So, how do WE win the league?

[Cripps_orig]

Buy any players we are going to buy before pre season starts

And then anyone else we buy after that can be cover for the inevitable injuries we will get during pre season

[Flavs]

I'm not sure he's good enough to win us the title anymore. That said, I've not seen him have a proper spending spree....ever...

He spent £50mil in 2 days at the start of the season!

But yeah i take your point. The strange thing for me is he is quite cut-throat when it comes to getting rid of players most of the time yet the kids are still here, i do wonder if no-one wants to buy them.

If you think back to Ade, Hleb, Petit, Vieira and so on, when he decided they were gone there was no going back, Merson and Freddie as well.

[Flavs]

Buy any players we are going to buy before pre season starts

And then anyone else we buy after that can be cover for the inevitable injuries we will get during pre season

We risk them getting injured at the Euro's then though...

[AKBapologist]

Spend a billion pounds seems to be the way most clubs win leagues these days.

Personally, cups are a more realistic target, and even for those, we need a much bigger squad with +5 none injury prone players of significant quality.

[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.

[Niall_Quinn]

not sure but who was wenger before he came here - it doesn't always have to be the obvious choice.

Wenger was still Wenger before he came here. I know it doesn't have to be obvious but is Stan or one of the old buffers going to find a replacement that suits their needs? Because that's what it will be all about. If they had wanted trophies rather than 4th place finishes they would have invested. Not sure why people even mention Wenger, there's zero possibility of him leaving. He's the ideal man for our board, can't think of anoyone else who could do the job. Make them money AND finish in the CL spots.

[Marc Overmars]

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.

Yes. I think we lack a lot of match savvy and it's how lesser sides manage to trump us 1 too many times to be acceptable. Our defence is awful as a unit, they're often cut open within the opening 10 minutes of most matches. We've been saying it for years but we really need to get back to the basics and sharpen up.

[Power n Glory]

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.

I agree with the need to change tactics and needing to be more flexible, but we haven't been bullied by teams this season, just played off the park. That's the sad thing about it all. We haven't been bullied and kicked off the field like we've seen before, teams haven't taken advantage of us during set plays this year, we've been pretty solid in that area. Teams have just outplayed us and we've been open to counter attacks and sloppy play all season. More than anything, I think we've been exposed tactically and we're out of ideas. The way we play has to change. It it wasn't for RVP, we'd be far down that table.

[jelgoon]

New manager to tinker with the squad. We wont win the league ever again with this manager

[Coney]

I agree with the need to change tactics and needing to be more flexible, but we haven't been bullied by teams this season, just played off the park. That's the sad thing about it all. We haven't been bullied and kicked off the field like we've seen before, teams haven't taken advantage of us during set plays this year, we've been pretty solid in that area. Teams have just outplayed us and we've been open to counter attacks and sloppy play all season. More than anything, I think we've been exposed tactically and we're out of ideas. The way we play has to change. It it wasn't for RVP, we'd be far down that table.

Fair comment. I think perhaps as an extension, we need a bullying forward of the Drogba mould - where some skill but also brute force gets the player past the defence (or winning a penalty) when the chips are down. I think that is how the manus and chavs do it against the 'park the bus' teams while we take pot shots that just bounce of a solid defence. Attacking (hence mostly top sides) come forward and thus make space. Defensive (mostly bottom sides) fill the last third so our tappy-tappy finds it hard to get by.