THE WENGER THREAD

[MK Gould]

Remi Garde has announced he is stepping down as manager of Lyon for personal reasons. This may be totally insignificant to this thread...but thought I would share.

You are probably right, but does coincide with Terry Burton leaving his post as our Head of Youth Coaching to take up the role of Technical Director at WBA.

[MK Gould]

I'm sure 99.9999% of gooners (or maybe more!) are desperate for us to beat Hull at the weekend and win our first trophy in 9 years...

But if the unthinkable happened and we lost....then I think the backlash from the fans (and there would be a backlash!) would mean the end for Wenger. Honestly couldn't see him signing a new contract after that!

[turricaned]

I'm sure 99.9999% of gooners (or maybe more!) are desperate for us to beat Hull at the weekend and win our first trophy in 9 years...

To give the guy his due, he's managed to get 3 points out of each of the last few PL fixtures without the squad needing to stretch itself, which I hope is an indication of intent to go all-out in the cup final.

A loss would almost certainly end his tenure - on his own recognisance - no fan backlash necessary! But I'm hoping that doesn't happen.

[officepest]

...I honestly believe Ozil was forced onto Wenger by the board to some degree.

Based on what evidence? From what I've read, AW took a significant personal interest in the signing and it was his personal intervention that convinced Mesut to join - in the latter's own words!

I don't buy this theory of AW considering big signings to be admissions of failure - the fact is that he had to manage the team for 10 years with his ability to spend drastically curtailed by the board, not vice versa. He couldn't say that to the press though (it being part of his job to put the best possible spin on the situation), so he had to come up with some other soundbite.

It happened before: Arshavin.

[northbank123]

Okay, so I'm not allowed to presume we may sign some key players, but you are happy to assume we will pick up injuries??!???
Doesn't spending 42m on Ozil give you just a little optimism that we may follow that up with another key signing??

How many times have we (or anyone) gone through a whole season with no injuries at all to key players? And how many transfer windows have passed without us making the key signings we needed? You are assuming a wild departure from the norm on both counts, I am predicting a continuation of it.

Last summer's transfer window was exactly the same as every other one - Wenger ludicrously insisting the squad doesn't need reinforcing and is good enough to win the league without doubt whilst waiting for a world class player to fall into his lap in fortunate circumstances (i.e. club desperate to sell at a fair price and nobody else interested).

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy we signed Ozil (even though we will never see anything like the best of him with Giroud up front). But how can he be lauded as a top manager when he either thought we didn't have a striker problem or thought Sanogo was the answer? Anybody who has ever watched a match of football could tell you not signing a striker would cost us and it did, our title hopes were in tatters before we even started the season and next season will be no different.

[turricaned]

Wenger ludicrously insisting the squad doesn't need reinforcing and is good enough to win the league

When? Do you have a link handy?

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy we signed Ozil (even though we will never see anything like the best of him with Giroud up front).

You only have to look at the recent Hull and Newcastle matches to know that's untrue. In the beginning, sure - he definitely needed Walcott to make a decent impact, but since coming back from injury he's been doing solid work with Ramsey, Poldi and Giroud.

[northbank123]

Wenger ludicrously insisting the squad doesn't need reinforcing and is good enough to win the league

When? Do you have a link handy?

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy we signed Ozil (even though we will never see anything like the best of him with Giroud up front).

You only have to look at the recent Hull and Newcastle matches to know that's untrue. In the beginning, sure - he definitely needed Walcott to make a decent impact, but since coming back from injury he's been doing solid work with Ramsey, Poldi and Giroud.

[officepest]

Turricaned:

Wenger said it in Feb:

"If we don't win it (the league) I will take full responsibility".

[turricaned]

I believe he did just that - that's not the same as saying he'd retire though...

@northbank123 - That was an honest question and point. When did he say that the squad did not need reinforcing? I know he's said words to that effect in the past, but I don't recall him saying that specifically this last year. And Özil has been working better within the squad since coming back - there's no denying that.

[StuartL]

So am presuming the regular posters actually believe they represent the views of the silent majority??

Interesting to hear what evidence that this is the case???

You are presuming wrong. I for one am under no illusions that those (myself included) that want Wenger gone are still in the minority. I believe the majority of match day attendees in the Conglomerates are still pro Wenger.

I do believe there is a growing middle group that is becoming increasingly disilusioned but mostly aren't yet at the stage where they actually actively want him gone.

Agree with this bit, as many disillusioned Gooner's no longer attend home matches (or have already been priced out etc)

[northbank123]

I believe he did just that - that's not the same as saying he'd retire though...

@northbank123 - That was an honest question and point. When did he say that the squad did not need reinforcing? I know he's said words to that effect in the past, but I don't recall him saying that specifically this last year. And Özil has been working better within the squad since coming back - there's no denying that.

Either he thought the squad didn't need reinforcing (hence no signings) or he was incapable of signing anybody to improve the squad at all - pretty damning either way. I don't doubt he said it on more than one occasion last summer (as he always does) but I'm not gonna waste my time searching.

And if moderate contributions against dross teams like Newcastle and Hull are 'the best' we can expect from a £42m player we've been mugged off. You should be sectioned if you think he wouldn't produce more with a world class striker rather than Giroud, who offers no option in behind and on the rare occasion he finds himself in that position generally fluffs his lines.

[turricaned]

I don't doubt he said it on more than one occasion last summer (as he always does) but I'm not gonna waste my time searching.

In other words, you're assuming that was his motivation and effectively made up that claim. More to the point, we did make signings - admittedly not the striker we could have done with, but there weren't many up for grabs!

And if moderate contributions against dross teams like Newcastle and Hull are 'the best' we can expect from a £42m player we've been mugged off.

With all due respect, "Moderate contributions" my @rse. In these instances it was against Hull and Newcastle, but that kind of play would be just as effective against sterner opposition.

You should be sectioned if you think he wouldn't produce more with a world class striker rather than Giroud

That's not what I'm saying - I'm saying that world-class striker options last year were limited unless you could match Man City's offers. Arguably Suarez could have been tempted with more money, but I remain far from convinced.

[EDIT : Regarding Suarez, I've seen a couple of posts now considering him purely as a drop-in replacement for Giroud. It's much more complicated than that - Suarez in his natural state is a marauding "lone wolf" striker, which infers that having him in the squad would not just make Giroud redundant, but would also encroach on Poldi and Walcott's territory. Suarez himself was arguably throwing a hissy fit over the likelihood of Sturridge cramping his style - how much of a slap in the face to our entire strike force would it be to bring in a player with the capability to make them all redundant? Particularly given that Suarez would be likely to jump ship to Real or Barca at the first opportunity... ]

[Brady's left peg]

Turricaned here you go......
August 3rd 2013.

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/227381.html

It's a shame you cannot just accept what posters say, instead of asking for proof. We don't make this shit up you know... it all comes out of inspector clueless's own mouth.

[turricaned]

That article is entitled: "Wenger: Arsenal can win title without Suarez"

A very different proposition from saying the squad doesn't need reinforcing.

[Brady's left peg]

And if moderate contributions against dross teams like Newcastle and Hull are 'the best' we can expect from a £42m player we've been mugged off.

With all due respect, "Moderate contributions" my @rse. In these instances it was against Hull and Newcastle, but that kind of play would be just as effective against sterner opposition.
Like the way he dominated an average Man U side at old shitford for instance,