Wenger is responsible for results, good or bad. All results, good or bad, are because of Wenger. So much goes into that - he buys and sells players, trains them, man-manages them, picks the team, sets the tactics and formation for each game. On the day he may make a substitution which makes a difference but that didn't happen on Sunday, we blitzed them from the start.
I'm just not convinced he did anything radically different in terms of his preparation for Sunday. There were stories he "lost it" with the players after the Olympiacos game, maybe that had an effect. Or maybe the players did gee themselves up - and what's wrong with that if they did? That doesn't reflect poorly on Wenger, if he's bought or developed players who can motivate themselves then that's on him too just as much as it is if he's got players who can't.
I'm not sure why a manager should need to especially gee players up for a game like Utd at home. Players who have got to this level are surely very competitive, they shouldn't need that much motivation to want to beat Utd.
Actually, I'll slightly amend that statement about all results are because of Wenger. Although that is broadly true, there are instances (Chelsea away) when external factors have such a big influence that you can't really put the result, good or bad, on Wenger's head.
You've lost the plot Letters. You are so committed and diligent in defending Wenger against criticism you have taken to playing it like a chess defence, thinking several excuses in advance. If Wenger changed his approach on Sunday, which anyone who watched the game can see he obviously did, it potentially exposes how little preparation and how many managerial mistakes have blighted so many performances in the past - not that the average fan will need Sunday to figure this out. But still, you can't allow that comparison to stand so here you are with your airbrush at the ready. You're just here to defend Wenger regardless of facts or circumstances or events. You didn't even watch the game but you still entered the post match discussion with barely concealed stabs at those fans who refuse to drink the whole Kool-Aid bottle in one swig. I gave you a list of the key differences we saw on Sunday. Fair enough, if none of that was Wenger's work then as others have said, we don't need him, much better if he stays away from the games from now on. But nobody thinks that and I doubt many will allow you to write off the performance as a day when "everything just clicked", because that's not how it happened at all.
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Nail on the head. I can't be asked to entertain it anymore. It's why there are always holes and contradictions in his argument because he's overly concerned with putting up a staunched defence. Coupled by the fact that he didn't even see the game and he's still arguing over nonsense.
I wasn't suggesting the example was universal or absolute....merely pointing out that in a scenario where I thought the player would respond to a manager pontificating on the touchline, he simply opined that it made no difference to him. That is to suggest, that, none of us really knows how rousing, positive or negative it is for any given player as the recipient.
I don't think there's much mileage in anyone generally getting overly critical about Wenger's lack of running around on the touchline, pointing, or cupping his hands and yelling in that stupid Owen Coyle way managers do that players often ignore anyway. Moreover, many often have a number 2 who do that kind of yelling. I personally like the idea that the duties are fluidly managed between Manager, assistant and captain and that so long that there is a balance emanating from the triumvirate, I'm not too concerned with who meters it out.
Well Theodore did say they had a special nice chat with cups of tea, crumpets and rich tea biscuits whilst they discussed how much they all wanted to win the game.
But in light of a little of what Letters sounds like he is saying.....the passing was so incisive and accurate that you can easily imagine a slight off day when one ball in a mazy 12 pass ping pong set play is slightly off or over hit, resulting in fewer goals and us relying on, or ruing the chance Ramsey gloriously missed.
Though it is worth mentioning that on days when it doesn't come off the effort can bridge the gap......as we have seen Sanchez be a perfect example of himself before his recent glut of goals.
The score would have been 7-0 if it had been one of those days where everything comes off. Ramsey, Ozil's second effort, Giroud and Ox. We missed more than we scored. Fortunately for Utd. You can understand Utd fans going on about how they won the second half 0-0 or how they let us win or how they picked the wrong team, etc, etc. We'd probably have been the same if the score was reversed. But it's odd when an Arsenal fan concludes we won it because the gods were smiling down. Doubly odd when he's arguing against other fans who make no secret of their desire to see Wenger depart and yet were rightfully generous with the praise for the manager's performance on Sunday. There's no need to make excuses for Wenger following that game. Yet the excuses are still coming.
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No, it's you (plural) who have this ridiculous caricature of me that everything I say is a defence of Wenger that you cannot read what I actually say without interpreting it as a defence. I'm just saying...well, I already said it. You could try reading what I actually said, not what you think I said or meant.