I was reading some blogs in the aftermath of both the 3-3 draw against Anderlecht at home and the 1-2 defeat at the Liberty Stadium – it was quite depressing, I must say.
I agree issues seem blatant and it appears they haven’t been addressed for some time; I agree that mistakes look often the same ones we are used to see but come on, WHO ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
All of you who seemingly hold the perfect recipe to solve every issue at the Arsenal: why are you wasting your time blogging here and there instead of being director of something at a football club?
Being more exposed to football via the internet, the telly, podcasts etc does not improve the knowledge of the game, period.
If you don’t know anything about football, watching more football won’t change things – sorry.
Buy this! Buy that!
Do this! Do that!
You silly French c**t, you don’t know what you are doing!
Everyone seems to know football better than Arsène Wenger, nowadays.
It’s insane and I am not sure I can take it any longer.
I enjoy writing my blogs and share my opinions with all of you but I am perfectly aware of my shortages: like many of you, I am a supporter, I played some football and I’ve been a coach at some point but my knowledge of football is nothing compared to any professional.
I can say I am entirely aware of this, can you say the same?
Arsène Wenger makes mistakes like any other manager in the world but he’s the only one who sees his players training day in, day out; he’s the only one who knows every player’s weaknesses and strong points; he is the only man who knows whether a player is worth wearing the shirt and – most important – he is the only man who knows whether a player actually wants to wear the shirt or not.
Give yourself a break, we are all just supporters – that’s it.
We don’t have a clue about the dynamics within the club and the team, we can guess things at times but we do not hold any “truth”.
We are entitled opinions but we should not forget that we don’t have a clue on a large variety of topics: tactics, men-management, motivation and fitness are not our territory – not at those levels, at least.
Whenever I go over the top and think that Arsène Wenger “has lost it”, I look at myself and realise that I’ve been sitting in the North Bank while he has been the manager since 1996.
Each time I see Mathieu Flamini out of position, I blame him, maybe a professional sees that he is not there because another player moved in a different position than expected because another one misplaced his pass.
I trust Arsène Wenger judgment more than mine, when it comes to football.
I am not blind, of course, but I still feel that there is only one man for the job and his name is Arsène Wenger.
You won’t find another manager with the same dedication, passion, hunger, focus and experience Arsène Wenger has, anywhere in the world, and you can put a mobile bet on that.
If you really can’t channel your anger in a positive way, feel free to take your A4 sheet you proudly wrote “Wenger Out” on and go to the Emirates Stadium – that will surely make a great difference in taking the team out of this delicate situation.
Andrea Rosati
Italian living in Switzerland, Gooner since mid-nineties, when the Gunners defeated my hometown team, in Copenhagen. I started my own blog and podcast (www.clockenditalia.com) after after some experiences with Italian websites and football magazines. Covering Arsenal Women with the occasional rant about the boys.
Where are the facts? None here – move along now.
Now if you want facts as to why Wenger has lost it how about this? Mourinho, ex-manager of Ozil, declined to bid on him, when he was for sale because the Premier League was not suited to his style of play. He then snapped up Fabregas. I could go on but I suspect you just don’t like to hear criticism of Wenger.
I’ve been following Ozil for years and Mourinho has NEVER said he declined to bid on Özil! This is invented by a journalist in need of readers.
But have you heard what Mou said about Ozil during the WC? Have you seen the pics of them together? Do you know that Mou sent an sms to Mesut when he arrived in London saying “Welcome”? It doesn’t sound like a manager who wouldn’t want to work with him anymore.
Dear Andrea
You are a 31-year-old laddie and like you so rightly point out, you are depressed. Don’t write when you are depressed. Take a break, don’t read other blogs, don’t ever look at Wenger wringing his wrists and frowning while sitting powerless on the bench; they’ll haul you to the looney bin,lad. Merely listening to Wenger’s rhetorical bullshit is enough to put you on prozac for the rest of your life. Remember, Wenger always speaks of mental strength, now you don’t want to let down your hero, laddie. Develop some mental strength. Go out into the fresh air, unzip your massive coat even if the zip doesn’t work, count to five and kick some water bottles. Then imagine you are berating a fourth official, push some tree branches. Ensure you don’t do it with the handbrakes up. If all else fails, and you are still depressed, blame it on your neighbour who has more money or the poor neighbour on the other side who has parked the bus at your gate.
Get well soon, laddie.
From a Gooner supporting Arsenal for 46 years now, long before Wenger’s posterior was booted out of Monaco.
Regards
Goongoonergone.
Hats down, Goongoonergon! This has to be the best comment I’ve read for a while!
I’ll try to count to count to 10 next time I am about to write someithing straight after a bad result…
No offense but a bulk of what you are saying here is absolute rubbish. It’s true that a lot of us are not professional managers, but you don’t need to be a pro to see that Chambers was battling on the right against swansea, and desperately needed help. Or that you can’t sell a first choice CB and not make a purchase. Or that keeping diaby and rosicky and letting fabregas go to Chelsea was an error of note or generally that every man and his dog know arsenal need some steel in the middle, In terms of leadership, quality and solidity. These are all responsibilities that rest on the managers shoulders. It’s clear that arsene has run out of ideas to inspire this team to greater achievements. But because of people like you who says it’s ok…We will never see change. How can you honestly justify this by criticising fans who are unhappy with the managers record over that last 8 years. Get real mate!
No offense Swazigooner, all comments are welcome.
I wrote in my column that I am not blind: I see shortages, I see things I don’t like and I notice things I would change.
However, I don’t know the origin and the explaination of those – hence I am not able to judge.
In my humble opinion none knows hence we should stick to supporting the team.
Even if we don’t like the manager and we hope he leaves as soon as possible, we should all get behind the team and support the guys on try hard on the pitch.
Personally, I don’t have access to information that confirm how Arsène Wenger actually refused to sign Cesc Fàbregas; I can’t tell whether the player wanted to come back or not therefore I prefer not to believe to this or that version.
Why was the team so solid, united and efficient last year? Arsène Wenger was here but we never lacked grit, determination and steel (except for two away games) – how would you explain that?
We, as supporters, made a lot of wrong calls in recent years – especially with players we didn’t trust who became important members of our teams; at times, only Arsène Wenger seemed to keep the faith and, when his stubborness finally paid off, everyone was happy to jump on his train.
Because of this, Arsène Wenger gained enough trust for me to give him some extra credit when things seem illogical or unexplainable.
For days like these.
What a sheep, no, we the supporter do not know more, but we do know that some other hungry, ambitious manager with great transfer plans and tactical know-how, WHO ARE YOU to judge other fans from your tinted rose glass?
Hi Stephen,
some other managers in different Clubs, with different squads and different strategies are getting different results – so what?
No recipe seems to guarantee 100% success, José Mourinho’s Chelsea proved it last year as well as Real Madrid’s galacticos a few years ago.
We can’t compare, ca we?
PS: I wrote this sipping on a cup of tea, by the way 😉
I would like to ask d writer question,substution against Swasea was it perfect?if ‘yes’you realy dn’t know anything about footbal,people like u dn’t value trophes but 4th position.therefor, 65% arsenal fans want changes right now.WENGER OUT!WE WANT TROPHIES NOT FA and champion league qualification please!
Hi Viky,
Here’s your reply from d writer 🙂
I can’t recall saying Wenger did great nor that I am happy with current situation.
What are we talking about?
Andrea,
Good article, shame that a few of your readers are still too dumb to admit you’re right.