Match reaction - Norwich

[Cripps]

Nketiah:blink:

Where the feck did he come from :blink:

Wilshere completed 110 :bow:

Wenger trying his hardest to throw the cup away but we get through :lol:

Quarter finals :bow:

It's ours :bow:

[Cripps]

Also how f*cking useless is walcott. When does this muppets contract end? Hopefully in the summer.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Is it the quarters already!?

Also this is a match reaction thread and there were only 2 responses before mine from the same person.....WTF!? I know most don't care about this cup but goodness me!

[Niall_Quinn]

Is it the quarters already!?

Also this is a match reaction thread and there were only 2 responses before mine from the same person.....WTF!? I know most don't care about this cup but goodness me!

Only so many times you can type MEH.

Usual story.

Shit team selection by Monsier Le Fuckwomble, shit tactics, everything he touches he turns to shit.

Boring tippy tappy shit.

Can't be arsed. Game not taken seriously. Absolutely shocking performance from Walnut.

Kid comes on with 5 to go, Bails Wenger's arse out. Usually it's Alexis doing that so this was a nice change.

Happy for the kid. Disgusted with the performance. Hate the shitty manager.

Absolutely typical momentum sapping dog shite from Wenger to follow on from our one decent performance of the season. Utterly predictable.

Etc, etc.

Elneny at CB, I suppose that's something different and more fucked up than usual.

[Niall_Quinn]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z2-utT3X78

Ignore the last bit.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Well done to Marlo for the two goals.

I didn't really see much of the game. Another headed goal though, pub supremos.

[Letters]

Apparently he was born after Wenger became manager.



Although so was Coney <_<

[Marc Overmars]

Well done to "Eddie".

[Nozza!]

Oi, Eddie Nketamine, "childhood dream" so was that from last night? And what's with the number 62? Is that your weight in kilos? I hear on the grapevine that Sky are changing it to Clearasil Soccer Special...

[GP]

Nketiah :bow:

He's like a black Thierry Henry

[The Emirates Gallactico]

Looks like Marlo Stanfield tbh tbf.


I hope Avon Barksdale isn't around. :unsure:

[Cripps]

That nketiah has apparently scored 48 goals in the past 2 seasons :blink:

[Niall_Quinn]

He's the main man for the U23s. He played during the pre-season too. Surprised so many people haven't heard of him because he got plenty of attention pre-season, along with Nelson, Willock and the lad we sent out on loan Bramall.

What the hell happened to Zelalem though? He was supposed to be the American version of Christ.

[Niall_Quinn]

He's also got 2 hattricks at U18 and U21 level for England.

This kid could go far - and needs to if he wants to avoid being ruined by Wenger.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

He's got that natural predatory goalscoring instinct that you can't teach.

Mind you, I'm also reminded of the Arturo Lupoli who bagged tonnes of goals at our youth team level only to fail to make the step up. Outside of the freaks like Ronaldo, Messi, Cesc it's often hard to tell with young players as a lot of it comes down to workrate, application, ability to learn and most importantly, desire to succeed. Harry Kane looked like a bog standard journeyman at this stage and now look at him.

For the club's sake I really hope he does succeed. Given Jack's fall from grace, we could do with our own top tier British talent emerging from the academy.

[GP]

He's the main man for the U23s. He played during the pre-season too. Surprised so many people haven't heard of him because he got plenty of attention pre-season, along with Nelson, Willock and the lad we sent out on loan Bramall.

What the hell happened to Zelalem though? He was supposed to be the American version of Christ.

Zelalem is out injured. Has no future here regardless.

[Niall_Quinn]

He's got that natural predatory goalscoring instinct that you can't teach.

Mind you, I'm also reminded of the Arturo Lupoli who bagged tonnes of goals at our youth team level only to fail to make the step up. Outside of the freaks like Ronaldo, Messi, Cesc it's often hard to tell with young players as a lot of it comes down to workrate, application, ability to learn and most importantly, desire to succeed. Harry Kane looked like a bog standard journeyman at this stage and now look at him.

For the club's sake I really hope he does succeed. Given Jack's fall from grace, we could do with our own top tier British talent emerging from the academy.

Michael Owen was already a star at 18, banging the goals in. He didn't need protection or special measures, he just needed a shirt and a ball and he did the rest. Now though, enthusiastic youngsters need wise old heads to slow their progress to a crawl and limit their game time. They need to somehow find a way to break into the team ahead of established stars like Theo Walcott. They need to integrate into the modern, ultra negative game and learn how to tippety-tap it around with masters like Xhaka.

This has to be the biggest fear for any youngster with a bit of energy, the game's not there for them anymore. Sure, 5 minutes to go and the team is losing in a low priority match so there's everything to gain by sticking a youngster on and letting him go for it. But change the circumstances and he'll be under instructions to hold the ball, play it safe, keep the possession, don't drift out of the wing position he's been stuck in. We don't have an ambitious or adventurous enough manager to make anything out of these youngsters during a regular season. How many have we seen that offered promise? How many have come through? Iwobi. Bellerin. And these kids haven't been taught the basics, or else they've forgotten or got confused with all the bullshit that is modern management.

Theo Walcott and Ox are cautionary tales that every Arsenal youngster should be paying close attention to. Wenger has nothing to offer and if this kid does break through he'll soon be playing with all the uncertainty we now see in Iwobi's game. I hope not, but we've seen it too many times before.

[Cripps]

He's the main man for the U23s. He played during the pre-season too. Surprised so many people haven't heard of him because he got plenty of attention pre-season, along with Nelson, Willock and the lad we sent out on loan Bramall.

What the hell happened to Zelalem though? He was supposed to be the American version of Christ.

Zelalem has gone in the bin alongside Freddy Adu.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Looks like Marlo Stanfield tbh tbf.




:sarcy:

I said this five posts above yours.

[Özim]

He's the main man for the U23s. He played during the pre-season too. Surprised so many people haven't heard of him because he got plenty of attention pre-season, along with Nelson, Willock and the lad we sent out on loan Bramall.

What the hell happened to Zelalem though? He was supposed to be the American version of Christ.

What always happens with these young prodigees or aces as they are referred to, he got nowhere. Over the years I've heard so many names banded about as the next big thing, none of them have ever made it, this guy got a couple goals yesterday that's great, now he should be given some game time to see if he is the real deal or just another kid who is not going to make it.

Give him 45 minutes here and there to see what he can do, if he doesn't get any goals he won't make it, if he does maybe we have someone worth keeping hold of, if he's good enough he's old enough, not suggesting he plays every game but at least give him a chance to show what he can do.

Makes me laugh, when Wenger arrived he had a 10 year plan to develop our youth team (he was thinking about it even then), 10 years later he tries to build a team full of youngsters he's poached from other clubs, very few actually from our youth team and fails so miserably it's embarrassing, he carried on with this fruitless dream for years and even now he's always busy snapping up kids from all around the globe who he never seems to give a fair crack of the whip to and don't make it.

In the past kids flocked over here and seemed to believe in his pipe dream (or maybe they just were attracted to big wages we paid) and got nowhere. My advice to young players is if you want to make it don't come to Arsenal because you'll have noone to learn from, no leaders to guide you and won't make it.

I think we're actually quite adept at missing out on all the best young talent out there in favour of players who don't make it, when a top youngster is available we somehow manage to miss the boat, maybe it's so Wenger can build the all time best players anyone nearly signed.


Bale or Walcott - we end up with Walcott
Lupoli or Rossi - we end up with Lupoli

We also found the money for a flop like Sanogo but wouldn't pay up for Mbappe, all horrendous decisions which just show how poor the manager is at judging a players talent.

All those youngsters flopped, but nothing like Wenger, who himself is a flop of epic proportions.

[Cripps]

What always happens with these young prodigees or aces as they are referred to, he got nowhere. Over the years I've heard so many names banded about as the next big thing, none of them have ever made it, this guy got a couple goals yesterday that's great, now he should be given some game time to see if he is the real deal or just another kid who is not going to make it.

Give him 45 minutes here and there to see what he can do, if he doesn't get any goals he won't make it, if he does maybe we have someone worth keeping hold of, if he's good enough he's old enough, not suggesting he plays every game but at least give him a chance to show what he can do.

Makes me laugh, when Wenger arrived he had a 10 year plan to develop our youth team (he was thinking about it even then), 10 years later he tries to build a team full of youngsters he's poached from other clubs, very few actually from our youth team and fails so miserably it's embarrassing, he carried on with this fruitless dream for years and even now he's always busy snapping up kids from all around the globe who he never seems to give a fair crack of the whip to and don't make it.

In the past kids flocked over here and seemed to believe in his pipe dream (or maybe they just were attracted to big wages we paid) and got nowhere. My advice to young players is if you want to make it don't come to Arsenal because you'll have noone to learn from, no leaders to guide you and won't make it.

I think we're actually quite adept at missing out on all the best young talent out there in favour of players who don't make it, when a top youngster is available we somehow manage to miss the boat, maybe it's so Wenger can build the all time best players anyone nearly signed.


Bale or Walcott - we end up with Walcott
Lupoli or Rossi - we end up with Lupoli

We also found the money for a flop like Sanogo but wouldn't pay up for Mbappe, all horrendous decisions which just show how poor the manager is at judging a players talent.

All those youngsters flopped, but nothing like Wenger, who himself is a flop of epic proportions.

Sanogo :haha:

What a useless load of tosh he was.

[Power n Glory]

Bale or Walcott - we end up with Walcott
Lupoli or Rossi - we end up with Lupoli

We also found the money for a flop like Sanogo but wouldn't pay up for Mbappe, all horrendous decisions which just show how poor the manager is at judging a players talent.

I question whether it's bad decisions on players or development. We've bought three players from Southampton and all been flops. I wonder what would have become of Bale and Theo if their paths were switched.

Sir Chseny's recent jab about our development confirmed what I needed to know on our development. We spot raw talent but fail to develop them for the next level.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

On that subject did we almost sign Bale?

[GP]

On that subject did we almost sign Bale?

No.

People can talk about Signing Walcott instead of Bale all they like but it wasn't the case. Bale was a bog standard full-back then anyway.

I'm sure some will remember his early Spurs record. They failed to win a game he started for about 2 years. He was called Gareth Fail for a reason.

[Penguin]

I question whether it's bad decisions on players or development. We've bought three players from Southampton and all been flops. I wonder what would have become of Bale and Theo if their paths were switched.

Sir Chseny's recent jab about our development confirmed what I needed to know on our development. We spot raw talent but fail to develop them for the next level.

The problem with Wenger is that he has nothing he can teach young players other than how to pass in triangles and keep possession. He doesn't give then any direct guidance which is why most of our young players get stuck at a mediocre level for years without progressing. They don't even get taught the basics.

The ones that break through the barrier are the truly talented players who think for themselves and improve themselves. The Henry's and the Cescs. Wenger likes to take credit for developing them but the truth is they developed themselves and would have been great players regardless of what team they joined.

What Keown said was damning, Wenger actually wouldn't let him tell our defenders what they were doing wrong. Apparently helping them improve would affect their confidence. Great job Arsene, I'm sure all that extra confidence helped them defend so much better. Like when we lost 8-2 to United. or 6-0 to Chelsea. Or 10-2 on aggregate to Bayern. Or every other game.

[Özim]

Bale was never "a bog standard full-back" as has been said, he was rated very highly, we chose to go for Walcott and the rest is history.

[Niall_Quinn]

No.

People can talk about Signing Walcott instead of Bale all they like but it wasn't the case. Bale was a bog standard full-back then anyway.

I'm sure some will remember his early Spurs record. They failed to win a game he started for about 2 years. He was called Gareth Fail for a reason.

Signing Theo was a massive coup. He had the choice of us, Utd, Liverpool and Utd thought they had him right up until the last minute. Same deal with Ramsey. Walcott was touted as "the" English star of the future. The papers were full of it when he signed. It was back when Wenger had a reputation for protecting and developing young talent, thoroughly undeserved as it turns out.

[Niall_Quinn]

The problem with Wenger is that he has nothing he can teach young players other than how to pass in triangles and keep possession. He doesn't give then any direct guidance which is why most of our young players get stuck at a mediocre level for years without progressing. They don't even get taught the basics.

The ones that break through the barrier are the truly talented players who think for themselves and improve themselves. The Henry's and the Cescs. Wenger likes to take credit for developing them but the truth is they developed themselves and would have been great players regardless of what team they joined.

What Keown said was damning, Wenger actually wouldn't let him tell our defenders what they were doing wrong. Apparently helping them improve would affect their confidence. Great job Arsene, I'm sure all that extra confidence helped them defend so much better. Like when we lost 8-2 to United. or 6-0 to Chelsea. Or 10-2 on aggregate to Bayern. Or every other game.

Wenger had a mental breakdown of some sort several years back. It's the only logical explanation for the ways he carries on. I don't mean a stroke or Alzheimer's, I mean some sort of bubble induced mental disconnect that causes him to behave in the opposite way a non-afflicted person would behave. The only other explanation is he hates the fans so much he's made it his life's work to piss them off.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bale was never "a bog standard full-back" as has been said, he was rated very highly, we chose to go for Walcott and the rest is history.

We signed Theo in January 2006? He's right footed? How was it Theo vs Bale as a decision?

[GP]

We signed Theo in January 2006? He's right footed? How was it Theo vs Bale as a decision?

It obviously wasn't.

[Özim]

We signed Theo in January 2006? He's right footed? How was it Theo vs Bale as a decision?

My point is we could have signed Bale, Walcott was just a pet project just like most of Wengers signings then, we spent money on this guy we could just have easily have spent money on Bale.

We didn't sign Walcott to play there and then so it was just a case of signing a player for his potential. If we weren't looking at him then there must have been a problem with our scouts. From day one I've never seen the fuss with Walcott, seemed to lack any skill, his finishing was average and he really didn't seem to have much about him, if you look at what he did at Southampton it was pretty little, not sure why he commanded so much attention.

He arrived with a lot of hype, but never had the talent to deliver on that hype. There was less hype around Bale (though he was considered to be very talented) but he's far outperformed Walcott.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

We could have signed a lot of players. If you want to make a point that we could have signed Bale, then fine, fair enough. Personally I think it's irrelevant now he isn't even at the club that did sign him but there's a reasonable argument to be had there.

You outrightly stated it was Theo vs Bale which is disingenuous.

[Globalgunner]

We could have signed a lot of players. If you want to make a point that we could have signed Bale, then fine, fair enough. Personally I think it's irrelevant now he isn't even at the club that did sign him but there's a reasonable argument to be had there.

You outrightly stated it was Theo vs Bale which is disingenuous.

How so?
2 players were available to buy, we could have bought 1 or the other or both possibly.
It was as much a choice as Xhaka or Kante
Wenger went for the worst option....as usual.

[fakeyank]

Frankly, I think Theo had everything as a 16 year old to be a world beater. He has pace and a decent eye of goal. All he needed was decent ball control.. he was crying out for someone to coach some basics into him. Wenger took him, shoved him all over the pitch and he turned out the way he has turned out.

[Özim]

We could have signed a lot of players. If you want to make a point that we could have signed Bale, then fine, fair enough. Personally I think it's irrelevant now he isn't even at the club that did sign him but there's a reasonable argument to be had there.

You outrightly stated it was Theo vs Bale which is disingenuous.

I was just pointing out we made a choice and decided to sign Walcott as one for the future, he wasn't signed to play there and then so we weren't particularly looking to fill a position in the team (he cost a fortune as well considering). On that basis we chose to get him, we could just have easily gone in and signed Bale, he obviously wasn't on our radar or we just weren't interested, despite the fact people were aware of his talent.

Bale isn't at the club that signed him anymore basically because he was so good the biggest club in football came in for him, Walcott is still with us because let's face it he's been pretty average, is overpaid and no other club have been seriously interested in signing him, he's not stood out enough and is now also paid too much for his level of ability.

For me he ranks alongside the likes of Freddy Adu and Cherno Samba as most overhyped players to have ever played professional football, overhyped before they achieved anything or proved they were good enough.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

How so?
2 players were available to buy, we could have bought 1 or the other or both possibly.
It was as much a choice as Xhaka or Kante
Wenger went for the worst option....as usual.

Bale didn't leave until 14 months later, that's how. I don't know if he had even made his 2 appearances of the 05/06 season by the time Theo had joined us.

I haven't disputed you could say 'we could have signed Bale' but I am saying 'Walcott vs Bale' is a non sequitur.

[Özim]

Bale didn't leave until 14 months later, that's how. I don't know if he had even made his 2 appearances of the 05/06 season by the time Theo had joined us.

I haven't disputed you could say 'we could have signed Bale' but I am saying 'Walcott vs Bale' is a non sequitur.

The pojnt of Bale vs Walcott was just the fact we went in and signed a player from Southampton in Walcott, we could have just as easily signed Bale, the reality is we made the wrong choice because on is World Class and the other is well Walcott. We could easily have signed both of course, which may have been a more logical choice, there was a lot of talk of Bale and I didn't really get why we weren't in for him, he cost a lot less than Walcott as well.

[Cripps]

No.

People can talk about Signing Walcott instead of Bale all they like but it wasn't the case. Bale was a bog standard full-back then anyway.


Bet he's counting his lucky stars. If he came here under Wenger he would have turned into a useless waste of space.

[Cripps]

The problem with Wenger is that he has nothing he can teach young players other than how to pass in triangles and keep possession. He doesn't give then any direct guidance which is why most of our young players get stuck at a mediocre level for years without progressing. They don't even get taught the basics.

Spot on. He gives them exposure which takes them up to a certain level then his weak minded mentality and tactical frailties rub off on them. Theo is the best example. Needs to be coached week in week out to maximise his attributes but Wenger and his laissez faire approach has ruined him.

[Power n Glory]

The pojnt of Bale vs Walcott was just the fact we went in and signed a player from Southampton in Walcott, we could have just as easily signed Bale, the reality is we made the wrong choice because on is World Class and the other is well Walcott. We could easily have signed both of course, which may have been a more logical choice, there was a lot of talk of Bale and I didn't really get why we weren't in for him, he cost a lot less than Walcott as well.

I guarantee Bale wouldn't be Bale if he had signed for us. It's not just a case of picking the wrong player.

[Özim]

I guarantee Bale wouldn't be Bale if he had signed for us. It's not just a case of picking the wrong player.

You may well be right, but he certainly had more natural talent than Walcott so he probably would have been a more effective player than he has been in his 11 years here. Walcotts' major strenght was essentially his pace, anything else needed to be taught, Bale had more than that.

[Marc Overmars]

I guarantee Bale wouldn't be Bale if he had signed for us. It's not just a case of picking the wrong player.

Wenger hasn't been able to develop and elevate young players for years. His coaching is ancient.

They all come onto the scene raw and exciting but give it a few years and the common trend is they won't have a position, their bad habits will remain and they'll probably become scapegoats for the fans too. Bellerin is the latest guy heading down that path.

[Power n Glory]

You may well be right, but he certainly had more natural talent than Walcott so he probably would have been a more effective player than he has been in his 11 years here. Walcotts' major strenght was essentially his pace, anything else needed to be taught, Bale had more than that.

The exact same thing was said about Ox being more talented than Walcott which was true. But look how he has turned out? I highly doubt Bale would have been more effective for us.

[Power n Glory]

Wenger hasn't been able to develop and elevate young players for years. His coaching is ancient.

They all come onto the scene raw and exciting but give it a few years and the common trend is they won't have a position, their bad habits will remain and they'll probably become scapegoats for the fans too. Bellerin is the latest guy heading down that path.

Bellerin, Iwobi... Two more examples of players that have everything in their locker to be top players. Raw talent that will be wasted.

[Xhaka Can’t]

You may well be right, but he certainly had more natural talent than Walcott so he probably would have been a more effective player than he has been in his 11 years here. Walcotts' major strenght was essentially his pace, anything else needed to be taught, Bale had more than that.

We are going back a long way here. However, I can’t remember anyone anywhere mentioning Bale when we were competing with other teams including Manchester United for Walcott.

Sure we could have signed Bale, but this was not an either/or.

Can’t believe I’ve joined in such a pointless discussion.

[Özim]

The exact same thing was said about Ox being more talented than Walcott which was true. But look how he has turned out? I highly doubt Bale would have been more effective for us.

He is more talented and you can see that, last season he was decent for us, granted he hasn't developed as much as he could have but he still showed some of his quality.

Walcott had very little natural ability in truth, pace and that's about it, paying 12 million for that was illogical, I could understand it if he was prolific or had dazzling skills, but for a speed merchant, really??? I can understant the Ox signing more than the Walcott one, Ox clearly has some decent football attributes at his disposal.

[Özim]

We are going back a long way here. However, I can’t remember anyone anywhere mentioning Bale when we were competing with other teams including Manchester United for Walcott.

Sure we could have signed Bale, but this was not an either/or.

Can’t believe I’ve joined in such a pointless discussion.

To be honest, Walcott was a signing out of the blue, noone knew who he was and when we did sign him we all assumed he was some sort of magician based on how much we paid for a kid, the only surprise was that he turned out as one dimensional as he was. What possessed us to spend so much money on a kid who was nothing special at all is beyond me (and by that I mean he's not particularly naturally gifted).

Nooone mentioned Walcott before we signed him anyone, not saying we talked about Bale either, but I do remember Bale was highly rated after his first season (a year after we signed Walcott), we could have signed him for 5 million then (a pittance), we have a habit of missing out on all the top quality talent in favour of the more middle of the road young players, Mbappe being the perfect example (apparently we we're interested but scoffed at paying a few measly million to his advisers, if we thought he was that good we'd have paid up, clearly we didn't).

[Power n Glory]

He is more talented and you can see that, last season he was decent for us, granted he hasn't developed as much as he could have but he still showed some of his quality.

He is more talented. But does it matter considering he produced far less than Walcott and was just an injury prone? So even when we identify someone with more talent, we somehow produce a worse player. All the players Wenger has said he was close to signing would probably be nobodies or unbalanced in a way that makes them flawed and not considered as the world class talents they are. A young Maldini could be made to look an absolute shambles under Wenger.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Walcott was not a signing out of the blue. Even though it is a long way back, I remember enough to know he was slated to be the next big English talent and we were in fierce competition for his signature.

[Xhaka Can’t]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/4614538.stm

[Niall_Quinn]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/4614538.stm

So much optimism bask then. Theo has become a mascot for the monotony Wenger has drowned us in since.

[Marc Overmars]

Let’s all take a moment to acknowledge that Walcott has been here for almost 12 years.

The poster boy of how low standards have fallen in that time.

[GP]

Walcott needs to get in the fucking landfill with Corrie McKeague.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Let’s all take a moment to acknowledge that Walcott has been here for almost 12 years.

The poster boy of how low standards have fallen in that time.

Give him a chance.

He’ll come good.

[Niall_Quinn]

Give him a chance.

He’ll come good.

He has a lot of potential.

[Globalgunner]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/4614538.stm

Guys, you missed out the real gem in that report
"Referring to new arrivals Emmanuel Adebayor and Abou Diaby, he said Arsenal had signed "three players" but then changed that to "two-and-a-half".":haha:

Poor Diaby. It was written in the stars for the poor fella. Possibly the most talented of the 3, given that Adebayor was shit for brains.and Walcott had sawdust between his ears.

[Özim]

Walcott was not a signing out of the blue. Even though it is a long way back, I remember enough to know he was slated to be the next big English talent and we were in fierce competition for his signature.

Ok let me clarify a bit, out of blue was perhaps not strictly correct, but what I'm saying is noone knew anything about this guy until we were after him a week earlier. He wasn't really someone who'd been on the radar for a while.

Ramsay would be another one, we signed him and sure Man U were after him but noone knew anything about him.

[Cripps]

Let’s all take a moment to acknowledge that Walcott has been here for almost 12 years.

The poster boy of how low standards have fallen in that time.

You'd think he's have some dignity and self respect and think to himself 'this isn't happening here, it's time to move on', but no he's happy to stay and collect his cheque.

He must look back at his career and be like 'wow, what a waste... ive achieved nothing'.

[selassie]

That nketiah has apparently scored 48 goals in the past 2 seasons :blink:

Watch Wenger ruin his development by playing him out of position just so he can fit him into the Carling/Uefa team/B-Team.

[Power n Glory]

You'd think he's have some dignity and self respect and think to himself 'this isn't happening here, it's time to move on', but no he's happy to stay and collect his cheque.

He must look back at his career and be like 'wow, what a waste... ive achieved nothing'.

That’s what I don’t understand about Theo or the people around him? They can’t be focussed on football or concerned about his development considering how things have panned out. I’ve watched players of a similar age in a similar position with other clubs and they all made a decision to move on when it looked like their development hit a blank wall. What’s worse, he didn’t stick by his convictions on playing up front and talked his way out of playing that position. He’s wasted his career but finessed his way into £140k a week so maybe he’s not so pissed off. :lol:

[Niall_Quinn]

That’s what I don’t understand about Theo or the people around him? They can’t be focussed on football or concerned about his development considering how things have panned out. I’ve watched players of a similar age in a similar position with other clubs and they all made a decision to move on when it looked like their development hit a blank wall. What’s worse, he didn’t stick by his convictions on playing up front and talked his way out of playing that position. He’s wasted his career but finessed his way into £140k a week so maybe he’s not so pissed off. :lol:

Poor old Theo's paying the price of failure.

140K a week, fancy house, fancy car, fancy fuck buddy, gets to play footy every day with his mates. It can't be easy.

[Marc Overmars]

That’s what I don’t understand about Theo or the people around him? They can’t be focussed on football or concerned about his development considering how things have panned out. I’ve watched players of a similar age in a similar position with other clubs and they all made a decision to move on when it looked like their development hit a blank wall. What’s worse, he didn’t stick by his convictions on playing up front and talked his way out of playing that position. He’s wasted his career but finessed his way into £140k a week so maybe he’s not so pissed off. :lol:

He's never struck me as a particularly driven or hungry player. Made a song and dance about playing up front but clearly Wenger never fancied him there, so that should have been enough reason for him to leave years ago. Must be family related - settled in London with a big contract, easy life.

[Niall_Quinn]

He's never struck me as a particularly driven or hungry player. Made a song and dance about playing up front but clearly Wenger never fancied him there, so that should have been enough reason for him to leave years ago. Must be family related - settled in London with a big contract, easy life.

That striker song and dance routine was when he still hd some market value, his contract was up for renewal and the chavs were sniffing around. His market value is now zero if he wants to hang on to that 140K, so the striker thing has died a death. Ox gets shit for leaving but contrast and compare with Theo. Certainly things aren't working our for Ox right now, but he made the move, took the pay cut. Shows he cares about the football whereas Theo leaves himself open to all sorts of questions. It's not about loyalty either. Loyalty only comes into play when other clubs are chasing. I can't recall a hint of interest in Theo during the summer.

Again though, it's all on Wenger. Either you push the player to get what you want from him or you push him out the door and get something better. At Wenger's Arsenal it is always an option to do neither and let the player waste away. We've seen it many times. Wenger tolerates second best, mediocrity, waste, missed opportunity. He's the best mis-manager in the business.

[Power n Glory]

That striker song and dance routine was when he still hd some market value, his contract was up for renewal and the chavs were sniffing around. His market value is now zero if he wants to hang on to that 140K, so the striker thing has died a death. Ox gets shit for leaving but contrast and compare with Theo. Certainly things aren't working our for Ox right now, but he made the move, took the pay cut. Shows he cares about the football whereas Theo leaves himself open to all sorts of questions. It's not about loyalty either. Loyalty only comes into play when other clubs are chasing. I can't recall a hint of interest in Theo during the summer.

Again though, it's all on Wenger. Either you push the player to get what you want from him or you push him out the door and get something better. At Wenger's Arsenal it is always an option to do neither and let the player waste away. We've seen it many times. Wenger tolerates second best, mediocrity, waste, missed opportunity. He's the best mis-manager in the business.

I can understand why Ox left and add that to what Chesney said about his development, it's understandable. If Wenger couldn't develop Ox into a CM or winger, you'd have to be insane to trust him to turn you into a proper wingback. Ox moving made sense to me. Especially when you factor in that we were slow to offer him a contract. Wilshere is sitting in that same boat right now. We haven't developed him as a player, he's suffered injury after injury because of poor management and now his career at Arsenal is on the line. Moving to Bournemouth for game time was the wrong move but I understand it. If you don't take things into your own hands to try and raise your stock, you may end up frozen out of the squad like Walcott and be in no mans land. Gibbs is another example of that.

[Niall_Quinn]

I can understand why Ox left and add that to what Chesney said about his development, it's understandable. If Wenger couldn't develop Ox into a CM or winger, you'd have to be insane to trust him to turn you into a proper wingback. Ox moving made sense to me. Especially when you factor in that we were slow to offer him a contract. Wilshere is sitting in that same boat right now. We haven't developed him as a player, he's suffered injury after injury because of poor management and now his career at Arsenal is on the line. Moving to Bournemouth for game time was the wrong move but I understand it. If you don't take things into your own hands to try and raise your stock, you may end up frozen out of the squad like Walcott and be in no mans land. Gibbs is another example of that.

Then there are the guys who never get a chance at all, like Perez. And now Chambers. Wenger prefers to play a CM in the CB role. It's genuinely bizarre how he goes about things.

[Özim]

Then there are the guys who never get a chance at all, like Perez. And now Chambers. Wenger prefers to play a CM in the CB role. It's genuinely bizarre how he goes about things.

He's made 20,000 subsitutions and yet has failed to grasp the basic concepts of football, very odd.

[Cripps]

I can understand why Ox left and add that to what Chesney said about his development, it's understandable. If Wenger couldn't develop Ox into a CM or winger, you'd have to be insane to trust him to turn you into a proper wingback. Ox moving made sense to me. Especially when you factor in that we were slow to offer him a contract. Wilshere is sitting in that same boat right now. We haven't developed him as a player, he's suffered injury after injury because of poor management and now his career at Arsenal is on the line. Moving to Bournemouth for game time was the wrong move but I understand it. If you don't take things into your own hands to try and raise your stock, you may end up frozen out of the squad like Walcott and be in no mans land. Gibbs is another example of that.

Personally I'm happy to see as many of the weak minded brittle players like ox, Theo and Gibbs from the banter era leave. Their weak mentality seeps through the squad.

[Power n Glory]

Personally I'm happy to see as many of the weak minded brittle players like ox, Theo and Gibbs from the banter era leave. Their weak mentality seeps through the squad.

We could have a revolving door at Arsenal, that weak mentality will stay within the squad so long as Wenger stays at the helm. He is the root and cause. Bad students, bad teacher.

[Özim]

We could have a revolving door at Arsenal, that weak mentality will stay within the squad so long as Wenger stays at the helm. He is the root and cause. Bad students, bad teacher.

Pretty much, he also signs players with little fight, preferring 4 ft midgets that can pass 5 yards but can't tackle. For years people have thought we're a soft touch, now someone has actually come out and said it.

I look forward to the day we're no longer a bunch of pansies on the pitch, I miss the days when the opposition feared playing against us.

[Mac76]

Then there are the guys who never get a chance at all, like Perez

The biggest crime of last season - drove me crazy seeing Perez do well on his very few appearances and then be constantly ignored in favour of Giraffe, Feo, Danny Woeful etc...

[Cripps]

Theo's a disgrace. You'd think he'd have an ounce of dignity and think it's not happening here, time to move on. But no, he's happy picking up his wage and letting his career drift.