As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
“Arsène Wenger had 22 years to leave something behind for his successor to build on at Arsenal and failed to do so.
That legacy left Unai Emery fighting to save his job without the leaders in the squad who could save him before being sacked on Friday.
Emery was brave taking on the job in the first place, given the situation he was walking into.
It's easy to forget now that Wenger inherited a fantastic situation when he was appointed Arsenal manager in 1996.
George Graham left the best back five in European football to build on in David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Steve Bould, Tony Adams and Nigel Winterburn, while Bruce Rioch had signed a 26-year-old Dennis Bergkamp from Inter.
Throw in the likes of Ian Wright and Ray Parlour and the framework was there to be successful.
Crucially, France were also about to produce the best group of players in their history, winning the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship in 2000, and Wenger had access to them before anybody else.
That was the first ten years. For the second ten he got away with claiming that qualifying for the Champions League was like winning a trophy and they regressed.
Wenger left the club in dire straits and Emery had just more than a season to try to tackle a decade of decay.”
All true but you're a bit late with most of that Graeme
I bet he was desperate for the call. Or even to return, like Matt Busby once did. Wenger's demonic cult followers used to say that when he left we'd end up in mid table - the inference being he was the one keeping us above where we should be. Pretty soon they'll start saying they were proved right. The reality of course is that it was because of him that this has happened but just like the slippery politician he is, he has distanced himself from any responsibility.
Just wanted to pop in and show my appreciation for the man who together with the wig wearing c.unt who kept offering him new deals, put us where we are today
ONE ARSENE WENGER.........THERE'S ONLY ONE ARSENE WENGER
“Arsène Wenger had 22 years to leave something behind for his successor to build on at Arsenal and failed to do so.
That legacy left Unai Emery fighting to save his job without the leaders in the squad who could save him before being sacked on Friday.
Emery was brave taking on the job in the first place, given the situation he was walking into.
It's easy to forget now that Wenger inherited a fantastic situation when he was appointed Arsenal manager in 1996.
George Graham left the best back five in European football to build on in David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Steve Bould, Tony Adams and Nigel Winterburn, while Bruce Rioch had signed a 26-year-old Dennis Bergkamp from Inter.
Throw in the likes of Ian Wright and Ray Parlour and the framework was there to be successful.
Crucially, France were also about to produce the best group of players in their history, winning the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship in 2000, and Wenger had access to them before anybody else.
That was the first ten years. For the second ten he got away with claiming that qualifying for the Champions League was like winning a trophy and they regressed.
Wenger left the club in dire straits and Emery had just more than a season to try to tackle a decade of decay.”
All true but you're a bit late with most of that Graeme
Warning:
The above video contains both Wenger and Klopp for those with an aversion to either or both.
But at 15:50 Wenger actually says Arsenal left their soul at Highbury ...
It’s true though. But not only that: moving to the Emirates made taking 3 points at home that little bit harder. It’s not only about the lack of noise - plenty of grounds are quiet these days (I think the Everton fans sang one song the entire 90 mins at Goodison the other day, made the Emirates sound quite raucous!). The problem is that the Emirates is too “nice” , too generic and welcoming. Everything from the design of the benches to the incline of the stands to the name itself. It’s less like an away day at a rival and more like a trip to Wembley. The move to the Emirates both took a knife to our identity AND made winning harder. Sometimes you felt we’d get the points at Highbury *just becasue* we were at home, even if we were playing terribly, it just felt like the ball would always break for us in the area at a crucial moment, like the home crowd could influence events. You never get that feeling at the Emirates. Nothing we can do about it now though.
Warning:
The above video contains both Wenger and Klopp for those with an aversion to either or both.
But at 15:50 Wenger actually says Arsenal left their soul at Highbury ...
It’s true though. But not only that: moving to the Emirates made taking 3 points at home that little bit harder. It’s not only about the lack of noise - plenty of grounds are quiet these days (I think the Everton fans sang one song the entire 90 mins at Goodison the other day, made the Emirates sound quite raucous!). The problem is that the Emirates is too “nice” , too generic and welcoming. Everything from the design of the benches to the incline of the stands to the name itself. It’s less like an away day at a rival and more like a trip to Wembley. The move to the Emirates both took a knife to our identity AND made winning harder. Sometimes you felt we’d get the points at Highbury *just becasue* we were at home, even if we were playing terribly, it just felt like the ball would always break for us in the area at a crucial moment, like the home crowd could influence events. You never get that feeling at the Emirates. Nothing we can do about it now though.
The Arsenal, bringing gentrification in football to a whole new level.
Warning:
The above video contains both Wenger and Klopp for those with an aversion to either or both.
But at 15:50 Wenger actually says Arsenal left their soul at Highbury ...
It’s true though. But not only that: moving to the Emirates made taking 3 points at home that little bit harder. It’s not only about the lack of noise - plenty of grounds are quiet these days (I think the Everton fans sang one song the entire 90 mins at Goodison the other day, made the Emirates sound quite raucous!). The problem is that the Emirates is too “nice” , too generic and welcoming. Everything from the design of the benches to the incline of the stands to the name itself. It’s less like an away day at a rival and more like a trip to Wembley. The move to the Emirates both took a knife to our identity AND made winning harder. Sometimes you felt we’d get the points at Highbury *just becasue* we were at home, even if we were playing terribly, it just felt like the ball would always break for us in the area at a crucial moment, like the home crowd could influence events. You never get that feeling at the Emirates. Nothing we can do about it now though.
Yeah what Wenger said is true but I was very surprised to hear that come from him. Still waiting for him to apologise for it though
And great post mate, I agree with everything you've written there.
Warning:
The above video contains both Wenger and Klopp for those with an aversion to either or both.
But at 15:50 Wenger actually says Arsenal left their soul at Highbury ...
It’s true though. But not only that: moving to the Emirates made taking 3 points at home that little bit harder. It’s not only about the lack of noise - plenty of grounds are quiet these days (I think the Everton fans sang one song the entire 90 mins at Goodison the other day, made the Emirates sound quite raucous!). The problem is that the Emirates is too “nice” , too generic and welcoming. Everything from the design of the benches to the incline of the stands to the name itself. It’s less like an away day at a rival and more like a trip to Wembley. The move to the Emirates both took a knife to our identity AND made winning harder. Sometimes you felt we’d get the points at Highbury *just becasue* we were at home, even if we were playing terribly, it just felt like the ball would always break for us in the area at a crucial moment, like the home crowd could influence events. You never get that feeling at the Emirates. Nothing we can do about it now though.
Yeah what Wenger said is true but I was very surprised to hear that come from him. Still waiting for him to apologise for it though
And great post mate, I agree with everything you've written there.
“I moved from Highbury, which was similar to Anfield, but there was a soul in the stadium,” Wenger told beIN Sports.
“We built a new stadium but we never found our soul – we left our soul at Highbury.
“We could never recreate it for security reasons.
“The distance from the pitch to the stand had to be bigger as we needed ambulances to come in. The inclination of the stands had to be smaller all those things together that we didn’t find to recreate the atmosphere.”
