Match Reaction v Barca (home) 15/16

[Letters]

It was years ago but it illustrates the way these billionaire-fueled clubs have been operating.
And I don't disagree about mismanagement but over the last 2 years we've won the Cup, if we do push on and win the league this year - and we certainly have a chance to - then he can't be doing that bad a job.
If we don't then it will be because we don't have enough up front which Wenger is completely responsible for so I agree he should be sacked. Is it so unreasonable to wait and see what happens though? We're hardly 10 points off the top.

[Power n Glory]

I agree that the dopers have inflated the market but that doesn't mean we should just sit on our hands and not try and improve our team.

The dopers can only buy so many players, many very good players have moved clubs and are moving clubs well within our transfer budget, citing City as a factor to why we are not pragmatic in the market works perfectly as a distraction for us not to get involved. As PnG said on another thread Wenger is at it again talking about the Chinese market inflating prices, who cares?

Making a few great signings and not selling key players is the bare minimum requirement at a club of our stature, we should be aggressive in the market every single summer trying to sign the very best players available within our budget, isn't that why we moved to the Emirates?

P.S. I don't think Wenger should be sacked if we do win it but I would hope he would resign on a high if we do. I'm done with him TBH.

Exactly. In fact, Wenger can’t keep blaming outside forces for inflating the market. He needs to recognise that it’s not 1997 anymore. He now has a rep for buying cheap and selling high. Everyone knows the Prem is flushed with cash. Everyone knows the club is flushed with cash when we publish the profits and boast about self-sufficiency. Players like Walcott, Ox and Ramsey would have gone for peanuts if moving to another Championship club or one of the smaller Prem clubs. But because it’s us and because Wenger’s involved, they try to milk us. If this were 1997, these guys would go down as the Jermain Pennants of the squad. But since clubs have seen Wenger buy Anelka for £500k and then sell him for £23m, sign Overmars for £7m, Petit for £2.5m and then sell them both for £30m, yet still pick up replacements players like Henry for £10m and Pires for £6m….no way could that carry on. We’ve seen Dortmund and Atletico pick up some cheap gems over the past few years because they’re like what we were 20 years ago.

If you look Wenger’s transfers during the Highbury years, he’d sign a lot of duds and reserve players that were awful but they’d fly under the radar because they were cheap and we had a great first team. That’s not the case anymore and he hasn’t adjusted well. He’s not going to get lucky like that anymore. The risk and stakes are higher and he knows an expensive flop will put him under the radar.

[Power n Glory]

It was years ago but it illustrates the way these billionaire-fueled clubs have been operating.
And I don't disagree about mismanagement but over the last 2 years we've won the Cup, if we do push on and win the league this year - and we certainly have a chance to - then he can't be doing that bad a job.
If we don't then it will be because we don't have enough up front which Wenger is completely responsible for so I agree he should be sacked. Is it so unreasonable to wait and see what happens though? We're hardly 10 points off the top.

So why didn't anyone swoop in for Ozil, Sanchez, Cech? Even in the Suarez case when we wanted him, nobody swooped in to stump our offer and they could have.

[IBK]

I agree that the dopers have inflated the market but that doesn't mean we should just sit on our hands and not try and improve our team.

The dopers can only buy so many players, many very good players have moved clubs and are moving clubs well within our transfer budget, citing City as a factor to why we are not pragmatic in the market works perfectly as a distraction for us not to get involved. As PnG said on another thread Wenger is at it again talking about the Chinese market inflating prices, who cares?

Making a few great signings and not selling key players is the bare minimum requirement at a club of our stature, we should be aggressive in the market every single summer trying to sign the very best players available within our budget, isn't that why we moved to the Emirates?

P.S. I don't think Wenger should be sacked if we do win it but I would hope he would resign on a high if we do. I'm done with him TBH.

2 great posts. What this season has thrown into sharp relief is that its not all about the billions that a club has to spend. At least in the EPL. Sure, over a period, you can expect the big spenders to be there or thereabouts, but as we have seen, pure cashbook managing can fail too.


In any event, with Leicester; Watford; Stoke; Southampton; West Ham; Sp*rs etc we have seen that it is possible to buy quality players without spending 10's of millions.


As you say, a club with our resources; stature; location and history should be in a prime position to strengthen our sqaud season on season. In particular (and this is what frustrates me most), the stability we have enjoyed, and Wenger's longevity should mean that we have a settled, balanced team, with the manager being able to plan and cover properly for injuries/lean spells without too much disruption.


Instead, we seem to have anything but a settled, balanced team. I know that injuries have played their part, but in truth, this state of affairs is a permanent situation under Wenger - and I consider it to be negligent that we have been left short in absolutely key areas. If you look at the 'traditional' top 6 teams in this country our strike force quality; and back-up central MF is simply not what you would expect from a team of our stature.


I am really tiring of seemingly being part of Wenger's endless experiment. I believe that the manager has fallen short in the following key areas:


- Tactics/decision making. Wenger's laissez faire approach to most games requires players with the ability to read a game and make productive decisions themselves, yet we are clearly short of this type of player. Why does he not see this.


- Lack of pragmatism. IMO part of his refusal to strengthen in key areas is because of his loyalty to his injury crocks. But while we wait constantly for injured players to return, we drop points. This is something that happens every season without fail. Persisting with injury prone players may be 'loyal' but it is not something that managers focussed totally on the main prize would do. To make matters worse, his persistence with underperforming players is bizzare. Take Elneny for example. Purchased to deal with our issues in CM, and hasn't done a lot wrong when we have seen him play, yet rather than give him game time, Wenger basically waited for Coq to come back from injury; and even seems to prefer to play Flamini (who was only ever emergency back up, and has been a liability on many occasions). Similarly he has persisted in playing Ramsey in MF; and seems not to have noticed/tried to find an alternative to a worryingly erratic Alexis recently.


Transfers - I know that the club seems to have acknowledged that our scouting system has been below par, but Wenger's approach to transfers has been bizzare. He has swung from filling his basket with unknown prospects to making single 'marquee' signings, without seemingly improving the overall competitiveness of the team. Whether this is because he is too stretched, or is again the result of Wenger placing his own experimentation over the team's prospects of success is a moot point.

[selassie]

It was years ago but it illustrates the way these billionaire-fueled clubs have been operating.
And I don't disagree about mismanagement but over the last 2 years we've won the Cup, if we do push on and win the league this year - and we certainly have a chance to - then he can't be doing that bad a job.
If we don't then it will be because we don't have enough up front which Wenger is completely responsible for so I agree he should be sacked. Is it so unreasonable to wait and see what happens though? We're hardly 10 points off the top.

It has nothing to do with Wenger and his recruitment policy.

Well I want him gone regardless, if he wins he goes out on a high.

[selassie]

2 great posts. What this season has thrown into sharp relief is that its not all about the billions that a club has to spend. At least in the EPL. Sure, over a period, you can expect the big spenders to be there or thereabouts, but as we have seen, pure cashbook managing can fail too.


In any event, with Leicester; Watford; Stoke; Southampton; West Ham; Sp*rs etc we have seen that it is possible to buy quality players without spending 10's of millions.


As you say, a club with our resources; stature; location and history should be in a prime position to strengthen our sqaud season on season. In particular (and this is what frustrates me most), the stability we have enjoyed, and Wenger's longevity should mean that we have a settled, balanced team, with the manager being able to plan and cover properly for injuries/lean spells without too much disruption.


Instead, we seem to have anything but a settled, balanced team. I know that injuries have played their part, but in truth, this state of affairs is a permanent situation under Wenger - and I consider it to be negligent that we have been left short in absolutely key areas. If you look at the 'traditional' top 6 teams in this country our strike force quality; and back-up central MF is simply not what you would expect from a team of our stature.


I am really tiring of seemingly being part of Wenger's endless experiment. I believe that the manager has fallen short in the following key areas:


- Tactics/decision making. Wenger's laissez faire approach to most games requires players with the ability to read a game and make productive decisions themselves, yet we are clearly short of this type of player. Why does he not see this.


- Lack of pragmatism. IMO part of his refusal to strengthen in key areas is because of his loyalty to his injury crocks. But while we wait constantly for injured players to return, we drop points. This is something that happens every season without fail. Persisting with injury prone players may be 'loyal' but it is not something that managers focussed totally on the main prize would do. To make matters worse, his persistence with underperforming players is bizzare. Take Elneny for example. Purchased to deal with our issues in CM, and hasn't done a lot wrong when we have seen him play, yet rather than give him game time, Wenger basically waited for Coq to come back from injury; and even seems to prefer to play Flamini (who was only ever emergency back up, and has been a liability on many occasions). Similarly he has persisted in playing Ramsey in MF; and seems not to have noticed/tried to find an alternative to a worryingly erratic Alexis recently.


Transfers - I know that the club seems to have acknowledged that our scouting system has been below par, but Wenger's approach to transfers has been bizzare. He has swung from filling his basket with unknown prospects to making single 'marquee' signings, without seemingly improving the overall competitiveness of the team. Whether this is because he is too stretched, or is again the result of Wenger placing his own experimentation over the team's prospects of success is a moot point.

totally agree.

[selassie]

Exactly. In fact, Wenger can’t keep blaming outside forces for inflating the market. He needs to recognise that it’s not 1997 anymore. He now has a rep for buying cheap and selling high. Everyone knows the Prem is flushed with cash. Everyone knows the club is flushed with cash when we publish the profits and boast about self-sufficiency. Players like Walcott, Ox and Ramsey would have gone for peanuts if moving to another Championship club or one of the smaller Prem clubs. But because it’s us and because Wenger’s involved, they try to milk us. If this were 1997, these guys would go down as the Jermain Pennants of the squad. But since clubs have seen Wenger buy Anelka for £500k and then sell him for £23m, sign Overmars for £7m, Petit for £2.5m and then sell them both for £30m, yet still pick up replacements players like Henry for £10m and Pires for £6m….no way could that carry on. We’ve seen Dortmund and Atletico pick up some cheap gems over the past few years because they’re like what we were 20 years ago.

If you look Wenger’s transfers during the Highbury years, he’d sign a lot of duds and reserve players that were awful but they’d fly under the radar because they were cheap and we had a great first team. That’s not the case anymore and he hasn’t adjusted well. He’s not going to get lucky like that anymore. The risk and stakes are higher and he knows an expensive flop will put him under the radar.

Yep, totally agree. I'd even go a step further and say that if Wenger isn't prepared to adjust the current team tactically to play to the strengths of the likes of some of the players then he should bite the bullet and buy a team that can play exactly the way he wants them to play.