posted Nov 28, 2008

Money to spend...where have we heard that before?

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posted Nov 29, 2008

Sparkle, while I agree in some aspect of your comments I beg to differ when people say you can't win with youth. You make it sound as though Wenger is re-inventing the wheel. Ajax ruled and conquer using youth. Even if you look at the current Man Utd squad you will agree it is youthful.. I believe with the right mix of players, less injuries, strong desire to win,and little luck Arsenal can find stability again in their game and start winning, then trophies will come. Don't forget ManUtd came out from a draught of trophies as well but returned with a bang ! League title and then the big one.. "the champions league title" I believe our Fabulous Captain, Fabrigas will lead the team to lifting a trophy this season.

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posted Nov 29, 2008

My, what dross you came up with here. Fact: Arsenal lost the least number of games in the prem last season.
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Correct, but they still came third.
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Fact: Arseanl have always done well against the supposedly big sides in the prem in the last 8 or 10 years, check their head to head meetings if you dont believe this.
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Correct, unfortunately there are no play offs in the EPL. You have to win your games, whether against Stoke or ManU. Every 'small team' manager knows how to cause Arsenal trouble, and it predictably works. Wenger has shown no desire to right this.
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That arsenal havent got a trophy since 05 is down to bad luck; we lost the Champs lge against Barca in the same way utd won it in 1999 and last year, 2 very late goals against us put paid to that. Sometimes the difference between success and failur is wafer thin, if you are going to say because Terry missed the penultimate kick against utd then Chelsea can be branded failures i will beg to differ with you.

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Typical Arsenal. Blame the gods for bad luck, blame the refs, blame the media, blame the English footballing establishment, blame the opposition team for 'not wanting to play'. Just when I think that the blame tank is empty it seems to re-fill itself.
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Last year we were more than 8 points ahead in February and cruising towards the title and were it not for injuries and some wretched refreeing we would be the champions right now.

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Football is a contact sport. Injuries happen. ManU had their share at the start of the season. Chelsea have had 7 of 11 out earlier this season but were toping the table anyway..
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Its not like we have been struggling and fighting to stay abreast the likes of the teams you mention in your post. Tell me which top side have been missing more than 7 regulars due to injury/suspensions? Arsenal. Do you want the names? Fot the city game and a few before that we didn't have Sagna, Gallas, Toure,Fabregas, Diaby, Rosicky, Walcott, Eduardo, Adebayor, and RvP just served a 3 match ban.

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RvP deserved his ban. He probably should be apologizing for letting his team mates down. Here are some names:
Carvalho, Essien, Drogba, Ballack, Joe Cole, Deco, Cech.
Each one more highly rated than his arsenal opposite.. This is a league, this type of thing happens. Every team has it share of injuries.
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You tell me the names that have been missing at Liverpool, Chelsea, or Utd. You will be lucky to come up with 3 regulars per club, and even then you'd find they missed just the odd game, whereas some of our players I mentioned its months, if not seasons.When some of the big guns you mention rest two or three key players they struggle against small sides like they always do in the Carling cup. If Arsenal need to sign anyone its not because whoever we have is not good enough, but we need enough cover. As for your suggestins that Wenger is not good at spotting talent I'm sorry you may be alone in that view. Thierry was a reject at Juventus, and wenger signed him, turned him from a winger, and the rest is history. Toure, Anelka, are others who were unknown turned into world stars by Arsene. How many players were unknown when they arrived at any of the other top sides and went on to become stars? I could count them all on one hand. At Arsenal who was a big name before they arrived? Maybe Gallas only. In terms or nurturing talent, you got to take your hat off to Arsene. i think you should reserve your criticsm for some manager who spend the odd £50m every season, dont suffer from major injuries, and have little to show for it.
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Thierry Henry was a young promising player and French international when he came to Arsenal. He came from the Clairefontane academy where people like Zidane were brought through. The idea that Wenger 'discovered' Henry is ridiculous. Same for Anelka. Where are they today anyway? Helping Arsenal win trophies? Nope. Somewhere else. Why? I'll let you answer that one.
What many forget is that Wenger's success rate is just as good as his failure rate when it comes to bringing in youngsters. I can make a very long list but it suffices to name Aliadere, Reyes, Bentley, Upton, Edu, Gio, Hoyte, Larsson - since these are probably more known to you.
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And finally, where did you get your figures from when you climed the difference between Chelsea and the gooners is 100 million quid?If thats true then whats the difference between Chelsea & Utd, or Liverpool for that matter.
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This weekend, when Arsenal and Chelsea put out their teams to play against each other, make a valuation of the combined value of each team. The Chelsea team will cost you more than 100 million quid than the Arsenal one will. After 90 minutes, the results will speak for themselves.

Perhaps the reason why many Arsenal fans so adamantly support Wenger is that they know that their club will be bottom of table, even face relegation if he goes. Wenger has transplanted a French/European team to England. He has created a team without an English backbone, culture, attitude and style of play. Someday, an English manager is going to take over, and, during the transition period, Arsenal might just face relegation. At the very least they will be in the wilderness for a long time as the team is re-built from scratch to suit the PL way. The sad thing is that there is nothing to show for this enormous sacrifice. For all this change, the club lacks the ambition to challenge for the highest prices in football.
I'll repeat myself: Arsenal should be in the business of winning trophies, not teaching kids from around the world how to play football. Fact: Viera, Henry, Helb left because they thought that they had done enough for Arsenal and Arsenal could not do more for them. Could Fabregas and Clichy do the same? Time will tell..

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posted Nov 29, 2008

Wait till after the game with stoke in May b4 you conclude.... Let's the trial hold b4 you pass the judgement

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posted Nov 29, 2008

Its great to be able to express our opinion about a player or a team. I wonder do the players or managers read these comments or do they think that we are just idiots and know nothing about the game. I hope the Arsenal and Chelsea game is a good one for all the fans of good football

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posted Nov 29, 2008

comment by GoonerDoogal (U9565843)
posted 21 Hours Ago

Wenger has always had the money to spend, just has chosen not to.
If i remember rightly he said they where looking for a couple of players, but he was waiting to find the right one. This didnt happen because he obviously didnt see the player that he thought would fit in to the team nicely. Im sure its still the case and if he find that player he will try and get him.
Some of you so called Arsenal fans on here need to relax.
Where still in all competitions and are 5th in the league with plenty of games remaining.

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Gooner Dougel - Your attitude to the fact that Wenger can do no wrong, is a perfect example of his failiures and a lot of gunners "head in the clouds" attitude.

Wenger had the money, but was to arrogant to buy players that could have done a job for you last season, when you were 15 points clear, His stubborness in last years transfer window, clearly helped you lose the lead and last years title.

The couple of players you mentioned, he couldnt get at Xmas, it seems he couldnt get at summer either, so you wait with a weaker team until they are available?

His then refusal to spend this summer has resulted in you being 30 points away from where you were this time last season.
15 points behind
from a 15 point lead - the equivalent of 10 wins accross the season away from this time last year.

If you feel that you should be relaxing and enjoying that instead of like some of the supporters above, where they are seriously concerned that Wenger may have a personal adjenda instead of doing what is right for your club, or they may feel he is willingly taking the flac of having no money provided from your board, in either instance, its got to be a concern.

As some one said, maybe Wenger is too stubborn to say he was wrong, and the team is not good enough, but instead of accepting that (which is clearly the case - league positions do not lie) he would rather continue hus direction, is that a case for getting a new manager in (no matter Wengers history and previous success from 3yrs ago)?

do us a favour though, put 5 past Chelsea tomorrow.

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posted Nov 29, 2008

"Our priority in the January Transfer window must be an experienced holding midfield player.

Then in the summer we need to look urgently at our centre backs
and strike force."

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You mean every position?

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posted Nov 29, 2008

i love arsenal and am a great fan of arsene wenger as i truly believe he is not only a great football manager but a football visionary aswell.That said i must comment on what i feel is a mistake of his in not signing alonso in the summer.We are lead to believe it was over the sake of a million or so pounds? cesc is one of the best players in the world and has just lost 3 of his personal friends in senderos,flamini and hleb.This is a player we can and should be building our future side around and not only is alonso an excellent player he is a team mate and good friend of cescs.Anyone who has ever played football at any level knows that when u are in a team of players you get on with and respect you perform better and enjoy it more.Arsene demands respect but he missed out on alonso!

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posted Nov 29, 2008

There would be a riot at Liverpool if Xabi was sold.

If you were not part of the strings when barry was named as a buy, Most LFC supporters would never have barry over Alonso - me included.

Go and buy Barry instead...
take on the wrath of MoN Grrrrrrrr

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posted Nov 30, 2008

Almunia is a good replacement for Lehmann. I'd rate Sylvestre over Senderos and Nasri over Hleb. However Denilson, Diaby and Song are no match for Gilberto and Flamini. It's clear we need somebody like Xabi, or as other posters have suggested Yaya Toure or Gareth Barry. Somebody that will compliment Cesc rather than somebody identical that will step on his toes. Or maybe Aaron Ramsey will step up to the mark?

I think Arsene is building up a great squad but the loss of Flamini was a shock, and this has put a seed of doubt in fan's minds... he can certainly find the talent but can he hold on to it? The real fans don't mind waiting a couple of seasons for a trophy if we are going to end up with an Ajax-style dominant youth team that is going to win everything and for years to come. However if we keep bleeding key players that have been coming through each summer there is the fear Arsenal will end up on a treadmill of 'nearly there' for year after year.

I personally am not too worried yet. Last season we would have won the Prem if not for some crucial injuries and wrong refereeing decisions. This year has been terrible, with some of the worst headless performances I have ever seen, but Arsene has shown he can see there is a problem by rushing players like Vela, Wiltshire and Ramsey into the first team. Measure by comparison how long it took Walcott to break into the first team. If we get as much of the 'frightening' Carling Cup youth team into the Prem and still can't turn our season around then I'll start to doubt. Until then I like the way our squad is shaping up in terms of talent but now just needs to find its shape. Then we will see those blinding counter-attacks Arsenal is famous for instead of a team that passes the ball interminably on the half way line.

Phillip.

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