Will Gunners Go With Youth Against Liverpool?
Aug 12th, 2016 by 'holic
It is quite the feeling, the first preview of a new season. As happens every other year, after a major tournament, there barely seems to have been sufficient time for preparation. We have squeezed in trips to France, The USA, and Sweden. Those trips provided a bonding session for those who are likely to start on Sunday, but not the lads from France and Germany.
Whilst it is not ideal to be going into the first match of the season with a team already hit by injuries and lack of pre-season for a few, the visit of Liverpool will demonstrate the relative strength of both squads. Liverpool too have injury worries ahead of the match. For Arsenal there is an opportunity for some players who might not otherwise have started the season to lay claim to an instant promotion.
On Wednesday I covered the defensive options for us, and they are so many that I have seen lots of variations put forward as the solution. I’m all for playing our best full-backs to counter the threat that Liverpool have out wide and playing the England U-21 pairing of Calum Chambers and Rob Holding. They know each others game and have shown decent form in pre-season.
If those two do start then expect Francis Coquelin to be snarling and snapping into tackles in front of them. Should that be the case then it will be fascinating to see who gets the nod alongside him. Gut feel here says Mohamed Elneny will get the job this week, but Granit Xhaka is almost certain to get a Premier League debut, if only from the bench. I have no doubt he will be a regular starter very soon.
With Mesut Ozil only just back from holiday the ‘number ten’ role will fall to either Santi Cazorla or Aaron Ramsey. Whilst the latter was undoubtedly a star of the Euros it is possible that Arsene will give him a little rest on the bench and turn to the diminutive Spaniard who has impressed in pre-season, and was sorely missed for much of last season.
Assuming that Alexis gets to start up top, as against Manchester City, the flanks provide even more fascinating selections. It is likely that Alex Iwobi will get the nod over Joel Campbell on the left, but the line-up against City last week suggested that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could have been getting prepared for inclusion on the right this weekend. Theo Walcott certainly did his chances of a recall no harm with his excellent cameo when called upon in the second-half. That could well have been the clincher.
The Gunners will face a Liverpool now significantly remoulded by Jurgen Klopp. Gone are the likes of Kolo Toure, Jose Enrique, Martin Skrtel, Joe Allen, and Jordan Ibe. In have come Marko Grujic, Joel Matip, Loris Karius, Ragnar Klavan, Sade Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum, and Alex Manninger. The latter remains a firm favourite from his time at Highbury, but the first four of those I cannot recall seeing. As I haven’t seen Liverpool in pre-season they could be anything.
Knowing what Klopp achieved at Dortmund it is fair to assume his side will have been physically prepared for a season of pressuring teams all over the pitch. Guardiola may attempt something similar this season but Liverpool are further down the line than City in that respect, and could prove to be more consistent in the opening weeks of the season.
The ‘holic pound
The first of the season is being put on a relatively high-scoring affair. Liverpool’s pressing game may see early rewards, particularly against an inexperienced Gunners defence, but that sort of game places huge physical strain on players and the visitors could tire and leave gaps in the closing stages. If you listened to the ABW Podcast last night you will know I have plumped for 3-2 to the Arsenal. Shop around for 28/1 against that.
Preview done, it is time for this old boy to pack for a weekend away that prevents me taking my seat on Sunday. I will not be back until Monday so regulars, be prepared for a very delayed review of the weekend’s proceedings.
Have a good one, ‘holics.
200 Responses to “Will Gunners Go With Youth Against Liverpool?”
The code to enter the Goonerholic Fantasy Premier League for this season is
696884-192307
It’s just a bit of fun, but do add your team and test yourselves against your fellow ‘holics.
It always looked like being a tough opener but thanks to yet more gross negligence in the transfer market, we’re fucked.
That’s a direct quote from Thierry Henry 😉
3rd again 😆
lol at all the pesimism already whats to say even if we had signed the 20 players that all knowledgable Arsenal fans want every year they would settle into our pattern of play and be cohesive
tHE PROBLEM THESE DAYS AT arsenal are the minority of fans who have made Arsenal a toxic place to be
they slag off the manager demean their own players never seen anything like it in going to watch arsenal since the 70’s, I could understand if we were out of the top 4 or fighting relegation but even after ending 2nd the so called knowledgable fans are after blood driven by the anti Arsenal media.
I feel sorry for Wenger have so much abuse thrown his way even after doing so much for the club.
the moronic fanbase that wants him out will find out when he leaves that top players come to the club because of him ask ozil and sanchez.
when we get another manager who fails what will the moronic crowd do then it will be a downward spiral as there are not many top managers put there that can handle a club like Arsenal.
win or lose i SUPPORT MY TEAM MANAGER AND PLAYERS
COYG
My friend, as you said it is only a minority who are attempting to turn the atmosphere toxic, as last years demonstration at the ground clearly showed.
Calling ‘the fanbase’ and the ‘crowd’ moronic is utterly wrong and part of the problem we face.
The demonstrators have concerns we can all understand if not agree with. Let’s leave the language of hate to those of them who turn on fellow Gooners and understand better those who do not support this absurd infighting between the hard of thinking.
Thank you.
Thanks for the code, ‘H. Definitely a select bunch in the YouRopey this year.
Definitely looking forward to Sunday, but without a great deal of confidence. Two reasons for that:
1) Following Arsenal rather more closely than Liverpool as I do, I’m far better informed about our injury problems than about theirs, and also have a much better idea of the implications of those problems; and
2) Having got to the Ems twice last season, for the Bayern Munich and Leicester City games I’m horribly afraid that things can do much hother than get better.
Worries aside though,
COYG
I have got 200/1 for 3-2 and Elneny to score first. I know there is a good reason for that. 🙂
Fine preview Guvna. Class is permanent.
I look forward to seeing your happy face when you make your season debut at the subsequent home match clutching your winnings from that outrageous bet. Have a great weekend.
With defences in disarray it could be a goal feast, so 3-2 or higher could be on the money.
Theo hat trick to finally cement his place on the wing. 😀
Maestro, YouRopey league info please. Thanks.
Cheers H! Have a great weekend mate.
Up The Arse!
Here’s the link for fantasy, Impec … https://fantasy.premierleague.com/
Then click on ‘Leagues’, ‘Create and join new leagues’, ‘Join an existing league’, ‘Private leagues’ and insert the code 696884-192307
Good luck!
…and wait for the lanlord to send you the YouRopey access code.
Is it just a modern thing to call people who criticise things, however mildly, “entitled”? I see it everywhere I go, whatever the subject.
I’ve seen it aimed at someone this very day elsewhere on the subject of politics.
Are those who are critical supposed to shelve all critical thought and fall in with the happy sunshine mob then?
“I don’t like the new improved corn flakes, do you? They’re shit since they changed them”
“You know what your trouble is, you’re spoilt and entitled. How very dare you!”
“Oh I’m so ashamed… well they’re not that bad I suppose. In fact … they’re really nice”
Fuck that.
Regarding Arsenal the only entitlement I feel is that someone paid around £9m a year should do the job to the maximum of his ability, and if he doesn’t we should look elsewhere.
Have faith in Arsene think he will start with Ramsey in no 10 role. We will finish 2nd I think but a good bet for 1 of the cups.
As Tony Cascarino said on Irish radio last night ; “Why the hell did Arsene Wenger bother moving to a new stadium ?”. These efforts in the transfer market are lamentable and the stuff of a mid table outfit. How long must we wait for a replacement for RVP ? Why waste lots of money on cheap buys ? Just why did we pay 19 million for Callum Chambers when apparently the offer for Mustafi so far is 15 mill, with prices up 50-100 per cent in the mean time ? Anyway, good luck to the lads, especially the central defenders. We can’t afford any slips so let the canon roar and COYG.
Well said cynic.if u don’t toe the line your either a spoilt brat entitled or in the minority.iv backed the manager to the hilt.nowadays when having a few beers with footie fans of other teams there is no defence for the way the club and manager run the transfer dealings it’s a joke.
It is getting negative again and we haven’t kicked a ball yet. Maybe it is about expectation. I don’t expect Arsenal to win the league but I do expect them to challenge for it, along with four or five others. I don’t think there is a clear favourite and it could be a very exciting season. I think our biggest problem could be those so-called fans who jeer whenever a pass is misplaced or, heaven forbid, we actually lose a game. We will lose games and it may even happen tomorrow, but we must get behind the team and the manager and stay there.
It beats me Cynic how you or anyone can think AW does not give his best all the time. My advice, steer clear of the toxic media and their ignorant pundits. Lastly, there are still two weeks of the transfer window left. So let’s just see before we condemn the club and manager.
Unless the right business is done before August 31st, I don’t believe this is a team that can win the league. Not with what’s going on elsewhere and the recruitment that’s being done by other clubs. The club have the money to do almost anything they want in the transfer market, and maybe they’re working hard behind the scenes to do just that, but until those players are pictured in the red and white and are kicking a ball for the Arsenal, people will remain dubious of our ambitions.
That sums it up for me.
http://arseblog.com/2016/08/arseblog-season-preview-2016-17/
For the record the few games a season I’m lucky enough to get to I wouldn’t dream of booing the team,Iwill be 100% behind them from my barstool/armchair I fully expect my team to win the league every year cause I believe on our day not many teams can live with us.firmly believe 1 or two top draw players we could have a right go at ol big ears.
Cynic.
You don’t have to like Cornflakes. But you do not have the right for Kellogg’s to provide breakfast cereals you do like. And it’s worth noting that they do not make new recipe cornflakes as a personal insult to you.
I didn’t know if your @14 was rhetorical or not. But I felt that you were entitled to an answer. ?
COYG
Hull beats Leicester 2-1, overcoming Mike Dean’s efforts to hand the game to the Foxes. Leicester goal on a PK for a foul outside the box. Dean also denies a stone cold second yellow for Fuchs on obstruction call.
Shows that if you let Leicester have possession they really don’t know what to do. And they will miss Kante terribly.
I don’t get those complaining about negativity or saying fans are entitled. I guess they shouldn’t have an opinion on a situation anyone can clearly see isn’t where any one aiming to compete should be. It’s not as if this is the first time this is happening. Arsenal have stagnated and no matter how much you lo e or hate thr manager it’s pretty clear the team management (which includes him) hasn’t achieved what we were lead to believe we would no matter what kind of 5 or 10 year plan you subscribe to. Like someone said before me what was the point of moving to a new stadium if this is how we were going to go about things. It benefits no one labelling supporters or dismissing people’s concerns just because you are an unabashed optimist
What do some fans mean by calling other fans entitled? I don’t get it. Entitled? Spoilt? How can folks even call fans that have gone 12 years without winning the PL entitled? I think Arsenal fans are among the best fans in the world. It’s not a lot to ask a club that has the highest paid manager and takes in more cash than most clubs in the world not to have won PL at least once in a 12 year period. Season is just starting and I don’t want to get into arguments with other fans. We all want the same thing but am with Cynic when it comes to how we act in the transfer market. It’s a joke that’s all I can say.
Nice to see you back Pangloss.
Great preview Holic although I suspect while you have the defence right Xhaka will start with Cazorla in the middle and Ramsey will play as 10. Upfront I think it will be Ox, Sanchez and Iwobi.
It’s a big ask for Holding and Chambers but let’s hope the crowd support them and we are pleasantly surprised by their efforts tomorrow.
I’m expecting 1-1
I don’t agree that we have stagnated. I believe that from 2004 until we signed Ozil in 2014, the club was severely disadvantaged financially by having to pay for the new stadium. Despite losing our best players season after season and despite the arrival of first Abramovich and his megabucks and later a similar scenario at Man City, we somehow managed to finish in the top four, often mounting a challenge for top spot until April. It was a fantastic achievement every season,and for the most part was due to the club’s skill and mastery in the transfer market.
Since 2014 I think the club has moved on and has a squad good enough to win the league. I still want us to buy a striker and defender and am confident the club is doing everything it can to do so. With regards to strikers the only one I would really like the club to buy is Griezmann, I suspect if he does move , it would be to PSG for about 90 million pounds and a £300,000 weekly wage. I don’t think we can afford either. As for the likes of Bacca, Lacazette or Icardi, I have never seen them play 90 minutes of football, so can’t really comment. I do agree we all want the same thing and that’s a win tomorrow.
Alright, we are fucked, the club is taking the piss off the fans and lining their pockets. What do we do next?
In the middle of all these discussions about our transfer business, it is worth noting in the last 4 odd years we have significantly improved our squad in all positions. Maybe not in the rate to everyone’s satisfaction but considerable improvement nonetheless. Compare the sides across time and you will see.
So Arsene doesn’t deserve the criticism of stasis or stubbornness that are again being hurled at him. We won a couple of FA cups and our league position has improved in each of last three years. It may not be enough for some supporters, and that is fine, but maybe we should also look at the team’s cumulative progress and be less derogatory about the management’s ambition and execution. Fine to be skeptical, but outright negativity is objectively speaking quite unfounded .
Guardiola bringing the double inverted fullbacks to England. Sterling’s also playing with a lot more Intelligence than he’s displayed in his entire career.
Enjoy the new season, holic!
@Doc28 “4 odd years we have significantly improved our squad in all positions.”
not in the CF we haven’t. we have been conducting experiments in that position for the 4 odd years.
Alright, we are fucked, the club is taking the piss off the fans and lining their pockets. What do we do next?
Go off and support something even more fucked.
The Labour Party, perhaps.
Good stuff Cent @27 and Dr F@28. In your different ways, you have brought some light in the darkness.
Let’s keep our heads, shall we?
We all agree we need a top striker. I believe that we have been trying to get one since the summer we almost got Suarez. I also believe we are trying to persuade another top target to join us this summer.
We can’t simply bump them over the head, stuff them in a bag and present them to the press at the Emirates.
Who do you want? Benteke? Bony? Long? Lacazette? We could easily have signed any of these guys. Arsene didn’t think they were an upgrade. He’s trying to deliver your dreams.
We will miss him when he’s gone. Trust me.
Gnabry…… can see us utilizing him in the near future!
😀
Cynic @14, I agree that fans should not be labelled – neither as ‘entitled’ as you pointed out, nor as the sarcastic ‘sunnysiders’ for those who have a generally optimistic view about things and are less affected by the media’s agenda or overspending by other clubs.
Now to the last point that you make – ‘ Regarding Arsenal the only entitlement I feel is that someone paid £9million a year should do the job to the maximum of his ability…. ‘
Well now if one buys into your argument that Arsenal are absolute shit in the transfer market and other clubs are way better equipped than us squad wise, then surely by the same token the manager is actually doing better than what his squad permits him to!! How on earth can he then be said to not be doing his job to the maximum of his ability, if he consistently manages to finish above those who spend way more and have much bigger squads?! There is a team that works on transfers – it is certainly not his sole responsibility. But what happens on the football field is his sole responsibility.
Scgooner @16 was complaining about the fee for Chambers (which he wrongly quoted as 19m – it was actually 16m) and also the reported 15m bid for Mustafi. As far as the ‘reported’ bid is concerned – I can’t believe you are getting carried away by that… Surely you must know by now that even the most incompetent reporter is well trained in the agenda of hacking out stories about ‘arsenal’s ridiculous low ball offer for so & so player… ‘ That is the constant media narrative and unfortunately fans like yourself start having their knickers in a twist by such stuff. Also I don’t get the constant criticism of the fee for Chambers. You can’t have it both ways. On one side you keep harping about us not realising the inflated markets and then on the other side complain about us spending slightly more on a promising youngster. And he hasn’t done anything terribly wrong on the pitch to be deemed a failure!! Yeah he had a few hiccups (albeit at right back against monteiro) but that is something any raw youngster would go through.
As for Harris @23 – just check out the meaning of the word ‘stagnated’ mate. It does not mean moving forward which we have done in terms of league position and squad strength in the past two seasons. Yeah we should have done better but stagnated we certainly haven’t.
To conclude I think we are a central defender and a forward short of a title winning squad. I don’t like the fact that we haven’t wrapped up our business until now. If we don’t add those two players – it has to be deemed as an unsuccessful transfer window. I do hope though that things are happening behind the scenes and we should have the players in by the end of the window.
Irrespective of that I am as optimistic as ever. Everyone starts at zero points and it’s about who scores more points not who spends more or buys more players. Heck Leicester didn’t think like that last season and we definitely shouldn’t… Onwards and upwards.
Thank you, ttg@25.
I hope to fill the bar-shaped hole that’s been in my life since the 6th round earlier this year.
I’m not certain how nice it is to be back, I am little concerned by the amount of negativity amongst the denizens, but on the plus side, I am delighted to see that the GSD is still a regular patron.
COYG
I admire your optimism bathgooner. hope you are right.
Guardiola is going to have a tough time with this City side. This is probably the worst squad he has managed until now. They looked rather pedestrian and lacklustre against Sunderland. And it really hurts to see our man Mikel in that City dugout.
Since his premier league debut Elneny has the best passing accuracy than any other player in PL.
Since his PL debut Guroud has more headed goals than any other player in PL.
Two examples of usually unnoticed but by no means insignificant ways Arsene has successfully improved the quality of the squad.
Good to see the preview back, Holic,
and a fine one it is. Matched by an equally good comment at #5.
We are where we are. It is frustrating and, in all honesty, unacceptable for a team of our stature to be going into a new Premier League season without a single tried and tested centre back.
We, or I, will be there to support whoever plays as usual though. We might be in for a pleasant surprise.
There is a big clamour for us to sign Riyad Mahrez and his performance today suggested that he wants to leave Leicester. Whether we will prove his preferred destination remains to be seen.
A word for The Ox though. Some very encouraging signs from him in pre-season – as indeed there have been from a recovering Serge Gnabry.
If The Ox can stay fit and find some confidence, he could be every bit as good as Mahrez.
It’s a big IF – but we’re getting used to them, aren’t we.
3-2 to The Arsenal would be blooming’ marvellous !
hello
beyond fucked off
i remember the unbridled joy first supporting The Arsenal
when it was everything to me
and what i had to fuel that
pictures ,
once a week glimpse telly ,
harumphic some triumphic fa cup
.
what’s all this entitled tittle tattle ?
.
c’mere de me
i’ll part yer hair with the ripped off leg o me table !
.
.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just had a quick back drink.
Good stuff, Bath.
While the lack of a top striker is very frustrating, we have by all accounts almost agreed on our new CB – almost equally urgently needed.
We have obviously signed Granit Xhaka in this window and Mo Elneny was secured in January.
Fob Holding is potential at this stage but slightly further down that road is Alex Iwobi. Personally, I’m impressed with what we have seen of him so far – he could prove to be a real player.
If you’re going to have a youth system, at some point you have to trust it.
Again personally, I would rather get behind our own than blow £100 million on Pogba, or £70 million on a flabby Higuain, who would not even be a guaranteed upgrade on Giroud.
Hey ! It’s Dan Dan, the dirty old man 🙂
Fob ? Holding –
Rob, even 😉
Fob Holding is going to be a key player this season.
Hope it’s not our defence he unlocks.
I was critical of Wenger earlier this week but we have to put his achievements into context. His management has elevated us into a different league and I wrote a piece on here about this time which I called – A sense of entitlement- . In this bar there are many people who have supported Arsenal for many years before Wenger came. It was at times excruciating and never did we suspect that we’d be in the top four twenty years in a row . The issue for me is whether we could do even better and win either the CL or the PL with greater investment . I have to believe it is possible but I do admire Devon Stu’s loyalty and commitment to the club because I fear many of our ‘ supporters’ are the sort of plastics who have no conception of what it means to really support a club through thick or thin . I’m a supporter for the long haul although age and cost may eventually mean I attend matches less often. But I’m there tomorrow and will be willing the lads on
Cheers Holic – if the season matches your preview(s), then we won’t go unrewarded by the end.
Trev/Cynic @ 44-46, he could be our get out of jail card 😉
Good to see you again too, Uply. And Trev
Gnabry scores his sixth in this Olympic as Germany blows Portugal away 4-0 . Hope they get the gold and we get our Serge back fit and raring to go.
Morning all.
Nice preview H.
Enjoy the game boys and girls.
Fob Holding, definitely one to watch…
Gooner Mo Farah takes gold in 10K!!!!
Mo survived a fall as well!
Farah and away the best.
A Mo-ment to remember…
Please Chris, no Mo-re puns.
Morning all, thanks for keeping the debate relatively civil. That is much appreciated.
Sybil? SYBIL? Who ya callin’ Sybil?
Hehe, morning baff. Enjoy the match. ?
Enjoy indeed..!
Superb Post Baff @ 33…..every word of it.
I’ll have that 3-2. Morning ‘holic and ‘holics.
First preview from Goonerholic?! Must be the start of the new school year?! Superb!
Been looking forward to this fixture since its announcement, and the next against the already beaten Foxy champs, and to seeing just how the Klippity-Kloppsters of the German, with his now fine-tuned gegenpressing, do against our now makeshift inexperienced, yet quite capable, ball playing CD pairing of Baby Chambers and Baby Holding. Arsene, your claim for a new contract surely starts at 4pm this afternoon at the Grove! Go and start to get it, if you still think that you can! 😎
Back Up the Arse! Arsenal Football Club Only Forever!
Do they sell what Dan’s on at The Tollie ?
I might stop for a half. ???
Trev,
Don’t also forget to bring your copy of The Economist! You’re not getting a butchers at mine matey! 😎
Cheers, all. Cracking couple of posts by Holic and a horde of well thought out comments in the drinks over the last few days. Cannons at the ready?
10/11. Ramsey in the hole rather than Cazorla. ?
Holding and Chambers are the centre back pairing. Granit on the bench.
xhaka on the bench? whoa, gotta catch my breath here and the game hasn’t even started….
Looking at the midfield, who’s holding?
No holding is playing centre back
I know that. So who’s holding?
I told you he’s playing centre back
etc
OK, it’s not exactly “Who’s on first” but who cares.
Walcott playing gives certain websites a ready made scapegoat for the defeat, should it happen. After ten years he finally found his role 😉
Cazorla on the bench? Oh dear.
Good job I have errands to run. I’ll make sure to catch up at about the 60th minute of the match.
Here’s for a 3-2 to the good guys.
C’mon boys three points.
Theo pen miss, Theo GOAL
Gary Neville LOVES Moreno
They should just bomb after Moreno for the rest of the half. Try to get him sent off.
Chambers with some thundering headers but also some terrible passes to the midfielders.
Weak free kick leads to wonder goal ffs
Cuntinho
What a bunch of sorry assed Whiners.
All the presumptions, insults, second fuessing and downright bullshit about the club and the manager make folk sound like a bunch of goddamn children. The relative anonymity of the internet does not shield you or make you sound any less like a bunch of spoilt kids.
None of you posting here have any knowledge or experience better than Wenger. Its a joke that you all talk like youre so superior. All you are is talk.
Its like a race to the bottom; a contest to see which snivling whiner can spout the most outrageous drivel. Im not naming any particular drinkers but you all know who you are. And no, that you have a ticket or your upset at Wenger’s salary does not give you the right to act and talk like a fool or excuse your bad behavior.
Now then. Isnt there a football match on somewhere?
Homer, Arsenal knows.
Arsene knows too.
The young boys have done really well so far. Iwobi has arguably been the best player on the pitch while Holding has looked assured(gave away a cheap free kick that resulted in the equalizer though). Chambers has given the ball away once or twice but looks like he’s growing into the role of senior centre back under the supervision of Montreal. Theo will come good this season. Whatever happens today let’s give AW a chance. He does seem to know what he’s doing.
Shambles
Game over
Ouch
Wait before you praise this could get uglier!
Well I guess it’s all the fans fault. How dare they have hopes of anything better
Iwobi and now Ramsey great stuff yet again we are in deep shit
60th minute. Cazorla on.
Game on!
Brogile
Sorry mate too late for game on now
We are down on knees now
Farce!!
Fucking shambolic even at 2-4.
Complete garbage
Well done Ox
Nice one OX
This is actually a good thing. Liverpool doing us a huge favour. Only way for wenger to understand we dont have a team to challenge is if we get a good hiding!! Sad thing is this happens every season. On my way home.
Kenyan gooner
It does happen every season and this just another reminder
Here we go
Why bring Xhaka on for Elneny instead of Coquelin in a like for like? At least Elneny can give some offense, and you’re down by two.
Chambers game on
Bring on Arshavin… Errr..!
😀
COME ON!!!!!!
I’ve not seen Xakha play before but on the evidence of this cameo, he’s got two left feet. And both of them are square.
Shambles nothing else to add
Wenger knows
Complete shit for about 20 minutes and that was enough to completely kill us.
Awful
9 months vs 20 years. Atrocious again.
We get knows by not leaving he will score another fortune
Homer@ 79
I don’t know which fans you were talking about. Since I was one of those that questioned our transfer dealings I have to respond. For one, don’t come here acting like a whiner yourself with all that rumblings. Two, you are not talking to your kids here. So just calm the hell down.
Wenger knows not we get sorry lads Apple dictionary kicking in again
Every mature and sane person was expecting this.
But hey, there’s always another season.
Right?
Right?
(don’t worry, it’s just an echo. It’ll pass)
Right?
Right?
Booing by the home fans just after half time in the first game of the season? What a bunch of whining sad sacks.
SAG
Well written drink!
SAG @ 108, dial it down a notch.
IBTM
Nothing wrong with that especially after this shambolic display which was coming
Nothing new, same old mistakes, same old response, same old inability to push for the final goal for a comeback (vs Bayern, Milan, Monaco, Stoke, etc). Doesn’t really feel like a new season somehow. Where’s the coaching to work on our mistakes? To keep possesion when we are looking for the equalizer?
All the other teams are trying to get better, push for the maximum. I don’t see that at Arsenal the past couple of seasons. We are only buying to cover holes, not to really strengthen and go the extra mile.
Does Wenger and the board really care about winning the EPL? And if not, why should we keep caring as much?
We all need to calm down. The vituperation and general meltdown happening all over the Internet shouldn’t be added to on this forum. Look, I get it. Some folks are really angry but it shouldn’t lead to name calling and hair rending. It’s just a game for fucks sake.
Battle of the defences..!
Hope we go in for a proper defender now before the end of the window.
Guess we will be seeing Adelaide soon.. Ramsey suspected hamstring. Not too sure about Iwobi.
Bring on Leicester.
Crazy game…Looked as if it was a pre-season game sometimes. We looked so much in control for most of the first half and then that stupid free kick… Given the balance of play perhaps a draw would have been a fair result.
Now how about getting the Mustafi deal through and getting him ready for Leicester along with bringing Koscielny upto speed. I know it will be pandemonium but I hope some calm prevails.
Monreal targeted in the 2nd half,tactics.wide open every time.question do we bury the head deeper in the sand or wake up?c’mon ARSENAL!
@ Solid
Why not tell Homer to do the same. Coming here saying all those shit about other fans. Who the hell is he?
ATG @14 There is everything wrong with booing at half time because we dominated that first half and they only equalised after an unbelievable free kick. Anyone in the stadium who did boo at half time should be frankly appalled at himself.
I didn’t hear any half time booing but it shouldn’t be assumed that it was aimed at the team or manager if there was. The ref gave a very soft free kick for their goal but it perhaps says everything about the mentality of the fans that the assumption is made that any boos were NOT aimed at the ref
The fans were not so much booing the players off, more showing their frustration at the current state of the club i.e. the blatant underinvestment in the team.
Desi
Booing is not good but come to end result of feels like it was about to happen, yet another failure to kick off the season yet again.
To me same old and same old again we will never learn
I am surprised to see that we are not well prepared physically. I know it is a first match but it is the same for Scousers and my impression is that they had more in the tank…especially in the last 20 min. I was quite convinced that we will score an equaliser but sudden drop in the stamina left me surprised. Chambers didn’t have a good game and neither did Cech but my biggest disappointment today was Ramsey. Didn’t do much in the central role…suffered an injury.
On a more positive note, Theo was lively, Ox looks dangerous (but his passing ability keeps very problematic) and Holding looks quite assured. All in all, this team with 100% physical readiness and with Mustafi and Kos in defence + Giroud and Ozil will be a real deal. Chin-up guys…plenty of points to play for. COYG
After this opening day horror I am sure the focus would be on the lack of transfer business, but I thought we lost because of a more alarming problem … Our inability or unwillingness to maintain tactical shape and focus for full ninety minutes. That 20 odd minutes at the beginning of the second half is so very typical and now it is worrying that we haven’t yet built in any mechanism to stop that type of meltdown. After their second goal went in there should have been a renewed focus, better discipline, wingers tracking back , more urgency in hurrying their forward line, instead we ran around lethargically and without maintaining any shape. No matter how many players we bring in , if we don’t fix this problem of collective indiscipline we are not going to win the league.
Troubling to notice that even after suffering from this so many times over the last few seasons we haven’t found a solution. Arsene and his assistants need to fix this, if that means giving directions from the sideline so be it.
So Wenger reckons it’s “impossible to prepare” after the Euros. Every fucker else managed it, but then not everybody else decided to baby the players who got far into the tournament.
Joel was not even on the bench. Wonder what he has done off the field … Maybe gave Jack or Theo a wedgie in the training? One thing about him is that you will always get a consistent, committed and disciplined performance from him.
@127: If he said that then it really is a poor excuse. And it also betrays our unwillingness to prepare with different tactical variations. Even with all the absent players if we had prepared well and performed consistently to our abilities throughout the match then if ‘Pool had played better than us it would have been acceptable. Those horrific 25 odd minutes are unacceptable.
Doc Faustus- You are right in regards to our tactical discipline. That has to change even if we buy all the players out there it won’t do shit until that areas is taken care of. I don’t think Pool did anything special today, we were just naive as usual.
attend match
bypass emotions
yer a proper grown up
antiseptic appraisal after
.
and oooooh
boooooooing at the first game
the very bad boys
how dare they !
.
.
.
.
jeez fuckin us
twaddle from on high
“It is an impossible situation to get players back from the Euros and prepare.”
That’s the exact quote.
Doctor Faustus have to agree with your comment about Joel… The lad always gives his very best and is technically much more assured on the ball than the more risk taking Theo or Ox… Strange to not see him even on the bench.
I also got the feeling that the manager went into the game over confident about our possession and attacking game especially after that man City win. As correctly pointed out by everyone, those 20 minutes cost us dearly. Liverpool managed to make it a Helter-skelter game in the second half and did not let us dictate the pace of the game unlike the first half. In terms of ppositives, Theo showed the kind of commitment that he should show in each and every game. I hope he doesn’t return to his lackadaisical ways once the transfer window shuts and he is assured of another season at the Arsenal.
Bollox
It’s the same every season same old story emerged again really bad excuses with the Euros wtf is that all about is he deluded? Every team in the league has had to deal with it so coming to pressed and blaming this loss on Euros is complete bulshit!
Are we saying we couldn’t buy anyone better than this young lad from Bolton? Are we so stupid to believe that? We must be if believe this nonsense.
Going backwards as always same old shyte
Tactically Outdated + Tactically Inept + Arrogantly Stubborn = Arsene Wenger
Buying a CF and a CD (or any other player for that matter) won’t change anything in this now very predictable shambles every season.
The most important change that should have happened where it was needed at the end of last season, was in the position of Head Coach/First Team Manager. Thankfully (if today’s under-performance is anything to go by), it’ll surely now happen at the end of this particular season when his current contract finally expires. Thank God!
Arsenal Football Club Only Forever!
I wasn’t looking forward to going today. The first match of a new season and I didn’t have the slightest enthusiasm about going. Why is that? Basically it’s a combination of annoyance at failure to do enough every close season to put us in a position to compete for the League, the cost , the toxic atmosphere at the club which is so sad and wearing to be in and the feeling that it’s so unnecessary . I was also very worried about Chambers and Holding. Chambers isn’t good enough. Holding might be but putting him into this sort of situation did him no favours at all.
So many of us feel enormous ambivalence to Wenger. Huge affection and gratitude and respect but tinged with irritation and the old Einstein definition of madness about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Every season is a Groundhog season. This season after one game feels like another struggle. You’d expect most sides to shift into transfer mode in our situation but you can’t guarantee any signings will be made that will make a differences that Arsenal. They will pass up on Mustafi of whoever for the sake of three million quid. Today’s defeat probably cost them that. And then the injuries. Expect to see Ramsey in October. Ox and Theo will fall soon. They always do.
As for the game it was pretty crazy but to say we weren’t prepared suggests they sprang the game on us at short notice . It is a pathetic excuse.
Very few players were better than average. I thought Elneny had a good first half. Iwobi passed and ran very incisively. Theo had a decent first half. Ox did some great things when he came on .
Worst I have seen Nacho and Hector and Sanchez can’t play upfront on his own unless Ozil is threading the ball through .
Depressed as hell but at least the Olympics are going well.
You’re SOOOOO entitled, TTG
Spoilt children etc etc…
🙂
Today was I’m afraid all about Arsene the man and not Arsenal the club. He cannot and will not do the necessary deals. He spends 57.5 mill in last 2 yrs on Deboosh, Welbz, Chambers and Gabriel. Source ; soccer base.com…. Did my homework this time. He wouldn’t realise half that now on those 4 and this man has a fetish about resale values. His confidence and bottle have gone. He’s even regressing all confused and self righteous about Leicester. Bielik, Holding, even Elneny… It’s reverting to type as if he could still hide behind his cosy Stadium build blanket. This great Scout/Economist can’t read the market anymore but he knows only too well he could have doubled his money on Higuain (yea yea put a few pounds on, money as well as weight…), Suarez, even CBs we should have gone for like Cahill or Williams, both would have doubled or trebled, even north of age 30. But his multi factor formula said no, com-pew-tah says No as they say. It still does ! Lacazette hat trick I see…imagine the buzz at kick off if we’d paraded and played him and Mustafi, especially if they’d had a bit of pre season. And before some smartypants shouts oh and now u want him to spend huge, we could have sold a few too like every other big club. We moved the 3 old midfielders on and that’s it. Yours sincerely, Spoit, Entitled Whinger, ever since 71 Cup final presumably. COYG.
I cannot understand such negativism from people in this bar. What kind of supporter can write off his team based on a single game? This is pathetic. On Saturday we are all COYG and on Sunday it is all doom and gloom…the season is over, etc.
Next week we will beat Leicester and doom and gloom guys will disappear. They will not write a single positive post until our next loss at which time they will remind us that this is all pointless and that they knew we will bottle it again. You know everything after it happens.
I am also unhappy about our performance today but I know we will recover…because that is exactly what we did in the last two decades. Will it be enough to win us a title? I don’t know. But I am a supporter and I have a right to believe every year that it will be our year. God forbid, if I had to go to bed and wake up in the morning convinced (like some people do) that we are not going to win anything anymore with this manager and these players. I admit that my optimism is not always rational but I am a supporter not a fucking analyst. I feel obliged to stand behind my team when the hard times strike. Only than can the sweetness of victory be really sweet. I would feel ashamed to celebrate a victory/title if I ever lost my belief.
The season has started poorly, not for the first time some may add. We were not adequately prepared for the game and maybe overrated our abilities. Our in game management(or lack thereof) and lack of SIGNIFICANT transfer action are rightly being questioned. The non inclusion of experienced players in the match day squad(Kos should have been on the bench) is another stick to beat the manager with.
He got it wrong on several counts.
The thing is I love AW and always will. I’m quite fortunate to have been on board for the duration of his stay at the helm of affairs. His teams opened my eyes to the way football should be played and I will remain grateful for the experience. He is by nature obdurate and a little bit egotistical but he loves Arsenal no doubt. That may not be enough any more but for all he’s done he at least deserves to see out his contract with dignity.
I don’t believe that he should be tarred and feathered and driven handcuffed and blindfolded to The Hague to face judgement. We sometimes take things too seriously.
Wenger says he’s looking out for one or two players while the likes of Ground, Ozil and Kos should be available for the next game. Give him a chance. Give the team a chance. He has till May. Let him be.
We should instead wonder how the succession planning is coming along. When he goes, we have massive shoes to fill.
Are we ready?
P.s.
If I were Wenger I would walk away and never come near anything Arsenal related.
Nomen est omen, Solid Gooner.
Plus que predictable. ?????????
Victoria Concordia Crescit!
As expected, the scousers think they’ve won the league already!
Btw, Lacazette scored a hatrick for Lyon! But gave some sort of pledge to his club afterwards!
Who cares anyway! 🙂
Bosnian Gooner
If you were in the ground today it would be hard not to be negative. Yes of course we will improve and there will be good games and relative high points but we’ve started really badly again at home and this year it will be tougher than ever.
My criticism of the game was an honest assessment of the match for a group of Arsenal fans . Nobody played well and it is ridiculous to say we weren’t ready physically. I have had really frustrated emails and texts from friends of mine who have been committed fans for years but struggled to watch that today. It’s more honest than negative
The fact is we lost the game but what a game it was. It had absolutely everything, great goals, two leaky defences, a collapse followed by a fight back, some pretty robust tackling, dodgy refereeing decisions and great entertainment value.
I was there and I hate loosing but I refuse to join in with all the bile that is circulating which seems to be the norm these days from so called Arsenal fans.
See some of you next week at Leicester.
Bosnian Gooner @ 142
Could be nominative determinism.
DB30 @ 148
Spot on.
“When he goes, we have massive shoes to fill.”
The next manager may find that his path is made so smooth that he can walk on bare foot, Solid Gooner. A beautiful stadium in place, best midfield in the League, excellent defense, some world class wide forwards and some very promising youngsters coming up, along with well over 100 million quid in the bank to burn.
“If you were in the ground today it would be hard not to be negative.”
Exactly the opposite is true, TTG. No one in his right mind would have strongly expected a result given the squad we had available today, therefore it would be very easy to be forgiving, understanding, as well as positive.
I think they should build a Scaffold on the centre of the pitch at the Ems,bring out Arsene clapped in Irons, give him a public flogging,at least 1,000 lashes,then hang him from the yardarm and leave him there to rot for a few months.
That will send a message to any other idiot silly enough to think about applying to manage the Arse,that running the Club in a fiscally responsible way, 20 years of qualifying for the CL,plus a CL final lost in the cruelest of circumstances,a few Titles and Cups,plus an unbeaten season that will never be replicated, some wonderful football,and some truly awful performances along the way,all part and parcel of following your team,is simply NOT GOOD ENOUGH. !!
Amazingly Incredible! 😎
AFCOF!
The trenches on either extreme of the spectrum have already been dug!
Back Up The Arse! 😎
Top suggestion Clive.
Good stuff Delia too.
Broglie
You’re missing my point.
We shouldn’t have been so exposed today and it was negligent to go into the season without having a stronger defence knowing the quality of our early opposition,
I will have no part of booing the team especially the young players because it will hurt them. My comments are post match analysis. That is why this bar exists to enable fans to exchange views
I share your pain, TTG. We need to recover from this dilatory summer and undercooked start.
The point being that the fiscal responsibility wasn’t supposed to last forever and the whole point of the stadium move was to allow Arsenal to spend the same level of money as everybody else. That was what it was sold on.
The whole idea was to be fiscally tight at first, then be competitive finacially.
It wasn’t to be so well off that we have more money than just about any other club in the world and sit on it, but bleat that we can’t compete financially.
Especially with the telly deal in place, we most certainly can compete financially with anybody.
We choose not to.
Broglie
This is no joke. Whoever succeeds Arsene Wenger needs to be the best of the best. He must be compassionate, knowledgeable and passionate about football and the Arsenal. He needs to be a great tactical coach who manages people well.Unlike United and maybe City, we do not have the spending power to compete for the top, top players. These teams can easily pay for two players worth 150m each in a single transfer window. We must be circumspect in our financial dealings. There may be a need to bring in a director of football but that on its own is a matter that must carefully considered.
Believe me, we need someone with as much of Wenger’s values and ability as possible.
Clive
Wonderful idea. Right in the centre of the Emirates. Bloody good show(though some would probably complain about the quality of the hanging rope)
They were just a lot fitter than us and more up for it. Alexis looked like he was still on his holidays and when Santi finally made an appearance it was plain why he didn’t start; he’d been eating all the pies pre-season.
I’d never seen Theo miss a penalty before, not surprisingly since he’d never previously taken one in a Prem game. He did bang one in efficiently enough in that FA Cup final shoot-out with Manure. So why was he given the job and not Alexis you ask? Possibly cos the latter had only ever taken one … and missed it!
Still, our best moments were excellent and I’m not too worried. Nothing a quality CD and CF target man wouldn’t fix. I wonder if AW spotted that…
So Moaninho, Pep and Klopp all win first up. I’d avoid the media for a while guys.
Chris @ 159: “He did bang one in efficiently in that FA cup final shoot out with Manure” . Eh? Is that in an alternative universe where Theo joined us before he did?
Since the beginning of this year i have heard people talk about the improved tv deal for EPL .. This ofcourse is a good thing…what boggles my mind is do we as AFC receive this money and more importantly if we do where does it go? Why are we consistently being told that we cannot compete with manure n shitty. I am sick and tired of this excuse. It basically means we dont even need to bother watching football anymore. Defeatist attitude that seeps all the way from the top management,the players(maybe this is the cause of the infamous arsenal soft underbelly) and these days even supporters…we cannot compete,so lets sell the club and divy up the moola…end of rant
Memory playing me tricks, Dr F, I should have checked. The penalty shootout against Manure is still vivid in my mind because all ours were just brilliantly taken, the best set of pens I can remember seeing, ever.
Theo’s pen was against Roma in the CL in 2009 … http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/walcott-how-i-learned-to-score-penalties
last time I saw Sanchez ‘the experimental striker ‘ was in the team sheet.
“I admit that my optimism is not always rational but I am a supporter not a fucking analyst.”
Forgive others who choose to be realists just because they know that real success does not come from just hoping but from preparing adequately, proper tactics and execution of said plans; who refuse to see groundhog day and proclaim it the dawn of something new & amazing and wonderful. You could say they were simply being extremely negative but I know that feeling comes from the actions of the club they are emotionally invested in.
Not been in the bar for a while as Groundhog Day has become so predictable that my depressed complaining would have driven some to excessive amounts of drinking…….unlike usually I am sure 🙂
So you can imagine my surprise to come back and see we have had an almost complete change over in my absence with it seems a large majority now of the opinion that Wenger is still getting it wrong and more worryingly has no idea how to correct it.
I’ve been of this opinion for a long time now, I respect Arsene massively for everything he has achieved but I despair equally massively for all that he has wantonly squandered too, his stubborn belief in some players has always boggled my mind but Arsene knows.
He has always had a big tactical gap in his knowledge which for somebody nicknamed the professor seems odd, we have added two cups since our last title win but I honestly do not think that is enough, we were constantly a title threat for a long period of time but when can somebody honestly say we were last a true title contender?
The simple truth is that this group of players are not mentally strong enough despite Wenger constantly bleating this in pressers after defeat or victory and they do not possess the physical attributes needed to compete for the title.
Unless we see a massive sea change in attitude at the club along with some astute signings before window close this will be another Groundhog Day and that is the biggest worry for all gooners.
“What a catalyst you turned out to be:
Loaded the guns, then you run off home for your tea –
Left me standing like a guilty schoolboy.”
Paul Weller. 1980.
That’s for you Homer@79. May I suggest that when you’ve grown a pair that you come back and join the adults in a reasonable debate. Democracy still allows freedom of speech and the freedom to express an opinion.
I have not seen any of the game but I’m not surprised at the result or the comments from respected drinkers above. If anyone genuinely thinks the side that started yesterday has a chance of challenging for the title then they are sadly mistaken.
The calls to invest will increase dramatically. The reasons? Because we have failed over many seasons now to deal with the gradual decline in the quality of the squad in general. I hate the toxic atmosphere at home games but find it totally understandable.
How many wake up calls do we need as a club?
The other interesting points are around the contracts of both Ozil and Sanchez? In the current climate I wouldn’t blame either if they decided that their futures lay elsewhere.
“He has always had a big tactical gap in his knowledge”
Say what? You are delusional, depressed gooner. You need help for your depression urgently. I’m sure the NHS can help … http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Antidepressant-drugs/Pages/Introduction.aspx
There were some excellent exchanges on here at the end of last season when even the Guvna, who is the most sensible and equable of observers expressed some doubts about whether Wenger was in the last days of his remarkable reign.
Whatever happens I desperately want him to leave with cheers and gratitude ringing in his ears. He has given so much of himself to the club, probably more than we will ever know and he has given us a stability and status that no one can match. That stability has become boring to many who have not been around long enough to appreciate just how special this has been.
The situation now is that football has moved on in the way that we have seen other sports moving on. Wenger has reinvented himself many times and this has always been good enough in the past to bring Champions League football, something that Man U, Chelsea and Liverpool have all missed out on in recent seasons. But expectations are now that we become a’ super-club’ and take a step up to the elite tier. That requires an owner and board who share that ambition and I’m not sure if we have it nor do I feel that Arsene is quite able to deliver it because it would mean a departure from the sort of financial discipline that he profoundly believes in. That is the nature of the discontent and it’s hard to see it changing . I’ve said many times that Wenger misses David Dein as a catalyst and soulmate on the board. I believe that although many Gooners disagree .
But whatever I want the last days of Arsene to be glorious not as I fear full of recriminations and backbiting. As I wrote yesterday I have serious concerns about the current situation but will never cease to be grateful for what Wenger has brought us. But can he reinvent himself in this environment again? Big question.
Sorry, allow me to correct myself!
Lacazette apparently claimed that there are offers being made for him and that he wouldn’t be able to turn down an ‘offer he can’t refuse’
But he still scored a hat-trick yesterday though!
🙂
Cu’mon Arsenal!
Mahrez also looks a little unsettled too!
£130m will tie things up nicely!
Let’s go!
🙂
“We could see that we have played together for a while now, so there’s a good fluidity and understanding in our game … physically we look ready”.
Wenger, after Man City
After yesterday’s debacle:
“Physically we are not ready … we are not capable of maintaining the level, because not all the players have the same level of preparation”.
Please what did this guy take us for?
Apparently, the scouse supporters think they’ve won the league already!!
😆
They saw flashbacks of Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish yesterday!!
Yeah right, they almost saw flashbacks of Liverpool v Palace. Where’s Dwight Gayle when you need him?
😆
Then again, where’s Andrey Arshavin when you need him?
😆
Chris – Wenger has always been tactically short, even when we were a good side and winning stuff. It’s been a constant thing that we had no plan B almost from the day he arrived. Luckily plan A was usually good enough, back in the day.
Here, here Cynic!
Dare I say it!
Following on from the disheartening defeat to yet another genuine title rival, and to dissect this again for the umpteenth time, is Arsene Wenger honestly and truly “still” the only “intelligent” and “dignified” head coach/manager in the whole wide world of modern association football (and whom would also be paid the rather small privilege of £8 million quid a year to do so) that can successfully coach/manage this particular squad of talented football players to once again win the very big trophies for Arsenal Football Club? I have had my own personal doubts for quite some time.
The “you have to pay the big-money to get the big players to win the big titles” narrative is, in my humble opinion as a four-decade-long Gooner, a massive con-job by the greedy money-men and agents, and the media hacks! You simply do not need to spend this stupid money to win big titles, and Borussia Dortmund & Athletico Madrid have already shown that, and still keep on doing so!
Simply put, Arsene Wenger is just not technically now able to get the optimum best out of a very good squad of talented footballers any longer within his coaching and managerial career at our Arsenal Football Club. Why that is, that’s what “all right-minded Gooners” should soberly be focusing on now within this the last season of his contract?! Time will probably be better spent in this bar by the regular drinkers, and elsewhere by other Gooners, politely and objectively debating this with honesty rather than continuing to fight amongst ourselves over things such as transfers, or lack thereof, which are actually a side-show issue. We all love this club equally and no one has the monopoly of loyalty to it, especially Arsene Wenger or the Board.
Back Up The Arse!
Arsenal Football Club Only Forever!
Apathy is about all I can muster These Days, What a sad state of affairs,I suppose we can console ourselves with the fact this summer might at least bring some changes whether good or bad, and the cycle of bollocks will finally be broken,
I have just read AW’s comments on the Sky website. Apparently some players were not ready or available because of the euros in France??? That explains quite clearly why we took players on pre season tours to Australia, the States and Europe. That was clearly fine. Heaven forbid that they would have to take the 90 minute flight on a private jet to the South of France? That must be debilitating beyond words compared to the club’s pre season itinerary.
Perhaps I have got this wrong. Were we the only team that lost players to internationals this summer?????
Yesterday was odd. Watched the game on TV with a long time Gooner friend…A few years ago we would have been yelling and getting over excited…yesterday we were both just drowning in deja vu and despite the seven goals it just all felt a bit….”meh”
Going to the Saints game in September. Wonder where we will be by that point. Think we will be on the up by then but could be ugly if not.
Massive props to Andy Murray last night btw – Sat up until 2AM watching one of the most enthralling tennis matches I have ever seen. Maybe Wenger should get him in as a motivational speaker next time he visits the Emirates…
That means that had we signed Mustafi before yesterday, he wouldn’t have been able to play anyway, as he played in the same games as Ozil!
Oh well, such is life! we’re buggered if we do and buggered if we don’t!
🙂
If Payet plays tonight, somebody better report Billic, to the FA!
😆
Matter of fact, if Kante plays tonight, somebody better report Konte too!
Sorry I meant Conte!
😆
Can came on for Liverpool yesterday
One other striking but unpleasant thing about yesterday was TH14. This hadn’t really dawned on me but following events this summer (whatever the rights and wrongs) he is now firmly outside the tent pissing inwards. Christ did he really have to repeat “why don’t players want to join Arsenal” about three times ? Like him or not (I don’t incidentally, as a person) he has some influence as a complete legend. Kinda goes back to something before that I would be interested in hearing views on. When it comes to signing players is it “will not” (as tends to be assumed) or “cannot” ? I’d favour the latter given the number of missed striker targets post RVP. And is the failing purely on the manager’s side ? I think so, but open to persuasion on that too. Nice as ever to have this bar as an outlet after the bitter disappointment. COYG.
This is a Daily Mail link but it’s ok. The only point in it that is silly is the bit about Walcott missing the penalty making a difference, when it didn’t because he scored 68 seconds later. If he scores the penalty the whole pattern of the game changes, so he doesn’t score the goal he actually scored.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3741351/Arsene-Wenger-answer-10-key-questions-Arsenal-s-awful-start.html
Drives me nuts through the season when people (including pundits who should know better, unless they’re Robbie Savage) say, “Oh we should have had two goals because he missed a sitter a minute before he scored”. Nonsensical stuff. If he scores the sitter, the game stops and you restart on the centre spot. The entire pattern of the match changes, the next chance is not created as it was.
Minor rant over 😉
SC @185,
Of course TH14 is 100% correct in his observation, and he speaks from both personal insight and experience as a former “world class” footballer that won everything in the game as a player at both club and international level, and also he’s speaking as a genuine Arsenal Fan who loves our club! What’s there to really question of what he honestly said from lay-supporters like us, that have never ever played football at the very highest level?
Back Up The Arse! AFCOF!
Poor Dalian. RIP.
RIP Dalian Atkinson. Shocking tragedy.
I might be very wrong about this thought but after the lost yesterday, I sit in my deep thought and cannot help but thinking that probably, probably we are not supposed to be on the top four for all those periods, especially in the stadium-debt era.
Think about it, during the stadium-debt era, we never really has the so called world-class player but yet we still manage to be in the top four. I’m not talking about winning the premier league, no, i’m talking about the top four.
Can it be, we as a club is over-achieving, maybe we are punching above our weight and honestly, the truth is with our resources back then, we were supposed to be in the mid-table of premier league and somehow, someway, Arsene Wenger made it possible for Arsenal to stay in top four for all those long periods.
During those long 10 years, football landscape has changed so much, with oil money came and world class player are more attracted to those clubs rather than the mighty Arsenal. And when finally our hands are not tied, we already lose the momentum, the damage is so bad that Arsenal are already seen as a feeder club and not a sexy club anymore resulting dificulties to attracts top players. Still until today.
You might say Ozil and Sanchez is a world-class player and yet, they are an Arsenal player today, but remember Ozil and Sanchez’s deal only gone through very late in the transfer window because we were waiting for Madrid to bought Bale and Barca to bought Suarez.
The more I think about it, the more I’m sure that ‘The’ Arsenal is over-achieving. Maybe we are not as good as we believe we are.
Just maybe.
For the record, I do hope we win the league this year 🙂
The Ornacle has spoken:
https://twitter.com/bbcsport_david?lang=en-gb
Apparently Mustafi too expensive so we are looking at alternatives, as we we also want to buy a striker!
Oh well! Maybe we should do a whip round! 🙂
It was his demand that we cover his petrol on the eight minute drive to training that did us in. We had everything tied up and that extra tenner killed the deal.
We even offered to swap his motor for a nice bicycle but the lads we got to go and nick us one wanted more for that than the cost of the petrol. So we did our best but we have to justify every single penny.
Pity the board don’t see fit to account for every penny of Stan Kroenke’s unspecified services, but you can’t have everything I guess.
Or, in our case, anything at all.
It’s game 1 of 38, still 15 days until transfer window closes, and players returning from time off… a bit early for some of the reactions on here. Liverpool better prepared to take advantage of their 15-min burst after half-time, which killed the game – fair play to them. We still scored 3 and missed a penalty.
Anyone here ready to have this conversation again after the 10th game (away to Sunderland)? We’ll have a better idea of where we stand by then both in the league and the CL.
@ Sal
Round of 16. That’s where we stand in regards to CL. What else have we done to convince you otherwise? PL? Top 4/5/6 who cares? It is what it is. Am just going with the flow, not going to over react either way. COYG…
Top stuff TTG@170, especially re. Wenger’s legacy. If this is to be his last year (or even if it isn’t) I’m very afraid that the more entitled, ignorant, and vocal elements of the fanbase will tarnish what should be a very honorable departure. He is far from perfect but Arsenal and all gooners owe him a debt we’ll never be able to repay. As Andrew Allen tweeted a couple of weeks back, “We could play Mikael Silvestre at centre-back and I’d still support the Arsenal, so cut your fucking whinging, you fucking brats. You got lucky being an Arsenal fan.”
In the meantime I’m refusing to get too down about yesterday’s result and the transfer situation. Indications are that we’re still at least trying to get a couple deals done before the window shuts. Whether we do get them done is of course another thing entirely, but it does seem like we’re trying, so I’ll reserve final judgment for the time being.
The question is whether the window will slide shut pleasantly and summarily, after we’ve passed our money through, received goods in kind, and strolled away more or less contentedly, or will it snap shut onto our fingers while we’re desperately still trying to complete some last-minute transaction or other?
Top stuff TTG@170, especially re. Wenger’s legacy. If this is to be his last year (or even if it isn’t) I am very afraid that the more entitled, ignorant, and vocal elements of the fanbase will tarnish what should be a very honorable departure. He is far from perfect but Arsenal and all gooners owe him a debt we’ll never be able to repay. As Andrew Allen tweeted a couple of weeks ago, “We could play Mikael Silvestre at centre-back and I’d still support the Arsenal, so cut your fucking whinging, you fucking brats. You got lucky being an Arsenal fan.”
In the meantime, I’m refusing to get too down about yesterday’s result and the transfer situation. Indications are that we’re still at least trying to get a couple deals done before the window shuts. Whether we do get them done is of course another thing entirely, but it does seem like we’re trying, so I’ll reserve final judgment for the time being.
The question is whether the window will slide shut pleasantly and summarily, after we’ve passed our money through, received goods in kind, and strolled away more or less contentedly, or will it snap shut onto our fingers while we’re desperately still trying to complete some last-minute transaction or other?
I don’t think the legitimate criticism of the manager after he confessed that several players were ‘not ready’ on Saturday is going to be revised after the 10th game, Sal.
That is an entirely valid criticism of both the boss and the club. We failed to have a team prepared for the start of the season, despite the well publicised date of the first match, the availability of reinforcements in the transfer window and the knowledge at least a month ago that our first choice CBs were either on vacation or out until 2017. OK the CB problem was aggravated only a week ago but additional cover could have been obtained in the meantime after Per’s op and it’s clear we needed additional experienced cover at that point. Paradoxically our tyro CBs were the least of our problems on Sunday. The self confessed unpreparedness of the rest of the team is a clear failure of the boss and his back room team. The Euros is no excuse. Other clubs had several players who played in the late stages of the Euros.
However your point is valid in terms of predicting more accurately where we are going to finish at the end of the season.
Bit of a late ramble on what yesterday said about where we are. >>>>>