Have we lost our " Big team " Status or just the " Fear factor" ?

[Alpha]

Our beloved " Arsenal " is in a really mess and if you can not see that you are a blind man I'm afraid . Many things have been said during the years . People were very patient and believed wenger would turned things round but most Have sadly found out they have been deluded and even the most patient fan has become very skeptic about the future of the team . Now , the big question is : who's fault ? Wenger as the manager and the board are sure responsible one way or another . But it is very hard to know because we don't have a clue about what is said behind closed doors . They all seem united and have the same message : the future is bright . Really ?
Is is a conspiracy between the manager and the Board to sink the team ? If it is the manager's fault why the board don't take a decision about it ? Not necessarily sacking him but telling him to change the policy : scrapping the so called youth project and buying quality and proven players for example .

Or If it is the board who are responsible why Wenger don't put pressure on them and threaten to resign if they don't give him enough funds to build his team ?

The common explanation given is that the Board are happy with the profit made by Wenger by refusing to buy expensive players and by capping wages . It may be true but what about people who allow those funds to be available ? People who sacrifice every thing to give to the team which has become like a charity ? don't they deserve anything back ? Has it never crossed in their mind the fans can refused to pay their ticket ? I wonder if we are still worthy of being called a " big team " . But what is sure all the middle teams do not fear us anymore as they used to in Vierra , Henry , Bergkamp erra .

[Flavs]

Is is a conspiracy between the manager and the Board to sink the team ?

Its this without doubt, they actually want us to be shit

[Marc Overmars]

We're still a big club, always will be, our history dictates that. However we're not a team who can strike fear into the opposition anymore. Sunderland was the smart bet on the weekend, when has that ever been the case? Sunderland favourites over Arsenal? Dear me.

[Syn]

We stopped being a big club in 2004 when we refused to sack Wenger for bottling the CL game against Chelsea. Summed up the lack of ambition at this club. 7 years of failure tbh.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

you know valencia, paris st german, marseille, villarreal, benfica, ajax.

the teams you always see in the champions league every year, the ones who make it year in year out but are crap and hardly get anywhere.

well thats us. and we've been that for around 2 years now.

no threat of winning it, just making up the numbers.

comes as no surprise the top teams are secretly wishing they play us.

thats what ive realised this season.

[Cripps_orig]

Both

[Olivier's xmas twist]

We're still a big club, always will be, our history dictates that. However we're not a team who can strike fear into the opposition anymore. Sunderland was the smart bet on the weekend, when has that ever been the case? Sunderland favourites over Arsenal? Dear me.

:gp:

If were not a big club then why would the media be so obbssessed with not winning a trpohy for 7 years, they don't give a monkeys about Moyes not doing it. The only status we have lost is our Big 4 status in the league. Arseanal FC will always be a big name in the sport.

[Letters]

Course we're still a big club :lol:
We'll always be a big club. But yes, we have lost the fear factor. We used to have games won before a ball was kicked because teams were scared of us. Now they know we're there for the taking and can be beaten.

[Marc Overmars]

you know valencia, paris st german, marseille, villarreal, benfica, ajax.

the teams you always see in the champions league every year, the ones who make it year in year out but are crap and hardly get anywhere.

well thats us. and we've been that for around 2 years now.

no threat of winning it, just making up the numbers.

comes as no surprise the top teams are secretly wishing they play us.

thats what ive realised this season.

We've been like that for more than 2 years. Our record in Europe is fairly average considering the club like to boast about being in it for 14 years straight. We've only gone beyond the 2nd round 5-6 times I think, and only reached the semis twice. I doubt the rest of Europe see us as much cop.

[Master Splinter]

We stopped being a big club in 2004 when we refused to sack Wenger for bottling the CL game against Chelsea. Summed up the lack of ambition at this club. 7 years of failure tbh.

I think it was the first time Arsene refused to have a drink with Neil Warnock. It showed him as small-time and people laughed at us and he was embarrassing and classless and not very nice like Mourinho and Fergie and Pulis and it has nothing to with actual football but not drinking with cu.nts is wrong and I don't like it and we were not a big club that day.

[Alpha]

Course we're still a big club :lol:
We'll always be a big club. But yes, we have lost the fear factor. We used to have games won before a ball was kicked because teams were scared of us. Now they know we're there for the taking and can be beaten.

Nottigham Forest used to be a big team in their time . Even Leeds were considered a big club at some stage . But both have lost that status because of too many defeats which impacted on good players leaving , money lost , less interest from the media , fan base narrowing ..etc..
As many teams are tremendously improving and we are stagnating around fourth spot as our biggest achievement at the moment we could run the risk of losing the " big team trophy " one day .

[Olivier's xmas twist]

I think it was the first time Arsene refused to have a drink with Neil Warnock. It showed him as small-time and people laughed at us and he was embarrassing and classless and not very nice like Mourinho and Fergie and Pulis and it has nothing to with actual football but not drinking with cu.nts is wrong and I don't like it and we were not a big club that day.

:haha:

[Xhaka Can’t]

We never were a big club. We were just very lucky between 97-05

[LDG]

We never were a big club. We were just very lucky between 97-05

And 1987 and 1994

[Xhaka Can’t]

And 1987 and 1994

We were big in 92/93.

[Letters]

Nottigham Forest used to be a big team in their time .

Not really. They had a purple patch under Wenger but you're confusing a period of success with being a big club.
The two things have some relation but being a 'big club' is about a number of things, fan base, stadium size, history, etc.
Arsenal are a big club. Arsenal have been a big club since at least the 30s however we've been doing on the pitch and unless we fall seriously down the divisions which is pretty unlikely we will remain a big club.

[Alpha]

Not really. They had a purple patch under Wenger but you're confusing a period of success with being a big club.
The two things have some relation but being a 'big club' is about a number of things, fan base, stadium size, history, etc.
Arsenal are a big club. Arsenal have been a big club since at least the 30s however we've been doing on the pitch and unless we fall seriously down the divisions which is pretty unlikely we will remain a big club.
But I can give you an example : Saint Etienne was a big club in France with a fantastic history , fan base , money , good players etc.. That was in the sixties and seventies . But they can't maintain themselves in the top division atm . They are forgotten and Lyon , Marseilles , Paris-saint Ger
main have taken over .

[Xhaka Can’t]

Not really. They had a purple patch under Wenger but you're confusing a period of success with being a big club.
The two things have some relation but being a 'big club' is about a number of things, fan base, stadium size, history, etc.
Arsenal are a big club. Arsenal have been a big club since at least the 30s however we've been doing on the pitch and unless we fall seriously down the divisions which is pretty unlikely we will remain a big club.

We've plummeted all the way to 4th in one of the top 2 Leagues in the world with a perennially sold out stadium (but not for long) and are in the Top 5 richest Clubs in the world.

And you're trying to tell us we're still a big club? :lol:

You must be high.

ON HEROIN!!!

[Özim]

We're still a big club of course, what we have lost is pulling power when it comes to signing players, top players aren't going to want to sign because we have no real stars they'd dream of playing alongside, end our season in meteoric collapses, never win a thing and we get outclassed by teams in Europe, in addition we don't show any ambition in the transfer market and have a manager who openly admits 4th place is the primary aim.

We're creating a very negative image of the club with our current policies, we're attractive to kids because they'll get paid a lot and play a lot as well (and then move on once they've proved themselves), but there's no incentive for the better players to come.

[Letters]

ON HEROIN!!!

It is quite moreish, tbh :(

[Xhaka Can’t]

We're still a big club of course, what we have lost is pulling power when it comes to signing players, top players aren't going to want to sign because we have no real stars they'd dream of playing alongside, end our season in meteoric collapses, never win a thing and we get outclassed by teams in Europe, in addition we don't show any ambition in the transfer market and have a manager who openly admits 4th place is the primary aim.

We're creating a very negative image of the club with our current policies, we're attractive to kids because they'll get paid a lot and play a lot as well (and then move on once they've proved themselves), but there's no incentive for the better players to come.

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090419072105/wikiality/images/thumb/8/89/Pl-pedo-bear.png/300px-Pl-pedo-bear.png

[Letters]

But I can give you an example : Saint Etienne was a big club in France with a fantastic history , fan base , money , good players etc.. That was in the sixties and seventies . But they can't maintain themselves in the top division atm . They are forgotten and Lyon , Marseilles , Paris-saint Ger
main have taken over .

Well sure, I'm not saying it doesn't happen and it could happen to us. But we've been a big club and had a rich history for the last 80 years. We have a massive stadium and fan-base. It could happen to us but I don't think it's likely.
But are we a big club NOW? Of course we are!

Agree with Zimm's post though.

[Cripps_orig]

We arent

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/transfer-news/Arsenal-no-longer-claim-to-be-big-club-if-sell-Cesc-Fabregas-and-Samir-Nasri-admits-Arsene-Wenger-article764500.html

Wenger says so himself

[KSE Comedy Club]

Wenger talks a lot of shit tbh.

[Cripps_orig]

Manages a lot of shit as well

[Dennis]

"I believe for us it is important the message we give out. For example, you talk about Fabregas leaving, Nasri leaving.



"If you give that message out, you cannot pretend you are a big club, because a big club first of all holds onto its big players and gives a message out to all the other big clubs that they just cannot come in and take away from you.

[Marc Overmars]

Didn't need Wengers words to know that we're a selling club. It's been going on for years.

[Xhaka Can’t]

I don't really care if we are a 'big club'. There are so many arbitrary measures anyway.

I just want us to be in a position where we are a competitive club when it counts towards winning something. Right now, we are not a competitive Club and it is that which concerns me.