Lest we forget, Zidane and France did the same thing in 2006. There's nobody at this club who could do that, much less try. I have zero idea who the locker room leaders are...I guess Per?
Yeah, this. The idea that the players are letting Wenger down is bullshit and a copout. Wenger is letting the players down. It's actually sort of interesting to wonder what Wenger's job security is like now. At least from some rumors maybe reliable, maybe not, most of the club insiders wanted him gone last year, but Stan Kroenke kept him. I wonder what his motivation was, and if he believes whatever it is. It wouldn't surprise me if he's still here in five years, or if he's fired before noon. I don't think it's near as compelling any more to say that he's the best money choice, assuming that was the primary criteria keeping him in place before. And the shame of it is, if the penny has dropped, the switch has flipped, etc., Kroenke's refusal to pull the plug on this six months ago has left us in a horrible bind for timing. It's going to require some seriously drastic moves salvage the prestige of the club. We've got to can Wenger ASAP, like yank him off the team coach and let him find his own way home a la Lane Kiffin at USC. With the end of the transfer window Wednesday is too late. Sell everyone with less than a year on their contracts except probably Ozil who hasn't attacted any legitimate offers, and maybe a few others besides. Buy whatever quality we can find in need positions. Make Henry the caretaker manager until we bring in a permanent guy. The key is to get somebody, ie Henry who has at least some idea of the value of footballers to make some intelligent decisions regarding transfers while this window is still open.
Yes great example! I find that stuff quite fascinating as via a client I have had a bit of exposure to the likes of Clive Woodward and team GB on teamship etc. Most peak performance is on the bleeding 1-2% margin - trying hard is just entry level. So for instance, do you trust your team mate outside you to defend? or do you race out of the line to be a hero? If you are feuding with your team mates - or see them screw up - then you don't trust them. All of these little things become impossible to sort out. And when it happens game after game belief falls to zero
The shame of it is, that at this point I think most of the fans would support this, whereas maybe six weeks ago there was this idea that we need him to win the League this year or maybe he'll sign an extension.
That's why I want Henry in. I don't usually buy the idea of ex-franchise players or superstars at a club as the coach/manager. But you figure he's gotta have a lot of credibility in that locker room to tell any player there this is the way it is and be believed.
I agree, but the players are culpable in the sense that while on the pitch you can see several players either not trying to easily losing focus. It's one thing to see the team lose due to strategy or talent gaps but another thing to see them sacrifice goals because they're mentally checked out. Wenger is the root problem but there are plenty of players contributing more than their fair share. I don't know many who are keen to keep him save for the facts that a) we don't want to sell to a direct rival and brandish that "selling club" stigma again, and b) we don't trust Wenger to improve the club after the sale either by bringing in talent or more wisely using the pieces that remain. I appreciate that Arsenal has seen players like Ozil, Sanchez and Lacca come aboard so clearly some appeal for the club remains, but under Arsene's current managerial abilities adding these players amounts to little more than fixing the stereo in a broken down Ferrari. Standing beside it he can look pretty to all the ladies passing by, so long as they don't ask him to take them anywhere. (Like, to the top of the Premiership.)
Excellent signing for them. He is a player who would significantly improve both your lot and Chelsea as well.
For freaking Liverpool. Biggest transfer coup since Mesut Ozil. A player we wanted too. Maybe this is hyperbole, but after a good start to the summer, it feels like we were suddenly taken over by the Familu Guy manateesz
Great forward thinking move by Liverpool It's over for Arsenal. I'm considering checking out as well. Until Wenger is gone. Can't do this shit.
I'm in the same boat. Just feels like everything the club is doing is ad hoc and short term. I don't want to go all cantona94, but it feels like Arsenal turned into the Knicks in the last 18 months.
I've been like this for the best part of 10 years now I only came back to watch the Ozil show. But in the last year its not worth bothering except as some kind of weird reality TV show
I'm in the same boat. Tired of AW's shit. I'll probably keeps tabs from afar but I think I am going to go find a Bundesliga team to follow this season.
18 months ago Wenger met Mbappé, when 17, and his family. They wanted a commission of €7-8m to go to Arsenal and logically Wenger said no pic.twitter.com/qZ6vXSJdn3— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) August 28, 2017
Sky is saying we got 35m for Ox, which is a great bit of business but makes me wonder who, if anyone, will replace him.
Watched the Community shield, and it like the FA cup final cemented for me that the players have taken on what appears to "a small club team mentality". They can get up and focus for a "big game" because that is almost 100% on the players. But a league run is too much for players to do on their own, it is why there is a manager to begin with. As more and more teams take on the correct mentality of management Wenger's alpha diminishes because he purposely seems to buy players who he thinks don't require what would be modern era management. There aren't any "great thinkers" on the team who a) have the authority to make tactical changes, b) seem to be able to see the issues. Xhaka should be able to say to Ramsey don't go anywhere, like chess you need the players to be able to move each other around based on what they can see and mutual trust.
Hey now! That said, this club is just laughable these days. It's ridiculous how predictable it is. I like the Knicks reference, that's fitting.
Shouldn't this be Bellerin LWB, Kolasinac RWB....or wherever else out of position Wenger decides to put them...
I'd sell. Sanchez can join City too. We can get almost 100 for both of them combined, and I'd rather have that sitting in the bank for the post-Wenger era, than hold on to them for no reason this season.
I do think the best play at this point would be to sell Sanchez if they can get 70-75M for him, then push Ozil to sign and orient the team around him and Lacca, which arguably has more potential than Ozil/Sanchez. With him and Ox out at least others now have clarity on their roles. So in theory this could be addition through subtraction for all of us looking for a team that is more than the sum of its parts. BTW, if they did get 35M for Ox then that's likely a steal.