Well, what an average week.
One bad decision snowballed into multiple.
The biggest problem this week was how we approached the Europa League. We went big, played a group that had been rinsed physically by the Leeds game, we didn’t win.
Then we headed into Sunday, we were forced to rest players, and our lack of depth couldn’t handle City’s quality.
We lost 1-0. That’s not bad against the best team in Europe, the problem was less about the result, it was more about the acceptance of a lesser defeat.
‘We didn’t get spanked as bad as we usually would have’ is a 2019 way to look at games. Yesterday, after going down in under 2 minutes again, we just seemed to land on the idea that losing by one goal would be acceptable.
That’s not cool.
We played our way back into the game after Sterling of all people headed in birthday boy Mahrez’s cross early on.
We were certainly asking questions of City, especially in the last 15 minutes. We were stretching their defence, we were pinning them back, we had some moments. The hope was that we might have a go in the second half.
We didn’t.
We played with fear. The whole game was predicated on caution. Odegaard rarely took a chance by turning into space. The Norwegian was not at the races, it was a timid showing from him, but again, maybe his fitness was running low after a few games in a row after very little before. Mo Elneny’s fear of vertical passing seemed to infect everyone’s confidence. Auba, clearly knackered, offered next to nothing going forward. His fake jumps for balls in the box were embarrassing. His body language was shocking at times. He offered nothing. Is it time to accept that he can’t handle three games in a week? Is it time to accept that in hardworking games like that, you need a different forward leading the line: Lacazette or Martinelli would have offered more.
Defensively, I kept on thinking, ‘wouldn’t it be nice to have ball players.’ Rob Holding was fairly decent, but he’s not really built to be spraying it around against City. Pablo Mari was supposed to be the artful of the two, he just kept passing it Holding. Hector Bellerin was deeply frustrating all day. His partnership with Pepe was horrendous, not helped by the wingers return to normal form. His first touch was horrible. His decision making wasn’t great. Then you had Tierney, not his best day out, but maybe City was too much to ask after 5 games out.
Let’s talk about Pepe. He’s just not the full ticket, is he? His runs were poor, his touch wasn’t great, his decision making was laughable… he looks like he should be a good player, I’m just not sure we’ll ever see it. I’d prefer to see Martinelli on the left and Saka coming in on the right
We also have to be very honest about this squad. It is very nothingy without Thomas Partey. You can’t expect to beat City with Mo Elneny playing next to Xhaka. It’s not the Egyptian’s fault, he’s a sound guy, no doubt, but he’s painfully limited in games that require accurate passing with an edge of boldness.
The Arteta system needs fast passing from the base and it needs someone leading the line that is fully fit. Auba couldn’t run the line, he hid from crosses, and he looked sad. Elneny is living the dream, he’s the African Carl Jenkinson, we need to move on from him.
We also need to find a strong narrative heading into the end of the season. At the moment, there’s nothing to hold onto as a fan. We’re 1 step forward, 2 back every other month. It’s exhausting. There’s progress, but it’s not wrapped in anything. Arteta keeps telling us what we already know. He needs to give us hope. He needs to show us he can give us a run or another trophy.
Ending Leicester City’s title run next week? Yes please.
Ending Jose Mourinho’s Spurs career? Double yes.
Winning the Europa League by putting Unai ‘Good Ebening’ Emery to the sword? Don’t say sexy things you don’t mean.
This season has been shit. Give us some f*cking joy. Put a run together.
Check out our On The Whistle Podcast. It’s with Matt and Johnny. It’s a good one. They are basically miserable af and I keep the positivity bubbling. I’m that guy now. Imagine?
Didn’t have*
I dont care what anyone says
Brazil 1982 was the best team ever….
Too bad they did not win, but wow, what a great team to watch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh7vXZzko_M
@Tony,
North Island in the Seychelles, Rutundu wildlife hideaway i could go on the whole day
China
We’ve been in Europe for 24 consecutive seasons. No other English club has. That’s part of our brand
We’ve been winning cups. Part of our brand
We have lots of international players from all over the world that’s part of our brand
I agree, we need to be at the big table and we need to be playing arsenal style football again
But we have a brand.
we need to win, get back to CL and get back to our attacking DNA
Entertaining football, great attacking and scoring
We are like athletico madrid lite with Mike. or some other shit
Tony
Spain were threatening to take over as early as 2004 with the emergence of players like Torres, Villa, Joaquin, Xavi, Casillas, Puyol, Pique, Ramos and iniesta
I was a football prostitute all along. I tend to love the underdogs except I have a favorite. I remember supporting Manu against Bayern in that famous Champions League final where they scored 2 goals in 3 minutes to win the cup. I was elated. I loved random teams and random players, from Tomas Brolin of Parma to Paul Breitner of Bayern I think (they showed a lot of German football here those days). I loved Hagi, the Maradona of the Carpatjians, loved Rivaldo, Romario, even James Beattie the great British hope of those days. However, Kanu changed all of… Read more »
Gnashing of teeth amongst Arsenal fans has the effect that most players probably will want to leave the club. Big part of players form is fan support. Challenge of players leaving is that we may only get worse players who no longer care about the fans or the club.
Big danger of a downward spiral here. Leadership needed from the owners. Hiring of visionary football men in the club to start getting more decisions right. Club needs to start taking more educated risks, not blind stabs in the dark.
Guns
They played ganja football.
Make of that what you will. I thought thought the football was intoxicating.
Their football was just Harlem Globe Trotters level and above at times, especially with those ridiculous Roberto Carlos free kicks.
They had a production line of elite worldies in waiting back then.
Martinelli looks to be the new breed with high potential. Let’s hope we see a few more.
And of course I loved that Hector Cupers Valencia team. How that team didn’t win Champions League still shocks me till today..Canizares,Mendietta,Kily Gonzalez, Angulo… that was an underdog team I could watch all day longn
All of Mancity back 4-5 are excellent ballplayers and passers of the ball, we have Mo and Xhaka
and Mari kept making silly passes to no-one, or maybe there was an invisible man in our team !!
If so I hope its a loan deal..
Winthorpe ‘Spain were threatening to take over as early as 2004 with the emergence of players like Torres, Villa, Joaquin, Xavi, Casillas, Puyol, Pique, Ramos and iniesta” Spain were a Euros team and a very good one, but they flattered to deceive on the world arena where it mattered with any consistency as the Brazilians did and have done. They were deserved winners against Holland in 2010 but they couldn’t handle the Germans and French after. Strange Winthorpe as with you being the lover of fast flowing and creative football ala Wenger’s best football (not a dig), I would have… Read more »
Spontaneity, quickness of thought, imagination is dying in football.
Its now about endurance, physical capacity and at worst Diet Pep giving robotic instructions from the sidelines
Thorough
That Valencia team was great
Loved the O’Leary Leeds team too. Especially Harry kewell and Viduka. Two quality players who should have been at the top for longer
Winthorpe
If am not wrong wasnt Aimar also part of that Valencia team ?
Sid
MILFs are thin on the ground in my manor. We have MIRNFs instead (mum I’d rather not…….).
Winthorpe
“We’ve been in Europe for 24 consecutive seasons. No other English club has. That’s part of our brand”
How many European trophies have we won during that time
Thanks to Wenger”s legacy Arsenal will soon be entering the longest spell without winning the title since the formation of the club.
Winthorpe.
How could I forget? That Leeds team. Rio Ferdinand…
Divine Sherlock.
Absolutely. Aimar was their support striker and shared the playmaking role with Gazkia Mendietta. Carew was their main strike that I can remember but I think they had another.
And Jeremy Angulo, I think, was minutes away from joining Wenger’s machine.
Kris
And Arsenal’s last European success was in 1994, so what’s your point.
Pablo Aimar was a treat to watch , my earliest memory of watching Champions League was Valencia vs Arsenal 2001 I believe. When they went on to lose to Bayern in Final.
Like most sports at the top level, football has evolved into a somewhat robotic performance of skills and structures that, in a lot of cases, are boring and predictable. Everything has to be perfect. The imperfections have gone, the pitches, only one ball!, the prematch warm ups, the songs, the instinctive banter……….Everything! I can even predict when two players are going to play 6 meaningless passes between themselves in midfield and then, as soon as the match is over, opta stats will say 645 passes were made, when in fact only 100 were meaningful. Gone are the days when players… Read more »
Kris, Juve may not have won too many European trophies recently but I expect that winning nine Serie A titles in a row has done quite a bit for the ‘brand’.
Graham62 – we were talking about the peanut guy only the other day. Used to make his way around the North Bank. I agree with your sentiment though, it’s all very sterile and the shameless razamatazz feels so fake. It’s gone from a sport with huge tribal overtones on to ‘entertainment’ (another choice along with the theatre, cinema, day at the races etc.) and finally it’s become a ‘product’. Players aren’t really characters, they are primarily athletes that have mastered certains skills that they robotically perform on perfect pitches. Coaches have taken the joy out of the game, they’re moulded… Read more »
what’s a bit concerning and we have heard this over and over again from Arteta is that he has told the team certain things he wants and the team appears to be ignoring his instructions is this a concern as the Arteta teams never seem to go at full throttle for me and some players just seem down right lazy like Auba and that’s not something he was really known for , just wondering about Arteta relationship with the players and if there is any inside info anyone has to share lol…………………..lol
Winthorpe
You mean when basically only 4 clubs competed for top 4 and the number of top teams in Europe amounted to about ten.
What Wenger did was an achievement, not disputing that, but it’s not something to shout out about based on where we were, what he had and the resources and infrastructure that was set in place.
Just an opinion.
China 1 No-one can or should take for granted their status as the Premier Club in London, but the fact is that Arsenal are the most successful club in town going back a century. We have been in the top division of English Football continuously since the First World War, which not even Man Utd or Liverpool have managed. The club has also won more trophies than Chelsea and Spurs by a country mile and not just in one era. The fact that Kane plays for Spurs and the club has built the largest stadium in London may attract some… Read more »
Screw up this Thursday night – and he must leave. This has been a shameful experiment. We must all be careful not to accept these low standards as norm – especially the UK 🇬🇧 fans – whom are perceived to have the “strongest” voice (especially the financial voice).
A clubs history means little in todays day and age. How are you going to sell history to a 7 year old in Tanzania, Tashkent or Thailand. What they want to follow is the team they saw last year lifting a big trophy, preferably the one with big ears. These are the future of the club. Get them hooked and hopefully they will stay hoked If we at least continue to strongly challenge for honours. In the 80s when I was a teen Everton, Aston Villa were duking it out with Liverpool to be top dog in England . Hell!… Read more »
Summed up in one GLOBAL GUNNER.
Lets no delude ourselves.
Anyone who thinks we’re losing global support to Spurs or Leicester hasn’t looked at the numbers.
West Ham and Spurs can’t even fill their stadiums. Supporters on the Spurs season ticket ‘waiting list’ are being offered tickets when they’re number 40,000 on the alleged waiting list.
We have roughly twice as much global support as Spurs, West Ham and Leicester combined.
Thanks to Wenger”s legacy Arsenal will soon be entering the longest spell without winning the title since the formation of the club.
How many European titles have Arsenal won in their entire history? 2.
We’re not a European powerhouse in terms of titles won. However Wenger did turn us into a European powerhouse in terms of the quality and consistency of the football over a long period of time.
To blame Wenger for us not winning a European trophy seems to be missing the point entirely.
shaun
“s the Arteta teams never seem to go at full throttle for me and some players just seem down right lazy like Auba and that’s not something he was really known for”
You are right. That’s why Arsenal is a cup team. Every league winner is very consistent and can go on a winning run. On the other hand, our players can only perform when they are in the mood. I am hoping that they could go at full throttle this Thursday.
Global Quite right we cannot keep on living n the past and meanwhile getting lower and lower in the league. It’s not about wining the trophy each year but competing for the Premiership, which we hav’nt done recently. We also are not here for Arteta to experiment with so he can get experience and then piss off when it suits him. We should dump him now. When Pep goes he will be off that’s why the last game against Man City was just an exercise for him to show he can play the same sort of football, he wanted a… Read more »
For the umpteenth time👿 this is a rebuild job.It won’t & cannot be done in a season..Painful I know but realistic.If you dump Arteta this quick will have the same problem with rebuild with next manager.Revolving doors you definitely don’t want.Gets you knowwhere just ask a spud.& please,please don’t insult your own intelligence by saying they are above us 🤦♀️
Swkmoon
Arsenal won two European trophies prior to Wenger’s arrival.
Wenger had 22 years to get it right. He had a talented group of players at his disposal, at different stages during his reign, but never got it quite right.
The perceptions of some Arsenal fans are rather naive.
We are not a European powerhouse.
Globalgunner I repeat that Arsenal are one of a dozen clubs in Europe who fall into the category of “heritage” clubs ie their track record is not based on a single era and they attract national or global support irrespective of current performance. The 12 clubs who fall into that category are: Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Ajax, Benefica, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, These clubs are included for different reasons, but have all won at least 10 Domestic League titles. Juventus are for example the standout team in Serie A, but are far… Read more »
KroenkephobeFebruary 23, 2021 08:53:49
SidMILFs are thin on the ground in my manor
Improve the manors defensive solidity, have great communication and your project will be brewing with sauce
Uwot
Don’t worry, we get it.
The thing is Uwot, based on what you see and feel, do you think that Arteta has grossly underachieved this season?
Simple question.
By the way I don’t give a shite about Spuds or any other club for that matter( except my local club BHA), I only want what’s best for Arsenal.
Premier League is the most popular league here in North America. Winning the league is the biggest draw for new football fans. There is no home team for them.
ES
Interesting you highlight Ajax.
A massive massive club, that many Arsenal fans have little knowledge of.
The name of Ajax straight away brings to mind “European Powerhouse”.
Ajax FC exudes quality and success.
I’m still shaking my head in disbelief at this posts headline.
“Glorious failure”
Lol!
“To blame Wenger for us not winning a European trophy seems to be missing the point entirely.” Really? If not the guy who had twenty plus opportunities and some of the best players ever to grace the short to work with then who exactly was responsible? Granted the CL is a tough nut to crack but smaller teams with poorer players have done it. If you want to dial down expectations even further how about losing to Galatasaray in 2000 in the UEFA Cup final, a team with a fraction of our resources and players that might struggle to get… Read more »
*grace the shirt
Graham “Like most sports at the top level, football has evolved into a somewhat robotic performance of skills and structures that, in a lot of cases, are boring and predictable.” Andy “Players aren’t really characters, they are primarily athletes that have mastered certains skills that they robotically perform on perfect pitches. Coaches have taken the joy out of the game, . It’s one of the reasons I like to watch Grealish play, looks like a real footballer not another predictable athlete with a ball.” We used to have 3 or 4 Grealishes in the Arsenal team not so long ago… Read more »
Peter Wood. Please could you break it down and explain to us. What exciting progress is going on at Arsenal? What have you seen on a CONSISTENT basis/ over a prolonged period of time since this manager took over, that makes you believe we will be in a better place in 6 months/ 1 year? emphasis on the word consistent. We are mid table, more losses than wins. Broken numerous embarrassing records. Please enlighten me He makes shit decisions. First red flag was when he sold Emi Martinez. Easily a 40m player now. If this so called process is based… Read more »
No need to be a bitch Pierre, no-one was complaining about Santi when Arsene was here, they were too busy complaining with justification that he couldn’t organise an effective defense, didn’t know what a DM was, and thought that Almunia was world class.
If anything he wasted their talents by not building a base for them to work from.
‘Players who played football off the cuff , one and 2 touch football with technical excellence…
We had a manager who embraced skill and technique and regarded football as an art.’
Does that include Mustafinovs, park chu, Xhakalson, andre santos, Elneny?
Winning titles on the biggest stage and having top players in your ranks is what attracts new fans to supporting a club. My son was a high school standout and now plays college ball, and is the only Arsenal fan amongst roughly 30-40 of his peers. Same with his cousin who grew up in a different school district and went to a different college. Chelsea, United and City are easily the most followed clubs amongst their friends. A friend of mine brings his very talented fifteen year old to a weekly pick up game and he’s a Villa supporter because… Read more »
That’s how you know Wenger was a fuckwit in the end – he prioritised the pursuit of art over the pursuit of winning. Even more ridiculous is thinking Kim, Chamakh, Squillaci, Gervinho met the criteria for technique and one-touch football. Late stage Wenger built squad after squad that was soft as shit with no defensive instructions. It’s no wonder he was slapped out of the CL in the knockouts for 6 years on the bounce before he started failing to make the groups entirely. Eulogising Wilshere, Diaby, and Ox as if any of them offered anything really is funny though.… Read more »
Jamie lol. Kim kalstrom sticks out for me as one of the weirdest signings we could have made. Had a broken back and then recovered and made barely any appearances anyway. Can’t get over that one amongst a lot of others that make me laugh when reminded of them. Andy Pierre thinks everyone hated Wengerball. It was loved by pretty much everyone, it’s the fact that he just couldn’t maintain his winning ways and his squads kept getting weaker and weaker. Even Pierre said that if we had a manager half Arteta (in terms of defence) and half Wenger we’d… Read more »
I really don’t believe that this squad, even with the players out on loan who shouldn’t have been loaned out, is worth 11 losses at this point of the season and is 10th on the table.
What’s the math? Arteta has to win his next 7 and draw 2 games to match Wenger’s worst record. Can’t see it happening.
Leicester’s excellent business in the transfer market is well documented. Here’s more food for thought. 1.8 million, 2.7 million and 5 million. These insignificant sums are what Brentford paid for Ollie Watkins, Said Benrahma and Ivan Toney respectively. Compare that with the ridiculous amounts Arsenal waste on mediocrity. Pepe’s fee, for instance, was about 25 times bigger than Benrahma’s but I believe the latter has more to offer. As for Watkins, why weren’t we interested in the self-confessed Gooner when he is younger, braver, more mobile and a better header of the ball than both Lacazette and Aubameyang, who are… Read more »
Worst thing is, the spuds want nagelsmann to replace mourinho……now that’s ambition.
Sid
“Does that include Mustafinovs, park chu, Xhakalson, andre santos, Elneny?”
Wenger should have stuck to his footballing principles, there is no substitute for Technique and football intelligence …
And we’re lumbered with Manuel from fawlty towers
The BFB
“. Pepe’s fee, for instance, was about 25 times bigger than Benrahma’s but I believe the latter has more to offer”
Benrahma in the right set up could be outstanding..not sure west ham and Moyes are the right place for him, i suppose you could also say that Arsenal and Arteta are not the right place .
Our recruitment has been very poor for a good 5 years now….
I think one of Wenger’s biggest faults was his inability to accept that coaching alone was not enough to challenge anymore. Towards the middle of his tenure new super rich clubs came to the table and would pay top money for top players. We persisted with the self-sustaining model but didn’t have the commercials like Man United to carry us. Wenger pinned all his hopes on FFP to level the playing field and this never happened.
If only we had a powerful attacker who can head the ball.
It would make sense with our constant crossing of the ball with nobody there.
Some sauce heh
Pierre
Jesus, you’ve got a chip on that shoulder of yours.
Wasn’t highlighting anything Arsenal related, just football in general,
I think there’s only one real obsessive on here.
Pierre ‘Our recruitment has been very poor for a good 5 years now….’
Exactly! Once we realised FFP wasn’t coming to the rescue we panicked, tried to play catch up and made horrific mistakes. We weakened the squad and depleted our resources in the same instance, as we didn’t have the executive structure after years of relying on Wenger to move like modern football clubs do.
Cheney
Minimalistic spending on certain players after 2006 would have given us far greater success. Chris Samba, Gary Cahill, Mark Schwarzer come to mind.
On top of this Wenger never acted on the visible frailties which ultimately led to our top players leaving. Every Arsenal fan knows this to be true.
No one can convince me otherwise.
Goobygooner
“Pierre thinks everyone hated Wengerball. It was loved by pretty much everyone, it’s the fact that he just couldn’t maintain his winning ways and his squads kept getting weaker and weaker.”
I must have dreamt the daily abuse of Wenger on Le Grove .
And now, apparently wenger was loved by everyone..
I have news for you ….he wasn’t.
Anyway, my point was that the wenger obsessives spent years whinging about Wenger and his football and now they are forever whinging about our boring insipid football that lacks creativty.
In fact it’s become “robotic and predictable”
Maybe there is a way back for Guendousi replacing Elneny ? Edu Mikel and Matteo should
share a good Italian red wine and talk the problems away..!!
Graham: I would put Mata on that list too but why didn’t we buy them? If you believe the reports it was due to not wanting to pay the fee or haggling on the fee. We failed to move with the times and I think all Arsenal fans know that we didn’t have the executive structure in place to modernise our/Wenger’s approach, hence, the inability to remedy the issue we had. Losing DD also points to this being an issue.
5 years!!!!
You’re kidding?
Arsenal’s recruitment has been questionable for at least 12 years.
FFP is a cop out. Another excuse given by those fans who only opened their eyes when it was far too late.
It’s amazing that some still feel that things only went pear shape after 2015.
Unfriggingbelievable!
This is random but I had Arsenal sixth and Tottenham fifth in the table at season’s end so I wasn’t totally wrong except for four places too high as of now.
Mourinho throwing players under the bus is nothing new but he’s way ahead of schedule there.
Nagelsmann to replace him?
That would put a lot of pressure on Arteta and his wardrobe choices.
Maybe add another monochromatic layer with some extra zippers and buttons.
He wouldn’t want to be upstaged by a bisexual German hipster in a future NLD.
Graham: FFP wasn’t a copout it was something Wenger wholeheartedly believed in and if you look on Google there are numerous articles where he lauds it as a way of evening up the playing field.
Things certainly started going wrong but whether that was 5, 10 or 12 years ago doesn’t seem relevant to today other than what went wrong historically is being keenly felt today.
Cheney10
There are no excuses.
This is all down to a blind stubbornness to not act on the obvious.
Nothing to do with not having the appropriate “executive structure” in place.
The problem is , Wenger made open expansive football look far too easy and the fools who turned on him have now discovered that it is anything but easy.
Over the years , his defensive record was never as poor as the media portrayed.
I suppose it’s a case of if you say something often enough the gullible fools will jump on the band wagon, and there are enough of those on here.
Graham62 -a dire 2005 cup final win showed the mark we had reached. After that it was a handful of players that proved they had desire. Cesc was the standout player – he dictated Flamini, Hled & Rosicsky (when fit) to how he wanted the game played. After that Sanchez proved he was a winner but the club would not meet his expectations. Interestingly one of the teammates he admired the most – Ozil. He hated Ramsey.
Graham: I have to disagree. All the best organisations have a clear executive structure where leadership is distributed. Wenger on his own was overwhelmed by the changing market that didn’t reconcile with his own values. Look at City, how did they build? Yes money but they also used that money to create an amazing back room and executive structure that supports the manager. The appointment of Tixi as an example. Look at Leicester that isn’t all BR it’s a whole team of people. We are now trying to build that type of structure but I’m still not sure we have… Read more »
Pierre
If Wenger had left the club in 2009, he would have had my utmost respect.
The problem was, he didn’t.
As I’ve highlighted countless times on here, Wenger’s reign fell into two different periods. It was the second period that tarnished his legacy.
No one can convince me otherwise..
Yes Pierre, like you telling yourself in the mirror every morning that ozil was still our best player til the day he left.
Cheney10
I beg to differ.
Wenger knew that things were changing and passing him by, but he still refused to act. Are you telling me he was unaware of our lacklustre owners and their inability to have a feel/passion for the club
Excuse, after excuse, after excuse…………….
That’s why Arsenal are where they are.
For me, as a long standing Arsenal fan, the greatest day in the clubs recent history was the day Wenger left the club.
Amazing but true,
Graham
“If Wenger had left the club in 2009, he would have had my utmost respect.”
No he wouldn’t , because he would have lost the fans respect for leaving the club whilst having to compete against the financial power of city and Chelsea.
Which top manager would have wanted to manage Arsenal with nothing to spend whilst city and chelsea are spending a billion each ….
The club would have nosedived as we have the previous 2/3 seasons
Graham: Read the articles. Wenger was against the big spending and the way finances were dominating the ‘beautiful’ game. He wanted to do it a different way and committed wholeheartedly to that approach. That approach got us top four for years but did see us regress, which is undisputed. Dien was a big part of Wenger’s success and once he left Wenger didn’t have the structure around him nor did the leadership of the club adequately plan for his departure. We are where we are, not just because Wenger went on too long, which I agree he did but because,… Read more »
Ozil was our most talented player till the day he left. Interestingly we replaced our top earner who absolutely hated physical contact with another with a similar affliction. Can’t remember last time Auba put in a tackle or fought tooth and nail for a 50/50 ball. Coincidentally, Pedro claimed Arteta knows City players better than anyone and this should come in handy when devising a plan against them……..here’s my scouting report on Mahrez: get in his face early and often, don’t back up into your own penalty area , and if he beats you, make sure it’s on his right… Read more »
“Which top manager would have wanted to manage Arsenal with nothing to spend whilst city and chelsea are spending a billion each ….”
In 2010, Arsenal had cash reserves of £130m – the highest of all EPL clubs.
Who did Wenger buy that summer? Squillaci, Chamakh, Kos, and Wellington Silva. Net spend £13m.
That’s the problem with Arsenal fans. They are still dreaming about the past glory. I want the current team to perform better. I want to be entertained. If something happens to Saka and we lose this Thursday’s game, I am sure that Arteta will lose a lot of fan support.
Am I the only one who often questions when Guardiola compliments his counterparts. It just never seem genuine. He claimed that Arteta is a coach that knows it all or something along that line. Knowing full well he has the beating of the guy.
I expect him to stand in front of the mirror when he gets home, bursting out in a Dracula like laughter, laughing at everyone’s expense.
Na me ooo
Of course it’s all bs.
Last time a manager spoke how they truly felt about another was probably Wenger ripping into Pulis and his methods.
Now it’s all disingenuous platitudes and backslapping.
Haha Tom,
Don’t get me wrong. I agree Ozil was our ‘most talented’. But due to a lot of factors such as his world cup fallout with Germany, the pay cut fiasco, asking him to change his game at 30 to press and do off the ball shit, his heart wasn’t in it.
So despite his talent, he wasn’t even close to our best player the last few seasons. The stats also show that sharp decline once he got comfortable on that massive new contract.
People still crying about Wenger in 2021. Leave the guy alone.
Did Wenger pay 70million for Pepe then dont find the right position orplace for him in the team ? ,Let Martinez arguably the best keeper in the league leave to join Aston Villa. Replaced by a decent but not great Leno ? Did he sign William or Luiz ? Did he play without an attacking midfielder for the first part of the season ?
Oh he didn’t ? Stop the deflection please.
Tom you’re right but talent without application is a waste of time. He reminded me of George Eastham in days gone by but for some reason he just lost his love of competing. Its arguable whether losses really hurt if you’re earning north of £300000 a week. A sad end to a decent career.
The drive for personal growth decreases with age, most strikingly between midlife and old age
Nah me ooo
He bought xhaka as a box to box. Enough said haha
Tom
I am well aware of these, you are right. But in Guardiola’s case, he just takes it too far. Always giving these underhanded compliments.
Goobergooner
You didn’t have to go there. That’s low, real low.
All because he didn’t let you have the house keys for a while.
Pierre
Really?
You genuinely believe that if Wenger had left the club in 2009, “he would have lost the fans respect”
Unfriggingbelievable x2.
So what you’re saying is that all the great things he had done would have gone to waste.
Pretty two faced don’t you think?
At least he would have left the club with his head held high.
The reality was slightly different.
Pierre and a few others genuinely feel that all Arsenal fans feel the way they do.
In 2009, if Wenger had decided to leave, I’d say at least 50% of the fan base would have respected his decision.
The Pep Arteta relationship has worked in Guardiola’s favor in their head to head match ups. Pep instructs his players to take advantage of every Arsenal weakness, while Arteta handcuffs his players and makes them shit their pants even before the ball is kicked. When have you ever seen Stones lay out a striker like he did Auba at the corner flag? Never. He’s an elegant defender not known for physicality. Did any Arsenal player even touched Mahrez once with any upper body part over the 90 minutes? Of course not. Give Mahrez the treatment Pepe gets in most games… Read more »
Sylvain Wilford once appeared ( quite high) in a list of all time great Arsenal players . He was decent but nowhere near some players who had played in the past . Similarly Brazil 1982 might have seemed brilliant but Brazil 1970 was way superior …and they did win it . Rivelinho, Jairzinho Tostao, Gerso, Carlos Alberto and Pele were sensational . In a few weeks time Arsenal will celebrate 50 years since its first Double . Those men played sixty plus games against very good sides on shit pitches with referees allowing players to kick them up in the… Read more »
“I suppose it’s a case of if you say something often enough the gullible fools will jump on the band wagon”
And there was me thinking that this was YOUR modis operandi Pierre! You’re projecting again.
Winthorpe sorry but outside of Europe I honestly doubt playing EL football these last few years has won us many new supporters. Kids don’t know or care about what we did way back when. We’re neither in the CL nor playing pretty football, the two things which defined our brand in previous years. We don’t buy cheap and sell high or put all our faith in youth like we did in years gone by to create a brand different from other big clubs. We literally don’t have any special selling point right now outside of being good in the FA… Read more »
“Am I the only one who often questions when Guardiola compliments his counterparts.”
Nope, as I pointed out recently he called Fat Sam a ‘Genius’ so I wouldn’t rush to use any praise he may heap on MA as supporting evidence to his being ‘generational’.
I’m sorry but the Pepe deal has to be one of the greatest frauds in football history. Raul committed grand larceny and should have been prosecuted.
People keep blaming the Kroenke’s but take a look at how much money They’ve been conned to throw down a bridge to nowhere.
Mustafi
Xhaka
Pepe
Willian
Just to name a few …. just a poor bloody waste of resources