Has Wenger conceded the league - again?

[Xhaka Can’t]

Tbf, there have been precious few options for him to choose from.

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[IBK]

I hope that behind the scenes, this team has instilled belief that it can win the league. As fans, we're allowed to be pessimists. However, if our last home performance was anything to go by, it seriously makes me wonder about the mindset of these players and what they are being instructed to do.

There has been a marked improvement from last season. We're winning the games we're meant to win and keeping an impressive unbeaten home record since the opening day of the season.

I often wonder whether we've shot ourselves in the foot with regard to signing new players in January. On the other hand, I think we can freshen things up with the players we currently have at our disposal. Why not play Podolski as a lone striker up front? A forward who, I believe, had à more predatory and instinctive presence cf Giroud. If it is to be believed that Giroud needs only resting, then the next couple of games, important as they are, are the perfect opportunity. Midfield has been a problem getting steady, but we bemoaned one too many midfielders at the beginning of the season. Maybe I'm looking at this too simply but in spite of injuries to Ramsey and Walcott, should we not be able to rotate an effective, title-winning midfield using Ozil, Arteta, Flamini, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshere and Cazorla?

We have a big game against Liverpool tomorrow (a team that, while being six points behind us in the title race, now have shorter odds to win the trophy). While it isn't a league game, all performances count. This time last season, Wenger almost "threw" a game v Blackburn, knocking us out and having an inevitable detrimental effecit for the rest of the season. Win tomorrow, and it stands us in good stead for Bayern Munich and a couple of more straightforward league matches iin the next few weeks.

That says it all about our team i'm afraid. Its a long time since we have seen real conviction about our team. It would be great if we stood up tomorrow - but that has to be more hope than expectation...

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

We're only 3 points behind you, tbf.

[fakeyank]

[Bergkamplegend]

He's signed Ozil and got his new contract, now back to the penny pinching..

Would love to be proved wrong of course.

Same for me.
He ruined our title hopes by not buying this winter...

Except the great Kallstrom of course.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Kallstrom will create a maelstrom when he gets going.

[IBK]

The manager's great victory has been to establish as a truth the notion that what some call failure is actually a manifestation of success and that winning trophies is not the primary goal but rather a secondary aim, subservient to not over-spending and playing good football. There are plenty of dissenters to this view who see through the façade but not enough for them to ever oust Wenger from his imperious position.

From Football 365. Thoughts?

For me this is the paradox. Wenger can forever point to the fact that he is competing against overwhelming odds with the billionaires. The problem is that we naturally back him for this and look further than simply silverware.

[GP]

You just have to look at the magnificent stadium we play in and the world class training facilities to know that what Wenger has done has been a success. Just looking at the results without the context of the massive capital investment is incredibly short sighted.

Some say he can't compete at the top of the game any more, and there might be some truth to that, but no one else could have overseen the project that Wenger has and left is such incredibly healthy shape.

[IBK]

You just have to look at the magnificent stadium we play in and the world class training facilities to know that what Wenger has done has been a success. Just looking at the results without the context of the massive capital investment is incredibly short sighted.

Some say he can't compete at the top of the game any more, and there might be some truth to that, but no one else could have overseen the project that Wenger has and left is such incredibly healthy shape.

Undeniably. But is AW right to insist that such achievements validly counter straight statistical success? For me, this is the dichotomy with AW. Is football now at the stage that (because of financial doping) people should consider the context in which trophies are won?

[GP]

Of course. Where's the achievement in throwing unlimited funds at something? Even finishing 2nd this year will be an incredible achievement considering the opposition.