Yes. Although I would retract that should we finish 4th. The only reason we are even in the top half of the table is RvP.
Robin has been our mainstay this season, granted. but it's just the fickle loyalties that piss me off here. After some good results, Arsene is cool and we're OK. Then after the Milan and Sunderland games, it's back on his case with rants about how he's lost the plot. I don't think he has lost the plot completely, but we've seen many times this season we can play well, so that is something to build on. Should we get 4th, keep van Persie, and make good signings in the close season, we'd be back up there without doubt IMO.
i'll be honest, the crap displays and poor season so far ARE down to dreadful handling of transfers. this IS on wenger, so he doesn't actually deserve credit for recouping league places from the poor position HE put us in in the first place. if he does better than 4th AND has a good summer transfer window where we look as if we have a chance of actually improving enough to challenge for top spot in the league AND the champions league then he might be back in my good books. he still has a LOT of redeeming to do.
I agree completely with that, its my stance also. Im proud of the heart being shown in the league recently and we have to go with the players we have for the rest of the season but there are huge issues that need addressing in the summer. My comment was directed at darcgun where he seemingly implied that we have turned a corner and all Wengers mistakes have been patched up. Forget about it though, today is a happy day!!
wow that's generous of you. with supporters like you no wonder we have fans routinely booing our own players. arsenal fans are such a wonderful bunch; supportive, thoughtful, insightful and not prone to knee jerk reactions...
This isn't that hard to understand. We've gotten good results lately because we've had more starting team players available. When we have our full starting eleven, we have a decent team; however, the problem again is that we cannot weather injuries and are too dependent on a our best players playing well. We're still one major injury away from ending up outside of the top four and one decision from RvP away from having another rebuilding year next year. Arsenal are too big of a club to be in this type of predicament year after year.
If Arsene gets 4th or even 3rd place with this squad, then that is one of the better coaching performances of the past decade. The man has one world class player. When he asked for another centerback, he got an old German rake. His best creative midfielder is turning 32 this year and is about four years past his prime. His young midfield maestro has been out for the season. His defense has been so decimated by injury that he has barely been able to play his first choice back-line. His goalkeeper is talented but still so very, very young. I doubt any of the other top eight managers would have managed to lead this lot to a CL space.
I think the argument is, that as Wenger is in charge of the team & transfers, it technically was his poor choices that has left the team with those players. He basically has had to coach himself out of a hole that HE put himself in.
That narrative is only true if you believe he has 100% control over personnel decisions. I think you have to be bordering on self-delusion to still believe that this is the case. Clearly he is working under a set of stringent in-house restraints when it comes to his spending on transfer fees and wages.
I agree that with the comment that Wenger helped dig the hole, with the caveat that we don't really understand who's acquiring players. That said, Per Mertesacker is a good player, Arteta is a good player, and many of the players who have been out with injury have always been injured (Diaby, Gibbs, Vermaelen). Two victories are nice, but they don't wipe away 4-7 years of repeated errors.
Arsenal are probably in better position to deal with the financial fair play rules than any other team in Europe. I think this has probably been part of Wenger's strategy. If so, then you have to credit him with excellent long term vision. As long as UEFA recognizes sweetheart deals like Man City's stadium naming rights and excludes them from a club's income, Arsenal are excellent shape to compete over the next few years.
Wenger would contributed very little to a 4th or above finish. This has been all RvP. I think most managers at clubs of a similar size or bigger would be doing a better job of things. He hasn't been able to fix our defense in 5-6 years. He has trouble motivating the squad, or pushing them to perform. He sticks by players who give him no reason to do so often to the detriment of the team (had Denilson and Bendtner not been so eager to leave, they would have probably taken to the field for us today). Wenger's redeeming quality over the last few years has been his ability to pick up gems in the transfer market for a bargain, which he hasn't been able to do lately. At best we have gotten what we paid for, and every attempt to pick up experienced quality on the cheap has been a bust (Chamakh, Park, Squillaci, Benayoun).
i'm just content not to be a bandwagon sycophant. some of today's akb's will be found in eons to come in the second pit of the eight circle.
enough is enough, this is easily the stupidest statement I have read on this site in years. Easily. RVP set himself up for both those goals today, no? He also saved the countless numbers of shots that Liverpool sent at Arsenal's goal? Also made the last ditch blocks and tackles in defense? If it was just RVP that has done this, then why hasnt the rest of the team just moped and gone into the shitter? RVP is the best striker in the world and Arsenal would be in a lot of trouble without him but he isnt doing it on his own either. If you watch RVP now vs. RVP 2-3 years ago he plays a lot more like a CF now and he gets a lot of chances for him to score than when would often create his own chances. More than that, why cant people give Wenger a slight bit of credit? He fucced up this summer and it put him behind the 8ball, and then somehow the team has turned around. Robin was scoring goals when the team was in the shitter and not winning matches and now he is scoring and the team is winning. Maybe Wenger has done something right? Maybe he deserves some credit for it? And this shit happens every year too. A lot of you guys have become star fuccers. Its disgusting. And I dont say that to absolve Wenger for his faults, but to at least give dude a lot of credit for this good form and if somehow the team is in the top 4.
This is arguable. Wenger was pretty clear about how heavily losing Nasri and Cesc would impact the squad. The fact that half our signings have turned out to be top contributors at a TOP FOUR club (Mertesacker, Arteta, Oxlade-Chamberlain) is something that people pretty quickly disregard, and Santos and Benayoun are no slouches either - and definitely an upgrade over the Denilson and Squillaci whose places they've filled. Hell, even Jenkinson was impressive. The quality of available players was weak this summer, as I think many would agree. We didn't sign Hazard, but who did? I suppose we could argue about the cumulative impacts of Wenger's transfer policies, but that's another post.
it isnt that Nasri and Cesc were leaving, its that we knew both were leaving in May and June and did not make plans for it earlier. You can say that the club needed to wait for the money to clear and thats fair, but there did not seem to be a clear plan of action. Those last two weeks they made bids for every top young player in Europe. It was desperation. in saying that, the buys were pretty good. Anyone that denies that is a cvnt. And I am just tired of this star fuccin culture.
What is there to give Wenger credit for this season? The tremendous purpose our team displayed today or in countless other games this season? So you are saying RvP could not have taken to the field 1v11, but the point is this season is built upon the individual performances of a select few, not on skilled management. I'll give credit to Wenger when the team as a whole is playing well and with purpose. Having 1 or 2 of our top players step up to the plate to rescue what would otherwise be a dismal performance is no reason to suddenly laud praise on the manager. Had one of Liverpool's many chances gone in you would be right out front with the rest of us decrying the performance by the team. You are the embodiment of the fickle fan. We have had 2 great team performances in almost 3 months, and a lucky snatch and grab win is suddenly reason to start giving Wenger credit? Give me a break. Isn't it time for you to go suck the cock of the latest flavor of the month?
I think Chelsea's recent troubles have shown what kind of a job Wenger is doing. Let's face it, many of the fans would love to see this team run as Chelsea is. Big money invested, big name signings, huge contracts retaining star players, some of the best managers in the world. And what you see now is the culmination of all that investment and brainpower. Sure they've got some recent trophies, but which team is in a better position, both right now, and for the next 5-10 years?
First of all, there is no need for that kind of insulting language. Secondly, Wenger is now the "flavor of the month"? After 15 years with the club?
if we have a team that is weaker than the year before talent wise, and he has somehow managed to keep the team in a top 4 spot (potentially top 3) then why doesnt he deserve credit? So many people thought this team was going to spectacularly crash out the top 4. Right now they are in the top 4 and are getting results. Again, I am not even saying Wenger has been great this season just that he has done a good job all things considered. FFS, what the hell did we just see that second half today? Or last week against Tottenham? It wasnt just one or two players (notice how I got him to admit it was more than van Persie today too. *steiner flexes*). You are only seeing what you want to see. Aint nothing fickle about it. I havent said give Wenger manager of the year award and called his performance great. All I said is give him some credit for keeping this team up and around the CL places. And getting this team out of a very difficult CL group. There may have been luck today but in the past when the team wasnt lucky and had the reverse of this game today, you would be one of the main ones talking about "this team lacks..." whatever. Its bitchassness fam, and you need to let it go. And no need to go internet tough guy either. You need to calm that shit down and act like a damn adult.
I was about to post the exact same thing. And yet, I must spread, despite the fact that I can't remember repping anyone recently, and certainly can't remember the last time I repped you. What the hell is this system about?
We've been tipped by many (even most) pundits to drop out of the top 4 for about seven years straight now. And it's funny that the Carling Cup was i believe Liverpool's first trophy in about six years, but i don't remember much being made about their silverware drought.