Arsenal - A 'Broken' Club

[Özim]

He has excuses for each and every one of those hammerings and he takes none of the responsibility on himself. Yes, he'll say the responsibility stops with management. But if he believed that then he'd take the steps necessary to correct the problems. Instead he doggedly reinforces the problems. Again, his words are the opposite of his actions. Either he lies to himself and convinces himself, or else he's just dishonest.

His 1000th match summed him up for me, a big game against a man he's never beaten who he's had a feud with, a lot to prove and this would have been the perfect match to put down a marker, what happens next, a powderpuff performance where we concede 6 goals and are absolutley humiliated by his (in football terms) arch enemy.

No manager with any ounce of pride would have accepted that like he did, he was utterly embarassed in that game and shown up for the incompetent manager he is.

[Letters]

And another good thread spoilt

[Özim]

Why because you say so? Noone else things it's spoiled.

You fail to recognise this threat is about whether we're a broken club, we are thanks to the management, discussions about him are very relevant.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

As much as i hate to agree with Zim that game certainly didn't reflect well on him as a manager, it shows he lacks a sense of occasion and seems to prefer to go through the motions. I don't think the reason that Wenger has never beaten Mourinho is even that he is a tactical genius, i think in many respects he is equally one dimensional but he also has Wenger's number and that of his team, he gets his Chelsea players to needle ours, gets them to overcommit in attack and breaks, uses players that out muscle our defence, exploits our weaknesses at defensive set pieces.....he to put it plainly sets his team up with us in mind.

I don't believe Wenger is too stupid to see it, i just think because of the type of players he purchases and because of the way his team is set up he finds it hard to counter the effect.

He seems to be able to neutralise some styles of play but not others, for instance in March when we played Spurs we pretty much nullified their pressing game and i am confident if that Coquelin hadn't been a muppet and got himself sent off we would have gone on to win that game.

[Xhaka Can’t]

This is an excellent thread. I haven't got the time or perhaps the eloquence to post as others have here.

But what I have the time to say is regardless of whether or not Arsenal is a broken Club, it has broken me.

I hope that some time in the future things change. But now? I'm disgusted with this 'club', what it stands for and how it operates.

It clearly exists for one reason only. To generate as much money as it can for those who already have more than we can dream of. And it takes it from anyone it can, right down to the poor sod that has so little, he scrapes together what he can to attend a single match.

They do this while not giving back to us even the bare minimum with a huge pile of funds at its disposal. Money provided by us.

They promised us 'jam tomorrow' for over 10 years now, and we bought it. We invested our love in the club, our time and our money to help build a future where this Club could compete and prosper.

To repay that loyalty in the way the way they have, makes me sick.

In terms of my support for this Club, I'm broken.

[Power n Glory]

I think we're all pretty close to that stage now. The fanbase has been split and it will can only get worse the longer this goes on. What sort of legacy will Wenger leave behind? It sounds crazy considering what's been built but this is a complete failure if it rips apart the foundations of the club. A pointless journey.

I have mixed feelings towards Wenger because of that. He's supposed to be a football man but when you hear some of things he says and think about the agenda behind it... it's rotten. I still can't get over how he said we needed to hike season ticket prices to remain competitive with our rivals. It also irked me last season when he said season ticket prices won't go down because the club needs all the money for transfers. It's utter rubbish. Whether it's revenue from the stadium or sponsorship money, he's not spending. Why? He serves the shareholders and looks after their interests more than he looks after the fans. He gave himself away during that AGM meeting some years back where he told the shareholders they shouldn't have anything to complain about because we were making a profit each year. Totally misjudged that one because the shareholders were Arsenal fans first and upset about the results. Is that how he thinks? If he looks after the club and keeps it running well he's done his job? He's supposed to be a football purist and that's what really sucks about the situation. He should be pushing the agenda for excellence on the field but he doesn't.

[Goonermerree]

I think we're all pretty close to that stage now. The fanbase has been split and it will can only get worse the longer this goes on. What sort of legacy will Wenger leave behind? It sounds crazy considering what's been built but this is a complete failure if it rips apart the foundations of the club. A pointless journey.

I have mixed feelings towards Wenger because of that. He's supposed to be a football man but when you hear some of things he says and think about the agenda behind it... it's rotten. I still can't get over how he said we needed to hike season ticket prices to remain competitive with our rivals. It also irked me last season when he said season ticket prices won't go down because the club needs all the money for transfers. It's utter rubbish. Whether it's revenue from the stadium or sponsorship money, he's not spending. Why? He serves the shareholders and looks after their interests more than he looks after the fans. He gave himself away during that AGM meeting some years back where he told the shareholders they shouldn't have anything to complain about because we were making a profit each year. Totally misjudged that one because the shareholders were Arsenal fans first and upset about the results. Is that how he thinks? If he looks after the club and keeps it running well he's done his job? He's supposed to be a football purist and that's what really sucks about the situation. He should be pushing the agenda for excellence on the field but he doesn't.

Spot on.

[fakeyank]

I think we're all pretty close to that stage now. The fanbase has been split and it will can only get worse the longer this goes on. What sort of legacy will Wenger leave behind? It sounds crazy considering what's been built but this is a complete failure if it rips apart the foundations of the club. A pointless journey.

I have mixed feelings towards Wenger because of that. He's supposed to be a football man but when you hear some of things he says and think about the agenda behind it... it's rotten. I still can't get over how he said we needed to hike season ticket prices to remain competitive with our rivals. It also irked me last season when he said season ticket prices won't go down because the club needs all the money for transfers. It's utter rubbish. Whether it's revenue from the stadium or sponsorship money, he's not spending. Why? He serves the shareholders and looks after their interests more than he looks after the fans. He gave himself away during that AGM meeting some years back where he told the shareholders they shouldn't have anything to complain about because we were making a profit each year. Totally misjudged that one because the shareholders were Arsenal fans first and upset about the results. Is that how he thinks? If he looks after the club and keeps it running well he's done his job? He's supposed to be a football purist and that's what really sucks about the situation. He should be pushing the agenda for excellence on the field but he doesn't.

I dont have mixed feelings about him anymore. I do not like him, and frankly I think I can safely say that I despise him. Why I despise him was outlined by you very well.. he sold out! If he tried and failed, I'd still root for him, but I think he is a crook and probably laughs at the fans while smoking a cigar at Kroenke's summer mansion.

[alexander]

This is an excellent thread. I haven't got the time or perhaps the eloquence to post as others have here.

But what I have the time to say is regardless of whether or not Arsenal is a broken Club, it has broken me.

I hope that some time in the future things change. But now? I'm disgusted with this 'club', what it stands for and how it operates.

It clearly exists for one reason only. To generate as much money as it can for those who already have more than we can dream of. And it takes it from anyone it can, right down to the poor sod that has so little, he scrapes together what he can to attend a single match.

They do this while not giving back to us even the bare minimum with a huge pile of funds at its disposal. Money provided by us.

They promised us 'jam tomorrow' for over 10 years now, and we bought it. We invested our love in the club, our time and our money to help build a future where this Club could compete and prosper.

To repay that loyalty in the way the way they have, makes me sick.

In terms of my support for this Club, I'm broken.

Its been a slow burn for me. 10 years ago I was 25, single, living at home, but 10 years later im married, mortgaged up, etc. I thought that my life moving on meant that I had fallen out of love with the club, but its probably 80-20% the club letting me down. I was a silver member, used to go to 12-15 games a season with my dad (who had been going since the early 60s when he moved to London, and loved it. When the stadium was opened I was there for the first game, excited about this brave new world to come, one where we could compete for and with the best. I drew some solace that although we didnt always (ever) win trophies, we could claim the `most beautiful football` award, and at times it was awesome. But we went into a slide, the players were average, our best players left, season after season, and above all, the football became boring. Dad and I decided to give up the silver membership a few years back, and stopped going. It used to cost over £100 a game with tickets, trains from Essex, food and drink. It was OK when we played great football, but we always ended up coming home thinking `meh`.
We now seem to be trapped in some perfect storm of an owner that is stockpiling money, and a manager that seems to think he is paying out of his own pocket. I used to be so pissed off when they lost, now its so predictable it doesnt warrant me getting worked up about it. It really shouldnt be like that.

[Letters]

This is where we differ. I think he's trying and failing and while his damned stubbornness does grate I believe he's doing what he thinks is best for our long term future. I think Gary's post sums up how I feel very well.