posted Jan 12, 2009

If Arsene Wenger managed a team not in the big four and he went away and got a few 0-0's 1-0 wins etc, he'd rightly get praise and lap it up. It's just bcos he's Arsenals manager he moans about other managers tactical awareness against his side, another excuse to moan like he always does and always has. I hope they finish outside the top four!

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posted Jan 12, 2009

How can he moan when the top four earn millions from CL football and advertising
Teams like Bolton and Stoke have limited budgets and a 30m pot of gold at the end of the season.
The difference between these teams is ridiculous and the only way to eek out a result is to be defensive.
If stoke or Hull had Kaka or Messi then fair enough
But i dont expect teams to go all out and lose 5-0 as at the end of the season it could be the difference between prem or championship!
Wenger is once again finding something else to blame exscept for how poorly his team are now playing.......

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posted Jan 12, 2009

The ironic thing is that Hull had a go at them and beat them anyway!!!

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posted Jan 12, 2009

Rokkedan,

So did MY team Stoke mate.. and he's still ranting.. Bad loser always has been always will be.

I hope they finish outside the top 4. Maybe then Arsenal and WENGER realise that. YOU don't always GET WHAT YOU WANT.

Shame cos he's a nice French guy I think.

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posted Jan 12, 2009

That's one way of looking at it but then there is the fact that Arsenal have a quick and young team who are technically very good particularly on the counter attack. So they would like nothing better than teams to have a go at them especially at their own gaff.
Remember when they had terry henry and co.? If a team tried to out play them by "having a go" they usually got humped 5-0, the same applied to Chelski and Liverpool. We certainly found ourselves on the wrong end of a 5-0 or 5-1 under Stuart Pearce when we tried to play attractive football against these teams.
Hopefully, that's about to start changing, if we can bulk up our defence and get a strong holding midfield player then i think we can hold our own against these teams and probably even win.

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posted Jan 12, 2009

Might see Arsenal doing it at the end of the season if they are in danger of dropping out of the CL places.

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posted Jan 12, 2009

Hang on a minute. If you play a strict 4-4-2 then there is space on the flanks and you saw more chances??? Only if you had a winger with lightning pace and excellent control (Overmars perhaps, Kanchelskis etc...). Otherwise you get stuck in a dreary midfield tussle and have teams hitting the long ball to the slightly slower frontman who could play it on to the faster one!!
Sorry...all sports evolve...if they didn't, then people wouldn't watch them. As they evolve, other teams adapt. As they adapt, the evolving teams need to adapt again to handle the tactics. It is a fact of life.
Mr Wenger should remember that, for years, people have been commenting on the beautiful flowing style of his continental team - I don't recall that being a strict 4-4-2. As I remember, commentators were saying that his Arsenal team were, at times, unplayable. The problem is that he currently doesn't have an exceptional point man (like Henry or Bergkamp) who can turn the flowing football into a goal. Sort out your own deficiencies, Mr Wenger, rather than complaining that people have adapted a style to be able to play you!

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posted Jan 12, 2009

It is true that teams are perfectly entitled to play defensively, it worked for greece and under grahm for arsenal and in our champions league run to the final we played on the counter attack. However, the open attacking end to end football is what has made the premiership a worldwide phenomenon and a massive draw for neutral fans. The negative tactics which seem to be evolving may well cause the EPL to go the way of serie A (a league with lower gates that the championship).
AW has an attacking philosophy and 0-0 dont offer much of a spectacle.

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posted Jan 12, 2009

Teams will defend more against the likes of the so called top four, and some games wont be a spectacle to watch, take Fulham for instance, (This is not a dig at fulham fans you have just had a lot of draws) but at least these defensive minded teams have made the league a lot more interesting than it has been in the past decade, its about time it was mixed up a bit, and there is nothing stopping teams such as Bolton and Stoke having a go at home, look at the Stoke match this weekend, out and out attack, amazing match to watch, still only 0 - 0 but least the fans enjoyed it.
This is just another excuse for Arsenals failings this year

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posted Jan 16, 2009

Wenger's club are part of the greed brigade that wanted the PL in order to line their own pockets and make it uncompetetive. They have had their way and here are the consequences.

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