Dinosaur manager The only real difference is that he is adding elite players and not being forced to sell top players. But other teams are also making massive acquisitions. The failure to get an elite deep lying midfielder and proper left sided forward will bite wenger in the arse.
I think Alexis will eventually be that player on the left once we get Walcott back, but the lack of an elite distributor in the deepest midfield position is the biggest hole I see in the team. When you watch Bayern, Madrid, Dortmund (when Gundogan is there), etc. play they have someone who can take the ball off the center backs and bypass the other midfielders with an accurate and incisive ball straight into the attackers. With both Arteta and Flamini we usually need to cycle possession around the back line a few times before we finally open up space to move the ball forward even just a little bit. Compare that to the way Alonso was spraying passes around from deep yesterday and the space that opens up for the front players to combine quickly. Without that we're constantly going to have trouble breaking down even just average teams without committing 7 or 8 players forward, and hence being constantly vulnerable to the counter.
Agreed The data shows the Flamini version of the team is simply awful compared with the Arteta version And Arteta is in steep decline
This is why if I could buy any single player in the world regardless of cost it would be one of Javi Martínez or William Carvalho. Tangentially, I really like Ander Iturraspe. I'm surprised that there hasn't really been any talk about him moving from Athletic. He's followed in Javi Martínez's footsteps and is very much in the same mold, but he would cost a lot less.
I think he does get it. He's just ridiculously picky about what he wants in a deepest midfielder, and only about five players in the world fit that mold, and none of them are going to move.
Is it only me who reckons things are OK? lol... And call this stupid, but is the reason fans are angry because Spurs are higher than us (after only three games)? And that we only just beat Palace, and narrowly (over the two legs) beat Besiktas? I think we can challenge for the league and win a cup. Too early to say this will be a shitty season. City lost, and aren't playing well. Only Chelsea is firing strongly, and United Di Maria et al need time to gel. Confident by this time in November, we can be in top 3, and top of our CL group. We beat Dortmund last season and year before anyhow.
I NEVER judge what Arsenal should or shouldn't do based on Spurs EVER. Never have never will. They are irrelevant in the grand scheme. Completely. Jitty, We can't play through the middle and that makes us easy to defend. When we have to play elite teams they press us and we have no CM to outlet and dictate from deep. I also agree with you on the left sided forward, imht a bid for Griezman, or DiMaria should've been tabled or we should've brought back Vela. Oh well 4th place it is. For reference to my American college football fans, Arsenal are now in the stage where PSU's JoePaterno and FSU'sBobby Bowden were right before both were fired or relieved of duties or told to retire. Comfortably mediocre, by the lofty standards they set previously in their storied careers. Until Arsene retires 4th place with an occasional Cup run and win is our lot.
You forgot getting out of the group stages of the CL. I used to be angry at that. If we're part of the storied "Big 4" and we finish fourth, that seemed to me to be failure. Oh sure, there are lots of teams that would be over the moon ecstatic with our level of "success", and given that I am a UVa football fan, Cowboys fan and a Celtics (b-ball) fan, this makes Arsenal one of my more successful teams. So, we will have some clunkers, we'll occasionally light up the scoreboard, and I have to hope that I catch some of these better games. After five years of disappointment, I'm on much more even keel. And yes, I know how disappointing it is to have sunk so low.
Just we Gooners were all happy when we got Sanchez, now it's all to pot. I know we're fickle, but then to me we haven't lost yet, and whilst it may seem silly I do reckon Spurs higher (albeit by a point/place and only three games) is pissing us off, as well as our poor performances against Palace and Besiktas away. We kind of thought we'd hit the ground running, but then it's still early. So the fans are underwhelmed. And speaking of Sanchez, he did well at Besiktas at home and at Leicester, so he's at least performing. Chambers has been excellent as has Debuchy, and I think Welbeck can do a job for us. I may be in the minority (like I care, doesn't mean my view is invalid) but then what really is so wrong that has happened since the Palace game? and yep, we beat City in the Charity Shield (sic) but so what? it's a friendly, it meant shit.
FYI I NEVER EVER EVER EVER base what I expect from Arsenal on what Spurs do, did or are doing NEVER EVER. They're irrelevant, fixating on Spurs is a losing proposition. They're a losing club, they've not won anything and we never competed with them for anything worthwhile since jesus was a boy. I concern myself with United, City and Chelsea and compared to them we are not good enough in key positions at this moment imho. Things could change, injuries, disciplinary problems etc. But as of now those three are ahead of us. Liverpool could be the team we compete with for 4th.
What about last season? What about it? They were rubbish. They were ********ing rubbish. They weren't that bad. They were ********ing rubbish last year. And they were ********ing rubbish the year before. And I don't care if they are top of the League, they'll be ********ing rubbish this year, too. And next year. And the year after that. I'm not joking. I don't know why you come, Frank. Honest I don't. Well, you live in hope, don't you?
Best case scenario (minimal injuries, quality defensive reinforcements in January): 4th in the league FA Cup Semi-final League Cup Semi-final Round of 16 in the CL If we end up with Monreal at CB on a regular basis who knows how far we will fall.
My expectation for the season is that sometime before it ends, Arsenal.com will have a picture of Joel Campbell wearing a kit that isn't from 2011:
Why not compare Arsene to Belichick? Another coach who hasn't won the title since 2004, but still puts out squads that are consistently in the hunt. Do Patriots fans moan about his strange personnel moves and wish for him to quit or be fired? I've always wondered about that.
The Pats fans I know all seem to have become fans with the team's early success. And yes, they did whine a lot about his moves. I don't think anyone wants him fired because by standards of the cyclical nature of football, what he's accomplished is really dramatic. Wenger on the other hand keeps us fourth of the big 4. Not as impressive.
If Belichick would be able to buy players without having to worry about a cap, I bet he would've had all the spots covered with class players and players no one knew much about like Wes Welker. Although, having said this, wtf is up with that yearly disappointing defense? Come on, Bill. seriously?