Liverpool have overtaken us now!

[1_nilto the arsenal]

I used to admire Wenger's crusade in not spending money like a drunken sailor like Chelsea, City and Man U. I mean hey we got a new stadium, a state of the art training facilities and lots and lots of liquid asset. What is worrying me is that Liverpool with a fairly novice manager in terms of managing a top club which were not really progressing with previous managers, they were just living of the past success. Having said that they did win the Champions league not that long ago. Why and how can Benetiz get a decent side but certainly not a special team win the champions league? My point is how did Rafa get the best of those players to win the Champions League as opposed to Arsene who have also had a sqaud of fairly decent players, but who always get knocked out of the last 16.

Now we have Rogers Liverpool who to be fair have been shrewd with loan signings and a bargain signing of Sturridge (Thanks to AW we have Giroud) was a brilliant piece of business. I mean how the fuck is brendan getting hsi team to steam roll pretty much anyone in such a short space of time. Wenger has had his team for so long and the one season where he had a chance to win the league by signing one or two world class strikers in the Summer and Janury 14. I am so fustrated that Liverpool have now over taken Arsenal. I am telling you now we have gone backwards under wenger, we will not win the league or champions league unless we have a young manager with fresh ides and a different philiosphy. I could live witb being behind Chelsea and Man City and even United, but I am finding it so hard to accept that Liverpool who are not a rich club and dont have a sugar daddy or Sheik is now another club we have to play catch up with. JW Herny made a master stroke call when he hired Brendan Rogers, when we could have got rid of Wenger and picked up Rogers, he would have been a perfect fit for Arsenal. So fucking cheese off looking the league table, this season was our best chance of winning the league and Wenger blew.

[Özim]

It'll be interesting to see what those who have said we can't compete with the billionaire teams have to say about this.

My opinion is they have a forward thinking manager who builds on previous seasons to evolve the team/squad, they've been a revelation this season and have clearly overtaken us on the pitch now and it's not taken Rodgers long. Rodgers is tactically very good, identifies what he needs to improve the team and gets it and has used the players he already had to maximum effect.

Wenger has spent 9 years trying to build a team able to compete at the highest level and failed and yet Rodgers has been there under 2 years and has built a team who are clearly better equipped to win the title (even if they don't).

It just goes to show that with the right manager things can change very quickly.

[1_nilto the arsenal]

You see this is what really annoys me about Wenger and the Wengertites. You dont have to compete with players that would ordinarily go to City, Chelsea and Man U. There are very good players out there who could make the difference of being 4th and being 1st! The problem is Wengers scouting is not good enough. We have become re-active and are now always buying players last minute or in a panic. SAF was brilliant on sigings as he used to sign them early summmer so they could go on pre season tour and training. When was the last time our scouting network and manager signed a player before pre season training?? Why would you wait till the last day in August and then sign a player in a different postion and blow 44 Million on a fucking guy who has been utter shit all season. Not one game has he played so well that we could appluad the signing. It was always a 4th choice signing and it all came about by Real Madrid taking us for a ride to raise hard cash for the Bale deal and Wenger fell for it.

[Letters]

It'll be interesting to see what those who have said we can't compete with the billionaire teams have to say about this.

I'd say a couple of things.

1) No-one has ever said it's impossible to compete with those sides but it is very difficult and you need a fair slice of luck. Liverpool have done really well this season and I hope they win the league, it will be good to see a club without the infinite money cheat do it, but where would they be without Suarez? They've had a bit of luck with him not getting any injuries this season. That's the sort of luck Chelsea and City don't need. They can have a top player injured and just bring another £40m signing off the bench. We can't do that. Nor can Liverpool. They've done really well this year but with the added pressure of CL football next year Liverpool's squad will be put under far more strain. Which leads me to my second point.

2) Will Liverpool sustain this level? They've been 'up there' before, but not consistently. What if City or Chelsea decide they're going to buy Suarez next year? Liverpool may have turned up their noses at our £40m (and one!) bid but City could offer £80m to Liverpool and £300k a week to Suarez. They can make an offer which Liverpool would find very difficult to turn down, especially if the player's head is turned by a huge pay offer. And as Spurs found this year, buying a load of decent players to make up for the loss of one outstanding one doesn't necessarily make you a better team overall. The losses Liverpool have made over the last 2 years are not sustainable so how are they going to build on their success this year? We have already been through the pain of a stadium move and with the new commercial deals are well set up long term to compete. Last summer we saw the first signs of more ambition in the transfer market, I'm hoping that will continue this summer. Liverpool have been talking about a stadium move for years and not got anywhere much, unless they manage to do that it will be impossible for them to generate the kind of revenue they need to compete with City or Chelsea long term and if they do move they'll have a huge debt to repay which will make competing even more difficult.

[Letters]

Just looking at the last time Liverpool flirted with the title, 86 points to Utd's 90. Impressive.
They've only finished in the top 6 once since then, before this season.
Sustaining this sort of level is not as easy as some people on here seem to think.

[Özim]

People talk about Suarez and yes he has been outstanding, but they're forgetting that Sturridge has been knocking them in left right and centre as well, so they have two strikers smacking in goals, on top of this Sterling has really come through and is weighing in and Gerrard is pulling the strings in the middle with Coutinho joining in with a cameo role.

As far as the CL is concerned, I understand they haven't had CL this year, but in a sense aren't we saying it's better not to get CL if you can't compete so you can focus on the league, we get 4th every season get knocked out of CL fairly early and then hurt our league chances (it's not just that with us IMO, it's our inability to come through those pressure times with a decent set of results). CL seems to be about money, we get 4th every season and in reality don't really progress much, it's looking like 4th again this season despite our early season efforts, whether we start mid table and come 4th or are 1st and come 4th it doesn't make a whole lot of difference, 4th is 4th at the end of the day.

Liverpool are a massive club and you always get the feeling with them football comes 1st, they'll do anything to keep their best players, I'm not saying they always do but they do have a record of keeping their better players (Gerrard before Suarez), with regards Spurs, yes I agree problem for me is their manager wasn't very good, Rodgers is much better at spotting talent and building a team as he's shown in his career, the right manager can replace top players.

Liverpool are a massive club, with an illustrious history and huge support, it won't take too much to channel this support, a bit of success which is what they have been craving for years (especially the league) and I think it'll be different for them as they won't want to go back to being the bridesmaid.

[Alpha]

The truth is we have handed the title to Liverpool or City or Chelsea . This season was Arsenal's to lose . The only thing which made us be where we are now is Lack of anticipation . You can not expect to win a title with a thin squad like ours without any reinforcement . There are suspensions , injuries , loss of forms or any other circumstances which should have been taken into account and encouraged us to buy in the transfer window but we were deluded and thought we would go in the Guinness record book for winning all the cups with a depleted squad . Even a retarded person can not think that way .
Our board deserve to get eggs on their face . Shame on them . They have fucked it up . Not long ago we were 7 points clear . The team needed a help and didn't get any . What a disaster ?

[LDG]

No they haven't overtaken us at all.

They have a worldy in Suarez, who is probably the best player in the league right now. And they're playing without pressure, without CL to bog them down, and they have been tremendously lucky with injuries etc. The thing is, if you can play a consistent 11 week in week out, which they have been able to do (lets face it, they have only really had the league to worry about), then you stand to be a much more efficient unit.

But I don't want to take any credit away from them, and if they win it, they will have deserved it. Bendan Lipstick, has done a great job with them.

Can they compete, with the stadium they have in the long term? I have my doubts. They need a bigger ground, more investment, and they need a much bigger squad. We have much more in place for the long term, with or without Wenget at the helm.

I think fate has dealt them a favourable hand this year. But why not eh? Would have been nice if we could have had the same luck with a settled side.

[Letters]

This season was Arsenal's to lose

[Munchies]

I see where you're coming from, the change that he's had on Liverpool has been pretty dramatic. Destroying teams left and right, and now their goal difference is right up there with City's. Even though Liverpool lost against City and Chelsea away, atleast his sides didn't get thrashed and they were close games. Heck, he even beat Moyes home and away this season. We picked up 1/6 against United which is pretty shocking. Liverpool are here to stay now too, Suarez will stay, and with the CL they'll be able to spend and fix up their defence too.

Wenger didn't even try to build upon our good work early on. Once we had the tough run of games, unsurprisingly the lead at the top went. At one stage, we could have had a 7 point lead. We had to strengthen in the Jan window, a winger and a striker were a must. We fought so hard to get 4th last season, and we all thought 'we have to push on now', but now look, another battle for fourth again. Even if we win the Fa Cup, I don't want Wenger to oversee another transfer window, and I'd like to see him resign.