Dull Dull Dull...

[In Arsene we rust]

If a film title summed up Arsenal it would be Groundhog Day.
Another season we've been found wanting in regards to winning the Premier League.
About to get knocked out in the Champions League.
The same old excuses from Wenger.
Mental Strength? Oh please...
Nothing will change until there is change at the top.

I now await the barrage of comments from all the Ostriches on this board so please fire away! :yawn:

[Mo Britain less Europe]

[Pat Vegas]

no tactics.

[7evens]

[Mo Britain less Europe]

[In Arsene we rust]

Wenger's big mistake was not upgrading the squad, Petr Cech was a great buy but it was never going to be enough. If he had added 2 quality signings, say a powerhouse midfielder and a top striker then that I think that would have made all the difference.

I don't believe we have to throw money on lots of different signings, just spend on a couple of really good ones per season.

[Pat Vegas]

[7evens]

and have spent most of that time out injured :hehe:

[Pat Vegas]

and hasn't been injured for 6 years previously.

[Herbette Chapman - aged 15]

[In Arsene we rust]

He's definitely someone you could build a team around in my opinion.

Our midfield is so powder puff it's like watching a bunch of under 15's trying to throw their weight around.

[7evens]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLCZZAheNSU

[Rich]

You are aware that Barca/Madrid/United/City/Chelsea would take Pogba, and all of these clubs could and would blow us out of the water with their offers. They can also/will also offer far more monies than Arsenal.

Maybe Kondogbia is more realistic.

[Mo Britain less Europe]

Arsenal as a big club at least in England, does not appeal.

They are confident the club's status is such that it can live on (like Liverpool) basking in past glories even if we go down a notch or two and become a top six club.

[Brentwood]

We haven't even played them yet. Of course they are favourites

[Brentwood]

[Mo Britain less Europe]

[7evens]

[Mo Britain less Europe]

[7evens]

Unfortunately it's May that counts. http://www.awimb.com/images/smiley_icons/ohwell.gif

[In Arsene we rust]

...then we've earned the right to avoid some of big guns early on.

But we didn't so it's a situation of our own making.

[Mo Britain less Europe]

[Brentwood]

The old man could be accused of being too sentimental and loyal to players, which makes him conservative and cautious in the transfer market. He is a man who prides himself in doing what's best for the club in the long term (financial stability, paying off the stadium etc) often at the expense of short term or personal success. This doesn't really work when our fans see every other club in the PL and Europe have a completely opposite strategy. They have a far more scatter gun approach to things, spending money on new managers every year, refreshing the squad year after year, going after the latest big name and forgetting about them when they flop. If this doesn't work, no matter. Other fans have nobody to criticise because the manager is always new and the club are always spending. Eventually, they might get it right (as Spurs have done finally)

This approach means that he is loyal to players like Per (BFG, great guy, Twitter star) rather than putting him out to pasture and replacing him with a top quality, experienced defender. Similarly with Coquelin (who I really rate btw). Why did AW sign Eleny rather than a player more likely to be even better than Coq (not criticising Eleny one way or the other btw)? Look how loyal he was for years to our substandard keepers. A ruthless manager wouldn't have tolerated mistake after mistake like that for so long

Also, I think that we have some key quality players mixed with some up and coming players, this leads him to pander to them a little bit. He played Sanchez when he had an injury and in the same game, he made the injury worse and was out for months. So we lost a key player at a key time because AW was too afraid to say no to him (he practically admitted this)

I still think we're better off with the stubborn old geezer in charge though and I still think we have a good chance to win it

[In Arsene we rust]

...the only exception is Koscielny.

Coquelin coming back should help but we really lack some tenacity in central midfield.

Any team that presses us in that area (Southampton away and Spurs at home) tend to get control of the game.

[Brentwood]

Arsenal are a second tier club behind those ones unfortunately

[In Arsene we rust]

We'll just accept our lot as a 2nd tier team in world football.

[In Arsene we rust]

We can beat the likes of BM and Barca as we've shown before.

I will never accept we can not aspire to match the top clubs in Europe.

The club is now in a good position to make significant strides, season on season, in terms of upgrading the squad.

We didn't do that this season, now the results are beginning to show that.

[Brentwood]

Don't blow it out of proportion, we haven't blown the chance yet

[In Arsene we rust]

That was never going to be enough to realistically upgrade us a potential title winning team.

Wenger has no excuse for not at least covering the amount of players out with long term injuries.

Happens every year, injuries cripple us and then the squad suddenly looks threadbare of quality.

See league table.

[redgunamo]

Please do keep up :-)

[In Arsene we rust]

[Classic Jorge]

And lets be honest, losing both central midfielders in the same game to long term injuries is unusual even for us.

[Brentwood]

4 months to play

[In Arsene we rust]

As I said previously, 2 good outfield signings could have made all the difference.

[Classic Jorge]

Obviously hindsight is a wonderful thing but we have been struggling to keep players happy this year due to the lack of playing opportunities.

[redgunamo]

so the point about who you get in to replace whom is rather moot.

[In Arsene we rust]

Names please! :hehe:

[Classic Jorge]

come on, who would you replace who with and how much for?

[In Arsene we rust]