Arsenal’s 4:1 margin of victory over West Ham while convincing was no easy romp in the park. The game took place in the presence of a hugely, omnipresent emotional backdrop triggered by Arsene’s announcement last Friday of his intention to resign at season-end after 22 years. As the television cameras made obvious, the Emirates was filled to the rafters and the atmosphere was electric. Clearly every game, ‘til the last of the season, will be like a public viewing of the mortal remains of the great man. Obviously supporters will have the opportunity to show their respect and appreciation for Wenger, but unfortunately it will provide cover for those who reviled and disrespected him to pretend otherwise. So much of what is on display is maudlin and distasteful but it is typical of the auto-mourning by the Twitter and Facebook generation. Much of the hype and hullabaloo is the inevitable result of the marriage of convenience between professional football and the commercial broadcasters who now provide the lion’s share of Premier League revenue.
1st Half
It was evident from the start that West Ham were up for the occasion. They hadn’t come to North London to roll over and have their tummies tickled. Despite being without four (4) of their regular starters, the Arsenal team tried to impose their passing rhythm on the game from the off but the Hammers would have none of it. They pressed and harassed every player in red and to shutdown the passing lanes. Despite West Ham’s best efforts, by the 3rd minute, in a move that was ominous, Aaron Ramsey burst through the midfield to round off a passing move and fire away at goal. It was a statement; Arsenal was determined to create goal-scoring chances in contrast to the paucity of attempts at Newcastle, a week earlier.
As the game unfolded, the home team and the visitors traded blows. Hart must have been happy to see a headed corner by Koscielny sail over the bar in the 8th minute. Shortly after, the Hammers opened up the Arsenal defense with a slick series of passes letting their J. Maro get off a good shot. Minutes after being culpable for a defensive error, there was an outstanding last ditch tackle by Mustafi to prevent Lanzini getting off a shot. On the 14th minute, Arnautovic in a 1 vs 1 with Mustafi, following a long ball down the side, as the German contested the pass but falling on his backside, the Swiss international moved inside and drove wide of Ospina. Bellerin then blazed a shot over the bar in the 22nd minute. Two minutes later Welbeck let fly a fierce left-footed shot to left of Hart. 33rd minute, there is a foul on Danny 20 yards away on the right and Xhaka’s free kick is over the wall but straight at the keeper. 38th minute and Arnautovic slams Koscielny while backing-in but rolls around holding his ankle as if he is the victim. Happily, the rotund, corpulent Lee Mason, isn’t fooled and awards the freekick to Arsenal. One minute later, the obligatory red mist descends on Xhaka and he goes in for a 2-footed tackle earning him a yellow card. 40th minute, Elneny and Noble go for a 50:50 ball. In my view Noble is late and there is a clash of boots mid air and Elneny hits the deck with his ankle rolled under him. The usually calm, unruffled Egyptian demonstrates violently he is in great discomfort and the physio scampers on. No surprise he is taken off on a stretcher and is replaced by the now locks-free Maitland-Niles. (Couldn’t help but observe he is a handsome boy; no wonder his Mummy is so protective.)
Game resumes after 4 minutes and West Ham wins a corner which is easily defended as the visitors clearly put the ball out of touch. But the rotound Mason sees different and awards another corner. Happily the second corner is easily seen off and is the occasion for a counter attack culminating with a shot attempt by Ramsey, again. The half-time whistle goes sounds at the 49th minute.
Half-Time follies
Honors even at half-time and, based on my blow-by-blow, report it is evident that Arsenal had more attempts and more shots on target with West Ham posing the occasional threat. Yet the half-time analysis by the so-called experts is the usual bitching and moaning that Arsenal’s failure to overwhelm West Ham is a blight on Wengers tactics; too much passing (i.e. the ones that help players in position to get better shots on goal), insufficient shots from distance (i.e. those low probability shots that simply turn the ball over to the opposition) and too many defensive errors (i.e. it is Wenger’s fault Mustafi gets nutmegged or falls on his ass when he mistimes a tackle). It is the same narrative game after game that a majority of fans seem to lap up uncritically.
2nd Half
At the resumption, Gary Neville, who is doing color commentary on my feed, also feels the need to pile-on with his studio “experts” whinging about “same old” Arsenal for failing to score and letting West Ham back in the game. Like many in the Arsenal fanbase, Neville believes Arsenal should be rolling over West Ham. How dare the East Londoners successfully put up so much resistance. Apparently nobody told him, and the many other relics from the nineties and noughties, that Arsene no longer has the cream of French talent at his disposal. Since 2005, when Arsenal began selling off the Invincibles to pay for the new stadium; City, Chelsea and United each spent nearly 1 billion on transfers while Arsene was left to scrounge for bargains in the 2nd and 3rd tier bins.
As if to make mockery of Neville and his ilk, the Arsenal begin the 2nd half at high tempo putting the Hammers under immediate pressure. A 47th minute shot by Monreal is on target. In response West Ham counter attack but Arsenal recover the ball and Danny Welbeck breaks away forcing Zabaletta to make a 2-footed tackle to bring him down. Only a yellow card. Lucky bugger in my opinion. In the ensuing two minutes Arsenal are able to pin West Ham into the final-third resulting in corner after a corner and they finally break in the 51st minute. From what seems to be a training ground routine, Xhaka loops the ball in the region of the penalty spot for Monreal to drive home. Arsenal go in search of the 2nd goal, and on the 56th minute Ramsey blasts a shot from just outside the box to the left of Hart.
As is evident most of this season, the current Arsenal team is not set-up nor does it have purely defensively-oriented players who can hold out for 40 minutes and eke out a 1:0 win. It was therefore predictable that once West Ham decide to release the proverbial handbrake they had a good chance of getting an equalizer. Around the 60th minute mark Moyes brings on Chicharito and there is a palpable uptick in the offensive pressure. For nearly two minutes the Arsenal defense is under sustained pressure. A shot on goal is fisted out by Ospina but the ball is recovered by the Hammers and is pinged to Arnautovic who drives home low and hard to the left of our Colombian.
Six minutes after the equalizer Wenger makes an offensive substitution, Aubameyang for Iwobi who did not have the best of games operating from the wide right midfield position. Arsenal’s attacking game begins to overwhelm West Ham’s valiant defending. 71st minute, Xhaka’s long range effort forces a save from Hart. 7 minutes later Danny’s fierce curling shot, from the left just outside the box, brings the best save of the game from the former England number one. At the 81st minute, Ramsey lets fly from a similar position, and between keeper and defender, they conspire to let the shot sail uncontested into the back of the net. Four minutes later, a neat build up play in the box (involving a series of short snappy passes that the English pundits love to criticize) results in Lacazette getting a good look in the whites of Hart eyes and he makes no mistake. To rub salt in the wound another repeat of those short passes and Ramsey assists Lacazette to his 2nd and Arsenal’s 4th.
How this win fits in the bigger picture
So in summary, Arsenal had to work very hard and be patient to eventually hand a clear defeat to a very spirited West Ham team. In the process the much reviled Arsene Wenger, who the Arsenal super-bloggers and podcasters are now happy to confess they are glad to see him gone, has led his team to a new record in the PL era, the most points at home in a season, 44 so far. So despite not having the budget of City, Chelsea and United, who for 13 years have consistently and conspicuously outspent Arsenal and in the process recruited the best possible players available, Arsene was still able to put out a competitive team who, this season, for some reason was only able to excel at home.
Yet none of the critics, who constantly criticize and undermine Wenger, whether they are from the mainstream media or bloggers and podcasters, never ever mention how unfair the competition has been. Discounting United who can legitimately claim they generate their wealth from their commercial operations, both City and Chelsea have been allowed by the PL to flout financial fair-play by allowing their owners to use their non-football wealth (a Russian oligarch who captured his countries metal resources by unseemly means and a Gulf Emirate using their sovereign wealth fund) to spend infinitely on buying players and paying huge salaries. This is not only a danger to Arsenal but to all clubs in the PL; as we witness the increasing division of the league into a system of haves and have-nots with the title a realistic prospect for only 2 clubs year-in, year-out. City won this year’s title by early April. If Pep has his way with more money from the Emirs, he will win it again next year by mid-March. As long as this spending disparity is allowed, Arsenal will find it hard to compete, whoever is the new manager.
Not only is the financial disparity a fundamental obstacle to a more competitive Arsenal, but none of the mainstream media or the bloggers and podcasters are willing to discuss the role of poor and biased officiating as a factor in Arsenal’s poor results on the road in particular. I have spent copious hours researching and publishing evidence of referee bias vs Arsenal particularly in Penalties-Against. Just last week, it was brought to public attention that it took nearly two seasons for Spurs, to have a penalty-against. In comparison, in 2016-17 season alone, Arsenal had 10 penalties against. Despite one prominent referee publishing a book describing his use of game-management to avoid making the tough calls and another ref disclosing publicly the use of hush money to keep referees quiet when they retire, none of the mainstream media, nor our bloggers and podcasters have given Wenger an ounce of support in his call for VAR to make the refereeing more transparent by using modern technology. The fact that the PGMOL could reject use of VAR for the next season without a voice of protest from the media tells you how useless most football journos are. To me they are very much in bed with the referees and the PL establishment and have no interest in changing the status-quo.
Thank heavens, the rotund, corpulent Lee Mason was not as terrible today as most PL referees have been this season. Apart from that phantom corner awarded to West Ham as well as letting Zabaletta off with merely a yellow card for stopping Welbeck’s arguably clear goal-scoring opportunity, he decided to referee a game of football rather than trying to manage the game in favor or against one team or the other. No thanks to our bloggers and podcasters who have done nothing to support Wenger in overcoming the resistance of the PGMOB to fair and transparent refereeing.
Yes, it was sweet to see West Ham get a beating but at the end of the day the bastards in the PL, the PGMOL and the media (mainstream and other-wise) won the battle vs Arsene and Arsenal Football Club. They have succeeded in keeping alive a dreadful system of unfair financial competition and of biased, incompetent refereeing. The bitterness of this defeat will not go away easily but hopefully we can turn turn it into an awful weapon for the club going forward.
Positively Arsenal 
Marvellous Shotts – I did not see the game so the description of action much appreciated. The Ammers have been a bloody nuisance at the Ems over the years and it needed a decisive late finish to make sure they were good and dead.
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There is a lot wrong in the game in this country in the way it is run and financed, and Arsenal seem often to be on the receiving end f it.
As Wenger says, let’s hope the club keep in mind it’s values as they move on, I am sure one day he will elaborate on that point.
The media are a huge issue as well, the article below lays bare the double standards in their constant praise of a club who has won less than arsene Wenger in their entire existence. If only Wenger had been treated this kindly by journalists, maybe those in our fanbase unable to think for themselves may have been less quick to turn
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2018/apr/22/tottenham-manchester-united-cup-semi-final-mauricio-pochettino?CMP=twt_gu
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My view of the game was that we started on pure emotion. Our passing was much quicker, but because of the emotion we lacked a little control. Eventually that emotion started to dry up and West Ham began to emerge as we started to consolidate. I didn’t think we were slow or nervous or overawed.
In fact, I think this was ideal preparation before the semi final. The players would have learned that emotion is great to have, but it cannot be overwhelming. They have to maintain focus and play till the end to overcome tough opposition.
Far better than simply rolling over the opposition.
Also, Danny Welbeck was very good. Pity he couldn’t get a goal, but the longer he stays fit, the more he starts to resemble a very capable forward indeed.
On the war with the cheats. I think it best that we not think that they beat Wenger in this battle. They would have won had Wenger joined them. Wenger remains undefeated. We must continue that fight. Arsene Wenger told us to. Words to live by if ever there were any.
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fins (on the previous thread)
The reason Bob Wilson or anyone else for that matter, was not rolled out by the club to defend Wenger was that any reasonable defense would have to conclude that the wide gap in finances was a major factor. Which would then lead to direct assaults on them and Kroenke for not emptying their respective bank accounts in a stupid (and ultimately self defeating) attempt to keep up with the Joses (and the Mansours and Abramovichs)
Of course there’s an angle of self preservation there. But I’m loath to criticise it because for all purposes they are the club. And so they were protecting the club too. Wenger took it on because he loves the club and loves his job. I feel ok with that. If you start to give too much importance to how stupid (or nasty) people behave, there’s never any happiness to be found.
As for giving Wenger a seat at the table. I am certain that will follow once Wenger decides he isn’t going to manage anymore. Right now he seems to feel he’s still got it in him to manage a club, and I agree with that completely. Once he retires, I think he could walk in and claim his rightful throne. Something like Cruyff had at Barcelona.
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Shard
I hope so!
On the Great Bob:
As Mandy describes above, PR or Propaganda to be more accurate works which is why it exists. Whilst respecting and even admiring the power of the stiff upper lip we can consider that others (here & elsewhere) have felt that the club have at times been too passive in light of the R&W marketing campaign (with one or two blaggers on the payroll – this is simply modern Marketing, nothing “sinister” about it unless you agree with Bill Hicks…), and also the attack from Brand Scudamore which is nothing but marketing! “The Greatest Story Ever Told”, “Theatre” etc. A hollow vessel. Nevermind the Football.
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My impression of Bob Wilson is he is not going to be rolled out by or on behalf of anyone.
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I understand the frustration fins. And share it. But I also understand the club’s view, especially because stiff upper lip has long been our policy. With the exception of PHW who I thought could be wonderfully abrasive while being the typical old school aristocrat.
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Haha. Maybe rolled out has a negative connotation. Know that was not intended. I love Bob Wilson.
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‘On the war with the cheats. I think it best that we not think that they beat Wenger in this battle. They would have won had Wenger joined them. Wenger remains undefeated. We must continue that fight. Arsene Wenger told us to. Words to live by if ever there were any.’
Bravo.
Goes well with thoughts of how we will think of Wenger in years ahead. Little doubt, every one of us here badly wanted him to crush his foes in the most comprehensive manner, bring back titles, and land the champions league.
Wenger said there’s no machine to measure love, and there’s also no machine to measure how badly I wanted him to smash Ferguson, Mourinho, Pgmol, financial dopers, the worst critics’ etc.
I didn’t get what I wanted so badly, the literally thousand plus hours I must have spent on the internet defending him and the club (and attacking pgmol et al), particularly on the grounds of finances in the game not being properly accounted for, well…none of that gets settled the way I hoped for, by the thing no one can argue with- clear, undeniable victory in the shape of title wins.
You can argue against title wins, of course, and that’s something I have done extensively, but it’s always done in the knowledge that the other side can dismiss you with a laugh and effectively say ‘ah, whatever, argument, schmargument- this here’s the title and it feels goooood’. They do that, you can keep arguing, make excellent points perhaps, but it’s not exactly good for the soul or anything else.
So that’s that, but I don’t feel dismayed. (My arguments didn’t predict title wins anyway; they hoped for it but said the odds were not good.)
We did not get the argument-killer; we have to live with the popular acceptance, for instance, that there is little comparison between ultimate winner Ferguson and Wenger; but it’s ok, I think, and might even be more fitting for it to be the way it is, where your own thoughts will have to do on Wenger’s strengths and achievements.
Personally, I hope to avoid arguments in the future about Wenger’s tenure. I’ve learned there is very little satisfaction to be had that way, and without the prospect of some future stunning success there is likely to be even less.
So it will have to be a largely personal thing, the place where you can regard his time in a way that feels right to you, away from the mess of bullshit, noise, nonsense and disputed reality.
The earlier ultra-successful years would not have made that necessary; the latter probably do; today I feel alright about that.
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One simply doesn’t mess with the Heavy Bob.
Especially when supplied with armour piercing rounds.
The order to fire would not be required.
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< Which is why he has answered the call/request/impulse to front up on behalf of the Royal Arsenal before the cameras before.
Most notably in defence of the gaffer around about 2014.
He did it.
(Not me).
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One way to gain the support of the blaggers and the football agent consultancies/broadcasters:
Nevermind the Burnley manager, or bungtastic fingers of the Exotland Narional Mangaer, the former England Manager now employed by Red & White
Neil Warnock?
Any takers??
Perhaps it is best to show the ‘stiff upper lip’ to those who model their lives and careers upon Alan Partdrige (a satirical creation over twenty years old now).
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< Scotland national manager
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mandy as I said yesterday re that guardian article about not judging spurs or poch on trophies alone, its 100% correct, how can you judge them on something they don’t have, or even come close to having for over a decade now.
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one thing that maddened me over the clubs handling of the Wenger news was that they gave column inches on Arsenal.com to Ian Wright, allowing that hypocrite to cry his crocodile tears for Arsene was completely wrong and not the values of the club that Wenger speaks about
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next season’s home kit?
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Am I lucky or what? Sometime last midweek my good friend Andy metaphorically begged me to do the West Ham post-game report. None of us knew the match would have so much importance and would provide a magnificent opportunity to record the truth about Wenger’s achievements and to expose the lies and hypocrisy of the mainstream media and the fake support of most Arsenal bloggers and supporters. Unlike my routine for the most of this season, when I have pretty much ignored them, pre-game I read most of the big newspapers and review the blogs and podcasts. I can assure you dear readers that with the exception of Untold Arsenal, not one single outlet disclosed much less disclose the two biggest obstacles that faced Arsenal over the recent past:
(1) Massively outspent by City, Chelsea and United. No financial fairplay.
(2) Bias incompetent refereeing. Not one discussed points lost by clearly erroneous refereeing decisions. None disclosed that despite Wenger’s campaign for VAR the PGMOL refuses to implement technology to arrive at more accurate transparent decisions.
Yet these yahoos are convinced that Wenger-out is better for the club. If you believe that nonsense then I have a bridge to sell you.
As I tweeted: “#Fake_Journos #Fake_Bloggers #Fake_Podcasters Singing fake praise for Wenger.”
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As club captain, many people are understandably keen to hear from Per Mertesacker on Arsene Wenger’s decision to stand down at the end of the season.
The World Cup winner spoke to the media after Sunday’s 4-1 win against West Ham and discussed the boss, the players’ response, delivering the perfect send-off and facing Atletico Madrid.
This is what Per had to say:
on Friday’s announcement…
We were surprised, first of all, and then then emotional and sad. You can feel that he has got a lot left in him in terms of the power he gave to the team. The message he gave to the team was that we want to win every single game and leave in style. We, as players, gave immediate feedback that we feel the responsibility to fight for him every time we step on the field.
on Per’s rallying cry to players…
The team responded to his announcement fairly quickly. Everyone was surprised and sad. We had an atmosphere of, ‘We want to do it for you to send you off in the best possible way’. It is not about a single person, this club is built on a lot of people who worked here for a long time and he was one of those. His story is unique so we want to give him the best possible send off because in one way we are responsible for the situation as well.
on whether the players feel responsible…
We sit here in one boat and we have not been that successful over the past couple of years. We won trophies, we won the FA Cup, but in terms of achieving Champions League football every season we have not done it. In terms of top-four finishes, we are not able to achieve it this season. We have been outperformed by other teams and you have to admit that. There are a lot of people responsible, not only the manager. It has not sunk in enough to say we are guilty, but we are as well responsible for the situation.
on Wenger’s stamina…
He has power in himself. He is ready to step up and stand in front of the media every single time we cannot produce a performance. I am delighted we gave one answer today but there are more answers to come in the next couple of weeks.
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/well-come-together-let-him-leave-style#MdhggxWH8z7v8e7y.99
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/well-come-together-let-him-leave-style#WzZssSsOfC7iVkYf.99
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Our second half hopes realised. More v. the russians pse.
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I like Iwobi a lot. He has a lot of great qualities and I find the criticism he gets in many cases quite harsh. The only area where he needs to improve on is his finishing which he does rush a bit. As he matures his decision making will improve but look at the game on Sunday again; his passing was excellent overall, the way he created space and his ability to hold onto the ball often meant that he relieved pressure on Bellerin. And he did cover Bellerin who played much of the game as a right winger. He also has pace and the ability to ran with the ball and set up counter attacks. If he gets his decision making in the final third on track he will be a devastating player. I like his attitude, his work rate and his ability on the ball. Wenger knows it too and turns to him in many big games.
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Shotts that is a brilliant and hyper detailed review thanks muchly.
At the end of the day we played well which will never be enough for some, had another dodgy ref, but one anyway.
I am still gutted by the News about Arsene and I will never forgive any of the Backstabbers who pertain to be followers of the club. The two faced wright will always be on my hitlist.
We again managed to lose a in form player because of the good old English game, I feel very sorry for Mo, when will they learn we can’t have a good national side while we continue to play in the dark ages.
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Won not one
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one of Iwobi’s biggest problems is that Ramsey is having a top season, so his haters had to find someone else to attack non stop regardless of how they played.
I fear that if Iwobi does not get confidence in his shooting that it will do for him at AFC, if it clicks with him he will be a top player, with wenger leaving, he has lost an ally and it might make it much harder for him to make it at Arsenal. I’m sure he will have a big career, be it with AFC or elsewhere. When you see him play for Nigeria, he plays freely, with confidence, and he looks so good, like he does when he has a good game for us.
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Confidence having a positive correlation with performance? How radical a thought, ed.
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afcstuff@afcstuff
David Dein on Wenger: “Over the last few years, I know for a fact that he has been approached by some of the biggest clubs in the world – Real Madrid, PSG and even the England national team. There will be no shortage of offers. I personally had people asking to speak to him.”
David Dein on Wenger: “At the end of last season I was discussing with him: ‘Arsene, what do you want to do? Are you going to stay or leave? He was a bit undecided. In the end, I told him that he loved the club too much. He made his own mind up and decided to stay.”
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shard I know fully what confidence can do to performance, and how a manager’s confidence in you can give you the confidence to perform at your best, just as believing that the manager does not trust you can totally fuck you up and make it impossible to play freely
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Mkhitaryan out of EL game on Thursday, Jack should be fit, Ozil will be assessed as he missed WHU with flu
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Surely letting the players know they are useless is what motivates them ed. I know because I’ve heard it said on twitter by original, genuine, match going season ticket holding important fans.
Aah forget it. I think Iwobi is a major talent and I think we’ll start to see that more and more now. I don’t believe any manager we hire is going to be stupid enough to let a true homegrown talent like Iwobi leave. Nor would he be allowed to.
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reports that Elneny is out for 3 weeks
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well shard we don’t know what any new manager will do, who will be signed, who he will not want, who will not want him, etc.
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Ben Dinnery
Verified account @BenDinnery
20m20 minutes ago
#Egypt assistant manager Mahmoud Fayez is confident Mo Elneny will be fit for this summer’s @FIFAWorldCup: “I contacted Elneny after he finished his X-ray and thankfully his injury is not serious and he will be out of action for three weeks.”
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the asb say he don’t really care
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Further to assessments and scans on Sunday and Monday, we can confirm that Mo Elneny has sustained ligament damage to his left ankle.
We are hoping that Mo will available for Arsenal again this season and we are keeping in regular contact with the Egyptian Football Association.
The midfielder was injured just before half-time during Sunday’s 4-1 home victory over West Ham United.
Further updates will be made in due course.
Copyright 2018 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source.
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/team-news-update-mohamed-elneny#vivvbd6midW0eRC1.99
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/team-news-update-mohamed-elneny#uaf1b1DMEB30jdA1.99
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Jonas Hector:
—Germany’s first-choice left-back
—Linked to Liverpool and Barcelona in the past
—On the brink of relegation from the Bundesliga
Extends his Cologne contract to 2023
“FC Koln have helped me go from the 4th division to the national team, it would have been easy to move, but it wouln’t have felt right”
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Shotta
That’s a magnificent review. Thank you.
(I’d written a whole load but have now deleted it. I’m still bitter at Thems, so I’ll just shut up).
Shotta, I hope things have moved on in terms of your rebuilding in the Caribbean.
Passenal, thanks for writing about your ‘at the match’ experiences. I’m sorry you have to hear that geezer behind you, and thankfull for your analysis on the games and our players.
Thanks also to the regular commentators here on PA. You help me with sanity issues. (banned smileys).
What a great win that was.
COYG
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Athletico ticket safely gathered in
Such are the benefits of EasyJet delaying flight !!!
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anicoll5
Sorry to be padantic (There’s only one PG) but it’s
Atletico (Atlético Madrid,Athletic Club de Madrid) Madrid Formed by Basque students who had moved to Madrid. they used to share the same spelling but that was changed sometime ago.
Athletic (Athletic Club)Bilbao who formed by ship and railworkers and students who returned to the area from England.
Got the education from a born and bred Madrid ‘Atleti’ who’s family is Basque.
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I’ve found it weird over last decade or so that I’ve heard so little- nothing in fact- from Nick Hornby on Wenger/Arsenal.
Now he’s spoken. A well written, interesting piece, as you’d expect, but alas zero reference to the role of finances in the last ten years.
In fact there is a reference, where he implies Ferguson found a way to beat richer rivals where Wenger couldn’t, but leaves out that the gap between Ferguson and those richer teams was much smaller, at times barely there at all, while for us the gap was much bigger, including to Utd.
How do smart seemingly very reasonable people get that wrong?
Or maybe why? He didn’t want reality to get in the way of dreaming perhaps?
Who knows. But reality is coming, is likely to include that same financial gap for a long time, and so there’s little compelling reason to believe the biggest dreams won’t be dashed again.
Maybe his argument is that he just wants a fresh slate the better to dream with for a while. Many of the more reasonable people who want change, in the end, when pushed, will concede that is their main stance. A maybe, a probably not, an extremely tough ask, but at least something different and new.
He certainly hasn’t made that clear, though, when it would have been easy to do so.
http://www.espn.co.uk/football/club/arsenal/359/blog/post/3469090/arsene-wenger-had-to-leave-arsenal-says-nick-hornby
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Ian
That kind of challenge against an Arsenal player is not a simple foul, which can be missed, but when is made by an Arsenal player (in the pelanty area) is definitely a pelanty.
usually refs apply the inverse logic. Hard to give as a 100% foul outside the area, understandably missed in a high octane moment during a football match as on Sunday, and those calls are usually even harder to give in the area. Understandably so.
Unless you are a club like AFC competing under the auspices of the discredited idiot Riley who’s done so much for the English game and his circle of trust at the pgMOB.
L.O.L.
Wink wink wink
Etc.
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Rich these intelligent people who seem to miss out on relevant facts, do not do so out of ignorance of the facts, they do it by choice. Its fits a stance they have taken, and are afraid to admit they were wrong, can’t be losing face you know.
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I have since the Wenger news came out, discussed the issue of who is likely or possible for his replacement, always from the view point of what the club might do. But it only dawned on me this evening that I haven’t a scooby as to who I want to be our next manager.
Gazidis made it clear the criteria our next manager/head coach will have to meet for the job
play attacking football
promote from the academy
share the values and goals of Arsenal, namely agree to work within a self sustaining model
this will rule out a lot of those already mentioned by the media, such as Simeone and Dyche, etc.
So for me there is no clear front runner for the job, thinking about it, Rafa seems to meet the criteria more than most.
who do you guys prefer as Wenger’s replacement, that meets the criteria that Gazidis set out.
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Ed
I sure can’t think of any candidates who match that criteria.
Jardel, who seemed to me a defensive, counter-attack coach when I was first aware of him, oversaw a Monaco team last year who certainly scored plenty of goals and used a number of younger players (though nearly all of them were bought young from other teams in a nigh on unrepeatable run of hitting the jackpot with such transfers, rather than academy products).
Whether he actually fits, though, I don’t know. There are a number of (big) teams out there who score plenty of goals but, at heart, are definitely not attacking and do a great deal of their damage, particularly in big games, through counter attacks, and then boost their scoring stats a lot against small teams, with a modified approach, and thanks to having far superior players to most/ nearly all teams in league. Mou’s title-winning Madrid a perfect example.
A true attacking coach is, for me, someone who looks to take initiative nearly all the time, even against teams who are as strong or stronger. They want a lot of technical skilful players in team. Play football out from defence. Commit numbers forward.
In short, not a clue who we will go for!
The only teams I’m sure play football like that are giant clubs with the biggest budgets in their leagues.
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Giovanni Van Bronckhurst is the outside bet for me.
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I think the problem is I prefer Arsene everyone else is just second best.
The new manager coming in will not love ARSENAL as much, will not wear ARSENAL like a jacket and will not seem part of the family.
Ivan has made the criteria clear and I agree with it we obviously want good football, youth promotion and not to go bankrupt but who will achieve this and success at the time I just don’t know let alone get into a position where I want.
I’m starting along the process by knowing who I don’t want and those I don’t think will fit.
But here it is although the wobs will hate this I trust Ivan and the team.
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well Ian if its someone who is part of the family then it has to be one of our ex players
Gio
pv4
adams
bergkamp
garde
henry
per
arteta
pires
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Outside bet
Wedded to his philosphy
Lover of beautiful football
Work with what he has
Promoter of youth
Not all about him
Maurizio Sarri
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Just having this discussion on another site ed. I picked the Schalke coach. Domenico Tedesco. He’s just 32. I saw a video on the bundesliga youtube channel explaining his tactics and how he switched them to be effective against teams that park the bus. I don’t claim any tactical knowledge but it just seemed like he would be a good fit. Also he speaks 5 languages like Wenger. He’d fit in with the German theme at the club. Wouldn’t cause too much disruption with demanding changes to players and staff.
But, then I realised that much of that could be said of Mikel Arteta. Except we don’t know whether he’s ready for the responsibility and what his tactical plans are (His ideology will obviously fit)
I think I’m now wedded to the idea of a young head coach rather than a big name guy. This young coach should fit into the culture of the club and while working in the existing structure he should have the personality to impose his own ideas.
I think we should interview Arteta, and if he impresses in the interview, the job should be his. The idea of Arteta as manager and Mertesacker as academy manager fills me with all sorts of glee, and it would be a fitting legacy of Arsene.
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Seems like Luis Enrique is the bookies man, very successful with the elite, very attacking, but a bit unproven elsewhere? Plus I read a report even Chelsea were put off by his wage demands.
Allegri, think he can play attacking football, clearly a decent coach. Will he leave Juve, and if he does, would he chose Chelsea? Decent option
Ancelotti, experienced, what I have seen, he can attack. Not sure what he would be like with young prospects, don’t know enough on that side of him. But he could be a very good option in prepared to make ready a younger man.
Arteta has Arsenal destiny written all over him, wouldn’t surprise me in the least. Saw a tweet suggesting Arteta working with Xabi Alonso, interesting opinion, and pretty put there
Rogers, cannot see it.
Then a few wild cards like favre, assorted Germans, Jardim Rafa
Wouldn’t be surprised with any of them, if they go for experience, Carlo plus an ex player?,unless we soon hear interesting news from Juve
Basically, don’t have the faintest idea or even preference, just find it hard to imagine club without Wenger. But wouldn’t be at all surprised if the club have a very good idea, even at this stage.
Are bookies usually right on these things?
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^. Meant to say Arteta and alonso pretty out there
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