Quote Originally Posted by Kano View Post
This is partly what I've been going over with IBK in the past few pages, in that yes I have problems with Wenger too and I don't disagree a change of manager may be able to fix some of our flaws. That said, he might also create some new ones because let's face it, as fans we're rarely 100% happy and usually find areas to pick at. But as I've been saying, the other factors outside of our control in this league (which I've explained as far as I can now) will remain in place I think and will have just as much of a contributing factor as I believe they are having now. It may sound boring as fuck to place my argument in this grey area but that is where the truth of the matter exists.
But that's why Ferguson's, and unfortunately Maureen's, last title wins were impressive (in different ways). Yes the standard is falling, anyone bar a Sky pundit has to admit that. Yes the mid table and even relegation candidates run a tighter ship tactically, probably having discovered Maureen MkI's Makelelean model as an equaliser. It's negative, congested, it's anti-football 90% of the time and so it's more difficult for technical players to perform and far easier for workhorses to make a mark. Picky refs haven't helped either, blowing up at the slightest hint of contact. Players diving when brushed. The game gets broken to bits. We have a cynical game with a focus on energy and miles run per match. Entertainment has drained, the chavs are praised for parking a bus. All very sad. But Ferguson took his sack of odds and ends and somehow crafted it into a unit that slogged hard enough to win the title. I doubt any other manager could have pulled it off with what he had at his disposal. He found a way, he suited his game to the prevailing conditions and then found an edge. Most unfortunately Maureen did the same but with a group of much more talented individuals, he took the cynicism prevalent in this league and injected it with steroids to raise up the most foul expression of anti-football seen since Wimbledon laughed Liverpool off the pitch in the cup final. But nevertheless, he achieved what he wanted to achieve. I wouldn't want us to do it, but I would like our manager to use all the experience to find his own edge.

But here we have Wenger, insisting nothing needs to change and his ways are still good despite the very essence of the league having changed around his ears. So yes, external factors have considerably modified the challenge. I don't know if our manager is up for that challenge or not because he refuses to accept it and might actually have convinced himself nothing has changed at all. We all know the old clichés, Wenger's teams can't break down a massed defence, Wenger's teams don't like a battle, Wenger's teams overplay, Wenger's tactics are predictable. It's overblown but there's an element of truth to all of it.

Why haven't we replaced Vieira, for example? We've needed that steel for how long now? He doesn't want to do it. He wants Santi Cazorla to battle it out with the Cattermoles. Santi is good enough to sometimes gain the upper hand by fleet of foot and razor passing, but essentially he's another Ozil and should be playing ahead of a sturdy midfield. Wenger has him shoehorned into a position that works if Santi is right on his game and doesn't get kicked in the air too many times. Ramsey should probably be playing there too. And Alexis. And any other number of similar players we've had over the seasons. A load of players for one position, none for another. Players being asked to somehow pull out this ever fleeting pass and move ballet so maybe three times a season we can enjoy an unbelievable goal that wins awards. The rest of the time it's pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, try that ridiculous 2% pass and lose it.

Why can't he mix things up at least? We have some of the fastest players in the league. What's wrong with the ball over the top from time to time. His early teams weren't shy to boot it into space and let Anelka or Henry chase it. It eliminates the predictability, unsettles defenders, keeps the crowd loud. But this tippy tappy shit. Fuck me, it's so frustrating you could smash your head through the screen watching it.

We know the league has changed, we know it. Somebody tell Wenger. Evidently he doesn't know, or doesn't care.