By Tony Attwood
“The worst Cameroon team in living memory.”
I suspect there are people somewhere who are talking about this being worst Arsenal team in living memory. I only mention Cameroon because they have just won the Africa Cup and I have seen them so called. Mohamed Elneny scored to put Egypt ahead in the first half but Cameroon scored in the second to take the trophy. Elneny is available for us in five days, according to the rules as I understand them, although they might be changed at any time. Fifa is like that.
I have no idea if the insult against Cameroon is justified or not, but I know that the comment directed against Arsenal certainly isn’t. I’ve seen far, far, far worse teams playing for Arsenal. If you want to be reminded, you might care to have a look at the Arsenal story of July to December 1975.
That wasn’t a one off. There are loads of times like that in Arsenal’s history. The record number of consecutive defeats under Terry Neill. The record run of non-scoring games under George Graham. Coming 12th in the league as recently as 1995.
Indeed I suspect Leicester supporters might be thinking along these lines at the moment. What with Kasper Schmeichel warning of relegation after an ‘unacceptable’ defeat, and speaking about his embarrassment (apparently). They are now one point above the relegation zone.
It raises an interesting psychological question: would it be better to have secured a place in the Champions League year after year, with all the money that entails, and a couple of consecutive FA Cup victories of late, or to have one the league once and then suffer relegation?
It might happen to Leicester – it certainly has happened before when Manchester City had a final run to pip Arsenal to the league for the first time, but then subsequently were relegated in the following season.
I now read that Claudio Ranieri is under growing pressure, and it appears that the media is lapping this up. He might well be sacked it seems, and I wonder what the Leicester City fans make of it all. If they were to go down to the Championship, would that one triumph have been worth it?
And come to that will the fans blame Ranieri? If they do it seems to me to be very unfair, because as far back as last April I was pondering the issue of the strange activities relating to the marketing company behind Leicester’s rise to success. The club urgently needed a lot more money after winning the league in order to stay near to the top. But such are the oddities of the way the club is sold to marketing firms it seems this wasn’t forthcoming. Money was spent on upping player salaries and fending off supposed interest elsewhere, and as a result the club had little left to buy significant new players to develop the squad.
Whether Arsenal really wanted to buy anyone from Leicester last summer is a matter for debate of course – certainly there are enough inconsistencies in the tales of Vardy and Mahrez to suggest there was much more going on at the time than was revealed. As it was, it all turned out in Arsenal’s favour, Leicester spent the extra money and gained… well, nothing except a fight against relegation.
Certainly even before Leicester won the title a lot of people were expressing concern about Leicester. Consider some of these headlines
“9 reasons why Leicester winning the title would be the worst thing to football” was a bit strong but articles such as “Why is Leicester F.C playing so poorly this season” tell a similar tale.
And there have been many such articles
“What on earth has happened to Leicester City in the Premier League?” asked the Telegraph while the Spectator claimed that “Leicester City’s title win is the worst thing to have happened to football”
“Schmeichel: Leicester’s season has been terrible and embarrassing” in now doing the rounds, following on from “Jamie Vardy is finding this season horrible” in the Mirror. In fact even their fans find themselves part of the calamity as the Metro pronounced that “LCFC overtake Arsenal as having the most cringey fans with AWFUL song”. In their normal sneering approach the Metro decried ‘Gooners and we’re Gunning’ and the Mesut Ozil parody of Stormzy’s ‘Shut Up’ claiming that have Arsenal supporters widely celebrated as the most cringeworthy fans on the planet. But “We’re the blues anthem” is even seemingly even worse.
I’ve pondered this long and hard while sitting looking at the Pacific Ocean, and I’ve reached the conclusion that the Arsenal “supporters” who moan and claim that this is the worst Arsenal team, and indeed the worst football team in the history of football teams (which makes me think, have they actually seen Blackburn Rovers of late?) would probably not be happy with winning the league.
Just as winning the FA Cup two years running was not enough (the “years without a trophy” thing instantly became “years without winning the league” in the aftermath of the Cup wins), so I suspect the 14th league title will itself not be enough, and we will quickly be told that Arsenal will only be considered a semi-decent team if we then retain the title.
In short nothing satisfies these people. At the very very least what is wanted is a return to one of the two dominant periods of Arsenal’s 128 year history. Those being 1930 to 1939 (5 league wins, two FA Cups) and 1998 to 2005 (3 league titles, four FA Cups).
In fact I am actually wondering if such a sequence of trophies would be enough. Seven trophies in ten seasons in the 1930s, seven trophies in the eight seasons across the turn of the century are our best runs. But now that the FA Cup apparently doesn’t count any more, so such past triumphs would need to be exceeded.
Perhaps it would be three league titles in a row, as achieved by Huddersfield, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man U twice.
Or maybe more than that.
But the more I think on this, the more I conclude that there are quite a few people around who call themselves Arsenal supporters who actually wouldn’t be satisfied with anything short of absolute world domination.
And that leads me to the solution.
Sack Wenger, bring in Trump. That should do it.
Or failing that, Putin.
The Putin idea is interesting, something tells me the media would suddenly become quite supportive of Arsenal. (In reality it’s not funny I know, I couldn’t help myself.)
It is time to give someone else a chance. Wenger has had time now, and money to spend. I honestly think the squad is good. I think we have great players, but i dont htink wenger is getting them to play to their potential. They have grown complacent. And i am aftraid so has he.
Its time to try something else. Even if it means falling out of the top 4 for a season or two. And honestly you are stupid to think that winning the league wouldnt make people happy. Even fighting to the very end and losing out would be good enough. But thats not the case, and hasnt been for a long time.
With due respect I find this article quite appalling. The author doesn’t consider the fact that four years ago we bought Mesut and that was supposed to have been he start of building the club back into a champion side. That was four years back. We have added some serious talent. But our results our inconsistencies have remained. There have been some serious misses on acquiring talent and serious misses of tactically aligning the team against the big 6 teams. When we beat Mancity in their home game we thought we finally have started playing with some tactical awareness. But lining up 4-2-3-1 match after match has not helped. They say “doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result” is a best definition of insanity. I have high respect for Le Prof for what he has done for the club during the lean years. But now things have gone beyond bad.
The thing is, something that happens over and over again is either completely deliberate or extremely foolish.
The pattern of previous seasons is what is emerging and fans will be worried that “it’s happening again”, to quote a much used phrase here.
Arsenal are just seemingly stuck in a rut and cannot get out to progress further. Arsenal need now to stop being a family and being a football club, a business. Progress as a family just will not happen it seems.
All in all it’s sad, but still we’ve got games to go yet and this season may well be that Arsenal changing season, which ever way it goes, i’m easy, new manager or not.
I would not like to make the choice anymore.
Your suspicions that people are saying “this is the worst Arsenal Team in living memory” are probably shared by a few ten year olds, but I’ve seen no mention of it anywhere else and it’s the sort of remark that could cause media headlines like ARSENAL FANS THINK THIS IS THE WORST ARSENAL TEAM IN LIVING MEMORY.
You then go on qualify it by talking about “the comment directed against Arsenal”. Directed by who? You made it up. it’s your own comment.
I must be a victim of my own naivety, because I can think of no reason for you to make such a provocative comment other than that you must be on the same stuff as The Byrds when they sang about being “Eight Miles High”
I get your point Para. Arsenal is a family club just like the PGMOL is a family club.
Tony now you’ve brainwashed about a dozen isn’t it time to kick start the new Religion ” Untoldology “
Ehm, how come my comment is still “awaiting moderation”, and i see other comments that were poster an hour or more after mine? Was it really that offensive?
Hope they are not calling you a whingeing pommy down there.
Suspected Match Fixing in Portugal.
Feirense beat Rio Ave 2-1 in the Portuguese top flight. The result moved Feirense up the table away from the relegation zone and left Rio Ave marooned in mid table. On Monday afternoon that bookmakers in Portugal had suspended betting on this fixture.
An individual of Chinese extraction bet 100,000 euros on a Feirense victory in both halves of the match at odds of 3/1.
The bet was placed in Póvoa de Varzim which is close to Rio Ave.
There are now claims online that some Chinese gamblers have good contacts with Rio Ave players in the Povoa Casino, where players of Rio Ave play in poker tournaments.
This suggestion is right now just an internet rumour and is not thought to be the reason why betting was suspended on Portuguese betting sites on the Feirense game.
In the end, Feirense did not win both halves of the game, as whilst the first half was a 1-0 win, the second finished 1-1 due to a 90th minute Rio Ave goal.
On the face of it, backing Feirense who have improved under a new coach, against Rio Ave who have a poor recent record away from home, was not that unlikely.
But, the size of the bet, and the fact it was made in person, alerted the authorities in Portugal.
Rio Ave confirmed to the Portuguese press that they had been notified about the bet and would be sending their side of events to the authorities in the coming days
==========================
These are extracts of translations from various Portuguese sites and league fan forums. Also try googling the name of the teams if you want to read any local news about this.
Sigve, it was close. Calling someone stupid in a first post doesn’t bode well for the future….
But the real reason is that Tony is standing upside down in Australia and is deep asleep during our day and that I do have other things to do during the day than constantly checking the website to see if new posters have said something.
So any new poster: do have a bit of patience and using non-abusive language is really helpful.
Oh and regular posters get their comments posted immediately. So should yours appear straight away if you care to post another comment.
If I have one criticism of Wenger it is the new ‘fans’ he has attracted to the club. They came expecting us to win every match, every trophy, because it is our right. As for getting behind the club and the manager through thick and thin just forget it! Are we mid table? No. Are we fighting relegation? No. Were we dumped out of the Champions League and are now in the Europa League? No.
They should be careful what they wish for.
Hahaha Tony, bring in Trump or Putin. That tickled.
The media drives everything these days. You pick up any papers back pages (or online versions) as most fans do and you see stories created to galvanise support behind a certain notion. You provide abridged stats mixed with alternative facts and a ‘collective’ way of thinking is created.
If you listen to TalkSports Drive- I don’t recommend it- you would perhaps have noticed that they had a feature that ran daily (The Daily Arsenal) slagging Arsenal off which only stopped last year when Durham and Gough fancied Arsenal to win the title. Durham actually once suggested Arsenal not make the Champions League to give another team a go since Arsenal had no chance at it? They have suggested sacking Wenger, spending more money, getting rid of Kroenke and all the other media-created notions that are the solutions to the clubs problems.
My point is you repeat a notion often enough, readers/listeners start believing it’s true or right.
Would Birmingham trade their League Cup win to be in the EPL right now? in a heartbeat. The same goes for Wigan and their FA Cup triumph. The problem with Arsenal fans is we don’t appreciate how good we have it now. United fans certainly wish Fergie could roll back the years…
I would like Arsenal to win the league but not at the expense of relegation or even finishing outside the European places.
As an Arsenal supporter for live that am I, I will not mind if Arsenal will be winning the EPL and one of the ELC and FA Cup titles every season and even be winning the domestic treble occasionally like Celtic, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona have been winning every season or every other season.
Under Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United were dominating the EPL at one time in history as they were regular winners of the PL title and often won the domestic double or treble as if there is no any other club in the PL that is strong enough to challenge them successfully to the winning of the PL title and the other two domestic titles as they continued to win these titles unabated until Sir Alex retired from managing the club.
If It’s about building a formidable team that can win titles, more so the two most priced titles of the PL and CL, Le Prof had over a decade ago built a team that was invisible which won the PL. But ever since then, he has been struggling to build another team that if not invisible but at least should had won the PL title four times over as Arsenal came very closed to winning them in the last few seasons. But he hasn’t succeeded at doing this overtime and some of Arsenal supporters who have been patient with him during the club’s austerity time when he was building the Emirates Stadium for the club have appeared now to have ran out of their patience with him for his not winning the PL title again after the Stadium building was long completed and the austere period was over are now agitating for a managerial change to see if such a change can rekindle Arsenal PL title win despite such a change doesn’t guarantee winning the PL title but more or less a gamble taken which may come off or fail.
The present Arsenal senior team as it is currently constituted is not a weak team talkless of being a bad team. But it is a very strong and powerful team that can win the PL title this season but if Le Prof will be making the most correct starts to start each of the remaining Arsenal’s 14 PL games of this season which will give Arsenal a better chance to recapture the title than the starts that had been started by Le Prof for Arsenal’s PL games in the past recent weeks.
To my own believe and understanding, Arsenal are still in this season’s PL title race as they can be said to be in the races for a treble title win and they can win all these three titles if Le Prof will be doing the needful starts of his Gunners to be starting in all these games, Arsenal will win the treble this season. For a start to that long journey of winning the treble this season, let’s focus seriously on how Arsenal will bounce back to winning ways in the PL by beating Hull City on Saturday at the Emirates Stadium. Beating Hull is key to Arsenal starting a new 14 PL winning run to finish on 89 points on top of the table on the final day of the season as Chelsea are not immune to dropping points..
Please Mr Broeckx, can I ask why you have put my comment to be awaiting moderation?
Tony, Dats, kindly do not confuse the WOB and the AAA with facts, logic and common sense.
Tony i doubt you have come across many supporters who claim this is the worst arsenal side theyve seen .So your using this argument to criticise some fans who want change.What the majority of fans now see is that we have stagnated as a club and havent made any progress in the last decade.We see the club are in a comfort zone ,the manager is in a comfort zone and the players definitely look like theyre playing in a comfort zone .Something has to change and it has to start with the man who runs the club top to bottom.I only hope that at the end of the season he does what he said hed do and that is to judge him in may and make way for a new manager.Hopefully then all fans can stop the infighting and stand together and celebrate the 20 years he has given us.
Of course Dammy, no one is talking or contemplating Arsenal winning the PL title this season at the expense of relegation next season. So, such a notion should not even have been brought up in the first place. Because Arsenal are not Man City who were relegated immediately after they’ve won the PL title. As for Leicester, they’ve not yet been relegated soon after becoming champions last season. So, we should wait to see if it’ll also happen to them before we can start to sight them as another example. As Arsenal supporters that we all are, we all know that Arsenal can never be relegated because the clubs owners and us the Arsenal supporters at any time in a season will never, I repeat never, allow Arsenal to be relegated. For, it is an abominable act to allow Arsenal to be relegated.
Samuel
The pedant in me insists that I correct your error in saying Man City were relegated immediately after winning the PL. It was the old Div 1 and in 1937/38. I didn’t know that until I just Googled it.
Tony
I must admit I haven’t come across the comments that this is the worst Arsenal team ever. Hell, I’ve been watching Arsenal for 20+ years (a bit before Mr Wenger arrived) and it doesn’t even come close. It’s not even the worst Arsenal in the Wenger era.
For instance, I’ve stated before that Arsenal have been seriously underperforming in big games since the beginning of 2016. Whichever way you put it, one victory in fifteen games is an awful record. I’m also worried about our home record.
However, in 1996-97, when we had Seaman, Dixon, Keown, Adams, Winterburn, Vieira, Parlour, Wright, Bergkamp…that most Arsenal fans would be thrilled to have in our team now (and I can understand that – I would be thrilled to see Ray Parlour in our midfield these days) we collected just three points against the rest of Top Four. One victory and five defeats against Manchester United, Newcastle and Liverpool. We missed out on the Champions League place because of that 0:1 defeat at home against Newcastle in the penultimate match of the season. You know, at that good ol’ Highbury that some Arsenal fans feel a special nostalgia about connecting that stadium with only our good results. Well, Arsenal lost three out of three matches against the rest of Top Four at Highbury that season.
My point is, I agree with you that Arsenal fans need to check all facts before making big conclusions.
The thing is, in my opinion, Arsenal DO need to reshuffle cards. We need to man up and do something we did in March 2013 after the NLD defeat with a squad that was both thinner and much worse in terms of players’ quality. Mr Wenger made a few strong changes – changed our goalkeeper (Fabianski for Szczesny), introduced Mertesacker for Vermaelen, introduced a midfield duo Arteta-Ramsey and played for the result only until the end of the season. Aside from a Pyrrhic yet impressive victory in Munich and convincing victory against Reading, it wasn’t a beautiful thing to watch – my eyes were burning after watching us struggling to get more than a 1:0 victory against 10-men Fulham or that 0:0 draw against Everton at home – but we managed to pick 26 points out of 30 and get our 4th place in front of the noses of our noisy neighbours.
If proof was needed that the whole EPL gambit together with partners in crime is waging war on Arsenal, here it is.
Sky, the country’s major Sports Media company, that also happens to operate a major sports betting arm, has the following “predictions” by “experts” published today:
Matt Le Tissier predicts: Chelsea 1st, Manchester City 2nd, Tottenham 3rd, Manchester United 4th (25/1 with Sky Bet)
Phil Thompson predicts: Chelsea 1st, Manchester City 2nd, Tottenham 3rd, Liverpool 4th (18/1 with Sky Bet)
Charlie Nicholas predicts: Chelsea 1st, Manchester City 2nd Tottenham 3rd, Arsenal 4th (18/1 with Sky Bet)
Paul Merson predicts: Chelsea 1st, Tottenham 2nd, Manchester City 3rd, Manchester United 4th (18/1 with Sky Bet)
So, here we have the major Sport’s presenters, on the medium that PAYS the EPL/FA to show the games, making predictions on the outcome of the major football league in the world, via it’s own betting company.
Now, tell me this. How does this not invite accusations of corruption at the highest level of the game in this country, and how come the authorities cannot acknowledge that possibility?
When i first used to go to Higbury, my mate Vincent Price (no less!) and I would look at each other walking up Blackstock Rd after the last home game and say,
“42 games, 42 points…? That’ll do”.
As long as we best Spurs at home and got a draw at WHL we wre deliriously happy, Then the silly bastards got all flash in the League Cup and got stuffed at Wembley 2 seasons running. That was very hard goimg into work THOSE two Monday mornings, never mind Twitter, it was Slagger back then.
Because that existential misery that one experiences when ones favourites emerge onto the pitch wearing their boots of clay is felt most keenly; I always found that the North Bank terraces provided an ideal opportunity for one to get rid of that same existential misery by heaping down opprobrium, imprecations and curses upon our fallen idols. Some of the funniest things I have ever heard in life have been hurled from the terraces. Pity the hapless winger who had jst put a cords behind for the 4th time. We kmow who we are talking about, don’t we Alan Skirton?
Anyway – Fate beckoned…
Then came the Fairs Cup and the following year, the 1st Double. I was at WHL. I’ll always have that, Alan Matthews!
But the net result of success is that a pedestal of sorts becomes erected in the minds of the average fan; and there is only one way possible to go after sweeping all before you – and that is down.
Ripping the piss out of your fellow rival fans when their teams fail is one of life’s minor pleasures. Why should we not expect the same, in whatever form it appears?
I like Untold because it is a forum where all sorts of fans, anti-fans, rival fans, old codgers like me & Leon and new fans, eager for success and regarding Bertie Mee’s Arsenal rather like Herbert Chapman’s. I even like it when other teams fans get on here. There was an Man City fan used to get on awhile ago – he was quite funny. Even old Samuel Whatsit Adethingo gives me a smile now and again. I was In Lagos back in 1974 Samuel – Ikoyi and Tarkwa Bay.
I’ll shut up now.
COYG!
Am behind you blood. to me Arsenal is such a big team and I don’t blame thier failure to beat Chelsea..People should remember that Chelsea is in one strong league currently yet it has many players..Its not in champions league not even europa…So if Chelsea wins the PLE I will not be surprised they deserve it because they have limited games than Arsenal.
Arsenal yes struggle but these boys are real good and I believe in them together with their coach I think as fans we need to stand behind our team and give it as much support as we can..Last season Arsenal made it to second, who knows we may not take the league but we may still be second remember above those teams that invested alot in players, and have less games. but Arsenal can try and make it to 2 3 4 its huge…Dont compare England league to German and Spain..When you come to England the game changes alot than any league in the world.
Long live Arsen and long live Arsenal.
Msc posts
”We see the club are in a comfort zone ,the manager is in a comfort zone and the players definitely look like theyre playing in a comfort zone”
That is true for every player in the Premiership. That is true for every manager and club in the Premiership. True for every retired player who becomes a pundit.
It’s all easy money except – your body gets smashed. You can pick up injuries in the Premiership that cripple you for life.
What is the point of risking an injury that you have to carry through your life chasing down a 50:50 ball in order to get three points, and do this every week from August to May, and what do you get at the end of chasing down all those 50;50 balls week in, week out throught eight months, a trophy that will be barely remembered the next season, because every season there are trophies, and one season rolls into the next, and anyone on their death bed would struggle to remember the year, the season, the trophy lifted, but they might remember a goal,a pass?
As an old shop steward I would tell the members it’s not worth the candle. You have one life, one body.
It would all change if the pgMOB were kicked into touch, video technology was introduced, and the same standard of refereeing, the same interpretation of the rules, was introduced and shared across all Europe, so that the only way to win a trophy was by playing football, the referee an invisible facilitator.
If you can’t stand beside the fire, jump into it simple.If you join the monkeys dance expect the tails to touch on you if you don’t want the tails to touch on you don’t join the dance. So if you hate Le!-Prof and the Mighty Arsenal join Leicester the Champ’s or else keep your fu…. Mandibles closed simple.
What are you last 2 posters going on about???
Zedsaunt Just to pick you up on a few points.Can you tell me another manager in the premier league that is under less pressure than Wenger to perform??Maybe Ranieri at a push because he won the premier league last season and deserves some slack but everyone else knows that if they dont perform they will be sacked .All exept one, not due to what he won last year or 5 years ago but because of the money he makes the owners and what he did over 12 years ago.When a manager isnt under pressure his players arent under pressure to perform which has a cancerous effect on the whole club.
Also you say that its true for every player in the premiership.That is also not true.Guardiola dropped Arguero on sunday for a young player jesus.Could you ever see Wenger dropping ozil no matter how poor he has been of late ??NO.
And you said”It’s all easy money except – your body gets smashed. You can pick up injuries in the Premiership that cripple you for life. – Are you talking about football here or rugby league??Can you tell me that last player who was crippled for life playing football??No probably not.
You know its time to say goodbye to the manager when your club have been taken over as the best team in london and your rivals have won the title 4 times since we last won it (and soon to be 5 ) and have won the champions league too.
Hell even their fans in their thousands sang on sat during the game that they wanted Wenger to stay.I know he wanted to feel loved so as he would stay but when the only fans singing your name are the opposition it must rile.
Who do I want in you ask?
Well no not trump or homer Simpson but Get Diego Simeone as manager. Get that annoying guy Godin at the back. Get someone who just scores goals. Get midfielders from a destitute village, where they send the children off to the sulphur mines. Play at a high tempo, with results over flair being a priority. Kick people, shove them, dive, shout at the ref. Be really horrible, play ugly but win. If you’re going to get a red card, make sure you drag off two of their players in a headlock as you leave the pitch.
I like Wenger, he’s an Arsenal legend. I don’t want to see the man fired but do feel he should go at the end of the season. If he won’t leave by his own accord than I think not offering the man a new contract is the most respectful way end to his tenure.
The reason I want him to go is quite rational and simple. I think Arsenal’s ambition should be to challenge for the title (my definition being that you are still in the title race in the last 2/3 weeks of the season). It’s not a ‘right’ for our club as some would have you believe but it should definitely be the ambition. Wenger has not fulfilled this criteria for over ten years now so should go. Any new manager is given 2/3 years to achieve this and is moved on/has his contract extended depending on performances. No bed wetting hystertia just a thanks for you time/it didn’t work out/we’re going in a different direction respectful parting of the ways.
If it goes badly and we turn into a top seven team instead of top four one then lower the ambition to top four for a few years then back to challenging for the league. Ultimate goal is always to win the league though, I can’t understand why the ambition would be to do anything else.
This isn’t a particularly enlighting message or one to provoke a landslide of retorts but I do believe this is the feeling of a sizeable number (dare I say majority?) of Arsenal fans who just want the club to come out of its current stasis and excite the fans once more
OK Aki, you have made your point. That’s what you want. It has not got much to do with the tradition of Arsenal, nor is there any certainty that what you propose will bring better results than we have had in the last 3 seasons (2 cups and a second if I may remind you). Nor, given the way the refs treat us now, does it guarantee that we wouldnt have 2 points deducted each game (as happened once). It’s an option, but one with a very high risk of failure. We might fail to get in the manager you want (after all the team needs quite a bit of changing according to you) and we might not get the players we want. And then what?
We prepare and make plans to get the best manager in.Tony can you think why top managers wouldnt want to come to Arsenal if we offered the right money?And dont mention rubbish about because of the fans because that wont wash.How did city get Guardiola?How did Liverpool get Klopp?How did UTD get mourinio??
Simeone has very different players, operates in a very different league, has access to South American players we do not , due to third party ownership rules, he has very different tactics.
We would need virtually a whole new team to play his way, even if he was available to us, it is widely reported he is not.
I doubt very much Mr Kroenke would permit a new manager the spending DS would need to make Arsenal play his way.
And the football would be exceedingly boring, with no guarantee of the success he has enjoyed in Spain.
mac asks
Can you tell me that last player who was crippled for life playing football??No probably not.
Eduardo for a start. Diarby. Ian Wright, doesn’t he occaisonally tell you how much it’s cost him in his body to have played football? Surgery. Broken bones. Then there’s the longterm consequences of concussion. There is supposed to be an FA inquiry into dementia reporting at some future point, this kickstarted by Geoff Astle’s early death.
A Van Persie with his surgery, how’s he going to walk in ten years? You run up against one hard question – why should someone risk injury so the likes of you can claim bragging rights just because you’re a fan?
Everything you demand Mr Wenger should do, and the players, is for you, as if they are your servants.
mac posts
”When a manager isnt under pressure his players arent under pressure to perform which has a cancerous effect on the whole club”
I don’t know what age you are, or how many people you’ve seen die, but a visit to see someone close to you in the cancer ward is very different from following a football team.
@ Jack – ” But our results our inconsistencies have remained.” I’m sorry, but that is an absolute load of shyte. Ever since we have been able to spend some real money, we have won 2 consecutive FA cups and moved up 1 league position, season by season. You have also seemed to glaze over the fact that our rivals have been spending hundreds of millions and building their ridiculously expensive squads for 10+ years. Arsenal on the other hand, have only been able to spend for a few seasons.
“But now things have gone beyond bad.” This is what you consider “beyond bad”, is it? Even though 95% of football clubs in the world would do anything to swap positions with Arsenal, you still consider this as being “beyond bad” do you?
It just annoys me so much that Arsenal are 3 points off of 2nd in arguable the toughest league in the world, still in both the FA cup and Champions League, yet some of our “fans” still consider this to be “beyond bad”. It’s just absolutely ridiculous.
WalterBroeckx I apologize to both Tony and you, poor choice of words. Aside from my language, i still think i had a point. Winning the league is everything. And fighting for it until the end would help a lot to.
Jammy J, probably 99% of the worlds clubs would do anything to swap. and? Arsenal are the 5th richest club in the world. Their manager is one of the best paid in the world also i am sure. and 3 points of second, is still 12 points of first, and considering that most of our rivals have stumbled as well.
He has a great team now with great players, you cant argue that. Perhaps a few to many similar player types. But all in all his squad, that he has built over the last 4 years is good enough to compete for the league, until the very bitter end.
Zedsaunt
We have had a lot of rubbish on this site recently sad to say (from people in discussion not articles of course).
But you have cheered me up with your wise words. Thank you.
Zedsaunt
07/02/2017 at 6:13 pm
Quality of your post is lost on the mind of the unknowing.
One idiot mentioned Untoldology because he is still struggling to shoot for his first experience of sexual joy.
Sigve – winning the League is not everything. Waking up each day pain free is close to everything. Building a club to its current value & drawing a salary that is paltry (compared to the bonuses that bankers get for lesser performances) is truly a magnificent achievement in sport, all this despite a slope to survive on.
Arsenal for me are the best sporting footballing club in the world. They play with a level of morality & sportsmanship that is rare to see in this day. There is no trophy for honesty nor is there one for humility. The trophy is only a focus for sport or in some cases a focus for cheats attain false glory.
Having supported the Arsenal for over 46 years , I have seen some crap teams over the years . Last year we took 6 points off Champions Leicester City and this season have shared the points with the leaders ,so how far we off by ?
Last season , the so called top teams all lost points to LCFC , and they are not doing too well this season either against Chelsea . Yes , we have lost and dropped points in games that we were expected to win , thanks to poor and selective refereeing . As well as our own poor form and poor judgment .
For those who would like to see some drastic changes , especially with all that money you’ll save with BREXIT, and in the new era of Donald the great national wall builder , what do you suggest ?
– English shareholders only ? Am sure there must be many bored billionaires just waiting and totally wanting in , so that they will spend their fucking money at every twist and turn and at the fans’ whims .
Will Stan and Usmanov be ordered by their presidents to sell off their stakes and reinvest in their respective countries ? All in the name of patriotic duty , of course.
– An English manager ? The list is endless . Surely that ought get those pesky refs off our backs?
– More high end and classy English players ? Surely there must be many out there ?
– Only English refs ? Wait,… there ARE only English refs in the EPL !
Damn , back to the drawing board !
Menace every fan thinks their club is the best sporting football club in the world.And dont worry this season we will win the Morality and sportsmanship trophy.Now menace we can add that to the 4th place trophy,the most points in a calender year trophy, the best run club in the world trophy and the club that makes money trophy.Wenger really is doing an incredible job .Give the man a new 2 year contract now,he definitely deserves it!!
Brickfields
Id stick to your crappy jokes if i were you.
The long standing Latin motto at Arsenal is “Victoria Concordia Crescit”.
This translates as Victory Grows Through Harmony.
Maybe this is why the Arsenal team is struggling at present, because it can’t be denied that the fan base is very much divided.
Tony is correct in saying that things may very well not be any better at Arsenal with a new manager. The counter argument and one which I am now leaning towards is that things may very well not be any better WITH Wenger. Indeed leaving aside the 2 FA cups nothing has really changed as so far as improving in the league for well over a decade now. Yes we finished 2nd last season, but we were as far away from challenging for the title as we have ever been since 2005. Wenger is also now 67. It is perhaps to be expected that he will not be able to improve at his age.
That is not a criticism, it is just perhaps reality.
And with a new manager maybe ,just maybe Victoria Concordia Crecit could be achieved. Look at what Chelsea are doing this season.
Karma IS a bitch ! Groundhog day forever ?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/08/donald-trump-obnoxious-karma-reincarnated-as-himself-frankie-boyle
Humour has it !
http://ijr.com/2016/03/568896-120-most-insulting-donald-trump-jokes/
115. “When Trump says stuff, it doesn’t have to be practical or even true. Because he’s a liar. He’s a liar, he’s a racist and he’s a friend of Piers Morgan’s.”
—Andy Hamilton