There's always pressure and we've won in plenty of pressure games over the last couple of years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bumble
Maybe it is a factor but there's more to it than that.
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There's always pressure and we've won in plenty of pressure games over the last couple of years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bumble
Maybe it is a factor but there's more to it than that.
Oh come on don't do it yourselfQuote:
Originally Posted by AFC Leveller
We aren't going to win the league, it doesn't matter what the teams above us do because we will never Capatalise
Whose to say we will even beat Swansea on Wednesday? You know who scored the goal the last time we beat them in the league at the Emirates? Arshavin!
You capitalised capitalise.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
If we beat Swansea and Spurs in the next 2 games I still think we can turn this around.
I could blame my phoneQuote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
And in fact I will
But we won'tQuote:
Originally Posted by The Verminator
:haha:Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
The Letters is dead.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Verminator
Long live The Letters
:bow:
I think we have a strong chance of getting 6 points over the next 2 games, but only so we can drop 7 from 9 thereafter. You know how it goes by now.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Verminator
Haha after the game yesterday i thought thats it, we are out of it and this useless manager has got to go but then when you think of the opportunities we have, it is hard to understand how this bunch can fuck up everytime.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
One day when we've all long ceased to care the truth of what goes on at our club will emerge?.Quote:
Originally Posted by AFC Leveller
weird, I had the same though earlier. What will the truth of this period be like when it finally emerges? We've had hints from the players that have left. I wonder what the likes of Ozil and Alexis will say? You can see the frustration etched on their faces during the games these days.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
I would be utterly amazed if we won at WHL.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Verminator
We've won just 4 of our last 10 since we beat City. Forget the next 2, we probably need to win at least 5 in a row to haul ourselves back into realistic contention.
When was the last time we achieved a comfortable win there? Other than when Flamini scored.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
It would be just like this team to win at Spuds. Create more hope and then lose at home to West Brom.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
:lol: I actually sometimes feel like they HATE us and contrive to find the most inventive ways to distress us each seasonQuote:
Originally Posted by Kano
It remains to be seen. The defeatist attitude is a logical outcome from what we have observed but it's infinitely less crazy to say we can't win the next 2 games than saying Leicester fucking City would be top of the table at the start of the season. This season has proved more than at any time I can remember that football can be a very unpredictable sport and anything can still happen. I won't give up hope before it's completely out of reach. 5 points behind Leicester and 3 behind Spurs is no major cause for concern in itself. We've all seen how dire we have been recently and it really is the same old story. But I'd much rather get behind my team and see if we can make it for the final stretch.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
I have been off this forum for a very long time - reading sporadically but not contributing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
Letters - I know the crowd has been against you; so much so you may have been the only positive voice on here perhaps (not been reading enough to know for sure). I would say if you are one who is still going to the games then please try keep the atmosphere positive. We all agree Wenger needs to go but much better to focus on that at the end of the season. If supporters can add a few % to the morale of the team then that could be the difference.
Edit - reading back it doesn't come across as I intended. I mean to support you rather than pressurise you. The atmosphere at the stadium is pretty bleak from what I can tell and who can blame the fans for that. But if those who can remain positive do, then it could rally us a little. And with the title race as mad and unpredictable as it has been; every tiny advantage could help.
I understand your humour NQ as well as the seriousness of the point you are making. But wouldn't you agree that it's better to just get behind the team until the season closes? After that extreme inquisition and relentless persecution of the fools in charge should commence, assuming that we predictably make a big mess of things.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
I wouldn't be amazed at all. I'm certainly not brimming with confidence but you have to look at it both ways. The Spurs players will be under enormous pressure themselves. As much as we are undoubtedly deserving of the title bottlers, you can only say it doubly against them. Sure, they have looked very tidy this season but to think they are going to just walk it the rest of the season is unlikely I would say. I can see a lot of cracks appearing in all our rivals, just as we have seen with ourselves.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
The fans will get behind the team on match days, I'm sure. The same can't be said about the team getting behind the fans though, so far. The manager has let everyone down, for the 10th season in a row so he can do one.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Verminator
Spurs go into Saturday's game as overwhelming favourites given their current form which stretches back to January. Spurs and Leicester are odds on to finish above us if we base current form as an indicator to who finishes where at the end of the season.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Verminator
We are in a real pickle at the moment, not only are we not putting a winning run together but we're struggling in the games we are winning, we haven't won convincingly for a long time. We are seriously going to need to pull something special out of the bag to win the title this season.
You say you can see cracks appearing in all our rivals? Spurs have won what 8 games on the trot in PL, how are cracks appearing for them? Leicester's record this year is near flawless aside from their defeat to us.
The only team that is showing cracks is Arsenal, we are in a mess and the only way to get out of it is for us to win the remaining games from now on in.
Leicester and Spurs are showing cracks? If that's the case we must be bloody showing craters.
Since the win over City in December we're played 10 won 4.
that's disastrous.
City was the last time we played well too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Douglas Reynholm
We've struggled in every match since.
Wenger just doesn't know how to balance his team.....we're waiting for him to stumble upon a new fix....which will probably happen with a few games to go, and start us off to a flyer next season, before we lose players to injury and the whole mess starts over again.
Putting Cazorla centrally and Ramsey out wide worked very well. That's what inspired the confidence from midway through last season. But since losing Cazora, we've had no-one else who can do that well enough, Ramsey is too kamikaze in the middle and our wide players are absolute turd.Quote:
Originally Posted by LDG
I agree, but being in charge of a top team, you would hope that the manager would either be able to rebalance his team within a few games, or set it straight in the transfer market (even if it's a stop gap).Quote:
Originally Posted by Kano
He fucks around with blind faith, and it keeps falling apart.
Or course, the injury to Cazorla came at the wrong time (it always does), because we never have plan B. Never.
That is true. The Flamini/Ramsey thing should've been sorted a month ago and the same goes for Ramsey/Le Coq now too. We do have other players who can distribute but it takes until we are in the real shit to think of them as an alternative.Quote:
Originally Posted by LDG
I wonder does Wenger pay any attention to what has happened in the past? When you hear him speak it's as if everything is new and unusual. Yes, we have had a bad week, but we must bounce back. Doesn't he get that these "bad weeks" are seasonally routine? How many pivotal weeks have we fucked up now? How many times have we gone from being treble contenders (theoretically based on the fact we haven't been knocked out - yet) to, "Oh well, I hope we at least finish above the spuds!"
It really is disingenuous of him to pretend these are isolated setbacks that could happen to any club at any time. "Other clubs will drop points", he states. Yeah, we hope so because we're relying on other teams to fuck up because we're not good enough to stake a claim ourselves. At least he hasn't had the brass balls to complain about Cazorla's absence. I'm not surprised. Everyone and his wife told him he needed to bring in quality in the midfield. He knew better and here we are as usual, well not even as usual because we're trailing Leicester and the spuds :doh:
It takes some fucking doing to go backwards having spent £85mill on players of the calibre of Ozil, Alexis and Cech. Fuck me. That's hard to comprehend. With his apparent inability to recognise the past, let alone learn from it, his inability to leverage quality when it comes through the door and his unwillingness to go the extra yard and round out the resources to push us on then I guess yes, £70million in the summer would be an outrage. Zero would be appropriate. Only thing is I can't stand the idea all that money might leech into Stan's wallet over time. I;d rather pay £100mill for Kalou than see Stan rob it.
What most managers would do, if they didn't have a solution in the first team, would be to fast track a kid into the position. That person may be in-experienced, but at least it would retain the balance of the side. We have had plenty of those diminutive technical players in the u18s etc. Just bring one of them in for a few matches as short term solution....you never know, it might work out like Rashford for Utd, or Bellerin for us just recently.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kano
But no. He simply must play what he thinks is an alternative, rather than understand what made the team tick in the first place.
That said, the Coq/Santi thing was starting to fail before either of them got injured. Teams worked it out.
Wenger doesn't know what he's doing. Stumbled upon the Cazorla Coquelin duo through injury and having no other options. Coquelin had to be recalled remember and I don't understand why someone that can play DM as well as wingback was loaned out. The pairing made a huge difference to how our season ended and why we've been able to challenge this year. I don't get how he can see these players in training and not know where they should be best played for this team.
If he had all players available to him we'd never see that duo paired in the middle. Example, when we took that 6-0 beating at Stamford Bridge, he had Oxlade Chamberlain starting as CM with Arteta. :doh: Cazorla as Attacking mid and Rosicky on the right wing! Rosicky is another player very influential as CM so why in the world has he got Ox and Rosicky in reverse roles? What's the reasoning? That's two very good ball players that can dictate the game from deep available but he chose to play Ox as CM for a massive game. Why?
When we lost 3-0 to Everton, he starts with Arteta and Flamini as the duo, Rosicky as attacking mid and Cazorla playing on the right wing. We've had plenty of games where Flamini and Arteta duo failed and if both fit an available, I doubt we'd see the end of that disastrous duo. He really doesn't know what he's doing. We're seeing the same mistakes this season. We bought Kallstrom that season as well. :lol: Similar to us buying Moh. A pointless signing.
Kallstrom, Sanogo and Elmo are all indicative of this happy families culture. Don't buy competitive threats, buy second rate cover that won't upset anyone and will be delighted to warm the bench because it's London, it's Arsenal. No headaches for anyone. No value to the team but at least everyone is smiling. In the end these guys all play anyway because we are always on the cusp of the next injury crisis. Flamini only turned up for a bit of keep fit. He must be laughing his bollocks off at how things have worked out for him. But, you know, he keeps Ozil happy so it's worth it.
As for Ox the central midfielder, well Wenger is so clever that he sees and knows stuff no ordinary fan will ever see. You really need to have made 20,000 substitutions to appreciate what the ball losing, can't pass Ox can do for us in the middle.
But what has be particularly done difference since the City game?Quote:
Originally Posted by LDG
A few days later we went to Southampton and got battered, it can't have been that different a side.
I don't buy it's pressure - there was pressure on the City game, there's pressure on every game really to different degrees.
Right now we are looking like a very mediocre side, bereft of ideas. But this is pretty much the same group of players who bear City comfortably and looked like title contenders.
Preparation?Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
It's clearly evident we go into games against the so called "inferior" opposition totally unprepared. We have no plan, no tactics and no desire.
It was evident on Sunday and was evident against Southampton when they mauled us. Other factors come into play but the way we are setup and tactically prepared has a huge bearing on certain games IMO.
We should be setup and prepared like we were for the Barca & Man City game for the rest of the season.
We are not good enough to turn up and win against opposition in PL.
It's totally nuts giving him a chance to play that role. There was nothing in his game to suggest he's a tidy passer and distributor. But on the other hand, certain players that should have played as AM or CM were never given a chance.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
There are so many things he's doing wrong and I think all of them have been discussed in detail. So many things.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
Take a recent example. He starts Welbeck and Walcott against Utd. Then he deploys tactics that nullify both. I'm reaching the stage where I wonder is it deliberate. How can you have Walcott up top and then (try to, because we didn't manage it) play a tight and short game in front of the opposition back four? Tip, tap, tip, tap, sideways, backwards, sloooooooow.
61% possession :trophy:
You have Walcott wandering into the centre (and giving the ball away) just to get a touch. Walcott is good at one thing. Stretching defences with his pace. So when you see him running backwards towards OUR fucking goal to take a short pass and then lay it off BACKWARDS because the defender has easily tracked him you know there's a fool in charge. That ball should go over the top of that defender every time, with Walcott breezing past using his pace. Otherwise don't have him on the pitch because he can't do anything else.
Welbeck saves the fool's arse with a last minute header against Leicester. The guy is pumped. Ready for action. Back after a long layoff. Get him in the middle, don't stick him on the wing. Welbeck is good in the air, he has good tight control, he's unpredictable. Himself and Theo wide is a potentially dangerous combo. Or if you want to play Welbeck wide then play Bif too, straight down the middle. Be ambitious. 4-3-3 against a shite Utd team, why not?
4-6-0 tip-tap-tip-tap-tip-tap-backwards-sideways-hoof-lose it-scramble-concede-tip-tap-tip-tap-sideways-backwards...
You have to account for the opposition. When you beat the gypos and then get slaughtered by Soton all it means is your repetitive, unimaginative Plan A can sometimes work but is sometimes desperately exposed. And then there's the fact Wenger has no respect for teams he considers to be beneath him. He's always been like this, criticising and blaming teams with a tenth of his resources for defending, as if it is a crime. Every compliment he pays to smaller teams is double edged. "They were very spirited in defence, 10 men behind the ball!"
Playing against City is enough to motivate the players. You really shouldn't have to say much to the players to have their heads in the right place to want to perform and bust a gut on the pitch.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
We've looked mediorce since November but we've just had enough to keep ticking along in most instances but look at our form across the season and it hasn't be consistent enough to sustain a real challenge or look as good as either Leicester or Tottenham. They've both lost half the games and scored more for a reason.
Let's not forget that City have been terribly patchy this season too, so while it was a big game, we did not beat a top level City, or Man Utd for that matter. So yes the pressure has been there for these 'big' games and we've done well on occasion (also against Bayern at home) but the real contest is won against the mid-table/smaller teams. The players have to be prepared to be up for this games every week, that is where the real work of the manager is earned. Especially away from home now. The current ratio of away wins in the Prem is at the highest it has ever been and I think this applies to European leagues too.
Against Utd, I still don't know who was officially playing as striker. I don't think the players know either.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/959844/Live
Compare the heat maps and touches of Walcott and Welbeck you'll see it's all over the shop. I'd see Walcott central one minute then I'd see Danny there. It was some interchanging BS that had me confused and I wouldn't be surprised if the players were confused. It's gutless from Wenger because he has two wide players that play wide but both want to be striker and he's done some 'take it in turns' bullshit. It's bad coaching. Coming up with a silly compromise just like his wide striker/poacher fascination. Gives license to to play closer to the striker but neglect his duties as a winger. These players will end up like Podolski and Wiltord if they allow Wenger to fashion out such a role for their careers. Nobody will know how to use them if they ever leave Arsenal.
Ramsey was striker.Quote:
Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory
Under almost any other manager currently in the EPL, this team is good enough to win this league. The problem is Wenger is dedicated solely to this stagnant turgid method of play that cannot deliver the required results irrespective of the players. Give Wenger the WC winning teams of any vintage and they wouldnt win anything following his directions. They would only win it if they completely ignored his tip tap BS.
Realistically I believe we need to make the atmosphere at the stadium unbearable for his, this and next season. Hopefully he will get the message and leave. In essence we have to wait him out, if not hound him out.