If they stayed....(Nasri & Fabregas)?

[IBK]

That's not the point, Coney

When you are offering a contract, as we did last Summer, you don't say 'we were only going to offer you 65K per week, based on your performances, but because you were injured, we'll offer you 75Kpw. You look at the whole package - including how the player played before and after injury.

If we are now excusing performances on the basis of injury, this is vindication of the arguent that prior to the first 4/5 months of last season, AFC had seen potential, no more from the player, and offered a new contract accordingly.

Nasri wasn't injured after February this year, to my knowledge(?), yet failed to distinguish himself when needed. And as I've said above, the fact that others were similarly underwhelming is also not the point.

[Fist of Lehmann]

Nonsense, if he only had 4 good months with us than he wouldnt have been offered an extension before last season.

How many good months had Diaby put in before his contract extention? Or Denilson? We extend contracts as a matter of course, to protect our assets and try and ensure a Flamini situation doesn't accrue.

He has been inconsistent at times but those having a dig about 4 months of playing well are only doing so because the player wants to leave the club to go elsewhere.

Not really. They're having a dig because he wants parity with our longest serving, most consistently productive, and best player and captain. Based on what? 3 years of 'inconsistency'.

Nasri wasnt the only one last season who went off the boil...Wilshere, Cesc, Song etc...all did. This is not an individual problem its a Managment issue. WEnger is a poor with player management. He cannot keep his players focused and he lets them get away with the same shite over and over again. But some fans are failing to acknowlege this and would rather point the finger at individual players rather than get to the real source of the problem.

Wenger couldn't raise the team, that's self evident. But are not players not at least in some part responsible for their own performance? If I make mistakes in my work or can't be bothered to do it, should my line manager get the sack while I demand a pay rise? Laying the entire blame on the manager is as much an attempt to shift responsibilty as blaming the players exclusively.

It's also notable that his man-management did not unduly hamper the team in the first 10 or so years of his tenure.

Nasri has even said himself that its about trophies, not money. Most of the BS being spouted is due to those people buying into the inaccurate media speculation. But again people want to have a go at him because he wants to leave to a club with greater sporting ambition.

Strange how the 'I want to leave to win things' only emerged a couple of months later immediately post the Twitter backlash. Damage limitation anyone? Nobody knows the weighting of his priorities, though money and trophies are both sure to figure (maybe London is too noisy?). But if people are having a go, it's because they don't necessarily believe the ambition thing when the first information to surface was about his wage demands.

Get rid of the manager and I truly believe you will see happier players, a change in effort and a change in the mental focus we need. Its all there to see cleary whats going on but I think some fans cannot come to terms that maybe Wenger (or the board) have failed in what they set out to do.

That depends on what they set out to do. If their intention was to keep the club in the upper tier in Europe while trying to build 3 multi-million pound developments, they've done okay so far. If they set out to win things as well then obviously they have failed.

Contrary to whatever conclusions you may have drawn, I am not in any apologist's camp, and there may or may not be merit in your penultimate sentence, but I doubt things are that clear cut.

[Power n Glory]

Nasri - I'd swap accolades for trophiesSamir Nasri would swap every individual accolade he has received this season to get his hands on the Premier League trophy.

The 23-year was runner-up behind Gareth Bale in the PFA Player of the Year poll, received a nomination for the young player award, was named in the Premier League Team of the Season, won French Player of the Year for 2010 and won the Arsenal.com Player of the Month three times in a row.

But despite scoring 15 goals and bewildering defenders in England and beyond, Nasri looks set to finish the campaign without the one thing he craves the most - a winner's medal.

It's a source of frustration for the French international and he reflected on how Arsenal's title challenge tailed off with dropped points against Liverpool, Tottenham and Bolton when he spoke to the Official Matchday Programme.

"I don’t care if I’m second or even the best player in the league, I would have preferred to win the Premier League," admitted Nasri.

"I have won nothing since I became a professional at Marseille - I have always lost in the final or finished second in the league.

“I think they were three good games [against Liverpool, Tottenham and Bolton] but of course at the end we were left really disappointed in all three. We were leading 1-0 until the 102nd minute against Liverpool; time should have been over.

"We were very frustrated but after that I thought we responded well in midweek against Tottenham, played very well, but once again we were leading 3-1 and ended up not winning the game. If you want to win the title it’s difficult to lose many points at the end of games, and that’s what happened at Bolton as well.”

Last week Johan Djourou pinpointed the Carling Cup Final defeat to Birmingham on February 27 as the moment Arsenal's season started to turn sour. Nasri agrees with his Swiss team-mate.

"Sometimes you can’t control everything that happens in a game," he said. "Sometimes you miss a chance and in the same minute the opponents can equalise. So it’s difficult but yes, everyone was really disappointed after the Carling Cup Final.

"We were thinking we could win our first cup for six years so it hurt us. We lost that game in a difficult way, then one week later when we were leading against Barcelona we had the incident with the referee and it was like two massive blows in a week.

"It was really difficult to come back from that, but we tried to do everything."

Worth checking out past quotes and articles if we're going to accuse players of being greedy. The agent may very well be playing the game, but I think it's different with Nasri. He may have woke up one morning and realised he just joined another Marseille.

[Champagne Charlie]

Worth checking out past quotes and articles if we're going to accuse players of being greedy. The agent may very well be playing the game, but I think it's different with Nasri. He may have woke up one morning and realised he just joined another Marseille.

It's all speculation as to why he's stalling on signing the contract, and it's pretty obvious that both money and ambition are going to be a factor. Which one is influencing him more is obviously up for debate, but personally if a player is stalling on a contract I tend to take whatever they have to say about it with a huge pinch of salt!

[fari]

Worth checking out past quotes and articles if we're going to accuse players of being greedy. The agent may very well be playing the game, but I think it's different with Nasri. He may have woke up one morning and realised he just joined another Marseille.

he may even have regretted leaving l 'om b/c even they manged to win the league last year

[Mr. Lahey]

Worth checking out past quotes and articles if we're going to accuse players of being greedy. The agent may very well be playing the game, but I think it's different with Nasri. He may have woke up one morning and realised he just joined another Marseille.

Thanks for posting this. And of course it will get ignored and written off as bollox by some on here. Im going to side with the actual quotes from the player himself rather than heresay by someone on this forum.

[dazthegooner]

Thanks for posting this. And of course it will get ignored and written off as bollox by some on here. Im going to side with the actual quotes from the player himself rather than heresay by someone on this forum.

[Boss]

Thanks for posting this. And of course it will get ignored and written off as bollox by some on here. Im going to side with the actual quotes from the player himself rather than heresay by someone on this forum.

[Mr. Lahey]

How many good months had Diaby put in before his contract extention? Or Denilson? We extend contracts as a matter of course, to protect our assets and try and ensure a Flamini situation doesn't accrue.

Not really. They're having a dig because he wants parity with our longest serving, most consistently productive, and best player and captain. Based on what? 3 years of 'inconsistency'.

Wenger couldn't raise the team, that's self evident. But are not players not at least in some part responsible for their own performance? If I make mistakes in my work or can't be bothered to do it, should my line manager get the sack while I demand a pay rise? Laying the entire blame on the manager is as much an attempt to shift responsibilty as blaming the players exclusively.

It's also notable that his man-management did not unduly hamper the team in the first 10 or so years of his tenure.


Strange how the 'I want to leave to win things' only emerged a couple of months later immediately post the Twitter backlash. Damage limitation anyone? Nobody knows the weighting of his priorities, though money and trophies are both sure to figure (maybe London is too noisy?). But if people are having a go, it's because they don't necessarily believe the ambition thing when the first information to surface was about his wage demands.

That depends on what they set out to do. If their intention was to keep the club in the upper tier in Europe while trying to build 3 multi-million pound developments, they've done okay so far. If they set out to win things as well then obviously they have failed.

Contrary to whatever conclusions you may have drawn, I am not in any apologist's camp, and there may or may not be merit in your penultimate sentence, but I doubt things are that clear cut.

I dont know what people are expecting from Nasri at this stage in his career. He's 24 and in has only played 3 years in the EPL. His first season with us he was solid. WIning player of the year on here and came 2nd on Arsenal.com. Dont think you can be so inconsistent if those were the results by fans and by the clubs official website.

2nd year he was inconistent, broke his leg at the begining of the season and was out for the first two months. Nasri has gone on record saying that it was difficult for him as he didnt get a chance to be in top shape for the season. Breaking your leg in football is always going to be difficult. Some players are never the same since such an injury.

3rd year, he started out brilliant. First half of the season he was on fire, showing that he was a top 5 player in the world. He carried this squad for the first half of the season. Second half he went off the boil, looked tired and stopped dribbling at defenders and having a go from outside the area. Sure the season was inconsistent but not looking at when the goals were scored, 16 goals is a bloody great return and we would be hard pressed to find someone to come in and replace those goals. If he hadnt scored those goals last year than we would have sank like a stone. Where was our so called best player amongst all of this last year may I add? Only player who was better than him in the 2nd half was RVP. Some are gonna argue Wilshere, but where was his output? No goals, no final ball from him in ages, overrated.

THen we get to the collapse in the second half...all players collapsed (aside from RVP). Sure the players need to be accountable for themselves but it is ultimatley up to the Manager to keep their focus, make sure they are prepared and make sure that they stay hungry. Wenger has failed at doing this with this team. The reason he was successful earlier in his career was because he had stong leaders in Adams, Vieira, Campbell etc...in the team. It is now that he has gone with youth predominatley that this side of him is becoming exposed.

I am convinced that under a coach like Ferguson or Mohomo, a coach that knows how to motivate and get the best out of thier players that a player like Nasri would have been more consistent. This along with what he has done and his potential to get even better are reasons why we should give him the money (but for me its not about money with him).

As for what the club were setting out to do, "World class team in a World class stadium" were the words from Wenger and the board. We certainly have set out what we wanted to do on the balance sheet but as far as footballing we are miles away with the current set up.

[Power n Glory]

Wenger is late. The slump swept through the whole team and not just Nasri. He couldn't motivate them to bounce back and he just watched as everything crumbled. It's his nature and character to try and stay calm, but it's not working. This slow nature of his is consistent.

- During a match when we need subs to change a game or a great half time team talk.
- After a set back and we need the team to respond to a loss.
- The transfer window. We need signings and he's idle. No action or response from the guy.

We can't have a coach trying to achieve 'Enlightenment' while shits falling down around him. He seems passive and his nature is not to panic and stay calm, don't let others effect your opinion....etc....but it's not helping us on this situation. It's why he comes across as stubborn and pig headed at times. A lot of fans have that perception so imagine the players close to him.

Forget the fans, Wenger has a serious task on his hands this season with his players. We were in a slump when the season ended and nobody knows for sure if it's over. The club is filled with uncertainty and we seem to be treading down the same path as we usual do which isn't reassuring to fans or players, so here we are. Weeks away from the season starting an we're still talking about this sort of shit. Good times.