Arsenal at the end of the world

By Walter Broeckx

Yes Sunday 31 January was the end of the world. We lost a home game against Manchester United with 1 goal against 3. The result made me sleep bad and again I was thinking: what if. And yes it did hurt me deep that defeat and I really didn’t think it was that deserved but I will try to analyze that.

Let’s start with the game. The first half our until Nani missed his cross, I will never believe he did it to score, we had more possession and were rather in control and had some good chances which we didn’t take. I know football is about taking your chances but these things can happen sometimes.

Sometimes the ball flies in from the goal line from an impossible angle and on the other side the ball always hits someone or a shot goes wide as you were sure we would score.

In such a game the first goal is vital and if we would have scored we would have won. Now they did score and for some reason a part of the team panicked and we ran out of position and gave them the second goal on a plate.

If we would have stayed calmer in those first minutes after the first goal we would have come back. But we committed ourselves too much and too early and paid the price.

United could play their favourite game on the counter and a for a few players the two goals in quick concession was  a mental blow. They tried but maybe we didn’t believe in ourselves until our goal but then we had, again, made a terrible mistake by letting them score their second on yet another counter.

So yes we paid the price for the fact we ran out of position against one of the best teams in the league. And we lost 3 points. If I should believe some blogs we lost 30 points in this game.

But let us sit back and look at how a season goes sometimes. Last year in March Liverpool went to United and won 1-4. I know how the rivalry is between those two teams and apart from losing to City this is the game they never want to lose. But they did and they were well beaten with an even bigger score line then our defeat.

And what did the MU fans do? They went into hiding, had a bad taste in their mouth, and felt miserable for a few days.  But I really don’t think they asked the head of Ferguson or one of their players. No they got behind the team in those difficult days and supported them and let them feel they still believed in them.

They knew that they had lost a battle but the war was still going on and they had only lost 3 points. Nothing more, nothing less.  And at the end of the season, just 2 months later they were the champions and the humiliation against Liverpool was a long forgotten memory.

So shit happens sometimes and Sunday was a shit day for us, but if you step in to a dog shit on the street, you swear a bit, and then you have 2 options.  Either you clean it up and carry on or you could  go and sit in a corner ask for the prime minister to resign as he was clearly incompetent to deal with dog shit in the streets.  Once again these things happen sometimes and it is all part of the game and part of being a fan.

The next day on the internet you could see what one could see coming if one understand the way the brains of the D and G brigade works. Of course the D and G brigade was asking for the sacking of everyone involved .

Wenger had to be sacked and all the team had to be sold or even given away to the spuds, the board had to replaced by some craze billionaire who would spent billions of money and buy all the shining superstars of the world at any cost. The only player who didn’t have to be given away was Cesc but according to them he is off to Barcelona anyway now. Pat Rice had to be given the empty (I read the book Making The Arsenal), the ground staff had to go, the ball boys had to go. If we would let the D&G brigade do we wouldn’t have a team to play on Sunday.

We would be like Chelsea in 1905 (sorry I’m on your territory again Tony), who in fact had a Football League club but no players, no officials, no staff, and no support.

When I see those things on the internet I really don’t know what is the worst thing: losing against MU with 1-3 or seeing all those so called fans asking the sacking of everyone involved ?

Yes I usually don’t sleep after a defeat and relive the game over and over again in my head. Yes it saddens me deeply to see our team lose but please keep some perspective on the facts. Like I said last year United had the same with the defeat against Liverpool. Those things happen to everyone at times.

The fixture list is difficult for us for the moment. We have still a fair number of important players out, the ones that have come back after months on the side line are not completely ready to compete at the highest level and we have some players that had to play so many games they are a bit tired.

And don’t forget players like Arshavin who are playing with pain every game but as we are short they play and others had to be prepared to play like Vermaelen. And in that period we have to play 4 top teams in a row. So even if we only get 5 or 6 points from those games then nothing is lost.

The other top teams have to play each other and in those games one or even the two teams will lose points. And then comes our moment. We then have to be ready and take all the points against the lower placed teams. This also will not be easy but WE can help our team, WE can help our players. Instead of asking all the players to be given away to the spuds – no real Arsenal fan can say such a thing I think – we should say: okay, bad day at the office but we are still behind you. Come on you Gunners we support you.

I once wrote some lyrics of  what it means to me being a Gooner and somewhere in there I say something about losing a game, a thing that belongs to football like the ball, and I just want to share it with you:

And if defeat hurts us so bad, on a rare and seldom day

We will not desert you, our Gunners in arms.

60 Replies to “Arsenal at the end of the world”

  1. Can I just say I think that is the best ever article we have had on this site. Thank you Walter. I owe you for that.

  2. After sundays defeat .. i had to go to college next day aand face an entire mob of man united fans rubbing the 3 goals in my face. It wasnt easy .. i preferred not to say anything .. since that would just make them rub it even more … eventually everyone shut the crap.
    The ratio of Arsenal fans to united fans in my colleg is 1 : 3. its not easy .

    anyway i have to say i love this article .. those so called Arsenal fans who just get impatient with every loss and blame everyone without looking into the situation should just stop talking. You should know that we have one of the best squads in the league. Sadly we ddint perform well .. as Walter said .. shit happens sometimes .

    Alwayss a Gooner ! 🙂

  3. Best club, worst ‘supporters’. Sigh. Maybe we should change the crest to ‘Victoria Discordia Crescit’ (or something – when it comes to Latin, I’m just guessing).

  4. Great article Walter, keep it up.
    Our defeat is just like a lottery win for the D & G brigade. It seems as if they were hoping for this to happen so that they could fill the arsenal blogosphere with loads of shit.

  5. Tony i need to know where u get your optimisim from i need a extra cold pint of it i guess, i am a usual reader of your blog, and i must disagree on a few of you points today, a bad day in the office is quite diffrent, from constant heart ache and consistent disapointment man u fans didnt rise upon AF cos it was a blip and AF berates his team all d time they dont perform. But Arsenal are quite different we claim to be title contenders but consistently dont win the games that matter (except the away win @liverpool this season) (against fellow title contenters) at the most neutrals shud c that theres not much between title contenders when they face each other rather than a white wash.
    AW consistently supports lightweights lyk denilson,Almunia and walcott without any repercussions (lyk being dropped) causing the fans to suffer. i belief arsenal supporters are the best there are the support you when u give them something to cheer about, but if you turn up a terrible performance they equally will be the first to tell u abt it too, i believe near misses and losses that still shows the fight in us are permitted, but losses that show no worthyness to waer the shirt shud ave no place in our team

  6. Dear Walter,

    Thank you for putting into words what so many of us have felt. It was a joy to read. Bravo!

    I hope the more reasonable Arsenal blogs post a link to this article.
    And I really hope this article somehow reaches AW’s eyes.

    Cheers.

  7. Larry, I disagree with you throughout on facts.

    I don’t recall Ferguson speaking ill of individual players ever. And I wonder what is worse – Man U being beaten by Burnley or Arsenal being beaten by Man U.

    I don’t agree with the Lightweight Denilson story either. The fact is that Denilson, like Gilberto before him, is a type of player you don’t find in England, and rarely in Europe. Both played in a very different way from other midfielders, with an extraordinary ability to know where the ball will be after the next bounce, rather than how to tackle.

    I recall that Song was hounded by our “supporters” and nearly left the club – now he is adored. Wenger was criticised for ever playing Song, who was not fit to wear the shirt, now without even blinking those same supporters say how wonderful he is.

    And what of our recent results. I can’t recall the exact number but it is something like Played 11, Won 7, Drawn 3, Lost 1. Some people think that is the right time to sack the playing staff and the manager. To me, it is not.

  8. walter
    really it feels good to see some true arsenal supporters .
    it hurt me more than the loss to see all the supposed arsenal supporters ask for wenger to be sacked and for almost the whole team to be removed……sigh…….i would actually like to thank u for being one of the sensible supporters
    thanx

  9. Fantastic article. Some of the bile and vitriol aimed at Arsene and certain members of the squad since Sunday evening has deeply saddened me. I don’t feel angry or shocked at these Arsenal “supporters” any more….I just find it all profoundly depressing. Are these people really so blind? perhaps they are. Oh well.
    Anyway thanks again. I’m a regular reader and along with “A Cultured Left Foot” this Arsenal blog is haven of sanity. Keep up the good work.
    ARSENAL.

  10. Walter, You are a genius. What a scintilatingly nerve calming article. I wish many so called fans will take a moment to reflect after each game before they jump out of their closets to berate everyone for loosing a game. Yes, that’s what it is, a game.

    It doesn’t surprise me though. If our ‘braging rights’ seeking, ‘glory hunting’, ‘silverware at any cost’ brigade can disect, pull and tear the whole team apart even when we win, what do you expect when we loose?

    Less about them though. The war is still on. Let the rest of us completely ignore the DoG brigade and get behind our team. I suspect that they will jump on the band wagon when the positives triumph.

  11. Blind faith is too terrible to understand among fans. People just close their eyes and still full of praise to the most useless player, Denilson, in the league as someone special (Don’t compare him to Gilberto if you are not insulting Gilberto). Having seen this useless gay to run for 2 matches (Stoke and Manu), behind Sedibe and Rooney (2nd goal) and stopped half-way before they scored or set up the goal, also just showed his leg ,like a girl in the beach, to Nani (1st goal) to let him get passed without saying “Thank you”, I can confirm this gay is the most rubbish player in the squad. With such horrible performance, he still can earn praise from fans. He will never improve, which I believe he had stopped improving for 2 seasons ago. Can’t tackle, can’t pass, can’t turn his body, can’t run, all the crap performance can be found from this wonderful player. Thank to Wenger’s good eyesight to find such a wonderful player!!

  12. well done walter,
    to answer your rhetorical question regarding what is worse losing to man usa or listening to the D&G brigade: its clearly the latter…
    having witnessed defensive suicide on sunday left me perplexed, but contrary to popular opinion, I did not think we have been outplayed or even been hammered and rooney was certainly not running riot. I just cannot understand how you can commit so many players forward against one of the best counter-attacking teams on the planet.
    so sunday, I was sad and a bit down, but by Monday night I was sick due to the reaction of some sections of arsenal supporters. as finngun has put it aptly: best club, worst ‘supporters’ – the definition of ‘support’ entertained by some people makes me physically sick, certainly sicker than any defeat would make me…

  13. And may I add some more perspective: last year United won 5 points out of possible 18 against the other top 4 teams and still won the title. Zere points against Liverpool, 1 point against Arsenal and 4 points against Chelsea if my memory serves me right.

    They won the league against the lower league teams!

    As they did in the years before!

    We could get 9 points out of 18 or even 6 or 7 in case of a draw against Liverpool or Chelsea would be better than United last year.

  14. I look back at the games we have played so far, and the biggest disappointment, to me, is the 7 points we lost against Sunderland (defeat) and West Ham (draw) and Burnley (draw). If we had got those points, as we were expected to, then our position in the table would still be very encouraging indeed, and I doubt whether the D&G’s would be shouting too loud. But I feel that it is the results we have had in these 3 games that will ultimately cost us more than the defeat on Sunday, or the result against Chelski. Last year ManIOU may have lost to the other top 3 teams, but they won these other games and that is what got them over the line in the end.
    However, I still think Sundays game was a cracking match – and a great advert for the EPL again (it had pace, drive, excitement, skill), and I even thought we played quite well despite the loss – much better than in the last few games anyway, so I reckon we could be about to hit some really good form again, just in time for CL etc. The match on sunday just boiled down to a few split second moments and wonderful pieces of skill that turned it, and we were just unlucky to be on the receiving end this time. But that’s just my opinion, and I think we should take good heed of Walter’s blog today, because things could be a lot worse – we could be Hull!

  15. Rational analysis.. I was so annoyed i deleted my fm10 and some of my arsenal clips. truth be told, by May we should be able to rationally judge this team, till then all we can offer is our support.. Gunners 4 life..

  16. Thank you, Walter. You very well put it in the proper perspective.
    AGS got it right-the fixtures against Westham, Burnley and Sunderland were killers. To those I will add Everton match that was played in bad weather. With hindsight, I now wish that was postponed. But AW made that decision at the time being concerned about fixture congestion.

  17. Larry the best supporter in my book ,it s people who go in the stadium,sing their support to the player ,their team even if you re loosing.i m not a season ticket Holder but i m try to go to few match ,and our support is sub standard at best in most match except when the big rival (MU.Liverpool,Chav and Spurs) are in town.We have earn the tag of our stadium (library) which is well deserved.The only supporter who deserve no criticism are the away supporter.

  18. Don’t be so naive,go back and watch the game again, watch the defending for the second goal, 4 Arsenal players ball watching while Rooney slipped in behind them with such ease, NOT GOOD ENOUGH AT THIS LEVEL, I DON’T CARE IF IT WAS YOUNG PLAYERS OR NOT, THATS WHAT SCHOOL BOY PLAYERS DO

  19. 5 years, many promises and no results. What do you expect? wait another 5 years?

    Lets say if MU or chelsea were to go 5 years without a trophy, would thier fans still be standing behing thier manager? I guarantee you not.

  20. I think it is naive never to expect mistakes. Mistakes happen. The fact is those mistakes came on the back of a terrific run of results.

    Remember, that Ferguson suffered this type of abuse at Man U and is generally agreed to have been one match away from being sacked because he was being booed by the fans. By a fluke they won that match, so he survived. Their fans were naive then as our fans are being naive judging Wenger and his team over one game, rather than 10.

  21. In five years the Man U will not exist in their current form because they will be close to having to repay the bond, which they won’t be able to do.

    In five years Chelsea may exist but everything is down to the whim of one man. That’s one hell of a gamble. If he dies, or is injured, or thrown in prison, or decides he would sooner sail his yacht, or gets cancer or whatever the whole thing begins to slip away. If because of the feeling of “fans” Wenger walks out, the club survives. That is the difference between the clubs.

    A coup in the Emirates would possibly leave us without a sponsor. A coup in the Emirates would leave Man City bankrupt.

  22. Excellent piece Walter. Nothing about the recent behavior of the D&G brigade is new except that they now pretend to be anti-doomers. It is so utterly predictable and boring. Yet it must be resisted else it becomes a cancer in the fan base showing up as the anti-support that is emboldened to boo our own players in our own stadium (remember Eboue) or the attempted booing of Wenger. It is predictable as Tony wrote just over a month ago in a piece titled: “How to be an Arsenal doom and gloomer in ten easy steps.”
    http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/2009/12/how-to-be-an-arsenal-doom-and-gloomer-in-ten-easy-steps/

  23. Two things.
    Abiodun
    Does AW decide now, and not the referee, whether games are on or off?

    And, going back to the original article, you can’t be absolutely certain that AFC would have won had they scored first.
    Sure, it would have helped, but you can’t state it as an absolute.

  24. Thanks Walter,

    I spotted a couple of interesting points raised by some other posters elsewhere, & I’m sure they won’t mind me repeating the point to you.

    Some years back, players returning mid-season from injury would play one or two reserve games before being thrown in against the like of Man IOU.
    But these days for various reasons it seems, especially with the extreme injury list, there was no option but to throw Denilson and Clichy back into these games, where they were ‘a yard off the pace’, and therefore easy targets for those who forget footballers are human beings and not robots (a part from our pet cyborg, the Verminator!).

    Yes Man IOU were playing reserve players at the back, but they weren’t ‘cold’ so to speak, had been playing for the proceeding several games and had form.
    So those players who looked off the pace through lack of ‘match fitness’, become easy targets, and those who could have set us up for a two goal advantage before twenty minutes of the game were gone, are ignored!

    I think it’s a kind of pathetic flash mob style bullying behaviour to pick on these players that we see, sad, but perhaps not surprising.

  25. haha Zoo, totally with you on that 😉

    Great piece Walter, and totally correct on the mental blow it gave to our players after the 0-2. Thing is they tried way to hard to get the 1-1 straight away instead of waiting for their chance to make it equal.
    After being 0-2 down within minutes there was no way of coming back, well only if we had managed to score 1 back before or right after the break, but instead they did that, AGAIN. so yea after that it wouldve needed something very special (as AW would say ;p) to come back into the game.

    Funny thing though is that it looked like our players got demoralized after getting that first yellow card (like here we go again, we getting screwed by the referees as per usual).

    But anyway, if we win the next 2 games that means we got 7p’s out of a total 12, which is still great and right there in the race. And even if we dont get 7ps we have no idea what other teams r going to do (the top teams all have to play each other still) and i recall chelsea losing plenty in december when they even had a full squad to choose from! so we shall see and judge the performance coming May! Altough if its up to me Wenger can stay forever :D!

    now bring on CSKA Fullham and pool, can’t wait to see the team make them look like fools 😀

  26. Sean you are right on what you say that is no certainty that we would have won if we had scored first. But the game was turned upside down in 3 minutes (like in the semi final of the CL) by 2 mistakes fom some of our players and a big hand of lady luck to the miskick from Nani. Look at the replay and the direction of his face and you will see he was trying to cross to the players at the second post.

    Before that MU had a lot of misplaced easy passes as well but after that they suddenly got confidence en belief and we lost those things in those 3 minutes. That was the only difference between the teams.

  27. You can rationalize all you want but the plain fact is we are bridesmaid to the KGB and the Establishment yet again.

    That is a reasonable expectation, because we shop at Asda and they shop at Harrods, so its not really a big issue.

    Our supporters’ shortcomings are:

    1) They expect AW to be a magician. When he can’t pull a PV4 out the bag for 1/100 of his actual value, they get upset, and irrational.

    Our teams’ shortcomings are:

    1) A lack of a PV4, not as a player, but as a leader – week in week out leader. (likewise the Tony Adams / Martin Keown / Lee Dixon types – leaders). With the lack of experience and leaders, there is a certain fragility in the team. Successive hammerings by Chelsea and Man U , especially at home, cannot be brushed under the carpet.

    I am not a fan of Alan Hansen, I think he’s a bit full of his own importance, but he assessed us being ‘a bit weak somewhere’ to win the league. I think he’s right. Its that indefinable quality, not skill, not will, but something else.

    We would never have lost like this with PV4 around.

    2) Weaknesses in certain positions. Because of the strength of the EPL, certain good players just aren’t good enough at the top level.
    No point naming individuals, it’s little more than name-calling; but there are two or three players in the first team I don’t think are top level.

  28. Completely agree that ‘shit happens’ & that good teams have bad days.
    Though disappointed with the result I obviously didn’t see the same
    match that most did & don’t believe that we need to sack any one, or that our season is over.However,though still sane & relatively buoyant, I am surprised & puzzled that for the last 3 months we’ve repeatedly employed some tactics which clearly do us no favours.For instance.. Long balls down the pitch from Almunia which invariably give posession back to our oponents; High crosses into the box from Sagna which usually come to nothing; defenders that appear to have more focus on attack than defence. This is surely basic stuff..but it’s been constantly repeated for weeks.
    If I tread in dog shit by mistake on the pavement I clean it off & get on with life..what I don’t do when I go out next is jump in the the first lot of dog shit I see!!!

  29. Terrific, Walter. Good words, and rational thoughts. Perfectly in keeping with this site, and thank God for that! I was beyond ill to see that “Sack Wenger Petition” on another site yesterday. Of course, on that site, and from that particular writer, every day is Sack Wenger Day. Funny how he never writes anything after victories, but come a defeat and it’s every ounce of vitriol to muster and throw at Arsene. Thankfully I do not visit that site often and prefer the sound reasoning, wit and perspective of Untold Arsenal.

  30. “We would never have lost like this with PV4 around”

    That’s pure bollocks & it won’t take long to prove it in the record books. Same goes for Tony Adams. Both amazing captains but if you believe they & their teams never had an off day then you are in a dream world.

    Great article Walter, you always find the good points but it is my feeling that we have been losing these big games tactically & mentally.

    Good points, Finsbury.

    AW, quite admirably wants to win these games, but to me it seems at any cost. A draw would not have been a disaster. In the current situation the first prerequisite is to defend well as a team & work at least as hard all over the pitch as they do. We have conceded 7 goals in the last 3 home games, 3 of which were virtually undefended counter attacks. At the start of the season we were defending from the front right the way through but this has been diluted of late.

    There is a naivety that needs to be shed before this squad can reach its optimum. Patience & support from us together with a lot of hard work from the squad is what is still required.

  31. Flint, you are already telling what I was going to write in an article..

    Yes the first months we defended with all our attackers right from the start. This has gone for a big part. Now you sometimes see one player chasing but not in numbers like at the beginning.

    I really think it has something to do with the injurys and the fact that players who come back are not able to do this from the first game.

    Someone mentionned the fact that players coming back start in the team straight away (we don’t have much options) and therefore miss the run they used to have in the reserves like in the old days. And then you get performances where a player can not bring what we know he can bring. I would say a very valid point.

    To the ones saying : this would never have happend with TA or PV in the team…. remember februay 2001 ? Just keep it then that way as we lost 6-1 with PV in the team.

  32. Great article!. All these plastic gooners ho have nothing better to do than slag the team and le boss off, quite simply piss me off. Agreed, Sunday was a bad day at the Arsenal office. What’s done is done. Arsenal on their day are a world class team. Let’s get behind the lads for Sunday. Let’s stuff Cashley n Co! :)OOOOH TO, OOOH TO BE, OOOH TO BE A GOONER! 🙂

  33. Did we really need to win this game? If Chelsea and ManUnited both did the double over us, we get 4 from Liverpool, one from City, and win the 11 other ‘smaller’ games, we’d finish with 84 points. The way this season’s going, that would be a title for sure.

  34. That’s pure bollocks & it won’t take long to prove it in the record books. Same goes for Tony Adams. Both amazing captains but if you believe they & their teams never had an off day then you are in a dream world.

    Point taken Flint.

    But I still don’t buy into the off-day analysis.

    I think there are underlying problems with this team.
    Not big problems, but problems that are exposed in the most competitive league of football of all time.

    IMO,
    There are a couple of players who have come up short too often on the big ocassion, and there is a lack of experience in the side.

    Sure there are external factors, like the general corruption and anti-arsenal bias of the EPL, but I still think the team is a couple of loaves short of a picnic.

    Its a shame really, coz we play great football, and deserve better.
    But that’s the harsh reality of sport in the 21st Century.

    Maybe we just need to stick with Arsene through 7 years of famine.

  35. And what ever the result will be on Sunday: we will NOT be 11 points behind.
    Chelsea played 1-1 at Hull. So yes everyone has bad days.

  36. Absolutely spot on Walter – perhaps you should write Fabs next team talk for him so he can put everything in perspective and lift the boys for the next game!!!

    I am so disappointed (if not surprised) that the D&G brigade seem to actually revel in this type of result, and while I wouldn’t go so far as to accuse them of being supporters of another team, do they not realise how much they are adding to the cause of everyone who is so anti-Arsenal. These people would love to see our great manager leave and for Arsenal to play boring football again, so they can beat us with that even when we win. They would love the club to drop below Spurs again (remember the mid-80s)and go into debt like their precious ManU.

    Support the club through thick and thin and for God’s sake realise how amazing we have it at Arsenal before we lose it and it’s gone forever.

  37. You write that article but i sense you don’t really believe the words. losing like this to Chelsea and United is hardy a rarity (bad day) these times for Wegner…certainly no mention of Denilson’s amateur attempt to impersonate a footballer, Nasri’s complete lack of commitment or Almunia’s sheer clowning maybe deserves a mention….At least Wegner saw it..lets hope he kicks a few arses..

  38. Thanks Walter, a little sanity and perspective goes a long way. I’m glad fans don’t vote for coaches, I mean, hiring and firing. The blog sphere is toxic out there! Who is this guy at Le Grove? My god, he is one miserable guy. Do these people have other things to do in life? Most of them drop a one line comment. That explains how much thought they put into it. This guy just hates Wenger and doesn’t matter if he wins everything. I think he should find another team to support. Can we vote him out? Now, that would be a real treat.

  39. Nice post Walter,always the calming and rational voice along with Tony.Like
    everyone else Monday was crap but last night’s result has given most of us
    renewed hope -“it aint finished until its finished “[Walter ,again].As I don’t read other sites I don’t get hot under the collar as the other regulars seem to -don’t go there if it upsets you.Stay true and keep the faith guys!

  40. Colonel we don’t give points on players performances. Well I dont anyway.
    I have analyzed the mistakes that led to the goals but I am not willing to slaughter any of our players for a mistake.
    I am not the manager, I am a supporter and therefore I support. If the manager picks Denilson than I will support Denilson. If he picks Ramsey than I will support Ramsey. Denilson has scored 5 goals in total this season and so to say like some do he is totally useless is beyond me. Yes he is not at his best for the moment maybe but are we going to help him by slaughtering him ? Don’t forget he has had a very bad injury this season. And he scored important goals like that free kick against Hull.

    Confidence is golden in football and when you feel confident you can perform.

    It is up to the manager to decide up on the players not to us of little knowledge. Oh and this doesn’t mean that I would pick other players than Wenger does but I really think, no I really know that he knows a bit more than I do.

  41. Just trying to do that last sentece again:

    I would on occasion pick other players than Wenger does but I really know that Wenger knows more than I and that Wenger has only one goal in mind and that is to pick the team that has the most chance of winning the game.

    So who am I to tell him who he should pick, sell or buy.

  42. I think we got outclassed by a team playing the football we enjoy watching, it hurt. When Villa and City rolled us last year it was the same, at least for me – as Walter pertinently states it was a bad day, and that happens, simple. Arsene knows this and has been very honest with his post match comments, he’ll put it right.

    RE D&G’s – imo – there seems to be an unrealistic expectation you win the league by being invincible – Wenger’s teams in the past have done the double on Man-iou in the league only to watch them collect the silverware – it’s about lifting the trophy and Man-iou have that notable mentality, we do not yet, but I think we’re improving!

  43. Thanks Walter for this nice piece..

    Although I saw some bad defending from Denilson in last 2 games but I would put it under the off say. Is it not better to look more at the brighter side than to look at the worse side.

    Also Cesc said that even Messi would have struggled. I dont know how true it is but surely Man U played well and we had an off day. Why so serious..

  44. Good response, Walter, but we were poor against Man Utd. I think you’re entitled to say that as a fan. We looked like winning the game at Old Trafford, but we lost it 1-2. And we lost at the Emirates 1-3, despite doing well in until they scored the first goal? Why not just say we’re not good enough? Even Wenger was dumb-founded by our performance. We’re not a title-winning side. 3rd place is a good accomplishment for this team, but it’l frustrating to look at the potential for this season, and the slide we’re in at at the moment.

  45. it’s now a routine….ARSENAL lose – D n G group start asking for wenger’s head and predicting doom’s day….and here, same article gets repeated asking fans to be patient, giving financial conditions of some clubs, saying hw ARSENAL are different and hw everyone gonna sink except ARSENAL….

    well any1 from above can be true as future is unpredictable bt for present ARSENAL are better than any1 in premier league but not good enough to come any where near top 2 which are man utd and chelsea..

    so as this blog waits for clubs to go bankrupt….D n G waits for a refreshing change in club…that change may be competing for carling cup with full strength side so that team develops a winning mentality or may be signing someone which can instil winning mentality which is clearly missing in the current squad…..

    enjoy the following upcoming days till sunday when arsene will be hit again by reality bomb…..may be these days are last days when u can rightfully call, ARSENAL title contenders….may be…. not….

  46. Look I don’t really agree with any of this. I don’t really care if you l think I am a D&G merchant either. We know Arsenal can beat lower teams on a good day at home, but Arsenal’s recent record against Man U and Chelsea is awful and you are not identifying how that will ever change. I am not suggesting spending megabucks- only getting a better keeper and playing a tighter formation and buying a real striker. Tell me does that have to bankrupt us?

  47. Thanks Walter, I needed this article.

    I think I have D&G tendencies and watching the game on Sunday made me fear the worst but the people on this blog, writers and commenters (if that is the correct term), really help to get perspective.

    After reading this bitter drival
    http://www.arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=1513&cntnt01origid=30&cntnt01returnid=42
    by king D&Ger Myles Palmer I came straight over here and feel so much better. We can’t expect to get three points every game and we’re still well on track for a good title push. The point about Liverpool last season is a good one and with teams around us dropping points to the likes of Hull, Burnley, Sunderland etc we can never be ruled out anything.

    It’s just three points and we’re only six adrift.

  48. its ok.still got time to improf.gunner play well that day but the defender no do their job.gallas and vermallan no need to score.their job is defending.pls do the thing.

  49. I could live another 100 years, and watch Arsenal win the League in 99 of those, but I still would not get over this defeat.
    I agree with well endowed gunner: 3rd place will be superb for this squad.We will still win the pound-for-pound trophy.

  50. There are always 2 types of Arsenal fans, The Naive troll brigade and the D&G brigade as they call each other…..It’s not fair to allow one man run the team as if we had a poor farmers budget, at the same time it’s not right to go shopping with the credit card as if you won’t pay it back…I don’t believe anyone really wants to send Arsene packing, but we have seen a lot of clubs fire the manager for some decisions that are head scratching. I think the masses who are angry and i wouldn’t call them doom and gloom, are just fed up with the lies…If we don’t have it, then admit it, stop promising “2-3 quality players” every season or don’t sit on the shareholders meeting and tell them you have money to spend and you will win a trophy or 2, but treat the domestic cups as if you were playing the FA youth cup. Arsenal coould have built a lot of confidence by winning the Carling Cup…set the goals on a realistic level, the same way we won’t overspend for the sake of winning, we should wear our competition coats accordingly. We have a Carling\FA cup team at best, and until we win these, we should stop fooling ourselves. Whether the trolls loke it or not, “Money rules the world” and we don’t have that philosophy. Also tactics is just off…How we keep playing Arshavin (hurt foot) and Nasri and Rosicky as strikers, when we have 30million at hand is just not acceptable. Now i don’t like the d&g brigade, but i don’t like the “all is well, support the manager or go support spuds” brigade..you have no right to question anyones alliance to the club, if they wanted to support the scums, they’d be laughing at us not upset…”through anger, the heart speaketh”

  51. There’s just tto much blind faith supporters on most of these blogs, always bashing others for being upset at obvious mistakes, I mean come on! When a manager purposely makes tactical errors and refuses to budge on anything realistic..what do you expect? playing yo-yo withthe club…it’s as good as wasting money when you can’t deliver the goods you promised or have a potential of delivering. I mean the blind faith in Denilson and Almunia, when there are better players available? spending 2,3,4 million on players that aren’t ready to start inthe EPL???? What was so wrong with getting in some English grit inthe squad??? What is so hard in bringing in some muscle here and there to compliment the technical players?? Go onkeep the “Faith” 5 years and counting….I support my club, i could careless about one man, if he cannot deliver the goods, then maybe he should move upstairs and cout the beans. Ambitious clubs do the business, they don’t hope other teams drop points or go broke to prove anything.

  52. Sunday’s lost is just not January 31st alone, from last year, this has been repeated over, you would think a stubborn mule would move after being beaten the same way so many times.

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