Wenger Referendum II - And this time it's personal

[Niall_Quinn]

There is no difference between 2nd and 3rd.

Even at the most fundamental level that statement is clearly incorrect. The team finishing second has performed better than the team finishing 3rd over the course of the season. We are up against a financially doping gypo outfit who have £30mill players stuck in the reserves. You think there's no difference to finishing above them or below them? You place a higher significance on qualifying for the CL than how we compete against our major rivals? So does Wenger. That's why he needs to go.

[Letters]

OK, fine. But last year we finished 4th. This year we (surely) will finish 3rd. But we'll have fewer points than last year. Is that better or worse?
IMO it's better because the big difference between 3rd and 4th is having to qualify for the CL. There is no such difference between 2nd and 3rd so while you're right, there is some difference, there isn't much. We're probably going to finish very close to City so I don't see a huge difference between finishing slightly above them or slightly below them. Either way it shows we can compete with them, for me that's enough. I don't see as qualifying for the CL and competing with our rivals as two things I have to choose between or prioritise, those are entirely compatible aims.

[Kano]

We finished a place higher but with less points and further away from the champs. That's what swings it for me. Finishing third feels like an average league campaign. The same ole. And I highlight focusing on the league because let's face it, that's what we're all really interested in isn't it? Domestic cups are a decoration, no solid barometer for a teams full abilities. As an example, Sevilla are on the verge of a successive Europa title but what is more telling is their league position. Most points ever in a campaign and although they may fall short next weekend, they are only 3 points away from the CL.

Psychologically second feels better not least because it breaks the mould of our 3rd and 4th decade long cycle. I would hope it would mean something more to the players too, that with additions they believe they can bridge that last gap to the top, having one, rather than two stubborn financial powerhouses to overcome. The squad have said how important it is to win those Big Four games on the pitch, so it makes sense that knowing they finished above all but one provides a massive boost of confidence. Personally I want my team to finish as high as possible, getting the maximum out of themselves. I'm sure the squad and manager feel the same but that winning run has distorted the picture slightly.

As you mentioned somewhere earlier, we are closer now to Chelsea than we were after 12 games - which is a massive problem. That is where it was lost, not stumbling after 2/3 months of getting back lost ground. The run was always going to come to an end and that final winning spurt was almost timed to absolute perfection to steal second. But it wasn't and City's bad run was also never going to last. We had zero room for slipping up on order to take second - which should have been the squads goal - because of our early season slackness. Finishing third just feels like the league cycle continues on and on.

[Letters]

The players do seem to have relaxed a bit since they secured top 4 in the same way Chelsea clearly have since they wrapped up the title. With a Cup Final to think about I can live with that. The only concern is not losing too much momentum before the final.

[Niall_Quinn]

The players do seem to have relaxed a bit since they secured top 4 in the same way Chelsea clearly have since they wrapped up the title. With a Cup Final to think about I can live with that. The only concern is not losing too much momentum before the final.

Did the ticket prices go down once we qualified for the CL? Did the player wages go down? Did the manager's wages decrease? "Too much" momentum? Why should there be any loss of momentum? Is this a professional sports team or not?

And there's absolutely zero similarity between the chav's attitude and ours. They won a title, we blew the runners-up spot. Big difference.

I just don't get how you can accept these sort of things so easily. Yes okay, football is not the be all and end all of life but if you are going to do something then do it properly FFS, or else don't bother at all. And if you are gifted a fantasy lifestyle in return for competing to win then at least have the professionalism, pride and decency to compete with all you've got.

I think the trouble with Arsenal is this sort of complacency runs right through the organisation and out through a sizeable portion of the fan base. Many have got used to being second best and turned it into an ambition.

[Letters]

Did the ticket prices go down once we qualified for the CL? Did the player wages go down? Did the manager's wages decrease?

No, but players thinking "job done" and "I don't want to get injured before the Cup Final" is fairly reasonable.
If it was the difference between first and second then that's not acceptable, but it isn't.

[LDG]

No excuses for it. Should be 100% every time.

What we needed to do was push until the last game.

a) Because you want to take confidence and good form into a cup final
b) Because you want to lay down the marker for next year

Yet again, we've made sure we go into the summer off form, like every year.

This is a top tier, professional football team with shitloads of history. I'm pissed off we didn't challenge Chelsea for the title, let alone letting 2nd go without so much as a whimper. We had the team to do it.

[Letters]

We won 9 games out of 10. We lost one and everyone's wetting themselves.

[Niall_Quinn]

We won 9 games out of 10. We lost one and everyone's wetting themselves.

Stop WUMming.

[Letters]

I think you're the one WUMming. I'm posting what I think, I don't think you are