Arsenal banter 66925

 

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06 Sep 2017 09:30:45
Seriously shocked that we did not try to sign a ball winner midfielder, why is Wenger so slow to see where we need to strengthen the most. It really is mind boggling.

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06 Sep 2017 10:22:21
Now that has been a mystery for years, each and every season fans and pundits all point to the same obvious weaknesses and over the years there have been a few glaring ones that Arsene simply refuses to accept, we went seasons where a top keeper would have made a huge difference then more seasons without a DM worthy of the title followed by more seasons where a top striker would have made a huge difference.
This season our cmf so obviously is and is going to continue to be a huge problem regardless whatever combination you pickn mix of the current players we have and defensively we not only look short of CBs and a RB to cover Belerin but the defence continues as it has for 9 or 10 seasons now to be totally unorganised undisciplined and not have anyone capable of leading them and getting them organised.
It's been said often over the years " we are are only 1 or 2 players short" and I think that has been true much of the time but we now there are so many players who either have a huge question mark over their capabilities or commitment to the club or in some cases both its difficult not to see a very very difficult season ahead for the team the club and certainly the man who has made all the decisions himself.
No one can argue this is and has been for 10 years now 100% Arsene Wengers team with all George Graham influence totally removed and it really has shown just how much Arsene benefitted in his first 7 to 8 seasons at Arsenal from what was already at the club when he arrived.
I am not taking anything away from Arsenes early achievements at Arsenal they are magnificent and only he could have achieved them but it's now very obvious even he would not have achieved them without what he waked into already being here.
A great defence, fantastic work ethic, huge commitment and personal responsibility from every player at the club and leaders everywhere besides big Tony who was a fantastic captain and leader in his own right.
Add to that a young revolutionary Arsene Wenger with his knowledge of the just about to boom French footballing world and his fantastic footballing philosophy and you have perfect combination for fantastic success.
No Arsene no invincibles but equally no George Grahams foundations and no invincibles either.
The more years that pass the more obvious it becomes that Arsene was the right man in exactly the right place at exactly the right time every bit as much as he was brilliant.

06 Sep 2017 11:46:51
Absolutely, our greatest teams under Wenger were laid out in a fluid 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 and had proper defensive midfield players, Vieira, Petit and Gilberto come to mind. Quite why Wenger switched to the failed formations and utilising smaller more technical players or more attacking players is beyond comprehension. Then again many things after the move to The Emirates make little sense.
During the window I wanted us to sign N'Zonzi, a 6'3" 28 year old defensive midfield player or similar, but to no avail and we now have Coquelin and Elneny who are squad players at best and Xhaka who would look more comfortable in a more attacking role, with his excellent range of passing. Having 'proper' DM's would allow talents such as Ozil more freedom as the defensive side of things would be taken care of.

06 Sep 2017 12:05:03
Hi Gunner62 - Decent post, what confuses me is that post invincibles, where Wenger had put a fine team together for, we changed in 2006 (Emirates move) to a completely different formation and type of player. Gone were the tall athletic powerful players, replaced with smaller technical players.
This clearly hasn't worked and I fail to understand why Wenger didn't revert to a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 formation and employ tall powerful athletic players.
His insistence on keeping poor keepers at the club such as Almunia, switching players from their natural positions to ones they were not so good at, retaining players that are clearly not good enough or injury-prone, etc, is mystifying.
Yet, despite all this over the last 4 seasons we have won 3 FA Cups and 3 Charity Shields. It's these trophies and Champions League qualification for all but one season, that create the enigma that is Arsene Wenger.

06 Sep 2017 12:52:12
Well Robbie the fa cup isn't quite the prestigious trophy it once was and to be fair the community shield? It's a little embarrassing having time include that mate, personally I think sticking to the 3 fa cups I'm 4 years sounds a lot less desperate.
The keepers thing always annoyed me because we kept coming 3rd or 4th with probably the 15th or 16th best keeper so it made sense to me if we got a top 3 keeper we might actually win the league.
I just don't think Arsene Wenger on his own starting from scratch has what it takes to build a title winning team in England and most probably no other major league which might go some way to explaining some ( not all ) of the reason he really has stuck around at Arsenal so long.
Arsene is a decorator and landscape Gardner not a layer of solid foundations that big things can be built on.
He has tried and failed to reinvent himself as a jack of all trades capable of doing the whole build himself and now not only are the cracks showing through the many layers of paper that have been plasted over them for years we have a serious cases of subsidence on our hands which Arsene himself is trying to pretend doesn't exist.

06 Sep 2017 14:21:15
Not saying it's right but I believe as an outsider we get sees his team as a team who 'never' lose the ball and so don't need to win it back, it's an inevitability you'll retrieve it somehow whether through GK passing out after an opponent attack, I don't know but he appears to focus on players who retain possession not necessarily use it well (pass sideways) but keep it.

06 Sep 2017 14:23:20
Gunner62 - We have to beg to differ on trophies as the FA Cup in my opinion is still a trophy well worth winning and has infact been Wenger's saviour over the last four seasons, I doubt he would have remained at the helm if we hadn't won them. In respect of the Community Shield, it is played of front of a full house at Wembley and we have had to beat the reigning League Champions to win it. If the sole 'serious' trophies are the PL and CL, then success is extremely difficult as ony 2 clubs a season can win these and if an English team won the CL and the PL, then only won team in England would win a 'serious' trophy.
As for Wenger he was a huge success until after the CL final in 2006, afterwhich we moved stadium and had the associated financial obligations to cope with at a difficult time and more importantly David Dein departed. I believe Dein was a huge influence on Wenger, whom he brought to the club. He dealt with the everyday running of club, including players' contracts, transfers, etc. He did this in tandem with Danny Fiszman who also undertook a lot of functions taking pressure off Wenger. Dein left the club in 2007, the same year that Fiszman sold a large stake in the club to Kroenke, later selling more shares to Kroenke before passing away in 2011. Post Dein, Wenger started to dominate almost every aspect of running the club and he clearly doesn't have the business acumen that Dein and Fiszman had. On the playing side, post 2005 many of the invincibles were ageing and/ or moving on, such as Henry, Vieira etc and these players were virtually irreplaceable. Combined with the financial difficulties associated with moving stadium this was understandably a tricky period and we have to be grateful to Wenger for steering the club through this period. On the playing side Wenger had to bring through young players and low cost purchases. The more recent seasons are of more concern, yes competition grew with Man C and Chelsea joining Man U as competition for the top honour and they had virtually unlimited financial resources. As soon as Arsenal's financial situation grew stronger these clubs could outbid the club. My concern is that Wenger seemed to lack direction and acted as a dictator without Dein and Fiszman. He persevered with small technical players in formations that didn't work and players played out of position to accomodate them in the team. Wenger's saving grace has been CL qualification and FA Cups. He is a completed enigma as he appears to have limited knowledge of basic football concepts: Playing a high defensive line which teams get in behind, poor zonal marking, short CB's (not Mertesacker! ) in the PL, converted wingers that can't defend as full backs, no true DM players, etc. Yet he has been very successful over his managerial career. Would we have won any more than 3 FA Cups over the last 4 season if he had been replaced? Unless of course that replacement had been Mourinho!

06 Sep 2017 14:33:57
I'm afraid clubs don't chase the FA Cup like they did weakened sides are the order of the day, winning it isn't what it used to be

Sorry.

06 Sep 2017 16:17:01
Well said gunner in bringing down deluded R. G. in bragging about charity shields, R. G. Reminds me of a sort of person who would brag if he scored in Amsterdam brothel.

06 Sep 2017 16:47:29
Oh dear raver61, it's amusing being lectured by a Toot fan about winning trophies! Go on list the trophies the Toot have won in your lifetime? You have never won the Community Shield and the last time you won the Charity Shield outright as it used to be known was in 1962 You have never even played in the Community Shield this century as you haven't won the league since 1961 or the FA Cup for decades. As you know the pain at the lane and Wembley just goes on. 1961.yes 1961 over 56 years ago!

06 Sep 2017 17:50:09
We are in lovely pain R. G., a champions league club with lots of top players while building the biggest football ground in London, if we are so crap why can't you beat us as It's been a long time since you turned us over bar the league cup. The pain is at the library, Europa league, top players all running their contracts down to quit and you have the worst defense in the league by conceding 10 goals in 3 games lol. I've seen my club lift a European major unlike your club who are, a total embarrassment in Europe. One fairs cup in your total history is laughable mind that huge gap sweet cheeks and send my love to that gorgeous wife of yours who I'll be keeping company on Thursday nights soon.

06 Sep 2017 18:13:55
Clearly you are very easily pleased raver61. No trophies in your lifetime. Trying to catch up with your trophy winning neighbours who have had a 60,000 capacity stadium completed and paid for since 2006. Remind me which trophies the Toot won last season? CL! Last year you didn't even manage to exit a weak group and ended up back in the EL! Back to bingo with your mummy and her rusty old Subaru. 1961, yes 1961! The pain at the lane and Wembley just goes on. Thankfully I chose to be born a gooner, not a loser from the lane. 1961.

06 Sep 2017 18:16:12
RG would Chelsea City Liverpool Utd consider the community shield as wortb a mention?
But I'm sure West Ham West Brom and Wigan might consider it worthy of mentioning.
It's really a case of which group you consider we should belong in I guess.
For me personally I think talokg up the Community Shield for much more than its worth undermines just what a big club Arsenal are and only highlights how poor our current team and set up are too.
Having to big up the community Shield is much more whoops the Arsenal than up the Arsenal for me.

06 Sep 2017 19:18:16
RG, as a united fan who has seen my team win 13 PL 2, 2 CL in my lifetime the charity shield is not a real trophy.

06 Sep 2017 19:42:14
The charity shield in terms of bragging rights ranks just below the Johnsons paint Trophy CTR, I'm not sure the fans Bristol Rovers still talk of it as an achievement.







 

 

 
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