Match Reaction v Swansea at home (15/16)

[Özim]

The two FA Cups will help.
If we see finishing 3rd and winning the FA Cup as a disappointment then that level of expectation comes entirely from Wenger.
At worst he's overseen us fall from the best team to one of the best and we're in great financial shape for any new manager coming in.
He needs to go, but let's not get all revisionist or forget the early Wenger teams - whoever comes in I doubt we'll ever see the like again - or how important he's been for our long term future.

We won trophies before Wenger and we'll win tropies after him, what you have to remember is that noone cared abotu coming 3rd before the CL, there's an article from Jenas about Spurs on the BBC where he says Spurs limited themselves to 4th place under other managers and that the difference now is that Pochettino has got them believing the title is a possibility, there's the winners and then everyone else at the end of the day, noone remembers the team that came 2nd.

So for me yes sure the first few years with us were amazing, but he's spent a greater part of his career with us being 2nd best and accepting it, which in turn makes you question whether he is indeed a great manager or it was just that he had an advantage over others in the transfer market allowing him to sign players noone knew about at the time and was lucky he inherited a top notch defence with ready made leadership.

What he delivered early on in his career was top notch, but you can't help but think how much of that was circusmtances because once the above disappeared he's achieved precious little. A top manager delivers time and time again over the span of his career to prove he is great.

If you take out that 6-7 year stint (of which not all were successful years) just look at what Wenger has achieved in the rest of his career, the reality is not a lot.

[selassie]

Like Thatcher though, his legacy will be appreciated in time.

[Bumble]

Yes, we shouldn't be below those sides. But neither should Liverpool, Utd, City or Chelsea. This is a bizarre season.

Although both Liverpool and Chelsea have changed managers as they realised there was a problem. City are going to have a new manager next season as they realise there is a problem. And up until Gaal got lucky with Rashford United were going to get a new manager too.

Just because those four teams are behind Leicester and Spuds doesn't mean its ok for us to be. We are a stable settled side, we have the 3rd highest net spend over the last 3 seasons. We have one of the highest wage bills and one of the highest paid managers and the highest ticket prices in the world of football. Yet its the same each year.

This game tomorrow is crucial win and I still think we will win the league but lose it and 4th place could be a huge struggle that is how fragile the players are.

[Kano]

Yes, we shouldn't be below those sides. But neither should Liverpool, Utd, City or Chelsea. This is a bizarre season.

Sure but we're talking about Arsenal.

And I'm pretty confident fans of those other clubs wouldn't be happy with an FA cup or 3rd/worse either. (well maybe Liverpool but they're a joke of a club no anyway).

[Maestro]

We have a squad that should win in the current environment, in any of the previous years it is not strong enough to be close to the title.

It drives me mad that people keep looking at our squad on paper and these 'known' names seem to indicate we have good players all over. We really don't. The squad needs quite a bit of work when you consider 4/5 attacking players are needed (out wide and upfront) replacements in midfield for those leaving and one if not two CB's and a replacement keeper once Ospina clears off. Maybe even more if an Ozil or Sanchez clear off.

Totally agree. Lots' of work to be done, unless people have low expectations. if we want to stand toe to toe with the best we need as a minimum, real top quality in the following areas:

Right Midfield - Theo is rubbish there, Ox is immature and wayward and Campbell decent
Central Midfield - Need I say more
Striker - Need I say more
Centre Back - Merts on his way out, Chambers should be given enough time to develop properly. Kos good, Gabriel hasn't settled in yet
Goalkeeper - Cech get's injured and we're down to Ospina, need I say more

Theo, Flamini, Arteta, Merts, Rosicky, Ospina should be shown the door

We're nowhere near where we need to be. Wenget buys one decent player per season if we're lucky and people think this squad is not "far off".

There is serious work to be done here just to really start competing from a personnel point of view, let alone the management deficiencies

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I kinda agree he's fine, but he's no Cech and with our defence Cech has got us plenty of points this season we wouldn't have got otherwise.
I guess it doesn't matter any more, we're not going to win the CL or league anyway.

I disagree completely the guy is a walking disaster area, I can't think of one goal we've conceded when he's been between the sticks where you don't think he could have done a lot better.
I watched him in the Copa America and he was atrocious.

[Letters]

We won trophies before Wenger and we'll win tropies after him

Of course, but the period of success we enjoyed from 1998-2004 was the best since the 30s and achieved with a style of football better than anything I've ever seen from anyone. When he took over we were boring boring Arsenal.
Top 4 has become a 'thing' but that is not Wenger's fault and the fact remains that pre-Wenger no-one would have been calling for an Arsenal manger's head if we finished 3rd and won the FA Cup. We have higher expectations now and that is because of Wenger.

question whether he is indeed a great manager or it was just that he had an advantage over others in the transfer market allowing him to sign players noone knew about at the time and was lucky he inherited a top notch defence with ready made leadership.

The big things he brought to the table which made us a success initially were a knowledge of the European game which no-one else had and fitness methods. It has to be remembered that when he came in it was the era of drinking schools amongst players and fish and chips on the way home after a game.
Neither of these things are luck, he was doing things which were pioneering in England and other clubs soon followed suit. Yes, he inherited a good defence but we were nowhere near a title winning side before Wenger came along.

What he delivered early on in his career was top notch, but you can't help but think how much of that was circusmtances because once the above disappeared he's achieved precious little.

Well, no. The Invincibles squad was pretty much entirely his own and Vieira was his own player who became a great captain.
He's presided over a very complicated stadium move, kept us in the top 4 throughout and has won us a couple of Cups when he's signed some better players. He's failed to push us on, we need to find someone who can, but he's hardly taken us into mid-table or worse (as some doom-mongers endlessly predicted he would)

A top manager delivers time and time again over the span of his career to prove he is great.

The last 10 years are what separates him from someone like Fergie who achieved success over a very long period, but very few managers achieve that. Wenger is in a category just below the very best because of that, but he's clearly overall been a very good manager for us, if he did go this summer he'll leave us with a squad good enough to challenge for the title, or close to, and more thane enough money to bolster the squad in areas where it's needed.

[Maestro]

Like Thatcher though, his legacy will be appreciated in time.

huh, and what legacy is that??? stop smoking that shit mate

[Letters]

Sure but we're talking about Arsenal.

And I'm pretty confident fans of those other clubs wouldn't be happy with an FA cup or 3rd/worse either. (well maybe Liverpool but they're a joke of a club no anyway).

Maybe not doing cartwheels. but I doubt they'd be calling for the manager's head. Put it this way, if a new manager came in and that was his first season would you want him sacked?
Obviously this is a different situation because of the history with Wenger but it was hardly a car crash of a season.

[Power n Glory]

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/footb...erby-Tottenham

ARSENE WENGER has rejected Alexis Sanchez's claims the team lacked 'hunger' in the midweek defeat to Swansea.
By James Cambridge

Arsene Wenger disagrees with Alexis Sanchez's 'lack of hunger' claims

Sanchez spoke out after the 2-1 defeat on Wednesday night, saying he and his team-mates lacked the belief to win the game.

"There are great players here, I train with them daily and they have got the mentality and the desire to win, but sometimes we lack the hunger, he told American broadcaster DirecTV.

"Sometimes we lack this hunger to believe that we can be champions... [We need] to go out on to the pitch feeling that we are already winning 1-0."

However, Wenger has today refuted the Chilean's claims, saying the Gunners were merely unlucky and did not lack the heart to win the game.

"No, I don't see that," he said

"I felt a lot of disappointment [in the dressing room] after Wednesday I must say, but to come back on that we watched the game again.

"We were a bit unlucky as the second goal was offside and the first was a blatant foul on Mesut Ozil.

"Even if we look at ourselves to correct results, everything went against us."

Wenger has instead turned his attention to Saturday's crucial north London derby with Tottenham (12.45pm) which he has branded a 'must win' game.

"We want to win [against Spurs] but mathematically, you can call it as you want," he added.

"It's a need, yes, but results are so unpredictable that even the most gifted mathematician will have trouble to find the model for how this league works."

Never a good so sign. Where is the accountability? We were unlucky on the foul but come on.....