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I don't know how he's gotten away with benching Lacazette. Inexplicable. Bizarre. Incompetent. Showing all the hallmarks of a man who has totally lost the plot. He can't even make a basic team selection any more. He's a dead weight the team have to pull behind them in every match. He's doing tangible harm to the club and its reputation. Fucking hell, what does it take to get the boot around here? I can't decide if it's criminal or comical. Maybe both.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
The guy bitches about every single thing about the club. Heck he was bitching during the Invincibles about Gilberto ........ sorry if I refuse to give him any accolades for being ultimately right about Wenger. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Vieira
I think it'll get similar to the Hicks and Gillete situation at Liverpool, not in terms of administration as we're a cash cow, but in terms of mess, conflict and disillusionment. Our soul is being ripped before our eyes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
My feeling is this
We are currently the 6th best club in the country. And that’s totally unacceptable for a club that’s amongst the richest in the world.
The issue over Sanchez and Ozil is irrelevant. With those players and how they are playing with them we are no better than 6th, and when we lose them we will be no worse than 6th. The issue is the money wasted by keeping them for the last year of their contracts which has been a pointless exercise.
I think we are in a tier where we’d have to go some way to be lower than 6th. But we are rock bottom of our tier, having Wenger is like trying to catch up with the other five in a swimming contest with a brick tied to our feet. We will sink to the bottom but our rock bottom is 6th.
And the problem is short of deliberate sabotage it’s pretty much impossible for us to finish lower than that. And that’s why Kroenke won’t get rid, too lazy and the upheaval of change is not what he wants to involve himself in.
Therefore appealing to a powerless board and a doesn’t give a shit owner is futile, the target has to be Wenger. I hated the idea of hounding him out but his dick move in getting a new contract proves he doesn’t deserve any better.
And to an extent, I sympathise with him. The TV money, the saturation coverage, the billionaires, the hyper-inflation of player salaries and transfer fees.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
If he thinks these are all wrong in the game then I agree with him. I think you do too, don't you? Most people are jaded by the way the game has gone.
BUT...that's how football is these days and if he's unwilling or unable to adapt to that and compete then we need to find someone who is.
Hmm. Agree about that, he does seem to have changed in those ways, I'm sure he has his reasons although some of them are inexplicable and the Lacazette thing does rather lend itself to the "he's lost it" school of thought.Quote:
But if he hasn't changed, then why is his record signing striker on the bench for the big game? What happened to the attacking philosophy that bagged titles and the plaudits of every football lover?
The evidence screams of him changing in the most horrible and inexplicable manner. Bringing in pixies to do men's work. Tippy tappy instead of the blistering counter attack. Complaining about being roughed up when we used to be the ones doing the roughing up. He's changed in so many ways. And for the worse. And it looks like he did it deliberately.
So...it seems he's changed in ways he shouldn't have and not changed in ways he should :(
Zim can be overly negative but I agreed with him on Gilberto. It wasn’t 100% Gilberto’s fault but the problems we’re seeing with our midfield today also lead back to that era. Playing Cesc and Gilberto in a 4-4-2 against teams that had 3 man midfields or even 5 was suicidal.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Emirates Gallactico
Wenger has always had a problem adjusting and figuring out a problem. It took way too long for him to figure out that if he wants to play Cesc and Gilberto together, he has to add another midfielder into the mix. Gilberto couldn’t carry the ball forward on his own and would be left isolated if Cesc went too far forward, but if Cesc was too far away from the final third, we create less chances…..
Wenger has the same problem on his hands right now. But even after spending money on numerous types of midfielders and changing formation, he’s still clueless. There came a point in GW where we started looking at Wenger more and not just blaming the players.
Pretty much agree with that although I wouldn't say we're rock bottom of the 6, with some of them I'd say it's pretty close and over a season there won't be much in it. We might finish above Liverpool, we might finish below but I don't think there will be a huge gap at the end of the season. I don't think we'll sink much lower, with our resources it's quite difficult to, for all our fumbling last year we were still only a couple of points off the top 4.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
Think the issue is there's been a gradual decline and it doesn't look like stopping. We can say what we want about Sanchez but he's a world class player that adds drive and stature to the team. Will we spend to sign an adequate replacement or will he promote a youngster? The dressing room morale will drop when he leaves and these bunch of weak minded fools hardly need an excuse to drop their form.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
I don't think it's inconceivable for us to finish below 6th, all it takes is for example, the Everton owner to appoint a decent manager, provide more funds and them to start playing, and that'll be another team to look out for. Or a team to do a Leicester and once again that's another team in the mix.
Just on my earlier point regarding the Hicks & Gillete situation, I think that could be avoided with a new manager. Someone to bring success on the pitch and bring a bit of pride back to the Arsenal. I do see Wenger as the primary problem currently, he picks the team, he trains them, he sets the tactics.
But the wider, bigger picture is Kroenke's track record with his other franchises. They have all dropped off and become mediocre, just drifting along while he raking in the money. Luckily there's no sign of that here...
You kept saying we wouldn't finish below spurs though and look what happened. I specifically remember a number of times you said 'everyone keeps saying we'll finish below them, but it hasn't happened yet'. Well in the end it did :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
Do you know, I don't buy the Wenger was once great and isn't anymore, that's not what's happened at all. Once upon a time he was hungry, inherited a team with a very disciplined mindset and was able to add attacking ingredients to it and cherry pick some of the best talents from a country he knew inside out for next to nothing.
Then the problems started. Whilst the mindeset was inherited by some of the players (hence the invincibles) he proceeded to dismantle all the important elements, our experienced top quality players were sold off for next to nothing very quickly, importantly all the leaders of the team, the youngsters had noone to learn from and pick up those winning habits from. He also decided to change the style of football to some mini Barcelona style and became obssessed with it, he decided to dispense of all the physical aspects of our game, thought he could build some all conquering team with kids he'd gone all round the world recruiting (whilst spending huge amounts) and then decided to get rid of all the aspects that made him successful in the first place.
Now it can't allbe reversed but do you know what, he could have analysed the situation (doesn't take a rocket scientist) and decided it's not working, lets go back and look at my winning sides and see what we can tweak. But no he's refused to change anything (that's not an inability to btw, that's just sheer pig-headedness and a need to prove everyone else wrong, even when the answer is staring him in the face) and has continued to make very odd decisions, whilst accepting money is more important than success and thrashings are part of the course.
Some people (Letters) make out like he's been left behind and just doesn't have the tools, it doesn't take tools it takes common sense, he hasn't been left behind he's refused to change and that is nonsensical, much of what is happening could be avoided and if a normal guy with common sense who was willing to make changes was in charge it probably would, sadly he's not like that at all, he prefers to be profitable and to try and prove people right, even if he never does, in his head he thinks he is.