Wenger Stands Up For Himself and the Team

Okay. I'm no genius, but this is what Arsenal should do: Buy a quality goalkeeper. Sell Rosicky, Denilson, and Arshavin (horrible attitude, great talent but needs to go. obviously does not give it its all for the team. The team doesn't play for Arshavin and he is too old to understand that) with that money buy players in the same position but of higher caliber and blam. Arsenal wins the EPL. Oh yeah fire the medical staff. They are HORRIBLEEEE

Lest you forget, Fabianski and Szczesny played great before they got injured. Almunia's gone in the summer, but I feel confident in our Holy Polish Duo. I agree with Denilson leaving, but only agree with Arshavin leaving if we get Hazard- likely, but you never know given the hyper-inflated state of the market and Wenger being Wenger.

I just feel Arshavin is not a team player sometimes and for Arsenal's system to flow well you have to be one. Hazard is quite something. I feel everyone is focused on Neymar and Ganso but Hazard is going to be a good one.

What quality keeper is out there on the market? There's absolutely not reason to spend money on GK with both Fabianski and Szczesny as very capable young keepers with a high ceiling, and there are much greater needs: centreback and striker, and midfield depth. I'm sure you'd recommend Real to have sold Iker before too when he came in unproven during the last decade. It's hard to criticize others keepers when your own can't even protect his near post.

From the view of an outsider, what Wenger is displaying is the stress of expectation. We fired Frank Rijkaard after two trophyless seasons, replacing with a man who won 6 trophies in his very first season. Last year we "only" won the Liga, and people were looking askance at Guardiola.

This game is brutal.

Wenger has performed a pretty amazing task in making Arsenal a perennial contender, while keeping overall debt low and building a core of young players. The problem, I think, is expectation. He's right in that the players are young. But the naysayers are right in that Arsenal is a few purchases away from silver, and Wenger won't make them.

There's also bad luck. I look at our game against Shakhtar. Two of the 5 goals were lucky, in that deflections set them up perfectly. And they wet the bed three times. If things are different, people are talking about us being in danger, instead of looking forward to the semi-finals.

This game is brutal.

Would you rather be Arsene Wenger or Roberto Mancini? Huge squad, huge payroll, lots of veteran talent, still no silver, with the only remaining chance being the FA Cup. Does that put him one up on Wenger? Not to me. If all that buying that much talent gets you is the FA Cup, you're due some change back.

Support your club, support your coach. He's right. You didn't get beaten by slouches, except in the Carling Cup. It happens. We lost to soon to be relegated Hercules. If he has a plan, and it appears that he does, let him play it out, I say. Fans expect silver, management expects silver. But winning silver is really, really hard. Some back line help and a quality striker make you a much better side next season. Good luck.

What we need is a quality medic.
Someone that can diagnose and remedy our quality centre back and quality striker's injuries...

Vermaelen and Van Persie scored how many goals between them last season? In the first three months.

I think you are right.

A quality backup center back and a quality striker.

Not winning trophies for 6 years can it be considered as some kind of success? When Chelsea or ManU has any season without any trophy it is considered a failure. The same goes for Liv, Barca, Real, BayernM or AC Milan. Maybe Wenger doesn't think that Arsenal should be seen as an elite club (even though financially it is in the top 5 in the world) but maybe he just doesn't want to take responsability and make us swallow that the club should be a experiment and training ground for young talents. This lack of ambition is unbelievable. At the end of the day who would remember and care about the fact that Arsenal reached the CL knock-out stage maybe 8yrs in a row. I would exchange this "consistency" any day of the year for one CL trophy. Liverpool did it recently and will be memorized in the history of football.

Liverpool hasn't won a trophy in 5 years, and are in a worse position than we are now.

Real's last trophy was 4 years ago, and that is in a traditionally 2 horse league.

AC have gone without a trophy in 4 years as well.

Arsenal fans expect too much.

Difference is that for those teams those years are considered as failures whereas for Arsenal it is the same excuse every year:

The team needs time to mature. We have improve from last season...

you easily forget that in all those trophyless years of the teams you just outlined, they've all had at least a couple of changes in manager.

And how has that helped their cause?

Changing managers doesn't improve anything.

i think its success that we manage to stay consistent and in the top 4 every single season, even when we have bad seasons. when clubs like liverpool and bayern have bad seasons they turn into midtable teams. that and the fact that we dont have a huge funding like real and cheslea do yet we still manage to be on par with them most seasons

Yeah, Barca really demand "success" every year when they went trophy-less for five years...

Yeah screw you, at least it isn't Six about to be SEVEN lolololol

That wasn't a diss at Barca. That was actually a compliment: that Barca as a club stayed sane, believed in their homegrown talent and made excellent transfer decisions, during those trophy-less years and built one of the greatest teams we'll ever see on a pitch together.

But, instead you prove yourself to be a typical Barca dittohead that acts rabidly against any critique of the Holy Barca FC.

You tend to forget that alongwith their homegrown talent they had spent quite a decent bit of money too. Can you say the same about Arsenal?

Wenger's philosphy, while commendable, does not work in the real world. Barca were blessed with a world class youth system, which they always had. Unless Arsenal buys a couple of world class players and proven title winners it will always be a case of 'too close yet too far' for them.

They need leaders in the team, but they have none at the moment. They dont have anyone to rally them on when the going gets tough like during the time of the invincibles when they had the likes of Henry, Vieira, Pire and Lehmann...

@sairax
man you are as delusional as wenger!!!wenger's talking all that crap just to save his job and for an arsenal blogger to actually take his side and not accept the reality is poor..maybe arsene doesn't care if they don't win another trophy for few more years but has he got no responsibility towards fans who have grown tired of waiting for this team to grow up?he says," If Manchester United is better than us, we have to say congratulations" but are they really???its the worst united side of the decade probably and will still win atleast 1 major trophy,maybe even 2!!!!if a united side with 7 defenders beats your team by 2 goals,you have to take responsibility.for me its time for change at emirates!!!!

Hum, it has been going on here that people tend to defend Wenger. I am not saying that he is a bad manager, it has already been well documented what this man has brought to the team as much as the negative effect he has brought to this team during the last 6 seasons...

If he was truly great, he would opt for a change in his way of thinking. I am not saying that his philosophy is not great, just that he needs to change his approach regarding the signings as example. Hum, but wait, if I say that than the guy named ''Martin'' will say: I really don't see who Arsenal should add? We are full, we are this, we are that... And yet, season after season, Arsenal is left wide open due to injury and unable to compete for the biggest honor. We are full of strikers? Chamakh is not the player he used to be, Van Persi is injury prone and there is an over reliance on him, Walcott plays well, then plays averagely during a long period of time before he gets injured and Bendtner is Bendtner. always the same story with little to few things that changes. Next season we will hopefully get in the semi-finals of the Champions league and we will get eliminated by Barcelona again and maybe this time around Fabregas will be with them and our ''typical Fabregas role kind of player'' shall be Nasri if not injured or a 20 years old Jack Wilshere (by the time he gets there he'll be 20). song will be unavaible for the second leg as usual, we will have a problem regarding the goalkeeper and stuff and stuff...

If being among the top 4 in England consists of success, than why do Spanish teams that finish third or fourth do not receive this kind of recognition? Valencia could be as successful as Arsenal and yet, people only talk about Real and Barcelona. You don't have to win season after season, but at least, you have to take the trophies that are given to you (hum hum *Carling Cup*)...

If we did win the Carling Cup, people would still say that it was 'only' the Carling Cup.

I don't think its more signings we need, but Wenger really needs to work on his motivational skills.

Don't assume what Martin is going to say. You can reply to an actual response from him but don't make up something that he wouldn't even say and then base your entire argument on that.

Success is relative and its based on expectations, and frankly, the expectations for this season have not been met. Wenger expressed often how winning a title is a top priority for this season, and he showed it in his managerial decisions: sending out majority first-teamers in carling cup games. The team showed its growth and capability this season when it took down barcelona and chelsea... and very intelligent people said arsenal might be better than united or chelsea. My point is: we set a goal, showed immense capability for achieving that goal, and then we choked. Now I completely agree that the season is not over and we do stand an outside chance of winning the league, but thats where we started the season isn't it?... as outside contenders. We went from contenders, to title challengers, to the team to beat, then faltering to where are stand now. The team being shit is neither true not as frustrating as the team being good enough then not meeting expectations. And I would have really liked Wenger to acknowledge that rather than look at the few obvious positives we gained from this season. We have a summer to evaluate growth and assess expectations (as we do our best to distract ourselves from the imminent "transfer sagas"), now is the time for acknowledgment, and some assurance that we won't continue this trend would have been nice. Addressing the growing, almost infectious, concerns of the fans would be a good place to start. Oh well...

As fans we would like him to point out those shortcomings and acknowledging them, but as a leader and manager of a team it's not his place to in the public. That's something for him to say to his players behind closed doors. Out in the public, he has to present confidence and defend his players. The man isn't an idiot, he sees what has happened this past month and a half, and I'm sure well understands the situation the team is in. Put as a manager you have to defend to your players from the media/fans, support them, and push forward. Especially now at the end of the season, and with a team many consider psychologically "weak", he has to make them believe they've made progress and are close to that ultimate goal, if not this year then next year, rather than join in with the mob.

Does anywone really, truly expect Arsene Wenger to come out and say anything else to the press? He never has, and never will.
And his words and actions are not always the same. The big tell will be winning the league or not, and what happens in the summer, not Arsene's words.
It's always been that way with him.

bla bla bla arsenal is S-H-I-T & u know it. Useless read.

we know it ;) you must be really bored to be on our blog then. does that really say anything for you ? probably not. could'nt find another blog to try act tough on ?

Haha so true. If you're gonna comment in someone else's blog that isn't your teams, at least do it respectfully.

But your read is great!

Always using the youth as an excuse for failure. But it's been 6 years now and you would have expected the team to mature (remember the awful carling cup final?). And obviously when you sell experienced players and buy young talents the age average will remain low. Silly argument from Wenger.

The term failure depends on what you are aiming for.

Arsenal succeeded in staying in the top 4, despite what many pundits predicted before the season began.
I think that would count as success, no?

Frustration has clearly got to most arsenal supporters this year. That comes in even the most successful of years but perspective really has been lost. We could have been over the hill & far away by now. As it is we are trailing behind in 2nd when most predicted man city chelsea & Liverpool & even spuds would top us with all our so called failings & deficiencies. The same people claiming we wouldn't come anywhere with these players now can't understand how we've not won the league or anything else. We've competed. With less resouces, we've competed & up to this point bettered the expectations of most.
I can understand how those of us who have experienced the glory days feel more expectant but we don't have a right to the title & have continued to challenge and in changing times which have left us at a disadvantage.

Sairax, I don't know if youve been following football as long as you've supported arsenal but to believe there's only a tiny chance of winning the title shows a little inexperience. This game can change very quickly & dramatically. 7 points is so misleading. We win our games, we win the league!

Has the season been a disappointment? no. Have the past few weeks been disappointing and frustrating? yes. But thats the problem of such a long season, you can barely remember the beginning by the end. Is being in second disappointing since we could be top? Sure. But a lot of the people complaining about it and the wenger out brigade are the same ones that were saying we were sure to be out of the top 4 this year. No one is denying that we could be better, but the fact that a good number of our own fans predicted we wouldn't even be in this position to begin with in August and are now complaining about it boggles the mind. Remember the beginning of the season? When we labored to a draw at Liverpool and then crushed Blackpool, Man U was going to be the next invincibles, and Chelsea were beating teams by 5 goals easily? Now look at it. We're only behind "god's gift to the planet" Man U by 7 points and Chelsea is fighting for their lives to stay above the two teams that were going to easily knock us out of the top 4 (Man City, Spurs). Do supporters have a reason to be frustrated and upset? Sure they do, but don't make it sound like the whole season has been a failure. I think next year supporters should write down what their expectations are for the season, that way towards the end we can look at it again and see if it really was as disappointing as they some might make it out to be.

Did you notice how Wenger only mentions the three young star players that the team revolve around..... its not their fault that Arsenal haven't achieved at the last, its been the quality, performance and injuries to the rest of the squad that has brought the team to 2nd place - the dire performances of certain individuals in the squad has ruined the season. To name few I'll start with Almunia, Squillaci and Denilson. Then the poor form of clichy, rosicky, etc etc etc. Its an ongoing battle to get over injuries and hoping players will all pull their weight. Other teams buy the quality and problems are solved, Arsenal (Wenger rather) carries on oblivious perhaps crossing his fingers that issues will go away. The team is talented but it has glaring holes that need patching. No excuses for this one.

1) Last year Denilson was a Hell of a player scoring some vital goals, who may forgotten he score the first goal of the season for us, he had a stunning free kick and i can list a few more
2) Squizz was only to be used a a backup
3) Alumunia is only in the goal since or number one and two a currently injured
4) Diaby is one hell of a great player once he is not injured, which is the same for Theo, van persie and Cesc, He was the stand out performer in the France side

Diaby has always been undisciplined and mediocre. I'd love to see him sold, so we can actually use the money and put someone who would take advantage of the opportunities Diaby has been given, but I'm sure Wenger in his reluctance and French bias will never sell him.

hope all you Diaby hater watching the game

I am. He played well today, but he's terribly inconsistent. He's shown flashes before. Let's see him keep it up. My position hasn't changed since the beginning of the season.

use the money and buy someone... ofcourse the one we buy would take advantage of the oppurtunities for sure. This isnt prudence speaking, it your bias against the manager and player. I am not against clearing out what isnt a better fit for the team but to shout out calling for a player's head in the middle of the season is a little illogical. Noones expecting fans to be herded as sheep but to just randomly make a list of who you'd see out and who you'd want in is neurotic

Why not? He's terrible. I support our players and team, but Diaby is a personnel decision we can clearly upgrade from. That's a stance I've had for the past two years. He is either injured or making mental mistakes on the pitch. Neither help the team. Injuries are simply poor luck, but mental mistakes are inexcusable at this level.

I <3 Wenger, btw though.

I agree. I'm crazy disappointed in not winning anything this season, but it's not like we've been crap all year, like Liverpool. We've done really well and just failed to get over that last hurdle (3 times in a few weeks). Everyone who is on the "Wenger out gang" and think we need a wholesale clear out should go over to Arsenal Report and read the article about why Arsenal haven't won anything in 6 years. I'll give Wenger 2 more years and if we still haven't won anything, then we can start discussing whether or not his project is just not working. It would seems though that we're so close and just need either a little more maturity or a couple more players who have what it takes to carry the team on those days when it just isn't clicking. Just look at Barcelona and ManU when Ronaldo was there. How many times have they played horribly and only won because their star man pulled it out of nowhere. We're so close. Keep the faith!

Arsene for Life