OUT , OUT , OUT !!1
Not much to say , it's always predictable , same old story as in last 5 seasons and we now get used to it , is that a beginning of meltdown ?
From Uz : Arsenal's yearly implosion.
The implosion, albeit late, has arrived.
From Thad Cox : I've had enough
I'm fed up with the same old story every year - Imploding after Xmas.
Getting injuries to key players, yet never signing cover or someone to shake up the team mentality. Crashing out of all competitions by creating endless chances, but never taking them in big games.
I hate myself for listening to Wenger, talking guff about potential.
It saddens me to see Jack playing in a team of gutless flat track bullies. I never realised how good we had it in the days of Bergkamp, Wright, Pires, Henry, Vieira. I am beginning to despise Bendtner, Clichy , Denilson, Rosicky, Diaby. They represent the weakness, the 'Tim Henman'esque lack of bottle. ......sorry. It's been building up for a few years now. I've lost my trust in Arsene, our relationship will never be the same again.
From Simon : Arsène Wenger, the Modern Day King Canute.
Same old, same old. Pretty and ineffective football. Can't shoot. Won't shoot. Man U win. Goalkeeper has a blinder AGAIN. We lose a key player through injury AGAIN.
Arsène Wenger is a modern day King Canute. I retract my riposte and admit that this is a meltdown of the highest order.
From Alex: I'm very bored Post United loss I jumped onto Facebook to see the headline from Arsenal's official page 'A good performance against a strong opposition'. It highlighted everything that is wrong with Arsenal football club. Not winning is seen as a highly acceptable result for the season. I once justified that Arsenal's lack of English players is not a concern of mine because our manager is paid to improve the club and not the national side. Well. this now goes further. Arsene, your job is not to further the careers of young players but to bring the best possible team to the club and get them winning trophies. I do not want to hear the line 'what happens to a young player when you bring in more experienced players?' as an excuse not to invest. If Diaby's career fails because a better, more experienced player is brought in for the benefit of the team, then great. In fact if Diaby, Denilson, Eboue, Bendtner, Arshavin, Clichy, Almunia et al have shitty careers because Arsenal brought in better players, then that is just fine by me. If these better players are 18 or 30, I still don't care so long as they are better. But until this club accepts that coming first is good and everything else is losing then we are going to have weeks like this one over and over and over again From Steve Nicola : Dumb & Dumber illustrate Wenger's flawed strategy Hi Myles, Having just watched us lose yet again at Old Trafford, I am feeling immensely frustrated, more so than I thought I would. Why do I feel so annoyed? Is it because Fergie outfoxed Wenger for the umpteenth time, sitting back with two banks of four and letting us play our pretty, ineffective football in front of them before scoring on the counter? Or is it because - Wilshere and Nasri apart - none of our players looked as motivated and determined as their opposite numbers, most of whom are not even regular starters for Man Utd? Well, actually it's neither of these. It's because the presence of Diaby and Denilson in our starting line up reminded me of the Chelsea semi final in 2009 and reaffirmed how flawed Wenger's youth policy is. In that game at Wembley our glorious leader d ropped Arshavin and Nasri so he could play Dumb Diaby and Dumber Denilson, citing the reason that he "wanted them to believe they could win against a team like Chelsea." He sacrificed the game in order to develop his players. Only it hasn't worked out that way as two years on they're still underperforming and haven't acquired any mental strength. For the second Saturday running Wenger played Dumb & Dumber alongside Wilshere in midfield. Did you not watch the first hour against Sunderland Wenger? Did you not see how impotent we were, how pedestrian our forward play was? How Dumb Diaby slowed the tempo too much? How Dumber Denilson makes only sideways passes and has no positional sense? How we only carved open Sunderland once you subbed them? Of course he noticed, but decided in his infinite wisdom that Dumb & Dumber needed yet another chance to prove they can make the grade. Never mind that between them they have racked up 308 appearances for Arsenal, stubborn Wenger keeps picking them in the forlorn hope he can make solid Premiership players out of them. How many more years are you going to give them, Wenger? How many more years are we going have to put up with nearly winning something because you refuse to buy proven Premiership quality and pamper mediocre players like Dumb & Dumber? I'm not holding my breath, but until Wenger changes his ways our trophy cabinet will continue to gather dust. Steve PS - Please keep writing the blog, I really enjoy it.
From David : Saturday
What a total waste of time on Saturday.
Would have been so much better for fans and the club just to give the tie to Man U and not bother making the journey.
Arsenal have been absolutely diabolical in the FA Cup this year. More irritating was the look on Diaby's face when he was brought off. He played dreadfully, the team hadn't made Van Der Sar do anything, and they were looking very likely to exit a 3rd competition in a fortnight.
Yet Diaby looked like he didn't have a care in the world as he ran off, and patted his replacement (Ramsey) on the back as if to say 'Enjoy a quick stretch of your legs, no need to try and do anything about the result.'
Guess he knew full well that no-one was going to get angry at him for his performance. Diaby and Denilson, please leave this summer!! -
From Roy Newson: 3 out of 4 escaped
At Wembley I couldn't believe how we threw away our first Cup chance in the dying moments with a farce more suited to the theatre.
On Tuesday I stayed home with my three ladies to celebrate International Women's Day & enjoy dinner. Discretely catching up on my little radio hoping to hear us dump Barca out of the Champions League. Pity then that our game didn' get under way, but who's to blame?
Not the AW or the team but the referee. Er, how many shots on goal?
And this weekend I readied myself with family in front of tele to watch us take on our great enemy Man Ure. Unfortunately, another falling by the wayside. One up to Fergie. One more attempt to go to avoid yet another trophyless season.
Since 2005 we have gone rapidly backwards. Why is this? Why has the Club ignored basic principles? Why has AW turned good practice on it's head?
Not giving Gallas a 2-year contract and forcing him out to Spurs. Not realising that Sol Campbell made a great contribution on his second time with us. Was that also wise?. The fans know how influental those two and others have been in adding experience and beef to the side.
Two wrong judgements among many. Sorry, all these errors add up and in the we stand today in total disarray.
I've been a supporter for over 50 years, am a season ticket holder and am apalled at the current mismanagement that has brought us to this point.
Myopia reigns. The Club champions financial diligence above all else but achievements don't come from the balance sheet.
Our record rests on our brilliance on the pitch and the trophies, rewards and respect this brings. Football is a sport not just a business.
Now we are fed only excuses not trophies. Arsene, the epitomy of excuse culture. Never to blame.
Imagine Simon Rattle at the Berlin Philharmonic relying only on young instumemtalists. Arsene was supreme when he married experience with fresh blood. Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Lee and Nigel. He prolonged their careers with his methods. He added to them Thiery and Patrick. What a mix !
It has all gone bellyup in the pursuit of idle dreams. Now its the tinkering philosophy which has proved to be a failure. Others always responsible for our failures. Excuses worn thin.
Alex Ferguson bought a mature goalie from Fulham some long time ago - many commentators expressed doubts.
He's still there getting better and better. What a master stroke that decision proved to be, as we saw again to our cost this week against us.
Why didn't Wenger buy Shay Given when he was still at Newscastle ? Another smart move ignored. Many other similar misses made. Now it is all delusional and like the Emporer's clothes, no one at the club has the b***s to so.
Where do we stand now? Can we go onto win the Premiership? One half of me says " that would be great - for the lad's in the squad" The other half of me says "That will just reinforce AW's view that he has been right all along".
At the end of the day no person is bigger than the Club, so for that reason, and for us to get back to reality and common sense, I think it should be his last season.
Mar 14, 2011