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.
xisstential wrote:The papers are already saying this morning that after the WH demolition (masterminded by Wenger they added) Arsenal are showing they are a force to be reckoned with and don't expect Wenger to go quietly.
Don't they learn, doesn't anybody?? We have been here so many times and 90% of us on here will tell you how it will play out....... By the end of Feb we will be out of all competitions and too far adrift in the league to catch up. Focus will then turn to CL qualification which is going to be a battle this season. I think Spurs will be there, Pep has seen where he needs to strengthen and will do so in January (Wenger will declare he has what he needs,so no need to waste money), Liverpool won't go away, neither will Chelsea and United might even come good. So all the focus will be on 4th and the fans attention will turn to that..... when/if we get it, cue raucous celebration and the season declared a "success." Give that man a new contract.
League tables doesn't lie. We are rightly in second spot, and thus have the best claim to be Chelsea's main challengers.
For all our faults, its not like other teams dont have faults. Liverpool and Man City both have poor keepers. Liverpool's keeper let in a soft goal today. City have problems galore at the back - and its futile to assume 'Pep will strengthen in January'. Whose going to sell a world class centre half in January? Pep wont do shit in January.
Our players are good enough to win. Wenger just needs to keep it simple, and resist the urge to play Ramsey on the wing, or shift Sanchez out wide and bring Giroud back in.
If Wenger plays Coquelin next to Xhaka, rotates Walcott, Iwobi and Chamberlain on the wings, and plays Sanchez upfront - that gives us a chance.
xisstential wrote:The papers are already saying this morning that after the WH demolition (masterminded by Wenger they added) Arsenal are showing they are a force to be reckoned with and don't expect Wenger to go quietly.
Don't they learn, doesn't anybody?? We have been here so many times and 90% of us on here will tell you how it will play out....... By the end of Feb we will be out of all competitions and too far adrift in the league to catch up. Focus will then turn to CL qualification which is going to be a battle this season. I think Spurs will be there, Pep has seen where he needs to strengthen and will do so in January (Wenger will declare he has what he needs,so no need to waste money), Liverpool won't go away, neither will Chelsea and United might even come good. So all the focus will be on 4th and the fans attention will turn to that..... when/if we get it, cue raucous celebration and the season declared a "success." Give that man a new contract.
League tables doesn't lie. We are rightly in second spot, and thus have the best claim to be Chelsea's main challengers.
For all our faults, its not like other teams dont have faults. Liverpool and Man City both have poor keepers. Liverpool's keeper let in a soft goal today. City have problems galore at the back - and its futile to assume 'Pep will strengthen in January'. Whose going to sell a world class centre half in January? Pep wont do shit in January.
Our players are good enough to win. Wenger just needs to keep it simple, and resist the urge to play Ramsey on the wing, or shift Sanchez out wide and bring Giroud back in.
If Wenger plays Coquelin next to Xhaka, rotates Walcott, Iwobi and Chamberlain on the wings, and plays Sanchez upfront - that gives us a chance.
Liverpool's defence has been an accident waiting to happen all season and finally Bournemouth exposed it. Apart from Clyne when he's fit there isn't a defender in their squad I would take and that's saying something. I still think Chelsea can be got at too as we showed a few weeks back. Luiz will have brain fart moments, especially as he starts to believe his own hype again, and if they lost Kante for any period of time then that back line would be exposed
City without Kompany have been shit at the back for the past year or two
Your right, thats why I want the Coquelin-Xhaka partnership, because with those two shielding a back line of Bellerin, Kosicleny, Mustafi, Monreal and with Cech in goal, we have the capacity to be one of those teams who are really hard to score against.
Thats where I think the title can be won - at the back. Everyone talks about our attacking options. But I actually believe in terms of playing personnel, we have the best back 4.
Not many people are open to the idea its Arsenal with a great back 4. But we have one, and it just needs to show in the goals conceded column. 14 goals conceded in 14 games isnt good enough.
Wilson wrote:Your right, thats why I want the Coquelin-Xhaka partnership, because with those two shielding a back line of Bellerin, Kosicleny, Mustafi, Monreal and with Cech in goal, we have the capacity to be one of those teams who are really hard to score against.
Thats where I think the title can be won - at the back. Everyone talks about our attacking options. But I actually believe in terms of playing personnel, we have the best back 4. All Wenger has to use, is use them.
There is no reason to argue why we couldnt win the league with our playing personal, and any failure to do so, needs to be reflect on Wenger.
The Coquelin-Xhaka partnership is the elephant in the room, but as we know with tool features, the more the fans demand something the more it won't happen. I watched Elneny running around like a headless chicken in that League Cup game the other night - he's as slow as fuck, and not even a great tackler. He reminds me of an Egyptian version of Song. Remember that TO1AW will also find ways to shoehorn his little pet love Ramsey into the team, so it wouldn't surprise me to see him played in that role too. He needs to give Xhaka and Coq the chance to play a dozen or so games straight off
xisstential wrote:The papers are already saying this morning that after the WH demolition (masterminded by Wenger they added) Arsenal are showing they are a force to be reckoned with and don't expect Wenger to go quietly.
Don't they learn, doesn't anybody?? We have been here so many times and 90% of us on here will tell you how it will play out....... By the end of Feb we will be out of all competitions and too far adrift in the league to catch up. Focus will then turn to CL qualification which is going to be a battle this season. I think Spurs will be there, Pep has seen where he needs to strengthen and will do so in January (Wenger will declare he has what he needs,so no need to waste money), Liverpool won't go away, neither will Chelsea and United might even come good. So all the focus will be on 4th and the fans attention will turn to that..... when/if we get it, cue raucous celebration and the season declared a "success." Give that man a new contract.
Already called it mate - look at the April fixtures. Once City have shrugged us off, it's West Ham, Palace, Boro and Sunderland in quick succession and ready to save his arse one more time. The last April game is at the Lane and I reckon will see us scrape the draw we need to finish above them one more time and glorify this endless cycle of boring CL qualification. I honestly think that Wenger owes the Spuds a massive amount of thanks dating back to 2006 when they became our CL qualification rivals time after time. If we'd been scraping 3rd or 4th place finishes above anyone else those final day celebrations would have been dampened down a lot and more people would see it for the abject failure that it is
totally agree with this point.
although Spurs have and always will be our traditional rivals, our real London rivals this century are now Chelsea (and they tend to finish above us more often than not...)
Wilson wrote:Your right, thats why I want the Coquelin-Xhaka partnership, because with those two shielding a back line of Bellerin, Kosicleny, Mustafi, Monreal and with Cech in goal, we have the capacity to be one of those teams who are really hard to score against.
Thats where I think the title can be won - at the back. Everyone talks about our attacking options. But I actually believe in terms of playing personnel, we have the best back 4.
Not many people are open to the idea its Arsenal with a great back 4. But we have one, and it just needs to show in the goals conceded column. 14 goals conceded in 14 games isnt good enough.
slight problem with that - Arsenal under Wenger no longer try and win the title
the aims for this and every season are:
League - top 4
Champions League - last 16
FA Cup - as far as we can go unless we have top 4 /CL commitments (2014 &2015 saw us have HUGE luck with the latter rounds, and we still made hard work of the matches!)
League Cup - a home match is a bonus, but basically treat it as the Emirates Cup, a competition for families to come to
if we couldn't find the motivation, effort or even have the tactical awareness to overcome Leicester City last season what makes you think we have a chance against City or Chelsea this season?? I think we can finish 3rd if Sanchez stays fit.
Wenger may fail to win the title. But to say he doesnt hurt when we fall short is plain wrong.
Wenger wants to win the PL or CL more than anything.
When he says top 4 is a success, or dresses up last 16 exits and 'getting out of the group stages', its just him spinning the situation. But deep down he wants go go further.
Wilson wrote:Wenger may fail to win the title. But to say he doesnt hurt when we fall short is plain wrong.
Wenger wants to win the PL or CL more than anything.
When he says top 4 is a success, or dresses up last 16 exits and 'getting out of the group stages', its just him spinning the situation. But deep down he wants go go further.
Sorry Wilson but that is just bollocks!! What have you been watching for the last 10 years?
If Wenger wanted to win the PL or CL more than anything then he would spend more of the money available to him, he have more leaders in the dressing room and he would have tried harder to keep his best players instead of selling the to rival clubs. He would also have freshened up the coaching staff and the medical staff.
And most of all he would abandon his fucking philosophy. In his own words: ''I'm a prisoner of my own policy'' Thats not the words of someone who wants to win ''more than anything''
The only time Wenger does anything different ... like changing the way we defend or signing a player in January ... is when top 4 is under threat.
Wilson wrote:Wenger may fail to win the title. But to say he doesnt hurt when we fall short is plain wrong.
Wenger wants to win the PL or CL more than anything.
When he says top 4 is a success, or dresses up last 16 exits and 'getting out of the group stages', its just him spinning the situation. But deep down he wants go go further.
Where have you been for the last decade? I'd agree if you had said; "Wenger wants to win the PL or CL more than anything, but ONLY if it is his way with tippy tappy football, because his ego dictates everything and he doesn't have one pragmatic bone in his body..."
xisstential wrote:The papers are already saying this morning that after the WH demolition (masterminded by Wenger they added) Arsenal are showing they are a force to be reckoned with and don't expect Wenger to go quietly.
Don't they learn, doesn't anybody?? We have been here so many times and 90% of us on here will tell you how it will play out....... By the end of Feb we will be out of all competitions and too far adrift in the league to catch up. Focus will then turn to CL qualification which is going to be a battle this season. I think Spurs will be there, Pep has seen where he needs to strengthen and will do so in January (Wenger will declare he has what he needs,so no need to waste money), Liverpool won't go away, neither will Chelsea and United might even come good. So all the focus will be on 4th and the fans attention will turn to that..... when/if we get it, cue raucous celebration and the season declared a "success." Give that man a new contract.
League tables doesn't lie. We are rightly in second spot, and thus have the best claim to be Chelsea's main challengers.
For all our faults, its not like other teams dont have faults. Liverpool and Man City both have poor keepers. Liverpool's keeper let in a soft goal today. City have problems galore at the back - and its futile to assume 'Pep will strengthen in January'. Whose going to sell a world class centre half in January? Pep wont do shit in January.
Our players are good enough to win. Wenger just needs to keep it simple, and resist the urge to play Ramsey on the wing, or shift Sanchez out wide and bring Giroud back in.
If Wenger plays Coquelin next to Xhaka, rotates Walcott, Iwobi and Chamberlain on the wings, and plays Sanchez upfront - that gives us a chance.
Liverpool's defence has been an accident waiting to happen all season and finally Bournemouth exposed it. Apart from Clyne when he's fit there isn't a defender in their squad I would take and that's saying something. I still think Chelsea can be got at too as we showed a few weeks back. Luiz will have brain fart moments, especially as he starts to believe his own hype again, and if they lost Kante for any period of time then that back line would be exposed
City without Kompany have been shit at the back for the past year or two
Yes agreed defence is suspect....but at 2-0 up then 3-1 up they should close out the game...they are still pressing like mad looking for another goal....
xisstential wrote:The papers are already saying this morning that after the WH demolition (masterminded by Wenger they added) Arsenal are showing they are a force to be reckoned with and don't expect Wenger to go quietly.
Don't they learn, doesn't anybody?? We have been here so many times and 90% of us on here will tell you how it will play out....... By the end of Feb we will be out of all competitions and too far adrift in the league to catch up. Focus will then turn to CL qualification which is going to be a battle this season. I think Spurs will be there, Pep has seen where he needs to strengthen and will do so in January (Wenger will declare he has what he needs,so no need to waste money), Liverpool won't go away, neither will Chelsea and United might even come good. So all the focus will be on 4th and the fans attention will turn to that..... when/if we get it, cue raucous celebration and the season declared a "success." Give that man a new contract.
League tables doesn't lie. We are rightly in second spot, and thus have the best claim to be Chelsea's main challengers.
For all our faults, its not like other teams dont have faults. Liverpool and Man City both have poor keepers. Liverpool's keeper let in a soft goal today. City have problems galore at the back - and its futile to assume 'Pep will strengthen in January'. Whose going to sell a world class centre half in January? Pep wont do shit in January.
Our players are good enough to win. Wenger just needs to keep it simple, and resist the urge to play Ramsey on the wing, or shift Sanchez out wide and bring Giroud back in.
If Wenger plays Coquelin next to Xhaka, rotates Walcott, Iwobi and Chamberlain on the wings, and plays Sanchez upfront - that gives us a chance.
Liverpool's defence has been an accident waiting to happen all season and finally Bournemouth exposed it. Apart from Clyne when he's fit there isn't a defender in their squad I would take and that's saying something. I still think Chelsea can be got at too as we showed a few weeks back. Luiz will have brain fart moments, especially as he starts to believe his own hype again, and if they lost Kante for any period of time then that back line would be exposed
City without Kompany have been shit at the back for the past year or two
Yes agreed defence is suspect....but at 2-0 up then 3-1 up they should close out the game...they are still pressing like mad looking for another goal....
Gosh! What other team would ever, ever, ever do such a thing and blow it!...????
xisstential wrote:The papers are already saying this morning that after the WH demolition (masterminded by Wenger they added) Arsenal are showing they are a force to be reckoned with and don't expect Wenger to go quietly.
Don't they learn, doesn't anybody?? We have been here so many times and 90% of us on here will tell you how it will play out....... By the end of Feb we will be out of all competitions and too far adrift in the league to catch up. Focus will then turn to CL qualification which is going to be a battle this season. I think Spurs will be there, Pep has seen where he needs to strengthen and will do so in January (Wenger will declare he has what he needs,so no need to waste money), Liverpool won't go away, neither will Chelsea and United might even come good. So all the focus will be on 4th and the fans attention will turn to that..... when/if we get it, cue raucous celebration and the season declared a "success." Give that man a new contract.
League tables doesn't lie. We are rightly in second spot, and thus have the best claim to be Chelsea's main challengers.
For all our faults, its not like other teams dont have faults. Liverpool and Man City both have poor keepers. Liverpool's keeper let in a soft goal today. City have problems galore at the back - and its futile to assume 'Pep will strengthen in January'. Whose going to sell a world class centre half in January? Pep wont do shit in January.
Our players are good enough to win. Wenger just needs to keep it simple, and resist the urge to play Ramsey on the wing, or shift Sanchez out wide and bring Giroud back in.
If Wenger plays Coquelin next to Xhaka, rotates Walcott, Iwobi and Chamberlain on the wings, and plays Sanchez upfront - that gives us a chance.
WE WILL NOT win it, not with Wenger in charge, I can guarantee you that. We won't even top the league again.
If a chance arises to go top again this season we will bottle it completely, I don't care who we have playing for us, we do not have the fortitude, the resilience, nor do we have a manager who has the tactical nous to outwit his peers.
And I also don't buy this crap about how much he wants to win it. His own EGO stands in the way. What he is, who he is, what he wants is more important to him than anything. And he is not a very good manager either. Put him at a West Brom and he would probably be relegated.
So there's been a lot of talk the last day here in the States about Stan Kronke giving the LA Rams head coach Jeff Fisher a contract extension, despite the Rams consistently being mediocre at best during his tenure there. Kronke justifies the extension by saying Coach Fisher helped to transition the team from St Louis to LA during a tough move to a new location, and eventually into a new stadium.
Wilson wrote:Wenger may fail to win the title. But to say he doesnt hurt when we fall short is plain wrong.
Wenger wants to win the PL or CL more than anything.
When he says top 4 is a success, or dresses up last 16 exits and 'getting out of the group stages', its just him spinning the situation. But deep down he wants go go further.
Sorry Wilson but that is just bollocks!! What have you been watching for the last 10 years?
If Wenger wanted to win the PL or CL more than anything then he would spend more of the money available to him, he have more leaders in the dressing room and he would have tried harder to keep his best players instead of selling the to rival clubs. He would also have freshened up the coaching staff and the medical staff.
And most of all he would abandon his fucking philosophy. In his own words: ''I'm a prisoner of my own policy'' Thats not the words of someone who wants to win ''more than anything''
The only time Wenger does anything different ... like changing the way we defend or signing a player in January ... is when top 4 is under threat.
Or he completely lucks out by being forced to recall Coquelin, cos there were no other options, or having to blood Bellerin due to injuries and being hailed as a genius
Same formation, same players regardless of form or opponents, same substitutions at the same time week in week out.
I'd agree if you had said; "Wenger wants to win the PL or CL more than anything, but ONLY if it is his way with tippy tappy football, because his ego dictates everything and he doesn't have one pragmatic bone in his body..." 
Gosh! What other team would ever, ever, ever do such a thing and blow it!...???? 
