Greenlizard0 Weekend Football Thread ** spoilers ** [25th - 27th August 2017]
- Thread starter Cosimo
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Would you prefer that to 2nd in the league and the semi final of the EL?
Soldato
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I was in the Kop today (mate had a spare ticket....), Liverpool were good, but Arsenal made them look amazing. The Gunners just never really got going
I actually have a lot of respect for Ozil coming out and saying this
Not many footballers would
Not many footballers would
Blame us, shout at us, criticize us, but I'm also very disappointed about today's game. We wanted to achieve a positive result before the international break but we were simply not good enough during the 90 minutes and Liverpool deserved the win without a doubt. Usually I'm too angry to post on social media after such frustrating days like today, but I don't want to let this match go uncommented before traveling to the DFB Team. Nevertheless... Gunners, I'm sorry - especially for the fans who travelled all the way up to Liverpool to see us fighting. But we will try everything to improve in the next game and bounce back from the disappointment we are all feeling at the moment
Well I wouldn't say no to Europa League trophy but I wouldn't be overly enthusiastic about it either.
Caporegime
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lol, nothing has changed in a full decade at Arsenal under Wenger...... but we're panicking after 3 games, even though most of us wanted him gone all last season and some of us for 5+ years, apparently wanting him out for the past 5 years is a reaction to the dire performances of only today.
It's hilarious how you can call out other fans for being ignorant, while ignoring how many fans have wanted him gone for years.
Arsenal are a joke, how many completely different squads can we have with completely different midfielders and centrebacks, fullbacks, who all have the exact same tactical, mentality, motivation and physicality problems(and injury/fitness issues) before the massive majority of fans(required to get the board to act) realise it's 100% down to Wenger and not the players.
We offered 180k to Ox, freaking OX, because he had 3-4 half decent games at the end of the season when 7 out of 8 games we played were against teams that had given up for the season and hasn't had more than a few good games per season since he joined, who hasn't progressed as a player, who is disastrous defensively, bad in central midfield, no where near good enough as a winger or a no.10. He, Walcott, Coquelin, these are the players who up to 04/05 didn't get a look in, we'd buy people of their level for cheap, they'd get a few appearances then shipped out, now they are first team and being offered massive deals to stay rather than let them leave.
I've railed against the problems Arsenal have had, it's been 8 years or more and nothing has changed, every issue I highlighted back then and since is still a freaking problem.
Arsenal fans who are happy with this or change their minds after a few wins then change their mind back right after a bad performance are crazy, what has changed in the past 5 years, defenders change, performances don't, disappearing in big games, getting blown out, entire inability to secure a difficult draw, getting thrashed and no ability to shut down the shop and defend as a team, no tactical awareness. Somehow a midfield that has absolutely no clue how to read danger, track runs or get into the dangerous space, since Fabregas left we haven't had a single player who was good at this, Arteta, Song, Coquelin... okay Flamini wasn't bad but he was slow and often decided to stop people getting away with crazy tackles. Flamini being the midfielder we've had in a defensive capacity in donkeys years when he was old, broken, slow and not great is a complete joke. We spent 35mil on a player who is not even half as good as Kante, Casemiro, several dozen midfielders, defensive or more attacking.
It must be bloody annoying. If I was in the management I'd at least have some official/unofficial comms out there. Other sports can be quite open, I have no idea why football can be so closed at times. It's really interesting to hear thought processes and explanations.
Were people having a go at DT in the background? Couldn't make it out.
Were people having a go at DT in the background? Couldn't make it out.
I know this is something Liverpool are leading the way in - we already have a supporters committee that meet with club directors throughout the season and this summer they hired Tony Barrett (a very highly regarded journalist that has very close links to official and unofficial supporters groups/unions) as a Supporter Liaison officer. Our new CEO is very active on twitter too, constantly engaging with supporters, even if 99% of tweets he receives start with "sign...." or "spend some ****ing money".
It's win win for Arsenal Fan TV though - these guys have made an absolute fortune out of Arsenal being a mess.
It's win win for Arsenal Fan TV though - these guys have made an absolute fortune out of Arsenal being a mess.
Associate
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reminds me of houlliers last years. yeah it might get worse for arsenal in the short term if you get rid of him but we still had good times under rafa, Kenny etc and all is good under klopp now. wengers just leading arsenal into a slow slow descent into mid table mediocrity and sticking with him wont ever bring back the glory days. have arsenal even got a director of football or anything now to start easing the transition to a time without wenger?
Soldato
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Late goal down to us, not Wembley - Mauricio Pochettino
Ahhh I was beginning to think where is our usual DM rant and he hasn't disappointed lol.
As for Arsenal TV I guess for some people they get off on it but I've never really bothered paying much attention to them. I think they actually make things worse with so much crap they spout off. The only Arsenal publication I sometimes pay attention to, is the daily cannon.
As for Arsenal TV I guess for some people they get off on it but I've never really bothered paying much attention to them. I think they actually make things worse with so much crap they spout off. The only Arsenal publication I sometimes pay attention to, is the daily cannon.
So when are you lot planning to win a title?? Lol. Personally I think Liverpool are still not quite there yet, top 4 yes but not quite title challengers.
And no we do not have a director of football, Wenger quashed that idea earlier this year. In 2 years time it will be interesting to see who takes over from Wenger, well that depends on if Wenger calls it a day or not. Hopefully by then we will have at least a few candidates to take over. But right now, I don't think any manager worth their salt would touch Arsenal with a bargepole especially with how the board operates.
But the problem is Wenger is staying, he's just been given a new contract, you wipe the slate clean, you don't hold onto last season, or the season before, because..guess what? It doesn't do ****, it just creates a bitter atmosphere, a vicious cycle - going round and round, no one singing off the same page, it's no atmosphere that will actually help the team win.
When Wenger leaves, the same thing will happen, Arsenal will continue fighting for top 4, winning a cup here and there, and it'll continue until theres a concerted effort from board level to please the fans, until the fans make an effort to voice their concerns at the people who can actually get Arsenal over the line with 3 or 4 world class players, it'll just be the same. Arsenal aren't far off, but it takes more than 1 player at ~£50m per summer to get there, 1 top top player a season is keeping your head above water, it's not going above and beyond what is needed. Arsenal are not the only ones as well, there are several clubs that in a similar situation. And they won't win anything either, Spurs, Liverpool, Everton, all of them are pretty similar, within reason obviously. I certainly wouldn't have a go at Klopp or Poch, they're great managers, sometimes money does dictate a lot of what a team can achieve. I think Klopp could have a good chance of doing something good but he has such an advantage over Arsenal at the moment, unity, it's absolutely everything. Until the Arsenal fans can start drawing a line in the sand, which should happen at the start of every season, then this is will just continue.
At the end of the day, I'm fairly neutral when it comes to football, I don't have axes to grind, I say what I see and believe, no matter what club it is. I can tell you now, the fans have created a toxic toxic atmosphere at that club due to ignorance.
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The problems with Arsenal start with the owner. Kroenke does not give a **** whether Arsenal win anything, his only interest is his investment. Spending little to nothing and finishing 4th was perfectly acceptable to him. He knows that you can spend £150m (like City and Utd did) and still not win the league and maybe not even come top 4 - why take that risk? He'll accept a season or two of missing out on the CL because he knows a different manager will put pressure on the club to spend more so he's willing to give Wenger more time.
That said, Wenger's time is well and truly up. I said it at the end of last season, Arsenal are a toxic club and it's reached a stage that no matter what he does it will be wrong. He's lost too many of the supporters now and Arsenal could go on a 5 or 6 game winning run and it will be despite Wenger in their eyes and the second Arsenal drop points, it will be the end of the world again. Sometimes managers just go stale, sometimes players just no longer respond to a manager and both are the case with Wenger now. Henry mentioned it post game, everything is comfortable at Arsenal - yes the odd player gets a bit of criticism but 99% of the **** gets directed at Wenger, those Arsenal players know they're still getting their fat pay cheque and will still be in the side next week.
Great idea but unless you've got one of those men in black memory things then it's pretty unrealistic.
The fans are paying their money to fund the stuff they see though, whilst I agree that they could refuse to go (further adding to the toxicity?) I think the club should do more to connect with the fans - they're clearly a passionate bunch. I wasn't aware of what Pool do until Baz explained it but that is exactly what should be done. Football is so backwards compared to many (most?) sports in some many aspects of the sport and it's ridiculous, especially considering the money involved.
Look at Nascar, the whole show is basically put on to put the fans at the heart of it. For example:
Soldato
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Kroenke out!
Problem is at the top.
Nothing's going to properly change until Kroenke is gone.