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We needed a decent CM, a striker who can score 30, but most importantly, far, far, far more important than any player on the pitch, a manager who wants to play a game fit for a title challenge. As we've seen now the striker has arrived, Wenger doesn't have the first clue how to use him. Turns out the 30 goal striker is also surplus to requirements because he too doesn't fit into Wenger's crackpot style of tapping the ball around aimlessly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Delusions of Grandeur
Wenger was looking at Mahrez, not Kante. Kante wasn't a player who fit into his plan. Neither was Vidal, the player who could have finally replaced Vieira. It's almost as if the old fart now views these types as vulgar.Quote:
Originally Posted by Vieira
https://www.theguardian.com/football...eveals-chelseaQuote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
We tried to sign Kante NQ, predictably we bulked at his wage demands. I read an article with direct quotes from Kante last season stating that we were his first choice but we refused to meet his wage demands and off he went to Chelsea.
Kante is a world class player, he was brilliant for Leicester and France that season so why we felt the need to start messing about with the financials is beyond me. He would have massively improved our team. This kind of shit will continue to happen with Wenger in charge because he prioritises his own principles above the needs of improving the team.
Oh and FWIW I have read in various places Kante earns 120k per week.
That's Wenger moaning about money again, after the event. Nobody believes the bloke. He's almost signed everyone in world football. I can't recall us being linked at all with Kante, it was Vardy (cheap striker option) and Mahrez (because you can never have to many attacking midfielders). But if we were after him but wouldn't pay him, well that's the reason our stars are heading out and wasters like Walcott are bedded in for life. We'll pay second tier players second tier wages. All three players who wanted the going rate will be gone by the summer, Alexis, Ozil and Ox. As soon as Lacazette's contract comes up for negotiation there will be problems with that too. Only one guy gets the big payday.Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
Totall agree, Cazorla is a big miss, more direct, will have a shot at goal and very creative, sadly he's now a bit older and injuries are taking their toll so we can no longer really rely on him.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
The funny thing is, we also had Rosicky who could provide the same sort of quality to our midfield play. We experienced the same problems we see now when we were playing Jack, Ramsey and Arteta. We had to stumble upon a midfield that included Rosicky playing as CM to find that fluidity and get back to winning ways. I have no idea why Wenger hasn't caught on to what sort of combination we need in the midfield. He has seen the effect Rosicky and Cazorla have on the midfield but decided to buy Xhaka!Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
Nothing he ever does makes much sense to be honest, more often than not he stumbles across a solution through luck and when there's a clear logical choice he veers away from it and does something completely different. Some of the mistakes he makes wouldn't even be made by managers of amateur teams, there's just no explanation for some of these things.Quote:
Originally Posted by Delusions of Grandeur
Right now IMO there aren't many worse managers than Wenger when you consider everything he comes with, sure under some managers we might end up lower in the league, but at least things would be less predictable and they'd try something different when things weren't working. At the same time a decent manager could do so much more and bring back hope and excitement, this man sucks all the joy and fun out of the game, he turned a once exciting team into one of he dullest around.
Wenger's had some sort of a mental breakdown. He's become obsessive with certain elements of the game while ignoring others entirely. Everything he does is unbalanced. He's completely out of his depth in terms of competing at the top and it's probably only muscle memory that keeps him from dropping things entirely. Kroenke is such a cunt. It's not actually decent in any way to keep dumping responsibility on a guy who is struggling so badly. If Greedystan genuinely had respect for Wenger he'd tell him to retire. But he's using him like he uses everyone and everything that crosses his path.Quote:
Originally Posted by Delusions of Grandeur
I've heard some people say this is our best squad for a long time, I can't disagree more to be honest, it's absolute rubbish. NQ highlighted that if we lose Sanchez and Ozil and you then look at our squad it's really very very average, other than Lacazette up front we have nothing decent, Wellbeck is hopeless and 2nd rate, Walcott the less said the better, 10 years of failure, Giroud a sub at best...the midfield is again pretty rubbish, who is there who is decent other than Cazorla? Don't get me started about the defence, very little real qualty in there, on top of that Cech is well past his best as well.
This squad needs a massive overhaul, we need a new owner, a director of football, a new manager, a new squad and a whole new coaching and medical setup, can't remember this club ever being in such a mess.
Rosicky and Cazorla are amongst the most dynamic midfielder's we've ever had at the club IMO. Hate that we no longer have this kind of quality at our regular disposal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Delusions of Grandeur
Dynamic is the word. A joy to watch. Loved watching Rosicky play and despite being an injury risk, we should have kept him to the avoid the sort of situation we face now. Could have stepped in for Cazorla with ease.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
So you think we have a rubbish squad and a terrible manager and we finished 5th and won the FA Cup last year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
:blink:
We have some problems right now but no need to go overboard.
Yes I do, we basically have a handful of players that drag us to victories but as a whole the squad is average, probably amongst the worst Wenger has ever put together, it's inbalanced and lacks quality in key areas. Yes we win games but 99% of the time they're unconvincing victories and average displays. As NQ point out if you take out Sanchez and Ozil (which we'll need to as they won't be hear come next summer (or even come February) where is the quality, Lacazette, Cazorla (thought he's always injured), who else is actually world class and performs week in week out?Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
We got 5th as we've got such a big squad and can rotate more and cope with inuries better which is why we probably cope better than most, but in terms of quality and winning things, this squad together with this manager have got zero chance.
As for Wenger you know my view I think he's incompetent.
Incompetent manager, average squad...5th and the FA Cup :shrug:
OK.
I don't think our squad is that too far away. With Wenger we'll never challenge but with a better manager this squad would be challenging IMO.
This is the crux of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
There's no need to throw out the baby with the bathwater.
New manager first and foremost.
Do you hand on heart think we'd challenge with another manager? Wenger is a major problem but we have built up quite a few issues in the squad now. We geniunely lack real quality in quite a few areas IMO.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
Don't get me wrong I think any half decent manager would improve us but I think we need to recruit regardless, proper recruitment too. There are 3, maybe 4 teams that have better first XI and squads than us now in PL IMO.
Kroenke is a long-term cancer but we desperately need a change of manager if we want to at least see a short-term turnaround. I don't believe this squad of players should be as bad as they appear, they just really need to hear a new voice and some fresh ideas. They need proper and modern coaching.
We would have challenged over the last couple of years with a better manager. This year there are more better sides but we'd be closer.Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
The squad is far from perfect but it isn't "average" either.
Fair play. I think this season is a real wakeup call to be honest, seeing how our rivals are doing...well Spurs in CL..has really hit home for me. We can improve and should improve but as it stands I feel we are getting left behind.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
Getting left behind? That's an understatement. Wenger has us running in the opposite direction to everyone else. We're leaving everyone ahead just as fast as they are leaving us behind. Only Wenger could achieve this. All the stupid bastard needs to do is the basics to stabilise things. Get a coach in to help set up the defence properly. Pick a starting eleven and stick with it where possible, give the poor sods a chance to build team understanding. Pick our best players, like every other manager does. Sort out the Ozil and Alexis shit, make clear statements and start lining up the replacements. No fucking around. These are all things the arsehole could be doing. But he sits there grinning and tells us to wait for his book. That'll be the first book I'll burn. I don't want to hear another word from the shit.Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
Why doesn't he just fuck off?
:lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
On a serious note we both know that Wenger won't do any of this even though he should do, his ego won't allow it. Wenger would rather amble on and rot this team to the core before he goes out there to seek assistance.
If we go a new manager this is what I think we should be bringing in and getting rid of:
Out:
Sanchez (gone)
Ozil (gone)
Ospina
Mustafi
Mertersacker (already gone at the end of the season as a player)
Chambers
Wilshere
Elneny
Coquelin
Wellbeck
Walcott
In:
Goalkeeper
2 x Centre back
Left Back
Right Back (cover)
Defensive Midfielder (maybe a utility player who can cover there too)
Creative Midfielder
Winger
Striker (possibly 2 as you need 4 decent ones to challenge on all fronts)
If Cazorla is done then maybe another creator as well. On top of that we need proper coaches to get the players playing together and the defence playing as a unit and to ditch the zonal marking which is a waste of time, oh and to switch back to a faster style of player so I'd suggest bringing in some quick players.
This squad will definitely improve under a new manager but will still need a fair few changes IMO, this squad is going nowhere, it was built by Wenger and he's entirely incompetent.
Yup, like I said 5th is nowhere given our resources and the amount of time we've had to build a team, our squad size allowed us to get 5th, it wasn't really down to quality, we scraped through a whol host of games which could have easily ended up draws.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
Our squad is miles away IMO, a new manager might be able to get top 4 but that's it, we need some major surgery as well, especially as we're losing two of our best players. People can delude themselves it's not far away if they like, just like they do about some of our players, but it's not reality, bad signings and the wrong signings have brought us to where we are.
Actually that I pretty much agree with. We have the resources to compete with anyone.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
But our squad is certainly not average compared with the PL, you talk about squad size but that is part of assessing how strong a squad is.
And I'm sure we did win some games which could have been draws but the reverse will have been the case too. There are often fine lines in football and you more or less end up where you deserve to.
If our squad is average AND our manager is incompetent then there's no way we'd finish where we usually do.
I pretty much agree with this. I do think Wilshere & Welbeck could offer decent enough squad cover under a competent manager but the rest I would bin, I would add Xhaka to the list too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
Any manager worth his salt would need to come in and build a proper spine to this team because we basically don't have one as it stands. We do have some very good players even outside of Ozil and Sanchez and I think some could form part of the spine assuming they were under proper instructions/tactics.
Another thing is removing the "winning comes secondary" culture, this is ingrained in the club, the standards are so low that competing is seen as enough now, any decent manager would not accept this as the status quo given our resources, potential and past achievements.
There is a lot of work to be done regardless of whether Wenger stays or goes.
The sensible thing, not that I'm suggesting for a split nanosecond we should contemplate considering it, is to get rid of Wenger and then give all these players a chance to prove themselves. I bet we'd be very surprised and pleased with the outcome.
The incredibly stupid and self destructive thing to do is keep Wenger beyond close of business today.
That's why I love football, you never know which way it's going to go. :ilt:
Sorry yes, I meant to include Xhaka in that. As for Wilshere IMO he's too injury prone and Wellbeck has had years to improve his finishing to no effect so I'm not convinced with him either in terms of being a goal threat (if Ferguson couldn't get goals out of him noone will IMO).Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
I agree about the mentality, people said Wenger will leave us in a good state for the next manager, I don't agree at all, there will be so much to change with this club, a lot of which is deeply ingrained in it's culture like the losers mentality, Wilshere piped up responding to the comments Deeney made disagreeing of course, our own players can't accept the facts this is why we need a massive overhaul IMO, that and the fact none of the players mentioned were much kop when we signed them tbh.
A new manager will definitely improve them, probelm is, they were never the right players in the 1st place, we signed them like we always do for the sake of it, because Wenger liked the look of them. In addition many of htem were nothing special before they arrived so can't see a monumental change in them going forward.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
This squad has been put together by a guy who doesn't know what he's doing, wrong players, in the wrong positions, with the wrong skills no manager can fix that without a sizeable cull.
Chesney's recent comments are damning. He was never going to be a world class keeper sticking around at Arsenal. But now, who knows? His career path has opened up for him again now he's with a club that values coaching. We don't really know what we have with this squad, not fully. We know there's a gem of a player locked inside Ramsey, we've glimpsed it. We know Lacazette is a goal scorer. We even know Merts can put in a world class performance, once unfortunately. We have young talent that desperately needs guidance. Older heads who haven't progressed in years. This is all down to one idiot. Who knows what a determined coach could do with these players and I'm sure all of them would soon be enjoying things as much as Ches seems to be, if only somebody would wake the fuck up at this club and get rid of the stinking great elephant shitting mountains in the living room.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
Aye, Chesney isn't the only one who has voiced concerns about the coaching at Arsenal, Cesc did too when he went to Barca, he basically said that the coaching at Arsenal wasn't up to scratch, it isn't comprehensive enough, too much work on the ball and not enough work off it/tactics/studying your opponents. That was quite damning considering he joined Barca who at the time were famed for their tiki taka and were basically the best team in the world, if they work on the tactics, off the ball type stuff why don't we?!Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
Yeah Wilshere and Welbeck are most definitely question marks and I do agree with you to an extent regarding Wilshere because he's basically a crock. Neither of them can be relied upon as starters or to bring the required level of quality on a consistent basis but the same could be said of most of the first XI.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
I agree with this. While there are some that absolutely need to go, I am confident a fair few of them will pleasantly surprise us if they get a competent manager.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn