So, how do WE win the league?

[Ernesto]

There are some excellent points here. My personal view is that we CAN actually compete and win the league WITHOUT spending obscene amounts of cash. My reasoning isn't unfounded- we beat off stiff financial competition from Man Utd, Newcastle and Liverpool to win the league in '98. It is possible, and money isn't everything. Case in point, I didn't ever think Chelsea would finish as low as 6th in the league under Roman Abramovich's ownership.

Now, the problem we have is certainly the way we play. Tactically inept. Defenders who aren't taught to 'defend', the way we were so accustomed to. Midfielders who will HARDLY ever win an aerial challenge. Set-pieces that always come to NOTHING.

Mentality is also key. I don't think we're capable of doing anything "special" under Wenger to win a league title (yes, I say that very brazenly, given our success in 03/04) What I mean to say is, are we capable of scoring 2 goals in injury time to win the league? Is it in our reach to beat Barcelona, or to dwell on stupid refereeing mistakes? Can we go on a 10-game winning streak, like in the late 90s, and actually beat teams that we're meant to beat on paper? Can we bounce back after a demoralising defeat and batter the team we next play?

I don't know. These are 'Wenger traits' as I like to call them. There isn't much we can deduce until we under new managership. It's time to stick or twist, although 'twisting' may present one of our worst seasons in decades (I'm talking Alex McLeish proportions)

[Power n Glory]

The transfer windows system is unfair anyway. For things to be truly fair, they'd have to introduce some sort of wage structure and draft system similar to the American sports. Even without City, we still have the divide been clubs like ours and smaller clubs who have no chance of winning the league unless there is some sort of takeover.

I don't hold anything against City. The whole system in general needs a shake up.

[Grebbo]

1. Spend £100m on some quality. Striker, left back, DM, AM.

2. Play 4-5-1 with TWO holding midfielders like City do. Our team defending is fucking shit and the only way to solve it (and the cheapest way) is to have a proper DM along side Song. I guess that's where M'vila comes in.

[Joker]

The transfer windows system is unfair anyway. For things to be truly fair, they'd have to introduce some sort of wage structure and draft system similar to the American sports. Even without City, we still have the divide been clubs like ours and smaller clubs who have no chance of winning the league unless there is some sort of takeover.

I don't hold anything against City. The whole system in general needs a shake up.

Exactly, I don't condone the way football is nowadays, which is why complaining about a symptom (Man City's wealth) doesn't do anything about the actual cause. If you look at Championship clubs, they complain about the change in regulations that has made it easier for top Premiership clubs to poach their younger players. Teams at the lower end of the Premiership complain about unfair TV deals and the Champions League cash-cow that simply perpetuates inequality. I'm all for changing the system to something that is both more meritocratic and egalitarian.

[Flavs]

oh oh also, i would replace some of our "passenger foriegners" with players from he teams who went down. Seriously look:

Chamakh - Steven Fletcher

Benayoun - Mark Davies

Vela/Ju - Hoilett/Jarvis

Flapiankski - Hennessey

Also who knew Yakubu was only 29??? Although i think that is in what we would call "Kanu years"

[LDG]

We beat City at our gaff. No reason to suggest we can't compete with them. Like everyone says, it's about consistency.

We lack solid and reliable back-ups. And we miss another one or two with real quality. Game changers, when the chips are down.

Get rid of the deadwood, and employ some more experience, and let some of the gifted youth off the lead.

[Niall_Quinn]

We beat City at our gaff. No reason to suggest we can't compete with them. Like everyone says, it's about consistency.

We lack solid and reliable back-ups. And we miss another one or two with real quality. Game changers, when the chips are down.

Get rid of the deadwood, and employ some more experience, and let some of the gifted youth off the lead.

Same as every other year then?

[Coney]

We beat City at our gaff. No reason to suggest we can't compete with them. Like everyone says, it's about consistency.

We lack solid and reliable back-ups. And we miss another one or two with real quality. Game changers, when the chips are down.

Get rid of the deadwood, and employ some more experience, and let some of the gifted youth off the lead.

That, for me, is the most frustrating thing. We can usually hold our own and often get a result against these top teams. The frustration is the points we dropped against sides who, given our general table position, we should be pissing on.

To an extent I blame Wenger for being blind to that aspect of the PL. When we are playing top sides and the game is generally about footballing skill, we do well. What we need (and what the manus and chavs tend to have) is a few hard cases who can do the thug play that you need when playing the neandertals in the bottom of the league. Each side we play needs something a bit different and we need to flex our approach to deal with that. When we had people like Adams and Keown who knew how to 'deal' with certain people, we got those results that make the difference between being a winning side and an almost also-ran. I think those kind of players in the team also helps give the overall squad some backbone. It is not just experience, it is attitude. People like the Ox and Wilshere should be regulars simply because they don't lie down (till their legs are broken) and will fight as hard as it takes to make something happen.

If we can get the squad fit over the summer, we don't actually need to buy in that many players - lose the loser dross (Chamakh and the like) - another 2 experienced strikers (Podolski + 1) and most important is someone who can do the kind of DM work that we missed when Arteta was in the team so that we can cover when he is injured and also give him a rest now and then. A backup keeper, of course.

But overall, as has happened year after year - where I think Wenger is getting it wrong - is these easy matches. Look at the last few seasons and it is the draws and occasional defeats against the bottom teams that have cost us a chance of the title. Things like 8-2 at OT might be embarrassing but they are not the cause of our failure to win the title. Those are one-offs. The grind of the draws and worse against supposedly crap teams is what kills us every time.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Resist the temptation of taking their money, be more flexible and don't have a defence that concedes 20 goals more than the title winners did. All in that itself is no guarantee but it'd give us a better chance than otherwise.

And bleak? The euphoria of yesterday soon dies down.

[KSE Comedy Club]