Match Reaction Arsenal 1-1 Shadow Dwellers

Wenger probably has evolved, dragged along kicking and screaming partly in response to the long standing realisation (for everyone bar himself) his Barca-lite dream was never going to deliver and partly by blind luck. But his evolution is still offset by stunning mistakes. He's the reason we are struggling in the CL again, for instance. He's also the reason we haven't fully taken advantage of the possibilities this season and are still relying on a second tier player in the most important position on the pitch. Will Giroud's misses cost us? Depends if other players can pick up the slack and compensate. But why should we be in that position anyway? We had the need, we had the money, we just didn't have the will.

Wenger has evolved? A man who looks at his pot pourri of average semi crocked and perma crocked players and nods his head. Says " All I need now is a keeper to challenge Ospina". We will know ny end of January if he has eveolved or not. No buys no chance. Hey Wilshere coming back will just be like......
Sorry I cant bring myself to say it.

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Originally Posted by selassie

I personally think we can challenge for the title this season but I have reservations about whether we will last the distance or win it.

Our biggest problem at the moment is injuries because it's decimating our squad, we're not unlucky and it's not a new thing because the same set of players are "crocked" every single season!

We must be doing something wrong in training to get all of these muscular injuries.

I personally think if we don't get bodies back fast then the collapse will start quite soon, we look very dodgy at the moment with so many players out injured and IMO our performance levels will only rise when the competition for places hotens up.

Also think that Wenger messed up in the summer not adding quality depth to the squad or replacing the dross we currently have that bring us down a level when they are called upon.

We are a big club, big clubs have hot competition for places in every single area of the squad.

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That's how I feel. We have been here before and it may be a case of deja vu. Just waiting for another key player to pick up an injury after the international break. Once again all eyes are on the January window. If we don't sign players for back up we're going to repeat the same mistake we made in 2013/14 season. I think this is the 4th time we've been faced with this scenario. We're in the mix for the title but our wafer thin squad is breaking apart already. Will we learn from the past or just continue down the same road?

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Originally Posted by IBK

Hmmm. I'm not sure we should be looking at other teams for reasons why we won't win. City are flakey despite their talent. This weekend's result is a case in point - it was a mush worse point for them than us. The Chavs are out of it. Manure are living up to their name - and their good luck is unlikely to hold. Liverpool are a work in progress and Spurs....don't make me laugh. IMHO this season more than any other, its our lamentable injury record that'll do for us. Its a shame - because I think Wenger has evolved, and the team with all players available is a much better balanced and capable one than we have had in years. But they will never, ever be available on a consistent basis - and sooner or later Sanchez will die given his stupid workload.

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I never thought we'd have seen this sort of scenario again so soon. Our rivals are looking really weak. It's even better than the time Fergie retired and appointed Moyes. It had a great chance then and an even better chance this season.

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Originally Posted by Globalgunner

Wenger has evolved? A man who looks at his pot pourri of average semi crocked and perma crocked players and nods his head. Says " All I need now is a keeper to challenge Ospina". We will know ny end of January if he has eveolved or not. No buys no chance. Hey Wilshere coming back will just be like......
Sorry I cant bring myself to say it.

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Whisper it quietly, but I think he has evolved to a degree. The Walcott/Giroud alternative was giving us a plan B, as was conceding possession and playing on the counter - and even Sunday's 'new' tactic of popping balls into the box for Giroud - something Bellerin has been good at as well - is something we haven't really seen before...

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Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

That's how I feel. We have been here before and it may be a case of deja vu. Just waiting for another key player to pick up an injury after the international break. Once again all eyes are on the January window. If we don't sign players for back up we're going to repeat the same mistake we made in 2013/14 season. I think this is the 4th time we've been faced with this scenario. We're in the mix for the title but our wafer thin squad is breaking apart already. Will we learn from the past or just continue down the same road?

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Been offline a few days.

Yeah, we've definitely been here before regarding the mounting injuries affecting our title challenge. I personally think Wenger won't learn and will risk the season by pushing the squad to the max. To be fair, when we have a fully fit squad we are as good as anybody in the division, we have strength in depth in pretty much every position and it's pretty high quality too. I'm not going to turn this into a Wenger out kind of debate, but his undoing will be his principled stance on hoping we get bodies back. If the likes of Wilshere and Welbeck are out for the season then they are going to need replacing in the January window, no ifs or buts, they will need replacing with players of similar quality. We are not in the position of being able to juggle players around because outside of them two we already have a core of players who are perpetual crocks, we all know who they are.

Like others have said including yourself, if these injuries continue then we can wave goodbye to any credible title challenge.

Wenger won't buy in January to replace any injured players on a short term basis. Even if we view them as regular crocks, we should know by now that he will see things differently. What typically happens is everyone comes back in March, giving us a full strength squad when it is too late to push on in the league, which is why we generally finish strong.

We also saw with Diaby how long he sticks by a player in the belief he will eventually get beyond his ailments, so I don't expect him to shift any of this lot on either. With Bellerin, Ramsey, Theo and Ox all due back this month, Wilshere coming back next month and Welbeck and Rosicky in January, Wenger won't see the need to buy more players.

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Originally Posted by Kano

Wenger won't buy in January to replace any injured players on a short term basis. Even if we view them as regular crocks, we should know by now that he will see things differently. What typically happens is everyone comes back in March, giving us a full strength squad when it is too late to push on in the league, which is why we generally finish strong.

We also saw with Diaby how long he sticks by a player in the belief he will eventually get beyond his ailments, so I don't expect him to shift any of this lot on either. With Bellerin, Ramsey, Theo and Ox all due back this month, Wilshere coming back next month and Welbeck and Rosicky in January, Wenger won't see the need to buy more players.

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Of course, one of the reasons why I truly don't think we'll make that jump forward with Wenger in charge. Things have got better, the current team he has built whilst not without flaws is competitive up to a point, however for the reasons you have listed and it's not the only reason, I think this is what stops us truly moving forward and evolving into a team that regularly and credibly challenges for trophies domestically and in Europe.