If you think it is all doom and gloom, just don’t read this

52 Replies to “If you think it is all doom and gloom, just don’t read this”

1. Actually, well said! With a better goal keeper it might have been 0:0!

2. Nice article Walter but I absolutely must pull you up on something, you wrote, “I also think that there were some positive notes on individual performances. Clichy looked like he is coming back to the level we have seen in the past years. He was more solid than in the last games and looked better in his game and he also tried for the first time since his comeback some raids like we have seen them so often”
   I’m sorry but were you watching a different game? Clichy has lost it completely and was at fault for BOTH goals. He has forgotten how to defend so i cannot agree with your praise of him in the slightest. I am afraid that dear Gael had a nightmare season last year and this year has not been an improvment for him – Iknow he has been injured but I am just talking facts. I cannot remember the last time I said “Clichy had a good game today”
   I am not one of the “doom & gloom” merchants, far from it in fact, but let’s be objective here and Gael has not been performing well and yesterday was further proof of that. He was the weak link for sure. It is a big concern for me cos I thought when he broke into the team he was of a better standard than Cashley but I’m afraid Cashley is quite a way in front of him.
   I agree with everything you say though Walter. For some reason I still have complete belief in this team and this season is far from over. COME ON THE ARSENAL!!!!!!!!!!!

3. My only complaint is that we don’t seem to learn from basic (defensive) mistakes that cost us goals week, in week out.Other than that it was a good over all performance against a team that knows how to defend a 2 goal lead.

4. Thanks Walter, You now represent only one of two blogs that I read, as I soo tire of these “Arsenal” fans who can mane the club better than Arsene, sack, buy, get everyone from Villa to Messi and we will be fine..

   You know, I may be simplistic, but I thought we played well, we fought harder in midfeild, i saw Chelsea players on the ground, and all in all with a little luck, what could have been… They had three shouts on target all game, scored two, we had double that, and with Arshavin all alone, he should have scord that, nasri was clean through,and I’m still unsure what he was trying to do, and he had a teammate clear on the other side of the box..2-2..

   We carved out a Chelsea defense that was defending with all their might, and we need to understand, that football is an unkind game, had Drogba missed both of those and we had scored one of ours, there would be a different scenario regarding the various write-ups and discussions.

   My wish is that we continue the progress, I hope no key player leaves, and we play to win all of our remaining matches.. We need to win vs Liverpool and Porto, and just play the game like we did yesterday.

   On a point, though, Clichy played better, but is still making schoolboy mistakes, why leave the post that is your responsibility to run to the post that Sagna was still guarding.. Your responsibility from a set play is to guard that post, until the ball leaves the 18 yard box, that is your job…. For the second, there remains too much space on his wing, and this was also exploited at man u.. Why aren’t there more attacks down our right side, because Sagna is positionally very aware, and they rarely mess with him.. Clichy needs to step up, as he has been identified by the big boys as the weak link..He is better than that…

   Arsenal till i die, love the team,love the philosophy,love the football, some twaeks need to be made, I agree, but I want to laugh when we win, cry when we lose, but watch this team grow,mature, and achieve their obvious potential..

   Vive La Arsenal..Joga Bonita..

5. No matter what gooner for life.

6. Well according to ‘Well Endowed Gooner’, and his Very Large ‘Sources’ (or sauces?) at London Colney, individual players don’t make mistakes.

   TV5 & Clichy have played the whole season together, have a great understanding, TV’s been at the club years, Clichy is the fittest he’s ever been, so when both players decide to have a conference and picnic mid-run as Didier Drogba is running towards them (focusing all his rage & power on AW for letting him end up at Chav$ki of course…), it must be because the AFC coaching staff (which includes Steve Bould) don’t know how to defend.

   In all the anti-french ‘cheese eating surrender-monkey’ type propaganda being hurled at the manager and club, I noticed that the dovetail movement of the ‘Afro-French’ Drogba and Anelka was quite special during that move for the second goal. The best move by a Chelsea team since they’ve had Robben and Duff! But I guess that’s great example of Chelsea ‘out-muscling’ the Arsenal players, of ‘Men against Boys’. The p(l)unditry is so pathetic and transparent it actually cheers me up after a bad result.

   Drogba peaks just as Henry leaves us, and just as our new team is reaching the crest, he gives us his swan song. That was officially Drogba’s Last Laugh.

7. The difference was for me after this game I did not feel angry or let down because the team tried and that is all we can ask. Yes they made a couple of errors that were punished and didn’t take their own chances but overall we were miles better than last week (although you wouldn’t believe it to read some of the reports). I have been watching football a long long time and I like what I see and believe in the plans that Arsene has. People keep stating that our forwards should all be sold because they are injury prone – my reply is they are only injury prone because they play for Arsenal and we are the most fouled team in the league.

8. Bit unfair on Clichy..my understanding is that he left the post to cover a Chelsea player who Arshavin should have been marking!!! Besides, Song completely lost Drogba as the ball came in. A total c@ck up in any event.

9. We are in February for god’s sake, why else field a player who cant perform? Clichy was miles from Drogba when he was allowed to stand by our goalpost inordeer to kick the ball in the net. Clichy is pants, Simples

10. Im a doom and gloom merchant. I cant stand this article. So much perspective and positiveness!! Yuck yuck yucky!

11. I hope that there is a day the new Arsenal team will mature and glow. Ha..ha…maybe another 5 years? Yes, individual players already mature or will mature. Will they fooling around year after year waiting for others to grow up to chase titles. No, I don’t think so and they will definitely go out and search for that in other clubs or leagues. We are so close this year, but Wenger refuse to add a little more energy to the team. From he pre-match saying. He has accomplished his goal of being able stay ranking No.3. I don’t believed fans think the same.

12. I tend to agree with the arguments over Clichy – but who do you put in his place Traore? Silvestre? Bring back Gibbs asap. It thought that we played well overall. Despite the disappointment of losing and us having no striker to speak of at the moment, the season should begin getting easier with a win over Liverfool this week. After that, leave the other ‘top’ teams to lose points against each other as we slaughter the lower-placed teams and climb back to our rightful position at the top. No D&G for me, please.

13. You’d never guess when you listen to Arsenal ‘fans’ that Liverpool and Man Utd fans look at their clubs with tears in their eyes. Although the people who sold all those green & yellow scarves in Manchester won’t be complaining. Protest by spending more money?

    Personally speaking, I don’t mind being ripped off by an overseas investor week in, week out.
    It’s my right as a fan to demand that the owner spends a fraction of the money he’s making off the game on my club.

    Is it an English tradition to get yourself into debt for short-term success, in a market skewed to the creditors advantage? (I thought that people gave up on that concept towards the end of the 19th century? You know, after reading a bit of Dickens, Elliot, etc…)
    Is that what the p(l)undits mean when they talk about being ‘out muscled’? Is it a reference to the lack of bailiff’s on the club grounds?

14. Chelsea played like champions…. that is not a cliche, thats the fact. And we were hopless with all that possesion. Some of the crosses were pre-school. We could have done better; but we were better than the Man U Sunday for sure

15. Come on man, Chelsea let us have possession. Barcalona has Ibrahimovic up front who can wreak havoc, we have a Russian midget playing out of position. Barcelona have Messi, we have Walcott. They have a Pique we have 2 small CBs. Dani Alves is the most explosive attacking fullback in the world, Sagna can’t even do a proper cross in the box. We are trying to play Total Football without the talent to play Total Football. It’s getting embarrassing. I love Wenger and I hope he changes his stubborn ways because soon this “Fire Wenger” mob will get what they want.

16. First time poster, and no LeGrove style doom monger. But, neither do I subscribe to the blinkered optimism often on show here. The truth, as is usually the case, lies somewhere in between.
    Arsene has done an extraordinary job in difficult circumstances during the last five years. Could anyone else have done better, or even as well? Almost certainly not.
    However, and i beleive this to be a major reason for many fans discontent; information about the financial constraints placed upon the football side of the business, have been drip-fed to us, the customers, by the board.
    When the new stadium was first mooted, all the talk was of the greater financial muscle it would equip us with. This continued throughout the building process, with barely a word about the need to tighten belts. We saw arguably the best Arsenal team of the modern era dismantled, but optimistically believed something at least as good would soon follow. This has turned out to be a fallacy, and the board are responsible.
    I believe that their disregard for the people that continue to finance their “business”, for that is what it is to them, is directly responsible for the existance of sites like Le Grove.
    So Arsene has had it tough, but blind adoration is as stupid a position as the doom mongers’. The man is fallable, we all are, and i think it’s perfectly reasonable that questions are asked when the team fails to live up to our expectations.
    On Sunday I clearly saw Diaby tell Walcott to mark John Terry for the corner that led to the first goal. Now, this, and many other examples of naivety, are not a product of a failure to spend millions. Rather a lack of tactical nous on behalf of the coaching staff, and ultimately the manager

17. I used to like this site as it was a good counter balance to the reactionary drivel elsewhere – unfortunately it has become a caricature of itself, where whatever happens all we can see is signs of success. It is just a circle jerk now.

    If I believe the comments and articles on here, if only we had taken our chances and Chelsea missed theirs then it would have been alright – er, if my Aunty had bollocks she would be my uncle!

    For any Arsenal manager at any time in the 40 years I have been supporting this team to come out and say he was satisfied with our performance when we have just lost a crucial game by being “handled” by our opponents is a disgrace. It is not anti-Arsenal to say so, in fact it is the most pro-Arsenal ting you can say. Our lack of ambition has been revealed in the last month and it hurts like hell. Turning any request for new players in areas where we are glaringly weak is not a desire to bankrupt the club, and the people who say so are being totally disingenuous.

18. I agree, Arsenal did play better than against Man Utd but we still weren’t good enough with – apart from Van Persie – our stongest 11. What was embarrassing was that Chelsea’s 2nd goal was a carbon copy of Man Utd’s 2nd goal last week. Defensively we are not learning our lessons. We are defending too high up the pitch, not picking up the runners and Gallas in particular is running around thinking he’s the 3rd striker in a free role. So what we had more possession – Chelsea let us, as did Mau Utd and alot of other teams. They have got us sussed – sit back, soak up the pressure, let us have the ball as we play crab football running from side to side without going anywhere then hit us on the break knowing full well that we can’t actually defend and that Almunia has got to be the worst goalkeeper this side of League 1!
    I’ve said this on some of the doom and gloom blogs – Wenger is defensively and tactically inept. He has no idea how to nullify an oponents strengths and exploit an oponents weaknesses. I fully understand that we have no money and that the profits from player sales has to go towards the stadium debt particularly as the recession has hit the Highbury square development hard but that is no excuse for absolutely shocking schoolboy defending time and time again. We lack height and strength in our team and Chelsea and Man Utd are playing now like we used to with the invincibles – sit deep, keep it tight and hit on the break. We’re too obsessed with trying to walk the ball into the net. We don’t have any genuine wingers with pace like we used too, we have no defensive monsters like Adams and Keown and Midfielders like Vieira and Gilberto and we’ve got no one apart from Arshavin who can actually shoot from outside the box. Until Wenger wakes up and realises that his model isn’t working and that he needs a quality Keeper and some players who are not only technically brilliant but also physically big and strong we are not going to win anything for another 5 years. I know it isn’t our divine right to win trophies but we are only a few players away from having a team that can dominate. What worries me the most is that if things don’t change – and change quickly then the D&G’s will force Wenger out and the likes of Fabregass will go with too.
    One more thing. I get extremely irritated by blogs like yours that critisise the Arsenal fans that dare to have an opinion that doesn’t match yours? Who says you’re right and they’re wrong? I find your attitude very arrogant to say the least. We are all fans and are entitled to our opinions. Just because some don’t share yours doesn’t make them wrong and certainly doesn’t make them lesser fans either.

19. Barca didn’t have Ibrahimovic last season. They won playing Messi as a CF in the final! Remember that header?
    No doubt the Chelsea games influenced the decision to bring in Ibrahimovic.

    Chelsea let Barca have possession too. Remeber Ineista and Drogba’s behaviour at the end of that SF? Barca were lucky. But for the two incidents of kamikazee defending, we played better then that Barca team did at the Coal Shed.

    AW had planned for this in advance too. Remember Ade, and his understudy NB52?

    Well, the AFC fanbase decided they didn’t like Ade, as he’d done far more to undermine the dressing room when compared to say Terry at Chelsea. Pathetic jingoism I’m afraid. Ade didn’t cover himself in glory either, a sad story.

    And here we are.

    The fire Wenger mob were shot down last season. Is it surprising that they’ve waited for a run of poor form?

    ‘I think AFC will struggle to come 4th this season’, they said.
    ‘Why didn’t we sign a striker, say €50M for Calton Cole at a time when all other clubs aren’t spending?’ ‘Can’t we still get Herik Larsson on loan?

    AFC need a ‘defensive midfielder’.
    Anyone else watch Song and Diaby yesterday?
    Ok, apart from when Song drifted too far forward for the break away goal. Fine against Notlob, but maybe not Chav$ki.

20. Finally, somone is getting behind arsenal! We need more fans like that, sick of these doubters, arsenal tried bloody hard With the players on the pitch, if we maybe heard more support for them and cheering I think it will lift the players, com on arsenal!!

21. Some players need to learn how to shoot from outside the box.

22. great job walter. it’s been a while since i’ve commented, but this article just jumped right at me. i’ve been keeping away from the blogs as of late as i’ve just been so sad with our results as of late, first against MANure at the Emirates, and then with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge – I didn’t want the seemingly collective mindset of doom and gloom to further dampen my spirits. i couldn’t however help myself and visited arsenalnews.net just now (it’s the only other site i really visit, after this one of course) and your article lay there like a diamond in the rough. it was just the pick-me-up read i needed. i completely agree with everything you’ve said. everyone blames clichy for the first goal, but in my oppinion song was just as much at fault as he was – drogba was his man, yet i don’t see anyone blaming him and cole was able to get passed sagna a couple of times as well… wasn’t it his surge forward that won the corner that resulted in drogba’s goal? save some moments, the team defended well enough as a collective for most part of the match in my oppinion (this is a team that has put 7 past sunderland and has scored a lot of goals against the other teams who employ the park-the-bus strategy). the exciting way arsenal play will always leave room for the opposing team to counter-attack and chelsea is one of the best teams in the world – to limit them to 3 chances is no tiny feat (this is the team that gave barcelona trouble in the champions league semi-final last year). we dominated them. it’s just we made 2 careless mistakes, and were made to pay for them by probably the best goal-poacher in the world – if drogba gets within 6 yards of the goal, he’ll put it in probably 9 out of 10 times – and he only managed to get into those dangerous areas (a feat that he has seemingly no problem doing with other clubs) twice. like you said clichy is just coming back from injury and is getting better with every game, he did seem a lot stronger against chelsea then against manu and villa. and besides, we don’t have any other option as well, gibbs is injured and traore is just a lesser clichy in my oppinion. let’s all just get behind the team (yes, almunia included) and support them through the remainder of the season, because wether we like it or not, we’re in too deep to drastically change anything – and besides who says there’s need for changing.. the average age of our squad is (22 or 23) and we’re sitting 3rd place in the toughest league in the world and are still challenging for the title, and are left with relatively, the easiest fixture list amongst the top 3. another article i’ve come across, that’s unlike most of the doom and gloom stuff that’s out there is Andrew Weber’s article on Arsenal FC about how Wenger meant to throw that game so as to prepare our players for a winning streak – i don’t know if agree with him, but it’s another way to look at it, and it’s a lot better than all the other articles out there that are more fitting to be in the revelations. the streak starts with Liverpool.

23. oh and in response to those saying we need more players that can shoot out of the box – i completely disagree… besides arshavin, we have rosicky (probably my first pick to take an outside shot), fabregas, van persie (granted out injured), ramsey, bendtner, denilson and has everyone forgotten about vermaelen’s wonder-left-foot – it’s better than some strikers’!

24. Too many doom merchants out there for my likeing, all of them without fail seem to imply that that are bloging in my name, which is strange since I don’t remember speaking to any one of them regarding the future of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal football club, and that’s something else that these anti Arsenal supporting blogs tend to forget is that Arsenal are a football club, we actualy try to win games by playing attacking football, we don’t go out to park the bus and hit the oppostion on the counter attack, we try to win playing a brand of football that is a joy to watch, ok, so we may not win anything this season or next season or the season after that, but you know what? I realy don’t care, I just like to see us play the football that I love to watch, I love to see our young players get the chance to express them selves in the Carling Cup or the FA Cup knowing that they will be praised for a good display and not condemed after a defeat.

    I love my club the way it is, the way it’s run, the way we play, the way we are, it’s the Arsenal way and if people on those anti Arsenal supporters blogs don’t like it then please go and give your lousy support to the manures and chelski’s of the football league and leave my club to those who like me happen to love the club without reservation!

25. great words jazbo. let them leave. i am just sick and tired of the complaints. i dont believe there’s anyone out there who can do the arsenal job better than wenger. young players+playing great football+mostly injured throughout the season+2nd highest scorers n sitting in 3rd position and the most financially balanced club. let the d and gs go find some other club 2 support. i m sick

26. Question for you all;
    Who said,”when i played against Arsenal,and you saw them in the tunnel they were 6foot plus.How many times will that tosser Redknapp say that.As i have already posted on the previous blog,we need to calm down(Liverpool accent of course).We have the best Manager,and a team that entertains,and will make a massive impression in years to come.Football fiances is changing.Who would have throught Unt,Liverpool and Pompey would be in the mess they are in.I cannot see big monet being spent in the P.League(only City).I pray and long for the day when we can round on the mediaand tell them f… you lot.
    Read McNultys blog on the BBC football,you will know what i mean.A totally anti bias report against us,wanker.

27. I apologise for my language,but just read what he has written.This is on one of the most popular sites in the U.K.

28. I respect you alot and enjoy reading your point of view but this time i stopped after reading the first two lines. After losing the most critical games of the season, how can we say yes its football, and yes winning and losing is part of it. Have had enough of that rhetoric.

29. poster u’r an idiot! wenger should change his stupid and stubborn ways or leave.. PERIOD!!!

30. I commented recently that I thought the biggest disappointments would be the points dropped against Sunderland, West Ham and Burnley, but looking at the league table today, it will be the 0 points from 12 against Man IOU and Chelski, that will costs us dear in the end. If only we had drawn all of these games even. We would have 4 more points and they would both have 4 less – meaning we would be nicely in 2nd today, just 1 point behind Chelsea, but with a good run-in until the end of the season to get us there. With Man city ready to muscle in on the race for the championship in the coming years, next season we just have to address the recent results against ManIOU and Chelski because they are still the most important results of the season, as I hope my point above shows. We are still a Flamini, a Hleb, and an Adebayor short IMO, and others will argue that we also need a strong, tall centre back too (or 2 for that matter). If Chamakh signs in the summer, he will go some way to addressing the loss of Adebayor – he’s a good player Chamakh, and can link up play well and work hard for the team. However, we miss Hleb because he never gave the ball away and his passing was much more penetrative than Nasri – even though he didn’t score much, and there will never be a better foil for Fab than Flamini, who bossed Chelsea in the 07/08 season games. Whatever peoples own opinions are, AW has never adequately replaced the class and nous of these players and it is a big reason why we are now falling short.
    AW has always got more things right than wrong though and I do reckon it will be an interesting summer – and expect some changes to be made. Until then I have good confidence that we will win most of our remaining games in EPL and play some great stuff to boot. CL may falter at QF stage though.

31. @AGS-

    HLEB never gave the ball away? Yes he did as a matter of fact & Often. Nasri is not as penetrative? Well I guess if that includes his time off to broken leg I may concede your point. As for Flamini well 1 good season if that puts you in the legend status for Arsenal you are a cheap date. Finally, ADE the guy is a joke so I guess this kind of wraps up your argument. Huh?
    Maybe you should have added we may win at least the majority of the EPL games left and will finish between 1st and tenth and as far as CL goes we will make play OK against some team from Portugal.

32. Hamad once again we only lost 3 points and I would have loved to take them but we can do nothing about it anymore.
    I can’t help it but when I analyse the game I really think we only allowed them 3 shots on goal.
    Just think of it again we played on their ground, the first in the league and they only had half the shots on goal compared to us.
    We just didn’t take our chances like they did.
    And when some say that Chelsea just leaned back and let us come then I would like to ask you that if Chelsea was so much better than us, how come they didn’t kill us off on the counter ? Because we didn’t let them (after the second goal anyway). No they tried but we didn’t let them start the counter all they could do was defend and defend. They played at home, 2-0 up and they hardly could get a shot on our goal.

    So yes I’m an optimistic character and I always try to look at the good side of life and after the first moments of feeling down for the defeat I try to take a distance on the result and try to analyze the game and well this was what I came up with.

    I hope it is still not forbidden to look and to search at the good things in life. 😉

    I must say that I am a great fan of Monty Python series and films and like in the Life of Brian, the final sequence and song it could be a bit of a summarize on how I try to take on life. Always look on the bright side of life…

    I hope I don’t get shot for this…;-)

33. And don’t forget Dean let us down once again. The ref that gives penalty for fun just can’t blow his whistle when an Arsenal player is fouled.
    Like I said before the game when I saw Dean was the ref: one penalty down for us and so it proved to be. He couldn’t give them one as they almost didn’t make our penalty box but he sure was determined not to give us one.

34. Walter, you are a rare combination of a passionate and a very optimistic fan. I don’t know if I could ever be both but I respect you for showing immense love for my beloved Arsenal.

    Let’s hope I am wrong about the season!!

    Cheers.

35. Finsbury, are you saying that we defended well against Chelsea, or that we defended well against Man Utd? If you think that, you must agree with Wenger that we were the better side and that we were unlucky to lose. If that’s the case, there’s no point arguing with you. However, I don’t think we defended well. And I don’t think our keeper is up to scratch, either. The first can be addressed with better coaching. The second can be addressed in the transfer window.

    I’ve got nothing against the philosophy of sound finances. The idea of debt-driven football is abhorrent to me. But why are we doing the opposite? If 75% of a transfer fee must be reinvested in the squad, and we raked in 44 million from Toure and Adebayor, why didn’t we spend more than the 10 million on Vermaelen to replenish the squad? Why did we use that surplus to extend the contracts of the rest of the squad?

36. I don’t need to write anything long here (a rare exception for me), except to say I stand right next to you Walter (and Tony as well) in your perspective and feeling regarding The Arsenal.

37. Hi Walter/Tony,

    I’m an Antwerp guy like Walter, but now living in Thailand (for many years).
    In my humble oppinion the biggest problem Arsenal are facing is the fact that none of his teammembers have faith in Almunia, and that there seems to be a bit of animosity between Fabregas and Arshavin.
    I became an Arsenal fan whilst living here simply because except for the BPL there is litte football aired in Thailand and for me Arsenal play the most attractive football of all the BPL teams.I don’t need them to win siverware as long as I can enjoy what the players perform on the pitch.
    However having said that can someone please tell A.W. that he should get rid of Walcott.
    Best regards from a very warm Bangkok.
    Stan

38. Just an attempt at some perspective here:

    If we had shared the points with Man U and Chelsea we would be top of the league.

    The fact that we didn’t, and the way we lost to Chelsea and Man U at home has got the D and G ‘ers in a froth.

    The real problem for this team though has, IMO, got nothing to do with quality. Nothing to do with new signings, nothing much to do with the manager.

    The real problem is self-belief.

    Viera, Bergkamp, TH, Petit, Adams etc all had high levels of self-belief.

    Some of our players lack that right now – maybe the fact that we lost so badly at home shows that they froze.

    If you picked out an EPl best 11 , we would have 3/4 players in there (Nasri, Fabregas, Sagna, Arshavin).

    Most of our players are top quality, no question about it.

    Arsene can try and instill self-belief, but ultimately only players like Song, Nasri and Arshavin can stand up and say:

    “I am world class, and can prove it”

    Until they believe that, the team cannot progress from prominence to dominance.

    AW has done the right thing letting them play the game he has instilled.
    Attacking football.

    Why should we not?

    If the players had true self-belief, we would end up putting Chelsea and Man U back in their box.

39. spot on mark. Let someone mark my words this very day. Neither chelski nor manure would win a trophy this season. Please note that i said this first.

40. Well done again Walter ,always enjoy your posts.I too, like most of the regulars,and especially you,try to stay positive even in defeat.The second
    half was totally ours and Drogba [as usual] was the only difference.Other than Glichy’s schoolboy errors ,I think everyone tried hard but luck was not on our side.This team will improve and vindicate us.Keep your sprits up
    guys -its not the end yet.

41. “There is no truth. There is only perception. ” – Gustav Flaubert
    “Crisis is Opportunity” – Ancient Chinese motto.

    I wonder if it would be possible to create a sibling club at Arsenal.
    Hear me out here.

    It would be called Arsenal 2 and would have all the rights afforded to Arsenal. Image rights etc etc etc. We could then reconstruct Highbury, and either Arsenal 1 or Arsenal 2 could make it their home.

    Okay, so you have Arsenal 2.

    Its a franchise type thing I guess.

    Then you sell it for a fantastic sum to a rich Arab/Russian/Oriental magnate/oligarch/sheikh/criminal.

    It comes with complete rights to the Arsenal franchise brand.

    It can be run on any model that the owner likes, but I would suggest the peceniary arboretum model.

    The great thing about such a Franchise would be that it is “good to go” straight from the bag.

    There are a guestimated 30,000 supporters gagging to support such a club…..hint they are called D and G -ers.

    imagine all the positives.

    We make fantastic sums selling the franchise, we lose the hangers-on, and we loosen up some stadium space for genuwine supporters……

42. Brigi, I think the Nasri situation you mention show why the team lost the game. I believe the loss came of a lack of belief in their own abilities. They were certainly dominating, so even if I would like to say I can not say it was because of the amount and degree of injuries this season.

    Vermaelen, is the dominating aggressive centrehalf we have been needing to complement Gallas. He has got a lot of potential and have been impressing hugely. His long balls and passing is adding a new dimension to the attacking play. He is, in my humble opinion, struggling with some players when it comes to keeping the balance between when to go into their bodies or stand off. This is something he will learn very soon, and certainly 95% of the time he is excellent. Good article, refreshing to read something else than the doom and gloom that is the opposite of where the club actually is

43. Walter, I have been thinking of the stadium expansion. The waiting list for season tickets is even larger than at Highbury. What is the situation in regards to stadium expansion? If you know anything about it, could you be so kind to clarify? Is it out of the question because of the subway development that is still awaiting, and possibly the Queensland Road development? I believe the Highbury dev. is finished and soon sold out. Is the club waiting to apply for an expansion until those developments have been finished? I can not see how they can not expand when this is affordable compared to the waiting list for tickets. From the last financial report it does seem they can afford it, but it also seem they are prioritizing a new market expansion approach to its business.

44. …of course the Highbury dev. was hit of the recession, but from what I can read from Gazidis’s words it was not hit hard as he said it looks certain to be a profit

45. At the end of the day, if you can’t take losses and time without trophies then football is clearly not for you.

    And Mark got it right……..the only thing that is preventing this group of players from winning trophies is SELF BELIEF.

    Will we help them believe? Or will we believe in the other cunts who play for the teams we hate?

46. Spot on diceman. Losing is part of football. And losing is not easy but the first thing a man has got to do after a defeat is get up and start all over again and work harder than before.

    And you certainly don’t go sitting in a corner and act like a baby or a spoiled little child that doesn’t get a candy in the supermarket and is stamping on the floor and crying his longs out.
    I’m past that age. 😉

47. We’ll be back. Faith X 3! Amen.

    http://11gunners.com/opinion/a-perfect-exhibition-of-the-elephant-syndrome/3081/

48. @Hartwick89
    You have your opinion, and I have mine. Whether you agree with it or not, thats fine, but please don’t try and throw insults and derision at them because thats all they are – opinions (thats why football is so great). Maybe your views would be served better if you gave an opinion of your own in this case, rather than just try to rubbish someone elses.

49. @AGS-
    Sorry… I will stick to the story next time. You are right.

50. well-endowed gooner

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8500129.stm

    AW @: 0:35

    “It;s difficult to accaept a defeat like that. But at the end of the day, we were not awake…we were guilty…”

    That is what AW said.
    And what I said is earlier is written above.

    Another blogger here taught me an expression, ‘lying by omission’ (Thanks!). It’s a lame tactic, if it is deliberate.

    I think you’re doing it again in the next article, (well-endowed gooner.
    February 9th, 2010 at 10:08 am) by stating that winning the the FA Cup was more important then finishing fourth in the league. Unfortunately, it isn’t. That’s the reality the club and manager have to deal with, they can’t change what they say and do as easily as you do upon their behalf.

    If what you are saying is that the club can defend better, I don’t think anyone would disagree with you, but that isn’t what you seem to be saying. All I can say in reply to your Hidden Agenda that by observing that a Communication Breakdown that leads to a goal, or three, is down to tactics or a style of play, & because of ‘coaching’, is not a very useful statement.
    Coaching is a general term, I don’t really know much about football on a tactical level but if it was that easy I’m sure we could all coach football. If what you’re saying is the team can defend better, no one would disagree with you. You could say that because they are all ‘foreigners’ that they don’t speak the same mother tongue, and that would make more sense then saying they can’t defend.

    And to answer your other points.
    I am completely ignorant of the clubs finances. But like Alan Green who hosts a podcast where he indulges all his emotions and vents all his rage, partially in caricature with others, it’s very funny because of that, but he quantifies that with his unambiguous assessment of the job he’s done for AFC. So, therefore, he can say what he likes on his podcast about players etc…IMO, but it is a different medium, more appropriate to such flippant banter. I note he spends more time abusing himself and the opposition then Arsenal, Hmmmm…

    For me as well, in context, AW is not a crook, and has earned my trust.

    But I believe people like to have wish lists:

    So so to save time & energy I’m going to pirate a post by shotta-gunna too answer your whinge about transfers:

    ” If wishes were horses, all beggars would ride!

    ” I just love the English Solution. In the past two years alone the following teams have bought big name strikers at various points in the window, yet their current position is inferior to Arsenal. The Scum and ManArab have spent real big on 4 or 5 strikers in the hope they had back-ups for the back-up. The results are questionable at best sufficient to say spending-big is a crap shoot at best. Below are figueres from Wiki:
    • Man City: (Tevez – £47 million, Bellamy – £14 million, Adebayor – £25 million, Roque Santa Cruz – £17.5 million) – Current league position 6th
    • Spurs: (Defoe – £15.75m, Crouch – £10 million, Keane – £12/16 million, Pavlyuchenko – £14 million ) – Curent league position 5th.
    • Sunderland: (Bent – £16.5 million) – Current league position 13th.
    • Villa (Hesky – £3.5 million) – Current league position 7th

    I have ignored ManUSA’s £30.75 million boondoggle in the form of Berbatov cause they are better placed in the League despite the Berba-swoon. I am sure that proponents of “Arsene should have spent big in January” will try to massage the raw data data to suit their point of view. But figures don’t lie, do they? ”

    By: shotta-gunna on February 8, 2010
    at 9:35 pm On ACLF ( Sorry Untold Arsenal)

51. * But like Alan Green who hosts a podcast where he indulges all his emotions and vents all his rage, partially in caricature with others (it’s very funny because of that) he quantifies that with his unambiguous assessment of the job AW’s done for AFC. So, therefore, he can say what he likes on his podcast about players etc…IMO

52. *Alan Davies* I’m not the world’s greatest typist.