Gooners: Are We Surprised?
Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat of Arsenal was a perfect display in efficient, composed football by the hosts. This was a seemingly deja vu contest of watching the Arsenal Reds held at bay by the Chelsea Blues. The fact that many Arsenal supporters seem to lack too much surprise at the result is a testament to what we’ve been conditioned to accept by Arsene Wenger and the Club as a whole.
This opinion piece will no doubt be seen as a knee-jerk reaction to another Chelsea loss, but the facts are clear for all to see, and they are that this Arsenal team perennially fail to beat the so-called big boys. When was the last top four team in the Premier League to have been convincingly taken to the sword, and beaten, by the Arsenal in the past 5 years? Our expectations have seemingly gone from an outrage at a loss, to simple acceptance of a hard-fought game. Is this the ambition of a team that used to dominate England with pace, power, and confidence. Gone are the days where a rearguard action saved the day, when truly world-class players at the top of their respective games terrorised defenses. Instead, we’ve been left to witness up-and-coming ‘starlets’ stumble season upon season without a trophy yield. This game was a masterclass of experience over a blind passing game with no end-product. Of course, Arsenal were not without their chances, but that is a recurring theme. Chelsea never looked bothered or uncertain, the goals were a matter of time in the minds of both the home and away support. Is this what we’ve come to be happy with?
There most definitely is more than one problem with this Arsenal team, but lack of a true winning mentality is perhaps the most glaring. Pundits proclaim that this Arsenal team can no longer be accused to lacking experience, but what have they experienced? Van Persie and Cesc aside, no one in this team has ever won a trophy with Arsenal. Every player is well-versed in the art of underachieving and leaving supporters feeling short-changed. But where is the blame to lie?
It is easiest and perhaps most convenient to primarily blame Arsene Wenger, but this approach has its merit. The systematic clearing out conducted post-Invicibles has left the Club as a whole without players from whom to pass a winning tradition. One only has to look at how a weakened Manchester United team can nevertheless compete due to the absolute demand put upon winning by veteran players such as Giggs, Scholes, Ferdinand, et cetera. Where are those players for the Arsenal? Cesc had his Vieira, but only for awhile. Now, at 23, he’s expected to be some sort of all-knowing on-and-off-the-field messiah, but where else in the upper echelon of world football is this kind of expectation found? A player of similar age and talent, Lionel Messi, has no such responsibility and can thus focus more on playing. Yet when Cesc was making noises about leaving this summer, some supporters were labeling him a traitor and questioning his loyalty, but he’s seen first-hand the effects caused by the departure of so many experienced players. When he leaves, who will be Ramsey’s and Wilshere’s Vieira? Who is there to keep Bendtner in line and tell him how much work it takes to achieve his lofty ambitions? We, as a Club, have a 20 year-old keeper demanding he march straight into the first-team. Can the same thing be seen at clubs like Milan, Real Madrid, or Bayern Munich? Surely, Wenger has done well to raise the profile of the Club, yet he has made many mistakes he simply will not atone for. One needs only to look at the failure to re-sign Sol Campbell this summer as testament to the fact that Wenger has a perverted totalist approach to his youth policy, and simply will not budge from it. Is this what we are happy with as supporters? Does anyone have a true expectation that the current set-up of players will ever make it?
This is not a “Wenger Out Now” type of article, merely a retort for Arsenal fans to ask themselves: exactly when will we, as a whole, agree that a major change in club strategy be the only way out of this cycle of failure?
but you are right, wenger out!!!
Wenger should have gone last season but the board will never fire him,he makes them incredible sums of money.
We created good chances and didn’t take them. So Chelsea defended better than we did. Not the end of the world, is it?
But no, there are dicks that want the manager out.
Fuck off and support ‘Arry the twitcher you brain dead moron.
no: groundhog day; groundhog season. i keep saying it hoping something will change but it never will with wenger.
there will be no change , until wenger leaves
surely chris samba can do better then the clowns we have
I think it’s fair to say that Wenger has lost his way somewhat over the last few years. 10 years ago this conversation would have been impossible but look how far he has fallen.
I don’t blame the board, but I do blame Wenger. I’ll be a happy man when he goes and a new manager with some ambition is hired as his replacement.
@ Danish Gooner so “we” the fans have to show the board this enough!! Wenger and board needs to go. At least Mr. fukking PHW!!!
“Fuck off and support ‘Arry the twitcher you brain dead moron”
More intelligent debate from the AKB brigade.
Arsenal fan not Arsene fan.
“Pundits proclaim that this Arsenal team can no longer be accused to lacking experience, but what have they experienced? Van Persie and Cesc aside, no one in this team has ever won a trophy with Arsenal”.
That is true, but they should be the first out the door. They never play for afc, yet they make 90 k a week. Sell them and buy some experince from elswere, cesc is already gone and that is just as well, we do not need him, we lose to chelsea with or without him anyway. buy some big strong bone crusher intead.
you are the biggest kunt Harry Barracuda. Admit it, Wenger lost it. A GK and DM was badly needed and Song costed us today. So you should go and support the spuds AKB idiot!!
This article sums up clearly the state of Arsenal FC. Low expectation to winning. 4th place good enough. After all, we are making money -for the Board. What continue to surprise me is how contented the fans have become. The team is unrecognisable compared to 6 years ago.
Lets face it – Arsenal are just not good enough! They won’t even qualify for the Champions League this season – let alone ,make any sort of impression in the BPL. What excuse does Wenger have for a draw against Sunderland and a loss to WBA?? We lost 4 points in those games because of goalkeeping errors and a lack of effort. Wenger could have afforded to buy some real quality before the season – but was too stubborn to listen to the cries of fans all over the world. The question arises if we fans could be better managers than this frog! I reckon I could. Its not rocket science – just common footballing sense. For the amount of money they get paid – they are overrated. I would do the job for half Wenger’s pay – and I would guarantee wins against the likes of Sunderland and WBA. No pay if I don’t perform. I think all managers should be made to forfeit their wage for that week if they fail to win or at least draw their games.
You are right we have been conditioned over the years by Wenger’s drivel about some “work in progress” shit to accept inexcusable draws and losses. And Danish Gooner is also right when he says the Board of Directors at Arsenal are too busy laughing all the way to the bank to bother with the results! I therefore propose that Gunners fans all over the world get together and buy the club. Football clubs ought to be owned by the fans – not businessmen. Football is about passion. That is not to say that clubs ought to go the way of Man City – thats just stupid. But football cannot be just about enriching the owners of the club. So, will someone please start the campaign for Arsenal FC to be bought by a trust set up for Arsenal fans all over the world that the fans can contribute to …. ??
Imo the main reason we’re not doing that good against the “big boys” is the fact that our injury department is always filled with our best players… imagine if we could have all of them available, I for one consider it as a big loss for us not to have players like RVP, Vermaelen, Fabregas in these big games…
Agree with this 100%. We will never win anything while we have some of those players playing today. I’ve been banging on for ages change is need. Maybe now our season is over…. Again that some more fans will start to realise we ain’t as good as we think we are
@Harry Barracuda:
Yeah, I’m a brain dead moron that that wants Wenger out. But not based just on today’s performance but several years worth.
I would say that you are the brain dead moron, why don’t you open your eyes and take a good hard look a the team? We are not good enough to win anything and won’t win jack as long as Wenger is more concerned with money than trophies.
As for fucking off to support ‘arry’, well at least they have some ambition. So instead of telling REAL Arsenal fans who care a great deal about the club and think that football is about winning, not money, why don’t you fuck off and support West Ham, they don’t have any ambition so I’m sure they’ll meet your needs.
Marouane Chamakh is a flop he doesnt show up when it count’s yet he’ll get to start all season yet the number’s dont look good for him..
I’m really really frustrated to see an under-strength Arsenal play a full strength top-4 team almost all the time for the last 3-4 seasons. Its kind of becoming a habit to see some of our most important first team players picking up injuries just before big games like this and completely handicapping us. I’m so frustrated now that i’m not even thinking straight, at this point of time I can’t help but consider the fact that our more-influential players sort of chicken out during big games like this.
Deep down i know this is wrong, but i just have to get it out of my chest.
AW should go to manchester city and make money for them. With their collossal losses, they need him more. Let somebody else get the trophies for us.
Nothing unexpected at all about today’s performance or the result. Groundhog Season – Year 6. All aboard the yawnathon for the procession towards 4th place, or maybe 3rd if Man U can’t pick themselves up. We are now just like the self-delusional “attractive” Spurs sides of the 80s and early 90s – that we so enjoyed mocking. It’s becoming so boring now that I don’t know if I care any more…and it’s taken me nearly 40 years to feel that way. Wholesale changes at this club are necessary, but won’t happen as long as the elderly bank manager on the touchline keeps the directors, coffers full.
Our player is too soft.
This is not sour grapes but if van persie was here….. Lethal. Van persie is a very aggresive forward and thats whats missing in arsnal, arshavin was key today, i really liked he’s play and he’s not afraid to shoot. Cech brilliantly saved most of the shots. Without fabregas Arsenal overplay, too many fancy touches, it irritates me that only arshavin seems to have that killer edge. I’m slowly getting fed up of supporting arsenal, i will always support them but in my heart i know that we won’t win anything without a consistently healthy lethal striker. WE need a bit of individuality, a player who doesn’t just blend into the arsenal pass and move system. A player who can step up and do his own thing. Sometimes i thing arsenal’s system seems to kill individual talent. Thus this is why van persie arshavin and fabregas are the most important players for arsenal. They are different, players that play the arsenal way but impose their own game in matches
It’s painful but life’s tough and arsenal isn’t
Conclusion: 1, We have a medical team no better than my youngest brother playin doctor, 2, we are light weight in terms of individual threat and 3 i have unfortunately given up any hope of winning anything this year. I love arsenal to bits and i’ll keep supporting but i’ll watch the invincibles on youtube. Mark my words, we will win nothing this year, it’s not out of spite but reality hits home in matches like this, even arsene wenger looked absolutely crest fallen.
Carry on gooners but our kind of football isn’t made to be champions.
There are 31 games left if we minus 12 points from those games since we will have another loss to chelsea 2 to manU and 1 away at mancity we will be working to achieve 81 points n we shud try to achieve maximum pts and by the way we had early injuries so when the goin gets tough we will have a full squad the problem with that is that Wegner wont sign anyone. Lets get real and know dat next week is another loss to mancity then life would be what we expected.
As predicted, but the game was really surprising me cause arsenal were playing so well actually. Draw should be fair result but quite happy with that performance though as long as we can get the consistency in the next next next games. Chamakh should improve his killing ability and should try to be more drogba who use his chances no matter how small that chance is. All arsenal players today deserve an applause from the gooners.
Hope arsenal can win all the next games in a row and chelsea will get lose from any teams (who cares whose going to beat chelsea). Cheers..
BIG L spot on!!
@stevus:
Mate I know exactly how you feel. I have gone from a huge Arsenal fan that lapped up everything Wenger said, I lived and breathed Arsenal even while I was asleep. Now, watching Arsenal makes me more angry than it does bring me joy. I can’t even watch an interview with Wenger any more because he makes my blood boil listening to his lame repetitive excuses.
Well written article by the author, and certainly not lacking in emotion after watching the match..it certainly felt like deja vu to me watching this match, versus the same fixture last year…What I will not agree with , is that we have the wrong strategy, we certainly do have the right strategy, and what I still feel is the only sustainable strategy…What I would ask of Arsene though, is to get it up the arses of persons playing on the field, who are not doing the dirty work, football needs some other things apart from the pretty football…Foul some people and let them know you are there, too many stand and watch.. All in all we had two sitter, one for konsciency and one from chamakh…We are not taking our chances, and what we lack is a real striker, a fox in the box, an eduardo before the injury…Chamak is a good striker, but is still in the ball palying mould desired by Arsene.. We need to convert our chances, and force teams on the back foot.Had we scord in the third minute from an absolute sitter, it would have been a different game.There are improvements , I agree, but I have seen too many high priced, name brand footballers come into clubs with their prima donna attitudes,a nd make no impression, in fact, just make matters worse,a nd the real good name brand footballers we cannot afford, so I have to hope they turn the cornber, I have to hope that when the injured ones return we will gain momentum, but I demand that we beat this chjelsea team at the emirates, and polay with passions and verve, piucking up enough yellow cards to earns a fine, but that we win and show me that we can, cuz I still believe we can…
Vive La Arsenal..Joga Bonita..
you lot really don’t get how fucked we’d be if wenger left.
Wengker already sees the positives and is happy with the players. FFS Song and some others arent good enough, fact!!! Song– 1 season wonder thats it!!!
*sound of babies crying*
The players lack confidence, it’s as simple as that. They clearly don’t trust Fabianski, RVP and Cesc are the true team leaders and they’re missing.
Wenger can only do so much – he can’t buy confidence. Drogba wasn’t always the machine he is today, he had to build his confidence. Same story with Henry.
I agree the invincibles selloff probably robbed the youngsters of role models who understand how to win – but we’re better than we were last season. We can grind out wins and we can finesse wins.
Chelsea is in their ROARING PRIME – they are meant to win everything for this and probably a couple more seasons. They are the best team in football, period. If the squad can stay more or less coherent over the next 4-5 seasons we will see Fabregas++ leading an insanely talented and CONFIDENT squad.
And guess what? We’re not going broke like EVERY OTHER TEAM in football.
Imagine if we were liverpool supporters? F!ck me…
Wengker is just a fukking big lier!!! He would be better suited to politics!!!
Yes Wenger must go – somehow we have to get that message across to the Board. But the Board love this guy – he is making pots of money for them. He has lost it – the man has ZERO ambition. He knows that his managing career is in its twilight years. He is going to retire soon. So its no longer about winning for him. Its all about money – the more money he makes for the owners of the club – the more money he will make.
The question is can we – the fans – make enough of a racket to get him out by next season??
THIS ARSENAL TEAM IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN THE LEAGUE AND CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.
THE QUESTIONS IS WHY: wenger has lost his way.he will never change,instead next week ,we will hear they have signed a 17 yr old from …..
:injury to our best players always seems to work …then they come back and go and play for their countries,then come back to arsenal injured ,until the end of season.
:another issue is our best players with no’s
4..compare cesc to veira
8..compare ljungberg to nasri
7..compare pires to rosicky
10..compare v.persie(since he has been at arsenal he has never finished a season on his feet) to bergkamp
1..compare almunia to lehman or seaman
14..compare henry to walcot
3.ashley cole to clichy
15..denilson..RAY PARLOUR
23..sol campbell to arshavin
2..laurent to diaby
EDU,KANU,WILTORD,
am upset ,not cos we lost cos WENGER ALWAYS MAKES THE SAME EXCUSE OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
:the formation in which we play now has changed compared to then,but the real deal is for our new formation to work ,we need imposing players who will do whatever is necessary to win a game.
THE DAY VEIRA STEPPED UP TO ROY KEANE,WAS THE DAY YOU KNEW THINGS HAD CHANGED BUT NOW WE ARE BACK IN THE MIX.
WE PLAYED AND DOMINATED THE GAME BUT DID NOT WIN,WHEN ARE WE EVER GOING TO DOMINATE A GAME AND FINSH THE GAME OFF agaist the big teams.
the AKB`s will say the same shit again. Like they waited already for more then 10 years for trophies and then Wenger came in. Wenger needed to go few years ago, but wait he got a payrise from the board. No ambition in this club!! Just developing young talent to sell to high prices. We are the Ajax with massive profits!! Time for a revolte!!!
While I don’t always agree with Arsene’s approach I’d love to know who would replace him. Have you seen Liveprool lately since everyone called for Rafa’s head? Woy is setting the EPL on fire isn’t he? Simply put there’s no good managers out there to be gotten – if there was Liverpool wouldn’t be sitting somewhere around the bottom of the table. I have no problems saying that Wenger needs to ask himself some questions but at this point in time he’s the best that we can get because any manager available now will either be extremely mediocre or unable to build a team around the limited resources.
If Van P has another injury hit season then I think he should be sold and replaced, spends more time on the table than on the pitch.
Does anyone agree ? I know hes top class but he never stays fit for any period of time.
@ wankerwenger. But they only making money cause we supporting them and buying merchandise!! I dont say we should stop supporting arsenal which I will never do but we need to show them ( the board ) we arent satisfied with just top 4 each year and I can see us getting out of the top 4 if we dont invest heavy in jan.
Look I know we are all pissed about todays results, but each and everyone of you are missing the point that we are ALL Arsenal fans and we ALL love this club!! Now that thats been said I agree that this team will not win dickall, and injured players cost us points… I know this sounds over done and all but all we can really do is support what we have until things change..
@ WC Moyes or Blanc for example. Someone with real hunger to win something!! Guardiola tough would be awesome imo.
@Rock:
you lot really don’t get how fucked we’d be if wenger left.
WHY? What is going to happen when Wenger leaves us?
We are probably the only club to do so well without key players. I think if we had van persie, fabregas and vermaelan we may have won it today. I think we’ll win the carling cup because we have enough to topple man utd imo.
@ Ooosh I would have sold him in last year already. He cant finish 30 games a season. Aguero or Dzeko for me!!! I would even love Forlan in my team!! 15-20 mill for the world cup best player is a bargain!!
yeah Rock defend the wanker!!!
The big question is when can Arsene Wenger raise a team that can beat the likes of Chelsea, ManU, Real, Barca and the list goes on. Watching them against Chelsea left me so pieced off. They ran like Mules but turned like Elephants. I seriously have my doubts that Arsene still has what it takes to win big games.
Did you see Song moved his body away from Alex’s freekick for the 2nd goal? Why was he so high up with the attack in the 1st half? Arsenal players too light weight compared to Chelsea’s.
It’s ok though. Cos come the end of the season when we have no trophys we can get all the team together on an open top bus and parade a large charity style cheque with £56 million emblazoned on it. Wenger pisses me off at the moment. I have tickets for the Birmingham game and it’s a good 5 hours from where I live. I hope it’s not a wasted journey. I have little or no faith in this team at the moment. Too many passengers. Only Nasri and wilshere and showing any fight. Same old problems not addressed by a short sighted bank manager masquerading as a football manager. We are toothless and something has to change, and fast. I think the deluded gooners who think you will have something to celebrate at the end of the season other than more money in the bank need to wake up.
We need Jose Murhinio – someone who has pride in his work – hunger to win. Not a Board of Directors balls carrier.
Rock, if wenger leaves, the club will not close down. Just get another coach. There are some very good ones out there. Well, since you love wenger, we can still keep him as accounts manager.
no bad choice wankerwenger. But our fluid game will be gone, too. But playing nice and winning nothing is more shit so get him in and give RM WEnkger!!
we simply cannot go on like this. my god man utd have got debts of around 700 million and still compete year after year. We have got debts of around 250 million and we don,t invest in experienced players. we are arsenal, the real pride of london, with 13 leagues (chelsea are not even near us in this stat)won. WENGER NEEDS TO INVEST IN A COUPLE OF EXPERIENCED PLAYERS, otherwise i am seriously doubting if we are going to make it to the champion’s league neext season. despite a better performance today we are now 7 points behind chelsea and that is already alot.
@arsenal4ever Totally agree, its not good enough. Big decisions need to be made about him and Walcott, hopefully Ill be proved wrong. Money needs to be spent just so we can stay at the same level or we’ll fall behind. I dont think this team is good enough, 2 defeats on the bounce, City next and though im sure Arsenal would be in a much better position if everyone one was fit; is that ever going to happen ? Dont think so.
exactly SG. Time is up for him so we need new fresh blood!!!
Okey, we used to beat chelskis for fun…when we had TH4, PV AND ALSO Adams & COMPANY…until wenger decided that his youth project should be allowed to mature… or get stunted. Well…
I do envy managers who like direct football. Unfortunately ours doesnt. We are like women spending all time doin make ups whilst the others are men, doing business!
I KNOW THAT WE CANT BEAT CHELSEA JUST COMPARE OUR MIDFIELD TO CHELSEA, HUH ESSIEN HMM BEST MIDFIELDER IN THE WORLD WE NEED TO HAVE HIM IN OUR MIDFIELD FOR US TO WIN A TROPHY
Yup .. you are right .. agree 100% with this article .. the main problem are wenger is so stubborn or stingy and the boards only thinking about money .. they dun give a damn about winning the league or trophies .. they just think how to gain as much profit as they can ..simple as that ..
Wenger had the chance and time to buy a new experience goalkeeper and defenders ..but he chose otherwise ..
@arsenal4ever: forget it mate. We have been talking about investing in new players for long and they just won’t come.WENGER IS SO STUBBORN
its the most frustrating thing to see our team like this…ive always been a big big big supporter of arsene but i really feel now that he has lost the plot..we fans havebeen misguided…maybe nxt week or so we may score six or seven past some lower team n all the fans may start singing praises of arsene..but wat v tend to forget is that to win the league matches like the one against chelsea and man utd r the ones thats gonna make the difference in the end..n we’ve always lost wen it comes to these teams(of late)..m feeling very depressed..GOD SAVE ARSENAL..feels like m in a sinking ship….
Only when wenger does leave will you retards realist what he’s done for our club.yes we do need a new keeper,hard centre back and strong midfielder and a proper medical team?!?!?but for fucks sake,look at who we’ve been competing with the past decade?we’ve pushed well Above our weight and that’s down to wenger,pat rice and the clubs coaches.I don’t blame him for not spending shitloads.our time will come but I feel we’ll have to wait at least another two years unfortunately.
@ Ooosh. Dont think Theo needs to go. He will get over it but RVP wont stay injury free for 1 fukking season. Anyway big decissions needs to be made soon!!
@ maltese gooner yeah but therefore Wenger needs to see the anger of the fans and he should retire for his own. If he stays a lot longer he wont be remembered as the big manager he was.
Pete, that’s real funny!!
@arsenal4ever you never praise the team when they do well. The only time I see you on here is transfer time and to say wenger out when we lose. Why don’t you go fuck off
If Walcott can stay fit and perform like he did at the start of the season then he’ll be fine. Van P should be sold and the medical staff need to be thrown in the thames and replaced. You cant put that all down to being unlucky. Unless The Emirates is built on a burial ground.
omg Impossible: Are we already at this stage to be satisfied with Carling cup? I am not!!! I want big trophies like the cahmp. league or EPL title. Wenger wont bring us any, mark my words!!!
lots of doom and gloom as usual, we bossed possession and the centre backs were decent unlike toure and cygan in days gone by. And if walcott and van persie started in a front 3 we would have got a result today.
Lets just start winning matches and see where we are in febuary/march
cause John R I dont want to talk to idiots like you. I am more on Le-grove who doesnt defend WEnger all the time and care about the team. I am Arsenal fan not Arsene Fan.
@arsenal4ever le grove is a shit blog that blasts the whole team. You just a little crybaby bitch
We should be beating all the teams funded by oil tycoons in their own back yards, in fact, we should be winning every game we play because Arsenal have a God given right to win everything, yet we only make top 4 every season??? Wenger out!!!
@john jenson, Man City powered by Toure have conceded 3 (three) goals in the league in seven games.
i now agree with a certain columnist who a few days before the match said chelsea was far too much and too strong for arsenal,I am afraid we are in free fall,and as usual by december,our season will be rapped up.We simply are not competitive
I definitely aren’t surprised with the results of the game today. But i think we played well but still lacking that cutting edge. Which i feel is discipline and strength. Our players just keep on passing and passing and passing until they end nowhere. In games like this where there is too much pressure we shouldn’t expect to be clinical all the time in the way that we score. Its a game whereby even your stomach can score. This where i miss Gallas coz he was really a fighter for us. He would do anything with his body just to score. Koscielny whatever, hez still a couple tof miles to being best and Squilach well what can a say hez an average player as usual.
Chamakh is still adapting to derby games cant blame him that much, Arshavin is trying but not good enough.
What more can i say, blah blah blah blah………
I support Wenger also, days like this are a bit hard to swallow though. A result against City will see sort us out. I think we can finish above Utd but not Chelsea, 2nd place is the best we can do. Keeper in Jan ? Hopefully.
@PATRICK: RIGHT MATE. SOME ARE SAYING WE HAVE A CHANCE FOR THE CARLING CUP. THEY FORGOT THAT IN THE NEXT ROUND WE PLAY AWAY TO NEWCASTLE. WITH THE CL COMMITMENTS I THINK THAT WE WILL BE OUT. MARK MY WORDS
For me there are two reasons why we will not challenge the big boys or for the title. The first is our style of play, when we were winning stuff we were a potent counter attacking team, now we’re an all out attack team which explains why we’re always caught on the counter and why we’re concede so many goals. Wenger seems intent of following the Barca pass and move blue print, but that works well in la liga because of the different dynamics of that league, for one the game is not as fast or intense as the EPL, then theres also the physicality aspect that is missing over there, but as we have proven over the years that approach does not work in the EPL, further proof is Barca’s struggle to beat English teams in the Champions League. Until we move back to the successful blue print of the late 90’s and early 00’s then we won’t win a thing
Secondly, I just that the players path into the first team has been too easy, so there seems to be this culture of entitlement. There’s no fight in this team, it was evident against West Brom and at the tail end of last season. There is no desire to be the best, most seem content with their lot, they know that no matter what happens this week their place in th team is assured next week. It’s a bit like spoilt rich kid who can do what he wants when he wants beacause daddy’s got money. If they had to fight for their place things would perhaps be different.
Cade Roberts, i salute you !
Arsenal FC is the new type of gaining some money for the investor, you see what happend with Manchester and Liverpool, they are almost broke, because of all the investor sucking the money, and as you can see,arsenal have a lot of money from the ticket,transfer, and where is the money now to buy some fresh player?? We know that the club still bond with the debt, but, hei it’s already 4 years since we move to emirates stadium? My opinion that, wenger’s youth project, only to save the money, and he don’t want to waste the money for a great player to win some trophy,the investor don’t want a trophy, they want some money..so this is. The new type of football industry that the investor, have a great power than the chairman, I believe the club have a money to buy some great player/world class, but ht question where is the money? For the investor?? Think!!
@ Scott i agree
to all those idiots who say where are the decent managers out there – where the fuck did chelsea get mourinho, hiddinck & ancelloti from – mars??!!& this injury excuse wears a bit thin after 6 years – change is needed – now
im wenger as stupidman and selfish person. let him buy some black american or black boys from africa. look sunderland today there have some black in there team. let mr wenger buy goalie and strong mdf. and player like essien and gud goalie
I hope John R you get the worse for future you fukking bastard!!!
What we need is someone with a magic wand…….return our missing spine. We want a decent spell of games with Van Persie, Fabregas and Vermaelen back in position (and Walcott too, if I’m greedy). Then, no team in the EPL will better us.
the team are not good enough players like denilson, diaby,sagna,clichy, song not good enough to wear the arsenal shirt,and if people think they are they are sadly mistaken, these players dont care if they win or lose it has to asked what the manager is doing not buying a goalie when we clearly dont have a decent goalie in the whole club, i think wenger has done a great job down threw the years but his time is up arsenal will not win the p.l or c.l under wenger he does not have a winning mentally any more and this is why the players are the way they are.
WENGER HAS TO GO AND SO DOES THE MONEY GRABBING BOARD!!!!!!!!!
@Ooosh: Agree and the same goes for Cesc, never more than 22 games, that aint enough.
I believe we lost due 2 injuries 2 our best players. Cos our boys realy played well bt lack finishing
Wenger isn’t good enough??? Why on earth would one say such a nasty things. He has being the backbone behind what is happening to us today. He made us a stable club and I think I can say he made us what we call MODERN ARSENAL.. I understand the clamour of some us for trophy but I think patience runs things and not harsh talk AND UNREALISTIC APPROACH!! GO ASK SHEIKH MANSOUR AND THE PRESIDENT OF R.MADRID OF THE LOS GALATOCS ERA, HOW MUCH THEIR MILLION POUNDS SIGNINGS EARN THEM. ASK CHAVSKI WHAT SHEVY MEAN IN THEIR FOOTBALL DICTIONARY, THEY ARE GONNA TELL YOU IT MEANS ‘WASTE’,’SHAFT’ AND FAILURE.
In my own personal opinion the boys played well today but I need someone to tell SONG to remember he is playing 4 and not 10. He need to start what we know him for, that is cover up his defence and stop opposition attacking flow. Chamakh, should be given enough time to settle in, it is not easy crossing over from France to the rigorous EPL.
For the gunner addicts, keep the faith while the freak gonner-be should get out of our system on here. I REP THE TRUE GUNNER!!!
Let’s face it. A case of same sh1t different season
I think you have to respect Wenger and his philosophy. I would never want to be like the teams that just play long ball.
I also think the current squad has the talent to win major trophies when together and fit. However, we all know that injuries always happen….which is why additions are sorely needed. Also, it’s pretty obvious that Cesc will soon be gone. Obviously that will push the “development timeline” for the team back a bit. I won’t blame him for leaving either. The team still shows all the same weaknesses as it has in the previous few years and little has been done about it. I think that he’s lost faith in the current squad as they fail to show up in every single BIG game time after time; while he is a world cup winner and his friends play on one of the most successful squads ever assembled.
The ManU example was perfect…..veteran leadership is crucial. Scholes and Giggs and those guys mean sooooo much to that team. Who are our vets. ? Rosicky, RVP, Cesc??
Wenger wants to show everyone that he is right, and that his experiment will work out….but that seems to have taken a priority over winning. and that should never be the case with a sports team
IMO, Wenger needs to make a statement this Winter. He’s got to show a commitment to winning by possible altering his tactics at times, and obviously by bringing in some new talent. I think that’s the only way to keep Cesc, b/c he wants to win. This entire team revolves around him, if he leaves…..it’s gonna be a few more years of pain…
all that said, the team is definitley better than it was last yr….and the additions that have been made are working out well. 7 points back in Oct. is ok, but progress still needs to be made; and most importantly management needs to show the players (current and potential) and fans that they intend to compete with the best teams in the world.
despite all the frustration, we can all take solace in the fact that @ LEAST WE’RE NOT LIVERPOOL lol
@Arsenickay: WENGER WAS GOOD. he made the club what it is there is know one doubting that but he simply has lost it the defence is not good enough there is no steel in the team there are no leaders and its the same old arsenal cant beat the big boys, i am a arsenal fan for a long time i know it is easy to slate wenger after losing but there is know point fooling ourselves if we think the team is good enough they are a long way off it, if the all had the same mentality as wilshere it would make a big difference
Who wouldn’t see this coming? We have been underachieving in recent years. We no longer have the big boy attitude and instead just feeling scared every time we face a top team. It’s so predictable that I don’t even bother to watch. We probably will end up in the top 4 again but just being there is not good enough for a club of this calibre. We seriously need to start winning something, which we probably never will with this bunch of average players.
@shane: Yeah..I understand your stands on that… Kos is good, he isn’t it, he made some nice profile in French Ligue 1 b4 he was bought, i believe he will come of age soon.maybe before January. Is Squash not a great leader. It is not easy playing with our real leader, I mean Cesc, RVP and Verm. I am still gonna be saying this even on a mountain top that the boys played well today. If Chavski were in our position, that is losing out Drog, Lamp and Terry, they would have done worst than we did today. lets keep supporting the boys. I know each one of them understand what it takes to be a winner too so I am very hopeful they will win something this season.
I am proud to be a happy gunner.
@victor olufemi: How ggod are the black africa players. Do you ever remember there is nations cup coming up alomost all the time. African players are good no doubt about that but they unsettle team flow..in the case of going for ACN all the time. Keep the faith in this boys
Anybody that’s supprised we lost today needs a back-hand & a strong black coffee! With wenger & this policy we will NEVER win anything. I bet he’s having sleepless nights & wet dreams about the UEFA financial fair play rule in 2015.
I say bring back david dein! We never had these sort of problems in the transfer markets when he was around. He will surely give everbody a kick up there backsides including AW.
@maltese gooner: you are too pessimistic
Excellent article. I really thought Arsenal played well as a team today but just lacked some individual class. They just looked more dangerous than Chelsea for most of the game today. I cannot help but feel if Chamakh had started for Chelsea and Drogba started for Arsenal the half-time score would have been Arsenal 1 Chelsea 0 instead of the other way around. Arsenal just don’t have the individual class or experience needed in order to win the league, yet Wenger continues with his perverted totalist youth system approach that is holding Arsenal back. If he is content on just competing at the top and make bags of money in the process without winning trophies then fair enough, but what really angers me is the blind faith thousands of Arsenal fans have in this man (“In Arsene we trust”). He makes deluded remarks like “we can win the leauge” after one good result, i.e after the Liverpool game at Anfield last season, even though Arsenal were pretty inconsistent at the time and far behind the leaders. It was reported that he had between 30 and 40M pounds to spend during the off season but still refused to use this money to add more quality to the squad. We don’t need a whole team just on or two quality players would help tremendously. Like I said, he is holding Arsenal back and something needs to change cause this team is going nowhere.
Some of you guys make me sick, Seriously you are the type of people who bitch when we lose and act as nothing has happened when we’re winning. You call yourself fans? How about fuck off and support a different team, yeah sure we should have won a couple of trophies by now, but how easy is it to stand there and say what most of you are saying? What would it be like if you were in Arsene’s shoes? Or even in the players? You can’t say, BECAUSE YOU DON’T KNOW!!! Grow up, stop the bitching, and all you true Gunners fans, keep the faith!! Disgusting
knee jerk reactions are just that. The problem is when its so predictably obvious we cant keep on doing the same thing year in year out, i’m 26 and i’m getting bored and old supporting arsenal.
good article…but I’ve known this from 2008/2009. The expectation of Arsenal fans are just way too high and its obvious what Wenger wants to do.
By paying off these debts he will be the most sound financial Manager in the English Premier League and Obviously, he is receiving praise from the likes of UEFA and FIFA and of course he’s loving it, but I do feel he might be getting a little bit lost with this.
I just hope, when he finally pays of these debts which I don’t think theres much left of now, I hope he gets mastering the team. To be honest, we have the players…but our finishing needs to get sorted, Chamakh is inexperienced and there must be more to see from him because we know Wenger’s magic he has on the youth, but with our consistent injuries to Persie and our other forwards, this is starting to get annoying…admittingly and I’m usually a fella who stands up for the Wenger.
I’m willing to apply more patience, till about 2012 and then I will say I will have given up most likely…in terms of supporting the club for Silverware, I’ll look more to supporting them because its where my heart lies. I don’t really know what it is we are missing but in the physical department, we are lacking and it just allows people such as Essien and Mikel to push our players out of the way when they want to get through. If you watch the game…it almost seemed like Chelsea controlled the game in a way, letting Arsenal attack and then pushing forward, it felt to me like they could have scored more if they wanted to.
but what drives me mad, is the players that start to sink in to Arsenal’s squad perfectly, they leave and its back to square one. Just look at Chelsea, their players have been together for at least 5 years under 4 different managers, and they’ve tasted the feeling of lifting Silverware together long before. in this time, they have all learnt to work together naturally and its easy for any manager to come in and point them where to go. Where as Arsenal keep splitting up and going seperate ways and I think Wenger needs to stop this from happening.
as For United’s Golden Oldies, I don’t know whether they are in a bigger mess then we are, the player that usually drives their team is out of form and their getting injuries and Ferguson’s retirement is getting closer, as well as their debt
Persoanlly, I refuse to doubt Wenger, I still think we can win something this season and just like Chelsea’s 3-1 drumming last season when we thought it was all over, we were all on a down and then we jumped right back in it, so I’ll know I’ll eat my words
To those who wish AW to resign, may we know who should replace him ? Pat Rice ? If AW does resign majority of the player will not stay at Arsenal ..almost certain the french speaking players , cesc etc will leave. If that happened Arsenal will slide down to become a mid table club ..
how many of these current players would get in previous title winning sides by Mr wenger, my thoughts 1 which is cesc fabregas, the rest would just populate the bench,
COMMENT NO 100!
Keep the debate up guys.
@mofaz: I’m sure The Special One will be kicked out of the Santiago Bernabeau in the summer for winning only the La Liga and not the Champions League. I say we put in our deposit now.
not our 1st team yet they had a good game although lost and song seems want to prove something(haha its funny to watch him but understand his intention)..losing at the s.bridge is not acceptable?come on guys..chelsea are in their peak..we got time and money..they got money but not time..
the only thing i didn’t agree is 30++ age policy..it has affected the youth development significantly..no continuity of the spirit..
i have no complaints about the boys’ performance other then that all our attackers, other then arsh, were to scared to shoot and not aggressive enough in the final third. there’s really no point in keeping possesion if we’re not gonna make it count. gotta work on that finishing, I thought mentally they’ve really improved, and were unlucky not to equalize, u can clearly see the importance of an exceptional goalkeeper, cech saved them the points. anyone crucifying the team for the loss, need to get back to reality and have a little more patience, u know, kinda like mature adults should act.
anyone seen kagawa from borusia dortmund? he`s an arsenal type of player, we should get him in the future, if we want to improve our offensive options