by Waleed Ahmad
Why We Won’t Win The Title Until The Season Is Over
It is because we wait until the very end to do things. What’s the point? We should sneakily rip a few pages from certain Italian clubs’ books and win the title before anyone else can.
We need to learn to spend wisely. Too much money goes into paying our players. Why do we even bother when Barcelona won the treble with their players playing for free? Some of the things we do boggles the mind.
The money should be going not to the players, but to the people that really matter. I don’t mean Wenger should pay himself even more, because as we’ve seen with England, paying the manager a lot of money doesn’t help much. The people we should be paying are the ones that can help us win the title before the first kick of the round thing.
As you know I’m trying to be as vague as possible. Being too explicit about things can hurt you, as Joan Laporta found out. Saying too much never helps. So I hope anyone who reads this and Arsene Wenger himself understands what I am on about, even though what I’m saying may not make sense.
I read somewhere that the highest transfer fee ever paid for a referee was 27 million pounds. It is not a lot of money. It is good value. Just saying.
The problem with us is that we’re all too nice. I remember Walcott saying he won’t be a nice guy anymore but he’s still nice. He obviously lied, which isn’t a nice thing to do, but it’s certainly not dirty enough. While our rivals have players like you-know-who and you-know-what (that plays for the Totts), we’re stuck with these nice kids who like to play “good football.” I don’t want to see good football. I don’t even like football. I like winning things. Win for me, Arsene.
I am a lot of things but what I am not is a waiter. I don’t like waiting until May to see my club lift a trophy. I am ambigious enough to say that I demand success now. Do what you need to, Arsenal. Trophies don’t grow on trees, and only the early birds can catch them.
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This article was send to us by Waleed Ahmad who has his own Arsenal blog since recently.
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If you have an article in you, and you think it would fit with the Untold Arsenal philosophy, we’d love to receive it. If we publish it, you’ll be on a web site read by around a quarter of a million people a month.
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If this brought a smile on your face, how about this one
Or if you really care about our club and its future
Nothing better to start a new day and have a smile on my face. You brought me a few Waleed.
I loved the transfer fee for the ref. 🙂 They never offered me that much. LOL.
Ha. Unfortunately many Arsenal blogs place the importance of trophies above anything else. Sometimes I wonder if they would like a takeover from some oil baron, scrap the entire youth system and buy like man.c just to get silverware.
Oh and by the way, Walter, I found it highly amusing yesterday when I read an article on Telegraph online about how Arsenal were in crisis after drawing 1-1 at Anfield, scrolled down to the bottom of the piece, registered, slated the writer of the article in the comments section, then realised you had done the exact same thing about 3 posts below me!
Stick together!
I wonder how close to the truth you are as far as some ‘fans’ are concerned. Good stuff.
well arsenal players,lets win some thing by may but lets get there slowly with three points every weekend.Almunia dont kill uaself biult ua confidence again and prove everybody wrong.from kenya i believe in you.
Brilliant
Great stuff Waleed.
It could get boring winning every game 3 or 4-0. I’d happily accept the occasional (very occasional…I’m too old for too much tension!) 6-5. 7-3 makes for a nice round number as well… ManCity in the 50s is a game happily remembered! As it is, I’ll just have to live with P38 W37 D1 L0 for this season.
Have we lost our minds Arsenal fans? Listen to Almunua’s comments yesterday and you see a player who truly love Arsenal. Well, he may not be Buffon or Cech but he is a Gunner, and its wrong to turn on him the way we have.
Bonnie Mania- Whom do you support more? Arsenal or Almunia? No player is greater than the club. If Almunia is not good enough to be at Arsenal, then he should leave. And its nothing personal, its just that the club must have a better goalkeeper. Eduardo too loved Arsenal, then why do you think he was sold? Afterall, it was Wenger’s decision to sell him. U want to say that Wenger was wrong to sell him?? Its nothing like it, its simple, Eduardo wasn’t good enough!! Wenger knew it, Arsenal fans knew it. Same goes for Almunia, he’s got loads of experience but still he isn’t good enough for Arsenal. It would have been a different case if he was young like fabianski who still can improve. But Almunia hasn’t reached the potential, we expected him to be. So we have to look at better options. The only problem being that we should have done this before that start of the league. But we still hav 2 weeks left. Hopefully, we can make the adjustments.
Waleed, who doesn’t want arsenal to win the title? I mean we are all hardcore fans of the club but to be honest I am sick to death of the Wenger lovers continuing to back him even when it is clear he has lost the plot. If not replacing players who have walked or improving the squad, you would think he would want to start the season with our strongest team. How come the likes of Kuyt, Torres etc can manage to manage to recover from their world cup exploits and they played far more pitch time than Cesc. Once again his false promises fail to materialise and we find ourselves 3 world class players short of being able to compete for silverware this season. Even worse he has failed to clear out enough of the dross that continue to weaken the quality of the team. Denilson, Rosicky, Almunia, Fabianski etc. You have to say that for 45 min`s the back four looked as solid as i have seen for a while but once again the man behind them lets them down not just with the goal but also his lack of domination of the box and his inability to get off his line in time and a pathetic sense of timing or punching of a ball. Then when he finally decided to make sub`s (suprise, suprise we went a goal behind)he takes off Eboue who was one of our best players in the first half and leaves lazy/unintrested Arshavin on for 90 mins. The man has not got a clue. Other clubs wanted him, dont make me laugh, if Wenger was based at any of the other so called big four, he would have been sacked a long time ago.
Ahh Jeery your reaction just made me smile (see ACLF) :)!
Aaahh Jeery your reaction just made me smile (see ACLF). Sorry probably posted twice now but seem to be in moderation.
Oops to think I have an article ready to back Wenger even more. jeeryy if you have some problem with your blood pressure please stay clear off the site for a few days.
Funny you say we should buy 3 world class players. Fine with that. Then you say we should get rid of atleast 5 players and I think you want more.
So if you were the manager we would be ever shorter in players as this would mean 5 gone (at least) and only 3 in. What will you do with the injury crisis? Play yourself?
Strange diaminedave that you were in moderation? I think you have posted here before? Strange?? computers….
I always change the idiom we know in Dutch: “one apple a day keeps the doctor away” in to “one SMILE a day keeps the doctor away”.
So no need of a docter today. 😉
jeeryy, Cesc was ill with a chest infection. It was a good job you did some research before posting a load of rubbish wasn’t it.
How refreshing it must be for people like jeeryy to know that Wenger will be with us until 2014.
Walter my blood pressure is fine but what is not fine is our defence and the way people on here constantly cover up for Wenger’s mistakes. If you look back into time then you will see Wenger has developed an image of being miserly with the club’s finances and having a natural aversion to profligacy. On the pitch Arsenal seem to have been the opposite on Wenger’s watch. He brought to English football skilful attacking full backs In Sylvinho, Ashley Cole, Gael Clichy and maybe soon Keiran Gibbs. However with unearthing meat-and-drink solid centre halves and a pair of safe hands between the sticks Wenger’s record is far less impressive. The catalogue of disasters includes Pascal Cygan, Oleg Luzhny, Rami Shabaan, Phillippe Senderos and February 2001’s suppressed trauma of seeing Gilles Grimandi and Igor Stepanovs helplessly on the receiving end of a Dwight Yorke not seen so rampant since a night in a hotel room with a young Katie Price and some blue pills.In some cases Wenger got lucky; the headless chicken act of Kolo Toure had mellowed for a few years in the mid noughties and worked well with Sol Campbell in 2004. Sol was by far Wenger’s greatest defensive signing, it was however hardly an act of managerial genius. Most people with Championship Manager 2 and a PC would have tried to sign an out of contract Campbell in 2001, all it needed was enough wedge to match the likes of United, Liverpool, Barca and Madrid for wages, something Arsenal have lacked since that particular summer onwards with the Ashburton Grove project.It doesn’t take a financial genius to work out that Arsenal’s hands have been tied financially since the move from Highbury; however the finances that have been available since have not been distributed proportionately throughout the squad. For all its faults the midfield and attack can still hold up to the rigours of sustaining an interest in challenging for silverware, the defensive five on the other hand have been woefully inept and threadbare. Of the talent that has been there Vermaelen cannot handle the threat of a Drogba or a Rooney in the way Keown used to deal with Van Nistleroy and Gallas had often lacked mental coolness in the heat of the battle. Almunia and Jens filled the number one shirt at times adequately but were never good enough as a custodian for a Champions League side.In reserve we’ve had Silvestre, a nightmare that has thankfully passed, however with Koscielny by his own admission needing time to adapt to the Premier League and Djourou prone to injury, Kyle Bartley on loan, Hardvard Nordtveit an unknown quantity and the ever present fear of seeing Fabianski’s name on the starting line up, there is little to suggest our defence frailties are any less than they were last season. The upshot is that few people are convinced that Wenger has even scratched the surface of addressing the decline of Arsenal’s defence since the last of his inherited six giants hung up their Arsenal boots in 2004. If Wenger allows the transfer window to close on 31st August with no significant additions he must be held to account for this.Much has been said about the financial position of Arsenal, however Liverpool have still retained much of their talent, Spurs have a Champions League foothold and Man City have plenty of money to throw around. Arsenal’s business plan for Ashburton Grove has always been reliant on Champions League qualification, the threat of failure to do so would be Arsenal’s financial equivalent of the SS Richard Montgomery, the sunken Thames Estuary warship off Sheerness which holds enough explosives to equate to a nuclear explosion. It’s a threat of cataclysmic disaster that’s ever present and could blow up at any minute, though many have perennially lived comfortably with its presence choosing not to dwell too much on the time bomb that lives in their midst. Should Arsene and the board fail to be pro-active in nullifying this threat by spending on defensive measures by the end of this calendar month the residents of small seaside town in Kent may well have their own metaphorical example of what happens when you ignore a time bomb
Jeeryy,
The business plan for the emirates was to fill it with 50.000 each game and CL football once in every 4 year. So even missing out on CL football would not be a disaster at first. Or it would be not a big disaster as it would be for other teams.
I’m not sure I understand where you come from jeeryy. Arsenal play an almost unique game in the EPL, so fluid and intricate, I love to watch it. Why is winning a trophy so important there is one league title and three cup competitions to win (if your club is lucky enough to be in europe) there’s alot of clubs competing for the honours. Arsenal is one of the best clubs in europe enjoy it. When the transfer window closes if another player is not in the ranks know that there were none available (i don’t include overpriced players as available) that were better than what is available in the club already. Anyhoo arsen would never leave a transfer till the last minute would he!
Dark Prince,I’m not saying that we should retain Almunia, in fact I’m really excited by the imminent arrival of Mark Schwarzer. All I’m saying is that we should learn to treat players (and managers) who have given service to this club with dignity and respect. Do you read some of the Arsenal blogs, we need to off-load some fans as much as we want to off-load some players.
@Jeeryy 12.15pm
“…people here cover up for Wenger’s mistakes…” then you went on to list all the players he had signed that, in the end and in your view, didn’t make the cut.
The post raises a few questions:
1. The blog makes no apologies, it says it defends Lord Wenger in all that he does. Having stated its objective, what else do you expect from the blog?
2. I see the list of Wenger’s defensive mistakes over the years is very extensive. Can you please place it side by side with the trophies the man won in the same period he was busy making the mistakes and square it for us as to why he was able to win the trophies he won even in the face of such inane incompetence? Or he was awarded the trophies by sympathetic FA?
3. Can you please tell us some other coach in Arsenal’s history that was free of recruitment mistakes or any other coach anywhere you would want the club to consider as a replacement to Wenger as he has proven to be an unerring football manager or recruiter of soccer stars?
For avoidance of doubt, this blog merely insists that Arsenal change of fortunes over the past 6years need to be looked at in context with Arsenal’s financial fortunes in view of its Stadium project and its long term decision to focus on generating its football stars from young potential stars recruited in their teen years.
Bonnie Mania- I know how the other sites completely insult the players. Thats why we both aren’t commenting on their sites 🙂 honestly, i’ve always loved all our players but its our club which i think about first. Almunia actually shouldn’t be facing these times. Either we should have replaced him a month ago or Wenger should come out and declare that Almunia is our number 1. But Wenger still hasn’t decided on that issue. Thats why i do feel sympathy for Almunia. He should have had his answers a long time back. But he’s still in the dark which again makes him more nervous while playing. We should resolve such issues before the league starts.
I’m sure Jeeryy was one of the ones booing Eboue a couple seasons ago, and now he says,
“Then when he [Wenger] finally decided to make sub`s (suprise, suprise we went a goal behind)he takes off Eboue who was one of our best players in the first half…”
It wasn’t through your booing or demands that he be sold that Eboue got better. We could maybe have sold him during the season when he had no confidence, but getting a player who was good enough to be one of our best players for the first half last weekend would be a real challenge.
I doff my hat to those of you who managed to penetrate the writings of the entity called jeeryy
I love how people like to say how bad Arsene Wenger is at finding and coaching defenders. They always seem to go back to George Graham and give him as an example of a great “defensive” coach. And surely the statistics should back that up as well, right? I mean, the 80’s and early 90’s were the old days when defenders could cut attackers in half with a tackle from behind, when a ‘keeper could pick up a backpass (one of the main reasons for the death of the traditional English “hoofer” playing defense), and when there were ZERO great foreign attacking players in the League. So surely GG’s defensive record as Arsenal manager was better than AW’s, right??????
Goals conceded per game under GG = 0.898
Goals conceded per game under AW = 0.885
Hmmmmmm. So Arsenal, despite the back-pass rule, the tackle from behind rule, and the influx of extraordinary foreign attackers like Drogba and Torres and Van Nistelroy and all the others, have conceded fewer goals per game under AW than under GG. Hmmmmmm.
People make it sound as if we have been conceding goals left, right and center over the past few years when in reality there are only 3 teams in England that have conceded fewer. One of them, Chelsea, spent a fortune that we couldnt afford on their defense. Another one, Liverpool, play boring defensive football and score far fewer goals than we do (and they have finished below us 2 of the last 3 seasons). The third, Manchester United, have of course been the exception that proves the rule in English Football for the past 20 years.
People seem to think that having a defense like we had with Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Adams, Bould and Keown should be the norm. No, that is the exception. What we have now is the norm. What we have now is what clubs generally have to put up with, unless they play ultra-defensive football or have a sugar-daddy to buy anyone in the world, no matter what the cost. A mix of the sublime and the ridiculous. We can hope that Chesney, Bartley, Gibbs, Nordtveit etc mature and bring us a new great dawn of defending. But that is just a hope.
No offense but to me supporting arsenal us about more than winnin. If you want winning I suggest man utd and real Madrid. Arsenal is abou doing things the right way in a league that frowns upon it. Arsenal is about the beauty of expresion and natural reaction instead of the primitive methods o lesser clubs. Sure it has not panned out just yet. But I’m enjoying every second if the process. In fact, I worry that once we open the floodgates on the trophies, we will start attracting the fans that so often flock to man utd and the like. It happened with Barcelona this past year. Idn just my two cents
@Paul C
Well said. We’re not so bad after all! 😮
Paul C- are u happy that Arsenal are behind United n Chelsea?? if you’re tryin to compare our statistics with some mediocre teams, then arsenal soon will turn into a mediocre club. Our competition is with the likes of Chelsea and United. And if we fall behind these guys in any terms, then we’re failing. I’ll suggest you should enlarge your vision for arsenal.
Dark Prince – it was once said, by a football supporter, that being a fan was an exercise in following losers. Only one team can win each season. No, I am not happy that Arsenal have been behind Chelsea and Utd the last 6 seasons. Where have I ever given the idea that I am happy about that? Please show me where I have ever, ever given the idea that I am happy to finish 2nd or 3rd?
And where am I comparing our statistics with “mediocre teams” as you say? If you look at my post the only other teams I mention are Chelsea, Manchester Utd, and Liverpool. Are you saying those teams are “mediocre teams”? If not, then please show me where I compare Arsenal with “mediocre teams”. I think your eyes are playing tricks with you mate.
You say “our competition is with the likes of Chelsea and Utd” and that is exactly who I am comparing our record to. We have better statistics than everyone else over recent seasons. We have a very, very, very above average defensive record. In the past 6 seasons Chelsea have conceded 143 goals (a historical low, never before achieved), Utd have conceded 160 goals (find another team in history besides Chelsea that conceded fewer than 160 goals in 6 seasons), Liverpool conceded 183 goals and we conceded 211. Nobody else is even anywhere close to that. And we have scored far more goals than Liverpool in that time. Only Utd and Chelsea are ahead of us over the past 6 seasons, a period where we were building a new stadium, cutting wages and costs, and rebuilding a squad. And you think we are “falling behind”?
You think I need to enlarge my vision. I think you need to get a grip on reality. What exactly do you expect? What did you honestly expect to happen while the stadium was being built? The Board told us over and over that we would struggle financially for a period of time. Most of us realised a top-4 spot was a massive success each season. What did you expect? That we would continue to win Championships during this period? Did you really expect that? Based on what? Especially with Chelsea spending hundreds of millions, you really, honestly expected us to continue winning Championships? See, I think that is just a massive self-delusion on a huge scale.
Yeah, the financial cloud is now lifting. As AW said last week, for the first time in years we have money to spend but due to global financial conditions nobody wants to sell. Look at the Ozil to Madrid saga going on right now. Look at the complete lack of transfer movement this summer. Stuff happens. You cannot wave a magic wand and buy players. Sometimes a club doesnt want to sell. If clubs could just buy world class players with only money as a weapon then surely Cesc would be a Barcelona player right now. Building a squad is like building any business, it is a fine balance between the desire for short-term results and the need to build for long-term stability.
Some of us just accept that you cannot win every season, and that sometimes dry spells happen. It doesnt mean we dont passionately want Arsenal to win every single game they play. I get as gutted watching us lose or draw now as I did when i was a kid in the 70’s and 80’s (and we lost and drew a lot back then) but I am now just able to look at things a bit more realistically and seperate the scare-mongering from honest appraisal of strengths and weaknesses.
Having watched all the opening games for the so called big four(still don’t consider spurs and city as big 4 not yet) i astutely saw a vast difference in the other 3 teams approach to the game…chelsea were chelsea anyway one would think with ballack and deco gone they would struggle a little bit but no they just went on working and tho’ the score line was a little bit flattering you would not fail to notice the machine like very efficient and solid approach. i know one may argue about the quality of the opposition but thats besides the point. Next up liverpool, they showed alot of spirit after going down one man. But manchester utd stole the thunder with their two octogenerians scholes and giggs one would excpect them to struggle but like chelsea they went to work from the get go.Jst like they proved last season without Ronaldo they still havewhat it takes to go the distance. Which leaves my beloved arsenal seriously speakin barring the result why was arshavin non-existent in the game but more so why wenger did not bring in Gibbs or Vela instead to add more ooomph in attack is still a mystery to me. its this lackadaisacal approach towards games from our so called star players and lack of strategy from our manager that will cost us points. Wenger also left it too late to bring in theo and rosicky an extra striker should have been added upfront from the start of the second half and put more pressure but what do i know.I watched how Nani and valencia, park ji sung who were constantly dropping back in defence trackin back and also adding numbers in attack constantly thro’ the game. These players may not be branded as stars but i like their work ethic why cant Arshavin,Theo,Diaby and core have the same attitude in games. Something has to give this season or else will be saying the same things at thr end of the season.
We all want arsenal to do better this season and constructive crticism of our players and manager alike is good. I am not one to bemoan signings but who ever puts on that shirt must prove his worth period. We all can attest to our defensive frailities last season but defence is a collective responsibility. A case in point is how can one expalin Arshavin going AWOL for almost the entire game that is inexcusable. Roasting our back 5 every game is not fair at times. All i want to see is our players genuinely fighting and showing the committment and the players have to be held accountable i want to see Wenger on the touchlines more often this season barking up orders and not waiting too late in the 2’nd half. Change of strategy is also paramount because the opposition already knows what to expect from us every game. We should be very lethal in attack by punishing teams this season who choose to pack the bus.
I also totally agree with @jeery and some other posts its not about winning trophies that matters and while i cant fault our fans for wanting trophies one has to agree 5 years by our standards is too long a wait. But that does not mean that my passion and support for the club is waning quite the contrary its my (and others) love for the club that makes me(us)concerned. We have to realise that the number and quality of the opposition has risen tremendously over the last 3-4 years whereas we would have easily challenged Utd 4-5 years ago with the same squad we had last year or even this year it is becoming increasingly difficult to do the same now with the City’s Chelsea’s and rennaissance of otherwise erstwhile teams like ‘Pool and Spurs. Assuming this resurgence from lesser oppossion from yester years will be our own peril from the football sense of things. I know someone is ready to retort with the line that we are better managed and that the most of our opponents have been buying and buyin, and that this will catch up with them sooner or later with the finacial regualtions et.al. Granted some will find it hard financially but its not the fiscal responsibilty i am worried about. Its the footbal aspect that concerns me. Are the players that put on that uniform not that good enough? I doubt it. Are the players too inexprienced? I highly doubt that. primarily its not the manager i am aiming my barbs at but the attitudinal change starting from the coaching staff all the way to the players that has to change. We all know that this team even last year can go toe to toe with the best of them why they crack at critical times is beyond reprehension. I expect alot more from our players this season trophies notwithstanding.Reinforcements only might not be the panacea but any additions must be complimented with other intangibles like work ethic, strategy and more so mental fortitude from our players. Playing for a great club with one of the best stadia in the world and a world class manager to boot will not gurantee success, they have to work their butt off so whoever puts on that uniform be it Almunia, Djorou, Arshavin they better perform at the highest level as fans we expect nothing less.
Jeeryy…jeeryy…jeeryy… I’m gettin rather bored of ur posts..you keep on blabbin on about the same crap. You must have terrible observation if you think rosicky is a bad player..that’s my opinion..I quite like the guy, he’s got that ‘fight’ in him that we apparently don’t have in our team. My blackberry is broke and it takes me ages to scroll down, stop wasting space on this blog before I report you to the world wide web arsenal AAA knome police for littering!
Too many arsenals methinks….
Paul C- When you say that we’re are ahead of everyone else, your talkin about all the mediocre teams. And when i see that we haven’t been able to better ourselves as compared to United or Chelsea or Liverpool, then it looks terrible. I know how our financial problems are since we came in Emirates. But that shouldn’t be an excuse as of today. We have cleared a majority of our stadium debts and our players too have become big enough to win the titles. But still they seem below the standards. We cannot give an excuse of Stadium debts or inexperience this year. And Arsene Wenger too should realise the problem of injuries and lack of depth in the squad. And we have all waited for Arsenal to rebuild its finances for the stadium debts but now i dont think thats a problem anymore. We have to now look to go ahead of Chelsea and United. And unfortunately it looks like we’re still lagging behind. And thats unacceptable after so many years of re-building the squad.