Match Reaction vs West Ham (home).

[Özim]

What's changed is we're on the verge of our first major trophy in 9 years. Finish the job there and it will surely give us more confidence as a squad and club.
The title was never on my radar this year and while I am disappointed at how badly we've fallen away I don't think many of us had serious thoughts we could win it this year. We clearly need more up front.

Funny how you call it a major trophy, when most have been calling it small time for years, I personally agree it is still a big trophy.

We haven't finished the job yet, but I still think our shocking collapse with some absolute spankings this season leaves some real questions unanswered, I'm not going to sweep those under the carpet as they are very pertinent, it almost feels like they haven't happened sometimes in here.

You don't get beaten so convincingly as much as we have this season without some serious issues IMO, I don't know of too many managers that would survive with their jobs after beatings like that.

[Munchies]

What do people think about having Pods and Giroud upfront as a 2 ?

Maybe a 4-3-1-2 , with the 3 being : Ramsey, Arteta/Flam, Ox , the one being Ozil/Cazorla, and Giroud/Pods uptop.

[Letters]

Funny how you call it a major trophy, when most have been calling it small time for years, I personally agree it is still a big trophy.

Beggars can't be choosers...
It has definitely been devalued by the CL which is a shame but it's still a major trophy.

It's been a weird league season, the first two thirds were far better than any of us could have reasonably expected and have got some really good results this year in games which last year we'd have dropped points. But the spankings are a worry. I don't think whether the manager keeps his job should be based on a few games though, it should be based on how we do over a season and not too many managers who finish 4th (if we do) and win the Cup would be losing their jobs. There is a context to all this of course but still, if you'd given me 4th and the FA Cup at the start of the season I'd have been pretty happy with that.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I dunno about you guys but ever since that CC final defeat to Birmingham, i've made up my mind that we'll never win another trophy/title under Wenger and even tough we're up ahgainst Hull city, part me doesnt believe we'll win it. It feels like its fate.

No i think most of us probably have in the back of their mind the doubt over whether we can win another trophy under Wenger, and i think even though we are playing Hull City.....not Man City, Man United, Chelsea i think most fans are not in anyway taking a win for granted.
Frankly i don't really approach any game at the moment expecting us to win....haven't for years.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Beggars can't be choosers...
It has definitely been devalued by the CL which is a shame but it's still a major trophy.

It's been a weird league season, the first two thirds were far better than any of us could have reasonably expected and have got some really good results this year in games which last year we'd have dropped points. But the spankings are a worry. I don't think whether the manager keeps his job should be based on a few games though, it should be based on how we do over a season and not too many managers who finish 4th (if we do) and win the Cup would be losing their jobs. There is a context to all this of course but still, if you'd given me 4th and the FA Cup at the start of the season I'd have been pretty happy with that.

I agree with your last sentiment, i think most fans would have taken 4th and fa cup at the start of the season....but 4 wins from 12 whoever you happen to be playing isn't a particurlarly acceptable return. And whilst we did well in the first half of the season it was relatively deceptive because of the teams we were playing, and i'm really not seeing the improvement from last season in terms of overall league performance. The record against the big sides has been worrying, not just this season but in general for years....take Man United for example we have won once in our last eleven games against them and when you think about how bad they have been this season, you have to think there is a massive psychological block there....these teams have had consistently better players than us but there isn't the massive gap that the head to head results suggest.

[selassie]

I agree with your last sentiment, i think most fans would have taken 4th and fa cup at the start of the season....but 4 wins from 12 whoever you happen to be playing isn't a particurlarly acceptable return. And whilst we did well in the first half of the season it was relatively deceptive because of the teams we were playing, and i'm really not seeing the improvement from last season in terms of overall league performance. The record against the big sides has been worrying, not just this season but in general for years....take Man United for example we have won once in our last eleven games against them

Yep, totally agree.

I think the collapse and thrashings have pretty much removed any confidence I had left in Wenger. I understand one freak result...but to be thrashed by the 3 clubs above us in a similar manner is totally unacceptable.

[Dein-machine]

What do people think about having Pods and Giroud upfront as a 2 ?

Maybe a 4-3-1-2 , with the 3 being : Ramsey, Arteta/Flam, Ox , the one being Ozil/Cazorla, and Giroud/Pods uptop.

Why not - It cant be any worse than the garbage that Wenger has us playing at the moment. The good thing about this line up is that we would have to get the ball upfield quicker & stop fucking about with it in the middle of the pitch, going sideways, backwards or getting caught in dangerous areas. The only difference for me would be to use Ox's pace up top alongside either Polds or Giroud. I would play Ozil as the 1 & Rambo, Arteta, Cazorla as the 3.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

To be somewhat pedantic I actually thought we were looking something like ourselves again before the second half even started in the first half and right before they scored. Their goal was against the run of play but going forward we were looking likely to score.

I would take the revolving sponsorship cup over 4th place never mind the FA cup and for me it is pretty much every bit as meaningful a trophy as it always has been. Not too arsed how the football collective see's it generally. The embarrassing defeats have been abject and downright shameful and I hope Wenger takes a good hard look at himself over them, but IF we win the FA cup then I'd say a significant amount has changed for the very fact we've finally won a bloody trophy. It's not like we haven't been trying the last 9 years.

That's not the same as saying enough has changed or the manager is the man to take us forward but winning the FA cup would be a marked turn of events to say the least in my view. It is easy to forget the ability within a squad when half your team is out but the likes of Ozil, Ramsey, Chamberlain are proper quality and the type that can take this club forward. Even though he didn't score, you could see why Ramsey has scored so many last night.

[Power n Glory]

This season has raised more questions then it's answered and that's enough for me. We had money to spend but we didn't use it wisely.

The top player we've bought has lost form and confidence very quickly because of bad management. People will continue to quote the Pires example regarding adaption time but the same argument was used for players like Chamakh, Gervinho, Giroud and other struggling players. It's 50/50 on Ozil finding his true form.

Injuries are still bad and it's made worse by Wenger keeping a small squad and under using his bench players.

Wenger is tactically stubborn and won't change things even if he sees the team struggling. No change in formation, change in position, approach....it's not enough at this level.

I doubt the cup will sort this mental block. For starters, the majority of players haven't been at Arsenal long enough to be really effected by the trophy draught. It makes no sense for this team to get jittery and choke.

[Özim]

This season has raised more questions then it's answered and that's enough for me. We had money to spend but we didn't use it wisely.

The top player we've bought has lost form and confidence very quickly because of bad management. People will continue to quote the Pires example regarding adaption time but the same argument was used for players like Chamakh, Gervinho, Giroud and other struggling players. It's 50/50 on Ozil finding his true form.

Injuries are still bad and it's made worse by Wenger keeping a small squad and under using his bench players.

Wenger is tactically stubborn and won't change things even if he sees the team struggling. No change in formation, change in position, approach....it's not enough at this level.

I doubt the cup will sort this mental block. For starters, the majority of players haven't been at Arsenal long enough to be really effected by the trophy draught. It makes no sense for this team to get jittery and choke.

Yeah I agree with this to many problems with the current setup which won't IMO ever been sorted, it's not like he's not had the opportunity to fix many of these, rather than doing so he's convinced himself crocks will stay fit all season and that we've got what it takes to beat teams without proper tactics to counter their players and an adaptable style.

I don't really see what is going to change, this season when things have been going wrong early in games, he's sat there and done nothing, I'm not sure what kind of management that is, he should at least try and change something.

On top of that we've taken some particularly bad beatings this season, which IMO based on our current position shows an element of going backwards rather than forwards seeing as we're 4th but having played a game more.