THE WENGER THREAD

[northbank123]

I maintain that one of the best signings he's made (certainly in the last decade) was Lassana Diarra. The fool was just too blind to see it.

[SteveO 35]

I maintain that one of the best signings he's made (certainly in the last decade) was Lassana Diarra. The fool was just too blind to see it.

Absolutely my man, absolutely. £2m quid we spent on him - when we signed him I thought it was a masterstroke and he is a far far superior player to either Flamoney (as I pointed out at the time) and not even in the same league as Alex Mong.

But guess what, having signed him from Chelsea where he was frustrated at being played as a part time right back, Lord Wenger was surprised when in the lead up to Euro 2008 he got frustrated again by not getting a game for us (and this despite the fact that Gilberto was known to be leaving and Flamoney wouldn't sign a contract). How come it was OK for Flamini to run his contract down but he now says it will be difficult to play Walcott if he doesn't sign soon?

Just another masterstroke from the Self Harmer and for me the first point at which I completely lost faith in him. How we allowed what was a very, very talented 2008 squad just disintegrate before our very eyes was not far off being as bad as the break-up of the Invincibles

[arseofacrow]

I maintain that one of the best signings he's made (certainly in the last decade) was Lassana Diarra. The fool was just too blind to see it.

Absolutely my man, absolutely. £2m quid we spent on him - when we signed him I thought it was a masterstroke and he is a far far superior player to either Flamoney (as I pointed out at the time) and not even in the same league as Alex Mong.

But guess what, having signed him from Chelsea where he was frustrated at being played as a part time right back, Lord Wenger was surprised when in the lead up to Euro 2008 he got frustrated again by not getting a game for us (and this despite the fact that Gilberto was known to be leaving and Flamoney wouldn't sign a contract). How come it was OK for Flamini to run his contract down but he now says it will be difficult to play Walcott if he doesn't sign soon?

Just another masterstroke from the Self Harmer and for me the first point at which I completely lost faith in him. How we allowed what was a very, very talented 2008 squad just disintegrate before our very eyes was not far off being as bad as the break-up of the Invincibles

The problem was though that Flamini was playing out of his skin. It's not that easy to say drop him, then bring in Diarra . We fucked Flamini around for years, then expect loyalty in return.
Having said that, the games Diarra did play he looked quality and it says something again about Wenger's inability to manage conflict.

I think he could've made spcae in the team for Diarra and not neccessarily at the expense of Flamini.

[SteveO 35]

Former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola wants his next job to be in the Premier League and would prefer to manage a London club.

Full story: Daily Telegraph


You see this is where we need Baba back. He'll be messing himself over today's Telegraph as we speak

[northbank123]

I maintain that one of the best signings he's made (certainly in the last decade) was Lassana Diarra. The fool was just too blind to see it.

Absolutely my man, absolutely. £2m quid we spent on him - when we signed him I thought it was a masterstroke and he is a far far superior player to either Flamoney (as I pointed out at the time) and not even in the same league as Alex Mong.

But guess what, having signed him from Chelsea where he was frustrated at being played as a part time right back, Lord Wenger was surprised when in the lead up to Euro 2008 he got frustrated again by not getting a game for us (and this despite the fact that Gilberto was known to be leaving and Flamoney wouldn't sign a contract). How come it was OK for Flamini to run his contract down but he now says it will be difficult to play Walcott if he doesn't sign soon?

Just another masterstroke from the Self Harmer and for me the first point at which I completely lost faith in him. How we allowed what was a very, very talented 2008 squad just disintegrate before our very eyes was not far off being as bad as the break-up of the Invincibles

The problem was though that Flamini was playing out of his skin. It's not that easy to say drop him, then bring in Diarra . We fucked Flamini around for years, then expect loyalty in return.
Having said that, the games Diarra did play he looked quality and it says something again about Wenger's inability to manage conflict.

I think he could've made spcae in the team for Diarra and not neccessarily at the expense of Flamini.

Flamini was playing very well but even so we had the stronger hand given that Diarra (for me) had shown he was a class act in the limited playing time he got. Gilberto's legs had gone for me and when we brought him on to 'tighten up games' I felt like we looked more likely to concede. A stronger manager would have said sign this contract before December or you'll be benched, but instead we let 2 good DMs go. Yes, we failed to strengthen the 2008 team and threw away a huge opportunity, but the biggest problem was that we completely lost stability with no settled DM the next year. Diarra might have been petulant but you can understand it given the circumstances under which he left Chelsea and the fact the Euros were that summer. Without doubt one of the biggest mistakes Wenger's ever made and really showed up his lack of ruthlessness.

[Chippy]

Former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola wants his next job to be in the Premier League and would prefer to manage a London club.

Full story: Daily Telegraph


You see this is where we need Baba back. He'll be messing himself over today's Telegraph as we speak

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... -club.html

Sadly we know its never going to happen, even though the article says he approached us!

[highburyJD]

a few points where I randomly attack Norfbank's posts because our team's too depressing to think about

The problem wasn't flying, it was that we failed to turn up in Norwich.

yes, genius from Norfbank, such originality - where does he get his zingers from?

I have no problem with the team flying, my issue is they didn't turn up

oh, yeah

I maintain that one of the best signings he's made (certainly in the last decade) was Lassana Diarra. The fool was just too blind to see it.

surely you need a qualifier in there??
'could have been' or 'was potentially'
just straight claiming Diarra was certainly one of our best signings in a decade is bonkers
also bit of selective memory here:

the games Diarra did play he looked quality

isn't strictly true - he was very good @ RB in the League Cup games he started
then he was rubbish in the league - his first start at centremid was our first defeat in the league
I was moaning he should be in the first team, he came in, was pants and we lost at the Riverside

[SteveO 35]

a few points where I randomly attack Norfbank's posts because our team's too depressing to think about

The problem wasn't flying, it was that we failed to turn up in Norwich.

yes, genius from Norfbank, such originality - where does he get his zingers from?

I have no problem with the team flying, my issue is they didn't turn up

oh, yeah

I maintain that one of the best signings he's made (certainly in the last decade) was Lassana Diarra. The fool was just too blind to see it.

surely you need a qualifier in there??
'could have been' or 'was potentially'
just straight claiming Diarra was certainly one of our best signings in a decade is bonkers
also bit of selective memory here:

the games Diarra did play he looked quality

isn't strictly true - he was very good @ RB in the League Cup games he startedthen he was rubbish in the league - his first start at centremid was our first defeat in the league
I was moaning he should be in the first team, he came in, was pants and we lost at the Riverside

Except he didn't play League Cup games at right back - he played them in his best position in the centre of midfield where he was exceptional. On the night we were down to 10 men at Ewood Park, he quite rightly earned the man of the match award and was absolutely outstanding for 120 mins in a way that Ramsey could only wet himself dreaming over.

You might not like the fella but don't make out his contribution in the games he played was poor. Citing one shit appearance at Boro is akin to blaming one player for last week's defeat to Norwich

He was an infinitely superior player to Flamini and has proved it since leaving us

[highburyJD]

Except he didn't play League Cup games at right back - he played them in his best position in the centre of midfield where he was exceptional.

he def played at least one home league cup game(possibly SheffU)
and I think two in defence - cant remember the other

You might not like the fella

and you say that, based on what? Strange. I really wanted him to play, as a player I rated him.

but don't make out his contribution in the games he played was poor

I wanted him to start, was excited he made the first XI at the Riverside. I was in Thailand, saw the game live v Boro - he was terrible.

Citing one shit appearance at Boro is akin to blaming one player for last week's defeat to Norwich

how many games did he play for us? I would guess less than a dozen. In the most important one he was
rubbish.

He was an infinitely superior player to Flamini and has proved it since leaving us

'proved' how? He and Flamster are both bench warmers... Flamini arguably made a key contribution to the Rossoneri's title despite this.

I thought Diarra was brilliant at first. Without a doubt having Flamini, Gilberto and Diarra as defensive midfield options was the strongest we've been in that position. Losing all of them in six months was a big Wenger feck up.

But your posts read to me like Diarra was a nascent superstar, has been brilliant afterwards and was the obvious starter between the two of them. I think he was spoilt and made a foolish choice:

Gilberto was our best player the previous season (everyone said he was the choice for captain).
He come back post Copa America unfit so Flamini (for whom we had accepted a low offer from Brum) gets to start.
He plays well enough, as a front foot proactive ball chasing 'def mid', to nail down a first team spot. Gilberto the invisible wall, a responsive positional defender who snuffs out moves rather than chasing the ball - doesn't suit the new way we play (gets chances at CB to try and shoe-horn his experience back in to the side).

Diarra SHOULD see that a backup player, when given his chance, is able to step up - secure a place in the team - and not automatically be dropped when the more experienced player returns. If you have faith in your own ability that's exactly the sort of club you want to be at. Instead, he fluffed his lines in his biggest chance and threw the toys out of the plan when a form player was picked in his position.

He was decent for Pompey but not as good as James, Distin, Campbell or Muntari.
Let's not recast him as a superstar.

[northbank123]

He was impressive enough at Portsmouth for Madrid to table a considerable offer for him and when he went to Madrid he was a regular for two and a half seasons and got some pretty high commendation in that time. Meanwhile we were left with Song playing for those 4 seasons. Whatever way you look at it Diarra would have been a great improvement on Song and may well have given our side the consistency to at least prevent us from crumbling to pieces in 2008/09.

Even if you consider Diarra to have been impatient or petulant then you can't defend Wenger for letting Flamini's contract run down when it was painfully obvious he wasn't going to sign a new one. For me Gilberto was a liability that year, he was slow and not fit enough. And even if you think he was right to not give Diarra a real chance then he still didn't need to sell Diarra for £5m 6 months into his contract, especially given the situation where we were going to be losing 2 DMs at the end of the season. A fuck-up of spectacular proportions that set us back years.

[highburyJD]

big mistake was IMO playing Flamster post Xmas,
disagree on Gilberto (although maybe he needed regular games - not as good a rotation player)
When Edu didn't sign he didn't play (maybe slightly diff - think he actually HAD signed for Valencia) irrespective I think dropping unsigned players is the way to go

Wenger is a players manager (often far too much) Diarra was an idiot thinking he was gonna play into France team at Pompey
was he ever a RMadrid 'regular'? I thought he was basically a backup.

[northbank123]

I fully agree he should have dropped Flamini. Diarra was pretty integral when he moved in 2009 and got in the La Liga team of the year, played 30 and 39 games next two seasons there so I would say he was pretty regular at least. Either way he would have been a huge improvement on Song.

[highburyJD]

I'm not as anti-Alex as most on here, at the moment Song is clearly ahead of him
but yes, then, indisputably Diarra would have been better
Wenger bowed to the players wishes, didnt want to hold him back or keep a disruptive presence

In this case being strict with Diarra may well have been better for his career
(well he'd have got more caps and made more money whilst waiting for his move to La Liga)

[SteveO 35]

When are all the exciting rumours going to start over Wenger's contract extension. Surely RedAction have got something planned before the season is out?

[highburyJD]

I don't see Wenger signing unless we win a trophy (and stay in the CL) in the next two years