Speaking after Arsenal’s defeat to Liverpool, Arsene Wenger reflected on his team’s performance, Samir Nasri’s display, the controversy surrounding the two goals, Emmanuel Frimpong’s red card and looking ahead to Wednesday’s match with Udinese.
On the performance…
“We had eight players out and still had a good performance, so it is not all doom and gloom.
“We live under circumstances where every defeat is an absolutely a disgrace and an earthquake. We are very disappointed that we lost the game, but we are at the start of the season.
“The target is to have a good team and good players. You can spend money and have a bad team. You want the supporters to be happy and when you don’t win the game you can understand that they are not.
“For now it is important for us to lift the players because they are very disappointed today. We need to give them credit for their attitude and performance today, in the game it is very harsh to lose it the way we did.”
On being unlucky…
“I believe that the result is very harsh on the quality of our game. Overall we cannot say that at the moment that we are very lucky.
“I believe the [first] goal was offside today and that is absolutely scandalous. Every decision in the last three or four months, you cannot say it rains, it pours. It looks like the two were offside.
“If you lose games like that, when the referees are professional, it is very hard to accept. It’s difficult enough to play with ten men.
“Apart from that our overall attitude and spirit, despite all the problems was absolutely amazing.”
On Frimpong’s red card…
“It was a lack of experience. The boy has a big heart, he was a victim of his own enthusiasm.”
On speculation Nasri’s move to City has broken down…
“I don’t know more than you about that. I think he had a good game and I said before the game that he was committed to play and he did not only play but he played well. I always said that I would try to keep Samir Nasri and I have never changed my mind on it because I played him today.
“He loves the club, he wants to play for us, if we decide to sell him we will do it and we have to stand up for it. At the moment I am happy he is here.”
On moving forward…
“It is very difficult for us at the moment, it is very difficult to take the defeat on the chin today because with the effort we put in I don’t think we deserved to lose the game. For us the biggest problem is to lift the team and prepare for Wednesday.”
On whether he is miserable…
“I am here to win football games, not to lose games. You cannot be happy when you lose games like that.
“I don’t think about it like that [on being his hardest spell at Arsenal]. I think about the next game and try to win it.”
1st
That’s so cool!!!!!
um thanks?
SPEND SOME MONEY OR FUCK OFF BACK 2 FRANCE!
Can someone tell van persie to practise his free kicks, just 5 or 6 every training session will do, that used to be one of the most exciting parts of watching the gunners, watching captain van persie wind up and spank the ball, dipping and curling all over the place, exploding the posts and cross bar and occasionally scoring. Also wish we could sign Alex(Chelsea), Elia, and fabregas(Barcelona jerks stealing our player). Gaines has one wicked free kick too, maybe him as backup for traore
Ok, I will tell Robin when I see him next Tuesday
You should fuck off.
hopefully he realizes that we do need a midfielder now especially considering frimpong is also suspended for the man u.
To be fair though, we did put effort into our performance. We lost because we are simply not good enough at the moment.
“We lost because we are simply not good enough at the moment.”
Is that all? Well, that’s encouraging. lol. Both are needed, but I’d take talent over effort any day. If we don’t spend, it’s gonna be a long, long season.
Yes, not good enough.
Our players are not good enough. Our squad is not good enough. Our overall play (particularly our attack) is not good enough.
It’s not the player’s fault. And most of them tried hard today.
sorry, should read ‘players’ fault’
Well, not all bad. It has to be said though, it’s a bit late to be lamenting about inexperience. Oh Arsene, it could have been oh so good.
I suppose it is only August, and we do have a lot of players out, but it still feels really crushing at the moment.
Fuck all is going our way these days.
Recently, we’ve always started the season brightly but finish poorly during the run-ins so it’s hard to imagine us getting any better (of course I’d love to be surprised). It really is hard to take any positives from today and considering the mounting injuries, suspensions and overall ineptitude, it has certainly been one of the roughest starts to the seasons I’ve experienced. Plus, there really is no quick fix for the team as of now. Even if Wenger does buy a new player, it will certainly take time for him/them to integrate into the team. Though I’m sure things could… Read more »
Midtable…………… Lurking above the bottom…………..Relegation.
The squad as it’s made up ( minus Nasri) is probably about 5th or 6th. Not good enough.
The crowd today were awesome for not booing and getting behind the team. We get slaughtered but we keep taking it. The board really need to stick there necks out for us now. Other clubs fans wouldn’t keep accepting losing big players and not replacing. Adebayour toure cesc hleb flamini soon to be nasri. I believe in wenger he just needs to drop his ego a little admit he is wrong. Someone once said you gain strength and experience from negative well he should start listening to his own advice. On a positive nasri showed great professionalism and crowd respected… Read more »
Absolutely,
Two things need to happen:
-The board (Ivan) needs to pressure Arsene to spend some f****** money
-Arsene needs to wake up and realize he has put together a very good team that is not a championship team. Barcelona (cunts) have won 3 or the last 5 Champions League and they bought Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez. ManU won the EPL and bought big. Liverpool spend money and they look deep. Not great but deep. Saurez is a menace and I wish we would have purchased him when we had the chance.
Arsene – Spend some money
yes frimpong abit naive but hes young and inexperience u should expect that. we already lost soo many midfield prior to this game, its wengers fault for not signing any1 or warn frimpong in the first place. wenger doesnt know how to prepare for the match, no tactics whatsoever, he only tries to raise the morale before the game.
It seemed like we were short in depth. But obviously Arsene knows so that would not have happened. I am sure that after last season’s run in being so bad and with the large transfer kitty he was given he would not allow us to go into this season thin at crucial positions. I am sure he didn’t sell one of the best players in the world and not replace him.
Arsene is very smart and everyone else is dumb. We don’t need another centerback, midfielder or striker. We have young guys who will prove themselves.
Also if we just bank the cash from sales of fab and nasri, where does that leave our debt situation? Imagine if we were debt free and able to spend 20-30 mill off our profits every year rather than interest payments. That would be a strong stable and fiscally responsible club. But if that’s what voyuer is thinking he should tell us straight. if van persie is fit and not scoring he will get unhappy.
Frimpong ,victim of his own enthusiasm, just plain stupid, but the lad will be a great player. But, why are we so short of players when our manager has had so much time ,cash to do something about it. We struggled against Newcastle , Udinese and got beat by not a particularly good Liverpool team . Cloughie won the european cup for Forest but because he never moved on and ended up being their too long eventually ,the team went down and the club have still have not recovered , lets not make the same mistake , Wenger should have… Read more »
Your comparison with Forest is spot on. Call me a Wengerite, I don’t mind – the man did us great service and I fully believe in long term projects. But…
… I am starting to believe this time Arsene has no project at all, he wasn’t counting on loosing his key young guns
“Frimpong ,victim of his own enthusiasm, just plain stupid, but the lad will be a great player”.. and when he becomes great he and wilshere will go to barcelona. only wenger does not see that. same story with flamini, fabregas, hleb, nasri, ashley cole, henry, and if i wer an arsenal player i wud play so hard so that a serious club could notice me and come buy me. wenger is a fool and now i am convinced he is retarded. i bet managers over the world would be making fun of his stupidity. picture fergie laughing at him and… Read more »
He puts it down to inexperience, but it’s him that wants an inexperienced team so he’s in a neverending cycle of development – his true love. So it’s no kind of excuse at all. All blame lays firmly at Wenger’s door. We are not unlucky, we are indisciplined and naive. That’s all from Wenger, that’s how he’s set it all up.
I agree wholeheartedly. I am frustrated, like most Arsenal fans, with excuses that are of the club’s own making. Hearing talk of being “unlucky”, yet not buying adequate squad cover which leads to having to play so many youngsters. Additionally, how is Song’s absence or Frimpong’s next week “unlucky”? Arsene has to teach them to play intelligent football, especially with the gamble of such a thin squad. Speaking of gambling, if one is to gamble one should maximize the odds, Arsenal seem to gamble on ideal situations (Cesc staying, RvP’s health, heck the health of the entire starting XI) without… Read more »
This are really hardtimes… Imight call Arsene names but I love the club no matter what. Through think and thin, I ‘d stick to her!
Hey Eji! I hope you are not too devastated by the side. I just think Wenger is delusional, living in an unreal world. He needs to realize that as unlucky as one may be, one earns one’s luck too! I wonder why other top teams don’t get as unlucky as we are!
Will he strengthen before the window closes? I wouldn’t put a bet on it!
nice point kola. i tot i was the only one that tot wenger was delusional. always having excuse for every loss.
when arsenal loses we r unlucky. if we win we are good. i hope he gets fired and gets deported to the ghettos of france.
i am done with arsenal. been a supporter for 14 years and been long fed up.
wenger transformed the INVINCIBLES to the invisibles. football club to high school soccer team
No harm to Wenger but it’s his fault we are currently in this predicament. We all begged for a centre half last january when tv was out. Yet Wenger bought an 18 year old Japanese winger who couldn’t even play for us. He’s the person who has let the team become so weak. He has stuck by players like Diaby and Rosicky, who we know are never fit. Same with Gibbs, JD yet he refuses to strengthen the team. I don’t understand what he sees that the entire universe does. I loved the invincibles, I am a fan of Wenger… Read more »
VIKS53,
I think that’s a bit extreme, our Carling Cup Squad could probably avoid relegation, the 1st team has to learn to cope without Cesc and fast.
Hmmm.. at the end of the day why is Frimpong our only cover for song? Last season we didnt have anyone at all, and maybe even the year before that, we’ve been crying out for back up in that area
But if you asked Wenger 3 weeks ago why he hasnt bought he’d probably say “If i buy, how does Frimpong get his chance?” Well he had his chance today and frankly, he cost us the game.
Frimpong was one of the best players today, but he is niave and the first yellow was really stupid, the second was just bad timing and inexperience. It is mostly Song’s fault that he was playing today, but on the evidence I would rather see Frimpong and Wilshere in midfield than Song and Wilshere. Frimpong was very good at passing the ball so the forward players could run onto it and get some momentum going towards goal. I can’t believe how many time Arsenal player pass the ball behind a player, making them run back to retrieve it. I thought… Read more »
Are you serious you want ping pong over song ?
At least when he took a shot on goal it was on target
I thought the display was brave and I was proud of the players out there but was a performance related to the quality and experience of the squad. Thomas vermalen was absolutely brilliant and proved he is one of the best in the business. Schezny and frimpong were two more very huge positives to take, he deserved his red but we have been calling for someone with some bite and aggression who will take one for the team. We have to remember we have one of if not the best forward in the world in captain van persie but if… Read more »
This is beginning to remind me of George Graham’s final days…….
Last year like the manu’s your fans laughted at us, now we are getting back
long live the king
ynwa
You wot?
Please don’t comment on others use of the English language. You are an uneducated embarrassment to civilized people around the world. I’m sure you were setting your couch on fire in the streets just last week.
Oh dear… Does that mean another Rioch is coming?
My comment was meant as a joke Chris. Sorry if i offended you
fuck off dirty scouse c@nt. go back to stealing car stereos and changing your stanley knife blade. gypo
Yeh! And learn English too ya muppet. . . .
Mixture of bad luck and squad mismanagement. If and when wenger spends to rectify our squad we will already be 8 points off the top. On injuries though our luck is terrible
Our ‘bad luck’ with injuries has to be a training issue, or a medical staff issue. Look at the injuries and how long players take to return for us: months compared to some other teams who have the same injuries with their players and its weeks.
We definitely need to invest money in a new medical staff.
Yet another area that needs signings. I wonder how often our medical staff get injured
Those gps vests don’t seem to be working too well. Koscielny looked in massive trouble on tv, hope your okay son you are improving every game
I think there were positives to the game today. Although it’s hard to argue with the most important statistic, the result. I did say to a friend that we as Arsenal fans have seen the team slip into the duldrums before and rise again. I’m sure we all remember the season we finished 12th under George Graham. The media jumped on him and the team when we slumped to the bottom of the league, I remember seeing the pages of the Sun and other red tops commenting on how there were lock downs after games to try and resolve the… Read more »
That’s what we said last season, and the season before that, and the season before that , and …… Ho hum!!
Pitifully naive.
Frimpong great today until sending off arsene says that’s it’s down to his inexperience. Surley that’s the point, sorry arsene but ibhimestly feel it’s time to call it a day all good things and that but if you can’t see the obvious then sadly and I mean that then it’s time to go. If your being held back by the board then say so, if this is down to arsene then he must go, sorry and il take the stick the comes my way but you cannot sell 3 top quality players and not replace them. The shame of all… Read more »
Well, here’s my analysis of the game: We were short players, due to all the departures and injuries and suspensions. Wenger knew this going in, and still he has made no public attempt to strengthen the team. We played the same formation again, which has proven ineffective since the last three months of last season. Project youth has failed. Its time for Wenger to admit his folly, and move forward with some new signings, some experienced players in positions we’re light in (ie not teeanged wingers with no top flight experience and no chance at a work permit). Honestly, I… Read more »
Another positive. Liverpool, as a top 4 rival, have spent a bollock load and are not very good. Now we can go out and spend to make ourselves a little bit better than not very good and still finish 4th.
Hehehehe very good
He looks so sad at the moment. Almost like he’s on the verge of a nervous breakdown. And, with his transfer decisions, it just feels like something may be cracking. I really hope I’m wrong.
It’s hard to watch and you just wonder what the players are thinking about all of this.
Honestly, Matty, I hope this is impacting Wenger. He should be losing sleep over his job performance. If you or I performed that poorly at our jobs, we’d likely be out the door, pink slip in hand.
When he had his head down, grey wet hair rubbing his head back to front was tragic to see, ive got a feeling he is desperate to make signings but there is no-one suitable available
Mata is available.
Please stop playing 4-3-3. We are not Barca, they have Pedro, villa and Messi. We have vp, awesome but doesn’t have pace. We have Arshavin who seems to have forgotten how to play football and we have Walcott who I’m afraid is nothing more than sprinter, he’s brutal! Buy quality, not children.
Walcott was slow today. He looks like he’s lost a step in the off-season.
Oh and arshavin today was a disgrace !
Surely Wenger has to put his hand in his pocket now ? Those youngsters today were thrown in at the deep end is that the way to bed them in ? Players should have been bought by now in the areas that were needed, this is bad management and needs to be sorted out now if it’s not too late?
Too right mate. At one point in the 2nd half i swear he asked Pat Rice if he wanted a game……
Sky were an absolute fucking disgrace today. Anyone else hear that big nosed cunt Neville & Jamie “my dad’s a twitchy cunt and my trousers don’t fucking fit me properly and my wife’s a fucking munter” Redknapp sniggering about whether Wenger would do an interview? Even Smudger seems to have caught a touch of cuntish now aswell. Cunts
Cunts
Not at all surprised by the result, disappointed for sure, but that just seems to be where we are at the moment, stuck in a rut. As for people talking relegation, please cop on to yourselves, we’re two games into the season ffs, and clubs that have won the PL in the past have had worse starts than this. Not saying we’ll win it, but just trying to give people who are thinking that (relegation) some perspective. Come on you Gunners!
I do believe it was Einstein who said something to the effect of “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” I think Wenger is approaching that territory.
If he doesn’t make changes, he’ll be out by Christmas. Carlo Ancellotti, anyone?
Off topic I know, but why the fuck is Gervinho at Stamford Bridge??
Is he looking at his next club? Seeing as most players now view AFC as a stepping stone.
in all seriousness I have no real objection to him watching other teams, just find it slightly bizarre.
He may even be learning the English game a bit better.
Perhaps he’s there to spend time with fellow countryman and Chelsea player, Salomon Kalou? Just a thought.
lol was it Lukaku?
It was gervinho. The announcer can’t tell them apart.
Am I the only IDIOT feeling the sheer weight of reality here…??? Sure, I’m as enthusiastic and as trusting in “de boss” as the next bloke, but statistics are starting to pile up AGAINST the club, AGAIN?! The sick bay is growing EVERY WEEK, key positions are being taken by INEXPERIENCED PLAYERS (read FRINGE PLAYERS) by NECESSITY, marquee players are LEAVING THE CLUB for greener (read WEALTHIER) pastures and “de boss” keeps buying on a whim… Again, am I the only idiot here that sees a recipe for STAGNATION here…??? Even considering the club’s policy against spending big, the sale… Read more »
I didn’t even think about that Badaab, that’s probably it.
New country and all that, probably nice to see a friendly face.
Exactly. And visiting Stamford Bridge is closer than going all the way to the Eastlands to see the Toure brothers.
Yeh he might aswell wait til he’s playing with them next season for that. . . .
SPEND
SOME
F*****
MONEY
!!!
Just thought i’d mention some positives from the game, namely, I thought the youngsters did well. Jenkinson and Frimpong (red card aside) especially, they both brought an energy and compsure to the team and are able deputies. Miquel also did well and Scseszznay was very assured, the GK problem is solved. Also thought Vermaelen and Kocs looked good. Ironically, I felt some of the more senior members were culpable. Arshavin tried but his feet couldn’t follow through. Walcot was a passenger and Ramsay didn’t have a grip on the game. If Wiltshire had played instead of Ramsey it may have… Read more »
the commentator said gervinho was a guest of drogba. fellow ivorians and all.
just my ten penneth on transfers, i think we need commited , experienced players. and that doesnt mean spending lorry loads of cash! wenger doesnt buy superstars, he makes them
keep making superstars and when they mature like fab sell em to barcelona eh. wenger is retarded
Wenger should be fired. He has guided us to unparalleled heights but his model has also produced our current malaise. The question that all Gooners have to ask themselves is this: How do you want the club to be run? Crazy spending billionaire model or financial prudence? I still believe that financial prudence is the way to go. If that’s the case, we have to live with a “new normalcy”. We have to hope for 5th place or Europa League finish this season, but realistically a top 8 should suit us fine. The Champions League is absolutely out of the… Read more »
Agreed. Time for root and branch reform with a new broom …
Why don’t players want to come. If I was a young exciting talent arsenal would be perfect proving ground to show my potential and take them to the next level. If I was a centre back I would relish the opportunity to come in and resolve the crisis, imagine the praise if the defense clicks and dosnt concede for 30 straight games, or you help van persie score 40 goals.
Young players wanna come and the centerbacks who keep getting mentioned over and over again wanna come. But the elite probably doesn’t wanna come because (a) we don’t pay enough and (b) we’re not really challenging for top honours. in 1995, we signed Dennis Bergkamp. What are the odds of us signing a player of that caliber any time soon? And RvP ain’t scoring 40 goals with service like this. If he gets 20, miracle. I hope Arsene can pull some rabbits out of the transfer hat and prove me wrong, I really do. i don’t mind having egg on… Read more »
A caveat to the financial prudence model is this: Can a club go from being a big club to a feeder club and then back to a big club? I’m not so sure. If you start selling players (which is clearly what Arsene is doing) can we convince new arrivals that we are ambitious? We will be stuck in the pattern we are now in: buying youth because we are good at teaching youngsters how to play and we will give them opportunity, but once learning their trade they’ll go to Utd, Chelsea, or other such clubs to actually win… Read more »
Disagree. If it’s to be a ‘long war’ then the Oil, Gas, Debt and Chicken route is a non-starter. Prudence will leave AFC as the last one standing when the others discover what it is like to be a Leeds fan …
I hope so but I’m not sure. Financial solvency and prudence only works if you (a) maintain your success, (b) your rivals don’t and (c) the world makes cheaters suffer. (a) As of now, Arsenal is dropping out of the top 4. There’s every indication that we can come back as Liverpool’s spot isn’t assured by any means, but it’s galling that we should drop out of the top 4 at all. (b) Chelsea and Man City’s owners might get bored but again, I don’t know. Barca, Real, and Bayern’s owners aren’t going anywhere. We’re miles off the pace of… Read more »
Wenger should stop this excuses and put in money into the transfer market and get experience, establised and tested players.
We haven’t got a crazy spending billionaire, just a billionaire.
lol. A crazy spending hundred millionaire, then
Yeah, or maybe we should spend three years unsettling a player until his position is untienable then bid whatever we feel we can afford… oh wait.
Liverpool are average & we were worse.
Walcott & Arshavin were complete shite.
We have no midfield.
If this carries on we’ll finish behind sperz.
Over to you Arsene…
Now SPEND SOME FUCKING MONEY!!!
Only Arsenal would have a billionaire investor that doesn’t invest… Brilliant , give us Usmanov any day, what has Stan done for his club?
We have money. Money’s not the problem – the attitude is. Wenger doensn’t want finished players evern though everybody can see he needs them.
You all need to get Wenger buying players out of your head, it’s not going to happen. This is what we have started the season with, and maybe minus 1 or 2, it’s what we will finish the season with. Accept we are not even a top 4 team anymore, don’t go into games EXPECTING to win, because it simply isn’t that time anymore, Arsene Wenger is a great manager overall but he’s severely lost his way, and Arsenal football club is in a very serious crisis. That’s the diagnosis, and right now there’s no cure.
Looks like Chelsea have got Mata. It’s amazing what happens when you bid for a player. This is the weakest Arsenal team I can remember for a very long time.
So this time next week when Wenger has gone out and bought 6 new players with a combined value of around 100m and we’ve thrashed Man U 20-0, will you be happy then?
Yes, clearly. That’s all it takes.
It’s going to be a long hard season!!!
It’s only going to get worse cos we’ve never been good at reacting to defeats! Wednesday is a disaster waiting to happen, don’t think my heart can take anymore!
frimpong was ok. He put in a lot of effort, but he gave the ball away too much and yet again was like Denilson in giving away frees. I thought the most glaring absence was actually a striker. Don’t know how many times at the start we got the ball up the wing and into the box and there was nobody there. No point buying wingers if there’s nobody to pass to. Then Bendtner came on and showed why he’s not good enough. Slow pace, bad touches. A farce.
The team we will be putting out against United could well look like the sort of young team we would have put out in the Carling Cup over the years. Problem is, its close to the best we have now. Trying to be optimistic, but struggle to see how we can challenge without minimum 3 experienced players, and I have little faith Wenger can deliver this.
Against Utd., our lineup could be:
Szcz
Sagna, Miquel, TV5, Jenkinson
Ramsey, Lansbury, Arshavin/Oxlade,
Arshavin/Miyaichi/Chamakh, RvP, Walcott
Nasri will be sold, Bendtner probably too, Wilshere, Rosicky, Kosc, Djourou, Squid, Gibbs, Traore, still injured, Song, Gervinho, and Frimpong suspended. Yikes.
Nasri will play against Man.U and then be sold.
We were on a hiding to nothing today and I thought the players apart from the Fat Lazy Russian and the Thin Lazy Englishman up front were superb. Unfortunately, everything is going against us. The officials were complete cunts as usual. Before Kos got injured they were never likely to score. Frimpong was always gonna get sent off after the 1st harsh booking. VP misses sitter then an offside own goal! We do need reinforcements but, Fuck me, they have spent millions and they were pony! Wednesday defines our season. If we win the board will sanction some signings. If… Read more »
I don’t know how much longer we can continue to give the board benefit of doubt!
It wouldn’t surprise me if we make champs lge, sell Nasri & still not sign anyone.
Hopefully I’m proved wrong but I just can’t see it!!!
We were trying hard, but it wasn’t like watching Arsenal at all. It was like watching an Everton team defend well but hard pressed to get any forward play. We couldn’t string any passes together and there were a lot of unforced errors. A lot of things went against us decision wise, but we can’t help that. What we can help are our own missed chances and poor linkup. The squad today was a skeleton crew, but it was clear that they won’t make the grade. I dread United. I think SAF must be licking his chops and looking for… Read more »
Ghost: yes.