Do You Believe?

[Power n Glory]

If we balls it up against Bournemouth and/or Newcastle then I am more inclined to say no.

We've already put in a rancid performance on a must win game.

It's a tough run after those two games. We need to get back to winning ways and really step it up Jan and Feb.

Liverpool - away
Stoke - away
Chelsea - home
Southampton - home
Bournemouth - away
Leicester City - home
Man Utd - away

[Niall_Quinn]

It wasn't a must win game. No more so than the City one.

This is why people laugh at you.

[Letters]

Elaborate.

This is why you're little more than a WUM. No debate, no argument, no attempt to deal with what I said. Boring.

A knockout cup game is a must win. A league game towards the end to keep you in the title hunt is a must win. A league game half way through the season is not. We'd have gone top but being top half way through the season is meaningless unless we stay there.

[Power n Glory]

Elaborate.

This is why you're little more than a WUM. No debate, no argument, no attempt to deal with what I said. Boring.

A knockout cup game is a must win. A league game towards the end to keep you in the title hunt is a must win. A league game half way through the season is not. We'd have gone top but being top half way through the season is meaningless unless we stay there.

An opportunity to go top of the table wasn't a must win game?

[Niall_Quinn]

[Niall_Quinn]

An opportunity to go top of the table wasn't a must win game?

Wenger's (and therefore Letters') response:

'Personally at this stage of the season I don't give too much importance to going top,'

[Letters]

An opportunity to go top of the table wasn't a must win game?

It depends when in the season the game occurs.
It was an unacceptable result but losing doesn't put us out of the title race so in that sense it wasn't must win in the same way the Olympiacos one was.
If the game is in the last 5 of a league season then I'd agree it's a must win, right now not so much as there's plenty of time to put it right, starting this afternoon.
Even if we do go top today and other results go for us and we stay there, does that show anything? We still have to stay there and be there in May.

The quote NQ is mocking is exactly the same sort of thing I've seen him say previously, we should have gone top on Boxing Day but failure to do so isn't terminal to our title aspirations. A bad result today wouldn't be either but losing 2 'easy' games on the bounce would not be a very good sign.

[Power n Glory]

It depends when in the season the game occurs.
It was an unacceptable result but losing doesn't put us out of the title race so in that sense it wasn't must win in the same way the Olympiacos one was.
If the game is in the last 5 of a league season then I'd agree it's a must win, right now not so much as there's plenty of time to put it right, starting this afternoon.
Even if we do go top today and other results go for us and we stay there, does that show anything? We still have to stay there and be there in May.

The quote NQ is mocking is exactly the same sort of thing I've seen him say previously, we should have gone top on Boxing Day but failure to do so isn't terminal to our title aspirations. A bad result today wouldn't be either but losing 2 'easy' games on the bounce would not be a very good sign.

Agreed. A bad result today doesn't end our title run but you can't be surprised by the lack of faith seen on here when we fail to seize on an opportunity. It's why people have no faith in the manager at this point. Reaccuring patterns from past seasons. You understand why I keep saying the big games like City can't be counted as a measure of progress. The odd big game isn't the measure. Consistency is the measure and constantly answering the call when questions are asked of our mentality and ability to win the league. That's the only way people will believe. Right now, it's the luck of draw that has us still in the mix. That doesn't fill me with much belief. A marginal improvement after the huge cash injection isn't good enough.

[Niall_Quinn]

Of course people are mocking the 10th time around on the same old excuses shovelled out by Wenger, Ty and yourself Letters. You keep trying to sell the future with a plea to ignore the past. It's handy because then you don't need consistency, momentum, progress - just a string of results assembled in any old skin of the teeth, haphazard fashion will do. Nothing to build on but enough to keep Wenger's under-performing arse in the seat.

That result yesterday wasn't unacceptable AT ALL. Wenger has dished up shit like that on so many occasions now and yet he's not sacked. So the result is indeed acceptable. It would only be unacceptable if the cash cow stopped giving milk. That's the criteria. That's why Wenger is still here and for some reason a large part of the fan base seems to believe that's great news. Beggars belief really.

[selassie]

Of course people are mocking the 10th time around on the same old excuses shovelled out by Wenger, Ty and yourself Letters. You keep trying to sell the future with a plea to ignore the past. It's handy because then you don't need consistency, momentum, progress - just a string of results assembled in any old skin of the teeth, haphazard fashion will do. Nothing to build on but enough to keep Wenger's under-performing arse in the seat.

That result yesterday wasn't unacceptable AT ALL. Wenger has dished up shit like that on so many occasions now and yet he's not sacked. So the result is indeed acceptable. It would only be unacceptable if the cash cow stopped giving milk. That's the criteria. That's why Wenger is still here and for some reason a large part of the fan base seems to believe that's great news. Beggars belief really.

This! For every City & United result there's a Southampton lurking in the corner, we'll get tonked again this season because it's how Wenger's teams roll. Our upcoming away schedule is brutal too.