Wenger Referendum II - And this time it's personal

[Letters]

I've explained till I'm blue in the face why I don't think this run just mirrors the pattern of previous years.
I've not seen anyone actually respond sensibly to those points.

[Letters]

If we get humbled by either rubbish Chelsea or dogshit United.

...hang on, are you calling the champions elect 'rubbish'?
As for Utd, we've already beaten them away, in one of those games we 'always' lose in, 'always' choke in. One of only 3 home games they've lost all season by the way, so hardly 'dogshit'

If we get thumped in either game then it will change my opinion, just as this current run has changed my opinion. I have explained why, and the differences I see between this and other good runs. FY predicted people would waver if we went on a decent run, but firstly I don't think you can dismiss 17 wins out of 20 as just another decent run, and secondly why shouldn't people reassess their opinions in the light of new events? If I don't rate a certain player and the player starts to consistently perform better then I should reassess my opinion, not frantically move goalposts and stubbornly declare myself right all along.

[Letters]

Other than that, this little 8 game winning run does nothing for me. We have similar runs almost every season.

No. No we don't

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Do we need to spend more than 50 million in the summer anyway?

[Niall_Quinn]

Do we need to spend more than 50 million in the summer anyway?

Maybe not, but there should be more than that available to him if he needs it. Basically this will be half or a third of what the mancs clubs and the chavs will have available. Wages as well as fees remember. It doesn't mean we can't attract decent players, but it does mean we're still out of the hunt for the very best and will have to queue behind the usual lot who will get first pick. Mind you, they aren't exactly geniuses in the scouting shops at our rivals. Di Maria, Falcao, Mangala, etc when they could have had Alexis? LOL.

[Letters]

We have beaten City, who we can see are the equivalent of a neutered racehorse.

When we played them they were 5 points behind Chelsea with a game in hand. We were the game in hand.
Their league home results to that point were W7 D2 L1. And of their previous 12 league games they'd won 9 and drawn 3.
But yeah, let's dismiss the win up there if it suits your agenda.

I want to pick FY up again on his 'little 8 game winning run'. That 'little' run is the best run anyone has put together this season. And it comes at the end of a bigger run of winning 17 out of 20 games in all competitions. A run which has seen us haul ourselves from 7th to 2nd in the table and get us to the FA Cup semi-final, beating Utd away on the way. To dismiss that as just another good run like we see every season is ridiculous.

[Power n Glory]

I've explained till I'm blue in the face why I don't think this run just mirrors the pattern of previous years.
I've not seen anyone actually respond sensibly to those points.

Plenty have responded sensibly. A good run is just a good run. It’s that simple. We’re performing well and it’s enjoyable to watch but we have no pressure on us. The statistics will vary from season to season but we’ve always mustered up a good run from somewhere after being written off in the league.

[Letters]

Had we lost to Utd away or Liverpool at home (or any game recently, actually) then without a doubt people on here would have been saying we bottled it. Those two games in particular were the exact type of games that people on here say we 'always' lose or bottle it in. We win those games and it's "Meh, we have no pressure on us".
That is exactly the goalpost shifting I mentioned above.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias



We haven't been on a run this good since The Invincibles. No-one else has been on a run this good this year at all.
When was the last time we won 17 out of 20 in all competitions?
When was the last time we beat Utd away in a big game when it really mattered?

[Power n Glory]

Had we lost to Utd away or Liverpool at home (or any game recently, actually) then without a doubt people on here would have been saying we bottled it. Those two games in particular were the exact type of games that people on here say we 'always' lose or bottle it in. We win those games and it's "Meh, we have no pressure on us".



We haven't been on a run this good since The Invincibles. No-one else has been on a run this good this year at all.
When was the last time we won 17 out of 20 in all competitions?

I think your overly concerned about GW perception and assume the posters that hold that view speak for everyone on the board. I’ve said this before, but we shouldn’t be looking at wins against big rivals as some sort of indicator of progress. That’s what Spurs fan do all the time when trying to convince themselves the balance of power is changing. Anyone that holds the Utd and Liverpool games up as significant landmarks are just as misguided as yourself with this winning streak stat. We’ve had seasons where we’ve beaten some really good teams and we’ve had seasons where we’ve gone on aa really good run. I’m not sure about 17 wins out of 20, but it’s irrelevant because when it comes to the crunch and we’re leading in the title race, we have buckled under the pressure. Champs League knock out phase, we crumble. Until we overcome that I can’t read too much into one game or a good streak of wins.

Also, it’s been said before plenty of times, but I don’t know if we’d even hit this steak if it weren’t for injuries to Arteta, Flamini, Wilshire and Ramsey. That forced him to recall Coquelin whose been essential to this rival and also meant Cazorla and Ozil were back playing in their favoured position. I don’t like the fact that it’s taken injuries to force Wenger’s hand and play certain players in their favoured position and to their strength. The fact that we now have a bigger team can be a blessing and curse because he may not know his best team or who to pick. Fitness selected this current team and not the manager. That’s another question mark lingering for us next season. When we have a fully fit team, will Wenger know who to pick and where to play them.

[Letters]

we shouldn’t be looking at wins against big rivals as some sort of indicator of progress.

I agree with a lot of your post, and I agree with this part to an extent - we went through a phase years ago when we weren't that good a side but we did raise it for the big games and often got good results in them but overall we weren't much good. But I do see that Utd game as significant because it was a cup quarter final. You can't sensibly say there's no pressure in that scenario.

We need to finish the job in the Cup. We really should win on Saturday, the Final is all on the day, especially if it's Liverpool, but we've shown we've got nothing to fear from them. If we do that (I don't care as much about 2nd place, it would be nice but I'd rather have a trophy) then two trophies in two years gives us some momentum.