Match Reaction v/s Hull

[BOBN]

The high tech, tippy-tappy thing may also have been a consequence of the (failed) youth policy the club (Wenger) adopted as an alternative to buying experience when the funds were tight. Younger players aren't as physical. So we've attempting to bring on a bunch of relatively cheap (but still overpaid) youngsters designed to keep the ball away from the opposition and pass them to death, but it didn't work. It's too easy for the brutal teams in the PL to compensate for their lack of footballing ability by kicking their opponents into orbit, part and parcel of the game over here. I wonder how Barca, even at their best, would have coped week-in, week-out in this league, especially if they had been tagged with a weakling, "don't like it up 'em", reputation that the refs were happy to go along with?

Now we're caught in the worst of all places, we can afford to bring the experience in but the whole philosophy is geared towards a system that's probably incompatible with the league we play in. It will take time to change it and realistically it will take another manager to do it. Wenger's not going to start from scratch at the tail end of his career, somebody else will have to do that. If only a face saving solution could be found that saw Wenger kicked upstairs and Bould brought in on a temporary basis to instil the basics of what it takes to win in the PL. Alexis, Ramsey, Jack, Welbeck, Ox, they may not be the biggest but they are tough enough for the league.

To think Wenger used to be slaughtered for his teams picking up too many red cards. Those were the days. More red cards is what we need, resulting from nastier bastards on the pitch. Like all the other teams in this league. Our players wouldn't get injured as much either, if the opposition knew they'd get a swift kick in the bollocks for trying to rough us up.

Middle of the road, slight, tika-taka player are cheap. Go to any Baltic state and you can find players like Rosicky, Hleb. Southampton went and got Tadic who tbf looks comfortably above average. Its like picking stawberries. Small guys who can pass and move are produced in every academy in the world, small guys with a little bit of talent have those little fast feet and just have to drill them to a system. Easy as shit.

What costs is getting technical players with physical gifts. Strong, athletic and/or quick guys who can play. Academies know these guys cant just be produced every 5 minutes and price them accordingly. Portuguese tika-taki young types? 3million a pop, take your pick. Christiano Ronaldo? 12million. Wenger baulked. This Carvalho boy? 20million+ Wenger out. But he'll get that Rabiot guy cos hes cheap, because hes slight and PSG know hes a dime-a-dozen.

Thats why I have no respect for our "technical" football. Anybody can put together 7-8-9 tika-taka types from around europe and have them play a technical game on a budget.

[AFC Leveller]

If you compare our results against the sides we've played this season and last, its clear we've gone backwards. We beat Hull at home, Spuds, Cardiff (Leicester this season) where as we drew all three this season. Thats 6 points dropped already.

[Dein-machine]

A skanky whore throwing shit from a gutter is hardly ground breaking. The fact Piers Morgan wanked over her should be enough to deter anyone with an ounce of self respect.

No at all - If I had a few minutes with Dot Cotton I'd be asking him far harder questions in relation to the fucked up decisions he now regularly makes. Good luck to her & hope that all journo's now ask him questions that he is uncomfortable with. £8 mill a year & you can't admit your mistakes - fucking embarrassment to the club now.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Only wenger would fail to sign a DM and centre back then come out with 'I don't know why we lacked defensive efficiency'

Top class WUM

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

No at all - If I had a few minutes with Dot Cotton I'd be asking him far harder questions in relation to the fucked up decisions he now regularly makes. Good luck to her & hope that all journo's now ask him questions that he is uncomfortable with. £8 mill a year & you can't admit your mistakes - fucking embarrassment to the club now.

What I love about this supposed "outrage" is that Jacqui Oatley doesn't believe Wenger was out of line, rude, patronising etc and doesn't understand why there's such a fuss. She just remarked that the l'ouisseau was a bit tetchy due to a poor result which is basically all it was.

[Power n Glory]

What I love about this supposed "outrage" is that Jacqui Oatley doesn't believe Wenger was out of line, rude, patronising etc and doesn't understand why there's such a fuss. She just remarked that the l'ouisseau was a bit tetchy due to a poor result which is basically all it was.

It comes with the territory in her line of work but she did say it’s the most ‘adversarial interview’ she’s done with Wenger and thought her questions were fair. IMO, Wenger reacted badly and it showed. That’s what the fuss is about. He’s usually cool in post-match interviews. Even after awful performances.

[AFC Leveller]

Only wenger would fail to sign a DM and centre back then come out with 'I don't know why we lacked defensive efficiency'

Top class WUM

True say.

[torontogooner]

No at all - If I had a few minutes with Dot Cotton I'd be asking him far harder questions in relation to the fucked up decisions he now regularly makes. Good luck to her & hope that all journo's now ask him questions that he is uncomfortable with. £8 mill a year & you can't admit your mistakes - fucking embarrassment to the club now.

[fakeyank]

Only wenger would fail to sign a DM and centre back then come out with 'I don't know why we lacked defensive efficiency'

Top class WUM

Wenger lives in a different world in his head!

[Fist of Lehmann]

Much as I agree with the need for a CB and the mythical, magical, rainbow unicorn DM, I think our problems are further reaching than that.

Fact is, we're inefficient all over the pitch, not just in defense. Teams genuinely challenging generally hit a rate of about 2 to 3 goals to 1. We're scoring and conceding goals at roughly 1:1, that's upper mid-table form. Keep this up, we're on course to finish ~6th-9th.

Lack of quality and numbers in the squad, injuries/suspensions, previously reliable players tired and off form, new players still struggling to find an understanding. All contributing factors in individual games. But the underlying theme has been largely the same all season, the change in system.

You can question the wisdom of making a fundamental style change directly after a truncated pre-season where the team came back in installments. But Wenfer seems convinced it can work, and it looks like he's willing to accept poor results while the team grapples with it. Those are the actions of a man who has tenure.

While he might not admit it publicly, it may be that he views this season as transitional, he may even forgo the scrum for 4th now the money is less critical in order to implement his glorious 3 year plan. Meanwhile we're likely to suffer a patchy season unless he has a change of heart or this 4-1-4-1 finally clicks. Chances are, it'll get worse before it gets better.