THE WENGER THREAD

[Bob Bayliss]

One thing that we should definitely NOT be hoping for is for Man United to win the Europa League/Cup. It dawned on me last night that the winners get a Champions' League place, and that opens up an extra place for their country: Seville won last year so Spain got an extra place; had Liverpool won the final it would have gone to the Premier League.
http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague ... 65270.html

In other words, if United win the Europa Cup - and they are very hot favourites to do so - then the fourth place trophy becomes the FIFTH place trophy, and we would have to be out of the top five to miss out. So the bar is set even lower for Wenger to achieve the only performance target which Kronke/Gazidis care about.

The related danger is that Mourinho is driven by winning trophies, as any top manager should be, and that if/when United progress beyond this obscure Russian team he will put all of his eggs in that basket and take his foot off the gas in the Premiership. That would mean that we will end up in fifth even if the teams currently ahead of us stay there, unless Everton pulled back six points on us with one fewer game left to play, which won't happen.

All rather depressing, in the grand scheme of things.

[Ziegler1988]

One thing that we should definitely NOT be hoping for is for Man United to win the Europa League/Cup. It dawned on me last night that the winners get a Champions' League place, and that opens up an extra place for their country: Seville won last year so Spain got an extra place; had Liverpool won the final it would have gone to the Premier League.
http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague ... 65270.html

In other words, if United win the Europa Cup - and they are very hot favourites to do so - then the fourth place trophy becomes the FIFTH place trophy, and we would have to be out of the top five to miss out. So the bar is set even lower for Wenger to achieve the only performance target which Kronke/Gazidis care about.

The related danger is that Mourinho is driven by winning trophies, as any top manager should be, and that if/when United progress beyond this obscure Russian team he will put all of his eggs in that basket and take his foot off the gas in the Premiership. That would mean that we will end up in fifth even if the teams currently ahead of us stay there, unless Everton pulled back six points on us with one fewer game left to play, which won't happen.

All rather depressing, in the grand scheme of things.

Not true, a country only gets 5 places if the team that wins the Europa League finishes outside of top 4. So we have to finish there regardless of what ManU do in the Thursday night cup

[Bob Bayliss]

But that's my point - in all likelihood if United decide to go all out to win the Europa League then they will probably not bust a gut to finish in the top four - so the extra place would be available for the fifth placed team from the Premier League.

[augie]

We will finish top 4 so the Europa league wont have any affect on us really

[DB10GOONER]

We will finish top 4 so the Europa league wont have any affect on us really

Yeah, have to agree. It's what Wenger does. He gets in that magical top 4.

I will also now predict the scum's annual collapse at the sharp end of the season.

[Bob Bayliss]

Don't think so this time, sorry. Top four will be Chelsea, Tottenham, City, Liverpool. United are better equipped than we are to break in, but as I've said they are likely to prioritise elsewhere so I think we'll end up 5th by default.

[Wilson]

The 'experts' say we lack character. Yet apparently Sanchez displaying his hatred of losing and being second best, is supposedly indicative of a 'poor attitude'. So Sanchez should instead tow the line and not rock the boat, like so many other players of ours that have a character deficit.

So which is it, do we need more character's in the squad, or should all players fall into line?

I really believe, that whenever we suffer these horrible results, no one says anything, and they simply sit in silence, until the next day when all is forgotten and training functions like a G rated family sitcom.

Thats why the team has no character. Because people develop through enlightenment and self awareness. Where as our sqaud doesn't thrash out the uncomfortable truths that need to be said, nor do we have those conversations that create friction and tension. Its all fake. Fake harmony, fake unity, fake togetherness. As less face it, any family that doesn't fight, and instead chooses to ignore its problems rather than confront them - is a family that is hollow beneath the surface.

[DB10GOONER]

Don't think so this time, sorry. Top four will be Chelsea, Tottenham, City, Liverpool. United are better equipped than we are to break in, but as I've said they are likely to prioritise elsewhere so I think we'll end up 5th by default.

I'd discount the Mousers tbh. They are even more inconsistent then us. I think they will drop away. The scum will collapse again, probably not to the same hilarious extent as last season but realistically they could be anywhere from 3rd to 5th.

For me the chav filth will win it at a canter,
citeh 2nd,
then The Arsenal, manure and scum in 3rd or 4th
with either manure, scum or mousers finishing 5th
and probably the mousers 6th.

My money will go on;

chav
citeh
manure
Arsenal
scum
mousers

And yep, we will grab that glorious 4th place trophy on the last day of the season.

[flash gunner]

Don't think so this time, sorry. Top four will be Chelsea, Tottenham, City, Liverpool. United are better equipped than we are to break in, but as I've said they are likely to prioritise elsewhere so I think we'll end up 5th by default.

I'd discount the Mousers tbh. They are even more inconsistent then us. I think they will drop away. The scum will collapse again, probably not to the same hilarious extent as last season but realistically they could be anywhere from 3rd to 5th.

For me the chav filth will win it at a canter,
citeh 2nd,
then The Arsenal, manure and scum in 3rd or 4th
with either manure, scum or mousers finishing 5th
and probably the mousers 6th.

My money will go on;

chav
citeh
manure
Arsenal
scum
mousers

And yep, we will grab that glorious 4th place trophy on the last day of the season.

I totally agree liverpool are as inconsistent as us, the scum on the other hand are a decent team. We will get top 4 again just because liverpool and united arent that good

[augie]

I predict

1. chavs
2. citeeh
3. scum
4. us
5. manure
6. victims

[Bob Bayliss]

Hot off the press....The Standard. Damning stuff

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/footbal ... 84386.html

[Bob Bayliss]

Hot off the press....The Standard. Damning stuff

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/footbal ... 84386.html

Didn't intend to double-post it, but it's worth reading again!

[cameron326]

on whether he wants the boss to be here next season…
Of course. It’s as simple as that, especially for me. He’s the one who gave me my chance since day one. He’s played a big part in making me the player that I am, and there are loads of players in the dressing room who will be in the same position as me. We all back him and of course we want him to stay.
Read more at http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archiv ... 2gWpq18.99
Bellerin
Subtle hint hints on the club website. He's not going anywhere!

[Babu]

Hot off the press....The Standard. Damning stuff

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/footbal ... 84386.html

Didn't intend to double-post it, but it's worth reading again!

Quality.

[robbo10]

On the post match discussion one point i will agree with was what Lineker and Wrighty pointed out if a top class manager takes over we'll see exactly who holds the purse strings

I know its been debated on here before but i'm far from convinced a top class manager would agree to manage here, especially if the funds aren't available. The rebuilding work required is immense and as we've all discussed the number of players you'd have to replace potentially on a tight budget is staggering.

I'm also not convinced that a new manager could get the best out of the players we have simply because the work ethic is not there for a good number of them, and even selling a number of players might not increase the budget much because i have a feeling that would be factored into the 'available' budget.

Lets be brutally honest a new manager would have to do at least as much rebuilding as 'The Chosen *word censored*' at Man U but i'm willing to bet with a much smaller budget, how many winning managers would be willing to stake their reputations on turning us around in say half a season because that's about all the AKBs would give him

I agree, we are fuckd. Kroenke if he has any sense will cash in when Wenger goes, on his shares. he's will have made a fortune, maybe £500k, not bad for 8 years or so of doing fook all. Hopefully then we can start to be the club we should be.

I don't agree,wenger wasted 80m in the summer,that was enough to buy the quality we needed,he failed,the current squad managed properly could win a title hands down,its not all down to signing pogbas at 90m

Wenger has been given the money,even when we were "in transition",but like you say,he wasted it,bought shite with it,didnt buy what we needed when the press and us fans could see what we needed,it was fucking obvious wasnt it? I have said before,even 3-4 years ago our squads,managed properly by a decent manager WOULD have been in the title challenge right til the end,and maybe even have won it.