As Good as it gets ? ? ? ? ? ?

[Herd]

I don't think any of us could have foreseen the recent turnaround this term after the debacle of the first 7 Games and again ,only a few short weeks ago we were dumped out of the Cup and had been humiliated in the San Siro.

Whatever the reasons and there are many opinions on this, we now face the last 6 games 3 Points up on The 3rd place team and 8 Ahead of 4th,should we not choke (and with this team that's possible) we will be in the CL League next year and that's as much as we can ever hope for given the current parsimonious attitude the club has towards squad building

So whats up for the future ??

I believe this year has been a watershed for the club,fans booing the team the board and the manager ,empty spaces at the bowl and the press on our backs more than they have ever been during the Wenger years,has Gazidis Kroenke and the Wenger man himself learn some tough love lessons or will 3rd place merely cement their complacent arsenals into their seats .
Despite their backslapping Self sustaining economic model for the club,which is fast talk for charge em a lot and spend as little as possible ,they must have realised that this model is a fragile one.

I might be dreaming but I think, and God only knows I hope and pray ,the Club finally got the message that unless we make some significant signing's during the close season, the clubs only world class player will leave after his contract expires ,and we will consign ourselves into premier league mediocrity for the next 10 years or more.

I thought id never again look forward with zeal and anticipation to an Arsenal spending spree in the close season but I actually feel we will make 2/3 quality signings this time round !

Am I mad ?

Dear OG Readers with regret we have to inform you the writer of this post, Mr N.Bonaparte, has been detained indefinitely under sections 37 and 41 the Mental Health Act 1983 at the Cygnet Lodge in Lewisham, the patient seems to under the illusion that a banner and flip flops will be sent to him there which will prove his sanity, anyone with information on this should contact us immediately

[REB]

you never know with this manager, one way he might go is think the start of season was a blip and now we are flying so we dont need signings except maybe the one striker or come to his senses and realise for the first summer in 6-7 i can do something now with 1-2 quality signings and not buy players like gervinho or chamakh,
problem is citeh and chelsea will buy up anyone they want and manu are never found wanting when they need to make signings.

[augie]

One or two signings wont cut it for me rebs if I am honest. For me we are lacking a solid back up keeper, maybe the full back area's need to be looked at, we need at least 1 quality striker and for me the defensive midfield position is one where we need a major upgrade. Personally I think he will address the strikers situation and I fully expect chamakh to be sold and maybe park too but it also wouldnt surprise me to see bendtner back in the squad though with wenger proclaiming how much regular football has improved him

I would guess that new contracts to rosicky and djouru means that he wont be recruiting in those area's and likewise the signings of jenkinson and santos would suggest that he feels these are the guys to fill our needs at full back. The keeper and DM positions worry me most though - on the keeper position I dont think wenger values the back up position as valuable enough and he will be content with flaps for that job but more worryingly he seems to believe that song is good enough to do that defensive job in midfield Even those that defend song agree that he aint no DM so that for me surely emphasises the need to buy for that position ? Of course in doing that it would in turn squeeze song out of the team cos for me there is no way in the world he is better than wilshire or arteta for the other two central midfield positions. Sadly I have also resigned myself to the fact that we wont be going back to 4-4-2 anytime soon - as things stand we have wilshire,arteta,song,rosicky,ramsey and arteta for those positions and for me there is no pairing in those 6 that I would be comfortable with in a 4-4-2 in the way that I would be totally ok with either wilshire or arteta beside a de jong in that position.

Finally I believe now is the time to offload walnut - he has 1 year left on his deal and has hit a bit of form so his value on the market is probably at it's peak right now. I now his recent form would suggest a reason to keep him for many of our fans but I dont believe he will provide us anything going forward that the ox cant provide so given a choice I would rather take the 20-25m for him to invest in other more important and pressing area's

[SWLGooner]

Yet again, a situation that could be made to look very rosy by a few good signings.

Unfortunately, this is a situation that we've seen more or less every April for a good few years now.

We've not yet had a summer good enough to push on and win things from, and I have no reason to expect it to have it now, with the current power structure at Arsenal....

But I would love to be wrong.

[Red Member]

it is all a question of perspective.

we have actually still got less points than this time last year which shows
1) how well we did for most of last season
2) how badly we finished

[goonersid]

A leopard and it's spots, springs to mind. I can't see Wenger making the signings we need, and his lack of tactical nous won't improve. Our early clge and fa cup exits, has avoided his usual end of season panic, when confronted with a busy fixture list, which always results in baffling team selections and ultimate failure on all fronts.
I have no doubt that if he stays next season he will carry on as before, with the usual shortcomings meaning anther trophyless season.

[Red Member]

[quote="Herd"]I don't think any of us could have foreseen the recent turnaround this term after the debacle of the first 7 Games and again ,only a few short weeks ago we were dumped out of the Cup and had been humiliated in the San Siro.

Hello Herd

[arseofacrow]

I wouldn't put your hard hearned sweat shop dollar on us winning the league any time soon Herd.

[Red Member]

if we win our remaining 8 games which right now is possible then that will equal the number of games won by the Invincibles in 2004

[defleppardisking]

if we win our remaining 8 games which right now is possible then that will equal the number of games won by the Invincibles in 2004

So???? The invincibles won the league but we won't

[Red Member]

it shows that the Invincibles were maybe not as good as people made out and the current team are not as bad as people make out

[RioGooner]

As the Arsène Knows mantra in being fully reinstated by most after a mere string of 7 wins, I can't see him actually learning from his mistakes and making a proper squad. If he can convince Robin to stay, it will be like a new signing.

[Red Member]

the argument by the Wenger out brigade on here this morning appears to be that we have just won 7 games in a row so what?
fair comment but I personally think our run stretches back to mid October. since then we have lost to Man City away (like EVERY other club does) and then had our 3 match losing blip in January. those games were only lost because all of our full backs were injured and so we couldnt defend properly.
I admit that this is partly down to Wenger - he played Santos in a meaningless match in Greece and then didnt sign reinforcements in January but apart from that Wenger has managed the team brilliantly this season.

[T.S]

it shows that the Invincibles were maybe not as good as people made out

Elaborate on this, please.

[I Hate Hleb]

it shows that the Invincibles were maybe not as good as people made out and the current team are not as bad as people make out

You see - this is what happens when obvious WUM's like Red Member are allowed back on here. (And if he is not a wind-up merchant but genuinely believes that rubbish, then someone so devoid of the faculty of reasoning that they shouldn't listened to anyway!!)