Tuesday 14 December 2010

VICTORIA CONCORDIA CRESCIT Or In Some Cases; NOT!

I never thought I would say this but sometimes I am sick to death of the whining and whinging of my fellow Gooners.

Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion. I respect that. But sometimes the criticism of Arsene Wenger, the players and the club in general borders on the verge of hatred.

VICTORIA CONCORDIA CRESCIT is our motto. It means VICTORY GROWS OUT OF HARMONY.

Look around and you will definitely see that isn't a lot of harmony amongst Gooners at the moment.

Supporting a club is about being there for the good times and the bad times. We are lucky that we love and support a club like Arsenal.

We should uphold our motto, we have a duty to and we need to do so, especially with the challenges ahead of this season.

Who knows? In a months time things could so much more rosier. And, if you are completely honest, things aren't really that bad at present are they?

Of course things can be frustrating, I will never deny that, but surely a little harmony amongst us Gooners would go a long way?

Supporting a club is about respecting everything about it. Its history and what a club stands for. Sometimes I wonder whether some Gooners do that.

In my opinion constructive criticism is fine but when I see some Gooners slagging off Arsenal just for the sake of it and with no real reason to do so it annoys me.

I'm not suggesting that everything is perfect at the club, I know that and you know that, but at the moment there is a real split amongst us and that is worrying.

I don't expect everyone to agree with me on this but surely we should uphold our motto a little more?

Keep it Goonerish...........

45 comments:

Anonymous said...

if chelsea beat us nest week surely we all agree its time for a re-think about where we're going. the current players have been giving chance after chance and can't get it done against big clubs. i think if they lose to chelsea i will finally accept its time wenger changes his policies or he moves on

Anonymous said...

stupid article...there is something wrong at Arsenal
ignoring it does not make it go away

Anonymous said...

The club, players and manager should respect the fans. It is a two way street. Don't insult the intelligence of supporters who pay the hard cash and who follow the team up and down the country. This mean.

1. Stop using tired excuses and press conferences and be frank about player deficiencies.

2. Reduce ticket prices.

3. Do not improve contract default

4. Buy experienced talent that will improve the team and lift spirit of fans and the club. A vital ingredient physchologically.

5. Display tactical flexibility as manager. Meaning, you play rosicky against nani and not arshavin. A two year old could make that tactical decision.

6. reduce ticket prices again.

7. Allocate a couple of singing section, where fans who want to sing and support can join together. Woould improve atmosphere.

8. Get in a new number 2.

9. Reduce ticket prices

and


10. Stop signing bargain basement signing (Chamakh, Squillachi)

Goodwill Hunting said...

Supporting a club is bigging up whatever you have got ,i mean fuck united ,4-0 to West Ham ,let`s all laugh to that !!

Anonymous said...

only thing im sick of is the excuses, beaten by a half inch of grass lol they have 7 pitches at the training ground, grow one and throw some water on it for heavens sakes,other than that nothing to complain about, nothing suprised me enough this season

Anonymous said...

DPT,

I agree with you to a degree but last nights performance was an absolute disgrace in my opinion!

All Arsenal ever do nowadays is 'talk the talk' but we NEVER 'walk the walk' anymore!

Listening to the same old shite after every defeat against the other top side is becoming a bit tiresome! 10 defeats in 11 games against utd and Chelsea is simply not good enough for our club.

There was no beleif last night from the players whatsoever (against a very poor utd team)no desire or hunger to make things happen, we could be still playing now and would still not of scored!

Come on, you have to admit our club is better than this...............

Anonymous said...

How can there be harmony when many fans are just blind sheep following a man who refuses to address the glaring defeciencies of his team. When will you people wake up? Do you want us to end up like liverpool before we take action against this tyrant of a manager? We have to get rid of Wenger before its too late.

Anonymous said...

*deficiencies

Anonymous said...

This is stupid. You could have written the same damn thing for the last five years.

John said...

Damn right Wrighty, it's been doing my head in today.

We are Arsenal, show some class!

Anonymous said...

all i really want us to do on the assumption we will not buy in january is try a different formation against the like of Manure when we go away from home 4321 not 4141 or 4231, we needed to have protected the back 4 get the home crowd frustrated and i bet all of us would have taken a bor draw 0-0 now for sure, there are times to play fancy footbal (we did not even do that last night) and times to grind out a result, would red nose know what to do if we did the counter attack against him as he certainly has our number (Plan A) at the moment, for gods sake Wenger think outsside the box do not dream we can always play the same way, try kosser in midfield holding next to song, try 3 c/half and push the full backs up(anfield1979), we can go top again at weekend and in all honesty do we deserve to!!!

Chrispy said...

Wrighty , as supporters it's our absolute right to question what's going on in our club isn't it?

To Anon @ 18:20. Your 10 points are absolutely spot on.

What happened to the invincibles? It seems a lifetime ago. I love Arsene and what's done for the club. A miracle worker BUT he must see that we have too many average squad players populating our first 11. Clichy and Song are liabilities, Arshavin has got to keep his opinions to himself and put in a full shift. Bendtner needs to get his head out his crack and realise that a world class football player is 80% ability and 20% self confidence and not the other way round. We need and have needed for years (god how long has it been), a monster of a centre back and CDM. Song, Koz and Squid are just poor imitations and backup to the backup at best.
Yesterday was no surprise at all but I hoped, just hoped that this side could do something but added to the Spurs defeat, my faith in this current team has all but disappeared.
BTW i'm a season ticket holder (Block 128) and after paying over £2k a season, i've earned the right to say what I fcuking well like.

Much Love

Anonymous said...

these comments prove most of our supporters have no class.

i hope at least 75% of arsenal supporters never go on to coach their kid's football team.

for some reason they think it's okay to point out to the world one of the squad is just not good enough. if arsene wenger honestly feels that he will need to buy, at this point i hope he gets millions of dollars worth of class. just to see if the idiots are wrong, or if i'm the idiot.

Anonymous said...

you cannot win when your manager is a delusional half tart with no tactical nous or flexibility.
add to that there is no accountability or pressure on him to succeed. he already got locked into a new contract without justification.
he has to go. someone as idiotic as him can no longer be in charge of my Arsenal.
reduce ticket prices, get rid of wenger and chamakh and we will be golden again.
chamakh is awful

Anonymous said...

and i don't mean writing that they aren't good enough, i mean actually wanting arsene to go out to the public and criticize

Wrighty7 said...

I have no problem when people criticise if its constructive. None whatsoever.

I just feel some criticism is below the belt.

Chrispy said...

WTF has 'class' got to do with anything?
Aren't blogs here to voice opinions? Or shall we just agree everything is fine. Lemming!

Anonymous said...

The blog that hits the nail on the head in my opinion is le grove's last blog!!

wenger has no tactics!! To win the champions league you need a tactical manager!!

My personal opinion, I'd like to see an italian defensive coach! Or even give bould a chance!! There's martin jol, hiddink, quairez, loads of people!!

TrueGooner said...

I think Wrighty wrote this to encourage us to vent. Cause I can't see why anyone would write this article. When there is a problem you address it and fix it. Run a company or a home without addressing the problems that occurs and see if you have that home or company for five to six years. It is not easy being an Arsenal Fan. The kid's face in the below video say it all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SorPhiHgSOI

TrueGooner said...

by the way congrats to Nasri on winning the French Footballer of the year award.

Jack Straw said...

I'm with you, Wrighty. We're all disappointed, but too many Gooners take defeats so personally and bitterly it only comes across as childish and entitled. Far too many armchair managers with 20/20 hindsight - it's really not difficult to point out what went wrong after a defeat. A disgrace, you anonymously declare? Give me a fucking break. The result was not what we had hoped for, but the team played hard and forced one of the strongest teams in the world to play defensive, counterattacking football in their own stadium for 90 minutes. The only disgrace are the infantile "fans" flocking to the message boards today.

Anonymous said...

I thnk Wrighty7 is right to some extend. Everyone has the right to complain and be heard but not to an extend of being so radical. Ofcourse we all knows that giving any manager this team to handle means disastrous or i don't even ruled out relegation but Arsene try all meant to ensure we manage our team within our resources and still managed to outclass the big spenders club like spads,Man city & Liverpool yet we don't fall on financial crisis jst as man u,Liverpool and even Chelsea do right now. I knw we can even lose against Chelsea if we keep critisize our team performance just because we were unlucky the other day & got defeated. Let us embrace our motto: 'VICTORIA CONCORDIA CRESIT' VICTORY CAME FROM HARMONY.

Barney said...

We can still own this season! I cried walking home last night but I still do believe we can own this season!
On the 13th of December, the number 13 player for Manure scores agains't Arsenal. Dunno where luck was. Most of our players are badly out of form. Arshavin needs to be rested and Walcott allowed to play more of a central role with RVP on his right and Chamakh on his left. We will have a team in form soon. Maybe at the turn of the year. Nasri is he only player of creativity at Arsenal at the moment, Arshavin has forgotten where his legs are at. Fabregas is just bidding his time, will give him a lot of respect if he wins us this title before he departs to greener shores. Arsenal needs this title more for their fans than just as a reason to keep hold of Fabregas. Finishing 3rd or 4th and losing to spuds is equivalent to relegation for me.. I have faithfully supported my team through thick and thin.. I can't just forget all the happiness and pleasure they have provided because of a poor run of form and curse them to hell for eternity.. Every single player who has played for Arsenal has a special place in my heart including Gallas!!! I'm forever greatful to Arsenal for playing with their heart on their sleeves and playing such beautiful football.. And I will not sacrifice our philosophy of beautiful football for a rigid booting the ball and half the player across the field as well.. I'm sure Wenger wouldn't either.. When Wenger says that he will use every single drop of blood in his body to make this team successful, I believe him whole heartedly.. I love Arsenal as much as I hate Evra. I really wished Viera had walked on the pitch middle of the game, caught hold of Evra and ripped his F**king b*lls off!!!!!!!!! Moth*r F*ck*r!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fu**ing HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!! ..
yep, that's all my frustration out..

Anonymous said...

Arsene is too soft on his players,maybe he need a no nonsense assistance coach who can help him eliminates ignorance from players like Walcott,Arshavin,Clichy,Rosisky and the new Cesc who changed so much since he came from World Cup.

Anonymous said...

On one hand we are 2nd in the league, but the only reason we are 2nd is because Man U and Chelsea are going through a bad patch. If we were actually any good we would have capitalised and be 10 points a head by now.

We have no chance in hell of winning the league. We are not good enough.

Too many fans just accept Wengers history and are afraid of change.

Faisal ali said...

Wow, the comments written on this article are ridiculous!! Critisizing everything about this club and how its run is one thing, but then you go out and support this club for 90 mins a week makes u a bloody hypocrite!! U dnt like arsenal, go support man u or even tottenham!! Most fans we have now are scum who get manipulated by media and other retards! We have a GENIUS of a manager who is allowed to make mistakes just like all of us! But u cant convince me that he goes out there to lose on purpose! What hes done for our club was revolutionary and hes still performing magic! With a limited budget hes made us extremely competative and unfortunately blind pricks cant c it! Wrighty hit the nail on its head when he said we need to have harmony and SUPPORT our club! Sve the bullshit slagging off to the offseason during the summer when it DOESNT just make matters worse for the team! If the team sees that we're all behind them then it WILL put us further a level, and i'd much rather win the league with this team playing this way with THIS manager, than another manager who buys us 6 defensive midfielders worth millions and just parks the bus and plays onthe counter! Its boring and ANYONE can do it! Take PRIDE in who u support and spur them on...dont sit there and criticize like twats thinking u know more! Wrighty i LOVE your optimism...and its very fucking unfortunate that its not shared wi other gooners! United might have been better then us last night, but they will ALWAYS be better then us because they have this optimism and unity amongst their fans who are always behind the manager and players!! And another thing, its so obvious that all our retarded fans get manipulated by the media, and the proof is we have some of Our own fans saying wenger used the pitch as an excuse!!! I agree he did use it as an excuse....but as an excuse for the game being played at a poor technical level which disrupted BOTH teams not just arsenal..he was VERY clear on that but pricks like most of us unfortunately just blve the media and say wenger said he lost cause of a bad pitch! Fck u all seriously...wrighty keep it up!!

vince said...

we lost a a very tight match 1-0 against manchester united at old trafford.

you can whine all you want about "but this was the worst united in years" ect. but IT'S STILL MANCHESTER UNITED YOU FUCKING MORONS. they are ALWAYS going to be a hard game at their ground. look at what the shittest liverpool side i've ever seen did to chelsea!

the problem is not last night (where i thought we defended reasonably well and just didn't get going in an offensive fashion). the problem lies deeper than that. there is clearly an inferiority complex in this arsenal team. the players have got a mental block in the big games. the perfect examples of this are the 4-4 and 2-3 matches against spurs.

if you've watched football for long enough (which i doubt some of you have considering some of the comments), chelsea had the very same problem under for quite some time. they just couldn't beat arsenal. again, this was a mental block. kanu at stamford bridge = spurs at the emirates.

the scary thing is, i'm not sure exactly how we fix this problem. but here as some of my observations:

1.sometimes it fixes itself:

since wayne bridge scored that winner in the champions league, the tide of results has drastically shifted in chelsea's favour. marc overmars at old trafford was a similar, albeit smaller shift in arsenal's favor.

2.look at the team sheet:

in our recent bad run of form against manchester united, spurs and chelsea, i'm curious to who's played the most games.

my guess is clichy is right at the top of the list, followed by fabregas, song, sagna and van persie. somewhere in amongst these players is where the mental block lies. oh and just because fabregas and van persie are world class players, doesn't mean he doesn't have subconscious mental blocks against big teams......

....just remember, henry used to score for fun against manchester united and chelsea. rooney and drogba now score for fun against us. from my memory, i believe van persie has only scored 3 goals against both. fabregas has only scored once that i can remember off the top of my head (2-2 vs united at emirates).

3. is wenger the one with the mental block? i think this is a big possibility too. for the most part, he's been awful with substitutions his entire arsenal carrear....

....when people say "buy an experienced dmf and cb", why do people always feel the need to counter it with "he tried to sign jagielka and reina and failed. he won't go spend millions". HE DOESN'T NEED TO SPEND MILLIONS.

is anyone going to argue with me that brede hangeland or scott parker would have cost a lot more than the 8-10 we spent on koscielny? who would've made more of an impact? is this not a sign of arsene's stubbornness? having said that, i love arsene wenger and i never want him to be sacked from his job. but i do think he's a mascochistic tendencies are going to lose him his job sooner or later. that's if he doesn't pull his finger out.

i think the majority of the comments on this page are laughable. they come from people who live outside of england, never gone to a game, sit on their steams and call themselves "fans". then there's also the "tag alongs" that are too young to remember the days of david hillier and eddie mcgoldrick. they don't realise how far forward arsenal has moved as a club since arsene wenger has been in charge...they don't realise how so many things the he pioneered. and they don't realise how many teams are trying to use the arsenal "model" to bring themselves success.

Anonymous said...

you can whine all you want about "but this was the worst united in years" ect. but IT'S STILL MANCHESTER UNITED YOU FUCKING MORONS. they are ALWAYS going to be a hard game at their ground. look at what the shittest liverpool side i've ever seen did to chelsea!

the problem is not last night (where i thought we defended reasonably well and just didn't get going in an offensive fashion). the problem lies deeper than that. there is clearly an inferiority complex in this arsenal team. the players have got a mental block in the big games. the perfect examples of this are the 4-4 and 2-3 matches against spurs.

if you've watched football for long enough (which i doubt some of you have considering some of the comments), chelsea had the very same problem under for quite some time. they just couldn't beat arsenal. again, this was a mental block. kanu at stamford bridge = spurs at the emirates.

Anonymous said...

continued from last comment:

the scary thing is, i'm not sure exactly how we fix this problem. but here as some of my observations:

1.sometimes it fixes itself:

since wayne bridge scored that winner in the champions league, the tide of results has drastically shifted in chelsea's favour. marc overmars at old trafford was a similar, albeit smaller shift in arsenal's favor.

2.look at the team sheet:

in our recent bad run of form against manchester united, spurs and chelsea, i'm curious to who's played the most games.

my guess is clichy is right at the top of the list, followed by fabregas, song, sagna and van persie. somewhere in amongst these players is where the mental block lies. oh and just because fabregas and van persie are world class players, doesn't mean he doesn't have subconscious mental blocks against big teams......

....just remember, henry used to score for fun against manchester united and chelsea. rooney and drogba now score for fun against us. from my memory, i believe van persie has only scored 3 goals against both. fabregas has only scored once that i can remember off the top of my head (2-2 vs united at emirates).

3. is wenger the one with the mental block? i think this is a big possibility too. for the most part, he's been awful with substitutions his entire arsenal carrear....

....when people say "buy an experienced dmf and cb", why do people always feel the need to counter it with "he tried to sign jagielka and reina and failed. he won't go spend millions". HE DOESN'T NEED TO SPEND MILLIONS.

is anyone going to argue with me that brede hangeland or scott parker would have cost a lot more than the 8-10 we spent on koscielny? who would've made more of an impact? is this not a sign of arsene's stubbornness? having said that, i love arsene wenger and i never want him to be sacked from his job. but i do think he's a mascochistic tendencies are going to lose him his job sooner or later. that's if he doesn't pull his finger out.

i think the majority of the comments on this page are laughable. they come from people who live outside of england, never gone to a game, sit on their steams and call themselves "fans". then there's also the "tag alongs" that are too young to remember the days of david hillier and eddie mcgoldrick. they don't realise how far forward arsenal has moved as a club since arsene wenger has been in charge...they don't realise how so many things the he pioneered. and they don't realise how many teams are trying to use the arsenal "model" to bring themselves success.

Anonymous said...

continued from last comment:

the scary thing is, i'm not sure exactly how we fix this problem. but here as some of my observations:

1.sometimes it fixes itself:

since wayne bridge scored that winner in the champions league, the tide of results has drastically shifted in chelsea's favour. marc overmars at old trafford was a similar, albeit smaller shift in arsenal's favor.

2.look at the team sheet:

in our recent bad run of form against manchester united, spurs and chelsea, i'm curious to who's played the most games.

my guess is clichy is right at the top of the list, followed by fabregas, song, sagna and van persie. somewhere in amongst these players is where the mental block lies. oh and just because fabregas and van persie are world class players, doesn't mean he doesn't have subconscious mental blocks against big teams......

....just remember, henry used to score for fun against manchester united and chelsea. rooney and drogba now score for fun against us. from my memory, i believe van persie has only scored 3 goals against both. fabregas has only scored once that i can remember off the top of my head (2-2 vs united at emirates).

3. is wenger the one with the mental block? i think this is a big possibility too. for the most part, he's been awful with substitutions his entire arsenal carrear....

....when people say "buy an experienced dmf and cb", why do people always feel the need to counter it with "he tried to sign jagielka and reina and failed. he won't go spend millions". HE DOESN'T NEED TO SPEND MILLIONS.

is anyone going to argue with me that brede hangeland or scott parker would have cost a lot more than the 8-10 we spent on koscielny? who would've made more of an impact? is this not a sign of arsene's stubbornness? having said that, i love arsene wenger and i never want him to be sacked from his job. but i do think he's a mascochistic tendencies are going to lose him his job sooner or later. that's if he doesn't pull his finger out.

Anonymous said...

i think the majority of the comments on this page are laughable. they come from people who live outside of england, never gone to a game, sit on their steams and call themselves "fans". then there's also the "tag alongs" that are too young to remember the days of david hillier and eddie mcgoldrick. they don't realise how far forward arsenal has moved as a club since arsene wenger has been in charge...they don't realise how so many things the he pioneered. and they don't realise how many teams are trying to use the arsenal "model" to bring themselves success.

Anonymous said...

Wrighty have supported the Arsenal since 1961 so have seen the bad and the good. Although I understand where your coming from Arsenal have only themselves to blame. Top drawer prices, bargain basement signings, far too many 5 minute wonder players, not enough grafters. Last night, its not losing to the mancs that hurts its that yet again our lot didn't turn up, so many times this year theres been no drive, no will to win, no pride in the shirt. The players all talk the talk then most of them go on the pitch and stink the place out. win or lose Arsenal in the past has always fielded a team with fire and determination, now week after week nothing but mediocrity, with players telling us after every poor game that we need to forget it and move on. Of course with such apathy you will have division amongst supporters,they feel cheated, angry, confused, me I want to get in front of these players and tell them just how much it should mean to play for the Arsenal, Top of the table, lets be honest here, if the mancs or chelsea were playing at their normal level we would be 18 points adrift by now.

Anonymous said...

Please, please, please......I'm sick of hearing the old bullshit about fans who criticise are not 'real' supporters. Bollocks, I live out in Spain now and have done for many a year but I watch my beloved team week-in, week-out. Pay extra to have sat tv to watch them on the box or I sit in my uncomfortable office chair and put myself through a torrid 90 mins of footballing ineptitude. It is so blatantly obvious that a lot of these players are piss-poor: Rosicky, Clichy, Song, Denilson, Bendter, Squillaci....How long did it take AW to realise that Manolo the waiter is shit - three fucking years!!! Come on, we all know why Arsene is taking the shit cup so seriously this year: 'cos we probably won't win fuck all else unless he buys some experienced, world-class players. We're crying out for a Wrighty to smash the ball into the back of the net - perhaps it could be Theo if the poor sod was given a chance in the middle. A midfield general who takes the game by the scruff of the next and drives the team forward. A leader at the back barking orders. AW for the last year has been delusional. He must see, I ask myself, he's an intelligent man - but no! Time after time after time the same old, same old. My old man has been a season-ticket holder for the last 50 years and he's at his wits end. I don't what this to end in tears after all Aw has done - but it just might.

Anonymous said...

i think we've played in a very similar fashion to that at old trafford for the past 15 years.

the only differences have been....when we have won (and all 3 results have been 1-0)...we've had that bit of luck.

if park's header hits the post and stays out...and chamakh taps in nasri's shot for 1-0 arsenal, everyone would be saying how we were " excellent defensively and grinded one out".

that's the kinda shit that really pisses me off about arsenal fans. if you can't accept defeat at old trafford on any given night, you don't know anything about football. ANYONE can go there and lose 1-0 and we were very unfortunate to do that.

Anonymous said...

And yes, I too, was a season ticket holder for 10 years b4 coming out to Spain. I, too, remember the McGoldrick days and John Devine's haircut - but fuck me, I think you'll find that football not just Arsenal has come a long way since those days and some players we have at the club at present are bordering on 'average'. Wenger has made two big fucking mistakes in his career - Pires and Gilberto. Sorry, three - he gave that wanker Silvestre a two-year contract at 31. ;O

Anonymous said...

but is it not a coincidence that the first people to run on the internet and complain about the performance happen to be armchair fans (and in my opinion a lot of them seem to be foreign fans)? sorry but that's why i laugh at most comments on these boards.

you actually think you know more about players/subs/formations/tactics....and a lot of you really, honestly believe you could do a better job than wenger! complete mugs.

Unknown said...

Of course it won't change anything (except maybe winning the Carling Cup)..AW will not sign a dominant CD or holding midfielder..we will be eliminated to Real in next round..we will play pretty tappy football and maybe beat Wolves or whoever 6-0 and the Arsene Knows brigade will be crowing for 5 mins before we lose 3-1 at home to United in the next match. Alex Song more than any other individual epitomises the team-a skilful showboater one week, a lazy, complacent, mollycoddled positionally indisciplined joke of a defensive screen the next with less fight than Audley Harrison. There will be no new defensive coach and no proper coaching as a result but hey it doesn't matter as we'll finish 3rd (maybe win a proper trophy albeit little) and the directors will be happy again with Project Wenger.

No fight, no guts, no proper motivation.

Anonymous said...

^ then don't watch it.

visionary said...

yes lots of teams are trying arsenes methods, fulham, everton and birmingham have all lost 5, hey how us gunners would laugh if they had a game coming up against Barcelona. wow j league managers rule for sure wrighty
now pen a soppy poem, it will start like this, when i was 5 i first went too the n5, i was happy even though i had a thumbtack stuck in my nappy, then u can ban me from posting honest opinions again and for sure i wont bother a simpleton like you with them again

Anonymous said...

I really cant see why everyone is focusing on the pitch element so much. Understandably it has been in the headlines. But in his interviews it was a passing comment. The turf was coming up like Wembley at some points. That is fact. But as Arsen said they defended well and we didn't play as well as we can. Our passing was sloppy and slow. Unlike Barca who can put any teams men out of position. We don't make the right choices when passing around in the box.

I'll give fans the benifit of doubt here as Arsenal.com did also have the pitch as a headline, but honestly in commentary it really wasn't the main focus. Just a small comment.

Anonymous said...

And again a fantastic article. Many should man up and get real. Be a Gooner which basically isnt a puss

Anonymous said...

Wenger’s seemingly consistent inability to motivate a team. Let me attempt to qualify this sweeping statement. I have been priviliged to start supporting Arsenal since the first day of Wenger’s era and over the past few years the niggling feeling that he does not have a Mourinho’s or Ferguson’s(as much as i hate them both) forceful impact on a team during big games, has now been realised. The invincibles on the other hand always had natural characters within the team – Viera, Keown, Adams, Parlour etc. Within the current generation there isnt a single standout character in my opinion – when the chips or down or when we are at a big stage or when we are simply a goal down, you clearly notice the nervousness across the team. On the contrary everyone seems to be up for it either before or after a goal we score. I disagree with comments made by Wenger as well as voiced by many here that our intensity was high and we did our bit in that sense. Throughout the second half i could not, grudgingly though, admire the Manu reselience which was borne through a collective hardened stance based on belief. There was no belief in our team – no one making proactive runs to come to a ball when they are being marked so closely and no sense of urgency in the dying mins (despite the “patient build up” we are credited for). I dont think players like Clichy (god his reaction when he was down in the box and the look on his face gave the penalty NOT the referee) and Song, who according to me had the poorest game on the night in a long time, were or are terrible players and i believe it is their development mentally – the “stage” gets to them. Put them against a weaker team on the same night and they will be their natural self. That is my point – it is not their physical quality as much as it is do with their mental capability/ development in such situations. Couple this with Wenger’s lack of interest in tactical changes(risks) within a game, most often than not, to leave someone as tired and poor on the night as Arshavin till the 75th min and we deservedly are called “same old, same old”.
In summary it would be extremely naive and totally wrong to conclude that the players are not good enough, we need to buy in January and that Wenger needs to go. Those who form this conclusion do not see the damage this could potentially bring that could just turn out to be irreparable. As in life most outcomes are combination of factors – on the night we didnt have our first team out fully fit in comparison to Man U(seemingly an impossible occurrence for us this season), we did not get up to our top intensity levels as we are still not mature mentally (which lies at Wenger’s door more than it does on individual players) and Wenger’s tactical inability to change/ react faster were the contributors to our loss.
I am absolutely certain that there is only one person in this world who can bring back Arsenal to glory – it is the same person who is fully well aware of his constant criticism (no plan B and motivational skills) – Arsene Wenger. My take on his current predicament, with my limited grasp, allows me this conclusion – his desire to be different in his approach to the game (pure technical football) and consequently his reaction to the constant criticism of this – which is becoming a vicious cycle as he wants to prove everyone wrong, is tying his own hands. He, first and foremost, KNOWS that he has to change with respect to the conditions of the present (be more experimental tactically or invest in the spine of the team through the middle or work on the aspect of mental development on the current crop more consciously during games that need it) and accept that the ideal world of winning trophies with regular ease, with the current crop with our brand of football, may not offer the best probability. I trust his intelligence to make this a matter of time before one of the above changes occur.

Anonymous said...

Wirghty, I can understand your frustration at the fans. Wenger has raised the bar by building an Invincible team, and moving to the Emirates, raised the ticket price--Arsenal charges the highest ticket price in the EPL. So for the new fans, they want "value for money". meaning we must be like ManU or Chelsea and compete for trophies. When we go 5 years without a trophy, they want one. Now this season I think we can win the CCup; but still the fans will bay for blood everytime we lose against ManU and Chelsea. They simply cannot accept that Arsenal is no longer the champion hopeful. When Arsene embarks on this policy and buys cheap, we should be prepared we are back to where we were with Graham Taylor, not the Arsenal from 1996-2005.

Wenger will go one day, and then there will be a period Arsenal will fall further down the ladder. I cannot see how another manager can raise the profile of Arsenal to that of the heights reached by Arsene until the Invincible season.

Anonymous said...

Fans don't have memory and make sweeping statements of how rubbish this Arsenal team is whenever we lost. 3 comments above says that Wenger cannot motivate a team, and that when we are 1 goal down, we are finished. Has he forgotten how we come back 2-2 against Barca last season? Has he forgotten how Theo and Cesc fought for the team in the Barca game?
Criticize the team, but don't make UNTRUE SWEEPING statements. We are not that bad, otherwise we won't be second in the league...

Anonymous said...

Il semble que vous soyez un expert dans ce domaine, vos remarques sont tres interessantes, merci.

- Daniel