This should have been the year of a credible title challenge. After last seasons half baked but relatively good effort, a cup win and big money spent we should have been in a position of strength.
The fact that absolutely fuck all has changed is testament to what a stagnant rut Wenger has us in.
Get rid. Then maybe there will be a buzz around Arsenal again.
Well tbh I think this year was the year we should have really put in a run as our squad on paper is in the best shape it's been in for years. In previous seasons, we've always had the inkling we'd fall away because our squad depth wasn't up to par with the others but we've rectified that finally with our new and improved financial muscle. I mean our bench yesterday had four England internationals and our player of the season last year. Hasn't been this good since the invincible days tbh.Originally Posted by Letters
What's really screwed us over this season has been:
- The world cup and it's effect on player fatigue
- The influx of new players who (apart from Alexis) needed time to settle
- Having no CB cover
- The DM problem
As long as we get the much craved for DM this summer I'm actually quite confident we're finally capable of putting in a solid title challenge next year.
What makes NQ's post seem weird to me is that all teams have to grind out wins at time. Chelsea were awful yesterday, got an offside goal and were dominated by West Ham in the second half, could have had a penalty given against them. It was basically the same thing for United as well ....... yet the narrative is that Mourinho is a genius for scrapping out wins, yet we're lucky to get away with it again.
Excellent post.
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I'm not knocking the idea of grinding out wins. I'm not judging things by the standards of the Invincibles either, that's for sure. We're a million miles away from that level. I want to see us play organised, competent and positive football on a consistent basis. If we do that it doesn't bother me whether we grind results out or waltz our way to victory. We aren't playing decent football though, except in random spurts.
Wenger doesn't seem to know what the starting eleven is, he seems more concerned about cramming individuals into the team even when they don't fit. An old accusation but still very much apparent. Injuries have yielded more coherent results than Wenger's tinkering. He admitted, Coquelin would be sold by now if fate hadn't intervened. That's a shocking revelation reminiscent of the way he lucked into Flamini. Look at how he's managed Chambers. Look at the way he dumps Monreal when the Spaniard finally strikes up a working understanding with Koscielny. There are many more weird and dodgy judgement calls that could be mentioned ranging from his often bizarre substitutions and the timing of them, his unwillingness to act when opposition managers make adjustments and turn the game on us, we know the list.
He shows no sign of change so can we expect the outcome to be different? We already know he has enough to get us into the Champions League every season. We're on course to do that again. Fine, I'm not complaining about that. But is that it? What's he going to do to push on? He has money now, he's brought in some good players, not knocking him for that either. So what's next? Where are the signs we are moving forward? Can anyone spot them or give a couple of examples?
So when we win against QPR or go on an unbeaten run, of course, great, we all want to see the team winning. But without any signs we are going beyond the customary top four finish then what's there to be excited or energised about? The only thing I can think of would be the quality of the football. If it's entertaining then perhaps we can just enjoy that and say the chavs and gypos are out of reach due to their financial muscle. Perhaps. I don't think that's true, I think we could challenge with a manager that got his shit together and started maximising the returns on the players we have in this squad. It'll be next year, it'll be next year, how long have we been hearing that?
Anyway, onward we go into the next false dawn. You know with this manager we are always 90 minutes away from catastrophe. We barrel through avoiding it most of the time but it's still there, waiting for the moment. And it's not like the odd fluke which any team can suffer, it's a consistent failure at the very top level, monotonous collapse when the big challenge arrives. This is the proviso attached to every result.
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Brilliant post. We always go through a period of 10 wins out of 11 or 16 games unbeaten etc etc. OF course it leads to fuck all at the end of the season.
I really felt the City result was a turning point for us, more so than the FA Cup win. But we put that great win in the rears and have gone back to our mediocre best. There is nothing exciting about our manager (not in a good way at least). The 'vision' sold to us was that we'd be matching up to the European giants after the Emirates move. Heck, we can barely compete in the PL... Europe is a pipe dream with Wenger in charge.
Arsene Wenger, the only football manager that got paid 8 million quid to do nothing but sit on his arse..
We had a serious chance last season. I knew Chelsea had already written their name on the title for this year. We should have capitalised on last season. So many of our rivals were in experiencing a major change whilst we looked the most stable. But we fucked it up. After seeing that shit last season, this season was predictable.
Last year, we were top of the league and had to buy some half decent players in Jan and have a half decent plan to not get mauled by the big teams. We just had to keep it calm and do the basic things but we didnt. I remember the AW sympathizers saying that next season (currently this season) is when we will take off. The same statement we have been hearing for the last 5 or 6 years. We will hear the same thing from the same people come the end of May.
Arsene Wenger, the only football manager that got paid 8 million quid to do nothing but sit on his arse..
I think literally no one said we would 'take off' but we won the FA Cup and got the most points since 2008, any manager who did that would deserve a chance to build on it. This season has been a bit of a cock up but despite such a shaky start we're still 3rd and we're in the FA Cup quarter finals. Monday will tell us something about whether this team have learnt anything from the last few years. It has the capacity to be one of these games where we either don't turn up or do that thing we often do at Old Trafford where we outplay them but get beaten. I can take us losing up there so long as we turn up and get beaten by a good performance.
I think we pretty much all agree that we need to move on from Wenger but when he does leave he'll leave us in great shape. We'll have a good squad, and be in an excellent financial position. Wenger doesn't get the big bucks to 'do nothing', he is far more than just a football coach, he's involved with all aspects of the club. Arguably too involved but you can't compare his salary to other football coaches who don't have those responsibilities. We should have done better this season but we're only 4 points off money cheats City. Wenger has his flaws but so will the next guy, he's hardly the incompetent you make out.
The problem with deserving a chance to build on those two things is that last season, despite ending well, and then this season have played out so much like the others in the second half of Wenger's reign. There've been so many false dawns that it becomes increasingly hard to see how we can break the cycle. Winning the cup is a start, sure, because it gets the trophy less tag off our backs, but we want to be challenging for and winning the league too. All this leaves me conflicted because I'm in awe of Wenger, for what he's done for this club - even in the lean years he oversaw the Emirates shift and will leave a platform for the future that simply wasn't there when he arrived, but at the same time I think the club ought to have in mind not just longer term plans but also contemporary ideas about the post.
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