 to accomodate players like Nasri and Rosicky to play as CMs…..
Now he has been playing Nasri and Rosicky on the wings yet again…They dont play their best their..rosicky and Nasri have powerful shots on them…how are they supposed to use it if they are stuck on the wing most times… We all have seen what Nasri has done whenever he finds himself in the centre…
So why not play these guys in the CM to help Cesc creatively and play fast direct players on the wing…yeah I know Theo and Vela have been injured but I bet even now we wont see these changes..he will continue to play Nasri and Rosicky on the wings..then bring Walcott of the bench to change things somewhat…
I did not know Wenger created the 4-3-3 to accomodate playing Denilson and Song at the same time….I am disapoointed…
I thought we were going to see a Xavi Iniesta type partnership….
Diaby has done well there as well….but since he is out it should be Rosick or Nasri there now
This year Guardiola has changed to a Xavi Keita partnership but thats mostly because Iniesta and Henry have been injured/not in good form…
@ choy
Sagna wasn’t very good yes, but overall we have conceded how many goals by way of set pieces? Too much. Thats why we need a more dominating CB. Was just making a general point about our play rather than being specific to yesterday’s game.
Is it just me or has it become so boring and pedantic talking about the Arsenal’s problems. Can’t defend, sketchy keeper bla bla bla.
I forget who made the post Geoff or Pedro, but I remember a blog from last year where one of them said their m8 said he might as well save all Arsenal posts because the problems show themselves to be exactly the same season after season. Just adjust the date and scoreline and your fine.
What do ye think? I have been asked by a liverpool fan if i want to go to the liverpool arsenal match in 2 weeks. The question was vaguely(sp) asked so im just assuming its an invite. Havent answered yet. I would be sitting in the kop. Should i go for it?
@ Ja
I doubt very much that we will see a Xavi Iniesta partnership with these current players. For 1 thing Cesc who many see as the Xavi doesn’t really sit deep anymore. He gets the freedom to roam, to start and finish moves. Pardon the description here, but for me he has moved away from just being a Xavi type and is now more a hybrid between Xavi and Lampard/Gerrard with his late runs.
As far Nasri, I’ve said this before, but I’m not really a fan. Nowhere close to being the next Pires IMHO.He is tidy and will give you moments of inspiration few and far between but he in no way is decisive enough or consistent enough and not just from game to game, from minute to minute. For me, he has yet to play a full 90 mins worth of football for Arsenal, he just flickers in and out of games.
Your right about his wing play though, he is very predictable out there; he holds it up, try to beat his man and ends up giving it to the overlapping fullback, or he simply comes inside and makes the simple pass. Comparing him to iniesta is pushing it though, its a pity he doesn’t have Hlebs dribbling and passing range to go with his 5-10 goals he will give us.
Now that I think about it….I think 4-4-2 diamond is the way forward….with 4-3-3 being a option for tough games etc…
RVP has again proven to be fragile, so we cant rely on him to go all season as a lone forward…
So even when we get all the players back I would advocate for a 4-4-2 diamond
lIke this
………………Any world class GK………………..
Sag/Eboue……….Gallas………..Verm……….Any lB
……………………Song/Yaya/Den……………….
…Cesc/Rosick…………………………Nas/Abou…..
………………….Arshavin/Nas…………………..
………………………………….RVP/Eddy………
………….Bendy/Theo/Vela………………………..
Its time for Theo be trained as a CF….Wenger sees this as his long term future..so let him start practicing now….
IN the summer sell Silvest and Senderos(since Wenger doesnt trust him anymore)
I would also be tempted to sell Denilson..
Get in Yaya or Sissoko from Toulouse..but preferably Yaya because he is experienced and ready
Kolo helped to be invincible but his brother can probably help get us back on track and finally win the CL
We need a GK as well…..or lets hope that Fabianski is the answer..
Zeus but I am almost sure that if Nasri gets to play in the centre..then we will see more off him….you can see that he is not comfortable on the wing at all…..
When he played for Marseille you saw him taking on players and shooting alot more often…he cant do this on the wing..
I bet if he played as a CM we would see better…also I think the same is true for Rosicky….he is not a winger..he was his best playing through the centre for Czech republic and Dortmund…
So again I advocate for this formation
………………Any world class GK………………..
Sag/Eboue……….Gallas………..Verm……….Any lB
……………………Song/Yaya/Den……………….
…Cesc/Rosick…………………………Nas/Abou…..
………………….Arshavin/Nas…………………..
………………………………….RVP/Eddy………
………….Bendy/Theo/Vela………………………..
Ja let your voice be heard
u love your formations but u do know your football
Ja
Rosicky is better than Nasri. Yes both would look better in the middle, but as I said Fab4 gets so much freedom, can Song really be trusted to shield the back 4 on his own? I doubt that highly. In barca setup Xavi picks his moments when he goes forward, Iniesta does most of the roaming. As it stands now Fab4 is better at roaming and scores more than both Nasri and Rosicky, so whoever comes into midfield can’t have that freedom as well, they would more or less be a deeplying playmaker which is why I prefer Rosicky.
As for Walcott, at some point we just have to call a spade a spade. He is nothing more than a well mannered Jermaine Pennant. Any team that parks the bus and defends deep negates any quality that Walcott supposedly has. Apart from pace he is an average player.
we’re below the fucking spuds.
and we beat em GM
Duke, sorry fella, had to go do some work! Age, yeah I think Benzema could be the next big thing, especially if he was playing every week for us!
Ja;
I agree with that.
I think a 4-4-2 is best for us ATM.
4-3-3 is shit.
_________Fabianksi__________
Sagna–Gallas–Vermy–Clichy
Walcott–Fabregas–Song–Vela
________Bendy–Eduardo__________
Bendy and Eduardo have a great partnership.
Big man little man.
This 4-3-3 is crap. Always only 1 person (CF) in the box…..
Franchise
They’ve been beaten by the chavs and mancs as well. This really is a low point. Even though I didn’t expect to win anything before the start of the season I started geting my hopes up.
Still, we must dust ourselves down and hope that Manchester City’s dismal run of draws comes to an end when we beat them this week
please lets keep it real. Last time we played city, it was Ade against us midgets, yesterday it was Drogba against us.
We were classless in our performance, clueless in attacks, bewildered with the difference in size, and it hurts that manager can be so so so so so so so fucking stubborn to say it was Chelsea’s day when its hard to imagine if we were actually there.
After January I would like to see;
_________New Big GK__________
Sagna–Gallas–Vermy–Clichy
___New BIG CM–Fabregas–New BIG DM
______RVP–Dzeko–Arshy
Knowing Wenger he will buy no-one, which will add to the list of depressing transfer window’s…..
We were fucked yesterday ! We didn’t play football at all,, I didn’t see determination and creativity. The second half,, our players were just standing there lazily waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle ! i was so disappointed,, we played at home, against one of our biggest rivals, in front of our fans, and we got battered. Let’s not blame Chelsea or the others,, see our team ! Our players are weak, have no strong mentality, and will always be losers.
Football is all about mixing. Maybe we have tons of brilliant young and talented players,, but they won’t win you titles. It has to be mixed with powerful players, experienced players, good manager, fanatic supporters, fine management, etc. Wenger HAS TO buy in January,, if he doesn’t,, we’re screwed.
Walcott is just another above average player. I don’t see the reason why he’s gaining 60,000 a week. He’s blessed with his dazzling speed but he can’t cross, he can’t shoot, he can’t link up with his team mates, he can’t timed his runs, and he can’t blablabla. Almunia ? Wtf is he doing wearing the number 1 shirt. He’s completely a mess this season. If he can’t bring back the last season’s performance,, he should be out next month. Eduardo is fucked this season,, he clearly can’t match in our 4-3-3 formation. Denilson should have been the one who do all the “dirty” job but instead of doing that,, he was harmed all day long yesterday. Sagna needs to perform if he doesn’t want Eboue to take his spot. Fuck off Arshavin,, hate to say this (as he’s my favourite player) but if he keeps his performances like this he should be benched.
Our tactics were nowhere near perfect. Ancelotti was a genius knowing with our shitty 4-3-3 formation we were weak on wings. It’s either we go back to 4-4-2 or we’re fucked until (at least) Bendtner comes back.
We don’t want excuses like our goal should be allowed again. We don’t want yet another trophyless season. We don’t want same mistakes to be repeated. We don’t want shitty players in our team. We don’t want to be supporters whose opinions are just thrown away like that. We have to look forward. Buy as many players as we can in January because injuries will strike again and again. Win the next game or we’re fucked. Enough from me.
Zeus I hear you about Theo he might well end up being a casualty….
BUt from the formation that I put out..yes I do put Rosicky or Diaby as my preferred midfield partner to Cesc….
I would rather put Nasri at the top of the diamond…he and Arshavin could share that position…Rosicky could ven be used to rest cesc once in a while….
And yes our players have to learn to be smart about advancing forward…Barca have learned the art so why cant our players learn… IN the diamond this would be my preferred lineup..
……………………GK……………………….
Sag/Eb……….Gallas………….Vermy……..anyLB
…………………..Yaya/Song…………………
…Cesc……………………………..Rosick…..
……………………Arsh……………………..
………………………………RVP……………
…………..Bendy(or big powerful forward)………..
Bench: Diaby, Eddy, Theo, Nasri, Vela……..etc
I say any LB because all out left backs are similar they are all fast…however Clichy has the experience advantage while Gibbs and Traore have better end product and more potential..
Sag or Eboue depening on the opposition..
Obviously all players have to help in defending but I woulod trust Yaya because he has been there and done that with Barca.
I would go after him in the summer…Man City would be greedy to go after Yaya….they have decent DMs already in De Jong and even Barry if they are forced to use him in that way..
Man City problem more lies in defense and sometimes offense
i dont think this teams defensive problems is an indivual thing because sagna vern gallas clishy are all top class players its team thing as ateam they dont defend well enough for,its not that cant defend because i know they can but its there mentality not to keep a clean sheet but to just out score there opisition and thats no good.i dont think you can pick song to protect the defence its team effort starting from the strikers and the attacking midfielders if look at chelsea it was not just down to one dm player essien lambard all shiped to defend and protect the defence,they take great pride in the fact they keep a clean sheet evon if they are leading 5-0 hwo often do see aa go to help out in defence if you look at manu rooney is not a defender but whn needed he will help and protect the lead same of giggs ect,i have said it several times a good defence and fairly attack beats a solely offensive team and chelsea have the best defence in the legue,
Leon, very true. Arshavin should have cut out the pass for the first, I mean fuck me, JT is not exactly Beckenbauer is he!
Then Nasri fucked up for the 2nd, he was supposed to mark the thrower, got sucked in towards Anelka and left Judas to stroll down the line for the return.
I would have kicked both of them in the bollox if I was TV!
Mind you, Gallas should have cut out both crosses!
I’ve read several comments made by Mr. Wenger following yesterday’s match. His constant reference to “we” this and “we” that seems to infer that he himself was on the pitch and now, following a resounding defeat, “we” (the Royal We?) will have to maintain our confidence in the face of undeserved criticism from fans and the press. Hmmm..it sounds a bit paranoid and frighteningly insular. Has Mr. Wenger’s position at Arsenal reached a point where he answers to no one except the sound of his own echo? There is a detachment one sees between the players and the top manager’s in football: this detachment is not present between Mr. Wenger and the players at Arsenal. And as for providing the media with comments meant to mislead: please, that is absurd. He is without even the most basic humility that is born of harsh experience. To not admit that “on the day, the better team won” is an arrogance that this present team has not the resume to provide.
With the players we have now, this is how I would play it…
……………………GK……………………….
Sag/Eb……….Gallas………….Vermy……..anyLB
………………….Song………………………
…Cesc……………………………..Rosick…..
……………………Arsh……………………..
…………………………………..Eddy……………
…………..Theo/Vela………………..
Theo may not be all that skillful but imagine the fear he would put into CBs who are usually slower than fullbacks….
What we will get in January at best in my opinion will be Henry and Vieira on loans or Gervinho/Remy and Matuidi.
Barca ill try soften us up for a Cesc deal, Inter need Paddy out and the 3 French kids/ one Ivory Coast guys are mad to join us.
Of them I would sign Matuidi,Vieira and Gervinho.
Bendtner and Gervinho could battle out for striker s and look no matter how many strikers you have the cream will always rise to the top
i was suprised by the lack cutting edge but by this team defensive problems because its been there along along,with no rvp players like aa and edwardo and risicky must step up
We were fucked yesterday ! We didn’t play football at all,, I didn’t see determination and creativity. The second half,, our players were just standing there lazily waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle ! i was so disappointed,, we played at home, against one of our biggest rivals, in front of our fans, and we got battered. Let’s not blame Chelsea or the others,, see our team ! Our players are weak, have no strong mentality, and will always be losers.
Football is all about mixing. Maybe we have tons of brilliant young and talented players,, but they won’t win you titles. It has to be mixed with powerful players, experienced players, good manager, fanatic supporters, fine management, etc. Wenger HAS TO buy in January,, if he doesn’t,, we’re screwed.
Walcott is just another above average player. I don’t see the reason why he’s gaining 60,000 a week. He’s blessed with his dazzling speed but he can’t cross, he can’t shoot, he can’t link up with his team mates, he can’t timed his runs, and he can’t blablabla. Almunia ? Wtf is he doing wearing the number 1 shirt. He’s completely a mess this season. If he can’t bring back the last season’s performance,, he should be out next month. Eduardo is fucked this season,, he clearly can’t match in our 4-3-3 formation. Denilson should have been the one who do all the “dirty” job but instead of doing that,, he was harmed all day long yesterday. Sagna needs to perform if he doesn’t want Eboue to take his spot. Fuck off Arshavin,, hate to say this (as he’s my favourite player) but if he keeps his performances like this he should be benched.
Our tactics were nowhere near perfect. Ancelotti was a genius knowing with our shitty 4-3-3 formation we were weak on wings. It’s either we go back to 4-4-2 or we’re fucked until (at least) Bendtner comes back.
We don’t want excuses like our goal should be allowed again. We don’t want yet another trophyless season. We don’t want same mistakes to be repeated. We don’t want shitty players in our team. We don’t want to be supporters whose opinions are just thrown away like that. We have to look forward. Buy as many players as we can in January because injuries will strike again and again. Win the next game or we’re fucked. Enough from me.
On the bright side. Arsenal are signing a 14 year old Maradona.
Horrible day to be a gooner.
Humiliation from Management all the way down.
Arsene FC is embarrassing at-times.
Guys for the Carling Cup..I would play this team
using a diamond formation
…………………….Fabianski………………….
Eboue……….Senderos…………..Silvest………Traore
…………………..East/Coquelin………………..
….Ramsey…………………………..Merida……….
…………………..Wilshere(if fit)………………..
…………..Theo……………………Vela………….
With Watt, Sunu etc coming off the bench
According to reports, Arsenal FC are the fourth, yes fourth, highest payers to agents this year! On fucking what???? Backslapping contract extentions to a bunch of underachieving fucking chockers….
http://www.studs-up.com/2009/11/get-em-while-theyre-hot/
Gallas is our best defender but has inexplicably simplistic dodgy fuk up’s from time to time.
Obviously we would need a lot of help getting back in this one.
For someone who defends Walcott alot. I felt humbled by his shytness yesterday.
But then again. Someone like Walcott is never going to change a game when Chelsea decide to park the bus.
It is time for Le-prof to go imo…
What he says is so out of touch with reality i feel concerned bout his health now.
Great defence though, we should learn a thing or two from those chavs.
Just read that AW nearly signed Drogba. Thank fuck you didn’t Arsene, cos we got Diaby. What a ricker that would have been, signing possibly one of the worlds best players. Thank god you saw sense and then decided to let us all know, just after he pretty much makes a mug out of our team….(rolls eye’s for the umpteen times already this season!).
I posted this lot last Thursday;
dennisdamenace Says:
November 26, 2009 at 11:53
Fuck Chavski, Fuck SSN, Fuck all the so-called pundits, fucking take the game to these classless cunts, blow them away in the first 20 minutes like we used to do, and give a few of them a fucking dig into the bargain, cunts to a man…..
dennisdamenace Says:
November 26, 2009 at 12:05
Seriously, if we cut out the clown defending and go for their throat from the off they will be fucked, the crowd need to play their collective part too, GET FUCKING HOSTILE people………..GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!
dennisdamenace Says:
November 26, 2009 at 12:07
Can someone please point me in the direction of a Chav supporter, I feel a row coming on!!!!
dennisdamenace Says:
November 26, 2009 at 12:17
Don’t get me wrong, if our boys let me down a la last season with another shocking, choking display they will get the wrath of dennis!! However, right now I feel fucking good about turning those classless chav cunts over, c’monnnnnnnnnnn boys don’t let me down, finally fulfil your potential and send a message out to the rest of the Premier League.
The Menace Has Spoke!
dennisdamenace Says:
November 26, 2009 at 12:26
Give that cunt Drogbreath an elbow in the ribs in the first couple of minutes, send him and his mates a sign saying that we mean fucking business!
dennisdamenace Says:
November 26, 2009 at 12:34
Fuck Song, the horse he rode into town on, any other of those highly paid under fucking achievers if they don’t give it 110% against those fucking dog shits on Sunday….. Seriously NOW is the time to stand up and be counted, not next season, fucking NOW!
I draw my learned colleagues and fellow Grovers to my 12:34 post above.
Well they’ve fucking blown it……….again! I don’t know what was more embarrasing, watching that lot ponce around impersonating an Arsenal football team or listening to Arsene Wenger’s post match waffle……
If AW believes his own verbal tripe then we are in for a long long painful journey Grovers. Because he will play and play and play the same failures until they play one good game, probably against a team like Burnley, so that he can tell all those who are bothered to listen that he has a great team!
No one in power at AFC will change what’s happening because he makes them money, noting will change with new ownership because they will relish earning shed loads of money off of the back of the cash cow that is Arsenal Football Club supporters……..
I spent all last night and all today taking flack from Millwall and Charlton supports ffs, not for out abject surrender at home, but for Arsene Wenger’s quite laughable comments in his post match interview.
I truly truly wanted us to bash those cunts up, and ALL the players let me down. But Arsene has gone beyond the pale for me now. I no longer have any interest in his plans fo AFC and will bide my time until he finally moves on and we can get back to being a proper football club, not a place for self serving idealists.
If another club had performed so ineptly at home a lot of Gooners would be looking at that club and wondering whether that manager had “lost” the dressing room, think on that….
He didn’t even apologize!
So we replaced Senderos with Djorou and the result is the same .. We tried the much hyped Vermalaen and the result is the same ..
Isn’t it time to accept that Senderos was not the biggest problem we had … We do not have any concept of team defending. Did anybody notice how chelsea was defending in numbers, closing angles and even drogba was helping out ..
In our case gallas misses a cross, and it is a goal .. None of our wingers/midfielders want o help out ..
We will never win anything till our defence is sorted out ..
Fucking woeful performance from a team that deserves it’s reputation of “If you can get at them, they’re fucked!!” This should finally spell the end for AW’s experiment of spending precisely fuck all, while allowing first team regulars to leave every fucking year! What one of the following wouldn’t have made the starting line up yesterday?? TH14, Gilberto, Matty Flamini, Alex Hleb & Adewhore… If they want to go, let the fuckers go in a heartbeat, but make sure you get enough dosh to replace them like Real & Barca do!
The spanish waiter is embarrassing! He should have let him go when he bottled the last 15mins of our Champo League final.
Denilson is an Hull City player at best and Eduardo has turned in to an Hull City player!! Finally, What the fuck is all this hype about Theo?? TH14 & Theo have just 2 things in common… Speed & the No: 14.. That’s it!! TH14 had skill, vision, a sublime first touch, devastating finishing & most of all was a winner. Theo is not familiar with any of these qualities… Roll on January, spend the dosh from the northern chavs to give us an outside chance in the Champo league and secure top 4 status!! Spend nothing and the gap will just keep getting wider… Ask any yid about the above, they have fucking years of experience!
That was fucking inspirational DDM.
According to SSN, Denilson will be on soon with his thoughts on the game and the title race, well let’s hope his English is better than his fucking performances, or we may need a fucking translator……
David – For me this is worse than last year’s setbacks, i’m hurting badly fella, really bad.
I’m no longer interested in hearing Wenger’s voice. Or any innane rhetoric from rubbish like Denilson, talk is cheap.
Anyone of those fucking Arsene Wenger apologists wanna come on here and back him now, or for the future????
The difference is i fucking care about my club, but i couldn’t give a fuck about the manager…..
Oh that’s all right then, we don’t need experience after all, we only need Wenger’s belief in the players!!
Thanks for that Denilson, i’ll sleep better for that you fucking one dimensional mug….
Try living my life, surrounded my AFC haters, you just jog on back your you pampered £30k per week life….
Oh, and just out of interest, what did you do on Sunday that justifies your manager’s belief in you????
Oh yeh, that’s it, your cheap!
Remember Dennis Arsene Know’s
Im surrounded by AFC haters as well.
Its fercking disgraceful. Alot of Chav c*nts and Manc Wankers.
What is even Worse is that I was told I was delutional about my squad.
When Flamini left I was told by my 12 year old cousin that Arsenal were too light weight…and they would get pushed over.
Fuck me.
Do you know what? Chavski didn’t even have to be at the top of their game to humiliate us at home, at home ffs!!
Would it really hurt Wenger to at least state that a performance like that is totally unacceptable at Arsenal Football Club, but no he drones on about how unlucky we were at that we didn’t deserve that blah fucking blah…….
I just really wish Wenger didnt say what he said about the refereeing.
That has fuck all to do with Sagna crossing to Midgets in the box.
Hi reggie – i’m not felt as low since the semi-final replay defeat against ManUre….
What I can’t understand is that when vela plays beautifully he is the best player we have. And when he has 15 minutes to prove himself and he doesn’t score than he must be sold???? WTF????? Give that boy time, he will be good for us. You can see his talent but again he is no CF he is good in a 4-4-2. What do you guys think about vela???
This team has no spine.
An agressive, strong, fast CF like Fabiano
An agressive, strong, dominating CM like Ya Ya
An agressive, strong, decisive CB like Chielini
An agressive, dominating, decisive GK ??????
Unless of course 4th plac every season is good enough, and being humiliated at regular intervals by MAnUre & the Chavs is ok with you….
As if we didnt know Van Persie is Injury Prone.
Sure.
We dont need a striker.
Chelsea are going to get Aguero in January when Drogba is off.
The rest of us are praying for Chamakh on a free.
Fucking ridiculous.
If only some of us could speak to Arsene directly….maybe he might listen to some new ideas..who knows..
I want to propose the diamond formation to him…because right we have no Cf’s capable of playing by himself…so we need 2 strikers…
We need more players in the box when we attack..instead of all of them standing at the edge of the fucking box..
……………….Back5………………..
………………Song……………………
…Cesc………………………..Rosick…
………………Arsh…………………..
………Theo/Vela………….Eddy………..
Those are the players available now..when and if a fullback crosses the ball we need Cesc Arsh Theo/Vela and Eddy to be in the fucking box….
With Rosick right out side the box to pick up rebounds/loose balls and power them in..We know he has a powerful shot on him
Then Song behind him ready to stop counter attacks…
The only way Wenger would get sacked is if we BOO him or protests.
If Wenger goes I also want the board to!!!
This board only care about their end of year bonuses which comes from Wenger selling our best players!!!!
Samir, who do you think from our talents will make it???
Alright Dennis same here fella, Wenger is embarrasing beyond belief when he said i looked at the video 5 times and still cant see why the goal was disallowed as a chelsea player had their foot high not eddie……..
Laugh or what !!!!
Guys….if Bendy develops we dont need a another striker….
But yeah someone like Fabiano or Chamakh would be welcome
However I agree we need
1. New World Class goal keeper
2. Another strong CM who can play CB(Yaya)
3. powerful CF(if Bendy fails when he comes back in a couple weeks)
If we get a strong GK, then Gallas and Vermy are ok…
If we had a commanding keeper who communicates, our short CBs would not be under so much pressure..
We need to switch the formation….even when RVP comes back…..we could play RVP along side Bendy (or that new aggressive CF like Fabiano or Chamakh)
JA_G
To be honest. None of these players are good enough. At least not yet.
Never looked like we were going to get back in it once we conceeded.
the people who critize wenger get slaughtered in the press, tv and radio .
i’m one who thinks that he should fuck off and go take this shower of shit of a team he keeps telling every one that are up for the challenge with him.
people say what will happen when he goes the answer WE START TO BUILD A WINNING MENTALITY AGAIN THATS WHAT .
FOR Those who say who will suceed him ,for me
lets give rikard a go maybe have Bouldie as his number two , he been outstanding with the kids .
6 million a year and our title dreams gone up in smoke before xmas ,thanks wenger .
Dutchman;
I do think most of them will make it BUT we don’t have time to wait for them do we?
I’d prefer already made quality not some youngsters with potential.
It’s fine having a few youngsters on the bench but not a full starting 11 with a bench full of them as well!!
We need experience and POWER!!!
Gus Hiddink.
Samir, I mean the likes of wilshere,ramsey,wilshere,watt,lansbury,bartley etc.
COME ON Kroenke or even Usmanov……
Buy us A.S.A.P and sack the cunts on the board.
good recruitment – DDM ..
I know it . you know it ..
but why doesn’t wenger or half the plonkers on the net realize it ..
We went down like cheap Ho’s to a better side .
thats what happens when 1 club is ambitious and others just go thru the motions and make money fleecing the fans of cash (priority 1 )..
some of our players are not good enough ,
the sooner the fans start making some noises
the better !
i hope some of you now will get with the program and bleat !
because with this club ONLY, when enough fans start making noises do players get purchased !
so stop taking the zanac’s and get off the song/denilson/diaby /senderos/big al train of love and dump these fuckers off at the platform!
and demand some real replacements instead of keeping the bums no other clubs make a bid for
and try to turn them into TOP CLASS players .
we still have these 2nd rate – injury prone players because no one else is mad enough to have them
Knowing our luck we’d buy 4 world class players and every one of the cunts would be seriously injured within a month.
It’s no kroenke or usmanov. WE HAVE MONEY BUT WENGER DOESN”T SPEND IT!!!!!!!
Wilshere,Ramsey and Vela are all good, but not good enough for a top 4 team at the moment.
Den@19.02 I could not agree with you more.
Ja no Bendtner is not good enough I have seen enough of him to know he is not the answer. No more languid slowcoaches please.
Dutchman;
I think most of our money has gone.
Giving player’s with great potential (sarcastic) new contracts and paying off some of the debt.
If we were too ask one of them two for 100m or even 50M each I’m sure they would give it to us.
With 100m and the money from selling;
Almunia 1M
Silvestre 500K
Senderos 3M
Denilson 5M
Diaby 5M
Eduardo 10M
Traore 4M
Simpson 2M
=30.5M
We could buy star quality and for once challenge for a trophy.
My question is who would you buy with 130M?
ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC has just signed for 5 year contact with Barcelona, the spanish giants have paid £40m PLUS Samuel Eto’o for the striker. Ibrahimovic is now the worlds most expensive striker.
But did you know that he came VERY close to signing for Arsenal?
In 2001 Arsenal agreed a £3m fee with his club at the time Malmo FF, Personal terms with Ibrahimovic were also agreed and his was even given the number 9 shirt (photo above) It all basically a done deal…Until it all went wrong.
Zlatan was sure the deal was done and even posed for photos with the number 9 shirt, He called his friends at Malmo and told them how happy he was to be signing for a great club like Arsenal.
Arsene Wenger then told Zlatan the deal was NOT done and that he would have to play in a trial match before he signed him as he was not 100% of his talents. Zlatan was so angry about this he refused to play in the game and walked out of the Arsenal training ground. Zlatan felt insulted by Wengers late decision and refused to go back as he knew there were other clubs who wanted him.
Wenger decided NOT to sign him for £3m and he was then sent back to Malmo FF.
Wenger said: “I rate him highly. I wanted to buy him when he was a boy but it didn’t turn out that way.”
Malmo then sold Zlatan to Ajax and Arsenal signed Francis Jeffers for £8m, for almost 3x times as much as what they could have signed Zlatan.
So i wonder how wenger feels now knowing he picked Francis Jeffers over Zlatan Ibrahimovic and at more then double the price.
Ohh well…In wenger we trust, RIGHT!
So we have missed out on who;
Ronaldo
Yaya Toure
Ibrahimovic
Cana
Benzema
Given etc etc
This could go on forever………
If Wenger had some balls we could be watching;
__________Given___________
Sagna–Gallas–Vermy–Clichy
________Y.Toure___________
_____Fabregas–Cana_______
_Ronaldo–Ibra–Benzema
samir
interesting spiel on zlatan, yes weve missed out on every TOP TOP WORLD class player to walk the earth, and yet we have managed to hold onto eboue – song diaby ,OH joy !
& who says shit doesnt stick ?
Samir I would not play Yaya and Cana..it would be one or the other……Thats like playing with Song and Denilson….
And I doubt Benzema can play on the wing..but all the others are good selections..
For the summer I would get
1. GK (Akinfeev, Lloris, or a German)
2. Yaya Toure
3. Fabiano/Chamkh/Powerful CF (If Bendy fails to fire since he will probably be the CF for the rest of the season since RVP is out)
Solve these 3 positions and we can win titles…
Some are asking for a CB as well….but I think if we get a commanding GK..then Gallas+Vermy is good enough…
A good goalie would have prevented the Vermy own goal yesterday…
i think david villa will be sold for more if he eventually does move on …
he would be the number 1 striker currently .
and thats what arsenal NEED !
no point to take a risk on buying them young !
we need NOW players , because we are in top flight football NOW !
Wenger is guilty of using the EPL as a hatchery
,when he plays his best squad in lieu of hopefuls , then ill know he is taking it seriously ..
denilson and song both in the starting line up ?
seriously ? he must be taking the piss !
this game rested on the midfield match-ups and we go in with 2 feather weights ..
is wenger trying to throw matches now ?
Its all adding up to REAL poor management !
and ive seen it all to often recently
If madrid was willing to part with 35 mill. euros for Villa and couldn’t get him, how in the world can we?
Plus he is not the tallest either.
Dzeko for me, even though I hate when people come on here and play football manager.
Plus the GK and CB positions mayber even the fullbacks even are much more pressing at present.
I would only play Cana and Yaya against the likes of Chelsea and Man u. They try and kick us, they would get it right back even harder.
Imagine one going up and the other taking his place in the DM role…..
Viera, Petit like!
But dreams over we don’t have them
The biggest mistake Wenger has made in the past few years is not signing Fernando Toress when Henry left.
To think Liverpool only got him for 26m, when we could cough up a fraction of that and include Jose Reyes. In the end we still sold Reyes to Atletico too. Pffffffff
Spilt milk…….
Showing the replay.
Ive juss seen Anelka run at Denilson, cut to the left then run past him like he wasnt even there.
And not resigning anelka
Zeus
You make it sound like it was just a question of money that determined who got Torres. It so obviously wasn’t, he wanted to play under the protection of a Spanish manager in the same way as many French players come to Arsenal to play under the protection and tutelage of a French manager.
Hey ethan, long time my friend……..
Did you all see the anger shown by Vermy after the own goal?
That’s what we need from all our player’s and the manager.
It really really really pisses me off when Wenger talkes his shit about “killing players”…..
Do we really give a shit mate?
If we have to kill them to win then go ahead….. I might even help you
I’m just talking shit actually……
We need answer’s from Wenger. The bloody bastard!!!
In England people think all the problems have to be sorted out by buying players. I believe that the biggest target is to work hard in training, improve where we can improve, and have confidence in the players we have.
We have money available. It is now for us to spend it in the right way. If we can add we will do. Unfortunately I cannot tell you that we are close to signing anyone.
The position of the squad is very good. It looks to me that the cohesion is there and that is down to the fact we have stability.
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has revealed he used to support rivals Arsenal when he was younger – after his double dealt Arsene Wenger’s side a damaging blow in the title race.
Don’t believe that came into his thinking London. As far as Spanish players go, Fabregas has been the best in the Epl for some time now. If anything that would swing him in our favor. Rafa’s only claim to fame outside Spain is Istanbul but the argument is moot and about 3 yrs late so whatever. Its what do we do now.
What makes this worse than last year, well a season ago Wenger decided we had to suffer through the growing pains of denilson, diaby and song who he inexplicably thought of as ready for first team football; this season most actually started to believe and almost with the blink of an eye the dream is almost dead and buried.
I still can’t believe Spu*rs are above us and we are only 2 points above Liverpool. Surely my eyes are playing tricks on me, we should be so far ahead of those teams.
Watch Dispatches on Ch4+1, it about Rich russian billionaires including Usamov
When you don’t feel crook for 2-3 years you tend to start thinking you are invincible, but the bout of flu I’ve just got over, i tell you, its like, like, I’ve been in a crash involving a golf buggy going 10 kilometres per hour. BANG!! & as I come out of it, BANG!!!!!! The Arsenal get hit 0-3 @ home. Talk about a reality check.
……….but in reality, IMHO Le Gaffer won’t apply the necessary remedy to The Arsenals’ woes coz he is the Professor of stubborness. He will apply only mild oitments, salves, balmes to dress the wounds, when what is needed is a metophoric injection of 21st Century medicines, that being, cash @ transfer window time.
Pedro,
I thought Song did a good job and tbh, it was clueless of Wenger to drop him instead of Dennilson.
The point must be made that the players were so casual and lazy all around the pitch, no fight, no spirit. I felt Chelsea gave us another lesson on how to defend and attack- Did I really say that? Sad but so true!
Mon ami, its time to raid Stans “medicine cabinet” or to put it in a more appropriate way, that reflects the mood of the jaded fans, “war chest”.
The Big Guns that blazed the UK from 1998-2005 & for long periods over 125 years, have now fallen silent, & never more ineffective than when defending home ground on Sunday. It was a disgraceful effort by an extremely well marshalled, but under manned regiment.
History has proven that @ times like we face now, either reinforements are requested, or the head of command is replaced. The decision is yours Mr Kroenke.
Where’s Wrighty?
He owes me his car.
If Denilson wasn’t Brasilian, would he have been given the chances that he has been given?
He & his fancy little dance when he scores his 2 goals a season is pathetic. He is a luxury, like Theo & Eduardo who, @ the present time, only seem to be effective for certain situations, but are not the answer for the long haul. Don’t get me wrong, they must have talent to be able to play @ the ighest level, but there are 20 squads of say 30 players, & only 1 lot wins the Big One.
Buy! Buy! Buy! & in January. I agree with El Tel, Almunia is poor, get in a world class stopper & then the defence can start to build from him.
Albert Tatlock would do a better job than Almunia, not to mention Stan “between the goals” Hartley.
Stan “between the posts” Hartley, its the spanish waiter who effectively stands between the goals, that he continually concedes.
Lehmann was world class. Every keeper in the Polish league is better than Almunia.
And I’ve always said Kuszczak had the potential to be world class if he didn’t go to United.
I hope you saw guys saw his performance this weekend. Looked miles better than Foster and VDS have this season.
You could put a Slow Loris between the posts, & he would move quicker than Almunia
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1140/536314523_6d4ca40111_o.jpg
Ade set to play against us. Senderos is good enough to stop him.
I just hope Bellamy doesn’t play. He starts all their counterattacks.
Fabianski
Eboue Senderos Silvestre Traore
Ramsey Eastmond/Coquelin Merida
Wilshere Theo Watt
Pat Merida is suspended. I reckon one of Vela or Eduardo will start rather than Watt, or maybe both of them with Wilshere in midfield, and Denilson could play too. With Traore being first choice for the foreseeable future I wonder if he might be rested, maybe Silvestre left back
A, Merida’s suspension starts December 9th, or was it 4th? Either way, I read he’ll play.
Vela will start for sure, I forgot about him. It’s not a bad idea to start Eduardo as well. He needs to start scoring to regain confidence.
Them 2 can interchange on LW and CF. Wilshere in MF or up front? Denilson might play to regain form.
Now I forgot Theo! Front 3 of Theo, Eduardo and/or Vela. Wilshere to play up front if one of Eduardo/Vela won’t play.
Merida, Ramsey and a CDM in MF
oh awesome Pat, I didn’t realise that, apologies, great news! imo Vela should be starting ahead of Eduardo centrally against Stoke. I was going to say I’d start both of them in a front three with Eduardo, but imo that would leave the front three unbalanced as we need a playmaker in there. So Theo, one of Vela/Eduardo, and Wilshere/Merida with the other one of Wilshere/Merida in midfield, with Ramsey and Denilson?
http://arsenalyouth.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/merida-available-for-city-tie-despite-reserve-red-card/
So I’m going for
Fabianski
Eboue Senderos Silvestre Traore
Ramsey Denilson Merida
Wilshere Vela Theo
Though maybe Eduardo in up top, maybe Merida and Wilshere swapping round, maybe Bartley or Vermaelen in in defence and Silvestre left back.
Big big game for Fabianski, if there aren’t any massive problems for him I expect him to follow it up by starting against Stoke and Olympiakos, and taking it on from there as our number one.
Or Ramsey and Eastmond. De Jong works hard so we need someone with a high work rate.
Is Carlton Cole out for 4 months?
And still no news on Merida’s contract
Szczesny will definitely be our keeper in the FA cup. Arsenal didn’t give permission to whatever team he joined so he didn’t play in their FA cup game this weekend.
Fabianski’s time. I’m sick of Almunia
Merida has agreed the contract verbally, it really isn’t a big deal, it’ll be signed soon, along with Rosicky.
I didn’t know about Cole, when did that happen? Been out of the loop football wise for the last couple of weeks!
I agree about De Jong, dirty fuck too. I reckon Denilson and Ramsey can do that job, though maybe Eastmond
totally agree with vela and walcott, I had the chance to watch a game with his national team, and HE DOES NOT PLAY as a powerful forward, he is a left winger, what he does well is to score in the counterstroke, he has a very similar game to Pato from AC milan, and walcott well I dont think he even has a fair chance to be judged, but I think they have a better game than eduardo
didn’t know that re szczesny pat, maybe Almunia is gone in January then
I used to want De Jong at Arsenal when Flamini left. Similar players, but Flamini is much more likeable.
A, he came off injured against Burnley and there were whispers of torn knee ligaments. Not sure how that ended up.
Szczesny has been getting great reviews. He got man of the match even though his team lost 1-0. Saved 1 penalty and got a hand on the 2nd pen. Could have been an embarrassment from what I read
Ratings from that game:
BEES: Szczesny 9, Wilson 5, Osborne 7, Balkestein 7, Foster 6, Bostock 6 (Cort 69, 6), O’Connor 6, Bean 6, Wood 6, MacDonald 6 (Murphy 25, 5 (Taylor 83, 5), Strevens 6.
not great for Murphy! Didn’t realise he was subbed on then subbed off!
I dont know whay everyone has a go at Almunia!
…oh no, wait a minute, I do actually, its because he’s total fucking shit.
Are we allowed to deliberately not field a goalkeeper? is that allowed in the rules?
I think the centre backs would be more confident with thin air in goal for us.
Pure, succulent Oxygen could do a job for us. Think about it.
Ok, it’s Tuesday, we should leave Chelsea behind and start another winning run against Man City. Wenger should get back to winning ASAP, Man City would be a good start.
And 24 days till Christmas. I hope we have a winning Christmas run, and pre-Christmas run. Novermber is traditionally a poor month for us, and the stats are bang on, but we should pick up from now. The best way to pick the team up is to beat Man City.
Typical panic after a loss. Relax. A few things did not go our way. Our players are immensely skilled. With RVP we’d have scored and been fine.
samir if you sold like 10 players to spend 30 mil on one player have fun when you find you have a squad with no numbers at all. with senderos and silvestre sold we could always resort to playing some untested 16 year old cb you’ve never heard of if gallas or vermaelen get injured.
the result was terrible and the performance totally lacked penetration, but why am i not surprised that you’d take our poor result (defined by mistakes from the cbs and keeper and a lack of penetration from our strikers) to talk poorly of song and denilson’s performances in the middle when neither of them did badly. in the first half song played well. he didn’t single-handedly dominate, but i don’t think any single player on either team did. i’m not saying either of them were fantastic, but if they played the exact same way and we’d not made defensive errors and our strikers had done their jobs better we would have done ok, because it wasn’t really him who let the side down. what i’m basically saying is if he had been in a chelsea shirt instead of essien yesterday you’d have been saying how we weren’t up to players of his standard yesterday
without meaning to be a doom and gloomer. Man city will beat us no matter what team we put out.
sorry
zeus Says:
November 30, 2009 at 20:11
If madrid was willing to part with 35 mill. euros for Villa and couldn’t get him, how in the world can we?
—————————
well madrid is in the same li liga as Valencia .
you can understand the sell to a rival price tag !
i think we could secure him for 35 easily, maybe less ..
but he is what we need…. regardless !
we need someone as a goto man for goals !
as ive said a million times arsenal is a side that needs to score more than the opposition !
(especially with big al in goals !)
BRING BACK VITO !
yes we used to have that level of service up front with
TH14 – DB10 and support like PV04 – PIRES FREDDIE in the hay days .. if anyone thinks we have players to match the above past heroes currently (and more importantly wenger being intelligent enough to play them all at the same time ) there deluded !
sorry , the class of player needs to lift to even be back in contention , to be in contention
============================================
AA23 Says:
December 1, 2009 at 01:34
without meaning to be a doom and gloomer. Man city will beat us no matter what team we put out.
————————————–
given our poor away form and wenger’s lust to field a 2nd rate team for this comp , i concur !
the line up to me should have been more like
Almunia
Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Gibbs
THEO Fabregas song ROSICKY (nasri)
Eduardo Arshavin.
————————
then we would have had our best players on the pitch , the focus on dudu and AA for goal .
speed with theo to break them down
and the skill of rosicky on the other flank .
personally id prefer nasri over song in a holding role , he is far more technically gifted and would adapt quickly .
plus songs off soon anyhow , so give nasri the job as DM and we would have a GREAT midfield setup again …
(providing rosicky and theo can stay fit)
Served you right Wenger!
Told ya we need new players all along same thing past 5 years til now:
Defender – Hangeland (Vermaelen lost twin brother FYI)
Midfielder – Matuidi (what next if Cesc injured? The heck Sunderland get Lorik Cana!)
Striker – Chamakh (Eduardo, Arshavin simply unrealiable already)
That’s all just barely enough as genuine 1st team cover yet team wages similar to ManUre or Chelsea. Heaven knows if CL k-o stage we drew Barca or even Chelsea again next.
Wenger’s stubborness simply no longer a genius but a nuisance to Arsenal FC.
Murphy got injured I think
also one other point , for all the knob ends who try to pass off the Carling cup as a trophy no fucker wants ..
why are ALL the top 4 still in it then ?
only Liverpool who currently isnt top 4 has missed out ..
the problem isnt the fact this cup is worthless
its more the fact that wenger views it as such and his disciples follow on his preaching .
Yes wenger we used to marvel in your youth program 3 or 4 years ago ,
but its like a broken down car ! .. going nowhere and costing us time and money ..
if we want to see inexperienced youths in an arsenal shirt we can do that every EPL game nowadays .
AA23
I think the centre backs would be more confident with thin air in goal for us.
Pure, succulent Oxygen could do a job for us. Think about it.
—————————————-
more like helium in your case ! (hot air )
ethan, what are you on about? United play their youngsters in it. They’re putting out a young team against Spurs.
Arsenal, Liverpool, and United don’t put out the big guns
Ethan Helium isn’t hot air.
Ethan whenever you post this is what I imagine you look like.
Always makes me chuckle. I bet I’m bang on as well.
In fact is this actually you?
http://www.justoffroad.com/Redbull%20airrace/Lord%20Bath.jpg
Actually I’m onto something here.
Here’s Mangoonian…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp2/features/wallpaper/images/800/paul_nicholas.jpg
this ones Stu
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3287/2699042785_2fc334bfff_o.jpg
it’s a genuine picture of him though
Noooo…. Van Persie’s going to be out between four to five months. It just had to happen!
I know Jonathan. Did you also hear that we arent called Dial Square anymore. Unreal!
The Edge
Anthony Hopkins as Arsene Wenger; Alec baldwin as Stan Kroenke; Harold Perrineau as Alex Song; Elle Macpherson as gnarleygeorge’s love interest & Geoff as Himself.
See what happens when shit results push Geoff over the edge & he takes his frustrations out on Song & the rest.
On a more disturbing note
Premier League clubs are paying almost £2 million a week to agents in commission as the middle men’s earnings were revealed for the first time by the top flight.
Manchester City were unsurprisingly the Premier League’s big spenders on agents.
The 20 English top flight clubs disclosed they spent £70.7 million on agents’ fees last season alone.
Mel Stein, the highly respected executive of the Association of Agents, told ESPN Soccernet: “In many cases the agents earn their corn.
“You can’t consider it in a vacuum. You have to ask the question what percentage of the transfer fees are the agents’ fees? And what benefit has the club received?”
Stein, one time agent to Paul Gascoigne and Chris Waddle, continued: If the club win a title or stay up then as I would say that the agents’ fees are worth every penny.”
Stein, in other words, argues that an agent has to deliver value for his commission, by bringing the clubs top class players.
Manchester City were by far the biggest spenders, splashing out almost £13 million during dates covering last winter and the recently closed summer transfer window. But City did spend almost £200 million on virtually a completely new team.
Chelsea, bankrolled by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, paid out about £9.5 million – the second highest – with Liverpool third on £6.7m and Tottenham Hotspur writing cheques worth £6.1m.
Manchester United were the first Premier League club to go public with their agents fees, and that was brought in when the Glazers took over. They have now been followed by the entire Premier League. United spent just £1.5 million, while Premier League new boys Burnley parted with the least amount – less than £500,000.
The Premier League clubs have followed the example set by the Football League, who began to publish annual spending reports five years ago.
Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were promoted from the Championship last season, said the £1.2 million they spent came during a busy period of player signings and contract renewals, which also tend to incur agents’ fees.
Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey said: “We welcome the publication of agent fee payments across the Premier League and the increased level of transparency it brings to a subject that interests everyone in football.
“The figure published today reflects a small part of the financial commitment we made in making the moves to strengthen the squad during the two transfer windows in question.
“We also secured some of our best young players on new long term contracts in order to help ensure stability and continuity at the club.”
The list in full:
1. Manchester City – £12,874,283
2. Chelsea – £9,562,223
3. Liverpool – £6,657,305
4. Tottenham – £6,066,935
5. Wigan – £5,527,548
6. Arsenal – £4,760,241
7. West Ham – £3,576,972
8. Portsmouth – £3,184,725
9. Bolton – £3,166,611
10. Everton – £2,008,407
11. Sunderland – £2,007,040
12 Aston Villa – £1,708,374
13. Blackburn – £1,610,885
14. Hull – £1,599,188
15. Manchester United – £1,517,393
16. Fulham – £1,469,258
17. Wolves – £1,235,703
18. Birmingham – £974,982
19. Stoke – £716,042
20. Burnley – £468,398
I want this Lakuku kid from Liege. 8 goals in 14 and similar style to Drogba from what I have read(researching him all day today!). Incredibly fast and strong. Only 16 years old
Maybe 17. 16 and scoring 8 in 14 is a bit hard to believe.
Who the $%@# is Mick Dennis from the daily express. Who does he support? Weak idiot!
There’s a special edition of the computer game ‘Football Manager’ (for dimwits who think they could do the job better than Arsene Wenger).
But there is no Arsenal dictionary. That’s a shame as Emirates occupants could look up the word “support”. They don’t have a clue what it means.
They must have realised there was a chance their team might lose against Chelsea. It is football, after all. Matches often involve winners and losers. Chelsea have spent more than anyone before on assembling a team that wins quite often.
And lo, Didier Drogba, the striker for whom they paid a record fee and one of the finest exponents of ‘centre forward’ play, scored twice and scared Thomas Vermaelen into contributing an own-goal. So how did Arsenal fans respond to this disappointment? Did they: a) keep cheering on their team, defiantly, b) remain silent, c) go home early or d) clog up the phone-ins with “Arsene’s gotta go” absurdities.
Those of you who answered ‘a’ haven’t ever been to the Emirates, have you? The correct answer is b, c, and d.
The simple & best way to shut up idiots like this tonsil is to buy a great team.
…..if only everything was that simple
oh well
Nice speech Gnarley! The problem is the reason for the absurdities is because the manager said this team is good enough and we don’t need to buy.
Cleary we do need to buy, you said yourself that ‘Drogba the striker for whom they paid a record fee’ well this is football and that’s what we should do, not buy useless kids.
If we don’t want to do that, we should get into a another sport.
Wenger says he doesn’t want to spend money, but he has no qualms in earning it does he?
Finally for those of us who do go to watch, why should we pay more to do that than anyone else in the whole world of football, when we win fuck all because that same manager refuses to spend the money we make for him?
And that mate is why people like me get pissed off, enough is enough.
This is Arsenal FC, not Arsene Wenger FC
I’m off to brave the first frost of the year, have a great morning.
Pat but wouldnt u say that Lukaku is just another kid..even though he is huge..he is already bigger than Drogba and he is only 17….
Oh well I think Wenger will rely on Bendy to come good..
Mark Hughes has given Emmanuel Adebayor the thumbs-up to face Arsenal – despite causing a near-riot the last time they met.
Hughes welcomes the Gunners to Eastlands tomorrow with a place in the Carling Cup semis at stake.
And the City boss, desperate to win some silverware, is ready to remain defiant and risk an explosive evening by putting out his strongest team.
That would mean a starting role for the man who scored in City’s 4-2 league win on September 12 before running the length of the field to taunt the travelling Gunners fans who reacted by throwing objects at him and trying to get on the pitch.
But Hughes said: “There’s no feeling Ade won’t play as a consequence of what happened last time.
“In fact, he’s more likely to play because he had such a huge impact on that match.
“I think he’s made a statement in that regard. It was an emotional time and it has been well documented. I don’t think it will happen again.”
The City forward was booked for his incendiary conduct and became embroiled in further controversy in the game with a brutal stamp on former Arsenal team-mate Robin van Persie.
That earned Adebayor a three-match ban and halted his explosive early season form, having scored four goals in his first five games for City following his £25m switch from Arsenal.
But Hughes claimed Adebayor has learned from that chastening experience against his old club and that he considers it to be in the past.
Hughes added: “We don’t want to look back here. It’s about moving forward and concentrating on what’s coming up.
“You can look back at incidents in the season and think, ‘Yes, that was something that hurt us’.
“Ade was flying at that time and he was having a real impact. He’s found it a little bit more difficult to do that since then.
“But that’s maybe more a consequence of opponents having a look at how we play and trying to stop our threat ñ which Ade is.
“If Ade’s playing well and scoring, he’s going to have an impact on the game.”
City midfielder Nigel De Jong admitted Hughes’s players had no-one but themselves to blame for their frustrating run of seven successive Premier League draws.
If City can overcome Arsenal tomorrow, they will reach their first domestic semi-final since 1981, when they went on to lose to Tottenham in the FA Cup final.
De Jong says City’s players cannot afford to dwell on their recent poor run and that they must seize their chance to stay on course for the club’s first trophy since 1976.
“We’re very frustrated,” said De Jong. “We played well at times against Hull and also in the other recent home games, but we have to try to dominate at home and we haven’t.
“So there’s a lot of frustration around. We’ve just got to pick ourselves up again and look forward to the Arsenal game on Wednesday.
“We’ve got to give more in every part of the side, not just the defence but the midfield and attack as well.
“It’s a team thing, we just have to work harder to get to where we want to be.”
Ja, he’s 16 actually. How many 16 year olds have 8 goals in 14 games for their club team. Standard Liege. He either made or will very soon make his international debut for Belgium.
His scoring record is great for a 16 year old, no matter what league it is
Pat I think he plays for Anderlecht not Liege…
If it were Liege we would have seen him against us..
He scored more goals than he played matches in his youth career: 68 goals in 68 matches with FC Brussels and 121 goals in 88 matches with Anderlecht.[4] Even though he was only 15 years of age, Lukaku managed to score 26 goals in 17 matches against players 4 years older. These performances had also raised the interest of a.o. Manchester United, Chelsea FC, AC Milan and Arsenal F.C. who look to be leading the chase.[5]
I would not mind getting him..but Wenger will say it will kill Bendtner
Damn he scored 26 in 17 against 19 year olds when he was 15….Very impressive..we need him but Wenger rates Bendy so we wont get him..
The results of the 2009 Ballon d’Or, won by Lionel Messi by a record margin.
1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) : 473 points
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) : 233
3. Xavi (Barcelona) : 170
4. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona) : 149
5. Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona then Internazionale) : 75
6. Kaka (Milan then Real Madrid) : 58
7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter then Barcelona) : 50
8. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United): 35
9. Didier Drogba (Chelsea): 33
10. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) : 32
11. Fernando Torres (Liverpool): 22
12. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) : 13
13. Edin Dzeko (Wolfsburg) : 12
14. Ryan Giggs (Manchester United) : 11
15. Thierry Henry (Barcelona) : 9 pts
16. Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Iker Casillas (Real Madrid): 8
19. Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid) : 7
20. Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux) : 6
21. Andrei Arshavin (Arsenal), Julio Cesar (Inter), Frank Lampard (Chelsea) : 5
24. Maicon (Inter) : 4
25. Diego (Werder Bremen then Juventus) : 3
26. David Villa (Valencia), John Terry (Chelsea) : 2
28. Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Yaya Toure (Barcelona) : 1
30. Karim Benzema (Lyon then Real Madrid): 0
we woulda won the league if it wasn’t for those pesky, useless, meddlin kids.
Why did Henry handball it twice? To be sure, to be sure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH7aOG263tw
Lukaku looks/plays nothing like a 16 year old should. I know its just a youtube video, but he’;s the closest “next __________” type of player there is.
This guy will have a good career, hopefully at Arsenal. 16 ffs! He looks like a seasoned striker in the way he takes his goals!!
Don’t worry Pat. I’m sure we’d soon beat that out of him. Every goal scored is a wasted opportunity to make a fancy little flick to one of your teammates. It’s all about green lights ya know?
Geoff
Thats not my speech, only the 1st & last line
This guy is clearly upset by fans leaving the stadium before the final whistle etc.
I wonder what he thinks of the average of 430,000 per annum British citizens migrating to other countries.
There will be no one left in Blighty to vote his do gooder government out.
How does Benzema finish 30th with no points. Senderos got no points how come he didn’t finish 30th.
Pat – At 16 he’s far too old for Arsene….
Heres an interesting extract:
“The Football Association will investigate the throwing of a camera onto the pitch during Sunday’s Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium”.
Has it been confirmed that it was actually a camera. I mean it could have been a mobile phone seeing that Cashley was on the pitch @ the time
well, it kind of looked like a mobile phone in the ref’s hand – hacks just wouldn’t let us Gooners have this little laugh
I couldnt really careless about signings we may make, we have another month probably two months to wait untill signings are made as we always make them on the last day but just for the record I think Gervinho is a far superior player than Chamakh.
On the Citeh game I would start
__________Fabi
Eboue__Senderos_Sly_Traore
________Eastmond_Merida
_____Ramsey__________Wilshire
__________Theo__Vela
Or even drop Theo and start Denilson alongside Eastmond with Ramsey in the no.10 role, where he plays so well for Wales
NEW POST!