Quote Originally Posted by Kano View Post
I still don’t get this assumption that we should be ‘walking’ the league or that our performance levels are not relative to averageness that surrounds us in the league. The two things are not mutually exclusive. The league has been declining for years, while the similarity of styles and tactics by the teams are all pretty much the same. The old clichés of ‘well next year the big boys will be back’ are of course being rolled because it’s easier to say than admitting how poor the PL is nowadays. Fergie winning the league with such an average Utd team was the first real indicator but again, he was lauded for beating real quality, when in fact, everyone else behind them was just as poor. If the league around us is poor, then by association we are also going to be just as average, which is what we’re seeing. It doesn’t devalue winning the title at all because when everyone is on the same level, you still have to be the best at that level to win it.
It's true, the standard is low. Some managers have stepped up and taken advantage of this, at Leicester, West Ham, Watford, Palace, others have been badly exposed, Maureen, van Gaal, Pellegrini to be fair (although the gypos effectively sacking him without actually sacking him can't help) and of course Wenger which is no surprise at all because he'll always do the absolute minimum to achieve the averageness we have come to expect.

These highly paid managerial geniuses have been surfing on past financial discrepancies between the top clubs and the rest. Now that even more money has come into the game so that the little guys can afford a slightly better class of player we have seen the gap disappearing. Wenger moaned about the chavs and the gypos but studiously avoided the fact we had a huge advantage over the clubs below us, which is what kept us perpetually in the top 4. We've been playing mostly shit football for years now, but with a deeper squad we've managed to keep the likes of the spuds off our backs. And the spud and Liverpool transfer policies have been a joke that assisted us too.

If Wenger had anything about him at all he'd be able to create a solid team and squad and match his tactics to the league he's playing in - just as Ranieri and Billic have done. We should be in a great position right now. 10 years trying to find the right squad and balance, players like Alexis, Cech and Ozil coming in. But still we are pretty much where we have always been, in the top 4, playing frustratingly inconsistent football, making all the usual stupid mistakes. A couple of points thrown away against Liverpool here, a non-performance at Southampton, supreme negativity at Stoke, being totally unprepared on the opening day - offset against the rare decent performance and result, with just a little bit more we could be well established at the top now. But Wenger doesn't do a little bit more, he does average. Bang on average.

That said, it could be a lot worse. Cech has certainly saved us points over and above what we could have expected from the goons we've had in goal in recent years.

It really is a poor show from this manager. All his resources, the players at his disposal, the fact his main rivals are in turmoil. This guy Wenger isn't a top manager, he's not even a decent manager any more in football terms. Even the chavs, as shitty as they were, could press their advantage last season. And as you say, shit league or not, Ferguson did the business with a shower of shite. Wenger isn't at that level, or at least what happens on the pitch does not have his full focus.

It has all just got so tired.