I'm not talking about league position and the point is there in the second paragraph. If it goes over your head, I can't help you.Originally Posted by GB.
I'm not talking about league position and the point is there in the second paragraph. If it goes over your head, I can't help you.
Oh.
I wonder when they had better defences?
Or is your point about him being in Switzerland?
When we've played those teams, they've defended better than ours. They have half the budget that we have but can at least make themselves hard to beat. We used to struggle every season at Bolton and I swear this is the third season running where Fulham have outplayed us and stolen more points off us when they shoudln't. I keep hearing people taking about our budget as an excuse but we often get beaten by teams way down the table and struggle to break them down. It happens far too often. If those clubs can find and train decent defenders on a cheap then why can't we?
Talking of teams above us...Man Utd have a very young team and that was Fergie's worst teams to have won the title and it's not as if he hasn't had injury problems. It's the same for this season, but they're not struggling to qualify for the Champs League either. It's a very average looking Man U side and they should be there for the taking.
Tactically, Wenger is poor and that is what's letting us down. A good defensive coach could drill an average group of players to be very hard to break down and beat.
I'm not denying things are shit and I don't want change, but people need perspective. Everybody gets beaten by teams worse than them and/or with less resources. But every year over the course of a season, the better team finishes higher. And we have done so against all the teams you have listed by a considerable margin.
But that is all likely to change to some degree given the chronic lack of investment in the team and inability/unwillingness to make the best use of the playing resources we are seemingly stuck with. In fact, we are stuck with more than many appreciate because we aren't getting rid of the likes of Denilson and Bendtner until their contracts run out.
He is thick because he wont change his methods even though they have failed for 6 seasons running.
So one minute he is thick the next minute he can make six million somewhere else, how can a thick man do that. He is a stubborn man at most.
This is a difficult one to call but as time goes on, I do not doubt Wenger's intelligence but I also don't think his salary either proves he is above average in the IQ department.
But call them whar yiu will, question marks or cracks, there are signs that the make up of the guy's character are ihas serious flaws.
Wenger has done wonders for the club and could count himself lucky when ge walked through the door and already had the rock foundations of a defence he didnt need to touch. Some extremely, legend making pick ups, TH14, PV4 allowed the sky to become the limit.
I believe the first crack was the inability to achieve back to back leagues titles but that was easy to ignore because of other cup success however retirements, players moving on proved to be tge back breaker, the inability to replace those players and the insistence that youth was the answer, and that financial constraints were holding us back has created a manager who lacks the ability to motivate his team beyond dreams of mediocrity.
Factor in a board that lacks ambition, fails to give both public or private support, seems more ontrested in cashong in than bowing to the demands of an ambitious manager (which Wenger both isnt doing or show traits of being anymore) and you have a sorry affair.
Now as fans we now seem to find ourselves in the same posotion as in the summer, agast at Wengers lack of teaction to obvious problems, is a nrw manager the answer? Maybe. . .but will the board change? maybe not. . .I for one will not be overly sad to see Wenger stay but his staying and refusal to see things the way they are, his hiding behind excuses that frankly make little to no fucking sense. . .you know when he mentioned the now infamous 'waiting period' I actually waited ! ! ! and by all counts still am.
He can stay for me. . .but the feeling of deja vu has to go. . .but I feel holding my breath would futile
Getting beat by teams with less resources happens and I'm not trying to make out as if they have no right to beat us. That would be going off topic. It's a response to NQ's and Charlie's posts and how they keep raising the Board and transfer dealings as the main source of problem for everything football related.
Wenger goes out and buys playere in the summer that aren't Prem ready - but it's the Board's fault.
We can't defend and the team are mentally weak - it's the Board's fault.
This notion that the problems Wenger faces and the environment he works in is exclusive to Arsenal only is nonsense. Every club has restrictions to work with. It's not just us. A good coach should be able to get the best out of limited players and it doesn't cost a fortune to fix a defence. it takes good coaching and teaching discipline. We could spend millions on the worlds best defenders but if they don't get the correct coaching they will look below average. The arguments about the Board gets pulled out too muh by certain posters and they can't aknowledge the fact that we have a bad coach on our hands. Or his methods are outdated...however you want to spin it, Wenger isn't doing his part well.
He should have the skill to get the best out of his resources. Swansea spent less on transfers then all the teams in the Prem, but they play at a very high level and are tough to beat. That's a coach making the best of what he's got and pushing his coaching skills to the max. We're not doing that or making good use of the £30m - £60m we have to spend in transfer windows. If we were an old clapped out motor, Wenger would have just spent a huge chunk of our budget on spinning rims and windscreen wipers.
He's supposed to be a world class coach and he shouldn't be getting out thought by certain coaches. It can happen now and again, but he gets done over plenty of times. He should know tricks and tactics that these guys haven't even dreamed of. His experience in management should trump theres. We've all seen Top Gear with the reasonably priced car test right? If we had the equivalent in football, where would Wenger rank? We've seen it Top Gear where an F1 driver like Lewis Hamilton pulls in one of the fastest lap times but some other celebrity with the same car and conditions can't come anywhere near that time. If your top class you should be able to get the best out of whatever vehicle your pushing. Wenger seems to drive with the handbrake on - as he puts it. Our team looks average but the manner of our defeats and the mistakes are embarrassing.
Our Board sucks for not slapping Wenger over the head and telling him to sort his shit out, I can't blame them for the nonsense I see on the pitch. Bendtner playing as a right winger? Come on! Every coach has limits to deal with but certain things he should have dealt with by now. That's my view.
He is right though. Everything is the Board's fault.
He is either not adequately supported by them and/or he is no longer up to the job as fans see the job - you know - tactics and winning things whereas the Board seem to have different criteria. I think it is a combination of support and capability. In which case, Wenger needs to go.
edit: Oh, and I think he did fix the defence - anyone would struggle with that injury list.
I cant help myself nodding in agreement to a lot of that and at the same time repeating the same things I was saying in the summer.
Wenger has a lot to be held accountable for what goes on on the pitch. After a very rocky start we started to show signs of recovery, we went on a very decent run but even then after every win, the consensus was (and rightly so) that we by no means the finished article. . .and that Wenger shared the same sentiment and that he would use the run we were on plus January 's transfer window to catapult us further.
However injuries and signs that the sticker tape used to keep the wheels on were losing its grip, thus giving Wenger another excuse to bemoan and hide behind.
People are right when they question his inability to get the best out of our current squad especially when we get beaten by times whose superiority has been their heart and the way they apply it.
The business dealings of the club are down to the board as they control the purses, however a lot of their opinion of the state of the team has to come from the reasoning of the man managing the club.
But at the end of the day both parties are as blind, ignorant, head up their pompous arses as it each. . .how can Wenger not be banging the door down demanding money for better players when he sees the performances and how can the board be not contemplating the departure of this once great man when tbey see the performances.
Bring in another, maybe. . .but you would be wise to remember that the fix would not be immediate, . .Jose has had success and Sporting was a great achievement but Chelsea and Real throw money around like candy. . .bring in someone like Matinez and I am sure a lot on here will be looking to burn the place down too. . .nothing is a cert, remember that the few who will be putting their toys back in the the pram they threw them out of after Wenger is shown the door
Posting Permissions
