Are the doubters wrong about Wenger?

[Letters]

He won titles when he had better players than everyone else and still IMO he grossly underperformed with those players who should have won back to back titles, who should have at least reached a CL final and won it. Wenger was the weak link even then and a bertter manager woukld have achieved those landmarks.

Er, you know those 'better players' didn't just fall out of the sky? Wenger assembled one of the best ever PL sides, certainly the best Arsenal side I've ever seen, and got them playing with fantastic style. A lot of the old guard credit his fitness regime with extending their careers. We won a sack of trophies and you're focussing on the fact that the side could have done more? Sheesh.

FA cup won on the back of 4 straight home draws.

And who were those some of those home draws against? Spurs - they're not a great side but they are our local rivals and will most likely finish top 6 this year. Everton - just the other day people were arguing that they're better than us, not that day they weren't and while I think we will finish above them it's going to be tight. Liverpool - champions elect.
As poor as we were in the semi-final we were playing the holders who had beaten City in last year's final and again in this season's quarter final. Beat them away too. We've hardly had an easy run, we've earned our place in the final.

You asked what the way forward is, I've said I think we need to start preparing for a post Wenger Arsenal. Whatever you think of him he's getting to the age where we need to think about a time he retires or moves upstairs. But if we win the FA Cup and finish 4th then that will have been a decent season. Not many managers would be getting sacked with that outcome. Utd have shown this year what replacing a top manager with a #decent one can do, we need to plan this carefully. Wenger is clearly still a top manager, yes he has failings but so does every manager.

[Globalgunner]

My question still remains unanswered. Do you at this stage still back Wenger to see us into top 4 next season or does that target as derisory as it is still not apply. Do we need to lower our targets every year as Wenger gets worse at his job.

And please dont pick and choose benchmarks. You agree that Spurs are a club bebeath us so why use them as a standard. Wigan beat City but city beat Bayern at home, does that make Wigan masters of Europe, This is the samer wigan that were humiliated by Millwall a few days before.

Is Wenger the future, I mean next seasons future

[Letters]

I'm not sure you can go too overboard after 9 years of seeing the same things over and over again

Well, you can and you do. Fine, you don't rate him. You think he should be replaced. A fairly reasonable opinion and one which is shared by an increasing number of Gooners. But the way you act is disgraceful, you post like a bitter ex, picking on everything he says or does. And you fawn over opposition managers and ignore the way they act (did you see Mourinho's interview on Saturday, it was embarrassing, had Wenger said anything like that you'd have been all over it).

As for Liverpool this excuse about best player etc is nonsense, we had RVP on fire one season and he didn't win us the title

You keep referring to the 'Suarez excuse'. I have no idea what you mean by that. All people have said is that he is the difference between them being champions elect and a top 4 side. No-one has said he is the only reason they're where they are, there are other factors which have been mentioned.
The season you're talking about we were an awful side. RvP did make a difference, on that occasion he was the difference between us finishing top 4 and being in mid-table. He's not as good as Suarez but even Suarez wouldn't have made that side champions. Of course you need other good players around. IMO this Arsenal side + Suarez would have won the title this year, or gone very close. The main thing we've lacked is a top class striker. Our defence an midfield have been fine. As well as Rodgers has done this year, they need to sustain that level and there are various reasons why I don't believe they will. Time will tell whether I'm right.

[Letters]

My question still remains unanswered. Do you at this stage still back Wenger to see us into top 4 next season or does that target as derisory as it is still not apply. Do we need to lower our targets every year as Wenger gets worse at his job.

In what way has Wenger got worse at his job? Others have arguably got better.
How many years have people been saying we'd drop out of the top 4?

[Power n Glory]

Moyes was never a decent manager. There is no evidence in his career to suggest he was capable of turning things around at Man Utd. They might as well have appointed Sam Allardyce. It was that much of gamble. I wouldn’t look at Man Utd as an example because that’s a rare case. Top clubs hardly get it so wrong that the Champions drop to 7th in the league.

[Globalgunner]

In what way has Wenger got worse at his job? Others have arguably got better.
How many years have people been saying we'd drop out of the top 4?

In his first 8 years we were always top 2
In the 2nd 8 years we are now struggling to make top 4.

If the opposition keeps getting better I humbly submit so should we

[Letters]

In his first 8 years we were always top 2
In the 2nd 8 years we are now struggling to make top 8.

If the opposition keeps getting better I humbly submit so should we

The opposition have billionaires fueling them now. And please don't reply to say Liverpool haven't, they haven't consistently been up there and they have spent a fair bit of money over the past couple of seasons. I don't believe they'll sustain their current level.

EDIT: Did you mean top 8?

[Globalgunner]

What you belive and reality are not always the same thing I have learnt.
Still waiting...top 4 next season Yes or no

[Letters]

What you belive and reality are not always the same thing I have learnt.

Have you learned that by predicting every year we'll not finish top 4? (You may not have, plenty have).
There are reasons I'm sceptical about Liverpoop sustaining this level, I have outlined them elsewhere
(I typed Liverpoop by accident but it made me laugh so I've decided to leave it )

Still waiting...top 4 next season Yes or no

Yes

[Globalgunner]

Have you learned that by predicting every year we'll not finish top 4? (You may not have, plenty have).
There are reasons I'm sceptical about Liverpoop sustaining this level, I have outlined them elsewhere
(I typed Liverpoop by accident but it made me laugh so I've decided to leave it )

Yes

The top 8 was a typo.

I have my doubts but at least Letters you are now on record