Santi Cazorla says the way Arsenal’s title-challenge has unravelled is proof that Arsene Wenger’s squad still don’t have a winning mentality and pinpointed the defeat away to Stoke in March as a turning point in their fortunes.
The Gunners had been riding high at the top of the table until February but with one win in their last six games they have since dropped to fourth in the Premier League and been knocked out of the Champions League.
Reflecting on the way things have panned out at the Emirates, Cazorla told Sport360.com that his teammates must take heart from the club’s tradition of success if they are to win silverware in the future.
“We’ve been unlucky in several games. We had a lot of chances to win against Manchester United and there was Ozil’s penalty (against Bayern). We couldn’t recover after going out against Bayern in the Champions League.
“And the defeat against Stoke finished us. You can’t lose against Stoke if you aspire to be the next champion.
“We haven’t got a winning mentality and we have to believe in ourselves (more). Sometimes you can get used to not fighting, but we can’t do that. Arsenal is and will always be a historic football club, we have to look forward.”
The Spanish international, who recently committed his future to the Gunners by penning a two-year contract extension, also touched on the strength in depth at London Colney claiming the club need to sign new players to be able to compete consistently at the highest level.
“Arsenal has everything to win; history, infrastructure, an incredible stadium and great players but we have to improve at crucial moments and sign the best football players because if you don’t do that, you may lag behind others.
“That is what makes it different at other clubs. You’ve a good example in Manchester City who signed Fernandinho, (Alvaro) Negredo… or even Manchester United with (Robin) Van Persie and (Juan) Mata.
“Arsenal know what they need next season, but it’s almost impossible to win a title if we haven’t got these kind of things.”
We’re not sure if anything has been lost in translation here, but on the face of it Cazorla’s assessment is both brutally honest and incredibly cutting. It’s hard to argue with what he says right now, so let’s hope such self-awareness is echoed elsewhere in the squad.
All is not lost this season. While the manner in which we’ve crumbled has been as disheartening to endure as any of the collapses in the last nine years, there is still a trophy up for grabs and an opportunity to end on a high note ahead of a very important summer.
True dat.
Agreed! There’s been lots of ups and downs this season but you can’t help but think that with a better squad – quality in all positions not just the first-choice team and a world-class striker and winger (and others ideally!) we would have done a whole lot better. Certain players have been played to exhaustion or played out of position and when we lost our two main pace players (Theo and Aaron) we suffered dramatically. Arsene reportedly has $100m to spend at least. He needs to spend it. And none of this looking for value or unknowns, we need to… Read more »
I think, with all due respect to Wenger, he has taken Arsenal as far as he can and has created the perfect platform for a new, young, hungrier manager to come in and take Arsenal to the top where we deserve to be and where we should be based on our history and on the resources we have. Liverpool and Man Utd have had their time (I pray to God Liverpool do not win the title). It is now time for Arsenal to fill the void left by these two great clubs and mark it’s own dynasty. As for who… Read more »
“Need I say more?” No, you said quite enough, really. 1. The idea that our resources mean we should be on top is pretty inaccurate inasmuch as there are still two teams with far more resources than we have – it’s like saying the third-richest team in La Liga or Serie A “deserves” to be on top. 2. Your position on Martinez mirrors what they were saying about him before the season, and the “too raw, not proven at the highest level” knock is exactly what people said about Wenger at first (and could have been applied to that scumbag… Read more »
1. By resources I refer to our financial position, fan base, academy, training and medical facilities, scouting network and our current squad. We are on a level with the. Eat clubs in the world and with what we have we are definitely in position to be competitive every season. Alex Ferguson has shown you don’t need to be the strongest financially but you need to fill any cracks from the pervious season and get the most out of your squad. The point is we are a two or three signings shy of mounting a real sustained title challenge, and I… Read more »
*. Eat = BEST
The problem is that we celebrate like crazy when we beat a team that is 6th (5th at the time) in the league. Our biggest rivals obviously, and I hate them, but if they were a relegation zone team, should we be happy we beat them? No. Well obviously they aren’t relegation zone, but they aren’t on our level. If you keep competing with lower level teams rather than aiming higher, you slowly go down to their level. And we need to stop looking at 4th place as an achievement. I’m going to be happy for us WHEN we end… Read more »
Apologies for ‘celebrating like crazy’ when my team wins lol, jeez. You gotta wonder what some of these people are in it for.
considering he dropped his head after thirty five minutes against Everton its atleast something that he’s recognised a problem. Now solve the problem with those two gifted feet and I’ll sing your name with gusto.
OHH SANTI CAZORLA
Usually when a player speaks out so strongly in public, it’s a sign of unrest…unfortunately
Or just being an honest person. He *just* signed a new contract, so your assertions is on pretty thin ice.
Funny how the following is being reported by some media outlets from the Cazorla interview:
‘I want titles and that is why I came to Arsenal. We’ve gone many years without winning one.
‘If not, what I’ll look for in my next destination is to have the chance to win. I don’t want to close doors, but at the moment I’ve a contract with Arsenal for two more seasons.
‘When I turn 31, I’ll evaluate myself and I’ll choose the best option. In which case, I would be delighted to go back to Spain.’
One can only hope that he’s just as honest and outspoken with his teammates.
Slightly more refreshing from the majority of all the post match stuff we’ve heard on previous occasions.. I don’t know why but I feel so much more bummed out about this seasons demise then the ones previously.. Something has to change, we have to go out and reinvest in the team and go and buy the players we need to get us back to where we used to be. When I mean reinvest in the team, I don’t mean some bargain striker or defender from Real Betis who has the potential to score a few goals, I mean putting the… Read more »
do you really believe wenger was given the money or had the opportunity to sign real world class players that could make the difference (sniejder villa toure etc) and said “no ill play with arteta and denilson instead” ?
He definitely had the opportunity to sign wordclass players in the last 10 years.
Off the (top of my head) –
D.Villa
Hazard
Cahill
Higuain
Draxler
Y.Toure
Suarez
..and there is a shit load more, I genuinely cant remember all of them.
Also that’s not including all those horrific transfer sagas involving out current top class players that left for a better contract elsewhere.
lol have you seen how much the players youve mentioned were sold for?
when could you get villa? or hazard..they cost 20-25m + while your biggest expenditure at that time was arshavin on a 7,5 +5 deal………..
how much did barac pay for yaya or city after?
how much did lpool pay for suarez? 25?
all the names you listed were forbidden at the time for arsenal….
“all the names you listed were forbidden at the time for arsenal”
Whatever side you stand on, stating something like this as fact is utterly stupid drivel
…I don’t think anybody knows what to believe any more. I certainly don’t, and you don’t either. Year in year out we’re told contrasting “realities”. Gazidis speaks on behalf of the board and says “absolutely the manager has money to spend. And plenty of it too”. Then the AST do there arithmetic and say “absolutely Wenger has money to spend. There’s about £150M sitting in the bank most of which is allocated to the transfer budget”. Then Wenger speaks and says “…that is the wrong information (on all things)” So, which of these realities are we supposed to believe ?… Read more »
whats that daft aider? maybe you need wenger and stan to draw you a picture to be convinced…… others can connect the dots…..
look at what youve spent in the summers and for what and you will note you never had the ability to purchase players of 20-25M transfer value plus their wages
villa, suarez, toure hazard etc were all bought by their current clubs for huge amounts of money…..
richard words mean nothing. or …. actions speak louder than words
WORDS / ivan: we have money to spend
ACTION/ arsenal : spends 15m on three players
conclusion: arsenal does not have money to spend , ivan is being diplomatic, dont forget we are a business that sells tickets……
its quite simple richard, we were never rich or big…we hit a period of unseen before success and we used that to build a new ground for which we borrowed 450m….until we repay it we mix and match with bargains and wait for youth to mature.
the only reason why this sucks is because it coinsided with an influx of tycoons who pissed all over the idea of working hard for your success.
…conclusion : we’re being treated like mugs. There are very few facts on which to base a solid understanding of the problems at the club. Just conjecture, opinion and frustration.
…and it’s becoming tiresome.
What about the £140 million in cash reserves, more than the rest of the PL put together? Either Gazidis or Wenger is telling porkies. Gazidis has not come out and said “if the right player is available that will improve the squad I will buy him”, or “there is no value in the market” or “it will stifle the development of younger players” as an excuse for not making signings. Wenger has. Besides, it would not have cost too much or been too difficult to identify and buy a striker as back up for Giroud
RICHARD – it might be conjecture for you ..as i said…some can connect the dots or put two and two together…others prefer to pretend they dont get it and to get frustrated. mainly because they want to blame someone. tiresome or not, i dont care……if you need the club or manager to tell you that things were going to be shit for a while with club struggling to repay stadium then i wonder about your intelligence. what you want is transparency and wenger or ivan coming out telling you the alpha and omega of what is going on ……. MACDUFF… Read more »
“what you want is transparency and wenger or ivan coming out telling you the alpha and omega of what is going on”
…you’ve got it. No need to quite so haughty & disdainful. Is there ?
Birbicholi -your constant arguments are so tedious, Wenger has spent plenty on players, the net transfer spend is deceiving because they have got so much from selling star players, and not because they needed to as you suggest, because most of those players wanted to leave -wonder why? Last three seasons Wenger has bought players for ~50M, this season being just 42M for Ozil. A better measure is the wage bill, which this analysis shows Arsenal underperforming with respect to wage bill. Last season our wage bill was around 144M, Sp*rs 93M, and we finished 1 point above them. wenger… Read more »
neutral stop pretending… why is the net transfer fund deceiving? how can you say that? are you ignoring the financial responsibilites of the club? of course they sell players…that was the point…….when youre poor you might need to go through a few years buying low and selling high. football is a business and players are the trading commodity. as for the players leaving it is a combination of two things : a) they realised arsenal cant invest in world class players to carry them to titles and they were pussies to stay and fight b) would you stay and play… Read more »
birbicholi “cash reserves are there for a rainy day…”? That is totally laughable, £140 million in the bank for a rainy day and Giroud and Sanogo our only strikers. Guess what, its been raining here since the collapse began in January.
Also birbicholi, your comments and particularly your comment April 9, 2014 at 11:01 pm made me laugh- its so obvious where you are getting your delusion from. Next thing you’ll be telling us that the PGMOL, the PL, FA, UEFA and the media are contriving within a secret group called the AAA in a collusion to stop Arsene from winning a trophy again
I disagree actually. Improve our first 11 isn’t what’s really needed. Rested and fit they’re damn good. What we need is a squad that can perform well over an entire season; where we can let our offensive stars have a few breaks occasionally. Another striker on Girouds level (but different playing style, small and mobile preferably), a decent fast winger, enough depth at CB and a decent RB if Sagna leaves would be my first priority. If we can snatch a world class player like Ozil again (preferably a striker) that would obviously be awesome, but it isn’t *necessary*. Squad… Read more »
Another striker of Girouds quality>?
I personally cant stand Giroud, the guy has cost us so many points this season with his sloppiness in front of goal. He’s awful.
I don’t want another striker like him anywhere Arsenal, ever.
Our shockingly poor options for striker in the last 5-6 years has been one of the reasons why we’ve won jack shit.
We don’t have the necessary quality of players in the squad to compete across a whole season.
Because if we did, we would of won something by now.
I’m afraid it is no longer cold hard cash that is the problem at Arsenal. I really do fear that it is the manager. Which players will definitely help this manager to compete, there are none. Look what Martinez can do with Naismith, Lukaku etc, even Rodgers with better players, but not that many really great ones, I would argue not as many as we have. That’s not myopic, just my opinion. It is about having a clear footballing identity – i’m not sure Wenger has one anymore. On Sunday his team were old. 3-4 years ago he would have… Read more »
Lets get real
Our current squad of players isn’t good enough mate…
Yeh, there is some talent in there for sure, but we’re still lacking a top class striker.. top class holding midfielder.. we’re a bit short on the flanks as well, and at centre back..
Our current problem is we don’t have the necessary squad to compete anymore… look at how shit are strikers are.
Me too. Probably because we were in the top spot for 19 weeks and got our hopes up. And bringing in Ozil at the last minute last summer had me hoping we’d address our striker issue (at least) in Jan and…we got another injured midfielder.
So close…
In other news, water is wet, fire is hot and Fatgooner is bitter.
Video at 11.
Although it could be taken either way, I’m hoping this is more of a rallying call than a unhappy rant. Lets win that fucking cup and take it from there. We are the Arsenal and we will reach the top again
Not for nothing, Santi, and I love you, but it’d be nice if you spent a bit more time figuring out why you’ve been so short of form this season and a bit less playing club psychologist and/or Director of Football.
The answer to this is simple. He is not effective on the left side of midfield. He is not a winger and he should not be played there. In the centre he was superb last year and when he has played there this year he has been as effective as a man who has no one ahead of him to pass to can be.
please stop this non sense that he cant play wide. he play wide for Spain, play wide for villareal and its not until Pelligrini at malaga to make place for isco that he move to central position . he can play anywhere in midfield, he just lost form this season
Just because he can play there does not mean that it is his best position for the team. Can you really say that you are happy with the job he does defensively when playing on the left? Last season he was not required to defend very much as he was playing off the striker – and he was bloody superb. Now he is on the left due to Ozil’s signature and all we are left to do is wonder why he is not creating chances (because he has no one ahead of him to pass to) and why he is… Read more »
Cause last season he was given 1 role, and he did it pretty darn well.
This season, he’s been moving from CAM to LW to RW to even a slightly passive CM role (against Tottenham) due to injuries and Ozil and other stuff.
Besides, he hasn’t really said anything that isn’t true, and at least it shows that the team are realising what’s wrong with the team by themselves.
If you put Santi Cazorla in a team that has a winger outside him on the left and a winger outside him on the right, and through the middle a quick striker who makes clever runs – then you will get the best out of Santi Cazorla. The same is true of Mesut Ozil. You get the best out of them when they are able to perform their role. If you put either of these players in a team that has a creative midfielder outside them on the left, and a creative midfielder outside them on the right, and ahead… Read more »
You echo my EXACT thoughts especially the final paragraph!
Great comment.
Arsene Wenger; “We do not sign superstars, we make them”
Well said
Diagnosis is the first step to recovery.
Prevention is better than cure…
In other words, as much as top 4 is a success for the club , players really dont look back on their careers, and tell their kids about the time they finish 4th,
At 29, players like Cazorla want to win the big ones, and he feels he has to do it soon (next season) to have a pinnacle, like the world cup (although bit part)
Now this is an interview i can fucking stand, none of that “we will bounce back” “it was an accident” shit the Mertesacker and the lot feed us. Players simply dont care about losing anymore highlighted by night outs after losses etc. The players are just there and Wenger is part to blame, im afraid he has lost the fire in his belly and thats scary.
We better not fuck up at Wembley, dont think i could handle it.
It would be tough to take, but unsurprising if they do fuck it up. All the ingrediants are there. I mean, after so many years of disappointment I think I have learnt to handle things like that pretty well. I loathe Chelsea more than any team, but last night I couldn’t help but watch their CL win with a sense of envy. It was almost inevitable they would turn it around. say what you will about money, last night they showed pride and passion and gave their deplorable fans the delight of an unlikely win in a big game. When… Read more »
Hard to disagree with that, and that’s a weird claim to make on a Heroldgoon comment. To be fair, although his performance was obviously pretty shit, Cazorla and Rosicky are the two players I can pin point out on Sunday that looked like they cared. Towards the end of the game when cameras zoomed in on them they have this look of “what the actual fuck is happening to this team?”. That being said it’s VERY refreshing to see a player so honest about where the club is, and now it’s up to the board and Wenger to rectify that.… Read more »
very well said santi but nothing we didnt know already. anyone who expected titles and big things with “winners” like arteta vermaelen and giroud is obviously daydreaming, we also got hit hard by losing players that made the team click….. manager and board have been doing just enough in the last decade to get top4 and ch.leag money and rightly so as debt repayment governs their primary objective after their stadium move. it is a testament to the manager’s ability that he brings them so close but ultimately at those moments its the players character that does the talking. ball… Read more »
Wow, incredibly strong opinion. Positive or not is not the issue here. Good to see a player speaking his mind.
Lets do it folks. Get FA cup and champions league position. Wouldn’t all of us taken this at the beginning of the season. Cheers up and lets get behind the team.
You bloody used to. Did everyone get a losing mentality for Christmas or something?
I think they were surprised to be there. I’ve long thought there is not enough of an attitude that says:
This is ours. We own it. We are going to smash other teams and take what is ours.
Not surprising, given the last 8 years when the depth and resources were not adequate, but once they’re on top, that’s where they have to be. Serenity may be helpful when you’re struggling, but this winning mentality is about dominance on the pitch.
OK but that doesn’t explain the dip in his own form.
That’s exactly what I wanted to say.
Our team lost the passion to win the every game.
Since Rambo and Ozil got injured, only TR7 struggled to play our games. buthe could not changed the atmosphere.
This is reality. We are at 4th place and we played one more game than Everton did.
We have to change team atmosphere and Rambo will be a huge contributor of it.
COGY until the end of the season.
OYGC – yoda version
Medicine after death?
Anyone really confident about Wigan on Saturday?
With Birmingham, Bradford, and Blackburn still festering in my memory, not really. We SHOULD win … but I’m going to be on pins and needles right up until the final whistle, even if we’re leading 12-0 in the fifth minute of injury time.
Then Eboue will come on, injure the ref and force a replay X(
No kidding, Cazorla. Ideally I would love to see Wenger stay and evolve as our manager so that he can take our club even further to the next level, but as years pass by that seems unlikely. It appears his unyielding yet somewhat misplaced faith in his players and his well-known stubbornness–what used to be his strengths–are now haunting him and this club. His in-game management lacks creativity and audacity, and even if we point fingers at our players because they underperform on the pitch–and players who underperform cannot be blameless–but it is still the manager who bears the responsibility… Read more »
This problem has been there for a long time. This is not the first arsenal team without a winning mentality and no fighting spirit. The fact that we’ve failed to rectify this problem is why there needs to be a change in our approach. I’m now convinced that until there is a managerial change, this will continue
were you complaining about winning mentality when you had vieira and henry on the field? you dont have such players anymore….and you couldnt afford them either….
to the totenham cunt pressing red fuck you and everything about you
I understand you’re unhappy with this season and how we’ve crumbled away again. I don’t think anyone on here is satisfied with the results (except that scum fan you menioned, and I echo your sentiments towards him/her/it). I have come close to writing many scathing retorts to comments on this and other articles, but being a negative nancy doesn’t really help anyone, and thats why you’re getting thumbed down.
negative? lol……read again….
Isn’t he supposed to be that star player? Every player is expecting the manager to buy someone who will pull the team, but where has Cazorla been when the run got tough? What has he done this season to talk stuff to the media? Maybe we need less players waiting for someone to win things for them, and talk about Matas and Fernandinhos to the media.
Bravo, sir, bravo!
this is the best post I have come so far in days.. there can be an entire article on it.. you are so damn right.. Cazorla, Ozil are stars.. no less than the Mats and Fernandinhos. Either he was indirectly pointing towards the striker position (negredo and persie) or our players are really losing the belief in themselves.
Yes, very good post. Players like him should be LEADING the charge, by example, and by attitude. You do get the very clear sense, though, that there is no mistake in his examples.
Let’s see. Fernandinho is a DM. Negredo a striker. Traitor, striker. Coincidence?
Juan Mata is the only outlier in that statement, probably just because he was talking about necessary additions and ManU.
Excellent post!
I agree with Cazorla. What Wenger’s real problem is — overfaithfulness and believing in players who have been underperforming. Wenger keeps playing Arteta who has been shit in such a crucial position on the pitch, not able to give any cover and the defense leaks goals. He has got Kallstrom who looks good but never plays him. Why? Giroud has been underperforming, out of form, out of touch, tired, whatever you call it. Why not play Podolski/Sanoho once in a while and ease of the pressure? Why? Call it arrogance, or denial, or blindness, these things have cost us. It’s… Read more »
wait mate..arteta has been here 2-3 years…kallstrom just arrived…. who do you trust when you have important games? the one playing the last two years or the one who just arrived and doesnt even know where the toielts are yet…?
This mentality is ridiculous and is the reason Wenger still has his job. People are so scared to try new blood that they make up excuses by saying ‘Wenger has been here for 17 years, why would you trust someone new to do his job?’ – What? Do we expect Wenger to keep managing this club till after his death because we are so scared of change? It’s time for this Club to take a bloody risk once in a while. It’s the same with Arteta and Kallstrom. So what if Arteta has been here for 3 years? The evidence… Read more »
It’s time for this Club to take a bloody risk once in a while
so why have you been blaming the manager then the last 8 years?
was the club ready to take the risks required to land trophies ???
does it nor cross your mind they opted for safety first… ( top4) nad that every transfer decission has been made with that in mind?
yes i know arteta has been shit lately but he has been our first choice dmf the last 2-3 seasons….if he dont know what to do in the cruciual games then who does?
I haven’t been blaming the manager the last 8 years. I said the fear of what could happen AFTER Wenger is one of the reasons he has still kept his job. I feel that he is a good manager however feel his position with Arsenal FC should be higher up and they should have someone else pushing the team that is fielded forward. Arteta has been our first choice but this season has been a shadow of his former self. So, we should stick to him even though he’s pretty shit because Kallstrom MIGHT do a worse job, even though… Read more »
“Arteta who has been shit” my arse. Your comment is shit. Arteta is one of our best defensive players. Arteta is the new favourite scapegoat. He averages 3.2 tackles and 2 interceptions per game, 67.4 passes per game with an accuracy of 92%. FACTS. Now fuck off with your ludicrous opinions. With Giroud you have a point. Kallstrom you do not. You have seen him for all of 12 minutes. You jizzed yourself over one pass. Wenger sees him all the time in training. I’m glad every armchair coach thinks he knows more about management than the man who has… Read more »
90% agree. Fully on the point we know nothing about whether or not Kallstrom can like-for-like replace Arteta or Flamini, and Arteta has been nowhere near shit. Flamini was too busy attacking the opposing box against Everton, out of position. He should have been full DM. BUT: Chambo on the bench and Poldi on the wing was a big deal. Martinez’ Everton are going to possess, flow and attack. Poldi’s not much help there. Ox on the right, Poldi on the bench for impact sub, could have been a totally different game. Ox gave Baines something to think about in… Read more »
It might help if Santi stopped giving the ball away to allow opponents a clear run at our defence.
There’s no doubt Santi is a lovely footballer but I think he escapes critiscm from the fans. How many great games has he had? Reading and west Ham are the only ones that stand out. Current fans boo boy Giroud has contributed far more to our season but the sheep are now targeting him.
Exactly my thoughts! It would be interesting to count how many goals we have conceded due to Santi giving the ball away in dangerous areas. E.g. Villa (A), Chelsea (A)
It pisses me off to see players writing that they are going to fuck off somewhere else, if their team-mates at Arsenal don’t win prizes for them. How about taking some responsibility for winning themselves?
That is all very well – but where is he supposed to go when he has the ball? If he is playing wide left then he has nothing ahead of him. He cannot outpace defenders and go it alone. He cannot slip a ball through for giroud. Instead he has to cut inside and play it across the pitch. He literally has no other option. It is really not his fault.
‘It is really not his fault?’ What? That he cant remember we are the ones playing in red. Seriously though, if you do give the ball away, why not try and get the fucking thing back and also not give the oppo Route 1 to goal.
Finally, if you watched the Chelski game last night, did you see anything familiar? Me neither.
end of the day ambition comes from the top of hierarchy. do owners want titles ?? and please the fans for their patience? ..then dig deep in your pockets and bring the manager some proper footballers and stop asking him to mix and match with bargains and cripples and then he miraculously saves your butts by securing champions league money…..
But Arsene is in sole charge of how his budget is spent, he pulled out of the Higuain deal, he decided not to sign a striker or Draxler in January. I agree that Arsene has performed well with the squad he has, but he created the problem in the first place. Since 2008 we have always been just two players short, which is what makes it so frustrating. Players then get burnt out because they’re overplayed and by the end of the season the squad is decimated. It happens every year but we never learn. If Arsene won’t change, and… Read more »
what budget? the one he has to sell players first in order to have one? or the 15m and 20m the board would give him fm 07-till 11 when we finally sold the highbury flats? he decided not to sign draxler in january..who the fuck is draxler to command 30 million transfer when we ve just spent 42 on ozil….. lol..how much money do you think arsenal has? the root problem is money and always has been….you couldnt have world class winners and the club went on with bargains cripples an dwaiting fro the youth players to mature… it is… Read more »
Draxler is not the player we need, he’s an attacking mid. How many of those do we have? Wenger is so stubborn that he thinks he can create a Barca or Spain type of team with no real out and out striker threat. Dream on, Wenger, your delusional and your time is up!
well dennis, it took cruyff 40 years at barcelona for their system to peak…..we havent even done ten yet……
arsene stubborn? his stubborness gave this club the greatest era and achievem,ents in the clubs history, plus a stadium and another century of existence…he can be as stubborn as he likes..his methods work and bring success when applied by world class players…not so much when you have to make do with bargains and inexperienced youth….
The accounts are there for everyone to analyse, there are no secrets. Your argument that Arsene has to sell to buy was once valid but not anymore. Perhaps he wouldn’t have had to sell if he hadn’t created the socialist wage structure where young players and serial underachievers get paid similar salaries to the star players. Arsene has done wonders for this club, I don’t buy the whole 9 years of failure, however it seems now is the right time to call it a day, hopefully with a trophy.
it has been valid ever since the van persie sale i.e two years ago…..all the time until that point we had to sell first and then buy. hillwood admits so in agm 2010. that we needed to generate a surplus of 25m per year. this was achieved by selling players. the reason for the sales was not the wage bill structure but the stupidity of locking arsenal in a ten year spsonsor deal of a mere 5-7.5m a year plus the inconvenience of not selling the highbury flats due to estate crisis which lasted till 2011. you could not have… Read more »
It was only this past summer we’ve really had the money to spend. Has there been improvement? If we get 4th and the FA Cup then yes, we are doing the same in the league, but we will have won a trophy, which will please the glory hunters and fair weather supporters. The fact that other clubs don’t keep cash reserves is not our problem. Any business in a normal world keeps cash reserves ‘just in case’, the fact that virtually no other football club does it is not our business. Wenger has a Masters in Economics, I think he… Read more »
I’m not arguing we didn’t need to sell players, only that we haven’t had to for the past to years. That’s why It’s ridiculous when people trot out the 9 years without a trophy line, because I’m not sure any other manager and I include Fegurson and Mourinho, could have done what he did on a budget. But times change and things move on, and if you don’t accept that then others overtake you.
but midfield general you say so yourself ..its in the last one -two years we have been able to spend a bit more…..
how many changes/improvements did you realistically expect in one -two years ?
bravo wenger’snose ! glad fans like you still around.
“And the defeat against Stoke finished us.” Speaks volumes about the fragility of the confidence of this squad. A massive change is required.
Brief and spot on. Walking back from the Britannia Stadium my feeling was that performance meant we were not in the title race. I did not expect the players to share that opinion but their subsequent performances indicate that they considered they were finished after that game. This is a terrible indictment of them and the management. While Liverpool was a shock to the system it was inevitably coming as in too many games leading up to Anfield, Cazorla. Chamberlain, Rosicky and Wilshere were routinely gifting possession of the ball to opponents.
Santi, recently your decision making skills have been a bit questionable. The ball control you used to have is missing of late.
How many important summers have we had now? Haha
One with actual cash.
The rest we had to turn a profit of 25M.
More talk – I just get bored of reading this crap now..
Cazorla’s statement is a clear testament to the fact that Wenger needs to step aside for someone else. Enough is enough!!!!
An experienced player cant blame being lost in translation. He’s cut down his team in public, I love santi but he is as culpable as anyone so he should shut the fuck up, how does this help anyone? Lost respect for him big time.
Alright keep it up mate now you can kick him out of the team and treat him like a Nasri or an RVP right?
Santi, I love you. Please show more of that winning mentality you talk about in person on the pitch?
CAzorla please step up and get a winning mentality. You are being paid enough for it!
Clearly no room left on the fence for Santi to sit on.
It’s nice to hear the players themselves express the shear extend of the need for new blood.
are players loosing trust in Arsene,? or isit jus me avyin creepy weird thoughts?
“City with Negredo and Man Utd with RVP” this guy knows we don’t have a striker at Arsenal. I saw Chelsea’s game yesterday and as much as I hate to say, their performance was everything arsenal lacks.
Maybe being a cunt is the price you pay for a winning mentality. Chelsea have it but are riddled with cunts. Our lads seem decent enough guys (save for the odd extra-marital late night hotel tryst) but can’t win for shit. This is probably as outspoken as Santi Cazorla gets and I have no issue with it – he’s not saying anything earth-shattering, and probably everyone here agrees. Something needs to change about the players mentality and it’s not going to happen if everyone just wants to be nice and spare each other’s feelings. I don’t want players who are… Read more »
Why would anyone watch that loathsome Chelski team when they could watch Dortmund V Madrid? Beggars belief!(unless you don’t have Sky)
Tbh I dont see us winning a title again unless we sign 4 or 5 big names. And not injured players plz Arsene.
It seems strange that for the last few seasons we have got stronger in ttherun in. Fundamental problems need sorting first and formost.
I fully support what Santi is saying. The team does not lack creativity – we have creative players in Santi and Ozil. What we desperately lack is any players for them to create things for – and that is effectively what he is saying here. Good on him. He has nothing ahead of him to supply through balls to – so how is he supposed to be effective to the team when creating is his primary role? He has not been at his best purely because a) he should not be playing left midfield and b) he has nothing ahead… Read more »
His comments speak for themselves:
“And the defeat against Stoke finished us. You can’t lose against Stoke if you aspire to be the next champion.”
That sentence sums it up as after the loss to Stoke we were in with a shot. Just the utter shite we’ve played since has proven, to all, that we are not, and do not, deserve to be champions; it’s just sad our teams aspirations have let them down.
And I cannot see these aspirations changing any time soon. Gutting.
The thing that holds Arsenal back is ambition from top to bottom pure and simple. This forth place “success” mantra has taken over the club like a virus and its breed an apathy to real winning.
In pure money terms there is very little difference between winning the league and finishing fourth. Same with the Champions league from qualifying to last 16 and winning it.
While Stoke was indeed our death knell, we have to look at why we lost so comprehensively away to the other top 5. We know we can match them all at home. I also had a question though! Why were 4 out of our 5 games away to the other top sides all in the past two months. Maybe we’d have a better chance had these been more spread out. We always seem to end up with these big games with half our squad missing!
Karl, it was Southampton away where we started faltering. That game was similar to Swansea where we went ahead with 2 quick goals and immediately conceded territory by sitting back. Strange mentality from all involved. Just trying to scrape through games. Whoever has instilled this thought process has killed Arsenal.
The Chelsea defeat was like a sniper’s shot in the head. Whatever little fight we had left was sucked away. Now, I am fearing our chances for the FA cup even. The way we are playing football, any team will fancy their chances against us.
I was hopin wenger ll disappoint me by doing sometin different this season. I am rather angry he didnt disappoint me. His failure to strenghten the squad knowing fully that walcot our only best finisher was ruled out of the season and that injury will set in as usual just like 2008. Why did wenger believe Giroud can lead arsenal team well. I always knew arsenal ll never go no where near the epl title with Giroud as the leading striker. No team has won the epl without a good striker.
New blood is needed for sure, but without new tactics and fresh ideas in our play then it all counts for nothing. A bit of a ‘same shit, different day’ feeling. We have to strengthen the squad no doubt, but even with all the injuries the teams we have fielded in the last couple of months should never get beat so comprehensively. It’s a pure lack of perpetration, drive, and passion from the man in charge.
We don’t need new tactics if we have new players. Our system does not work with the players available to him. Yes we have top players, but it is not enough. They have to work as a team, and I do not believe that with the current blend we can do that. Three or four more attacking options and the system would work fine – it just defies belief that these options have not been added during the last two windows.
I agree on Plan A, but We need a plan B. And C.
If Chelsea, Everton, City, and Swansea are all going to counter into space behind your left back, close that shit up.
Preparation not perpetration although i do feel perpetrated lately.
@o2ba Right now I’d say we can’t win the EPL with Wenger @ the helm. Maybe a few COCs and FA cups but its clear to me that over 38 league games, Wenger can’t win this league. Buy 5 world class players and they’ll inherit the same mentality from the squad and the manager just like Ozil. Incase you’ve not noticed, this isn’t the same Ozil that played for Real, he seems so fragile and helpless now. We need to change our manager.
best second half last year and best first half this season …… of course they can do it..they just have to learn to do it in the right time frame thats all.
Please Arsene just once stand in your technical area and wave your arms about like a fucking loony tune and scream till spit comes flying out all over the forth official, then headbutt an opposing player as he takes a throw in. Just once please look like you are Le Boss and not some homeless guy sitting on the park bench asking for spare change!! Please!!!
‘Got any change for a zip, gov?!!
Says it all, the players feel handicapped every game. Wigan will be chomping at the bit for us now.
Carzola is saying very similar things to what Viera said when he was still at the club the season after the ‘invincibles’. It’s always been AW’s stratergy to leave the squad a player or two short from being labelled the favourites for PL & give that as the space to grow for youngsters. Over the years AW has been successfull in transforming an youngester into a star with this approach. Instead of buying ready made stars, he gave oppurtunity for many players including Cesc to grow (which wouldn’t have as quickly if we bought a ready made replacement for Viera).… Read more »
We need to finish 4th no matter what.. And we have to win this FAcup, this will give us a springboard for next season. Every player fit and replenish the squad we will win the ne PL title 🙂 Forward we go gunners!
Edwardo as you so loving put it had his leg shattered in a horror tackle. Not sure there is a whole lot of training/preperation to be done about that.
No shit
SUN: Arsenal ‘star playmaker’ considers leaving in summer if things don’t improve!
You called it. This from BBC this morning:
“Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla, 29, wants the club to spend heavily on revamping the squad this summer, hinting he may leave if he does not believe they can compete for trophies. “
blog, you left out the part where he said he is ready to go elsewhere in search of elusive silverware. this is beginning to look like a revolt from within
He signed a new deal keeping him at the club for two more years, he says he’d assess his options when that runs out when he’s 31…if you think that’s a ‘revolt’ then so be it.
I don’t think it’s representative of a revolt by any means, but definitely think it was an important part of the interview that he felt his long-term future was dependent on success here.
And Guy Smiley talking that way can’t be good. It is indicative of the potential for mentally checking out, which he also mentioned.
We had to dump players last time to shake that negativity. I hope this is short lived.
Its like blackmailing himself to win or leave, win first.