The Window is Closed or No Use In Crying Over Spilled Milk
The window is shut. It was made by those who are dead, and the dead keep it. The window is shut
We’re done. It’s over and the window is shut. Only 122 days, 2929 hours, 175790 minutes, 10547403 seconds until the January transfer windows opens. Let the speculation begin.
Anyway, I’ve heard it all today, from the down trodden, to the angry and to those who are like “och well, these are the chips we are dealt, onward Arsenal.” I know the pulse of all of you and I would say the majority are ticked off. My opinion on all this madness differs but it bears some discussion I am sure (and we don’t have a match this weekend).
First let me reiterate, I agree with everyone who says that the duo of Almunia and Fabianksi in goal was the cause for many of our lost points last season. Both have deficiencies that over the last year and half have become painfully obvious. When Almunia burst into the scene uprooting Jens Lehmann many thought we had a true gamer. In reality it looks like we have a good shot stopper who’s biggest problem is an inability to be decisive and command the box. He’s shown flashes that he can do that if he wills it but frankly he has been to inconsistent and his faults have cost us. AS for Fabianksi, I’m sorry but the problems of the older of our two Polish stoppers is painfully obvious. While he commands the box a little bit more than Almunia his decision making is down right awful. His performance against Wigan last year was atrocious and in a friendly this year he about played himself out of any hope of regiaining the team or fan’s confidence.
The truth is, if you chose to believe it, is that we have two promising talents in Vito Mannone and Wojicech Czszesny. Mannone performed admirably as a fill in for the injured Almunia and Fabianski. His performance at Fulham in the early part of last season earned him priase and regard by the Arsenal faithful. The kid with one vowel in his last name, well, we’re going mainly on friendlies and reports of other people but by all accounts he is a gifted youngster who could be the real deal.
But that doesn’t make the inability to land a goal keeper by the last day of the transfer window any less painful to the Arsenal faithful. It’s clear that Arsenal had a target – Mark Schwarzer. They laid an offer down for him May, went away to the World Cup and still couldn’t land him. Many people don’t rate Schwarzer that highly, but he single handedly willed and performed Fulham to the Europa Cup final. Additionally, as the Australian NT stopper he performed quite well in South Africa. He was not a long-term solution and the deal would’ve been for two years. Enough time for him to act as player coach and bring along the young talent. This was absolutely the right move to make. If you believe you have talented players in any position – you don’t want to clog the top with long-term contracts that won’t get them that access. Plus you had a player that was willing to do the role the club were bringing him to do.
The likes of Given, Lloris, Marchetti, et al. Would’ve been longer term projects. It would’ve forced both Mannone and Czszesny to sit on the bench even longer. Arsenal seem intent on not letting these two fester on the bench and frankly I agree with that plan. While they may not be ready for prime time, they are pretty damn close and having a guide like Schwarzer help bring them along was the right antidote.
But alas its not going to happen. Almunia now has to go out, and after hearing that he was not wanted and perform at a high enough level to keep Arsenal in the title hunt. He now has to show that he belongs here. Arsenal faithful are now going to get a chance to see what Manny is really made of. Does he have the intestinal fortitude of Emmanuel Eboue and can he change people’s perceptions of him? Or, is he a shrinking violet and will he wilt under the pressure? That remains to be seen.
So it’s happened. We have the team we are dealt with. If you look at our additions, Marouane Chamakh, Laurent Koscielny and Sebastien Squillaci – we have added to our attack and made our defence younger and quicker. If you look at who we lost in my opinion only the intangibles of Campbell and Gallas’ leadership is what we lost. Ever since he was rapped by Drogba, Senderos was never going to be a solid CB choice, and he now is spending the entire season in Fulham’s training room instead of ours. Mikael Silvestre is off doing his thing in Germany for Werder Bremen. Sorry we didn’t lose anything there. As for Gallas, I don’t agree with those that think he made Vermaelen look better. Vermaelen made him look better. When you look back at some of last year games it is always TV5 covering for an out of position Gallas. Additional from a header perspective – he was one of the worst in the EPL. Sol Campbell was never going to be an every day player. He was likely Carling and FA Cup fodder and was going to be a leader on and off the pitch. But he decided he wanted to play every day and decided Newcastle’s 1 year deal was better than Arsenal’s 1 year deal.
If reports from training are correct Squillacci is a hard ass and a strong player. What we know of Koscielny is that for someone of his age he does very well at learning on the fly and correcting problems so they do not happen again. Yes, he needs to spend time in the weight room so he doesn’t get out muscled like he did against Fulham. But his positional and situational awareness are very good and like Vermaelen he is rarely caught out of position. His completed pass rate is 86% second on the team to Vermaelen who has a 100% completed pass rate. I think our CB will obviously be anchored by TV5 with Koosh and Seba rotating based on the game. Seba if he is the hard man we’ve been led to believe will likely see action against players like Drogba, Rooney and Tevez.
So we’re done. We’ll each believe what we want to believe. I personally don’t buy into the conspiracy theory that this was all done so that we could cement a top 4 place. I’m sorry there is noone in professional sports – globally – that comes out and says, “Hey this season, I want to finish 3rd.” It just doesn’t happen. Criticize Arsene for being too dependent on a youth policy. Fair point to rail about waiting until the close of the window to do business. Be critical of his team selections. But to say he doesn’t want to win is ridiculous and is an easy way out.
So I will ask you the question that Tim from 7amkickoff and I spent an hour on the phone discussing – given what you think of our frailties – realistically what could the team have done?
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Hello Kiwi,
Heard the devastating news of earthquake that hit NZ. I hope you and your family/friends are not affected. Praying the city and the people will recover quickly.
Thanks man, that’s kind of you and much appreciated. We don’t live in Christchurch the city badly affected (although we know folk who do). When you see the devastation it’s something of a miracle that no one was killed.
ditto!
Friggin hell it took a while to get through that. Some people really do post too much.
England are crap because of crap grassroots coaching.
Arsenal now seem to be the only club consistently bringing through young English talent, and furthermore have them playing in the right way. Wenger is responsible for that, and this legacy will leave him appreciated for a long time to come.
France lose 0-1 at home to Belarus with Sagna, Clichy and Diaby starting.
The nightmare continues for France…
The other “WTF” of the day goes to Portugal: 4-4 at home to Cyprus? Cyprus! As I said, WTF?
Clichy made an initial blunder then got absolutely MAULED for the goal.
Throughout the game he was being caught out of position in no mans’s land ball watching. The French commentators seemed shocked Clichy was playing like that :-D
They obviously dont watch Arsenal games.
That’s why I call him “Calamity” Clichey.
He had one great year and since then he has demonstrated the nous of a football moron. I remember him defending a corner last season and leaving the left post to remonstrate with a teammate on the right post. Corner kick was taken and when the ball was lodged firmly into the net in the space he had vacated, he was still talking to his teammate.
I sincerely think he needs to see Dr. Phil for some advice.
I think he is far worse of a defender than Eboue when he got replaced by Sagna.
The problem is that the team is riddled with holes elsewhere such that the Left Back position is the least of our problems right now.
Maybe Clichy will be sold off. Keeping him here too much longer might kill of Gibbs you know.
I was hoping Mourinho would offer us M. Diarra plus 12 M for Calamity, solving both our DM and LB problems … but that was always a pipe dream.
Wenger would rather die than sell off this Frenchman.
Internationals going and a North London player is down at Wembley! (Michael Dawson & it looks serious….Gallas signing for Spurs looking wiser and wiser by old ‘Arry….) And now Defoe gets a 2nd! (I thought he was having groin surgery?!? Maybe Bendtner should talk to the Spurs physio….)
Everybody touch their wood, or whatever it is that you’re supposed to do, that our boys return safely….(or not, if Arsenal failure, as predicted, is more your bag….)
And Joe Hart is looking strong, sparing the blushes (as they say) of Glen Johnson in the first half and now Gary Cahill on his debut. Shay Given’s backside (and his money counting hands) should get strong workouts up at City…
just realized from vibe’s comment that CG – you are a mid-westy
and from Chicago !!
I am in Cedar Falls for a month from India, and am planning to come to Chicago sometime this or next weekend.
how about planning for any possiblity of fighting off Bolton together next weekend?
is there any Arsenal or pub or something there?
F*ck! What poor timing… I’m going to be out of town for the weekend. Visiting some friends down in Champaign and tailgating for the Illini’s home opener. If I hadn’t already bought my train ticket, I’d leave after I watch the Arsenal game since the Illini have a night game… but I’m afraid I’m bound to leave on friday night.
As for pubs to watch football at, the city has plenty. The best is probably The Globe on Irving Park Rd. in Lakeview. (The Lakeview neighborhood is nowadays more popularly known as “Wrigleyville” thanks to an obnoxious and relentless Budweiser ad campaign.)
There’s always lots of football fans there and I think it’s where the AA people meet, so you wouldn’t be short of Gooners.
Football is their thing at this place. They even offer a shuttle bus to Bridgeview for all Fire home games so you can get hammered at the pub if you so please and let someone else worry about getting you to the stadium. I’m told it’s quite fun.
http://www.theglobepub.com
Note, am not really a big English fan … am an American with far greater sympathy for the Netherlands I always root for England’s defeat in international tournaments … and I hate England’s weather, “food”, women and yob culture!
However the idea that the English league will be some desolate place unable to compete with the rest of Europe is nonsensical. The reason English clubs were weak in the early 90s was because of the blanket European ban on English clubs from 1985 to the early 90s due to hooliganism.
In the decade before 1985, English clubs won SEVEN of the European Cups (predecessor of the Champions League) and came runners up twice. English clubs also dominated the UEFA cup and the Cup Winners Cup.
Its not like English clubs need the likes of Denilson, Almunia, Fabianski, Diaby, Eboue, etc or they will be useless!
“and I hate England’s weather, “food”, WOMEN and yob culture!”
I knew it–he hates ALL pussies…(or is it just English ones?) I’m confused… ;-)
Interesting that you bring up the hooliganism that hurt English club football (not to mention yob culture). This sort of thing (that we don’t really see on television when we watch matches), which I would call a macho toughness, bordering on the criminal (see, for example, assaults on Ramsey and Eduardo defended by the pundits) comes through loud and clear AS A POSITIVE in the English press. The corallary idea is that England fails to value the more technical or “softer” elements of the game and will (hopefully?) always be the last bastion of “real football,” where men are men and don’t grab their face when their foot is stepped upon, etc., etc. Personally, I think that Arsenal’s approach will continue to reap benefits as the refereeing improves (it can’t get worse) and the more brutish elements continue to find less effectiveness at the highest levels.
To the extent that Wenger has nurtured or brought in players like Bergkamp, Henry and Fabregas, he has helped the English game. Sure, a young “useless” type like say Denilson or Diaby might be less “expensive” (valued by other English clubs?) than a Wilshere or a Walcott and we all know that AW and the board are cheapskates, but I still think that these guys (who maybe are finally adjusting to playing in England) might finally get their due and contribute beyond your low expectations.
But, as always, that’s just me…
If you have ever come across German or Dutch women, you will shake your head twice when you see the wanna-be WAGs that the British tabloids try to pass as “hot”. :-D
I think we all need to take a chill pill here…
Eff you, Mid-Westy!!!
Midwest and proud! Third Coast for life!
DAG,
I am American NOT English! So Xenophobia does not get into it! The GAUL of you to call me xenophobic!!! A dispersed talent pool across Europe will be very good for the game. The English league will still get top talent because they have the money. Its that they will be having top 15 foreigners instead of top 25! That will leave the other 10 for the likes of Benfica, Ajax, PSV, Porto, Monaco, Dortmund, Anderlect! Egalitarian!
On the other hand, Arsenal will have to dismiss the SHIT foreign players like Almunia and company … while retaining the cream of the crop.
As you can see it is YOUR glenn beck rant of xenophobia that is idiotic.
You give the example of England, but is that not analogous to the choking Spain ALWAYS had before 2008 ???? What eventually cured Spain’s problem? A club’s youth academy!
Rebut THAT!
I wrote one of my longer pieces this morning but failed to post it nor save it…and, boom, it disappeared….Oh well, it was mostly about my perspective as a noob-tard and how I can’t quite believe that the Club game takes a backseat to the (IMO woeful) International one….And how I object to the use of the term “French Pussies,” a generalization that offends as it applies to people who are French and/or have pussies…i.e., women. Like I say, oh well….
I definitely agree with CG above about an open league being the best for the country that hosts it…For a while there, it looked like England was gonna be leading the way to the top of the Club game, (credit to AW and Arsenal and Roman Abramovich and Chelsea should be given) and it still looks promising, what with the money flowing into the blue side of Manchester, and the openness of the league generally (see below).
And further on the xenophobic front…I find it intriguing that no one seems to be questioning the use of young Jack (Up-Skirt?) Wilshere in this early season, as (for me at least) it seems he might be as responsible as anyone for us dropping points (whiffed touch at Anfield that led to their goal) or failing to put matches away (that was a SITTER at Blackburn). I like Jack A LOT, but, if you look past the pasty skin-tone and silly sideburns (and a nice sliding tackle or two), his play reminds me a bit of another skilled and showy (but young and slight) fellow who somehow got to play a bunch of DM over the last few years (Denilson). Perhaps he escapes criticism because he’s English?…..Just saying…
Nipuna asks us to lay it on the line with our predictions for the season, no ifs, ands or buts….Top three I say with chances for better. No team is a lock (or has done enough to GUARANTEE the two big trophies–which must piss their fans off mightily….) and the vagaries (injuries/draws in the cups) always plays a huge role in determining final results. The odds that things will fall into place for us seem much longer than for Chelsea (who if they can keep reasonably healthy look BY FAR the strongest English team) and quite a bit longer than for United. The battle for 4th (City will get it) will hopefully be entertaining. And I’m pleased that some of the middle tier teams are going out on their various limbs to challenge for Europa league spots. All told it should be a fun year in the league with no match to be taken lightly (i.e., Spurs-Wigan, bwahaha…)
HT, I don’t think the club necessarily takes a back seat to the international one.
In terms of sheer number of fans, then yes, the club game might be second. The big int’l tournaments (WC, Euro) are going to be watched by all hard-core club fans (b/c they love football) in addition to millions who only pay attention to football every 2-4 years. The casual football fan is more likely to tune into the big int’l tournaments b/c they’re easier to follow.
But if you look at the people who fanatically follow both, I think most people will be more passionate about their club than their NT. I put way more time into following Arsenal than the USA. And I’m sure even fans of big NT’s like Brazil, Germany, Italy, and England (yes, they are big in terms of support) still put way more effort and intensity into their club support. So in terms of passion and intensity, I still think the club game takes the cake.
WARNING: Take this news with a grain of salt. It is being reported that Nasri could be back sooner than expected, i.e. in time for the Bolton game after the int’l break.
http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_6354694,00.html
As for the argument that foreigners reduce the talent pool for the England NT to chose from b/c they take away spots from young English players… I completely disagree. In theory the presence of top-class foreign players in any league should help that league’s national team. Here’s why:
The best English players will have major, central roles at the biggest clubs no matter what. A bigger country like England will invariably produce players good enough to play at the world’s top clubs. Now, the rest of the league could either be made up of other Englishmen that the Englishmen on the national team are far far better than… or it could be made up of top-class foreign players who are only displacing the not-so-good English players.
The result is that your better English players, your internationals, will get to play against other internationals every single week. Game in, game out, 38 times a year. They will have more experience against top-class opposition than if they played Englishmen worse than themselves 38 times a year and were only exposed to top foreign players a few times a year while on international duty.
There is however a tipping point. When it does become too much.
And lets face it, not all talent coming in is “top class” … eg. Denilson, Almunia to name just a few.
The homegrown rule which has been used in the Champions League for TWO years now, does not actually discriminate against nationality but it does force clubs to think about their squads and retain only the “top class” talent!
I still the think the net effect of having so many foreigners in the league is (or at least, should be) a positive one for the England team and the players in it.
Your examples of Denilson and Almunia are wrong, too. If we are talking about them displacing English players, then you have to compare them to English players that aren’t already in the PL. (B/c if they’re in the PL then they haven’t been displaced by foreigners). So if Denilson and Almunia were to have their spots taken by English players, those players would come from the Championship… and Champo players are not better than Denilson and Almunia. Maybe as good, but not better than.
England has no one to blame but themselves for their team’s never-ending string of shitty performances.
Denilson and Almunia would be replaced by players from a revamped youth academy – domestic or foreign.
England has no one to blame but themselves, just as Spain had no one to blame before 2008 but themselves too. Spain’s record was even more pathetic.
The FA cant bring through players because the clubs OWN the players.
As for this season, I’m very optimistic. New dynamics are evolving. The new acquisitions seem to fill the losses of Gallas and Campbell comfortably, plus Chamakh is exceeding my expectations.
Theo is healthy and seems full of confidence, starting matches regularly, but more importantly: NOT GETTING LOST IN THE MATCH. His presence is disrupting every defense and THIS ALONE will provide our
attack more options for his teammates to exploit.
Although many want to criticize Diaby, for me he is just a slow developer.
Since his days out on the wing, to last season, the WC, and so far this season…….he is making a big transformation in acceptance of his role and himself. Just review the first 3 matches, he is showing more physical presence for 50/50 balls (ground and air) and defensive presence in the PA.
Hell, he’s only 24.
Diaby and Theo are Arsenals wild cards and the more influence they have in matches, the greater the impact for Arsenal success.
I have never been a fan of Almunia, but he is not the issue for our lack of silverware. For the past 4-5 years, it has always been a depth issue (lack of experience) at Arsenal. The club is being taken through a transition by our manager’s vision. With all his faults, there is no doubt in my mind this manager is 2-3 steps ahead of everyone else.
You don’t have to agree.
And DAG- thanks for being MORE outspoken in your recent remarks. YOU ARE SPOT ON.
@ Kiwi,
10-15 years, why has the English talent pool diminished for the league?
I’m stating that the FA should reexamine the training / coaching of its youth programs. Skill and tactical IQ start with the right influence at an early age and its obvious that English players are struggling to compete on the world stage and make rosters in the Premier League.
Setting cultural limits seems xenophobic. Arsenal are a club with a purpose to make money, at least break even. If you have a company developing memory chips for the technology industry and you need the best engineers to keep you competitive, are you going to be mandated by your state or country that so many employees have to come from your city, state, or country?
Football is an entertainment business. Poor product will not guarantee you make profits.
re: those players you list with the current roster – lacking English grit
I agree that too many of our players are finesse (especially after flamini and hleb left) but I believe in a quiet way our manager is addressing that.
Vermaelen, Koscielny, Squillaci, Sagna, Clichy, Song, Frimpong, Chamakh, Wilshere, Ramsey – seem to have the right fighting spirit that was so obvious with the Arsenal teams of 10 years ago.
For a team to maximize the chemistry you must have a combination: Physically combatitive players and skillful creators. With the Arsenal team of 10 years ago, you had Bergkamp, Vieira, and Henry that had both
physical size, skill, and IQ. I BELIEVE THIS THREESOME WAS AN ANOMALY FOR THE SPORT – maybe Barca had this when they had Henry, Eto’o, Messi……..but it is rare you find LARGE / PHYSICAL players that also have speed and skill.
The CLUBS train the players!
Sure some school kids play a bit before 10 and the FA could influence that … but Fabregas started playing really at age 10 when he joined Barca’s youth academy. Same with Johann Cruijf and the vast majority of players.
In comparison, Wilshere joined Arsenal at age 9.
My point, the football clubs DETERMINE a player’s education.
“Arsenal are a club with a purpose to make money …”
Oh dear!!! Here we thought a club was a cultural institution bent on winning football titles! :-D
Most kids play b4 10 years of age. So I see no point from your references for Cesc and Jack.
Youth coaches have a strong influence b4 any youth academy. There are still more kids that don’t develop early, but its obvious that the foundation for teaching skills, simple tactics, and a style of play are antiquated in the UK.
So my point about Arsenal making money…….why should any associations dictate cultural limits, that in our manager views as a limitation of talent?
I dont know about England, but most kids in the Dutch and German system dont play in any sort of organized way till they reach 10 or 11.
Whatever happens before then is a bit irrelevant as they start learning their trade at that juncture.
To answer your question. Because our dear manager, a god to you and deluded ego-maniac to me is wrong :-D
Lastly, the “home-grown” rule does not mention nationality. Nothing stops a club from having a team and academy filled with only foreigners.
This is another point brought out above that makes this FA rule even more
farcical.
…. making lengthy attempts taken by Wenger and his AKB minions to deride the rule seem … silly.
Let the FA worry about their domain and let Wenger worry about challenging for the title.
DAG,
Now that the transfer window is closed and the inter-lull is on, I was hoping you would do an article on predictions for the season.
I would really like to know what people on this site think Arsenal will end up this season.
Not the usual “Arsenal will challenge if RvP is fit, Sicky is fit, Theo can improve, etc..” Just a simple prediction of where we will end up.
If a fan truly believes in the squad, then they will always predict #1. Doesn’t mean it will happen but the fans believe that the squad is good enough so it will end up as #1.
I want to know how many of this site believe that Arsenal will be #1 come next May (without any IFs and BUTs).
I hope you can make an article like that.
Of course, I will put my own prediction too. :)
interesting news clip
Arsene Wenger will be grilled by supporters for the first time since the infamous occasion that almost forced him to quit the club.
Wenger has agreed to a question and answer session with Arsenal shareholders on September 16 at Emirates Stadium.
Fans are becoming restless and will demand to know why the Frenchman did not buy a goalkeeper, despite a summer-long pursuit of Mark Schwarzer, and used only a quarter of a potential £45 million transfer pot during the window.
Wenger postponed his traditional Q&A session with fans last season, which had been due to be held in May, amid fears of a backlash following a fifth consecutive trophyless campaign.
The Frenchman’s last session with fans in May of last year turned ugly when shareholders questioned his ability to lead the team with the most critical attacks on his management since he joined the club in 1996.
Shocked Wenger branded some of the questions “disgraceful” and then refused to deny he had held talks with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.
Angry shareholders had criticised Wenger for not winning any trophies, the team’s suspect defending, for signing “geriatric” Mikael Silvestre, dropping record signing Andrey Arshavin from Arsenal’s FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea and his failure to replace five international midfielders — Gilberto Silva, Mathieu Flamini, Aliaksandr Hleb, Lassana Diarra and Tomas Rosicky, who spent the entire season on the sidelines.
Wenger was so frustrated with the reaction that this year’s forum was rescheduled for the start of this season in the hope that supporters will be in a more positive frame of mind in the early weeks of the campaign.
I read that only pre-set questions will be allowed.
Nothing impromptu or spontaneous.
The GAUL of fans to dare question Wenger.
“Hi Arsene, when did you first realise you were a genius?”
Arsene: Well, it was shortly after I got Nancy relegated and and I was let go.
I was like … these people don’t deserve me … f%ck this shit, I am a genius!
Hey, are we using GAUL here as an awesome pun, or is that just a coincidence? I really hope it’s the former!
Signed,
Hopeful
LOL, if you read the lengthy comments above, DAG used it to describe the “sheer effrontery” of an Arsenal fan to challenge Lord Wenger.
He spelt it “gaul” which I assume as a typo for “gall”.
I did read the original, and took it as a typo, as well. But given the whole ‘xenophobic’ discussion, even unintentional wordplay genius seemed worthy of applause.
Okay ladies and gentlemen, all you bad frenchies, spainairds, dutch, mexicans, brazillians, africans, asians, argies, and even you americans out of the EPL – you are so bad for the league.
The league sucks now that you are here. You have ruined the EPL. You hear that you have ruined it.
Fred your xenophobic argument is about the most idiotic I’ve ever heard. The EPL is lauded as the best league in the world. Why? Because of the influx of foreign players. Noone was calling the league the greatest in the world before that.
So young English talent aren’t coming up through the clubs youth academies? That explains maybe the last 10 years of shit English football, what explains the other 30+ years? England have never developed world class talent. And no, I don’t think Rooney is World Class, nor is Gerrard or Lampard or Terry. They do good for club but the freakin choke for country. England just don’t produce talented players that can act as one cohesive unit. Rooney et al look good on the club level because of the talent they are surrounded with – which oh my gosh is foreign.
Fred get off it. It is lame and it is tired.
With Arsenal being an English club in the English league a little respect for the country wouldn’t go amiss.
DAG,
I am American NOT English! So Xenophobia does not get into it! The GAUL of you to call me xenophobic!!!
A dispersed talent pool across Europe will be very good for the game. The English league will still get top talent because they have the money. Its that they will be having top 15 foreigners instead of top 25!
That will leave the other 10 for the likes of Benfica, Ajax, PSV, Porto, Monaco, Dortmund, Anderlect!
Egalitarian!
On the other hand, Arsenal will have to dismiss the SHIT foreign players like Almunia and company … while retaining the cream of the crop.
As you can see it is YOUR glenn beck rant of xenophobia that is idiotic.
You give the example of England, but is that not analogous to the choking Spain ALWAYS had before 2008 ????
What eventually cured Spain’s problem? A club’s youth academy!
Rebut THAT!
I think the points have been made. Those who know Arsenal before the Wenger era will be able to assess the validity.
I’m reminded of the disclaimer used by funds managers “Past Performance Is Not an Indication of Future Results”. You mention Barcelona but not Nottingham Forest. Clough won two European Cups in 1979 and 1980 and then believed in his own success. He led Forest to relegation in 1993.
There’s no certainty (or evidence?) that Arsenal will re-awaken under Wenger. If they do fantastic – we’ll all be thrilled/relieved. Yet his decision-making is increasingly irrational and seems more toward making his point than seeking success.
While I respect the fact that you feel that this club may not be able to succeed under AW I just don’t think the grass will be greener with anyone else in charge. I also think the club could do a heck of a lot worse so for me AW can rule for as long as he wants!
The fund manger analogy is right on. Do athletes not go past their prime? Actors? Corporations? Countries?
Are they all victims (poor things) of their success? Sometimes, one is just passed it. Not as good. Not as lucky. Not as apt to be successful. Sometimes this takes a while to accept.
The argument that the club may not be any better under Wenger is lame and lazy. Arsenal is over 100 years old. Far bigger than any one owner, player, manger, etc. Arsenal NOW under Wenger is not as good as Arsenal THEN under Wenger. It’s as if we’ve got a new Manager as it is.
Sounds like some of you support Wenger more than you do the club. That’s not spoiled, it’s closer to Stockholm Syndrome.
“What has happened to the English talent pool in past 10-15 years?”
__________________________________
Arsesession, let me start by saying that I’m not pro-English. So I think I speak with a reasonable level of independence as far as that goes.
;-)
The English league has always been exciting and well supported even before the infusion of foreigners. That said the infusion of foreign players has made the English league exciting in a different exotic way. So that’s good. What’s not so good (for England) is the reality that it takes away places for English players to develop. Many foreign supporters of English clubs may say who cares? Well truth is the English FA cares and so will many English fans. This is the English league and these are English clubs. It’s about balance – allowing your country’s talent to develop whilst maintaining the benefits that having foreign player’s brings. I haven’t pondered too deeply on your specific question but my gut reaction is that the pool of top draw English talent has declined over the last 15 years – and this during a period when the EPL has grown in stature. That’s the rub. And the questions about balance will continue.
More specifically on Arsene, Arsenal and Englishmen (or Brit’s). I do wonder if we lost a critical ingredient of our success when we lost the legacy of Seaman, Adams, Bould, Keown, Campbell, Winterburn, Dixon, Cole and Parlour. Wenger has never replaced the qualities of drive, determination and discipline that those guys had in spades. It was the sheer determination to win (like the European final against Parma) no matter what. Contrast that to the current troupe sauntering around the field until 3 minutes before time and then seemingly having an epiphany realising that they haven’t won the game. It’s just not there, the drive isn’t there. You can try and smoke it with references to superior technical quality but that doesn’t compensate for that absolute determination. It’s also no surprise that the well drilled Arsenal defence was the bedrock of Wenger’s success – would he have won anything without the foundation of Seaman, Adams, Bould, Keown, Winterburn, Dixon and Parlour. I really doubt it. In the past I wasn’t sure, but now I’m becoming convinced that he is a manager that excels in adding flavour and garnish to an existing recipe. He can’t create a completely new recipe – it doesn’t work. He has to have the starting point.
Its very interesting that the players you mantion all credit Arsene with changing their playing styles, extending their careers and in essence bringing out the best in them thus allowing them to be effective and lead the club to winning late in their career.
Sorry they may have been hold overs from another coach – but it was Arsene what got the best out of them.
Those player had actually won leagues, league cups and cup winners cups BEFORE Wenger came.
Sure he taught them fitness routines that were already widespread in Europe and because of increased fitness they could play longer. But Wenger never taught them how to defend!
Wenger has completely uprooted the team and flooded it with foreign mercenaries who have some loyalty to Wenger and none to Arsenal as epitomized by the best player in the team and captain wanting to leave desperately.
The club should retained its core of Brits over the years rather than turning into a mercenary French team that does NOT win.
Mike, on Wenger and England. I don’t think my point of issue was whether Wenger supported England’s WC bid or let the national team train at our facilities (which surely is a commercial arrangement for which we are paid). Rather, it was about the total absence of a serious English/British international from our ranks since Sol Campbell departed (for the first time). That’s it, nothing more, an observation that there is a perfect correlation (not necessarily causal) between no Brit’s and no success.
It’s true that British players (particularly English) are expensive relative to players from many (lesser) footballing countries. However the flip side to that is that English/British players don’t pine for Barcelona – they have English/British DNA and many would be happy to play out their careers at Arsenal. That is a significant benefit to be factored in to the fiscal equation. Take Rooney – you may have to pay a lot for him but he will likely happily serve Manchester United until the end of his days. They win.
And frankly I think you are way off beam in suggesting that the English FA don’t have a responsibility to the English game – they do. Every FA looks after both their competitions and their national team – that’s how it works.
My point wasn’t about WC bids, it was about the English game and whether or not Wenger was supportive of it. He has been an ardent supporter of the English game.
The English players don’t pine for Barcelona, because with exception of a few players, none would make Barcleona.
I didn’t say the FA don’t have a responsibility to the English game – I said I think its ludicris to expect the clubs to make up for the failings of the national orgnization in terms of devleoping people
Ardent supporter of the English game? In what way? And please dont mention words he has spoken! We all know those are nonsensical.
How is it ludicrous to make clubs spend more money on their academies??
Spain are doing well for ONE reason alone – Barca’s academy. So in fact the FA’s idea is the FASTEST possible way of improving England’s fortunes. The clubs own the players and train them.
The Spanish FA didnt train Barca’s kids.
The FA’s idea is a SOLID idea that they have every right of making. And you would see that if you didnt swallow Wenger’s logic, hook, line and sinker.
Some fans only started following Arsenal during Wenger’s reign and perhaps naturally have acquired a very inaccurate view of our history. History for them starts when they started following or when Wenger became manager.
That’s quite wrong. Arsenal FC’s success in modern times did not start with Arsene Wenger. In fact, the longer this period of ‘no success’ carries on the more one has to pay tribute to the foundation laid by George Graham. The renaissance of Arsenal FC began in 1987 when George Graham’s young hungry English team won the League Cup and then followed that up with the most classic and heralded of title triumphs in 1989. On both occasions they disposed of the uber club of the day the great Liverpool side – every bit as great and dominant as Ferguson’s Manchester United. So there you go. For some of us we have a broader view of Arsenal’s history and the relative importance of men like Graham, Dein and Wenger.
Sorry for my rant – I value everyone’s opinion. I just think Arsene is a victim of his own success and we were spoilt by it.
I also still can’t believe the little crap we decide to rail him on. Just me.
Carry on Fred, et al.
You’re apologizing for ranting on a blog? (A blog that’s yours, no less?)
Last time I checked, there was scarcely a difference between blogging and ranting. They were made for each other.
Oh for crying out loud.
What freaking manager hasn’t complained about the new FA rules? They all have in some way. Why because the clubs are bearing the brunt of the FAs failure to have its own developmental system. The clubs, for profit organizations are being asked to submit to rules that are intended to help the national organization.
You know what I say to that – bullshit. If the FA can’t get off its own bony arse and develop its youth so that they were talented enough to play in the EPL and beyond then there would be no issue. But because it continues to fail to do so or understand how to do so – it is doing the next best thing – it is forcing its member clubs to do it for them.
So what if Wenger 5 years ago didn’t want technology – he does now. Isn’t an individual allowed to change his mind.
So what if he feels the domestic transfer window should close at the start of the season. Or so what if he felt the development of transfer window was stupid to begin with. His interest is the club – if he feels the rules go against his club then he bloody well should saying something. Doesn’t mean its going to get anything changed.
For fuck sake the gaul of some fans – Wenger doesn’t do what they want – which is basically run the club the way he wants – then they look for any little fucking thing to complain about. Are you kidding me about the shit your complaining about now?
Seriously, complain about his inability to land a GK, or his penchant for waiting to the last fucking moment to try and sign someone complain about his focus on youth. But about his being vocal about rule changes – thats just childish and stupid and shows your lack of a true argument on anything substantial.
Look Wenger isn’t perfect. Neither is any other manager. Or any other team for that matter. And as a fan you have every right to complain about the lack of trophies, etc. But seriously the crap people are complaining about now is just stupid.
I don’t follow the kool aid brigade or the doom and gloom brigade. There are things about the way the club is run on and off the pitch that I like and there are things I don’t. I try and make sound rational comments based on that. I just can’t believe the silliness I am seeing from so-called Arsenal fans because of the transfer window.
Look I think you need to know this – the club hired Wenger to run the club. They let him run the club the way he wants to. If he believes the best path to ultimate success for the club is building via youth and a sustainable financial model – and the club is happy with it och well, I may not like some of the growing pains from it but I will stick with the club regardless.
It’s funny that noone remembers it took about 5 years for Barca to redevelop themselves into the club they have been the last two years. The likes of Messi and crew were devleoping and they didn’t mesh immediately. Granted its easier for them or Real to capture something because the rest of the league sucks but they did it their way and it has paid off.
I’d also like to remind people about the farce of the list of players
30 of the 76 players on the list are English
Regardless of the FA rules we would’ve always been heavy on the U21 side because of the focus of our youth system – hell 5-8 of those U21 are 1st teamers and potential stars.
Oh and to say that Wenger is Pro-France and Anti-England I counter that with the fact no club manager has been as big a supporter to the the English bid for the World Cup as Arsene. His passioned letters in support of England are amazing.
Secondly, he and SIr Alex Ferguson and a few other managers have offered their assistance to Fabio Capello to help with the English National Team.
Finally, what manager has let the FA and the English national team use their training facilities?
Also you would never be able to pass a foreinger restriction (restricing numbers of foreigners on teams) in Europe. The EU worker laws would prevent that.
Oh, and if you looked at the Spanish league the propotion of Spanish nationals versus internationals sprinkled through the leagues is almost identical to England. I don’t see them having too much difficulty in devleoping players for their national team.
Wenger is very strongly Pro-France …. more than half of his over-21s are French, Fracophone and speak French as their first language.
Writing a “passioned” letter in support of England? LOL!
Offered assistance to Fabio Capello? To do what? What advise? Capello was winning champions leagues when Wenger was still a “baby” getting clubs relegated and all.
I am pretty sure Fabio can get England to fourth place at Euro 2012 all on his own!
The FA PAYS Arsenal to use their facility! Come on now, how naive can you be! Football clubs dont do charity ESPECIALLY Arsenal. That sweet FA money as well as the money from all those high profile internationals go straight into the black hole that is Wenger’s pocket.
Ofcourse you cant restrict EU, but the number of current “homegrown” players can be increased to 12 or 15 out of 25!
Either way, I detest Wenger (a full 180 degrees from 2007!) … he should stop the nonsense, WIN or compete strongly OR resign and go back to France where he can play with as many Frenchies as he wants.
Nice! Some meat to bite my teeth into!
Starting from paragraph one downwards …
I dont recall any manager throwing his toys out of the pram so much so that he even “registers” players that are on loan like Armand Traore.
How come he did not register 70 when UEFA instituted SIMILAR home-grown rule for the Champions League TWO years ago???
The fact that he could be wrong over technology and over Arsenal for the last five years means the AKB brigade should stop jumping on his every word as the “truth”.
I personally agree with the FA and with UEFA (for the CL) that the home-grown rule WILL help each country. Why? Because eventually only the BEST foreigner players will come in … and the likes of Randall and Wilshere would be saved from learning from the likes of Denilson and Diaby!!! That would be awesome for England!
Seriously. It will force clubs to spend more money on their youth academies because they will not want to lose out competitively. Thus helping England!
Gaul of some fans??? To complain about the manager on a blog is the essense of the blog.
My arguments are completely sound on each issue! Re-read them! Just because they shatter AKB sensibilities doesnt make them wrong ;-)
The GAUL (!!!) of an AKB to compare Barca’s tumultous early 2000s with the Arsenal of today. Barca changed managers EVERY season back then and spent well over 150 million in a chaotic nervous breakdown. What saved them was that in 2003 they failed to get David Beckham so “settled” for Ronaldinho, Eto’o and Davids!
How on earth is that analogous to Arsenal’s current condition? Only to an AKB ;-)
In every single one of those seasons, the Barca fans continually BOOed their players almost every game and waved white handkerchiefs at any opportunity! I bet you that fear of the fans helped in the long run.
But for Arsenal, Lord Wenger in collaboration with the board and faithful AKB minions want to stifle all protests! All is well!
Last May, Wenger said fourth is like winning … yet you have the GAUL to be shouting down protesters! I love that word … gaul!
30 out of the 76 are English! That is an utterly pathetic statistic to throw out when you and I know that ONLY Walcott, Wilshere and Gibbs are ever gonna see league action. That stat only proves that barely half of our youth academy is English.
The REAL statistic we need to know is that 11 out of the 20 over-21s are French/ Francophone!!
AMEN DAG! quit the whining and belly-aching.
I applaud the authorities for looking at the context that has evolved in England – with the mass of foreign players, the ridiculous and ever spiraling remuneration levels and the culture of financial mis-management – and for starting to do something. You might not like their first cut but ask yourself whether you’d like any better the impact of alternative measures. A salary cap perhaps? A foreign player quota perhaps? These measures would cut much more deeply and immediately into Arsenal.
Since arriving in England Wenger has foreignised the squad and has never changed from that stance. Perhaps the recent emergence of Wilshere and Gibbs may indicate a new period where the Arsenal squad has more than a token Englishman, or perhaps not, will Gibbs unseat the French Clichy? But it is what it is, history doesn’t lie. Wenger has Frenchied Arsenal. Even this off-season we’ve restocked with 3 more ‘Frenchmen’ to add to the quartet of Nasri, Diaby, Clichy and Sagna. Those 7 plus the French speaking Africans give the dressing room an unmistakable Frenchness. You’d have to be rather blinkered to think that such a strategy would meet with wide approval other than with AKB Arsenal supporters. Indeed the broader Arsenal support base didn’t care much as long as we won, now, maybe they’re not so sure.
So, hardly surprising that Wenger pushes back against anything that hints of England trying to ensure a degree of Englishness about its clubs.
Interesting that when we won things we had genuine international class English players; Seaman, Adams, Bould, Keown, Campbell, Winterburn, Dixon, Cole and a good clubman in Parlour. Since they’ve gone we’ve won sweet fa and even when we come close we demonstrate a lack of ‘ticker’ to get the job done. Is it a coincidence that as the squad has become less English, more French dominated, and more foreign we’ve proved we can’t win? Now nationality is certainly not the only factor, we know only too well that the ‘quality’ of the individual players and the structure and balance of the team, and the playing strategy all interact to make you a winner or not. But it’s interesting to observe the correlation between our declining drive to win on the one hand and the removal of our quality English players on the other.
Conversely, both Chelsea and Manchester United who have happily filled the winning void we left have both maintained a Britishness in their 1st team squads.
Kiwi,
you address the issue (25/17/8) with your example……
What has happened to the English talent pool in past 10-15 years?
Maybe the reason why many of the Premier League teams field so many foreigners is that English talent is over valued and scarce. Technically and tactically limited?
Did England take the best players to the WC?
Does their performance indicate they are falling behind many countries in skill and tactics? I believe even a country, the size of NZ, could have given them 90 minutes of hell.
One of the problems in England starts with those coaches that work with the youth, and their background in the sport.
English players might be over valued but sometimes some pop up for cheap. Eg. Joe Cole for free.
Either way, I could care less if he didnt buy any English player if he wasnt an egotistical maniac that looks down on Arsenal fans that demand success.
The big irony for all is the Champions League has been using the home-grown rule for TWO years now …. since 2008.
yet Wenger is complaining like a bitch in 2010.
Why doesnt he list 76 players for his champions league squad too? Or is he scared of pissing off the French guys at UEFA??
Childish twat!
Kiwi mentioned “Seaman, Adams, Bould, Keown, Campbell, Winterburn, Dixon, Cole and a good clubman in Parlour”, but since I did not see many of these play regularly, I can’t compare to Joe Cole.
I think our manager when asked about controversial issues, is not bashful about expressing unedited thoughts.
Complaining like a b*tch.
Yes, seems to be contagious.
Sure does!
It is NOT hilarious naming 76, it is just plain childish.
Wenger is against every single new rule the FA or FIFA makes. He was against the transfer windows and over five years ago he was against technology assisting referees in the game! How is that for our “innovative” manager!
The guy who railed against the transfer window now wishes it “closes” before the season starts!
He claims he never looks at passports …. YET if you have a French passport he is gonna slobber all over you … hypocrite!
Carry on, AKBs, carry on!
PS: Adding 76 names isnt more difficult for the FA than adding 20. You just copy the names from the email the club sends you and paste it onto your Excel spreadsheet or something analogous.
Childish Wenger thinks everything in the world must run on his ideas and his alone.
It is this childishness and whining like a bitch over very small things that makes people not take him seriously when he is chewing the ears of the fourth referee or when he has a legit case.
Exactly.
Captain Smirk trying to be clever as usual.
And on the transfer window, if he’s so pissed off at the window still being open, why the fu*k did he not sign players before it, and create his own one?
Fred,
Stop and think about the groups you are extolling. The FA and FIFA – ha ha ha.
This rule that the FA implemented doesn’t address the issue – that’s the joke. Not enough good English players moving up the ranks……try addressing the youth coaches in the country who have a pre- 70’s mentality of teaching the game.
FIFA – stamped their IQ, with their decision about goal line technology and having those
Belgium (maybe another country) women in the stands arrested at World Cup – because they wore a beer competitors brand, a company that was not an official sponsor. Black mailing host WC countries and sending them into debt they will not likely recover from for decades. ex. South Africa
childish…..when you deal with adults who make childish decisions you keep things simple for them.
We don’t root for the FA or FIFA. Some of us would rather AW used this time to to make a point of strengthening the club we follow, rather than petty political points with anonymous organizations.
Seriously, it shows how little we have to be excited about football-wise that two fingers to the FA is being treated like some sort of victory.
It’s not being treated like a victory. It’s being treated like people found it funny. Big difference.
It is funny. In a petty, meaningless way. That I would find funnier if Wenger had brought in players that would have made the team stronger, rather than just compile a joke roster to tweak FA/FIFA.
Certainly, not root.
I don’t think you can describe these two groups as anonymous? Every decision they hand down, Arsenal are affected / strengthening or weakening. So as manager, you have a responsibility (to fans, players, board) to evaluate these decisions and if required present a conflicting view that mirrors support from your board.
Anonymous as compared to the club we follow.
It’s a meaningless gesture, that changes nothing.
While bringing in one or two more players that would actually see playing time might have been huge for us.
In that context, I find the joke less cute than some of you (though I do get it).
I am not extolling the FA or FIFA. The fact remains though that they are the decision making bodies of the game! The FA has been around for well over one hundred years, and FIFA close to that. They decide.
Wenger’s ideas are NOT any “wiser” than that of the football world. Wenger opposed technology in football just five years ago!
As for whether the rule will help, it is NOT the concern of Arsenal to make the rules for England. Wenger is a STRONGLY pro-France guy, so why on earth should his views about the England game matter???
Do you guys realize that in Spain and in many other leagues, there is already the restriction of no more than 3 non-EU players per team.
Even if he does not agree with the rule, he can still circumvent it by adding guys like Denilson, Bendtner, Clichy, etc as homegrown … so why is he still bitching??
Must EVERYBODY obey what Lord Wenger says???
Carry on AKBs, carry on!
re: transfer window – it makes sense what our manager suggests
Any manager would prefer it closed b4 the start of the season. Look at the situations you have now. Schwarzer was not played the initial few matches, thinking a deal would be done and to avoid an injury that might hamper the transfer price or the deal completely; then you have Squillaci who dictated to his club not to play him – same reasons.
ditto with Marsherano (except he played against us the 1st game);
If the transfer window were closed August 14th, the same number of transactions would transpire as the August 31st deadline.
With transfer window closed b4 season opener. Manager can focus on preparing the team, not with their attention diverted in another direction.
Now the managers and players start the season unsettled, distracted with anxiety about trades or being traded.
This is all common sense stuff.
Preferring the window closes before the window closes before the season starts is a LONG way from his bitching like at the beginning of the decade when the window was created. Before, there was no transfer window at all and you could buy any player up till the end of March!!!
Wenger made an almighty fuss about things then … like it was the end of the world!
Now he wants to restrict the window even further!
You do realize that the window is for Europe not for England right??? You do realize most leagues start at the end of Aug/ beginning of September right?
Is Wenger that utterly idiotic to not realize that the window is a UEFA policy and hence must be convenient for ALL European leagues???
Wenger thinks the world must revolve around his own “special” ideas!
Is our manager always right. NO!
However on the transfer window – regardless of history, I can see the transfer closing window a distraction for manager and some players, as long as its past the start of the season.
Again, lets not give UEFA, FIFA, of FA too much credit for what’s right in the game.
my point: 6 blind mice
Lets face it, if Denis Bergkamp were Arsenal manager and he proposed it, would you be
cutting off his legs?
Again, the window is a UEFA mandate and it has to account for ALL the leagues in Europe.
What dont you understand about that??
No other EPL or European manager is complaining only Wenger! Its either his way or the high way, we get it.
“Now the managers and players start the season unsettled, distracted with anxiety about trades or being traded.”
Yeah, managers and players on MILLIONS of pounds are so distracted and are popping anxiety pills! Horrible!
Weep for them!
If Wenger the Wanker does not like deadline day anxiety then maybe he should BUY before the season starts!
Have you AKBs thought about that yet?
“Yeah, managers and players on MILLIONS of pounds are so distracted and are popping anxiety pills! ”
I’ve read this complaint many times at this sight. Fans pointing there fingers at the Arsenal youngsters – overpaid.
We live in a world that is filled with inequities and inequalities. The entertainment industry is bombarded with endless lists of individuals who qualify.
Politicians, bankers, actors/actresses, lawyers, stock market types. All of these would be better examples of overpaid. Since their careers are limited by age and physical condition, footballers careers are at risk every practice and match.
Theo and the others are nothing more than an investment by the club. Can they play a style of football that will keep the clubs turnover exceeding expenses?
When they can’t, they will be transferred, or the contract will be allowed to expire.
As for our manager, the board gives him guidelines/goals to achieve. I imagine he is still with the club because they are satisfied with his performance.
You were the one who made the point that MILLIONAIRES are anxious because of the transfer deadline day NOW you are trying to obfuscate the entire argument with a tangential talk about bankers and actors! :-)
Again, we should weep for these millionaires because they have to face the “anxiety” of transfer deadline day??? You still havent answered that one.
It would also be nice to hear why the transfer deadline that affects over 50 countries should be moved to suit the whims of the AKB Lord and Master, Wenger.
“You were the one who made the point that MILLIONAIRES are anxious because of the transfer deadline day”.
I believe you have twisted my words or certainly my thoughts. I gave 3 examples of players Schwarzer, Squillaci, and Marsherano and their transfer situations or speculations about. I would hardly call 2 of these 3 extravagantly paid.
Certainly the overlap creates issues for managers and players.
PS: The season started for Liverpool in July before Wenger had even returned from his ridiculous trip to SA.
Shouldn’t the deadline thus be moved to before the UEFA cup qualifiers start in mid July???! Or must the deadline suit ONLY dictator Wenger.
Hilarious!
Maybe starting an UEFA cup qualifier in July is hilarious.
In the words of Sgt. Hulka, “lighten up Francis.”
Is it a childish response? Yes, but that’s kind of what makes it funny. The rule is fairly stupid and isn’t going to improve English football in any way.
That is not for Arsenal or Wenger to decide.
It must shock you to know that Wenger might be Lord and Master at Arsenal but he isnt outside the Arsenal organization.
He is not a sage and his version of the truth is not supreme!
He refined other people’s ideas and got the teams of 98-04 … since then he has been using his own unique ideas, and he has been a big FAT FAILURE! So why exactly should anybody take him extra seriously.
Ancelloti, Ferguson, Mancini, Redknapp, Moyes, Hodgson are not complaining. Only our French-nationalist dictator is. Go figure!
Let Wenger think about Arsenal and let the England FA think about their domain. If Wenger does not like it he can get the FUCK out of England.
Oh please. I don’t believe Wenger is the master of anything and I certainly don’t agree with everything he has done or think that he is right all the time – for instance his failure to strengthen the team on a yearly basis or his tactical naivety. But it was a passive-aggressive joke that I and evidently several others found funny in a petty meaningless way. There’S more to life than finding the bad in everything. Besides, it’s not like he is out campaigning for his cause. Someone asked him a question and he answered. Oh the horror of being honest!
LOL! I really cannot help but laughing out loud after reading this…. of that new EPL squad “what-is-it-for” regulation, Arsene Wenger submitted only 20 senior players out of the 25 quota, while supplementing the list with 56 under 21 players. Making our squad (who are qualified to play) a grand total of 76 players! Completely made a fool out of the English we-are-good-at-inventing-rubbish-new-rules FA in the process! Way to go Arsene!
It is kind of funny. As long as one doesn’t think too hard about the players still not on the roster, that we actually could have used.
I think that was exactly his point. He has been pretty outspoken about his dislike for the rule. Naming a 76 player squad is hilarious.
Absolutely hilarious.
Hi guys,
dnt normally post but i found Walcott’s interview
“It has gone very well so far for club and country,” said Walcott. “I had a very good pre-season, no injuries, I had a nice break over the summer and everything is going well so far.
“I stay behind to improve on things like the final ball, the end product, stuff like that. I practice crossing and finishing and penalties. I’m not the best at penalties. Vito Mannone goes in goal and I work with Bacary Sagna on the right, working on that combination and putting crosses in for the strikers.
“We get Marouane Chamakh in there, too, so he can get used to where the crosses are going to go. Hopefully it pays off in the games. If you get your body and your brain used to it, it happens.
“Sometimes I still like to come inside, and, hopefully, I’ll get on the scoresheet again this season. But as a winger you also want to get wide and provide assists. You want to keep the width, especially for the fantastic players in the middle. Arsène Wenger talks to me about being aggressive, running at players. So far this season I’ve been doing that.”
He is determined to make himself a big part player and at this rate i see it happening.
SK
Agree about Theo and his determination. He is showing new dimension to his performances, and Arsenal will benefit on the pitch with his evolvement.
Nice Arsenal joke I read on one of the blog comments –
Can I suggest that next time anyone at the Emirates Stadium is asked to hand over £5 for the worst chicken burger you will ever have the misfortune to eat, say to the hapless member of staff that your only going to pay 60p… as that is all its worth and if they refuse, wait to see if they will sell it for cheap as the game approaches.
:)
Hahaha!
Did you read the article about ManU failing to reach it season ticket target for this year?
This is a club which won the league title for 3 years, 1 CL, 1 more CL finals appearance and don’t know how many FA and League Cups in the last 5 years.
And from what I have read, their ticket prices are not higher than Arsenal.
Hmm… what could be happening? How far could Arsenal be?
Yup, they are about 2000 short on their season ticket allocation. It’s basically a result of the protest by supporters over the debt burden placed on the club by their Yankee owners.
All of their corporate tickets seems to be sold out, which is where the big money is, and they are still averaging over 70,000.
BTW,
Van de Vart’s transfer has officially been confirmed by the PL.
OFF TOPIC:
If you want to watch a fantastic football film, check out “The Damned United”. I just watched it and it was awesome. It’s about Brian Clough’s failed, 44-day tenure as the manager of Leeds, and the time preceding it, which mainly consists of his time with Peter Taylor at Derby. I am not a film expert; far from it- but if you want further proof that this is a great movie, it has a 96% rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Yeah, it is a very good film. I had asked whether anyone else on YAMA had seen this film last November and back then only Andez had replied about the book by the same name, which from what I understand is different from the film because of the objections made by Clough’s family.
Still the film is compelling because it gives an insight into the managerial pressures/tasks and can go some ways to explain why certain well known managers fail with certain teams and succeed with others.
Although I did think the film was modified slightly to include modern day references such as the prawn sandwich comment which was not spoken by Clough but by Roy Keane. This comment was made in the film when the manager complained about not having enough funds to buy players so as to compete on both the European Cup and league front. Such a complain is quite common in the modern game when top teams are bogged with atleast 2 games a week but was interesting to see such an argument used for the film’s timeframe.
Fantastic movie. He played the role really well, Michael Sheen. Seen it like 3 times. Highly recommended.
Saw it when it came out on DVD – excellent film about the man and the game.
The Arsenal squad contains 7 “homegrown” players:
1 Almunia, Manuel
2 Arshavin, Andrey
3 Bendtner, Nicklas *
4 Chamakh, Maroune
5 Clichy, Gael *
6 Denilson, Pereka Neves *
7 Diaby, Vassiriki Abou
8 Djourou-Gbadjere, Johan Danon *
9 Eboue, Emmanuel
10 Fabianski, Lukasz
11 Fabregas Soler, Francesc *
12 Koscielny, Laurent
13 Mannone, Vito *
14 Nasri, Samir
15 Rosicky, Tomas
16 Sagna, Bacary
17 Song Bilong, Alexandre Dimitri *
18 Van Persie, Robin
19 Vermaelen, Thomas
20 Squillaci, Sebastien
I am assuming everyone else falls under the “under-21” rule e.g. Walcott
* Home grown
Did you forget Walcott, or are you counting him as one of the under 21’s?
The under 21 list is lengthy it is:
Benik Afobe
Chuks Aneke
Martin Angha
Zak Ansah
Nacer Barazite
Kyle Bartley
Samir Bihmoutine
Daniel Boateng
Pedro Botelho
George Birslen-Hall
Alban Bunjaku
James Campbell
Reice Charles-Cook
Francis Coquelin
Thomas Cruise
Roarie Deacon
Craig Eastmond
Kyle Ebecilio
Jamie Edge
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas
Cedric Evina
Luke Freeman
Emmanuel Frimpong
Samuel Galindo
Kieran Gibbs
Ben Glasgow
Sead Hajrovic
Conor Henderson
Gavin Hoyte
Henri Lansbury
Damian Martinez
Sean McDermott
Jernade Meade
Ignasi Miquel-Pons
Jeffrey Monakana
Elton Monteiro
Rhys Murphy
Havard Nordtveit
Nigel Neita
Oguzhan Ozyakup
Aaron Ramsey
Mark Randall
Josh Rees
Philip Roberts
Steven Smith
James Shea
Gilles Sunu
Wojciech Szczesny
Armand Traore
Carlos Vela
Theo Walcott
Sanchez Watt
Jack Wilshere
Callum Webb
Jordan Wynter
Nico Yennaris
No need to answer DAG I checked and Walcott is considered under 21.
Surprisingly, City has 12 home grown players for all the naysayers who thought they would have a hard time fulfilling that requirement.
On Mooney, I sit with those that think that Mooney, as a package, is in the average bracket – if you could search my comments on the topic I think I’ve been (reasonably) consistent in that. Flappy is just crappy. That said, I support the notion that great teams almost inevitably have great keepers – not average ones.
The problem, as always, is context. There’s no point in hoping for something that history shows will not happen. Yet Arsenal supporters do it like clockwork. They allow wishful thinking and sentiment to cloud what history proves. Wenger won’t buy a top keeper no more than he’ll buy that monster centreback. So I watched with some amusement as the crescendo of certainty built around the need for a replacement keeper. It just wasn’t happening. Neither did we see the monster centreback.
That’s why I said, and still say, the best we can hope for is a reasonably ok defensive showing and a fantastic attack. That’s why I say you better hope the attack sparks and cracks in the goals. Our offensive threat and possession game is our primary defence. If you accept that as ‘our context’ then the fitness and availability of RvP and Rosicky, the maturation of Walcott, the adaption of Chamakh and the motivation of Arshavin are what our season hinges on. The other bits are there to retain possession and feed the attack.
Ultimately all this talk, as interesting as it may or may not be is just talk. Wenger is the manager with almost absolute authority at the club. The buck stops with him. He’s had 5 years and delivered no trophies. Each year he achieves the minimum buying more time to keep tinkering with his youth experiment. If that’s fun for you cool. To me he’s well and truly reached the same stage as Walcott, if you’ve got it show it. Otherwise step aside and stop cluttering the decks – we’ve got a history to build.
alas the world has not ended, life will go on, and Arsenal will be there or there abouts despite all the angst.
Just read this article that seems to sum quite a few of the topics we’ve discussed here.
http://www.arsenalinsider.com/arsenal-news/1859-bring-me-the-head-of-arsene-wenger–the-sequal
I agree with just about everything this guy says.
http://www.arsenalinsider.com/arsenal-news/1859-bring-me-the-head-of-arsene-wenger–the-sequal
Well, the window closed without Arsenal buying a keeper. If Schwarzer was the only one in contention, I can’t say that I’m disappointed; especially not for 4 million. Like Steve, I wasn’t impressed with him at the World Cup either. In fairness, Australia played most of their first two games with ten men, but he didn’t cover himself with glory. Perhaps the form he showed towards the end of last season wore off so us missing out could be a blessing.
As for this season, are we really no better than last? That’s yet to be determined. Slipping on the rose tinted glasses, everyone is a year older. Truth is someone always steps up and shows growth. Last year it was Song so maybe it will be Theo, Jack, and Samir this season. Also, we started last season off well enough, until we lost all of our strikers. Maybe not buying a new striker will hurt us more than not buying a new keeper. Time will tell.
Regardless, Arsenal are far from a bad team. If Almunia maintains the form he showed on Saturday, we should be fine. He’s not at fault for any goal we’ve conceded this season. I watched the Baltimore Ravens win a Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer as the QB so I have hope for silverware. We’ll see.
Month of April and May without Cesc, Song, Vermaelen, Arshavin, Gallas, Bendtner (out from mid-April on), and RvP returned late in April, (and Djourou).
I agree Josh…..this year others will step up. The new signings look to add the right balance of experience and ability to our attack and defense. It appears that Theo and Diaby are playing at higher levels.
Very good work DAG, CK and others….
The failure to close the deal for Schwarzer is cause for another round of finger pointing for the Emperor Wears No Clothes crowd and some have even sworn off the team, citing this as the “straw”….(that breaks the Stagg’s back…) To me that seems patently absurd. Keeper is a tough one and ANY guy coming into our situation was going to have trouble. It might have been fun to have chased a bit harder for Steklenburg (who more or less went toe to toe with Casillas until the final blink at the WC) but was he (or tiny Akinfeev or old/injured Gigi Buffon, or very expensive Lloris) really worth the trouble? Comfort, belief and fan support are so key for any keeper playing for a top team and none of that exists in our part of North London right now. And if this is the case, then passing on Schwarzer (who looked fairly poor at the WC I thought, but maybe I saw different parts of his matches than DAG did), simply spares that old fella the glare of that harsh spotlight shining through his thinning hair.
The real problem is that Arsenal sent nobody away and we still have the same 4 keepers, in (we think) the same pecking order. I’m in the group that sees Mooney as serviceable and accepts that he has at least shown some resilience given all the crap heaped upon him. Like Arseblog this morning I think the real problem is that Flappy is our #2 and he, unfortunately, has taken EVERY opportunity to show that he cannot perform in game situations. If AW is truly delusional, as so many argue, there is no clearer illustration than his persistence with Flappy. Sept. 20 at White Hart Lane could likely be the next episode in the horror franchise that stars LF as Freddy Kreuger….
And, if Sneezy is really the emerging star, why is he behind Mannone, who did well last Fall but eventually showed (IMO) no real indication that he was good enough to really compete for the #1 Jersey long term?
I think I read that loans can still be made to lower division clubs so maybe there is more movement (out at least) and a re-shuffling. I would like to hear the Manager’s thoughts on the keeper situation, but I fear we won’t know more until that Carling Cup match. Oh how I’d love to see the other Pole get the call for that one.
So, to conclude, I AM disappointed. I thought Schwarzer, esp. in his role as GK coach, might be an element of the defensive glue that is sorely needed on our team. By letting Gallas go (to our arch-rivals no less), sticking with the same iffy to quite mad combo of keepers and bringing in a May/December duo of French CBs (and hoping Djourou, if he can actually play, might be any good) we’re going in a new if not completely different direction at the defensive end. It doesn’t look very promising, but a wholesale re-make, even with big names and for a big price-tag, (which would never have happened with AW in charge) might’ve been even more fraught. The financial “might” of the club was exerted to keep Capitan Cesc prisoner in Islington rather than letting him go and splashing for a “name” keeper, so the plan must be to try and outscore the opposition. It’s not the summer one would associate with a title contender, but Arsenal is my team, so onto the roller coaster (again) I will climb….
I agree with Arseblog and Tim over at 7amkickoff – the bigger problem in goal is not Almunia but Fabianksi and the lack of someone talented enough to currently fight Manny for his starting job.
I contend that the reason Manny was “good” when Jens was here was he was fighting for a job. For the last few years he has been the number 1. Move Fabianksi out and bring in Sneezy (I like that Steve) and let the older man keep the kid off his back. Seriously does anyone think that Manny’s inspired performance last week wasn’t in part driven by a desire to show he can play? I have always thought that in games one of Manny’s biggest problem is losing focus. Well, he’s been losing focus without competition. Give him something to drive him and maybe, and I say maybe, he will rise to the occasion.
Oh and I just bought my ticket for the rollercoaster
To avoid confusion with our GKs I go with Mooney (al-MOON-i-a), Flappy (obvious), Manny (Mannone) and Sneezy…And then there’s James Shea, currently on call with the English National team. (I guess nobody wants Rob Green these days, despite his very “commited” dive–the wrong way–the other day on Rooney’s PK.) What will we call our 5th choice? How about “Shea-jus,” as in “Shea-jus Christ, look at the state of English goal-keeping….”
Like I said, I’m really hoping that we’re gonna see some sort of statement from AW about the situation and hopefully Sneezy bumped forward in the pecking order (and given the start in the CC vs Spurs).
You’re hoping for s statement from Wenger…because those usually bring light and clarity to a situation?
Steve, brudda, he made his statement. It’s the (in)actions, not the words.
Uh…that’s a fairly reasonable point, but maybe now that the “pressure” of the window is over he might speak more candidly….
As a fellow tightwad, I have empathy for AW (of course I didn’t just sign a 3 year, multi-million pound contract extension), and I remain pleased that no Sheik or Oligarch or whatever has turned the club into their plaything, but that’s just me….
What’s strange for me is that I just don’t really see how the Gloom and Doom, Sack Wenger, Profit League, etc., etc. crowd happens to see this as THE moment of clarity, when they finally, really, for all time, KNEW that AW had lost it, that the club was headed in the wrong direction etc., etc.
After all, If Schwarzer had come it would’ve been (from all accounts) Mooney that would’ve gone. Not once did I hear that Flappy was on the outs. (His latest statement was that he hopes to wear the #1 jersey for Poland AND Arsenal.) I guess I remain irrational in that I still hold out hope that Flappy wings away from North London or gets bumped down the pecking order or (in a miracle like Shea-Jus playing 1000 minutes of clean-sheet football for England) somehow brings his training pitch form into an actual match.
I CAN see the anti-tightwad brigade saying that we should’ve bought Buffon/Cassillas/Akinfeev/Lloris/etc., but that ship sailed about 5 years ago.
It is what it is (as they say) and I feel (genuinely) for those of you who are suffering what you perceive as misguided practices by the management of the club.
And those that are swearing off the club for greener pastures…”Go on you Addicks!”(????)
In terms of it being THE moment of clarity…there’s been a lot over the last 5 years that’s been a matter of (somewhat reasonable) debate. For the sake of being succinct, lets just lump all of that under the two major categories of Youth Experiment and Stadium Debt. The vast majority of decisions that divided us here and at AA sprung from those roots.
But one thing almost no one disagreed about this Summer was that we needed a new keeper. Neither of the Big Two (rationales/excuses) were a barrier to that one, clear simple need.
But it didn’t happen. Which might suggest that the Big Two were always just distractions from the Big One…Arsene’s Ego. And with enough being more than enough and the final realization nothing can change but her own behavior, Tina says no mas and hits Ike in the head with a shoe. Because the decision to stay is self-abuse (and not the good kind).
Anyway, we’ve only really seen one swearing off. And does anybody really believe stagg can stay away? Anybody with invest of time, money and energy he puts in…no way he can go cold turkey. ;-)
Are you challenging Stag? After he was able to transform into the profit-touting HO almost overnight. He’s gonna prove you wrong you watch… heh
Ha. I did think of that, Oz. Stagg can be quite committed once he makes a choice. Still, I’m thinking he’ll look Arsenal in the eye and say “I can’t quit you”, sooner rather than later.
Assuming things don’t get too dire.
Complete with the Cowboy boots and hat.
An excellent analysis of Arsenal fans.
http://www.arsenal.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=520180
To maybe lighten your day – Sucks to be Spuds – Premier League turns down the deal for Van Der Vaart – seems they got the paper work in too late. I guess if Fat ‘Arry would’ve been a wheeler and dealer he would’ve gotten it done.
BBC says the deal is confirmed.
As does the Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/01/rafael-van-der-vaart-tottenham
Right, so we’re all disappointed about the lack of a keeper. Start of the season, I had already resigned myself to seeing Chelsea lift the title. With that in mind, I’m not going to go over the top about the lack of a signing. Although, I did at one point feel certain we’d get SOMEONE!
Meh, one day Arsene will go. Whether we end up better or worse without him remains to be seen. What is certain is:
-It’s not going to be anytime soon. 2014 is some time away.
-While he’s here, we might as well enjoy the roller coaster, of sorts. We’re unpredictable* and there won’t be too many dull moments.
-We should play decent football for the most part. I’m just going to enjoy it with no real expectation of an end trophy. I always did enjoy the carling cup games with our kids (with no REAL hope of winning the tournament). THere was no pressure and I’m just going to take the laid back approach. I’ll still end up watching every bloody game though, I know I won’t be able to stop that.
*Talking of unpredictable teams, as of last weekend, I have created a steadfast rule for all gamblers: NEVER have Tottenham or Wigan as part of accumulator bets. EVER!!
NB- It could always be worse: At least I’ve avoided any such convo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utUyha0wjSE&feature=player_embedded
Hilarious vid!
Also “While he’s here” you might as well also enjoy what will probably end up being one of the greatest periods for Arsenal FC in our life time…
stupid stupid stupid. Wenger so close to assembling a great squad but f*cks it up at the last minute. Let’s hope January isn’t too late.
@DAG,
Aha, some temperance to the situation.
I have never been one of those who suggests Arsene does not want to win, in fact, he probably wants to win more now than ever before to prove his many doubters incorrect. Watching him get progressively agitated and animated on the bench the past few seasons, which he never did before, confirms his passion for winning.
Having said that, Arsene wants to win on his own terms, and his own terms only. He wants to prove he can do it with a young team which he has handpicked and nurtured, while playing intricate, honest and beautiful football. He doesn’t want anyone or anything to interfere with his dream and that is fortified by the number of “non-threatening” staff and players he has personally chosen.
Belief is a great trait and Arsene has certainly shown unmitigated belief in his youngsters for the past five seasons. However, great belief and passion can also cause one to lose sight of many things which are detracting from obtaining the ultimate goal, because ultimately, winning is everything. Whether it be Napolean, Alexander The Great, Julius Caesar or Wenger, they want to conquer, and conquer on their terms.
The problem with these great aforementioned warriors is that they all met their Waterloo in an untimely fashion because flushed with success they imagined themselves to be invincible and forgot the basic tenets which brought them to that point. Arsene won his titles with good goalkeeping, a tough back four, speed and creativity in the middle and the cunning, trickery and speed of TH14 up front. Indeed, arsene has forgotten the values which has made of King of the AKB brigade.
Everyone football fan in the world who is not deluded, blind, deaf, dumb or any combination thereof, knows that Arsenal needed to upgrade their GK position. Arsene is neither of the aforementioned so he decided to do so. However, it had to be done on his terms. Not 1 single dime more than his evaluation of the player he had targeted. No, he would not be held to ransom.
Instead of dropping one or two Mill more, even if you are overpaying, in order to ensure you are going into battle with all the components required to give you the best chance of success, he has once again left one of his flanks exposed. I feel sorry for Almunia, because like Flappianski, he will be targeted by opposing teams because they know the weakness in our flanks.
The real question to be asked is whether a sane and rational person would go into battle knowing his army has a potentially fatal weakness, has the financial resources and acumen to address it and refused to do so because the price was a little high. Or, maybe success does breed contempt?
In the final analysis, it doesn’t matter what we think. It is what it is, and at season’s end we hopefully will be in the top four, our army will not be totally decimated and we will garner more unfulfilled expectations for the following battle.
I don’t think I can find anything wrong in the above statement.
It’s true about our weakness at GK. But realistically what can you do if:
1.) You want to ensure your two hot GK prospects don’t fester on the bench.
2.) Your competitors won’t sell to you – and believe you me I think Schwarzer not coming to Arsenal had as much to do with Hughes not wanting to sell to Wenger as it did with Given not wanting to go to Fulham or Stockdale getting hurt. City were never going to sell Given to us.
3.) When was the last time a team with any sense sold a proven GK?
People ask why 2 years ago we didn’t make moves for Given or Schwarzer when they were available. Well, in pure simple terms, Almunia and Fabianksi weren’t guilty of the miscues from the last season and a half.
Our problem is not goalkeeping and we did not loose the league cup or CL last season because of goalkeeping.
We were THREE points behind the league leaders when Almunia lost us an additional 2 points against B’ham thus ending our league challenge.
There were also the disastrous keeping against Spurs, Wigan, Blackburn that we all lost. That is ELEVEN points in April and May lost due in large part to poor goalkeeping.
Keep on making excuses for Wanker.
Our league challenge was completely shut not by Almunia but by Fabianski against Wigan and Blackburn.
Also remember in those 4 losses we failed to score more than 4 goals in the 2nd half.
Remember also that half our team including most our defencive starters were out for the last month of the season.
Everyone was to blame.
The last report I saw was that the 2010 summer transfer window was worth £350 million versus £450 million spent in 2009. Of the £350 million £125 million was spent by Man City.
In terms of, as you say, taking the pulse of the room, excellent summation, DAG. Puts a top notch period on the last thread.