THE WENGER THREAD

[mcdowell42]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/ ... 249874.amp

[Wilson]

Kroenke is just a scapegoat. Sure we would all prefer Usmanov. But Kroenke has made funds available, however you have to question Wenger's choice of investments. 70m on a centre half and holding player, and we are having one of our worst defensive seasons in terms of goals conceded. 16m on Perez, who simply for some reason cant get picked. I dont begrudge the signing, I think Perez is a good player, but how can you pretend Wenger doesnt have the resources when he has the luxury of spending 16m on a striker and never plays him? Wenger also has the luxury of having a 100k a week striker on the bench in Giroud, whilst he has a 35m pound striker in Sanchez on the field. I really dont get where the 'limited resources' talk comes from.

I think people who target Kroenke as the root cause of the problems are ignorant, and perhaps in denial. What better way than to rationalize Wenger's ongoing failures, that to shift the blame to an American owner. Man United fans have problems with Malcolm Glazier, yet it never stopped Ferguson from getting on with the job at hand.

I just dont get these people who think a change in owner will make Wenger a better manager. Like I said - 70m on a centre half and holding player, and we still have massive problems defending.

I am not ignorant thank you, can we please reserve judgement on Kroenke's until after OGL has departed as Kroenke has backed him to the hilt, some would say not doing so is actually quite ignorant when you look at his track record at the many other sports clubs he is involved with, all of which are mediocre at best, and not find him, who until now at least has refused to sack OGL or question his methods in any way, at least somewhat worrisome as our effective owner?.

Can we please stop trying to put everyone in a box, just because I'm Kroenke out doesn't mean I'm absolving OGL of any blame!!, I'm sure many others are the same. Too much obsessive hate of Wenger going on, he should have gone years ago and the fact we have to f**king protest to have any chance of removing this limpit says it all about our owner.

I dont see Kroenke as a massive problem. I find him non-ideal, and is more Malcolm Glazier and Roman Abramovich. However, a shit owner doesnt mean you cant be competitive. Kroenke came in 2011, and lets be honest, the problems of bottling it, poor defending, and lack of competing with the top teams was a problem well before Stan arrived.

Kroenke's greatest crime, is supporting Wenger. If he sacked Wenger, and brought in a new manager, he could really take the pressure of himself. However, I dont tink he knows anything about football to make these decisions. In fact, I dont think Gazidis or even the British born board have any clue about football. Wenger has purged the club of all football men, in order to centralize power to himself.

I cant stress it enough, Wenger is the problem at this club. So getting the knives out for Kroenke is the wrong appraoch.

[Wilson]

The tactical change,
the smiles and shenanigans after the game,
Ox's post match interview........

So obviously PR and desperation. It fuckin stinks.

"How stupid does this cretin think people are? Under pressure to change his obstinate ways, and in fear of his job, last night Wenger switched from a flat back four to a 3-4-2-1 formation against Middlesbrough. "
http://arsenaltruth.squarespace.com/ars ... ation.html

Indeed, it was hardly a tactical masterclass. Wondeful free kick by Sanchez, whilst we conceded the goal, after Downing was able to run 60 metres unchallenged, as Monreal was ridiculously too high up the pitch. Stewart just picks the ball up, and quite literally runs from his final third, into our final third with no Arsenal shirt infront of him, he makes space for the cross and its 1-1.

The 'tactical' change had little to do with winning. Our lack of organization was still apparent, and our sixes and sevens show when defending a counter attack was evident again.

[Bradywasking]

Funny to see AKBs on Twitter last night expressing their delight at Bayern being cheated in Madrid. Because apparently it was only dodgy decision in favour of them that saw them squeez through in the round of 16..

[xisstential]

Funny to see AKBs on Twitter last night expressing their delight at Bayern being cheated in Madrid. Because apparently it was only dodgy decision in favour of them that saw them squeez through in the round of 16..

Yep, just those TEN lucky goals.......And we won both first halves don't forget

I heard an AKB on Talksport the other night saying the reason we haven't won anything is because decisions so often go against us.

Apparently this has been going on for 13 years..who knew huh??

[General]

We can play 10 at the back and we'd still ship goals.

[Blade]

OMG! He is going to spin "even Bayern can lose by a big score".

[northbank123]

Last night was a complete disgrace - not that I have sympathy with Bayern who after Barca and Madrid are the biggest beneficiary of spineless refereeing.

Huge dive from Robben (surprise) for the penalty but then an even worse decision to send off Vidal. The idiot was haring around the pitch asking for trouble but I can't see how anybody could possibly think that the tackle which he was given a second yellow for was potentially a foul.

And then Ronaldo was stood still a full yard offside for the goal that put them in front and was another half a yard offside for the next.

Add this to the penalty given to Atletico in the first leg and it just makes a mockery of the latter stages of the continent's elite competition.

[flash gunner]

Is he still here?

[General]

Last night was a complete disgrace - not that I have sympathy with Bayern who after Barca and Madrid are the biggest beneficiary of spineless refereeing.

Huge dive from Robben (surprise) for the penalty but then an even worse decision to send off Vidal. The idiot was haring around the pitch asking for trouble but I can't see how anybody could possibly think that the tackle which he was given a second yellow for was potentially a foul.

And then Ronaldo was stood still a full yard offside for the goal that put them in front and was another half a yard offside for the next.

Add this to the penalty given to Atletico in the first leg and it just makes a mockery of the latter stages of the continent's elite competition.

Swings and roundabouts I'm afraid. They all have to suck it up until video refereeing is introduced.

A couple of years ago, we went to Barca, were drawing 1-1, suddenly the referee decides to send Robin off for kicking the ball away. One of the most corrupt decisions I've ever seen.

Vidal probably should've been sent off a few minutes earlier for persistent fouling. It was never a red card but you are often asked to stay on your feet when you're already on a yellow to avoid this sort of scenario. Also Muller I think was clearly offside and interfering with play when Ramos scored the own goal. Clear as day yet commentators failed to mention it and got distracted by the chaos leading to the goal.

I sat in the west stand for the Bayern home game and the linesman was constantly caught out of position. They are not very good but overall the officials aren't helped by the gamesmanship that goes on.

[General]

Oh and you can bet your money Barca will get at least one penalty tonight and would probably benefit from a sending off too.

[OneBardGooner]

Arsenal have begun making plans for next season, and have made it clear Arsene Wenger will still be manager. Schalke defender Sead Kolasinac, 23, is a target for the Gunners - and is among those to have been told Wenger will remain in charge. (Daily Mirror)

Written by John (I've Got My Tongue Up Arsene's Sphincter Hole) Cwoss.



I just want the cun.t Gone.

[Ed Hunter The Gooner]

Great article from Arsenal Truth web page from 14th of April.

http://arsenaltruth.squarespace.com/


Raskolnikov writes:

Another surgical dissection there AT. Theo Walcott is such a useless waste of sporting oxygen that I’m surprised you afforded this talentless twerp more than a paragraph of your time. As with all things Arsene Wenger, again, the total incompetence comes shining right through. This clown (Walcott – I’ll get to the key jester Wenger in a sec) earns over £130k a week. To put it in context, it is higher wages than Dybala of Juve, you know, that kid who single-handedly demolished Barca the other night.

Let’s also remember that according to almost every Arsenal fan that has seen the Gunners spanked every time they’ve drawn Barca in the last 16 of the CL, you are simply not allowed to beat Barca! It’s impossible right? You are just supposed to “go out and enjoy the day”, just as Scunthorpe would if they were drawn at Old Trafford in the FA Cup quarters. It therefore shows just how brainwashed and unambitious Arsenal fans are, especially when a manager on half of Wenger’s annual wages can face up Barca – with a Juve team that has a much smaller wage bill compared to Arsenal – and demolish mighty Barca with such ease.

It’s simply a confirmation of everything AT has repeated ad nauseum since 2011, when our embarrassing legion of apologetic fans continued to claim you “couldn’t compete with oil money”. Football is not, and never has been, about having more money to win. It’s always been about managers, tactics and inspirational motivation. Sure, money definitely helps.

But which imbecile wants to continue to justify Wenger’s pathetic trajectory in a season where Jardim of Monaco has taken an actual 'Project Youth' team (one that doesn’t have a £135m wage bill, as Wenger’s vanity project had as far back as 2012), and is top of the French league against the richest club in Europe and one foot in the semis of the CL? There are SO many examples everywhere that show you just how easily Arsenal fans have been brainwashed and manipulated by Arsene Wenger’s deception, lies and lack of ambition.

The chickens always come home to roost, so 13 years after the long con began it is all unraveling. Who can ever forget “Arsene had to build a stadium and one cannot compete when constrained by finances”? There’s some chap called Pochettino over at Spurs. Last time I checked, he oversaw back-to-back title challenges with an actual team of young players. Not one Spurs player earns Mesut Ozil’s swindled wages.

Oddly enough though, that manager has got them hungry, focused and every single player knows that if standards are not maintained, they will be canned. Adebayor, Kaboul, etc. all the lazy, rotten apples from Spuds were rooted out and it took Pochettino just two years to build a youthful team (on the cheap) that challenges for the top prizes.

Even more embarrassing is that when Pochettino was asked how he felt about finally finishing ahead of Arsenal this season, his response was “I am aiming for bigger things”. This is how ambitious managers think – contrast with our muppet fans who pay £1,400 a season on tickets celebrating scraping past Spurs on the final day, despite having twice their budget. How small-time, how pathetic. Another oddity is that I doubt Pochettino will ever attempt to take the credit for “building their new stadium” either. That was funded by the fans investment, just as Arsenal’s was.

If we focus on Walcott again, it didn’t take long for Wenger to demonstrate just what a sinking ship he is overseeing. His press conference have become a weekly laugh-a-minute. On Monday of this week, he was waxing lyrical about Theo Walcott claiming “He is a leader and can captain England one day”. One 3-0 thrashing at Palace later, and Wenger comes out to the media in his Friday presser and openly lambasts Walcott. Why? Because Theo “Captain, Leader, Bellend” Walcott had the audacity to contradict the 'mental strength' bollocks by openly stating that the Arsenal players “weren’t up for it” at Palace.

Wenger’s anger wasn’t because this comment was incorrect btw, it was because “quiet boy” Theo exposed him. And this is what Wenger FC is about: protecting his ivory tower and buying loyalty and silence by shelling out extortionate money. Let’s expect Aaron Ramsey to be our next 'leader', he always has lovely things to say about the regime in his media outings eh?

I think there is one particular thing I want to refer to that you have often talked about AT, and we need to nip this in the bud here and now: Stan Kroenke. Now, let me declare this – I have no love for Stan and, yes, his sports franchises in America are mediocre. Yet I am mystified and amused at how quickly Wenger’s latest apologists are attempting to deflect all blame onto Silent Stan. Let us begin with the “his US franchises are mediocre”. Yes they are, but football is different. Whereas there is no promotion/relegation in America, there is in Europe, and CL qualification is a significant factor financially (despite increased TV revenues).

When Usmanov was on the horizon, Arsenal fans (hello again the feckless AST) overwhelmingly backed Kroenke by going out and protesting against an Usmanov takeover. When they should have been protesting about their incompetent manager swindling an extortionate salary, they protested against 'sugar daddy ownership'. So they ASKED for Kroenke to be selected instead and waxed lyrical about nonsense like 'class', 'doing things the right way' and 'self-sustaining ownership'.

So Kroenke comes in. Fine. Arsenal move stadiums. Let us please remember that BEFORE Kroenke even showed up, Arsene Wenger conspired to finish 23 points behind Jose Mourinho in the PL. Was that Kroenke’s fault? Oh right. Thought not. Let’s conveniently sweep that one under the carpet.

So after Kroenke took over, when it became obvious for a few years that Wenger was failing in exactly the same way on the pitch, the narrative changed again - this time to: “Stan Kroenke is really letting Arsene down. The board are denying him funds and we are not competing because Kroenke is tighetining the purse strings. Once FFP kicks in we will be in a position to dominate.”

I always found this narrative odd, because if you were working for an awful employer, who was denying you the opportunity to really be good at your job and your rep was taking a massive hit, and if you were as 'in demand' as Wenger continues to remind us he once was, surely you would take one of the other lucrative job offers available?? Oh right 'loyalty'. Yes. The same 'loyalty' the likes of Almunia, Diaby, Denilson, Bendtner, Chamakh, Squillaci, Senderos, Djourou once showed by refusing to leave Arsenal and sitting on enormous contracts. Arsene sure led the way there! It is the same 'loyalty' currently being showed by Theo 'due a testimonial' Walcott, Carl Jenkinson (wouldn’t join Palace as they would not match his ridiculous wages), crappy Coquelin, joke Giroud and of course, Lala-Yaya Sanogo!

So Wenger continued to happily manage under Kroenke as he steadily earned bigger and bigger salaries as the Arsenal wage bill went higher and higher, year after year. The evidence is there in black and white on the balance sheet - only deluded fools ignore it (so at least 80% of the Emirates crowd then). And as the directors awarded themselves bigger and bigger salaries each year “we were constrained by stadium finances”.

Funnily enough, the one time that lucrative top 4 spot looked to be under serious threat, Arsene miraculously managed to find £18m down the back of the sofa and signed Arshavin – a highly sought-after player at the time - in January, a time where, apparently, you can’t sign anyone. Must be a “coincidence” eh?

Let us zip things on Kroenke here: Kroenke is definitely now a problem because he still has not sacked Wenger. This does not absolve Wenger of his special incompetence though, and never will. Stan Kroenke let Wenger spend £100m last summer. He has given Wenger total freedom of the sporting matters at Arsenal, he has not interfered a la Mike Ashley/Abramovich in player recruitment (I wish he had tbh as he would sign better players than Elneny, Xhaka, Mustafi and Giroud). Wenger has been given dream conditions that NO other manager in Europe has. However AT, this is the key point: to all those idiotic excuse-makers now deflecting the blame onto Kroenke. What was he supposed to have done? Sacked Wenger back in 2008? Can you imagine the outcry if after blowing a league that was there to be won in 2008, Kroenke had come in and sacked a manager who had at least 90% fan backing?? Stan Kroenke has simply taken his lead from the Arsenal fans. Arsene Wenger has retained overwhelming majority fan support for 12 of the past 13 years and THAT is where the blame lies.

As I mentioned before, the AST were giving Wenger over 80% backing as recently as 18 months ago! Wenger lost 8-2 at Old Trafford and the away fans held up a banner saying “In Arsene We Trust”! In 2010ish, after a few searching questions were asked in the media, Arsenal’s embarrassing Imbecile Collective (known as “Red Action”) went on a pro-Wenger demo march! So the only protests seen up until that stage were pro-Wenger ones! There has not been a single dissenting voice against Arsene Wenger for 12 straight years.

Anyone that tried to bring it up would be shouted down and treated with hostility and disdain by Wenger’s sheep (i.e. the Emirates crowd) and the mainstream press. Remember the AKB abuse you used to get AT?
Wenger has always maintained a significant majority of support from the Arsenal fan-base: the first sign of any serious dissent has only taken place THIS year! So frankly, Stan Kroenke has listened to the will of the people all this time. He’s basically guilty of not doing what Leicester owners did with Ranieri (look how that’s turned out eh!) and ignoring the majority of Arsenal fans (who it turns out, have been 100% wrong about Wenger and like rats fleeing a deserting ship are now trying to deflect onto Kroenke).

So next time some idiot tries to blame Wenger’s inability to set up a team with World Cup winners and a PFA POTY nominee up to beat WBA, next time you see Sam Allardyce giving Wenger a total tactical masterclass (even though Moyes managed to smash Fat Sam 0-4 at Palace); next time you see Arsenal humiliated 10-2 at Bayern (even though Wenger spent far more on summer recruitment than Bayern did), next time you see yet another shit player getting a Galactico contract extension (Giroud, Coquelin), next time you see a wage bill of over £200m but you don’t understand how managers everywhere are outperforming Arsenal with far less resources... look to the real matter here.

Yes, pressure now needs to turn to Kroenke to sack the muppet. Let us be crystal clear here though: Wenger’s incompetence pre-dates Kroenke. Just because Kroenke has no professional sporting pride, it doesn’t mean Wenger has to be the same. If anything, as an “elite” (LOL) sports personality, he should be the one striving to win. All the other big managers do. Instead, this tit Wenger talks about “share price” and nonsensical “values” (what, like refusing to piss off when nobody rates you anymore?).

Wenger would love nothing more than to hear the discussion turn to Kroenke than apportion blame where it is due. All of this Kroenke deflection is just a further example of what a spineless bunch of fans Arsenal truly have. It’s quite possibly the only club in Europe where a 10-2 thrashing and years of habitual sporting humiliations are blamed on a financial investor who doesn’t pick the team and lives thousands of miles away.

Kroenke should be sacking Wenger absolutely and the focus should be turned to him once Wenger is gone. But honestly, imagine going into your work appraisal and blaming your repeated shit performance on your CEO’s refusal to sack you?

Farcenal FC.

[postmanPat91]

Donald Trump's son, Barron, pictured in full Arsenal kit on White House lawn

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/footbal ... 18296.html

Trading one c_nt for another probably isn't the greatest idea, but this kids old man can't be any worse than Wiggy

[Babu]

Donald Trump's son, Barron, pictured in full Arsenal kit on White House lawn

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/footbal ... 18296.html

Trading one c_nt for another probably isn't the greatest idea, but this kids old man can't be any worse than Wiggy

He certainly wouldn't be silent, would he!

Although not sure that all publicity is good publicity!

I would certainly like to give it a go though.

Imagine the Oneupmanship...

The Arsenal turn up to some third-world backwater in the Europa League next season, with Trump...and nukes...behind us.

Or some third-world backwater in middlesex?