Season's Progress

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

It's not fun watching anyone play because of the shitty tactics employed by every team drilled to the bone to run until they drop. The Bielsa school of athletes sacrificing skill for endurance.

I disagree, although there is always going to be spells in games where the quality drops. I think Spurs, Chelsea, Liverpool and City have all performed better and have looked more aesthetically pleasing in more games than us this season.

For me we have only looked pleasing to watch Once since the Game against Basel on my Birthday (28th Sept) and that was at home to Ludogorets.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I said results, not performances. You always focus on whichever is worse.
But while I'd like to see us perform each week like we did against Chelsea, surely a manager should be mostly be judged on results, no?

Do either the results or performances give you any sense of enthusiasm for how the season will end up?

[Letters]

Well, the results are good enough so far. We're in touch at the top, right now that's all you can ask.
Performances have been patchy and that worries me, but it's a results game isn't it?

[selassie]

It will be different when Wenger has money to spend.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Well, the results are good enough so far. We're in touch at the top, right now that's all you can ask.
Performances have been patchy and that worries me, but it's a results game isn't it?

So ok(ish) results and poor performances

[Kano]

I disagree, although there is always going to be spells in games where the quality drops. I think Spurs, Chelsea, Liverpool and City have all performed better and have looked more aesthetically pleasing in more games than us this season.

For me we have only looked pleasing to watch Once since the Game against Basel on my Birthday (28th Sept) and that was at home to Ludogorets.

I've no idea what highlights or games you've been watching to come to that. The pressing obsession and counter style has driven the quality down across the whole league. It's been happening for years. Even funnier, you've found Spurs more fun to watch when they've scored less and drawn as many games as they've won. Weird.

[Letters]

So ok(ish) results and poor performances

I guess that's about right but as I've said a few times I don't think anyone would be whining if a new manager came in and we got the results we've had so far.

[Power n Glory]

I guess that's about right but as I've said a few times I don't think anyone would be whining if a new manager came in and we got the results we've had so far.

The sites dead. Whose whining? We've managed to squeeze 8 pages out of the cup loss thread. People are switching off from Arsenal. It's deja vu.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I've no idea what highlights or games you've been watching to come to that. The pressing obsession and counter style has driven the quality down across the whole league. It's been happening for years. Even funnier, you've found Spurs more fun to watch when they've scored less and drawn as many games as they've won. Weird.

I'm not the one conflating results and performances, I think counter attacks, pace and pressing is actually better to watch than fannying about on the ball and constant short passes.

It seems mystifying to me that people forget what a counter-attacking team Arsenal were at it's best under Wenger. No we weren't defensive but what we were adept at is maybe defending a corner and then thirty seconds later having the ball in the opposition net...we were great at it and it worked.

Wherever we won the ball back on the pitch we'd drive forward rather than tippety-tappety (i repeat i hated watching Spain do it and i hate even more watching us with far less technical ability do it)

Spurs been dreadful to watch in Europe, but in games like City at home and even for spells in the Chelsea game they have more purpose and dynamism in their passing and overlapping than we have shown in any game.

[Niall_Quinn]

I said results, not performances. You always focus on whichever is worse.
But while I'd like to see us perform each week like we did against Chelsea, surely a manager should be mostly be judged on results, no?

No, I have always said the performances are most important. Consistent performance delivers results consistently and consistent results win titles. Like Leicester when everyone around them lacked that consistency. Get the performance right and the results follow. And to get the performance right you need a solid team with solid reserves, you need planning, tactics. Above all you need ambition because without that there's no incentive to take a risk and without risk there's no chance of coming out top against a field of competitors striving to beat you. We know how deceptive results can be. We'll often string a set of results together on the back of a series of ramshackle performances. That's because we have talented individuals in the team who can pull a result out. sometimes against the run of play. But we are constantly teetering on the edge of the next big setback. We know when these setbacks arrive, like clockwork as soon as we face a major challenge that could influence the overall outcome of a season. So many years we have seen it now, the building hope and expectation that arrives at the game where we must get the result, where we must show we have enough about us to take command and control our own outcomes. And bang, it blows up. So many times. This is because you can't rely on a series of flat track bully results when the performance is not there.

The manager has to go. He's been failing for years now, in footballing terms. Coming second all the time, or third or fourth, qualifying for the CL all the time, whilst never actually challenging to win it or even progress to the later stages, stringing a cup run together. This is not the mark of a top team. This is the sign of a second tier team. That's what Wenger has built. A very profitable also-ran and that's totally unacceptable if you are genuinely in a sport to win. We aren't and it's because of him. Too many years have passed now to accept any more excuses made on his behalf. Maureen might be the biggest cunt in football, but when he called Wenger a specialist in failure he was absolutely correct. In a football sense he's the biggest loser in the game. Of course, financially speaking, he's a genius. No argument there. That's why the leeches clamp on and won't let go. Money, money, money.