Match Reaction Everton 0-2 Arsenal - WUMger Out

[Niall_Quinn]

Wait a minute, our mentally strong team can't handle a few boos? What happened to having many leaders on the pitch?

Instead of lecturing the fans, Wenger needs to have a word with his players. This sort of stuff doesn't help the situation. When he ignores the obvious, says nothing new, tries nothing new and we get the same results, what does he expect from the fans? So quick to lash out against supporters but not peep about some really poor performances. He seems delusional.

It's a form of blackmail. If the fans don't get behind the team then the team could suffer and it will be the fault of the fans. It won't be the fault of a manager who has failed to build the team that could compete with the elite of Europe, the purpose of the stadium move and the doubling of ticket prices. It won't be the fault of the players who enjoy one of the highest wage bills in world football. It won't be the fault of the board or the owners who all help themselves to lavish rewards whilst jealously guarding the club chequebook. It will be down to the fans and their failure to accept whatever is dished up with good grace and a cheer. The buck stops with the fans. Eat shit and like it. And as for the Internet warrior fans, long since priced out of their own club, well they aren't fans at all. If you don't have the cash then shut up, you don't have a say.

I have a feeling this rapidly emerging and developing excuse to replace all the other excuses that have been blown out of existence will be met with the contempt it deserves.

[Özim]

Wenger criticising the fans, if we hadn't played so poorly for so long it might have been very different, as usual though it's never his fault:

“What hurts me is that at the important moment of the season we played in a sceptical environment,” he said. “I think after the Tottenham game where we played a very good game with 10 men against 11 and came back to 2-2, I couldn’t understand why – at the moment when you need everyone behind the team – we had to hit that storm. From the media, OK. From our fans? It is a bit more difficult to take.”

He also added

“I built this club over 19 years with the quality of my work, not with resources from outside,” said Wenger. “Not with big sponsorship but by caring about every pound that I spent.”

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...s-stan-kroenke

[Özim]

I also found interview after the Everton match patronising as hell, he talked about our effort etc and the fact we'd passed the mental test. He also said he likes this group and their attitude and it hurts him to hear them criticised.

Is he serious? We've failed every test we've had this season, when the pressure was on we collapsed, now there's no pressure we get a win with a good performance (although Everton played poorly and Martinez said it was their worst match of the season)...he just doesn't get it. As usual though he's full of praise for the players despite a collapse on a monumental scale.

You really just cannot move forward with someone so blind to the truth and blinkered, to move forward you have to accept your mistakes/faults and then move to fix/solve them, what's clear is this season's collapse is nothing to do with him or the players in his head, it's because the fans weren't supportive enough according to him.

[Letters]

Really? You didn't like what someone you HATE AS MUCH AS HAD HE KILLED YOUR PARENTS said in an interview?
Gosh, that is interesting. Please, tell me more.

[Gooner23]

I agree with Zim on this one. Blaming the fans is inexcusable.

[Letters]

He hasn't 'blamed' the fans but that doesn't mean the toxic atmosphere, while understandable, is helpful.

[Power n Glory]

It's a form of blackmail. If the fans don't get behind the team then the team could suffer and it will be the fault of the fans. It won't be the fault of a manager who has failed to build the team that could compete with the elite of Europe, the purpose of the stadium move and the doubling of ticket prices. It won't be the fault of the players who enjoy one of the highest wage bills in world football. It won't be the fault of the board or the owners who all help themselves to lavish rewards whilst jealously guarding the club chequebook. It will be down to the fans and their failure to accept whatever is dished up with good grace and a cheer. The buck stops with the fans. Eat shit and like it. And as for the Internet warrior fans, long since priced out of their own club, well they aren't fans at all. If you don't have the cash then shut up, you don't have a say.

I have a feeling this rapidly emerging and developing excuse to replace all the other excuses that have been blown out of existence will be met with the contempt it deserves.

For a guy that often takes the softly softly approach with his players, avoiding criticism of them in public, I don’t get why he’s approaching this issue so bluntly. It’s no way to get the fans on side. It comes across arrogant and it’s even more so that he chooses to address the issue after a victory rather than face up to the issue earlier. When Henry spoke in the press about the fans being upset he brushed Henry off as some sort of ‘prawn sandwich brigade’ supporter that had no idea what’s really going on around the stadium. There really isn’t a need for that. When asked about the banner he said he didn’t care and made out as if it didn’t affect him. Acting as if it’s all part of the parcel for him. Now after a victory he’s talking about being hurt by the fans and being displeased with the environment. Do me a favour!

It sounds a little like blackmail to me. Pisses me off that people buy into it as well. Highlighted point included. Fans shouldn’t have this sort of mentality either.

[alexander]

Bit late on catching the highlights, but generally pleased with the performance. Young Alex is looking good, I just hope he dont end up like Jack, but enjoy his style of play. Alexis has looked better these last two games too.
When we signed Welbeck, I admit I was a tad uninspired, but after his performances last season I thought he impressed. Still dont think he will get 25+ goals a season, but he is fast, mobile, strong and really adds some pace and (more) skill than Theo. Good to see him back.

As we know wenger wont go this summer, what would ease the final 12 months of his contract? If he goes and buys real world class CB, CB and CF (we can dream) this summer, and lay the foundations for a new hungry manager to come in, would that be enough? or will only a Premier league win suffice?

[Özim]

Really? You didn't like what someone you HATE AS MUCH AS HAD HE KILLED YOUR PARENTS said in an interview?
Gosh, that is interesting. Please, tell me more.

Wow, you love to find reasons to discredit someone's criticisms' of him don't you, it's almost like you worship the guy.

[Niall_Quinn]

Bit late on catching the highlights, but generally pleased with the performance. Young Alex is looking good, I just hope he dont end up like Jack, but enjoy his style of play. Alexis has looked better these last two games too.
When we signed Welbeck, I admit I was a tad uninspired, but after his performances last season I thought he impressed. Still dont think he will get 25+ goals a season, but he is fast, mobile, strong and really adds some pace and (more) skill than Theo. Good to see him back.

As we know wenger wont go this summer, what would ease the final 12 months of his contract? If he goes and buys real world class CB, CB and CF (we can dream) this summer, and lay the foundations for a new hungry manager to come in, would that be enough? or will only a Premier league win suffice?

Even a title wouldn't suffice because the lack of trophies isn't what the fans are complaining about. It's the lack of ambition and the failure to compete for trophies. Wenger doesn't get this at all. He points at FA Cups and states everything is okay, as if the trophies explain or excuse the failure to compete at the highest level or brush away the routine collapses his teams suffer whenever pressure is applied. Everyone has a smile on their face after the first half display against Everton. That's what I, and I suspect most fans, want to see. A well thought out team with a plan, tactics to suit the opponent, ambitious play, commitment and focus from the players and, above all, entertaining football with an end product. The smile soured when Wenger went negative in the second half and we reverted to what the fans have been complaining about, ponderous, unambitious football played to the law of averages. Taking what we had when we could have pressed on and taken more. We've had to put up with that sort of football all season and the seasons before. It doesn't work, it doesn't serve us beyond securing entry into a European tournament we have zero chance of winning because the team isn't good enough and the manager isn't good enough. At a club like Arsenal we should at least have a chance in every competition we enter. We should at least be able to achieve what Leicester and the spuds are doing this season. There's no excuse for anything less. If we give it everything but don't come out with the trophy then that's understandable, there's only one trophy and sometimes you have to hold your hands up and accept another club did a little but more to win it. But of you haven't poured every effort into trying to win the trophy, that's when it becomes unacceptable. When you haven't done the maximum possible in the transfer windows, when you haven't done everything you can to prepare before the games, when you haven't given it everything on the pitch. This is the complaint and the reason Wenger has to go is because he just doesn't understand it. He thinks we should be grateful to be a mediocre Last 16 Cup ever present. He thinks that's an achievement to crow about.