Darc, With all due respect we lost the league last summer. Same story, every year. Its true in all sports, you don't win the title in the season you win it in the off season with preparation. This is what has killed AFC since 04/05 just a haphazard approach to the summer.
We have good depth, but we lack motivation. I thought we finally had the bollocks again and we've proven we can bounce back but then I think we are too lethargic sometimes. That said, compared to how we were a year ago, things have improved. We defend better, we can attract talent, we've returned to a large part to Invincibles-esque quality football, and we've had a good challenge and teams with more players and money will win it over us. And we can still win a trophy, and touch wood no big player will leave this summer (without a quality replacement).
I think had we signed Higuain, this would have helped us. But I guess I'm seeing the positive, we have shown we can compete and still can win something. Would love to see Jose call Arsene a failure should he win the league at teh friendly shield or what's it's name in August..
In light of the result against Swansea, Wenger will do everything he can to not lose against City. I fully expect an exhausted, depleted (how is it possible to have these same long-term injury issues EVERY year?) Arsenal to roll over this weekend and hope for the best in the FA cup.
And Wenger has no one to blame for that but himself. He had opportunities to strengthen the squad in both windows. Adding Ozil was great, fine. In January he should've made inquiries but he let his standards get in the way of what was needed for the club. People would say the same about Mourinho but at least he's willing to compromise if he can get someone that can do a job for him.
Last summer was abysmal execution, with the Ozil deal a total bailout. I'm still optimistic, but executing deals for a striker, a DM and a new right back QUICKLY this summer will be critical. Also, has anyone noticed that our seasons after big international tournaments tend to be pretty poor?
That is f*cking insane. I've bashed Wenger for being too cautious with transfers, but there's absolutely no reason to buy a player that you don't think is good enough for your club. Loan? Perhaps. Buy? Hell no. Even a small transfer will cost well over 10 million quid once wages are factored in.
Poldi should put in a transfer request. He should be playing first team football somewhere. He is clearly not appreciated here.
Really? Mind telling us how Wenger's transfer policy has helped the club maintain a challenge for a trophy the last 8 years? Oh wait, no you can't. He dithers when he should be decisive (i.e. Mata, Higuain); when he should negotiate with a club to get the player he needs (i.e. Suarez), he issues an ultimatum instead ("either accept this offer or we end the negotiation here"). THAT's insane; he's essentially cutting the club's nose off to spite its face. And yet he bought Park Chu-Yong....
Wow that's quite a group. You're blessed with a lot of trusty friends! Or perhaps a really desirable destination? How many of the guys in that photo are really gooners? And yes there really was no decision indeed. Now if it had been Hull in the cup final then that'd be different story.
Mata turned us down. It's not at all clear that we dithered there. And while we did dither with Higuain, it was for freaking Suarez. I can't find fault with that, and it's not at all clear what actually happened outside of the newspapers in the Suarez negotiations (since Liverpool did most of the leaking, and John Henry is a modern day Pinocchio cross bred with a muckracker). It's not at all insane to watch your limited resources and spend them carefully, especially for a LOT of money. Our total outlay for Park was less than five million once you factor in the loans, and that includes wages. A waste? Definitely. But a minimal one. For those of you harping on Wenger for being too cautious, all I have to say is that Arsenal are in a position where they can't afford to make mistakes in the transfer market. A bad "big" transfer will set the club back for years once you factor in wages. It's not unreasonable to be cautious in that kind of market: those of you trashing Wenger for not splashing the cash will trash Wenger if a big transfer doesn't pan out. Look at how many of you turned on Ozil in the last two months. It's really easy to be the hyena who wails whenever he's unhappy, but it takes a lot more thought and effort to consciously assess the risks and plan to build a squad over multiple seasons. My big beef in terms of transfers is the execution: we move too slowly (read: no parallel moves) and don't get transfers wrapped up quickly enough. I don't think that's on Wenger though.
Mata's a fine player. I'd put him on a level with Cazorla, though he's a slightly better passer. Higuain is better than Giroud.
i dont think either win us the league, is my real point. I know Mata wouldnt. Higuain would not be very good with this poor chance creation unit we have out now.
When we are bad, we are creating very few chances, and are not clinical with the ones we some how manage to create. What a dire combination.
To be fair, only RVP would be good with this unit. And perhaps someone like a Cavani or a Falcao. This lineup really, really exposes Cazorla's weaknesses.
If you followed Napoli, you would have seen that Higuain is actually very good in creating chances. I thought that he wasn't so good at this but he really did surprise me since he is playing in Italy. And about Wilshere, he is really a liability in midfield this season. His positional sense is terrible, he needs to improve on this before he wants to be part of this team. We can't have such a liability playing in that specific role. We need to sign a quality DM this summer. Period.
indeed. Its gotten worse since Ozil got broken i'll be honest, I think Hleb is better than Santi. Hleb used to run at defenders and cause problems. Great passer too. Santi will shoot, but he isnt that good of a shooter. Not that direct either. Hleb had more size as well. the top top players is who I want. That is what I am getting at.
Well, that sucked. Really felt for Flam, the look on his face was like he had seen a ghost. Not much he could have done there. So, at this point we're basically in a scrap for fourth. I feel like if we can avoid defeat in the next 2 games we'll be in good shape to ride this thing out and at least claim that CL spot. It's all about that FA Cup now. Win it and end the season on a high, with the summer to (hopefully) strengthen, and things won't look so bad. After leading the league for 3 solid months and falling off when 4 of our best players went down, I would look at another CL finish and the FA Cup as a solid season. Hell, a better ending than we've had since 2005. COYG
As do I. Just note that if we're only signing top players, we're only getting one (or two, tops) per window. If that.
im happy with that because until Ozil, Arsene had never signed a top player (not soon to be top player, but a top player at the time of arrival). That would be an improvement.
Honestly, I would take RVP back... He's still an ass, but at least he could contribute. And we know Wenger prefers his signing to be young and cheap, or old and cheap.
I'd be over the moon with one top player and one very good player per year. It would be unprecedented at Arsenal.