Henry blames the board

[martymarts]

...and I don't blame Titi for doing so!

A strong pattern has emerged since AW took over. He puts together an amazing team, on a frugal budget, and wins the championship. In order to funnel cash into the new stadium, the board gambles that the players we have will keep fit and keep winning and little is spent on improving squad depth. We do well the next campaign but get pipped to the post by ManUre and now Chavski. We never play to our potential in the CL, partly because of AW's tactical shortcomings and, more importantly, because we have too few players playing too many matches and, when it counts, they're not able to play at the very top of their game; which is what you have to do to beat the best in Europe!

Well, that's the bad news, Arsenal are a team of "sprinters" not marathon runners! The good news is that that has to change! 2005/06 is a hugely important season. We have to do well next year, to make sure the waiting lists turn into season tickets and bums on seats at AG!

Arsene has been promised £30mil in the summer and I wouldn't be suprised if he spends the lot; I know that that will only buy one star, but I expect AW to stretch it 3 or 4 better than decent players. AW has made big changes, when needed in the past and I think this summer will be one of those occasions. The first year at AG will be too late. Look at what happened when So'ton moved to the new St Mary's or Citeh to their Commonwealth hand me down? It's like playing away for the first 6 months!

AW is not going to do anything to jeapordise the young team that's coming through, so the changes will be from the established line up. Sad to say, but, our lack of success this term reduces DB10's chances of a new contract (I think it will depend on Aliadiere?) and I really think Freddie and Super Bob will be off. Likewise Edu and Cygan, and Mad Jens goes without saying!

So that means £30mil for a strong CB, a cental and right mid, a GK and possibly a LB too. Add that to the crop youngsters we've got, gaining in experience all the time, and memories of 2004/05 might well be very short lived!

Come on you Gunners!!!

[nicephoras]

Well what else is Henry going to blame a disappointing night of European football on? Himself? No, of course not. ;)

[mad theory]

Well what else is Henry going to blame a disappointing night of European football on? Himself? No, of course not

lol yeah, aslong as he scored yesterday.

[PsychedelicCeltic]

Well what else is Henry going to blame a disappointing night of European football on? Himself? No, of course not. ;)
He can certainly hold his head up high.

Ljungberg can't - absolutely invisible.

[SLO-Gunner]

Well what else is Henry going to blame a disappointing night of European football on? Himself? No, of course not. ;)

Please spare us...you'd be right here with us if Sir Luigi had seen Carvalho's attempt to befriend Valdez. Looking forward to you guys drawing Milan.

[nicephoras]

Please spare us...you'd be right here with us if Sir Luigi had seen Carvalho's attempt to befriend Valdez. Looking forward to you guys drawing Milan.

A. You may not know this, but I've defended Henry repeatedly on the boards, thus the winkie.
B. Please spare us. If Drogba isn't ridiculously sent off in the first game, we're not having this discussion.

[SLO-Gunner]

A. You may not know this, but I've defended Henry repeatedly on the boards, thus the winkie.
B. Please spare us. If Drogba isn't ridiculously sent off in the first game, we're not having this discussion.

yes, because without drogba's sending off, the tie would've have been over in Barcelona..please. Besides, Carvalho's foul on Valdez occurred on the play that resulted in the decisive goal.

[Miles Brasher]

...and I don't blame Titi for doing so!

A strong pattern has emerged since AW took over. He puts together an amazing team, on a frugal budget, and wins the championship. In order to funnel cash into the new stadium, the board gambles that the players we have will keep fit and keep winning and little is spent on improving squad depth. We do well the next campaign but get pipped to the post by ManUre and now Chavski. We never play to our potential in the CL, partly because of AW's tactical shortcomings and, more importantly, because we have too few players playing too many matches and, when it counts, they're not able to play at the very top of their game; which is what you have to do to beat the best in Europe!

Wenger probably didn't spend anymore/less than previous managers. Arsenal aren't sitting on a vast pot of gold that he's saved over the years. He's just got better results with the same money than anyone else. Yes there might have more money to spend this season if the new stadium wasn't being built, but Arsenal cannot continue to compete with Manu and Chelsea on Spurs/Birmingham money. And I don't think that tiredness is a factor this season. Henry has played many many games, and I just loved the way he chased back last night to steal the ball off one of their players. Manu blamed their failure to win the championship on Ferdinand missing, well we've been missing our Ferdinand, and more this season.


Arsene has been promised £30mil in the summer and I wouldn't be suprised if he spends the lot; I know that that will only buy one star, but I expect AW to stretch it 3 or 4 better than decent players. AW has made big changes, when needed in the past and I think this summer will be one of those occasions. The first year at AG will be too late. Look at what happened when So'ton moved to the new St Mary's or Citeh to their Commonwealth hand me down? It's like playing away for the first 6 months!


Well, Southampton did well because of the atmoshpere at the old ground, you can hardly say that Arsenal rely on that at highbury!! I'd imagine that the acoustics might actually be better at AG.


AW is not going to do anything to jeapordise the young team that's coming through, so the changes will be from the established line up. Sad to say, but, our lack of success this term reduces DB10's chances of a new contract (I think it will depend on Aliadiere?) and I really think Freddie and Super Bob will be off. Likewise Edu and Cygan, and Mad Jens goes without saying!


Cygan will hopefully be relegated to 4/5th choice, behind Campbell, New signing #1, Senderos and Toure, and decide to bugger off. I can't see either Freddie or Pires going, the latter wants to finish his career at Arsenal...


So that means £30mil for a strong CB, a cental and right mid, a GK and possibly a LB too. Add that to the crop youngsters we've got, gaining in experience all the time, and memories of 2004/05 might well be very short lived!


I can't see Wenger buying a CM, we have 4 at present... The left back slot is ok, AC3 will stay, believe ;) but a gk is a hope, and possibly a striker. If we lose DB10, then we really only have Henry,Aliadiere,V.persie and kiddies, seeing as Reyes doesn't seem to want to play up front.But he might go for SWP and use V.Persie as the DB10 position. You might find that Wenger totally changes the structure of the team. He's had DB10 as the best player on the park, since he came to Arsenal, so he's never had to redesign the team before. I don't know anything about his tactics at Monaco and Grampus 8 to know how his teams were laid out there...

[nicephoras]

yes, because without drogba's sending off, the tie would've have been over in Barcelona..please. Besides, Carvalho's foul on Valdez occurred on the play that resulted in the decisive goal.

This isn't the thread for this, so it'll be my last comment. 11 on 11 Barca lost this tie 5-2. With a man advantage, they had a 2 goal advantage. Seems to me the dismissal played quite a role, and you'd have to be blind to think otherwise.
Now, back to why your board's a bunch of cheap bastards.

[SLO-Gunner]

This isn't the thread for this, so it'll be my last comment. 11 on 11 Barca lost this tie 5-2. With a man advantage, they had a 2 goal advantage. Seems to me the dismissal played quite a role, and you'd have to be blind to think otherwise.
Now, back to why your board's a bunch of cheap bastards.

And Chavs won the tie 5-4 without Robben in the lineup. Seems to me that Robben.......

It must have been Drogba's defending that was missed :rolleyes:

[phishy]

Well what else is Henry going to blame a disappointing night of European football on? Himself? No, of course not. ;)

nice, why are you trolling????? i imagine you didnt see the game and have no clue how well henry played last night. nobody on these boards are in the mood for sarcasm dude.


please don't let this thread diminish into a chavski discussion......

[martymarts]

I think there have been plenty of occasions where stregthening has been suggested, after we started to rake in prize and EPL money, and we chose the status quo. I'm not saying the stadium is a bad thing, but, it is a major factor?

In the centre we have Paddy, Flamini, Cesc, Gilberto and Edu. Edu is likely gone. Now he needs knee surgey so his future's less certain, but, probably not at Highbury. If Gilberto comes back full-on I agree CM is less of an issue and the money would be better spent up front! I'd rather see DB10 get another year than waste more time on JAR. We are over dependant on Titi, but with RVP coming through and Quincy not far behind, and Reyes able to play LM or forward, the situation doesn't look as bad. Anyone think the rumours about Owen are true?

I said AW might go for a RB in my 1st post, but, he's already brought in Ebouue so I think another would be very unlikely! :D

[nicephoras]

nice, why are you trolling????? i imagine you didnt see the game and have no clue how well henry played last night. nobody on these boards are in the mood for sarcasm dude.


please don't let this thread diminish into a chavski discussion......

Sigh. It was a joke phishy, I meant he played well. Thus the smiley. Jeeeebus. I'll come back when y'all have recalibrated your sarcasm detectors. Cheerio.

[phishy]

Sigh. It was a joke phishy, I meant he played well. Thus the smiley. Jeeeebus. I'll come back when y'all have recalibrated your sarcasm detectors. Cheerio.

it's prolly just me.... i mentioned not being in the mood for sarcasm...
just wanted to go to the match in turkey

[Bighorn]

What?? He blames this particular board???

We did nothing but believe for three weeks and then for a full 93 minutes yesterday. HOW DARE THAT BASTARD!

Oh, you mean the Arsenal Board of Directors?

Nevermind.

[surfcam]

I think there have been plenty of occasions where stregthening has been suggested, after we started to rake in prize and EPL money, and we chose the status quo. I'm not saying the stadium is a bad thing, but, it is a major factor?

In the centre we have Paddy, Flamini, Cesc, Gilberto and Edu. Edu is likely gone. Now he needs knee surgey so his future's less certain, but, probably not at Highbury. If Gilberto comes back full-on I agree CM is less of an issue and the money would be better spent up front! I'd rather see DB10 get another year than waste more time on JAR. We are over dependant on Titi, but with RVP coming through and Quincy not far behind, and Reyes able to play LM or forward, the situation doesn't look as bad. Anyone think the rumours about Owen are true?

I said AW might go for a RB in my 1st post, but, he's already brought in Ebouue so I think another would be very unlikely! :D

AS much as I think DB10 is a stellar player, I don't knwo if another year is what is needed. Neither do I think Reyes is the answer. My take on it is that AW needs to find a good partner for TH14 who can last the season and travel. A comfortable striking duo will play havoc with defenses next year!

[nicephoras]

it's prolly just me.... i mentioned not being in the mood for sarcasm...
just wanted to go to the match in turkey

You can still go. Buy Thierry a ticket - I'm sure he'll appreciate it. Heck, while you're at it, buy me one too!

[Lanesra]

I think Thierry needs to look at his mate Vieira, before he starts slagging the board, if we hadn't of had to suffer patricks indecision during the close season maybe Arsene would have spent, as it was h thought he was looking for a midfield general..untill a week before the season.

You think Paddy would have made a super human effort for the team this season, so far he hasn't, and spent alot of last night walking around with his head down, would you ever see Tony Adams doing the same? or John Terry ?I don't think so!

Time for a new captain methinks, and it's been anounced tonight that there's a £40 million transfer chest available, well that should buy 2 players, only 3 or 4 to go

[KingHenryXIV]

Let's don't forget about any possible incoming transfer income. Personally, I wouldn't mind selling Vieria. I think he's been disappointing this season and I also agree with everyone as his performance as a captain. Paddy has also just signed his contract, so we could definitely get a nice price for him.

Could we then sign someone with more of an offensive threat at his position like Andrea Pirlo? How about having Gilberto play the DM role and buy an attacking midfielder such as Pablo Aimar. That would really change our tactics around and get some goals out of our CM.

Having said that, I wouldn't mind spending all 30 million on a Defender.

[bigp]

Let's don't forget about any possible incoming transfer income. Personally, I wouldn't mind selling Vieria. I think he's been disappointing this season and I also agree with everyone as his performance as a captain. Paddy has also just signed his contract, so we could definitely get a nice price for him.

Could we then sign someone with more of an offensive threat at his position like Andrea Pirlo? How about having Gilberto play the DM role and buy an attacking midfielder such as Pablo Aimar. That would really change our tactics around and get some goals out of our CM.

Having said that, I wouldn't mind spending all 30 million on a Defender.

If you want an attacking threat in the middle than we should get Essien. He can play in RB,RM,CB,CM and has a wicked long shot. And he put in two nice goals against Bremen and scored against Manure.