Arsenal 2013-2014: Insufferable & Unsuccessful -- And Worse than Chelsea
- Thread starter sachmoney
- Start date
- Status
So, given the choice between a) finishing higher in the table than Tottenham, and b) winning the Champions League, you'd go for option a)? Really? I mean, if you grew up on the Seven Sisters Road and had some childhood trauma inflicted upon you by bullies clad in this...
...then fair enough. Otherwise, get a grip.
By the by, Everton's loss of form and a few comfortable victories over bottom-half opponents hasn't changed my mind in terms of hoping Wenger will ride off into the sunset (with a final trophy) at the end of the season. I wish him well, I really do, but as much as you can rightly say that injuries to Ramsey/Ozil et al. derailed Arsenal's title challenge, Wenger's tactical inflexibility and refusal to use the winter transfer window effectively tell me we're clearly dealing with an old dog who refuses to learn new tricks.
...then fair enough. Otherwise, get a grip.
By the by, Everton's loss of form and a few comfortable victories over bottom-half opponents hasn't changed my mind in terms of hoping Wenger will ride off into the sunset (with a final trophy) at the end of the season. I wish him well, I really do, but as much as you can rightly say that injuries to Ramsey/Ozil et al. derailed Arsenal's title challenge, Wenger's tactical inflexibility and refusal to use the winter transfer window effectively tell me we're clearly dealing with an old dog who refuses to learn new tricks.
blueline said:
Because Mikeford's attitude seems absolutely bizarre to me AND it doesn't seem to be matched by the other Gunners on this forum.
I enjoy finishing above Spurs, but when I look at my team and the objectives for the season, finishing above Spurs isn't in the top 3. May be not even in the top 5. I actually want to win stuff, which is what the Arsenal have a good chance of doing on May 17th.
Most of the recent "finish above Spurs" happiness has been a result of the fact that Spurs have actually had a good side and competed to try and take away that coveted "fourth place trophy"
. This year, Spurs have taken a step back and as I said before, I really have never felt like they were a threat. It was a return to business as usual under Arsene Wenger. Doing better than your rival is pretty much a consolation for not doing good enough or not accomplishing what you set out to do. It's less consequential to me (even though it already happened) because Arsenal can come out and say they accomplished something by winning the FA Cup.
Most of the recent "finish above Spurs" happiness has been a result of the fact that Spurs have actually had a good side and competed to try and take away that coveted "fourth place trophy"
. This year, Spurs have taken a step back and as I said before, I really have never felt like they were a threat. It was a return to business as usual under Arsene Wenger. Doing better than your rival is pretty much a consolation for not doing good enough or not accomplishing what you set out to do. It's less consequential to me (even though it already happened) because Arsenal can come out and say they accomplished something by winning the FA Cup.
Smiling Joe Hesketh said:
The worst is...I guarantee you he doesn't even know why there's a rivalry except that there is one.
By his own logic, Wenger has never failed in Arsenal's primary goal (finishing about Spurs), therefore he's earlier ranting about Wenger having to go makes little sense.
He's a rage troll, and if he did this about baseball, he would have been banned a long time ago. But it's the soccer forum, where fans are united in kind of shaking our head at the rantings of mikeford. I'm just glad he stopped with the casual bigotry he used to spew vis a vis Spurs.
I am by no means defending anyone, but I would say for me, finishing above the Spurs is more important than winning the FA cup.
Its a lesser tournament in which many teams sport inferior lineups.
Might also be that for the past few years, finishing above the Spurs was the equivalent of securing 4th place and thus a place in the Champions league.
I think the fact that some of the Arsenal players tweeted out messages reading "#st totteringham's day" also shows that its an important part of their goals for the season.
...just my two cents.
Its a lesser tournament in which many teams sport inferior lineups.
Might also be that for the past few years, finishing above the Spurs was the equivalent of securing 4th place and thus a place in the Champions league.
I think the fact that some of the Arsenal players tweeted out messages reading "#st totteringham's day" also shows that its an important part of their goals for the season.
...just my two cents.
Getting back to actual football stuff...
Rumors are swirling that Arsenal have struck a deal with Nurnberg to sign their Swiss/Croatian striker Josip Drmic, who is currently third in the Bundesliga in goals. Lothar Matheus is on the record saying its a done deal. Nothing is ever done in football until its actually done, but this looks quite promising.
He's not the world class striker we need (yet) but I think he'd be a substantial improvement over Bendtner/Sanogo and might even be preferable to Giroud. That strike rate in the Bundesliga is no joke for a 21-year-old (especially given how little offense Nurnberg generates in general, he's got 16 of their 36 Bundesliga goals) and he seems to have a nice combination of technique, size, pace at least in short bursts, and finishing ability.
Check out the take at about 1:50.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X3gpO8MUaeM
Rumors are swirling that Arsenal have struck a deal with Nurnberg to sign their Swiss/Croatian striker Josip Drmic, who is currently third in the Bundesliga in goals. Lothar Matheus is on the record saying its a done deal. Nothing is ever done in football until its actually done, but this looks quite promising.
He's not the world class striker we need (yet) but I think he'd be a substantial improvement over Bendtner/Sanogo and might even be preferable to Giroud. That strike rate in the Bundesliga is no joke for a 21-year-old (especially given how little offense Nurnberg generates in general, he's got 16 of their 36 Bundesliga goals) and he seems to have a nice combination of technique, size, pace at least in short bursts, and finishing ability.
Check out the take at about 1:50.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X3gpO8MUaeM
BostonJack42 said:
Do you agree with the statement that nothing is more important than finishing above Spurs?
If you do not, then you do not agree with mikeford. And if you do, you're just as much of a clown jackass as he is. It's really that simple.
mikeford said:
Smiling Joe Hesketh said:
...which as I explained is basically my sentiment as well.mikeford said:
URI said:
I used to post a ton of rumors when I was first on the board (youthful exuberance???), and about 2% of them panned out. From the first minute of that video showing him running to celebrate goals, I can already tell that he has more pace than Giroud and that would be very welcome at the Arsenal. My general policy or thoughts on rumors has been that I'll discuss it, but I won't believe it until he's reported signed on Arsenal dot com. He looks like a mighty fine player and his yield speaks for itself. I'm sure there'll be 8 zillion other players we'll be linked with. We'll see what actually pans out.Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
I'm also hesitant to talk about the transfer window when the season is still going on and there are THINGS in the balance. Important THINGS.
I agree completely but I think this one has more legs than your average rumor. It's not just some twitter clown linking him or a tabloid throwing shit against the wall.sachmoney said:
Thank you City. That's one trophy for Arsenal (wink), now let's go get one we can actually touch and feel and hold.
Yeah not really a great performance and certainly not one to save on the DVR but in fairness, theres nothing really left to play for til the FA Cup final
At least it appears no one got injured
At least it appears no one got injured
Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
This is much better played, and certainly stings worse. I will be interesting to see how much the equation changes post 2017.
This is two straight Aprils where Arsene W. has shown exactly why he should be the only person who decides when he departs.
Chelsea draws so our league season officially comes to a close. Can't go up and can't go down. UCL qualifying it is.
All thats left is Hull and the FA Cup.
All thats left is Hull and the FA Cup.
I didn't think that the game was dreadful, but it just wasn't interesting. It had the intensity of a pre-season friendly. It wasn't frustrating to watch either because our fate was pretty much already set in stone. Arsenal created some chances, but didn't convert. Would a more lopsided scoreline been preferable? Yeah. But whatever. I hope most of the important players are rested next week.
Arsenal have spent more days on top of the table , twice as long, than any other team this year - and will bring home the 4th place trophy. And, perhaps, the FA Cup.
dirtynine said:
That was set up for you like a CP3 lob, but it still took a little hops to throw it down. Nicely done.
Luis Taint said:
I'd love him but I don't see Everton selling.
Btw, lots of rumors now that Drmic will go to Bayer Leverkusen so maybe Lothar Mattheus is just an idiot.
Speaking of favors, if Norwich are still alive as of next weekend could you just kinda...lose to us? Kthxbye.
I was listening to the NBC broadcast, and they were talking about how on the relegated teams, all the big clubs come and steal all the talent. Anyone any good on them?
Luis Taint said:
As far as Norwich are concerned, Snodgrass is our best player, but if he leaves he might well go to Celtic (Scottish lad, lifelong Celtic fan, just said he'd like Lennon to stay at Celtic as manager). Ruddy might be made available too. Everyone else? Meh.
I'd guess Hooper, Hoolahan, and Pilkington wind up somewhere in the Premier League (or Celtic) if Norwich go down. Maybe not on a squad with realistic CL qualification expectations, though.
This was established long ago.
Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
This was established long ago.
So...do you guys think Wenger will actually be around next year? Not do you think he should be around, but will he be around? He has come out and stated point-blank that he'll be at the club next year, but I can't help but thinking that until he's actually signed a new contract, that statement could still be just a smokescreen (to be lifted after the cup final).
ConigliarosPotential said:
I definitely think he's staying, for better or for worse.
Why would he want to leave right when the club is improving its financial position and when many of the young players are maturing? The future is pretty bright in this situation and whatever other club he might join (I don't think he's ready to retire) is probably going to be a step down, like going to a non-elite German or Spain club or something. The man is very stubborn and I just don't see him going voluntarily, which leaves the possibility of him getting sacked or his contract not renewed. And ultimately I just don't see anybody on the board having the balls to get rid of Wenger and take the team in a new direction.
Spacemans Bong said:
Wenger commands a ton of respect for everything that he has accomplished and that respect is well deserved. That still doesn't make me think Barcelona would have him at the top of their list.
Edit: To expand, I'm not trying to shit on Wenger, but the guy will soon be 65, he has no experience in Spanish football, his recent track record in Europe is pretty poor, he hasn't really won anything in a decade, and he's known for being very stubborn with his tactics. I imagine people at Barcelona respect him hugely, but that doesn't necessarily mean they want him to lead the club forward at this stage in his career.
A year ago, I would have agreed. But this is not Barcelona, winners of everything, corporate role model. This is winners of nothing, three coaches in two years, President disgraced, club transfer banned, Barcelona.
The talent is there to stay competitive. The academy, despite the penalties, is presumably still stocked. But they are working with less resources than usual and have some issues. Wenger is the epitome of prudent spender and develop-from-within. He'd definitely use the academy kids more than just about any other "big" manager because he has always done that. Pairing him with a young assistant who knows Spain with the expectation that the assistant would take over once the Rosell cloud has cleared several years from now makes a ton of sense.
And despite the current cloud over Barcelona, it's Barcelona. After sitting out a window there would be more money than has ever been available at Arsenal. Better weather, more money, easier league. It's the perfect sunset job to grab a couple more titles to list on the HOF plaque before taking a team to the 2018 World Cup and then retiring.
The talent is there to stay competitive. The academy, despite the penalties, is presumably still stocked. But they are working with less resources than usual and have some issues. Wenger is the epitome of prudent spender and develop-from-within. He'd definitely use the academy kids more than just about any other "big" manager because he has always done that. Pairing him with a young assistant who knows Spain with the expectation that the assistant would take over once the Rosell cloud has cleared several years from now makes a ton of sense.
And despite the current cloud over Barcelona, it's Barcelona. After sitting out a window there would be more money than has ever been available at Arsenal. Better weather, more money, easier league. It's the perfect sunset job to grab a couple more titles to list on the HOF plaque before taking a team to the 2018 World Cup and then retiring.
soxfan121 said:
Absolutely nothing in these three sentences seems like anything that would interest Arsene Wenger. He seems to want to build something, not win something - he reminds me of Martin Sheen's character in Wall Street, railing like a dinosaur about Gordon Gekko's propensity to profit from the buying and selling of others.
- Status