Written by Red Arse
Wengerball or Not Wengerball? That is the Question!
OK, so everyone is disappointed and frustrated by Arsenal’s recurring annual springtime aversion to winning games and clinching titles. The Blackburn game is just the most recent example of a flaccid performance leading to an unsatisfactory anti-climax.
Look, it’s not over until the fat lady toots her flute so let’s not give up yet, there’s many a slip twixt cup and lip, as you well know. That being said, what the heck is going wrong?
There is a pernicious and increasingly acrimonious split, verging on a gulf, emerging between Gooners with very different schools of thought as to what they see as an acceptable level of achievement for the club, and we need to determine if there is anything to be learnt from this division.
A First up; In the pro-Wengerball camp there is a firm belief that Arsène Wenger, and his vision of playing an exquisite style of fast, technical football, is the right way to go, while also remaining within tight financial constraints to ensure the long-term financial and commercial viability of the club.
An important rider to this is that many of the slightly older supporters do not want to return to the days of unedifying clogging and exhaustingly dire football which blighted their lives in the past.
B In the other camp; there is a frustrated, angry and increasingly strident element whose impatience is leading them to declaim the manager and many of his players. Their mantra seems to be ‘we want trophies, at whatever price’ and if that requires more prosaic, ‘industrial’ football, as well as Wenger and several of his players going, then so be it.
The consequences of this approach calls for an end to Arsène’s derided youth project and the purchase of expensive established footballers and to hell with financial stability.
These are, of course, broad brush descriptions of the opposing camps views and there are many variants on these themes.
I fall, unapologetically, into the pro-Wenger camp, but with my own addendum. I firmly believe that playing wonderful football will, in and of itself, produce the longed for trophies, provided we can establish what has brought on this annual malaise and rectify it, as discussed below.
Watching the Blackburn and other games on TV, and recording them for more sober reflection, it becomes apparent that the Wengerball style has gone into hibernation. Gone is the fast, slick passing, high scoring, attacking game many of us so love. Instead we are being treated to a team of imposters who present a slow, cumbersome, poor passing game sadly lacking in guile, creativity or firepower.
Why has this happened? Well, if Denilson or Diaby had been playing recently we could have blamed our ritual scapegoats. But they were not. If Almunia had let in a couple more goals on Saturday, which he did his best to do, we could have blamed him. But he did not.
So what has happened to the team who have played so beautifully, earlier in the season, and have achieved success which leaves us a creditable second in the EPL at the moment?
‘Confidence has deserted a number of our players,’ I can hear many of you say, and that is undoubtedly true, but that is surely not the whole story. Good teams can overcome individual drops both in form and/or confidence and still come out on top.
Debates will surely rage about the ‘whys and wherefores’ of the team’s demise, but I will not attempt to engage in that discussion in this article.
What I can say, is that the team’s performances, however forensically we may examine the individuals or the tactics involved, will no doubt reveal various shortcomings, to one degree or another, but will not reveal the main cause of the problem.
I have been quietly watching our main competitors, both in the EPL and Europe, and also looking back at our successful teams of the past to discover the missing ingredient, and hopefully find the solution to our current problem.
And eureka I have arrived at what seems a blindingly obvious difference between success and failure.
The ‘old’ Arsenal teams, and the most successful contemporary football teams, had that va-va voom ingredient, able to pull irons out of the fire when things were not going smoothly.
That special ingredient, capable of turning a good team into perennial winners, is/was the possession of a very special player, or two, such as Ian Wright, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Paddy Vierra, Messi, Villa, Bale and, yes, Rooney.
Much though I treasure many of the talented players in our current team, Cesc, Jack or Samir, for example, I also believe we need someone special, in addition, to make us all tremble with anticipation. That player should be capable of grabbing the game by the ghoulies and changing a loss to a draw, or a draw to a win. That player could be a special centre back or a special centre forward or a special midfielder, or better yet, all three.
Note the deliberate use of that word ‘special’. We do not need another player with potential or an inexpensive journeyman who can ‘do a job’, but someone ‘special’.
I can already hear the yells of the financially aware Wengerball literati out there saying that we cannot afford the money such ‘special’ purchases would require. Others are, probably, yelling that they are not prepared to watch ‘pretty’ football any longer and go trophyless, as a consequence.
Clearly neither camp is happy with the current situation.
The paradox is that if we do not invest in special players because of the risk to our current financial stability, we risk losing our place at the top table which will affect both our prize money and our commercial income to the detriment of the club’s future financial stability.
It’s a tough call, but if we need ‘special’ players, and I think we do, with all that means financially, the club and Arsene have got to carefully reconsider their strategy and act accordingly.
My advice, Arsène, would be to trust your instincts, continue with the youth project, please carry on with Wengerball but also select and buy the right ‘special’ player(s) and he or they will repay you with trophies and be a self funding project to boot.
That will close the divide between the fans and you will rightly be a hero to all!
This year’s EPL trophy is still within our grasp, but following the above advice would make next year a sure fire certainty for success.
Go for it!!
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Great post RA and some difficult truths.
I think ‘project youth’ should be renamed ‘project pragmatism’ and as such has been a huge success. AW had the vision to devise a strategy to keep us at the top of the prem whilst spending virtually nothing – pure brilliance.
The problem as I see it is the mantra. We do lack aggression, urgency, the ability to go up a gear etc etc. I don’t know whether the players we have can develop those instincts with the help of a slightly different emphasis from the coaching staff or whether we need a couple of new players to inject that into the side. That is AW’s job. I expect him to do something about it.
Why am I first, that is a good post.
Morning Rasp
Your last sentence caught my eye, I would be very disappointed if something radical isn’t attempted between now and the end of the season.
Morning London,
I posted this on yesterday’s post a few minutes ago when in debate with GiE….
I completely agree GiE. Harry said the same thing to me before the CC final – what happens to our season if we don’t win? Well we’ve seen what happens.
I don’t think its rocket science, we lack aggression as a team and try to score the perfect goal instead of taking risks when we attack.
Its not the end of the world if the team loses possession when attempting a swift attacking move. We must commit 3 or 4 players forward when attacking at pace instead of going for the steady build up which allows the opposition’s defence to close ranks and leaves us vulnerable to being hit on the break.
I said on monday that our obsession with possession football is part of the problem. I’m hoping one of the statos will produce some figures, but I wouldn’t mind betting that we have won a higher percentage of games when we’ve had less possession than average.
The fact that we keep the ball for long periods but don’t score means that we can’t be doing much with it apart from clever passing. The best goal of the season was scored against barca when we had been defending deep and made the most of it when we finally got hold of the ball.
Morning all. Excellent post RA. I agree that we must be wary of a kneejerk reaction to our current form. Throwing out the baby with the bath water would be self harming and masochistic. I think I am slowly coming down on the side of importing a bit of bigtime spirit. I know this is what Wenger intended when he signed AA and it’s a shame that RvP cannot always be our special one like those greats you mentioned.
Talking of special ones, ‘Arry has been beaten in all 5 encounters with Mourinho 😀
We do need to bring in the euphamistic ” special ” player. Most successful teams enhance their squad annually, not just in the search for better players but to keep the existing ones on their toes. Liverpool did it throughout their reign and Ferguson has done it continually throughout his. Even George did it by buying Wright after Smith had won golden boots.Wenger’s financial constraints have bred complacency, he needs to shake things up. Trouble is a lot of us have been saying this for a couple of years at least.
Good article, I agree pretty much and also fall squarely into the Pro Wenger camp.
I also want to reiterate something Rasp referred to in the first comment.
This idea that Wenger has opted for kids and will always do so is inaccurate as it assumes that we’ve had a significant option other than to do this. I am sick of making this point on various blogs but when we decided to move to The Emirates something had to give financially. Wenger focused on youth and fostering a team ethic as he knew he couldn’t compete in the transfer market. He has said this time and time again.
We have foregone trophies in this period but have remained competetive. For example, on a tight budget have the best Champions League qualification record of ANY team in the last 15 years. It’s not a trophy but it’s one hell of an achievment.
The idea that Wenger should have spent big since the Invincibles is a fanstasy; it wasn’t possible. Those who want Wenger out can demand what they like but the last 6 years have been about far more than that.
I’m not happy falling at the final hurdle year in year out but I also see the bigger picture. If rumour is to be believed we have some money to spend this summer and Wenger has an eye on restructuring the side. The time to judge him for not spending or focusing dogmatically on young players is this summer as it’s the first real chance he’s had to do anything different.
If we’d not focussed on youth and tried to compete with the likes of United, City or Chelsea in the transfer market we’d be fighting for a European place in a lovely stadium rather than chasing the title.
Also, in case it’s escaped anyones notice, there are still 8 games left to go. Let’s not start the post mortem just yet.
Morning Carlito,
I agree that knee jerk reactions are almost always a mistake and I don’t think any regular blogger on here has suggested such a course – we leave that stuff to other sites.
Mornnig Raspers/London – a fine read REdA and a concerted attempt to evaluate where we are and a valid nod towards the “Civil war” breaking out amongst goonerdom.
Not wanting to toot my own trumpet, but I’m pretty sure I also mentioned the potential for our season to unravel should we fail to win the CC Cup.
I’m sure I heard rumours that Wenger was going to have a clear out of sub standard players last season yet they remained with only Gallas and Eddy leaving and a number of players who were not, in my opinion, going to help us push on stay.
One would like to think this summer we will be rid of players who are merely taking a fat wage and are either unfit most of the time or not good enough.
Morning Guys, 🙂
Some very good points raised in response.
Rasper/Peaches, thank you for amending my use of two inappropriate apostrophes. See, I did notice! 🙂
Thank goodness you did before the 26 spotted them!!
Morning chary,
I won’t conjecture on the outcome of this season for the reasons Smith14 gives, but I do hope that whatever our fortunes in the next 8 games, that we will make positive moves over the summer to reinforce and if that means letting some players go then so be it.
i dont think your assessment of people in the B camp is correct. we dont want “success at any price” – i have never heard that from anyone, so please get your facts right. what we are asking for is quality players within our budget, freshen up the squad and move on the dross. no one is asking for a Leeds or Portsmouth situation, just spend on the areas we know needs attention. i dont think thats too much to ask considering we are told we have money and we know we never spent the £40m from kolo and ade
maybe you need a C category
rob – I think you’ll find that the £40m from the sale of Ade and Kolo went towards a one off re-payment that was needed against the Highbury development. The slow-down in the housing market meant that the club had to find the money elsewhere and were lucky to sell 2 such high profile players – that we didn’t want anymore 🙂
…… to a club that had more money than sense 😀
True Raspers, perhaps it is an argument best had in the close season – it’s just that I see certain players who’ve been with us for years and had plenty of time/opportunities to realise their potential and they haven’t.
I was also told that during the warm up to the game on Saturday our players were relaxed and joking, like mates having a kick around before Sunday lunch, rather than looking focussed and determined.
Can we blame the manager for creating(what appears to me)this no-pressure/”doesn’t matter if you don’t win” environment?
I don’t like Piles Palmer but is he really so far off the mark when he talks of the “Colney Creche” ?
More worryingly Lehmann was facing some penalty kicks and failing to save pretty much all of them – so we have to ensure Almunia has a good run and/or Chesney comes back quick.
Hi rob, the accountants on here will tell you that we have just about broken even over the last few years and that included putting the revenue from the sales of Ade and Kolo in the coffers rather than spending it on players which would have put us in the red.
I hope you are right and we do have money to spend on players this summer, but I suspect we won’t have a big warchest, and may need to sell in order to buy.
peaches -so are we property developers or a football club? does that mean Cesc has to be sold this year to balance the books?
there used to be a football club round here
Morning peaches – you got there first on the ade/kolo money 😉
chary, contrary to the report on Arse.com, I hear Lehmannn had a stinker playing for the reserves the other week so Al has to be our best option for the timebeing.
Rob,
First of all let me apologise for not recognizing you as the ‘spokeman’ for ‘Camp B’.
I bow to your greater knowledge, of course. Tell me, when did you speak to them all, and are they aware you are their mouthpiece? Thought not.
To save you the bother, as you appear not to have bothered to read the article, I have attached, below, a couple of salient sentences for you.
— Their mantra seems to be ‘we want trophies, at whatever price’.
(Did you notice the use of the word ‘seems’ in there?)
— These are, of course, broad brush descriptions of the opposing camps views and there are many variants on these themes.
(This clearly implies I did not want to bore the arses off everyone by going thru’ ‘C’, ‘D’, etc …. left that to you.)
OK, sorry folks, I’m off for a while, I look forward to reading your insightful comments later.
Rasp, CharyB,
I do not think it entirely necessary to wait until the season ends before discussing the merits, or otherwise, of various players or the tactics employed.
We have been doing that for months anyway. Step forward Almunia, Denilson, Diaby etc.
What I think is reprehensible is to carry negative opinions into the stadiums and boo or curse individual players when they are wearing the famous shirt.
That is counterproductive at the very least.
Rob,
I see what you’re saying and I agree that it would have been good to freshen up the squad with some quality each year, to improve on what we had but that’s often been the problem – players that were available that we could afford generally weren’t better than what we had. Equally, if you bring players in from uotside it does hold other players back. Take Djourou for example. When we signed Koscielny and Squillaci this summer a lot of people still wanted more. That would have held Djouoru up who’s been fantastic this year. You could say the same for the apochryphal midfilder so many say we’ve lacked since Vieira. If we’d signed him, whoever he was, Wilshere would have had fewer games and Cesc before him.
Wenger hasd shown faith in his players to try to breed confidence. There is an element of complacency in the squad and that is the players fault for allowing themselves to relax rather than being competetive with eachother.
There is an argument that we could do with new faces just to shake it all up a bit, get an injection of something in the dressing room. I agree with that, I just don’t think it’s been much of an option until now.
your clutching at straws Red Arse !!
i think if you read many of the other sites then you will see plenty of people agreeing with me – spend what we have, nothing more.
however if we dont have money then tell us and maybe we would be more united in our support.
you can continue to abuse me or take the piss all you want but this is why there were fights at the ground and Finsbury park on Saturday
Evonne,
Thank you for the vivid descriptions of fellow AA’ers. 🙂
Suffice to say; Carlito’s ‘blue, blue eyes’ sound fantastic. (I think I am in love)! And as for GIE’s physical stature, I am indeed very envious! 🙂
To think I missed all that last Saturday!
Rob – what fights? We were all there, anybody’s seen any fights?
Rob,
Just picking up on what Peaches said about using the Oil money to pay back a loan on the development. IT’s not particularly exciting and it’s a world away from Football but at the end of the day, if we don’t take care of that side of things and spend that money on players, that’s what destabalises things. Spending money doesn’t guarantee anything.
I’m frustrated every window when we don’t find players to add to what we have but equally, I appreciate the lack of viable options. If we are to spend what we have who should we buy? To my mind, we’re in a strange situation where City and Chelsea have inflated transfer fees and there is very little real value in the market. It’s not only Wenger saying this, Ferguson said it too.
Smith14 – glad you are happy with Kos and Squil as our CH. we got a guy with 1 year experience of top flight football and french journeyman. we all knew we needed a top class CH but we didnt get it.
you are also happy relying on a 19year old. he will be world class, so will Kos but this is the future. cream will always rise to the top
not sure about players not being available for the right money when i the scum signing RVDV for no money, could of got Shwarzer for apparently another half million.
Red Arse – you are an absolute star!!! Oh, I forgot to brief you on 26may – sadly he didn’t touch my knee but we had a big hug after the game, both of us needed a bit of comfort. He is lovely, an intellectual, a kind, calm guy, but he did swear at the ref a couple of times, good on him
Rob,
I had no intention of abusing you. You have every right to your opinion, as do I.
The best way of doing it is to make the effort and write a Post yourself. Tell us what you think and why.
You will find most AA’ers will read your Post and give you a fair hearing. Try it.
Evonne,
Now that is going too far …. how can I cross swords with 26 after you have given him such a great reference? 🙂
I’ll have to find a way!
Smith14 – of course im aware that we need to service our debt. However there has to be a happy medium between this and team investment otherwise what happens if we fall out of the top 4? the club tell us we can survive but if were struggling with CL money then how do we cope without it?
my final point and i would like to hear other peoples views. to me the club are paying off the debt (too quickly) so that when they sell the shares they are worth a fortune as the club is debt free. then whoever buys the shares will have to borrow , say £200-300m, and will lump that debt on the club. am i being cynical?
Red Arse 🙂 🙂 When will we meet you?
RedA – you know I’d never abuse players during a match or before although like many I see no problem in having a moan about them after the game.
BTW good job no one put up any descriptions of me, I know there are quite a few Stoke and Brum scum fans who’d like to see me dead !
Evonne, there were fights in the stands – I heard arguing where I was but Arseblogger mentioned it in his live blog and various other blogs have said there were punch ups.
These don’t include the fracas Radders was involved in – that was a drunken gooner who knocked over his bike which knocked down another guy.
Rob – we tend not to abuse people on here as long as they don’t abuse first, which you haven’t.
All we ask is that you elaborate your points so that anyone undecided on the thrust of your argument can be swayed if you are persuasive enough.
Smith14,
I agree with you, in principle.
What has emerged recently has been very interesting. Bob Wilson, an honourable man and well connected within the club said Arsene had made a £20m bid for Reina last summer and the offer was refused.
In Germany, it was reported last month that we had made a bid for the Bayern Munich CB (Tasiche?) during the January Window, and had the offer accepted, subject to them finding a replacement.
They did not find a replacement and the deal fell thru too.
That’s football, you cannot always get what you want!
Hi Chary, thanks for the answer. Sh*t, that’s bad, fans fighting each other. Was GIE involved?
Rob,
Just to address the defence for a second. Having Squillaci and Koscileny as first choice wasn’t my point. They aren’t first choice, they are probably 3rd and 4th choice. When you have Vermaelen fit and Djouorou, that’s good. Whart more do you want than a promising CB in Kos and an experienced Defender who has won trophies at a very high level? We can’t just add more to that all the time, there has to be a point otherwise you end up with a massive squad and accompanying wage bill. The fact is, despite the commonluy held belief, our defence isn’t that bad. It is in fact the 3rd best in the league. Better than United. The reason we aren’t at the top of the league isn’t the fault of the defence. It’s toothless and zestless performances from the attacking players like on Saturday.
This is going to be controversial but I said it at the time and will stand by it. At the point of trying to get Schwarzer, he wasn’t signficantly better than Almunia. If you are asknig who I’d rather have now I’d say Schwarzer but that is as a result of Almunia’s mental melt down. Also, Fabianski did well this season and Szczesny has been excellent. Almunia is only playing becasue of injuries. Injuiries that meant we couldn’t off load him in January when we wanted to.
As for Van Der Vaart. He’s good but not better than Cesc, or Nasri and doesn’t have the pace of Walcott, which we need. Interesting that he’s lost form since his good start, just like all our flair players.
Smith14 – also, Van Der Vaart is very injury prone
One other thnig Rob – I only just saw the comments about finances.
The fact is, we are in the top 4, despite all the financial constriants. That’s down to Wenger so to get Wenger out would serve no purpose.
Yes, there is room for improvement but significant money is only coming through now. After the next window is time to judge.
As I said earlier, we are still in the race. If we win on Sunday the mood will change.
Red Arse fantastic read mate. And its a certain dilemma.
Rob I think we do have money (a little bit) and it may have escaped your attention but it has been spent. £40million or more between Jan 2009 to Now.
Nasri £12m, Vermaelen £9m, Koscielny £8.5m, Arshavin Estimate £16-18m over the last couple of seasons, are those not good enough? I think the money spent was what we could afford and I also happen to think they are yet again cheap for the quality they have given us. That was clearly Wengers budget and he spent it.
To put it in perspective Cahill was rumoured to have been valued at £20-£25million, we bought Koscielny for £8.5 million. Everyone cried out for a centre back and Wenger found us a steal at a third of the price of Cahill.
We bought Nasri for around £12million at the age of 21, similar players at that age Osil to Madrid, Ashley Young to Villa went for around the same money. Milner cost City £24 million, I know who I’d rather have.
I think Wenger has carried the can for the board for long enough and maybe in the future when Wengers days are done or the current board have gone we will find out just how little money he was given to spend.
I understand that you ask for us to have spent the money raised from Adebayor and Toure, but I ask you whether you would have been happy to have paid higher ticket prices to afford them?
The simple fact is the stadium move was made for progression of the club, to spend the transfer proceeds would have been to commit the club to greater debt, something the board clearly don’t want to do.
We have not got some rich criminally funded benefactor willing to fund expensive acquisitions, or rather we have but neither the board or myself want anything to do with him. The day we sell our club out to a mega rich oligarch is the day I strongly consider forming Islington Red & Whites FC and starting from scratch.
I wouldn’t have thought so Evonne, and in any case GiE is big enough to take care of himself.
The atmosphere was a bit sullen after the game so I”m only a little surprise there was fighting after the game.
When was the last time that happened ? Will the team use the reaction n Saturday as a wake up call?
How many wake up calls do they need ?
I’d like to think Wenger will tell his squad they are playing for their futures at the club for the last 8 games,
Smith14 – as i was saying to a mate this week who is firmly in Camp A, we see what we want to see and we can all spin any point to serve our own agenda.
as for JW and Szczesny, they came on quicker than expected this season and they only had playing time due to injuries, the fact they have held their places tells you a lot about the players they replaced.
Evonne nothing to do with me, I was having an enjoyable time in the North Bank (well enjoyable when it comes to fans around me).
Smith 14 – I tend to agree re Schwarzer, and judging by the age of the keepers we were trying to sign you begin to realise Wenger was only willing to strengthen if it meant Szczesney would not be held up by a keeper for more than a year or so.
Rob,
I disagree about Wilshere. He’s been in the side on merit and arguably our most consistent performer. Who has been injured to allow him game? He gets into our strongest midfield.
Szczesny got games because of injury, granted, but this bears testament to Wengers desire not to hold back young players that he sees day in day out.
Wenger knew Wilshere was ready after last season at Bolton so gave him his chance which he’s taken with both hands. He is an excpetional talent who is now a key part of the international set up. To rewrtie that as if he’s just another 19 year old kid doing well because we’ve got no one better is a bit unfair.
Evonne,
Recuperation is not going as well as I had hoped, so it is unlikely I will get to anymore games this season.
I am also 6’4″ so perhaps GIE and I can be Arsenal book-ends when we meet! 🙂
Rob the point re Jack and Szcezsney is a classic doommongers persepctive, rather than saying they are exceptional you choose to look at it in the reverse and surmise that what we had wasn’t good enough.
That since arriving on the EPL side Capello is choosing to build an England side around Jack should tell you that it is not our previous lack of quality but his exceptional ability. He would walk into any side in the EPL and possibly most of the top sides around Europe. FACT!
Red Arse – all the best and see you soon xx
Somth14 – with regard to JW, he would not have started the first few games of the season had Diaby and Cesc been fit . the fact he has stayed in the team shows that he is class but also shows the lack of viable alternatives (for England as well) dont get me wrong, i love Jack and hope he is future captain material but I really dont think Wenger intended to use him so much this season
It is not only the players we get coming in this summer but more important is to get rid of the dead wood.teams know how to frustrate arsenal and stop them winning and when his happens they don’t know how to knick a 1-0 win .their has got to be big changes this summer get rid of the losers.almunia/bendtner/ arshavin/eboue /DENILSON/fabiansski/rosicky.
Rob,
We’ll have to agree to differ on that. I agree that he may not have started in place of Diaby or Fabregas but buying another midfielder would have pushed him even further back down the pecking order and he’d have had even few chances. Wenger knew he could cut it and maybe wanted to protect him but cleary knew he could do well if givewn the chance.
The same is true of Ramsey. Buying more playters holds him back.
Again, for the record, I see no problem with clearing out 3,4 or 5 players this summer but I wouldn’t anticipate massive expenditure and it may be a case of getting in new faces just to change it up a bit, rather than adding 4 or 5 world class players.
Take this Baines rumour for example. There probably isn’t a lot in it between him and CLichy but Baines is new and comes without this 6 years of failure tag so would help freshen it up.
Smith14 – Baines is an interesting case in point. I hope there is nothing in the rumour, I watched him in the England game against Ghana, the second best English left back? He looked uncomfortable on the ball, he is all hustle and bustle rather than technical quality in my opinion. Now maybe thats what we need a bit of energy and substance over style, but the thought of him in an Arsenal shirt is not for me i’m afraid. And again would potentially thwart further progression of Gibbs.
You could almost see the thought process when a centre back gave him the ball it was almost…
“oh no they’ve given the ball to my feet? surely they should knock it into the channel for me to chase down….what do i do with it now, i can’t see any other pass….i’ll give it back to the centre back”
If three or four players do leave in the Summer I cannot see them being replaced by anyone else but more youngsters who have the club at their heart, afterall isn’t this something else that people complain about with the current side (i’m not sure i believe it) they don’t love the club, well judging by the twitter feeds of those out on loan, they do indeed love the club, have a great team spirit despite being split up this year and will come back to do great things for us.
This is a pro Wenger Article.
The problem in this team is collection of technical players with poor physical ability. This teams athelatic ability is of poor quality. This team lacks shooting poor, thats why they tend to walk the ball into net.
The goat faced ( sorry for the description ) right back, what has he learnt in past years, his crosses are always of poor quality.
Song is miserable, we should have a physical DM long ago.
Has Chamakh scored any goal with thundering shot, always looking to pass the ball to someone else inside the box, is this the natural instinct of a striker, what merited him to be in Arsenal.
Even most unpopular Adebaor would have given us much better result this year and last year.
No quality inclusion in defence and GK.
Why isn’t, the author does a little bit of arithmatic instead of being fooled by monetary hardship spin.
This is rubbish. The Emirates stadium was conceived on the basis of a long term debt payment, it was always under control even during recession. What prompted hasty clean up of debt. There lies a suspecion of conspiracy. We could have spent 100 million pound for last 3 years, which might have helped us earn more, form diferent tournament. For the kind information, MANU pays a penalty of 65 million pound per year to Glazers charity. Over last 5 years they probably have paid more to this charity then what Arsenal paid for stadium.
In sum I would say, it was wrong selection of players and lack of desire to change course by Rasputin Wenger, which is responsible for our mess.
Smith/Rob14 – I think 3-4 out nad 3-4 in is the maximum we can hope for and that I’d want as too large an upheaval in the squad would be detrimental to their overall performance.
As I’m feeling rather bold I’ll name the 4 to leave: Diaby, Denilson, Rosicky and Almunia.
The three/four to come in would not necessarily be direct replacements for them, however I feel we urgently need another CB, a second choice GK as stand in for Chesney, a DM and a goal poacher.
Great post, and I think buying a top top player as Arsene calls them would please both camps of supporters.
The problem however, is finding and buying one. The problem with special players is a) everyone wants them, b)they dont tend to come up for sale often.
Oh and they cant mind getting 7 shades of shit kicked out of them on a Sunday in Stoke.
Benzema could maybe be prized away from Real, but they’l probably want 30m.
Eto’o would be class, and maybe under 20m
Hazard is young but has 2 years of Champs league behind him now. Again 20m+
Kaka might be available for 20m
other than that, i really dont see who could be considered ‘special’ and available for not stupid money.
Torres would have been a great buy for our system – but for 50m? not a chance. He’l stagnate at Chelsea and leave in 2 seasons.
In midfield I think Felaini would be worth a punt for defensive cover.
Speaking of defence, if we’re going to play with 2 rampaging wing backs, they need to be able to deliver a ball into the middle that can feed Chamakh/RVP, at the moment we have no quality here. Clichy looks like he’s heading out, Taiwo, a cheeky bid for Bale or the Celtic player who’s name I’m not even going to attempt to spell.
In the centre, we need TV back to 100%. If he’s doubtfull we need to get rid of Squilaci and bring in 2. Sakho should be one, Chiellini/Subotic/Raul Albiol should be the other.
Wenger also really need to intil a ruthless winning mentality which currently has gone AWOL
GiE,
I agree about Baines but I think what he does have is a fantastic delivery that we lack. However, whats the point in great crosses when no ones in there? On Saturday we only started packing the box in the last 5 minutes. We should have applied this pressure for the last half hour.
I think we’ll add a few players but I;d be surprised if Wenger rips up his handbook and stands in the way of Ramsey and maybe even Lansbury.
Personally I’d like to see an experienced keeper, 30 plus, to compete with Fabianski and Szczesny but, as was the case last year, who is that experienced keeper happy to sit on the bench?
I agree with Chary that we could do with a striker who knows nothing else but trying to hit the target. Again, in Wengers defence, that was Eduardo. It’s not his fault he was written off in his prime.
A strong centre midfielder stifles development of Frimpong, Song, Eastmond, JET and Lansbury, a strong forward stifles NikB, Afobe, Watt, a strong centre back prevents Kos, Miquel, Djourou etc.
I don’t want the project to end just yet, and to see Wenger disregard this squad building will be a shame.
When Hansen said United couldn’t win anything with kids back in 1995 that side proved him wrong with 6 players under the age of 21 and an average age of 23. But what he forgot to account for was Schmeichel, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin, Cantona and Cole.
That is our missing ingredient, but it will come in time and maybe we will have to add one or two, but i just don’t see how we can do it without upsetting the balance/harmony of the squad.
Chary missed this earlier:
“One would like to think this summer we will be rid of players who are merely taking a fat wage and are either unfit most of the time or not good enough.”
Could you be referring to our Dutch wonderboy here?
the problem with Arsenal doesn’t lie in raw talent the problem with our players is they don’t love th shirt they play in. if you look back at the history of teams that have gone through the club from the invincibles right back to the 30’s 90% of the players in the first team lived and breathed Arsenal and the gave them that extra 10\20% to grind out a 1-0 when not playing well. Mental strength doesn’t just come from wanting to win because no one likes losing but wanting to win for Arsenal. and most of the current crop don’t seem to care about winning they seem more concerned with personal achievement. Wilshere seems to love Arsenal and RVP. Cesc did before Barca came sniffing round him and his catalan heart was brought to the forefront. if you look at most of the others it seems Arsenal is merely a springboard for a bigger wage at city, or a move to Madrid/Barca and it seems to me that if these clubs came calling haf the team would want to leave. this is why we lose and it isn’t right, yesthe invincibles had talent in abundence but they were invincible because they lived breathed sweated and bled arsenal. you only have to look at Bergkamp, Henry Ljunberg for thet but even if you did nlook further, the super subs like Edu, Wiltord and Kanu were the same and wanted to stay at the gunners for as long as possible. even going back to the 89 squad that overturned Liverpool 2-0 O’Leary, Adams, Dixon, Smith and even Perry Groves were exactly the same. you can win with kids and talent, you can’t win with players who use the club as a springboard for bigger things and since the 2006 CL run that has been the case, look at Flamini and Hleb. if Barca came calling would Nasri stay? would Arshavin? would song? by the same token would Viera have gone anywhere else in 2004 or even before during our previous 4 year drought? would Henry have left in that time? would Freddie who stayed before Wenger offloaded him to West Ham? would Campbell who was offloaded to Pompey and then returned no grudges beared? the players haVE GOT TO LOVE THE SHIRT BEFORE THEY CAN WIN ANYTHING!!! football is all about passion and belief in the something United have in abundance aand our team dont
The problem with wengerball is it is one dimensional and no variation at all.The gunners will have 90% possession and pass to eternity before shooting.By then no gaps will appear and the attack will break down at some point. Then bingo the ball is in the gunners net.This is a typical scene.
Why?All the gunners nine to ten of them are upfield. Is it any wonder the red faced said he knew how to play Arsenal.No wonder the gunners have been loing to MU the last few seasons.
I say cut the passing game. Reduce the number of passes before shooting. The element of surprise must be there like Ashvin’s goal against Albion. Too often the gunners line up to shoot only to be thwarted by a last minute tackle.
Sorry for hogging these pages a bit – quiet day at work!
Dom, all good points. Only thing is, wirh regards to defensive signings. Djouorou has been really good this season, Koscileny is improving and Vermaelen recovering. If we looked to bring 1 or 2 in to replace Squillaci would players like Chiellini/Subotic/Raul Albiol be happy to be 4th choice or would Djourou or Kos be happy being demoted. The stats re: our defence say that it isn’t as bad as common opinion says it is. I still think that an experienced player like Squillaci is the sort of player who is ideal as a 4th choice. Despite his bad press, I can’t think of many goals that were enitrely his fault(obviously his OG aside!).
RedArse – do you have any comment to make on my post regarding the shares/paying off the debt. am i being too cynical or do you see this as a problem like i do?
Gie – I was referring to a combination of Denilson(not good enough) Diaby(flashes of brilliance, default position in the injury room) Rosicky(used to be injury prone but has lost his powers) and now not good enough) ; as for Robin, we all know how many games he averages for us a season and if you look at the percentage of games he turns out for, compare club and country and you will see who gets the best use out of him.
I’m not saying Robin should go but we should, on past experience, never presume to have him available for more than half a season, although if he was to retire from international football, as sir Drinksalot manages to get his players to do very easily) that would suit us.
Cor blimey! Yesterday I was the site’s alcoholic! Today I’m our version of Old Blue Eyes! Maybe it’s better to remain anonymous 😉
Some great comments today- took me so long to read them I’ve no time to reply! Later on…
Chary I wouldn’t be in disagreement if you said he should go, controversial but sometimes I fail to see what he brings us, and then he does something amazing.
Rob – I think you are cynical, if our club was taken over by someone like Ken Bates then I’d say you were right, as far as i see it our board are the steady hand on the tiller that has got us here and they are as much Arsenal as the fans, they have not done us badly in the past, I don’t expect them to in the future. In fact clearing the debt probably makes it harder to sell the club.
Elk – you posted exactly the same comment a couple of days back and I answered you then, you obviously didn’t read it so perhaps you will stick around today to learn something new:
“Elk it is very easy to pander to the live the shirt brigade. I’d counter with another view point of the Spuds ManUre and our Invincibles. Do/Did they love the club or do/did they love the manager?
For the most part Wenger brought the Invincibles their success their legendary status, Cole clearly didn’t love the club despite being brought up there, he chased the money. Henry, Viera we worried every year they might ask to go. Pires left for financial security as did Gilberto. Toure left, Campbell left because psychologically he couldn’t take it and kicked us in the teeth by turning out for Portsmouth when Wenger had expected him to go overseas as he had said he would do. Doesn’t make me love them less but I wouldn’t say they played for the shirt, they played for themselves.
In Scholes and Giggs they play for the manager, Rooney too, he proved how much he loved the club by asking to leave this year.
Spurs again take Redknapp out of there how many would stay to play under another manager some have followed him wherever he has been, I’m sure West Ham fans thought Defoe loved the club, then Pompey ……. same for Crouch and others.”
Rob,
Sorry, I had to go out for a while. Re your 10:51, where you invited comments about the club’s financial strategy as regards the speed of reduction of the stadium debt, as well as the effect on the value of shares.
I am interested in your comment that Arsenal are paying off their stadium debt too quickly.
It is perhaps fair to mention, this site is full of qualified accountants and at least one lawyer, but let’s get on.
Arsenal, like all major companies have their own in-house accountants and a legal department, as well as retaining the services of some of the largest outside firms of financial and legal advisers.
I think they know what they are doing, don’t you?
Balance Sheets are examined by accountants using critical ratio analyses and comparing these against accepted ‘norms’. Is that where you are coming from?
Perhaps you are concerned that the speedy reduction of the mortgage/loan out of cash reserves would have an adverse impact on the Balance Sheet? Why?
The impact of paying off the debt also reduces the payment of (high) interest on the mortgage, and that reduction in the interest charge improves the Profit line. Have you taken that into account?
Perhaps you are concerned about the impact on cashflow or the liquid assets in general? How so?
The shares of the club are held by individuals who, in theory, can sell their shares, at any time, subject to finding a willing buyer.
At the moment there is an impasse because Kroenke and Usmanov both have substantial shareholdings with neither wanting to be forced into an outright, mandatory bid for the whole club.
This has made the disposal of any significant bundles of shares very difficult or impossible at the moment, until one or the other major shareholderes makes a move.
In any event, Arsenal do not at this time pay dividends on shareholdings. Who would want to buy shares with no controlling influence or return on investment?
In simplistic terms, whether, or not, the club/Board chooses to use its profits/cash to reduce its debt quickly or slowly, will have very little impact on the current share price.
The idea that the Board/shareholders are manipulating the speed of debt reduction to bolster their shareholding does not hold water, not least, because Usmanov does not even have a seat on the Board.
Perhaps these questions show that spending money on buying new players is really rather more complex than might be apparent.
However, many would agree that there should be a balance struck, because to win trophies and prize money, there is a need for investment in new players to fulfil a self perpetuating virtuous cycle.
what development man if they are so good they will force their way through like wilshere we need some steel who cares if it is for 20 mil or 30 mil look at ferguson if he thinks he a player is good he will go for him no matter what the price!!!are u only happy to be in the top 4 cmon its 6 years man
GiE – I’m undecided on Robin, I love it when we see him in full flow and he so obviously bleeds red and white, but sadly he is the type of player who will always miss a majority of a season (and since he is getting on a bit this problem will not improve) and I get frustrated when we see a run of games where we desperately need him but he’s out.
Of course he doesn’t get injured on purpose but from the point of view of usefulness to the squad it does raise the question.
arsenal fan in the past its been a lot longer.
How must it feel to be one of the 80 or so clubs in the football league that don’t win anything ever.
GiE
Absolutely perfect summary there.
Fact is, we’ve been spoit at this club and we have fans who are sulking because they cant have their cake and eat it.
Ok, we’ve not won anything for too long and there are issues to discuss but trophies aren’t all there is to supporting a Football club.
Many of us who’ve supported Arsenal since well before the Invincible days will remember much darker times than these.
As I keep saying, this season isn’t over yet we are talking as if it’s May 23rd already.
Cesc will be sold in the summer that is 50 grand,rosicky should be on his bike if it was up to me but he probably wont.Bendtner has outstaued his welcome,tonn are gagging for him….nice.Eboue,Clichy are on their bikes……so a warchest is most certainly there but will he spend it….off course he wont.
CharyB,
(I expect I should have referred this to our statistician GIE first), but I heard on Sky (I think) that in the 5/6 years Robin has been with us, he has cumulatively only played just over 100 times, because of injury/suspension.
That means he has been injured for the best part of 3 or 4 years! Amazing, if true!
Any truth in this GIE? 🙂
RedA – I have a feeling Robin can be mentioned in the same breath as Rosickly and even the holy of holies of injured players: Darren Anderton.
Smith14,
Personally I’d have TV and Djourou as my top partnership, with Kos rotating in where needed. it will be interesting to see how he does 2nd season. For me we really need 5 CB’s though. Every season we have 2 or 3 injured. if there are 4, then thats putting a lot of pressure on 2 guys to play twice a week for long periods.
As you rightly point out though, our defensive record isnt bad, infact its pretty good. If we can get rid of Clichy playing people onside it’ll be even better.
Its the predictability that can creep in up the other end that bothers me. That and the fact that RVP and Chamakh cant play together as they stand on top of each other. As was proved last time out when twice RVP went for a header that Chamakh would of put in. I’d sell Bendtner and Vela and bring in some top quality to take the pressure off RVP, and for when he’s out injured.
Guys,
It is obvious from the really well thought out comments on here, this morning, that there is a general feeling that ‘something needs to be done’.
The diverse opinions expressed, each with their merits, shows that it is not easy to reconcile some fans pressing desire for an immediate inflow of new talent, with others wanting to safeguard the gradual development of existing star talent such as Ramsey, Bartley, Miguel, Lansbury et al, while winning trophies.
It is not that easy for Professor Wenger either.
RedA – the comments were so diverse and searching because of the headline post, take a bow sir !
RedArse – According to club stats page for RvP its 158 starts in seven seasons, with 64 sub appearances in the same period and scored 88 goals.
On average thats 22 starts a season in all competitions, Premier League is a damn site worse, and if you look at it from 2007-08 to present he has managed 62 starts in the Premier League and scored 38 goals. He has also made 14 sub appearances in that period.
Not a bad return but less than half the games played each year. For balance Bendtner has managed 22 goals from 44 starts in the same period (albeit a higher number of substitute appearances (54)
I haven’t had time to read all the comments,but i have read your post my dear friend Red Arse.
I would say that you are covering all options and I draw to the conclusion that the “special” leadership is the main ingrediant missing.
I remember the days not very long ago when my son couldn’t chose whose name he wanted on his next Arsenal top,but now is there anybody who really stands out that one would say I must have a shirt with (whoever)his name, as he has been my consistant favorite player for a number of seasons.
Have I explained myself clearly ?
Hi Kelsey, 🙂
Your comment is crystal clear!
You have said it much better than I could.
The youngsters don’t seem to be bothered so much, even with Cesc Shirts.
Thanks GIE, 🙂
I knew you would have the data!
If that less than half the games played each year is expressed crudely, he has ‘not’ played for approx 3 and a half years out of seven.
I think you first said you were not sure where RVP fitted into the team. To me he is not really a midfield playmaker, but neither is he a ‘genuine’ centre forward either.
The thing is, he can be brilliant, but does not always link the team together seamlessly. I do not know what the answer is, though I will probably be hanged drawn and quartered for saying it. 🙂
In which case I will blame you ….. of course! 🙂
GIE,
I also noticed the plug for Bendy. 🙂
His goal scoring ability is not questioned in my opinion, but the team is not set up for him to lead the line, and neither is the position he is asked to play at all helpful. Back to strategy and tactics, again! 😦
CharyB,
Re your 1:20, thank you for the compliment, much appreciated.
RA, I concur with chary, this is the best article you have written for the site and has attracted some good new bloggers like Dom and nice to see Smith14 joining in the debate.
Great post! I also fall into the pro-Wenger camp.
My theory is that we over-extended ourselves competing for the Carling Cup and the players are exhausted.
I also think that ever team sometimes has flat games. We drew. We’re still 2nd in the league and we’re not out of the hunt yet.
Redders
Great article, perfectly laying out the dilemmas facing us as fans.
Too many good comments to respond to, but one in particular caught my eye and got me a little excited. It was from London, right at the top. He said:
“I would be very disappointed if something radical isn’t attempted between now and the end of the season.”
I have been pondering AW’s comments after the Rovers game – he clearly felt baffled and let down by the performance. Picking up on London’s thought, wouldn’t it be great if he really tried something radical for the final eight games – like going 4-4-2 for the run-in.
We’re finding it hard to score at the moment with the way we’re playing; most commenters on here and elsewhere have been crying out for more directness, so how about this sort of line-up:
Almunia (no choice)
Sagna Squid Kos Clichy
Theo Cesc (Song/JW) (Nasri/Arsh)
RvP
(Cham/Bendy)
If Evonne is still around here’s the aggro I was talking about:
http://nz.sports.yahoo.com/football/news/article/-/9141526/wenger-shocker-arsenal-fans-come-to-blows-over-manager-future/
Apparently it was mainly around block 55 in the North Bank – I was also in the North Bank but Block 14.
Thanks Rasper, your 2:25. 🙂
Although it is the quality of the bloggers on AA who pick up the ball and run with it. Darn it …. NFL influence, again! 🙂
PaulK,
Thanks for that, I agree with you personally.
There are a number of us who feel that Arsene changed his usual policy, under fan pressure, and put his first team into the CC and the FA cup, instead of the kids.
The result is that with all our injury problems we have run out of steam.
Should have won the CC tho’, just a bit of uncharacteristic nonsense did for us. Oh well! 😦
Chary – thanks, sad news all right
Hi Rocky, 🙂
You are right in commending London’s comment. Pity it was missed until you picked it up.
I think it was GIE who said yesterday, if he was the coach, he would tell the team to just go out and enjoy themselves, and forget about the Premiership.
He did not mean ‘give up’ but being relaxed they will pull things together and win the bloody thing.
I have done the same thing before going on a date. A swift single malt scotch, and I was my usual ‘James Bond’ self! 🙂
London has made a similar point, in that Arsene might just shake it all up and go with a new line up or new tactics. Your suggested team is darn good for starters. 🙂
Come clean CharyB,
You learned all your martial arts while completing your articles! Typical accountant … butter would not melt, but on the quiet you are Kung Fooey Louie, king of the North Bank!! 🙂
I would not cross you! 🙂
Didn’t the proffesor make almunia captian of arsenal football club or was that a bad dream and then hand it out like it was a peace of crap.
PaulK- I think you’re right but it’s been hard to feel upbeat after the overwhelming negative vibe in the ground on Saturday. A combination of spectators and supporters fearing the worst and then being served up a lacklustre performance after most had watched the leaders come back from the brink against WHam. You’re right that there will always be flat games but we’ve been in the mire for too long (in terms of weeks if not of games).
Redders
You’re James Bond when on a date, eh? So how does the poor lady feel when she’s been driven round hairpin bends at 90mph, thrown into a speedboat that leaps through a flaming inferno then tied to a chair while watching you thrown into the shark tank?
Guys,
I wrote today’s Post last Saturday evening, after the game, but in today’s ‘on line’ Mirror, (part copied below) they have picked up on the same theme. This also supports CharyB’s comment about the fighting.
Mirror:
— Civil war has broken out among Arsenal fans over the future of Arsene Wenger.
It has turned nasty among supporters picking fights with each other as opinion has become divided over whether Wenger is still the right man for the job.
Arsenal are heading for six years without a trophy after their goalless draw with Blackburn on Saturday left them seven points adrift of Manchester United in the Premier League title race.
That was the catalyst for some unprecedented pockets of violence between Arsenal fans at the Emirates with supporters loyal and protective to Wenger standing up to those who are calling for a change in management.
It is the first time in Wenger’s 15-year reign that his position has been so seriously questioned and the atmosphere is becoming nasty among fans.
There was trouble reported on the North Bank, on Block 55 below Club Level and some fans tore up renewal applications while giving staff a hard time who were trying to hand out leaflets.
Shareholder Darren Epstein, who saw some of the fights break out, said: “I think the majority still believe Wenger is the right man for the job but it’s those players who are letting him down.
“But there is a split between the fan base because there is a growing number – albeit still in the minority – who believe it is time for change.
“But it got nasty between fans. Some were leaving early and having a go at Wenger and then those who were saying: ‘get behind the team’ and defending the manager. Passions were running high and there were some fights. It got nasty.
“Personally, I still believe in him. But he should make a change in his philosophy. Sign some new players, stop all contract negotiations and decide on a few players at the end of the season. They are the ones letting him down.”
Wenger is Arsenal’s most successful post-war manager but the club’s season has collapsed in little over a month as they have blown the FA Cup, Champions League and Carling Cup wh
You know me RedA – a conformed pacifist and coward, plus it was only circumstantial evidence that marks me out as the rabble-rouser of the North Bank, however I will admit to a secret yearning to be Hong Kong Phooey.
However, you are bang on the money in one respect, my fuse may be long but it’s attached to dynamite. 🙂
Rocky,
I must have missed out ‘in my own mind’ after my James Bond claim. 🙂
Most dates I have been on over the years have ended with the female of the species falling about laughing and claiming I am a total wuzz, or similar!
Blooming cheek!! 🙂
Regarding the “Civil war” amongst gooners Tim over at 7am kickoff made a good observation that “in any civil war it’s the home team that suffers all the casualties.”
Rather have you on my side anyway, CharyB! 🙂
You see, Carlito, you are spot on.
I only saw the game on TV and I was gobsmacked and upset more at the insipid, lacklustre effort put in by some of the team, than I was at the result. (though one thing caused the other).
To be fair to the team, it was the unexpectedness of the performance that influenced me and particularly after watching the Manu game. They did play well, sadly.
It would have been much worse for those of you at the stadium. 😦
Regardless of what we all feel I have a hunch something BIG is going to happen very shortly.
I mentioned Fiszman yesreday, that he was in remission but contrary to what you may have read,he has been in London for the last ten weeks attending all of the home games and is in deep conversation with other board members.
When i mentioned that he was in London someone (on another blog) said he could do all his dealings over the phone or fax or e mail.This is of course true,but he has met with Hill Wood and more interesting with D.D. and I think there could be some major share dealings about to happen, which if true may make Wenger’s position untenable.
Do you have to be an accountant to get a response on here 😉
Hi Kelsey,
I was making a cup of coffee! 🙂
It has always puzzled me that the shareholding battle went into a ‘ceasefire’ for so long.
As I wrote earlier, none of the shareholders are getting divis and therefore they have a lot of money tied up earning nothing. For hard nosed business men this is extraordinary and out of character.
Something has to give, someone has to blink first. What you say makes sense, because Danny Fizman, who has done a lot for Arsenal, will want to clear things up for his estate before his health becomes worse.
Keep us posted Kelsey, you are our man on the inside! 🙂
Kelsey is our inside man now…. 😀
DD I guess means Dein which in turn means Usmanov…..shudder.
Rocky you follow on from Londons post and call for radical. Maybe its not radical enough.
How about 2-3-5 sod it it can’t hurt can it? 😉
But who would your ‘5’ be GIE?
RA,
i would rather be our man on he inside, rather than inside. marbella has that certain ring to it especially with my first name. 😉
Joking aside,I really do get the info straight from the horse’s mouth so to speak as my good friend over here has a son who has worked for DF for over ten years and sometimes I get privaleged to some info that is generally not in the media.
GIE,
I don’t think DD is connected to Usmanov anymore but is it a coincidence that since DD left which more or less coincided with the break up of the invinsibles we have changed course somewhat.
Whatever you think of DD, his heart and soul is still with Arsenal, I would have him back in a flash, and so would many others but he isn’t getting any younger either.
Just realised what you meant about Usmanov, GIE.
If David Dein and his ex-mate Danny Fizman are talking again, anything can happen because Dein brought Kroenke to the party in the first place, which ironically got him the chop.
Do you remember Hill Wood’s dreadful put down of Kroenke, ‘we don’t need his sort here’, then they became best of mates! Yeah right.
Kelsey,
I was not kidding. You have inside info that I can only dream of, and Dandan too sometimes comes up with the odd snippet from his newspaper contacts.
I meant it …. more please, when you get it!
RA,
Most excellent post.
Some great comments again, and am sorry to have missed out.
By the way RA, when you said: “A swift single malt scotch, and I was my usual ‘James Bond’ self!”, were you referring to just the one 75cl number, or the full 1 ltre Duty Free Job?
Kelsey,
Staggeringly interesting info
Hi Micky, 🙂
I was slightly gilding the lily about my James Bond persona.
Just the smell of the musky aroma of whisky, brandy or armagnac is enough to have me going all giggly (I have made a fine art of it) and you know those naughty girls like to take advantage of innocent boys like me!! 🙂
GiE,
Not sure I understand why DD would automatically be linked with Usmanov.
RA,
You mentioned the long stand off with no-one making the final move. Apart from DF’s health issues and the courteous respect, perhaps people were waiting to see whether DD got the FA Job.
You could be right Micky, but in many ways I think it would be best for the club if the unnatural standoff by the shareholders came to a conclusion.
It’s another unnecessary ‘hidden’ tension within the club, which must have some impact on Arsene doing his job.
I thought Dein brought Usmanov not Kroenke to the table with Red & White Holdings Limited…or am I wrong?
Having just read a Times article from quite some time ago it appears I am well out of the loop on this one.
I never bothered too much with Dein’s departure as I just figured he wanted to sell the club down the river and therefore was in some way pleased to see him gone.
But as soon as he left he jumped into bed with Usmanov and Red & White Holdings so figured he was going to try and take the club back over with the help of the oligarch
GIE,
Dein first brought Kroenke into the club by arranging for him to buy the 10% ITV stake. He wanted someone to inject funds in to give Arsene more transfer monies while the stadium was built.
Danny Fizman and Hill Wood got the hump and sacked him. (ironically, Dein had previously sold a large parcel of his own shares to Fizman for peanuts).
Kroenke was eventually brought onto the Board.
Deiny then sold his shares to Usmanov’s Red & Whites because there was no point holding them (and £70 odd million was not a bad deal 🙂 )
So, tainted by Dein, in the eyes of Fizman, Usmanov was then given the cold shoulder, and so here we are today in a stupid standoff.
I have respect for Dein as a football operator though so maybe we need him back. Not just for transfers but also with dealing with the league etc.
What concerns me most about this stand off, is that the logical conclusion is sole ownership and surely our business model is based on sustainability without the need for a sugar daddy type. Frankly, I wish they would both disappear. DD coming back into the fold is another matter altogether. Under him, we always appeared to get our transfer targets.
Great post, RA.
Still not sure about the fighting and the motives of people suggesting that there is civil war amongst supporters.
Block 55 is Club level. Perhaps the prawn sandwiches were cold.
Let’s hope something radical is attempted in the last 8 games as London has intimated.
I’m thinking of supporting the spuds tonight as I think it’s me that’s the Jonah. 😉
I forgot to mention that Dein is no longer associated with Red & White doo dah.
Micky, the only way to avoid becoming a single entity private ltd company run by one man, in my opinion, is for Arsenal to become a public company.
Trouble is, that’s the way Manu started and soon got snapped up by the Glazers and returned to being a private company. My opinion —- all the big football clubs will eventually become some rich b*stard’s toy eventually! 😦
While we are on the subject, I wonder what is going on with Lady Nina’s attempt to sell her lot. That has gone strangely quiet. I think Kelsey is onto something big. There’s a rumble going on!
Hi Chas,
Whisper it, but I was thinking of doing the same thing, but I decided to remain neutral because I cannot stand that blowhard Moaniho either! 🙂
RA,
I think you are right. Me, I go for the American and DD.
Chas,
Apart from winning the league, we have two highlights to look forward to. Spuds crashing out of CL, and us turning them over at the Lane and condemming them to 5th. Happy days ahead.
Micky,
Kroenke does not have a brilliant reputation in yankee doodle land.
He is after a quick buck on the cheap, look what he has done to the Arsenal TV channel. Cheap and nasty.
Whoever wins will probably eventually sell on to some other wealthier bozo, be it an arab or even a chinese businessman. Strange times my friends, strange times!
Anyone know where 26 is?
Probably off being charming and nice all over the place …. typical! 🙂
It is impossible to think of anyone that wealthy that you would want even if you had to choose. All too vulgar.
RA,
Never been heard of again since THAT post match cuddle!!!!
Couldn’t agree more Micky.
But many would disagree.
Look at the Manure, Chavs and Citeh fans, they howled with outrage, at first, but that soon changed to cries of glee as they started to outbid every other bugger on the planet, although in Citeh’s case some of those bought were crap.
I hope I am not being disloyal, but I think many Arsenal fans will go thru’ the same conversion.
Anyway, hope I am wrong!!
Micky, 🙂 🙂
That Evonne has a lot to answer for, how can we go on without 26, our faithful AA lawyer, to tease? 🙂
I would not support a take over by one man.
We are already in effect a public company shares can be bought and sold on an open market can’t they?
As such it’s important the fanshare scheme and the AST get as many shares as possible. There should always be a bit of our club in the fans hands then. I know I’m on dreamland again!
Have to go, I am watching those nauseating Spuds fans on TV which is making me bilious!! 😦
You are right GIE, I was using the term loosely as the real power is in the hands of three or four major shareholders. Not a legal definition, just a pragmatic one! 🙂
Red Arse, I agree with you 110%. Nice post. For me, this “special” player needs to be a forward. As I’ve said before, I think Eto’o would be the ideal type of attacker to add to the squad. No, I’m not saying actually go and buy the guy as I’m sure his price is way beyond what Wenger would like to spend. What I am saying is that we need that type of attacker that has similar attributes as the Inter man.
Eto’o has everything we need to take it to the next level. He is dynamic, he knows how to make the runs into space that players like Fabregas and Nasri will be able to thread balls to.
He is a poacher, always there at the right place and the right time. All of those great balls that cross the face of the goal unchallenged would certainly be in the back of the net if we had a true poacher on the pitch.
He is pacey. He is “tricky.” Sure, we have a pacey winger (Walcott) and a “tricky” winger (Nasri/Arshavin), but Eto’o has both, speed and trickery. Along with his strength, he is a player that is able to strike fear in the hearts of the opposition’s defense.
While although Fabregas, RVP, Nasri are all attacking threats that teams need to watch out for, I feel that none are the players that you want to be feeding the final ball to for a shot on goal. Those three are all play-makers, whether you like it or not. Yes, RVP has been excellent when played as a lone striker. But I think he’d be even better playing the Bergkamp type role alongside an out-and-out poacher.
As you mentioned Red Arse, the team lately seems to lack that quick, intricate, precision passing that cut teams apart earlier this year. A player with a similar set of attributes to Eto’o would surely solve this problem. Speed of play would increase. We need someone who would allow Fabregas, Nasri, JW to utilize their passing talents to the fullest, finding that forward who is making so many interesting runs. We need someone fast enough to latch onto a thru-ball from the midfielders. We need someone skillful enough to take on a defender when needed, to have that moment of inspiration to turn a game around.
It’s surely asking a lot to find a player like this, but for me at least, this is the kind of guy that will take Arsenal to a new era.
Sorry, I love Eto’o. And I apologize for the random, disorganized, incomplete thoughts I was throwing out there, hope it’s understandable enough.
Mike,
I do wish you had not said any of that, as I agree with everything and it is, along with some of RA’s points raised today, something that I was going to weld into a post.
Where is 26may ??
Hi Mike, 🙂
Good to hear from you.
You were clear and concise and your comment could have been today’s Post instead of mine.
I like it and it is what I was trying to say but you had real drive and passion. I vote for you!! 🙂
Come, come Evonne, if anyone knows where that poor boy is, it’s you!
Micky said!! 🙂
RA,
Bloody Hell, a real deal man eater in our midst?
Red Arse – you are very naughty! I shall tell Peaches!!
Are you going to watch the game tonight? Will you cheer for Spuds (dancing in the streets) ?
Evonne,
You are already doing her dirty work for her. Tidying up the male imbalance. One down it may be, but be aware, we are on our guard!
Mickydidit – I’m really glad we met on Saturday, feels less strange talking to you guys now that I can put a face to your name. I forgot to tell Red Arse about you
Red Arse – Micky is very hairy, I wish I had such lovely hair
Evonne,
Nope, you’ve got me mixed up. Am I now off the menu?
Micky – don’t worry about me, I am just a passanger on your blog site; I enjoy reading all the comments, but have little to add except my emotional views.
I will never understand the knitty-gritty of footy, but will die a Gunner – how dramatic is that 🙂
Micky – what do you mean? Are you not the guy we met outside the Tavern?
Actually, now I think about it, these things are relative, and I suppose there were only about four of us with any at all, and you ate one of those!
I used to think you should be a room(cell?) mate of mine Red, but I have to give it you, that was a quality post !
Anyway, off to find my medication so can’t stop, but keep up the good work.
I am fed up with your piss taking!! I am off to watch Spuds playing their penultimate game in CL
Evonne, We love you being here. 🙂
Nite all.
Cracking post Red, and some real highlights in the comments too. Just sat here and read everyone of them, only skimming a few.
Special mention to Rasps opening comment, Kelseys inside track, and Red’s warning about how many Accountants are on AA. He then proceeded to provide so much accounting info I thought I was back studying for my exams. Poor Rob. At least he got a warning though ‘eh.
Great to meet you Sharkey.
Really off now.
Evonne,
I hate both Mourhino and the Spuds. I hope they both lose.
I actually do have a soft spot for Madrid, but do not tell anyone.
Hi Frothing, I think Sharkey is looking for you, he is not half the man without you! 🙂
“Come, come Evonne, if anyone knows where that poor boy is, it’s you!!”
“you ate one of those!”
Tears in my eyes…I’m serious
Back in a bit
Adebayor is now forgiven 🙂
Hi Sharkey, 🙂
Just off to watch Madrid.
Rob put himself up as a ‘spokesman’ for Camp ‘B’, who are always rabbiting on about debts/shares/cash so I was only asking him to explain his views.
For a brief period I used to do a little lecturing for articled clerks, but that was before I forgot everything worth knowing!! 🙂
See you tomorrow.
Alright cheers Red.
Hi Evonne. How are you this evening..?? Ticket stealing, man eating…is there no end to your (criminal) talents..??
Thats my last gag at your expense, although I’m about to go and see how you might have decribed me on yesterdays post. If its anything other than a Sylvain Wiltord double, I’ll not be happy.
Crouch…..as stooopid as they come !!!
Two of the most pointless tackles you’ll ever see.
Hiya Sharkey, how are you? Yep, I am a proper ratbag. But I would not eat 26may – he’s a vegetarian and I love a leg of lamb
So, Scum are a goal and one and a half men down, looks good to me
I listened to the first half in the car – Gallas v Ade that’s a bit of fun and fancy Ade scoring against the spuds!!!!!!
Come on Moany’s Madrid time to turn up the heat.
I’m not too bad Evonne. It is pretty funny this hand on knee, perfect gent, 26m missing, him vegetarian you meat eater. I honestly had tears in my eyes after Red and Mickeys comments earlier.
Super Adebayor !!!!!!
What a fine player that Adebayor is 😆
Five would be good 😛
Agreed Peaches. Its just a shame that Crouch got sent off early doors and gave them an excuse.
I can imagine that 26M was pretty chuffed to see Evonne on Sat, and realised what lovely company he’d be in for the afternoon. Then I turn up and he’s doubly pleased he’s with Evonne not me. Hug from Evonne at the and there’s 26m’s hat trick.
It is looking like he’s paid a heavy price though. Has Mrs26m been reading the blog I wonder..??
Madrid spanking them! Quality!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
4-0!!! I’m on for winning my 5-1 on aggregate bet. Oh dear oh dear 😀
Post is complete Peaches,over to Rasp
That was a more than enjoyable night of football
Great fun watching Gareth, Michael, Jermaine and Peter tonight. Shame ‘we’ got battered.
http://twitpic.com/4hcimu
Poor ‘Arry
http://twitpic.com/4hcimu
Oh dear oh dear, they definitely didn’t deserve that ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Hi Irish – football got better tonight didn’t it 😛
Thanks dandan
chas – can you stop being a spud now please?
Peaches – Football was brilliant tonight. I wrote this yesterday but the spuds wouldn’t have heeded it 🙂
http://sportshaze.com/england/english-premier-league/epl-in-europe-spurs-must-be-wary-of-this-wounded-european-heavyweight-2669
I’ve thrown €10 on Shakhtar to win it outright at 40/1
As Evonne said earlier, they now have only one game left in the Champions League. Ever.
Sorry peaches. 🙂
I’ve just remembered how football can make me happy!
STAY ON YOUR FEET.
We want are money back .
We are an evil lot 🙂 🙂 🙂
I’m only being evil on here – I haven’t texted a single spud 🙂
Shall we go out and see if they are still dancing in the streets of North London?
Sharkey – no, they still have no excuse. They ridiculed our complaints about RVP being red carded, now they bloody know how it feels
Just nipped on to find out the result. I am sooooooooo happy happy. I absolutely loathe Totteringham. Now for Utd to thrash Chelsea (and then anyone to thrash Utd), and we will be the first London Club to lift ‘Ol Big Ears.
Always good to be a Gooner. There are so many more great things to happen this season.
Nite again.
I’m starting to like you more and more Evonne 😉
I didn’t watch I have jinxed every Spuds masterstroke this year. Switching on when losing to Young Boys and Inter.
Guess Schalke showed scoring 3 in the San Siro against Inter is no great feat.
Oh and anyone see the glum Spuds waiting to exit. May be Rose tinted specs but pretty sure our boys were still singing when everyone else had gone after Barca.
It has amused me that reporters keep saying how successful Spuds first season in CL has been, first makes it sound like there will be another.
As mush as we hate Adebayor, he had a very good record against Tottenham!
They’re playing video footage of spud goals against us to cheer them up – bloomin cheek
Ha ha ha, I like football again !
I can now give to back to the spud today who said “Did you know there is a match tonight?”
I’ll ask him about it in the morning.
What’s the score Twitchy?
Anyone seen this 🙂 :http://wrighty7.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-win-in-madrid.html?
“I set my Sky+ to record “An Idiot Abroad,” and got the Tottenham game”
A suggestion for a song our away fans should sing at the Lame when we play totnum.
Six foot four
Six foot four
He shat on totnum
We love Adebayooor
😛
Peaches, I’ve sorted dandan’s post.
Nite all
Wot? No morning banter!!! All blissed out with schadenfreude!! 😉
Peaches, if you are around- I sent you an email the other day about my sponsored skydive- let me know if it got lost and what you think- I have emailed those few AAers whose email addresses I have but it was only 3 or 4….
Hi Carlito,
peaches wasn’t on the list that I received from you.
Morning all.
New post ……
I heard we might have to pass Ryo to Napoli because he is unlikely to get a visa.
We need to ask old Red Nose how they do it. Never any problems there. What a surprise!!