Match Reaction vs Swansea

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

The worrying thing is that he isn't even going after any players in positions that need covering. CDM has been a problem since Flamini left in 08, and he's finished as a player now.

Even signing someone like Diame from West Ham would've been an upgrade on what we currently have.

And we were heavily linked to that defender Roma bought, and why did they buy him? Because they offered £2m more

Well yes and again this is where the board should be stepping in and saying "Arsene let us worry about the price"

I agree about Diame, i think West Ham were mad to sell him especially to Hull

[Power n Glory]

I don't disagree in anyway, I am speculating but comparing Higuain and Ozil and Sanchez there does seem to be a difference between an ultimately fruitless saga and two quickly completed deals.

My speculation leads me to ask the question, if the Board have shown that they can intercede with Wenger than why aren't they doing it more often. If Wenger had a list of defenders he wanted, why didnt they just go out and get them....I'm convinced Wenger wouldn't resign if he didnt control every aspect of the transfer and if he did than frankly we are better off without him (win/win)

The fact is that the board is just as incompitent as the manager they unequivocally support, and this is shown that even in a business sense we are not as we might be; our match day revenue is high as our television revenues for stumbling into the champions league. But other than this our commercial revenues are no where near the level the top clubs in Europe are making and this is a result of a risk adverse model. The only way to be on the same level as Bayern Munich, Manchester United of this world is success on the pitch.
But instead they allow themselves to be duped by a man just looking to add further to his own financial portfolio.
Wenger is a problem, but he's not the only problem......

We pulled out of Higuain because of Suarez. The Suarez deal turned sour and moved for Ozil instead. Higaun is a good player but he's not elite status super 'duper' quality. A good player that I'd have been happy with but if you find out Suarez has a £40m buyout clause....that's why that deal fell flat. We pulled out.

My speculation leads me to ask the question, if the Board have shown that they can intercede with Wenger than why aren't they doing it more often. If Wenger had a list of defenders he wanted, why didnt they just go out and get them....I'm convinced Wenger wouldn't resign if he didnt control every aspect of the transfer and if he did than frankly we are better off without him (win/win)

I answered this one yesterday.

Wenger said: "The only important thing is the club is run properly in every department. The most important department in any football club is what is happening on the pitch.

"As long as whoever owns the club doesn't interfere with what we do on the pitch, then for me it's OK.

So if Wenger doesn't like the sound of defender A, B and C, what are they supposed to do? If he tells Ivan Chambers and Monreal are good enough to cover Vermaelen, what is Ivan supposed to tell him? 'No they are not'? You've seen how dismissive Wenger gets with people with no experience in management. I doubt he'd be that flippant with Ivan but there is an understanding that he runs the technical side without interference.

Yes, the Board have a responsibility but they've inherited this guy. I don't think Silent Stan cares but I think Ivan is leaving him to fall on his own sword. We've brought in a new fitness coach and scout and from what I've heard, we're not making the best use of them. Wenger can't say he doesn't get the support because he does and it seems like most of the fans and media have now stopped looking in the other direction when it comes to our problems. If he's wholly responsible for the technical side and that's how he wants it, it's on him to deliver results. Now with the stadium almost paid off, we may see a different standard set for the club.

[Munchies]

Well yes and again this is where the board should be stepping in and saying "Arsene let us worry about the price"

I agree about Diame, i think West Ham were mad to sell him especially to Hull

And Wenger lets Jenkinson go to West Ham, then doesn't even play Bellerin there which results in all of our back line messing up

[Munchies]

And probably the biggest clanger was not signing Cesc.

We all thought it'd be okay if that money was invested into a top CDM/CB.

Atleast Flamini is leaving at the end of the season

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

We pulled out of Higuain because of Suarez. The Suarez deal turned sour and moved for Ozil instead. Higaun is a good player but he's not elite status super 'duper' quality. A good player that I'd have been happy with but if you find out Suarez has a £40m buyout clause....that's why that deal fell flat. We pulled out.



I answered this one yesterday.



So if Wenger doesn't like the sound of defender A, B and C, what are they supposed to do? If he tells Ivan Chambers and Monreal are good enough to cover Vermaelen, what is Ivan supposed to tell him? 'No they are not'? You've seen how dismissive Wenger gets with people with no experience in management. I doubt he'd be that flippant with Ivan but there is an understanding that he runs the technical side without interference.

Yes, the Board have a responsibility but they've inherited this guy. I don't think Silent Stan cares but I think Ivan is leaving him to fall on his own sword. We've brought in a new fitness coach and scout and from what I've heard, we're not making the best use of them. Wenger can't say he doesn't get the support because he does and it seems like most of the fans and media have now stopped looking in the other direction when it comes to our problems. If he's wholly responsible for the technical side and that's how he wants it, it's on him to deliver results. Now with the stadium almost paid off, we may see a different standard set for the club.

I'm not sure that's the case, Wenger came out after selling Vermaelen and was asked about replacing him and said that we needed to because it left the defence short.

Kostas Manolas, Sokratis Papastatoupolos were two of the defenders on our radar and as another poster pointed out Manolas joined Roma because they were prepared to pay two million more. So yes if the board sit idly by and let Wenger sit on his hands, prevaricate other a couple of million here and there they are just as culpable as the manager.

The buck stops at the top, they are his employers.....

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

And probably the biggest clanger was not signing Cesc.

We all thought it'd be okay if that money was invested into a top CDM/CB.

Atleast Flamini is leaving at the end of the season

For the life of me I don't understand the Cesc argument, the clear fact is we are already unbalanced with central midfielders of his ilk, we should have bought a physical holding player unquestionably but the whole clamour for Cesc seems to be about who he would join if we didnt sign him rather than anything else.

[Xhaka Can’t]

I'd have signed Cesc and taken the hit on Ozil.

[Fist of Lehmann]

And probably the biggest clanger was not signing Cesc.

We all thought it'd be okay if that money was invested into a top CDM/CB.

Atleast Flamini is leaving at the end of the season

Not soon enough if you ask me. This guy is so tactically indisciplined that I'm even wondering whether a useless Coq might not be a better option. He's just gone out on loan to Charlton though.

[Munchies]

For the life of me I don't understand the Cesc argument, the clear fact is we are already unbalanced with central midfielders of his ilk, we should have bought a physical holding player unquestionably but the whole clamour for Cesc seems to be about who he would join if we didnt sign him rather than anything else.

Well we have Wenger in charge so although we all know that's what we need it just won't happen.

We currently play Arteta and Flamini as our defending midfielders. You could argue that Cesc can defend just the same as them, but also has the ability of contributing to our attack unlike Arteta/Flamini.

[Bumble]

I'd have signed Cesc and taken the hit on Ozil.

if we signed Cesc we probably wouldn't have signed Welbeck and just pushed Sanchez up top with Cesc and Ozil in behind (when Ozil was fit)

What I don't understand with Wenger was when he first came to Arsenal he knew the value of a strong back 4 as he had one already made plus signed guys like Lauren and Campbell. He also signed guys like Vieira/Petit big imposing Central midfielders. So why has he changed, football hasn't moved on that much that these guys wouldn't be quality players now.

I am totally baffled as to why he doesn't do this anymore.