Now I know some of you hate playing the fantasy football manager scenario where we give our verdict on who, or at least what type of player, we should add to the squad to take ourselves into the bracket where we are challenging at the highest levels again. That is not to say that we are not doing that this season, to some degree, with us being F.A cup favourites and ECL football again within our grasp but in reality I still feel there are a couple of I’s still to dot and T’s to cross.

There may be 2-3 positions you feel need to be addressed, as I do, but to keep it simple for today’s post I think we should today look at the most obvious position that most of us feel requires addressing, which is that of the striker or number 9 position. It is also a position that I am more than certain Arsene himself recognises as needing an upgrade in, so in many ways this is not one of those futile discussions which has no realistic chance of becoming reality. I feel it is a given that we will recruit at least 1 player in this position in the summer.

We have what we have at the moment so I would firstly say let’s just get fully behind the current team for the rest of the domestic campaign. I do feel, however, that there is no harm in an examination of what we may require to get fully back to the summit again, as I personally believe that we are potentially very close to that fully competitive top team again.

I would like to quote GIE from a few days ago who poses the questions very succinctly :

“A proper striker……now there is a subject for debate.
Do we want a pure goalscorer…..akin to Ian Wright
Do we want a hold up man….we have him
Do we want a twisty turny something from nothing man….Suarez like (preferably minus cannibal traits)
Do we want a channel runner….the Henry type”

Now Ollie is our main striker at present who has certain strengths and weaknesses. I like Ollie and see him as a great plan B or second choice number 9, but I have stated my view that I feel we need something a bit more than him, and a bit different to him if we want to challenge at the highest level again. For me Suarez is the best EPL striker at the moment, and maybe even arguably the best in the world. We once had the best EPL striker in TH14 and it is maybe no coincidence that one of our great periods of success was when he was with us.

As such I would ask you all to state your views on which type or style of striker you would like to see join us as per Mr GIE’s comment above. If you wish you could even put forward certain names to support your case. Any video footage would be even more welcome to support any argument for said player. So over to you A.A’ers, what do you think?

Written by GoonerB

Technically, Arsenal are still in the race to be crowned Premier League champions.

Yeah, right.

Technically, the Tottenham area of London could become a centre of learning to rival Alexandria of antiquity.

But I think we all know that Arsenal will not be lifting a 14^th League Championship Title this May… and that N17 will ever remain a sinkhole of ignorance and moral decrepitude.

So if not us, who?

Who would you prefer to win the title in the absence of our goodly selves?

This theme has been discussed on and off in the comments section of the blog over the last week or so (in particular since we effectively bowed out of the title race with our embarrassment at Chav Central).

I have seen arguments put forward for Manchester City and for Liverpool. I have yet to see anyone make the case for Chelsea, but you never know.

Those who would prefer the Light Blue Oilers to take the crown seem to base their argument on the following:

• Man City are a really good team who play football in the right way.
• Most of their players seem pretty decent, as far as professional footy players go (only Na$ri really rates in the objectionable stakes).
• Their manager has never slagged off Arsenal or Arsene.
• Rather them than the Dark Blue Oilers and their festering pustule of a manager.

For those who favour Liverpool, these are the main arguments:

• Liverpool are playing good, entertaining football with real attacking verve.
• Unlike the Oilers they cannot be considered to have out-and-out bought the title if they win.
• A Liverpool victory would give hope to all the non Sugar Daddy teams and indicate that money doesn’t always win the day.
• Rather them than the Dark Blue Oilers and their festering pustule of a manager.

Since no-one has favoured Chelsea (as far as I have seen) I’ll have to make up my own reasons:

• Rather them than Liverpool, because we don’t want to establish the Dippers as serious rivals moving forward.
• Despite having lashed out gazillions, the Chavs have spent less in recent years than Man City, so a Chelsea win would show that it’s not just a case of he-who-spends-most.
• Their manager is a charmingly eccentric individual who adds colour to the tapestry of our favorite game.

Others have specific “negative” reasons for not wanting one or more of the teams to triumph.

For example, the classless comments of Liverpool chairman John Henry and manager Brenda Rodgers during the summer’s Suarez-to-Arsenal kerfuffle have left some Gooners adamant that they don’t want a Scouser victory.

Others (I count myself in this group) would hate a victory for either of the Oiler teams simply because it reduces the EPL to battle of the bank balance.

And just about everyone seems united in not wanting the ill-mannered Portuguese nitwit Mourinho to have the opportunity to gloat at season’s end.

Well… let’s be having it. Vote for the team you would prefer to see win the title if not Arsenal (and please explain your reasons in comments).

RockyLives

On taking over from George Allison, Tom Whittaker enjoyed immediate success by leading Arsenal to their sixth League Division 1 Championship in 1947/48.

Tom needed to start changing his team the aging stars in the squad could no longer keep up with the strenuous work routines. He brought in Doug Lishman, Alex Forbes and Cliff Holton but even with the new players Arsenal was unable to challenge for the league title.

The 1950/51 FA Cup proved to be a different story:

3^rd Round Arsenal 1 Sheffield Wednesday 0

4^th Round Arsenal 2 Swansea Town 1

5^th Round Arsenal 2 Burnley 0

6^th Round Arsenal 1 Leeds United 0

Semi Final Arsenal 2 Chelsea 2

SF Replay Arsenal 1 Chelsea 0 after extra time with Freddie Cox scoring the winning goal.

Both the Semi final and the Replay were played at White Hart Lane.

In the final Arsenal met Liverpool at Wembley on April 29^th 1950 in front of a crowd of 100,000 – although some reports claim 127,000 were at the game.

The Arsenal team consisted of : George Swindin, Laurie Scott, Walley Barnes. Alex Forbes, Leslie Compton, Joe Mercer, Freddie Cox, Jimmy Logie, Peter Goring, Reg Lewis and Denis Compton.

Denis Compton was now nearing the end of his career as a footballer, he experienced an indifferent first half so during half time he was given a stiff brandy, in the second half he perked up and played a major part in a sparkling move which led to Reg Lewis scoring his second goal of the game.

Arsenal won the game 2-0 to claim their third FA Cup trophy.

Later in 1950 Leslie Compton became the oldest England debutant at 38 years and sixty five days in a game against Wales. Denis and Leslie were also Middlesex cricketers but Denis was more than just a first class player he was a brilliant batsman and scored over 123 centuries.

1951-52 saw the club nearly win their first Double, but it ultimately ended in disappointment; a series of injuries and a fixture pile-up at the end of the season saw Arsenal lose their last two matches, including the title decider against eventual champions Manchester United at Old Trafford on the last day of the season; the Gunners finished third, equal on points with Tottenham. A week later, Arsenal played Newcastle United in the FA Cup final, with several recovering players rushed back into the first team; Walley Barnes was taken off injured with a twisted knee after 35 minutes (no substitutes were allowed then), and ten-man Arsenal suffered further injuries so that by the end of the match they had only seven fit players on the pitch; Newcastle took full advantage and won 1-0.

Unbowed by the disappointment of the previous season, Arsenal won their seventh League title in 1952-53; in one of the closest title races ever, they beat Preston North End to the title on goal average after finishing level on points.

1952/53 League Division 1 Champions

That proved to be Arsenal’s last trophy for seventeen years; unable to attract many stars, the club’s fortunes began to wane, particularly after the unexpected death of Tom Whittaker in 1956. Apart from finishing third in 1958-59, Arsenal usually figured around mid-table. Nor did the club have much luck in the FA Cup – after reaching the final in 1952, Arsenal would not get beyond the quarter-finals again until 1971.

Jack Crayston and George Swindin, both former players, followed Whittaker as manager but could not replicate his success. In 1962, Arsenal made the bold but ultimately unsuccessful step of appointing England legend Billy Wright as manager, despite his lack of managerial experience. Like his predecessors, Wright could not achieve much either, although it was under his leadership that the club made their debut in European competition, in the Fairs Cup after finishing seventh in 1962-63. In his final season, Arsenal finished 14th, their lowest position in 36 years, and recorded the lowest-ever attendance at Highbury (4,554).

GunnerN5

I know I should be over it by now but the 6 nil loss to chelsea has ramifications that go way beyond just the loss of 3 points. The only word I can come up with to describe the way we played in that game and the other two heavy losses is ‘irresponsible’.

GoonerB and others have commented on how our performance against Swansea was evidence of the psychological effect on the team of such a heavy defeat. The games immediately after our other two drubbings were also drawn – so the loss of 3 points becomes 5.

But beyond the fact that it is a graphic illustration of our vulnerability against top sides, there is a more potentially damaging effect to these losses. We’ve conceded 17 goals in 3 games to Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea (a net loss of 13 goals). Our goal difference is currently 19 whereas Everton’s is 16. They are 6 points behind us with a game in hand. If we lose to City by just one goal and they beat us at Goodison, we would be equal or behind them on goal difference – that could cost us 4th place.

Everton are a team in the ascendancy and Arsenal are a team whose confidence is in shreds, and that in part is of our own making. It would appear that at no point in those games did we consider damage limitation – no, we continued to play into the opposition’s hands and they continued to punish us.

The game against City is not just another 3 points. It’s our last chance this season to show that we can man up and go toe to toe with a top team and not capitulate if we go behind. A big loss to City and our season will be in freefall and Everton will be favourites to grab 4th place and Champion’s League football next season.

Rasp

When your team gets humiliated by Chelsea and the manager refuses to speak in public and also tells his players not to comment, it is reasonable to expect that he had told them in no uncertain terms to give a performance against Swansea, a team that has won only one of it’s last ten matches in all competitions.

But what did we get? A totally lacklustre display for the majority of the game, with no pace, misdirected passes, continuous sideways and backward passes that absolutely infuriated me and others. We started at a snail’s pace and then with Swansea’s only real attack, Bony headed the Swans into the lead. (Were you watching Giroud, that’s how to head a ball.) The only player who attempted to drive forward and shoot was Oxlade – Chamberlain.

We were a shambles and as I said in commentary it looked like an end of season match with nothing at stake.

Subs were made and Podolski quickly made an impact. Gibbs managed to get in behind, wiggled his way into the box where he found Poldi waiting to slot home. Within seconds Giroud, who had an absolute mare of a game with Williams easily having him in his pocket, was found by Poldoski and scored our second.

A sigh of relief, but yet again the lead didn’t inspire the team to put the game to bed and if anything Swansea gained momentum without causing us too much to be concerned about until the final minute when Szczsney spilled the ball and Flamini had the misfortune to give Swansea the equalizer.

Many will point to the amount of injuries we currently have and now Koscielny is “out for a while”. I won’t go and list every players’ performance but however vital at the time Podolski’s goal was, he can’t defend and many a referee would have given a penalty on his totally unnecessary shove in the box to a player who was nowhere near the ball. Szczesny grinning when the equaliser went in, was totally out of order.

Wenger said after the match “The team gave everything, their spirit was great,” added Wenger. “You wonder how we could draw a game like that, they had nothing in the end”.

“We gave them the two goals but overall the spirit was great and we have to recover from that last goal.”

Well he must have seen a different game to me and in probability we will lose to a rampant City and even if we don’t we are back to familiar ground fighting for forth.

I make Wenger and the whole team accountable for yet another dismal performance. The signs are not good and being favourites for the FA Cup will only add more pressure to a team who at this moment of time are unrecognisable of the team of two months ago.We haven’t got the motivation anymore and then on top of that the weakest bench to really change a game when required.

I never expected us to win the league, but not at the back end of the season to play without conviction and “belief”, especially the games we surely should expect to win.

Written  by kelsey

How can you write a post match report when it wasn’t a match?

I have very strong feelings about the way we are heading and my crystal ball is working overtime.

Out of interest why was The Ox the last man covering the post, look who was in front of him.This is not a knee jerk reaction but why oh why didn’t the team start on the front foot to show Chelsea we meant business.This game on paper was pivitol to our season, at least to lay down a marker.

It was always going to be a difficult game but in all honestly Mourinho didn’t need a master plan to beat us.Three times we have been humiliated by the other title contenders,to the extent the games have been lost before half time,and it’s not that we had a makeshift team on the pitch.Seventeen goals conceded in three Away matches is disastrous.

I don’t know if Walcott or Ramsey would have made a difference or even if Flamini had started or even a fit Jack, but that is irrelevant as one can only play with those available.

As I said last night every single goal Chelsea scored began with mistakes by one or more of our team.The high line can be a dangerous tactic as shown in this game.

I also don’t accept that if Giroud’s scuffed shot would have gone in it would have been a different result.

Wenger may well be leaving a legacy and a team to really challenge but not without buying at least 4 players. But the real question is that when it really matters our play becomes erratic and there is no real leader on the pitch and I am afraid Wenger can’t motivate them anymore. He may not realise it that he is being found out time and time again and maybe it’s really best for him to leave at the end of the season as a proud man who had glorious years but now the game has passed him by when it really matters.

In all probability Sagna will leave, who IMO was again our best player yesterday from an average performance. Arteta has had his best days. Gibbs is injury prone and Monreal is another Santos and it looks like Szczesny is no better on occasions than Fabianski who is also leaving. There is a doubt about Vermaelen so this new defensive approach which works against some lesser teams is detrimental to the way we have been used to seeing the fluidity of pass and move,which is a joy to watch, and needs new players.

If that is the case we have to rebuild the understanding between the defence and midfield and attack.

All in all Podolski is a disappointment and Giroud despite his reasonable stats is not the player one needs when a vital goal is needed to change a game.

We still have a good chance to win the FA Cup but within a few weeks we have gone from top of the league to nervously look over our shoulders so that we don’t get drawn into a battle for fourth.

On a side note Mourinho showed his class yet again walking off just before the final whistle and IMO Wenger should have showed his face to the TV cameras however much it hurt. Remember his words “mental character” 🙂 He is hurting and I wonder what is really going on in his mind.

A hugely disappointing non Performance.

Written by kelsey

Arsène Wenger’s 1st game on Oct.12^th 1996 – a 2-0 away victory over Blackburn Rovers

In August 1996, Arsenal dismissed manager Bruce Rioch and former Barcelona player and manager Johan Cruyff was the odds on favourite to take over; however Arsenal appointed a relative unknown named Arsène Wenger.

He officially took over the reigns on October 1st 1996. Arsène was a close friend of club vice-chairman David Dein, whom he first met during a match between Arsenal and Queens Park Rangers in 1988. The Evening Standard greeted his appointment with the headline “Arsène Who?” Arsenal finished third in his first season and missed out on a Champions League qualification place to Newcastle United who was in second place based on goal difference.

In his second season, Arsenal won the Premier League and FA Cup to complete the second league and cup double in the club’s history. Arsenal had to overcome a 12-point deficit on league leaders Manchester United in the final few weeks of the season. Arsenal’s success was built on an already stalwart defence which consisted of Tony Adams, Steve Bould, Nigel Winterburn, Lee Dixon and Martin Keown with David Seaman in goal. The defenders contributed to a run of eight consecutive clean sheets between January and March 1998.

Arsène thought of striker Dennis Bergkamp as the catalyst of the team plus the new signings of Petit and Vieira along with winger Marc Overmars and striker Nicolas Anelka all provided the core and benefited from Arsene’s attack-minded principles. The beginnings of “Wenger Ball” had officially arrived at Highbury!

The following seasons were a series of close calls, in 1998–99 the club finished second behind Manchester United who also defeated Arsenal in a FA Cup semi-final replay.

One year later, Arsenal lost the 2000 UEFA Cup Final to Galatasaray on penalties and in 2001, was beaten by Liverpool in the 2001 FA Cup Final, even though they dominated the match. During this period both Overmars and Petit left to join Barcelona.

Arsène then surprised everyone by signing a new four-year contract in July 2001.

Arsenal made several signings in the summer, including the controversial arrival of defender Sol Campbell, on a free transfer, from Tottenham Hotspur and midfielder Giovanni van Bronckhorst from Rangers – they along with Fredrik Ljungberg, Thierry Henry and Robert Pirès who were brought in during previous transfer windows, now created the bedrock of the first team.

2001- 2002 was another double season and, for Arsenal fans, the ultimate moment arrived when Sylvain Wiltord scored the winning goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the penultimate game of the season to secure the club’s 12th league championship and third double; four days earlier Arsenal had beaten Chelsea 2–0 in the 2002 FA Cup Final.

That same season Arsenal scored in every single league fixture and was unbeaten away from home. Arsenal extended their good form into the 2002–03 season; they overhauled Nottingham Forest’s top-flight record of 22 away league matches without defeat and surpassed Manchester United’s Premier League total of 29 matches unbeaten. They ended up second to Manchester United in the league after giving up an eight point lead, however they gained some consolation by winning their ninth FA Cup defeating Southampton 1-0.

In the 2003–04 season, Arsenal made history by winning the Premier League without a single defeat – an accomplishment last achieved by Preston North End over 115 years earlier. The team became known as “The Invincibles” and they clinched the League Championship in front of Tottenham’s supporters at White Hart Lane with a 2-2 draw on April 25th 2004 – eventually their undefeated run ended at 49 league games.

“We won the league at White Hart Lane”

That Arsenal chant must gnaw away at Tottenham fans who have suffered the indignity of watching our Gunners clinch the title on their ground not once, but twice.

Arsenal enjoyed another comparatively strong campaign in 2004–05, but finished second to Chelsea. Consolation again came in the 2005 FA Cup; Arsenal defeated Manchester United on penalties, after a goalless final with Patrick Vieira scoring the winning penalty with his last kick as an Arsenal player.

In the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons Arsenal finished fourth in the Premier League on both occasions and outside of the top two for the first time in Arsene’s tenure. The club reached their first Champions League final in May 2006, but ended the competition as runners-up to Barcelona in a 2-1 loss.

In the summer of 2006, Arsenal relocated to the Emirates Stadium; Wenger believed the increased capacity was “vital” to the club’s financial future. Arsenal has not won any trophies since the 2005 FA Cup but has continued to win qualification to the Champions League and under Arsene’s guidance they have qualified in the last seventeen seasons.

This brings us to the current season where with nine games left to play we look to be assured of another CL qualification spot and have a shot at winning the EPL Championship and we play Wigan in the semi final of the FA Cup.

Saturday March 22nd will be an epic day in Arsène Wenger’s tenure as the Arsenal Manager will take his Arsenal side to Stamford Bridge to play against Chelsea in his 1,000th game in charge of the club.

Arsenal accomplishments for Arsene Wenger

• FA Premier League: 1997–98, 2001–02, 2003–04

• FA Cup: 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05

• FA Community Shield: 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004

Individual accomplishments for Arsene Wenger

• French Manager of the Year: 2008

• J. League Manager of the Year: 1995

• Officer of the British Empire: 2003[206]

• Onze d’Or Coach of The Year: 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004

• Premier League Manager of the Season: 1998, 2002, 2004

• LMA Manager of the Year: 2001–02, 2003–04

• BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award: 2002, 2004

• Freedom of Islington: 2004

• FWA Tribute Award: 2005

• English Football Hall of Fame: 2006[207]

• Premier League Manager of the Month:

March 1998, April 1998, October 2000, April 2002, September 2002, August 2003, February 2004, August 2004, September 2007, December 2007, February 2011, February 2012, September 2013

• World Coach of the Decade: 2001–2010

Top ten Arsenal Managers with the longest tenure.

Arsene Wenger’s Record at Arsenal

Written by GunnerN5