Speaking after Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Everton at the weekend, Arsene Wenger has seemingly criticised fans for who have expressed disenchantment at recent results and performances.
The victory at Goodison Park was only the second in nine games, and the Gunners remain 11 points behind leaders Leicester in the Premier League table.
Following the Everton game, the Arsenal manager said he could live with criticism from the media, but suggested the lack of support from fans was hurtful and difficult to take.
“What hurts me is that at the important moment of the season we played in a sceptical environment,” he said.
“I think after the Tottenham game where we played a very good game with 10 men against 11 and came back to 2-2, I couldn’t understand why – at the moment when you need everyone behind the team – we had to hit that storm.
“From the media, OK. From our fans? It is a bit more difficult to take.”
He did, however, acknowledge his and the players part in helping to turn that around.
“I never complain about critics, especially when they are turned against me,” he continued. “But we have to get the fans behind us with our attitude, and make sure that they stand behind the team until the end of the season.”
Play more often like we did against Everton, and there’d be fewer issues. It’s the repetitive nature of recent performances like Swansea, Man Utd, Watford, Chelsea etc, that have shaped opinion more than anything else.
With more or less two weeks until the next league game at home against Watford (again), there’s time to get people back on side and generate an atmosphere, but it’s what his players do on the pitch when we kick off that will really have the most impact.
heh. The environment is something he and his players created by being crap. I mean, not a little crap oh no, but very very crap.
Correct. If results septic,expect sceptical environment.
No bad results, but shitty performances, lack of character, not giving 100% and poor management. That what hurts me Mr Wenger, but I know, you dont care!
I know we are under performing this year. I realize that the time for Wenger to go might be sooner rather than later. But the sort of comments on this article for Wenger are really disrespectful. I realize that many supporters are disappointed with his performance this season and I am too. But the way some of us are going about it is extremely disrespectful considering he’s the most successful manager in our club’s history. The sort of animosity we’re showing is comparable to Steve McLaren at Newcastle. I don’t buy into the argument that we’ve been under performing for… Read more »
Should’ve gone to real or barca? He wouldn’t even last a season there. You think they would see top 4 success. Wenger would’ve been sacked by any top team in the world a very long time ago. But think about it, if you’re the owner of a company and your manager is growing the revenue exponentially over the last 20 years, would you sack him? Why does the revenue keep going up, because we as fans don’t do the talking with our feet. I’ve gone to watch them all my life (29 now) and this year I’ve refused to go… Read more »
I do think you, Arsene Out, need to learn about how the Board works. Arsene is only given directions by the Board. If they set a target of too 4. That’s their words, and of course he aims to get that or higher. You have to understand the landscape of football as well, and not listen to the drivel narrated by the media. They know absolutely feck all. We were hit by a massive debt, due to our decision to shift out of being financial minnows by moving stadiums. With that sort of debt, coincided by the arrival of oil… Read more »
We have fans play a significant part in that. Should be fully behind our team irrespective of the results!
Every away team should feel the force of the Arsenal fans!
Difficult one as I can recognise the fans’ disenchantment but also can identify how entirely counter-productive it is.
Only thing that will effectively change things is by not buying tickets to the games altogether.
The production of “That Banner” is really a step too far and AW is quite rightly offended by it. The fact remains we are by most standards a successful club but performances such as Swansea,Manure and particularly Watford are bound to produce negative fan reaction and AW is surely not naive enough to know it. Most genuine fans will forgive and forget but when poor performances occur as frequently as recently it does test their patience and AW should know and acknowledge this. If he goes into siege mentality if more poor performances happen then he will receive more justified… Read more »
You have got to be kidding me. Poor guy can’t take a measly banner when his team is underperforming. It was hardly a disrespectful banner.
Have a look at what Marseille fans did when they had an underperforming team. He should thank his lucky stars that he has patient fans.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-3499471/Marseille-fans-run-riot-stadium-England-face-Russia-Euro-2016-police-fight-prevent-pitch-invasion-Rennes-loss.html
Lol that is epic! their banners make ours look tame!!!
Sorry mate but that’s marseille and this is arsenal. See the difference? They are known for instance to switch and support the adverse team when marseille is not performing well. I was at the velodrome when marseille played Leeds United in champions league. You cannot compare mate
Adding to that, the banner came out after a decisive victory. One where two of our less than well performing players scored two goals each. Had it come out after the shambles against Watford then it would be hard to argue but after the game we had against Hull there is no fucking way I’ll see eye to eye with the people behind that banner. Tossers!
On a side note… there’s a little gem at the bottom of that Marseille article – Diaby finally made his debut for the club!
I can easily remember the days when St Totteringhams day wasn’t a regular event.
Finishing mid-table was shit but not having a St Totteringhams was even worse.
“A successful club”? Really! It’s been over eleven years since we won the league. Over ten years since we won in the league at old Trafford! God knows how long since we beat Chelsea. And haven’t gone past the 1st knock out phase of the CL for how long? Now, sp*rs and Leicester city are above us in the league. Furthermore, if he’s “offended” by it, that’s his choice! He keeps doing the same thing, season in and season out and expecting a different outcome. That is the definition of madness. Now if Leicester, or (God forbid) spurt win the… Read more »
Oh well, you keep doing the same thing season in season out – you support the club. By your own ‘definition’ that makes you mad too. Take a chill pill, we are all a little mad. Or go back to le-grove and practice your particularly whiny breed of pop psychology there.
Fuck Kroenke! I blame him as well, we were doing fine until that fucker showed his face.
Well…. To be honest. I dont understand this comment. Since he arrived we have won two FA cups, out general position in the league is more or less the same. And weve bought the likes of ozil and alexis. And finally producing younger talents.
Im not saying kroenke did this. Im just pointing out the fact the infact we are better off than a few seasons ago.
What did you expect Arsene? We were 2 points clear at the top in January and look at the position we find ourselves in now. With all the big clubs having terrible seasons, what a chance this was for us to finally win the league. But, as always, we bottled it. The manner in which we’ve dropped points has been pathetic, especially the Man Utd and Swansea results. How can you not expect some fan unrest? We’re tired of the same crap year in year out. This one has been the hardest to take because we don’t have the excuse… Read more »
Don’t worry: next season Wenger will get it right and win the league.
what about that pathetic loss to Watford in the cup. A chance to make it three in a row. And they fucked it up. His best team. He can’t blame the fans for being out of the three other competitions. By now we should be out of sight in the premier league.
The ‘irony’ of portly Gooners comments are wonderfully missed 🙂
But not by everybody.
Gooners, you confuse me with some of your ccomments, especially “With all the big clubs having terrible season”. Thought AArsenal is a big club or they are not. You want to enlighten me on this.
I personally hope Arsene leaves in the summer, Iv’e seen some over the top comments on twitter but he’s not helping himself in TV interviews, he shows a disengagement with the fan base calling reaction farcical but it’s a farce all of his own making
The scepticism and criticism has not come about because of a bad run but because this same scenario has played out time and again in the last 8 years (since we choked in 2008).
I’m sure if you wind the clocks back to 2010 (or even 2 years ago) the dissent wasn’t so pronounced.
There’s only so much of the same thing people can take without snapping. It’s just that some people have a longer fuse than others.
Especially when a lot of these people have only been fans since 2004.
Even if that were true, 12 years isn’t a small amount of time. We can go d**k measuring and say “I’ve been supporting the club for 30 years” blah blah blah, but when arsenal were in such a great position in 2004, the stadium upgrade was necessary to do what? Remain relevant in the premier league and charge the fans the highest season ticket prices in all of Europe? Even if that were the case, this year is an anomaly in terms of the final points tally needed to win the PL. Yet, we’re struggling to be in the discussion… Read more »
I love this man but he just needs to admit he has failed the fans. I didn’t complain when he failed to sign an outfield player because I trusted his judgement. Now he wants sympathy from fans who are calling for his head.
He wants sympathy? Read it again as he said directly he accepts the criticism directed at him.
He’s saying it would be better for us all if supporters had more respect and perhaps even actual support for the players and team.
Would help if he, the team and the rest of the club had respect for the fans.
How have the players disrespected supporters?
Poor patch of form is not disrespect. What have they done?
And I’m hurt by our recent performances. boo hoo. We are all hurting. We don’t have what we want. The thing is…it’s never too late to turn it around. Finishing behind the spuds will be a kick in the face but ultimately if we give 110% effort for the rest of the season, take some calculated risks and show some discipline…I for one will feel a little better about things. I know it’s easy for me to say “make things better” but ultimately I don’t get paid several million a year to do just that.
also easy for me to say because as I live in germany I am not surrounded by sp*rs fans and I don’t pick up an english paper every day. I can pretend it never happened;)
There is a question to be asked for those who want wenger to resign: 1) is it just for the sake of it, to get a fresh face after all these years? or 2) if people really want to get an upgrade for the position because wenger is no more the best choice? If the answer is 1 then names like Koehman, Pellegrini and others are valid options but you can’t really argue that they are better managers than wenger, not even close. If the answer is 2, who would you even get that is a better manager? The PL… Read more »
This is one of the best comments I’ve seen around this. Too many people are calling for the head of Wenger, when they haven’t thought logically about this.
What is this?! Common sense in the Arseblog news comments? That’s been long missing…
How about we get the current Grampus 8 manager?
Takafumi Ogura, aged 42, former Japanese team striker, five games, 1 goal, played Dutch football with Excelsior 31 games 14 goals. Grampus 8 currently 9th in Japanese J League first division. Club last won title 2010.
I’m afraid it’s a no this time. Wenger In! until he goes after one more season when we definitely win the league. Fucking interlull, we’ve just hit form again.
I think most fans would concede Wenger is a good manager, but his reluctance to enter the transfer market to improve glaring deficiencies in the squad has been both frustrating and simply baffling for people to understand. Fans have just grown tired of years of excuses, false dawns and empty promises.
“Not winning a title this season would be a failure, but so are the campaigns of City, United, Chelsea and Liverpool”
And every one of those clubs will have changed their managers at the end of the season as a result. Why shouldn’t our manager be under the same pressure?
The fans of those clubs have not put pressure on, the owners/management have taken the decisions into their own hands when there’s been a bad run.
Personally, I think the FA cup and champions league is better than Europa league and messing about in the league cup.
No manager in the world is without his limitations, as will be shown next season when the almighty Pep has to contend with the rigours of this league.
‘FA Cup and Champions League’ – please call it like it is: FA Cup and Top 4. Don’t kid yourself that we’re a team of consequence in the Champions League.
Because this is the Arsenal. We have more class than that.
There’s been no dressing-room fall-out, like under Mourinho at Chelsea. No abandonment of the club’s football philosophy, like under LVG at United. Liverpool have simply had poor managers, and are still under-performing under Klopp, a name that’s been bandied around by many so-called Arsenal “fans” for a while now. And hey, we’re not City, thank you very much.
That’s why our manager shouldn’t be under the same pressure. Get behind him. Get behind the team. Be a supporter.
Liking Klopp means you are not a real Arsenal fan?
Every one of those managers you would have wanted at Arsenal if Wenger left. Is this what Arsenal and football is? Team plays bad – sack the manager. Players perform bad – sack the manager. The manager is responsible for the team, but even the best manager cannot get 100% out of the players. Unrealistic expectations. I want Arsenal to survive as a club and still compete with the best in the world and Arsene has fulfilled this bare minimum so far. Supporters state this has been going on for 12 years but forget what he has been doing behind… Read more »
Oh, how logical it all sounds, what you wrote.. But also very wrong, in my opinion. The main problem from my perspective is his inability to take the maximum from the team. We can agree, most of us I’m sure that this season the team hasn’t played to its’ full potential, even with the injuries etc. And that is down to the manager. If he cannot make them die for the shirt, play like crazy for those 90 minutes and have crazy hunger for trophies after so many barren years, then there is something very wrong with the whole team… Read more »
I agree with this, people who want Wenger to leave have thought it through, and they have seen the same weaknesses year after year. I’ll just add that his reluctance to buy new players is a reflection of his misplaced faith in the players he has. Some people speculate that he has become scared of failing in the transfer market and prefers what he knows. In my opinion Wenger has failed to build a balanced squad with well-defined playing style. His free expression approach is great when it works and painful when it does not. I don’t think there are… Read more »
No one can guarantee a title – this is true. However, can a different manager get better performances out of this group of players as well as take advantage of the (ample) resources available? Will a different manager actually use a pecking order based upon meritocracy rather than favoritism? Will a different manager actually change things when things aren’t working rather than keeping it the same with substitutions on the 70 minute mark every game? I think that the answer is probably yes and there are loads of managers out there who would perform better than average based upon our… Read more »
Underperforming players, lack of contingency for injuries and rebalancing teams after aforementioned injuries are all sticks to beat the manager with, because they are quite evident and cyclical in the last 8 years.
Pecking order according to meritocracy and substitutions on 70 minutes are not fair accusations at Wenger because in those case we do not have the information available to the manager. They are baseless speculation.
I see. So what information might be available to the manager that makes him believe Walcott deserves more chances than Campbell?
“he is the new henry”
Training ground performances, fitness level results, the demolarizing fact that Arsenal cannot score, so having the one person whose game is solely built around goal scoring should help kick start the attack.
There are larger, undeniable issues that Wenger needs to answer, not some speculative observation made by an armchair fan who is easily swayed by the flavour of the month. Fans should be asking about the squad mismanagement and the repetitive mistakes.
If playing an awful player ahead of quite a good one isn’t squad mismanagement then I don’t know what is.
I agree that a different manager could get better results – or not. It is a matter of finding a right person at the right ime, that is also what wenger has been telling. Can’t agree that wenger chooses players on favoritism, he has a lot more information available of the players than the fans and it would be stupid for him to not choose the strongest team for every match. He also gets sh’t for playing walcott and not campbell but praise for playing iwobi and not campbell. Tottenham haven’t won anything yet and and got crushed by a… Read more »
City,Chelsea and Manure won the league at least two times each the last 10 years. Every year, the PL and the CL are won a manager who is not Wenger.
Those 3 teams also got the most money during those years. Arsenals net spending being close to zero (not counting the last 2 years though)
Eh, these arguments are tiring. On the one hand spending does not matter (see this year in PL) on the other it makes all the difference. City and Chelsea had to spend more to catch up, and Chelsea has been making profits the last couple of years. Money makes a difference, but there was not a huge difference between the wage bills. Also we were very close on a couple of occasions only for the team to bottle it, just like this year.
How much did Leicester City spend to leave us in their trail?
I would honestly rather finish 6th than 2nd, 3rd or 4th yet again. It’s the hope that kills you. Any decent manager should be able to get this group of players into the top 4. What we need is someone to spend as much on defenders or strikers as he does on attacking midfielders. Someone who won’t preside over the same late season collapse every single bloody year!
“Any decent manager should be able to get this group of players into the top 4. ” – I completely disagree with this one. Look at Chelsea, ManU, ManCity. They all have better a better squad than us and “better” managers. Look where they are at this point of the season. Premier League is becoming more tougher than it was few years back. It is becoming unpredictable. I am not saying we cannot be at a better position in the league at the moment. I am not backing the manager with lack of spending before the season started. But, we… Read more »
“We should be careful what we wish for.”
We could also end up with a manager with the impact that Ranieri or Pochettino. They are also on fraction of the budget here.
3 points;
1) the season isn’t over yet.
2) Not playing in Europe may have given Ranieri a bit of help, or Chelsea would have done a bit better under him when he was there (and I rate Ranieri).
3) Pochettino has some serious investment in players in his squad (mostly before he arrived) and will he continue this ‘impact’ during their stadium build?
Rubbish. I would disagree that their squads are really any better than ours. And I don’t think they have better managers either!
If man Utd have a better squad than us then I’m a monkey’s uncle.
Their central defence is a midfielder, sometimes 2 midfielders, they have fellaini, Rashford is their main striker. Give me a break.
Maybe people who want option 1, don’t expect to win the league/have a guarantee. What they want is to try something else as this way appears not to be working. Ranieri is about to win the league. Is that because he is a better manager than Wenger? No it isn’t. I don’t doubt that someone like Koeman could be a great manager in the not too distant future, have we got the bottle to find a manager like him now (a bit like we did with Wenger in the first place…) There is more than one way to skin a… Read more »
We were top of the League in January… top of the League. Chelsea (who changed their manager mid-season), City (who are changing their manager), United and Liverpool (who changed their manager mid-season) have not even come close. We shouldn’t allow other club’s failures to be excuses for our own. Our position is our own fault, no one else’s.
A manager who appears motivated and demonstrates empathy with the fans. The change should have occurred before now. Wenger is failing to show he understands why fans feel the way they do. Wenger either needs to change himself or go. Your point is valid but we either accept that we are now a team who are in the same realms as Liverpool, challenging for top four and makings it every now and then or something changes (be that the approach of our club or those at the top). As fans we have not had transparency and honesty for a long… Read more »
Liverpool already have klopp a new manager. Man u will probably have a new manager Chelsea have a new manager having sacked their premier league winning manager the year before and will replace him with the Italian national team coach, City will have a new manager having won the league the year before Chelsea but are still in the running for the champions league and us ? We just stagnate and are expected to accept the same shit year in year out because people honestly believe no one is better qualified to replace wenger . Really ?
Personally I understand why everyone is so pissed off. Would it be better to reserve judgement until the end of the season? Probably but football doesn’t work like that and I think we can all pretty much agree our title chances are gone. The players created this atmosphere of disappointment from the fans but by the same token, we don’t have a God given right to trophies. I want us to win silverware but I am also grateful for the fact that we are not a club in the doldrums even if it might feel like that to some fans.… Read more »
I can understand his comments completely. I was more disappointed with the fans lack of support against Swansea than the team’s performance. We hit the woodwork 3 times, Swansea scored 2 goals with 2 shots on target. I know it seems like we are watching a broken record spin, but the team needed support, 30 mins left of that game and the fans who attended just bottled it. The atmosphere in a must-win game was toxic. So if we are going to point to the manager’s recent comments being counter productive, you cannot ignore the “supporters” lack of support during… Read more »
Our match going fans financially support their team more than any other set of fans in the world, with that comes a responsibility for the club and manager to provide performances reflecting that investment.
If the manager doesn’t like the fan pressure that comes with trousering the worlds largest gate receipts maybe he should find himself a club with a ticketing policy reflects his ambitions and ability.
Players ask for a lot…But sometimes fans do not realize there importance.. The same way we criticize the players for playing when the pressure is off…We can say the same about the fans especially at home games who sing only when we are winning..Its embarrasing that the emirates is known as the ‘library’ and that we are a bunch of soft fans who make more noise online than at our own stadium. .When we are struggling they let the team know immediately with silence, boos and groans…But on the flipside when your charging that price for tickets how can you… Read more »
I would rather as fans, we support the team no matter what. Last few weeks have been hurtful, no doubt. But we shouldn’t behave in a way that can also cause a loss of confidence in players in this critical time. I will shut up, Bury my head in the pillow and swear there as long as there is a slim chance of winning this. We have a medium chance now.
If we as a fan support you until the end of the season then we dont win the epl. What should you do wenger? Can you dream to win the epl when we are 11 Point below. Can you accuse the money club? when the winner is poor club, can you accuse the injury when the transfer window open for a month. What should you do? Who you want to blame?
I personally hope Arsene leaves in the summer, Iv’e seen comments on social media that have been way over the top but he’s not helping himself in post match interviews and press conferences, Calling the reaction farcical but it’s a farce all of his own making and shows a clear disengagement with the fan base that runs from the board down to the manager, And sadly is only getting bigger, Seems evident the club has gone stale and there are major issues not being addressed a change of direction is needed.
Slightly off-topic: these stories about Mourinho at Arsenal this morning are obviously nonsense. But hypothetically, if they were true, I could never accept that man at my club. Any trophy we won under him would feel hollow to me. If people thought the way Chelsea fans treated Rafa Benitez was bad, I think that’s nothing compared to how Arsenal fans would receive Jose Mourinho.
Why though? Pretty sure his vile was aimed at Wenger, not Arsenal.
Probably because he’s a classless twat. He’s shown that at every club he’s ever been at, which is one of the reasons he can’t stay anywhere long.
And showing disdain at fans displeasure is classy. Mourinho is a proven winner. I would love him to manage this club. It would show how much of a failure Wenger has really been
I have criticized Wenger in the past, but rather than have that psychopath Mourinho lead our club, I’d just as soon keep Wenger until Hell froze over.
Geniuses tend to be called crazy or psycho because people don’t understand them. Mourinho is a genius. Nobody can deny that.
Did you write this reply while listening to a Kanye West album?
Nicely trolled, Dan Hunter.
Mr. Hunter: “Psychopath” has a specific meaning; it’s not just some loose word for crazy. Symptoms are things like grandiose estimation of oneself (giving himself the nickname “the Special One”); superficial charm; lack of remorse and empathy; easily bored (explaining his three-year problem); failure to accept responsibility for his own actions (witness some of his post-game interviews). You get the idea.
And while he is smart, he’s hardly a genius. This is football after all, not quantum mechanics.
Dan, if you don’t get your hands out of Mou’s pants you’re going to catch something unpleasant.
Specialist in failure – Arsene not Arsenal. He’s right. The last 12 years have been failures. The last 3 years even bigger failures than the first 9.
The last 3 years have included two FACups, were they failures?
Now we’re out of the FA Cup, I thought it had suddenly become a valid trophy again!
Fodder for the masses, a few crumbs of bread after the circus
Bollocks, those FA cups mattered to me and I loved every minute of winning them, and made the club the most successful ever team in that competition. Of course I want Arsenal to win it all but there is a massive overreaction to our current circumstances. Anyone would think we’re a club in disarray and at risk of relegation the way some fans go on.
The FA cup – It is the equivalent of eating an appetizer and going without main course and dessert.
Eating an appetizer when you have a thousand pounds in your pocket but you are too stingy to spring for McCain course so you just eat the breadsticks at the table and the macadamia nuts at the bar
So you you’d prefer us not to be the most successful club in FA cup history then? I bet the FA cup mattered to you when we went out to Watford last week, gave you another reason to whinge and shout Wenger out again didn’t it? Idiot.
There was a time when the FA Cup was looked at as the secondary objective by this very same manager. Although a great achievement, all it has served to do is paper over some major cracks
Wenger has always taken the FA cup seriously and has a fantastic record in this competition, As I said, he’s the most successful manager in the competitions history. You may think that it papered over some cracks, but don’t go saying that winning it two years in a row is a failure.
As a club supposedly going for the top prizes namely the PL and CL, it is a failure. What does winning this cup prove in the grand scheme of things? Does it show or club to be the best? It is a tournament that can be won by winning 8 straight games, most of which are against lower opposition, even from lower leagues. Winning the premiership is the real test of a teams mettle. Winning the champions league is only done by the very best. It is a failure to simply win a knockout domestic tournament when the resources the… Read more »
When you think about it, some fans like money to be spent and spent. Bringing young players from the academy is not is not important. Buy Falcao and put him on the bench, sign so many players that even true fans don’t know who are the players on their team, then send all the young players on loan or sell them at bargain price. That’s Maureen strategy. May be when he comes in he may win the premiership but at what cost? Feeling physically sick typing this. If/when that happens I won’t comit suicide oh no buy I will buy… Read more »
It’s clear to see that this is a squad that is not capable of winning a trophy.
It’s obvious that we needed a minimum of three players. A central defender, midfielder and a decent striker. This should have been addressed last summer.
The players know it and the fans know it.
Same old Arsenal!
Except this squad, bar Cech and Elneny won the FA cup two years on the bounce.
Is the FA cup not a trophy?!?!?
I don’t understand people saying this is our “best” chance to win the league and then turning around to blame Wenger and the players for a weak mentality. If you think this is our “best chance” to win the league cos the other top teams are “performing poorly” – I put my hands up and say it, the league is simply competitive that’s the actual truth – then you too have a “small team” mentality. Every season is our best chance to win the league. I’m telling you it’s guys like these who will turn on the team next season… Read more »
“Every season is our best chance to win the league.”
Based upon that logic alone, Wenger should be sacked. He hasn’t won the league for 12 years and never won the Champions League in over 19 attempts. How many more chances can one person get?
At any other big club in the world, he’d have been sacked about 3 times by now (probably more).
Wenger can have all the chances he wants. Name one manager guaranteed to win the title. He built Arsenal its his fucking club!
The question should be – what other big club would let a manager preside over 12 years with no credible title challenge? or 19 years in the CL with one final to show for it (and no trophies)?
Built the club – Jesus wept.
If that manager had dragged us from being a mediocre cup team into being one of the top teams in the country and getting close to becoming one of the European big clubs then I think most clubs would have let him.
I guess that’s what a over 40 years of supporting a club gives you, perspective.
Were you in a coma between 89 and 91?
I certainly remember the joys of GG between 89 and 91, but also remember 93 (10th) and 95 (12th) and the 20 years before that when we where a ‘hit or miss’ team that mainly missed. I remember well the magnificent FA Cup win in 79 under Terry Neill but league-wise we came 8th, 5th, 7th, 4th, 3rd, 5th and finally we were 16th when he left. We had a strong Cup tradition (like west ham and a few other clubs) and had the occasional run at the league. Now in our bad years we come 4th and although we’re… Read more »
What are you on about? You do know Arsenal existed before Wenger?
And we won trophies before Wenger?
And we were a big club before Wenger?
And we could attract big talent before Wenger?
Good point about the “small team” mentality. They still fucked up a good chance at the title this season. But i think i would want arsenal to be able to win he league regardless of how the other top teams perform.
I find these comments troubling. How Arsene can complain about fans being skeptical I have no idea. Telling fans tahat a draw against Spurs is a good result is a deliberate wind-up. He’s also been claiming direct credit (fairly in my opinion) for building the club: never heard Wenger do this. The club have, so far, been conspicuous in not supporting him. Everyone knows we should and could have done better and that 11 points is almost certainly unbridgable: that is the problem. I love the man but Arsene needs to look at himself.
Wenger’s comments in recent weeks haven’t been good. ‘I’ve been here 20 years’ (as though sheer longevity is a qualification?); ‘I’ve built this club single-handedly out of nothing’ (no, you haven’t); ‘I still have the desire’ (so have most managers in Europe). If he had said instead: ‘I recognise that I’ve underachieved in Europe relative to my financial resources and the quality of the players pretty much since the day I arrived, and I recognise that this year I’ve carried that underachievement over into the league, but now, having reflected long and hard on the reasons for this, I see… Read more »
Yeah, how about not crashing out of the champions league at the first elimination stage every year? Of how about keeping a strong team all season instead of crapping out in January and then scrapping for 4th place every year? How about listening to fan input when they say we need a better player in X position? Maybe, Just MAYBE, the skeptical environment wouldn’t exist if these things weren’t an annual issue.
It’s worrying that he seems to think us fans don’t have reason to be this way, when you see the league table and see the top 2 are Leicester & Sp*rs, with City 4th United 5th Liverpool & Chelsea somewhere around 10th I dunno about you guys but I feel nothing but anger at the fact we aren’t currently waltzing our way to the league title which we could be if we didn’t absolutely bottle it once again. All this after the manager & players bleating on about the winning mentality in the squad now etc etc, only for us… Read more »
Well im as a fan am hurt that several of my friends have been pushed away by the club due to ever increasing ticket prizes So they need to prioritize other bills. all so that the ridicoulous wage and bonus bonanza can keep growing within the club with Wenger himself being one of the highest earners. Also the prizes in no way reflect the product they are selling. If it did we would be Barcelona and not a 4th place club who struggle to make it through CL group stage and never even stand a chance in the last 16… Read more »
I think much of the frustration from supporters comes from the comments Wenger (and players) constantly make about our being unlucky, still in the title race, playing with belief, etc. along with such minimum investment in the squad in the last year (two players, 15 million pounds or so) while he continues to give opportunities to players that to many are not performing while seemingly suppressing opportunities for others that actually seem to care and give full effort (Campbell). Yes we are ahead of the other big clubs, but our best opportunity for years to win the league is being… Read more »
Arsene, we are hurt by your lack of support to what we want as fans, and that is to build a squad with enough depth and quality to fight for all titles. It was not hard, you could have done a few years ago, and especially this year. Still you chose the same path as each year. We deserve more, we invest our money, time and patience, crazy amount of emotional support and you keep on dissapointing us. You are here because of us, not the other way around. You and all the people in the board totally forgot that.… Read more »
Wengers’ ego is so big and it amazes me. Surely the fans should question the losses to a depleted Man U side, Swansea, watford, an out of sorts Chelsea? He thinks he owns Arsenal, but may be he does or where does he take the crazy money he has earned over this 12 year period of underperformance?
The only permanent thing in life is change and wenger ought to know that.
Yes Losing to Manure AND Swamsea was criminal. But you’re are just a bunch of spoiled cry babies! Some senior squad players haven’t pulled their weight and Arsene is attempting to rectify it ( Welbeck Iwobi and Elneny). I’d rather have Wenger and Kroenke for another 20 years than even entertain the though of a Usmanov( corrupted thug) and Mourinho ( Evil clown) combo.
O was going to disagree with your comment, but the possibility of an Usmanov/Mourinho tandem makes me shudder.
There’s no evidence other than a disgruntled journalist that Usmanov is a criminal.
There is the small matter of him having been in prison.
Mandela and MLK jr were in prison… is that all you have? Supreme court ruled charges were trumped up
You are either being disingenuous to compare Usmanov to Mandela and Martin Luther King, or you’re just full of crap. The evidence is pretty clear that Usmanov is, or was, a gangster and that his conviction was overthrown because the political fix was in. He is good buddies with Abramovich, and his wife has an in with Putin. And this is the guy you want to own our club?
What is this evidence? Where is it? In reality, we do not know anything about Usmanov except what we may have read in the gutter press.
There’s plenty about Usmanov in the ‘high-brow’ news as well.
From newsweek upwards.
He’s regularly mentioned in the news globally, not just the lazy hacks we have in the UK.
Also his own press releases and interviews have made it completely clear that he would want a proper dividend if he owned the club. Not the tiny return that Stan may be getting for his ‘services supplied’.
A very odd season. Completely understand the fans frustrations, but not sure what’s to be gained by trying the push the manager out with 8 games to go. Ultimately, we are where we are, and at this point we need to push on and get as many points on the board between now and the end of the season to try and apply a bit of pressure to the Spuds and Leicester. Minimum requirement now is top four, and like it or loath it, Wenger is the best person to get us there (recognising the limitations of that statement!). Then… Read more »
What did he expect an applause? City, United and Chelsea fans can be understanding of their season because they have all won the league recently. We have not won it in 12 years and for all those years we were made to believe we couldn’t compete with the other teams financially. What excuse does Wenger have now? And the worst that will happen if we replace Wenger is not qualify for the CL, in a competition which we have been knocked out in the last 16 for 6 consecutive years.
My frustration with Wenger stems from the fact that he refuses to see why the fans are angry…It has nothing to do with the poor results and poor collapse this season…Its seeing it and the same symptoms for the last 5 or 6 years play out in the exact same way. Take the Swansea and Watford matches..Both teams scored with their two shots on goal while we should have really beaten both 5 or 6 at least the the amounts of chances created. Taken in isolation those games were unlucky…But how many times have we seen that over the last… Read more »
Everyone has their own opinion about Arsene, and we as fans are split like never before. I honestly can see both sides. I have over the years aired my views that it’s time to go but then I’ve looked at it and said who is better than what we currently have. Let’s just go back pre Arsene and who remembers the one season under Bruce Rioch. He was an up and coming manager but just wasn’t able to manger the set of players we had, we sneaked into the UEFA cup on the last day of the season. Under Arsene… Read more »
Being sceptical means having doubts and reservations Arsene. Good choice of word and pretty much how we all feel I guess.
Sorry it upsets you having created this feeling of doubt yourself over the years !
Judge me at the end of the season you say..too late then old chap as the same old spin machine comes out talking about money for transfers and gullible , foolish fans will fall for the same old bull shit again.
NOT ANY MORE WE WON’T.
a bit deluded me think, which is getting worrying considering his previous comments as well.
I hope upon hope that somehow the form of both Leicester and Spores falls off a cliff and we win it. I will be delighted for me , then the other fans ,then the club as a whole and finally for you Arsene as I would like you to walk away at the end of your contract with your reputation in some part restored as what you have done over the years , 1998 – 2006 on the pitch and then the ground rebuild was truly remarkable and certainly worthy of the utmost respect.
The king of the Arsenal empire laments the fans’ scepticism. Maybe, Mr Wenger, one should take a long hard look in the mirror and see that the reason for scepticism is your inability to motivate a highly talented team to the Premiership title, to victory against Watford, to the Quarter Finals of the Champions League. Teams with far less talent are above us in the league at the moment, with practical and pragmatic managers, knowing the limitations of their teams and playing to their strengths. Maybe, just maybe, fans and pundits know a thing or two about football, and they… Read more »
Patronizing comments. Like yours promoting Mou and regurgitating his cuntish insult? Or perhaps the one comparing Usmanov to Mandela and MLK Jr.?
It’s really a silly double standard that the manager ‘gets paid enough’ to have to accept the disgusting, demeaning, foul invective thrown at him while at the first moment he even hints some of the Vocal Minority of Arsenal supporters go too far and might do actual damage to the confidence of the players, he’s Patronizing.
But hey, it’s the Internet. Why not?
Blogs, I would just like to make a comment regarding your point in this morning’s blog as well as today’s Arsecast extra were you said that you question why certain parts of the fan base would want Arsene Wenger gone even if we win the league this year. Personally, I think that this opinion can be justified because this is a season were all the better teams in the league have succumbed to poor performances and paved the way for lower teams to take advantage of that (see Tottenham, West Ham and Leicester’s current position in the table). If we… Read more »
I’ve wanted arsene to go at various points over the last few years, hope kept getting me onboard, what with the financial shackles removed and other positives. But the reality is that Arsenal have not improved. If they win the league this year it will be with the same points we have had in recent seasons and the same failings, does everyone forget our dreadful start in the CL? Not buying an outfield player? Relying on Wilshere, Rosicky, Arteta, and the Ox? One or two of them we could carry, but all 4? Stop the sameness!
I would love to win the title this year, that would be fantastic. The reality is I do not really worry about that when I watch the team play. All I want to see is a team that fights to win and plays hard as hell. The 3 balls off the bar at Swansea…we played a good to very good game. Just because we play that well does not mean we win. Play hard, fight like hell, do not give up…I will support you no matter what mistakes happen because that is what I would want if I was in… Read more »
How did Arsenal play a ‘good to very good game’ against Swansea? Arsenal lost and conceded two goals at home against one of the worst sides in the division Hitting the woodwork isn’t bad luck it’s poor finishing. In the last twenty minutes of that game the players’ heads dropped and they just packed it in. Like they did against man utd a few days earlier.
You must be pretty pissed off with this season since there’s been so many matches where we haven’t played hard or fought like hell.
Can anybody help here please? I’m trying to make a comparison between west ham, Fulham, Watford and crystal palace and arsenal between 1945 and 1995. How they stood in term of trophy won, size, fanbase and capital. Any helps appreciated
Wenger is cementing the remark that he is dare i say it….. a Specialist.
No you may not dare if it were up to me!
The team plays well at Hull – banner. The team plays well at Everton, wanker flags again. That’s sending the message the supporters don’t actually care about the squad playing well. They’re so caught up in their own narrative they can’t even let the squad leave the pitch feeling good about playing well. Iwobi got his senior league debut with a beautiful run through, show of strong play, and finish. And he leaves the pitch seeing that. He’s 19 fucking years old and a great talent and personality. And some self important mobb of people who somehow feel entitled to… Read more »
The WengerOut brigade have made up their minds; nothing will change that. For the rest of the club’s supporters, take something positive from your extreme disappointment: we felt much closer this year to claiming the league than we did last year, even though Leicester’s record is not that different from Chelsea’s last year (and like Chelsea, they’ve been able to rely on the same 11-15 players all season long), which is why it stings that much more. And the season isn’t over – sure, it doesn’t look good, but what if Spurs and the Foxes finally get the injuries they… Read more »
Yes they have made up their minds and have let us know of their opinion. They are wrong off course, even if theyre entitled to have an opinion they can air it. But this is becoming systematic. Staged. This is an agenda. This is sabotage. Can they please stay the hell away now as we focus on the end of the season ? What is this fascism regime where the few want to spoil it for everyone else? I dont get it…..
I suspect the real issue is not having faith in his squad but sticking with the present medical set up. Arsenal have too many muscle and tendon injuries and the players always take longer to come back. My suspicion is that he trusts the current medical advisors too much and THAT is the area that needs to be addressed. I think this squad would be good if they could individually remain uninjured for a reasonable set of games. On replacing Wenger, the only best replacement has already gone to the spuds. Arsenal could end up with someone like Martinez who… Read more »
it’s been 10 years since we moved to the Emirates stadium, the stadium was built so that arsenal can compete at the highest level of European football. 10 solid years later increased revenue and a global appeal with only two fa cups to show! not acceptable
The big hole in the it’s the toxic atmosphere that’s bringing Arsenal down argument that plenty on here push is that 50% of Arsenal’s league games are away from. It’s not like we’re shit at home and Brazil 1970 away from home. Arsenal have won 3 our of their last 10 league games away from home. Against Bournemouth, Everton and i think villa. I think after the spurs game Arsenal were 8 points off Leicester after they won that day. How can fans not be scpetical after 1 point in 9 in a crucial part of the season? After absolutely… Read more »
Well one can understand why the fans are skeptical. We are 11 points off the leaders and 6 off Spurs albeit with the consolation of a game in hand but at a critical part of the run in. Its a bit of a damper given the promise not 6-7 games ago. Curiously a lot of the points shed was when we had our best options back and when Coquelin had returned to the set up. I think Wenger is just trying to give the dice one more good roll to end of season and feels the atmosphere at the moment… Read more »
I think we should all try to put things in perspective. Yes, this season hasn’t went as we all hoped. Yes, he was stubborn in the past, when he should have brought in a few players. But honestly, look what this man has done for us. Look at this beautiful stadium, look at the fact, that we are FA Cup record holders, look at the only golden PL trophy in our cabinet. Look at the reputation Arsenal has gained around the world for their kind of football. Look at the fact that we have never finished behind Sp*rs. I could… Read more »
‘But what do I know. I just know that all these experts that want to tell him what to do, would have bought players like Falcao, Pato, M’Villa, Draxler and many many more, who would have cost us big money but aren’t ”better than what we’ve got”, to use his most famous quote’ Yeah we didn’t get those players but what we did get was for example Squillaci, Sanogo, Santos. Chamakh, Gervinho, Debuchy and Park Chu Young. Shouldn’t Arsenal fans know better than just about any set of fans that just cos a player fails at one club doesn’t mean… Read more »
“Yeah we didn’t get those players but what we did get was for example Squillaci, Sanogo, Santos. Chamakh, Gervinho, Debuchy and Park Chu Young. ” Wow, in 20 years at the club he has bought some players that have failed. What the hell does that prove? One Falcao would have cost us more than all his bad signings together. “Arsenal fans also wanted for example Vidal, Suarez, Higuain and Hazard.” Vidal wanted to go to Bayern. No Chance. Suarez was a mistake in hindsight, but to be honest I didn’t want him at the Club at that time due to… Read more »
‘Wow, in 20 years at the club he has bought some players that have failed. What the hell does that prove? One Falcao would have cost us more than all his bad signings together.’ It doesn’t prove much. It just shows that anyone can cherry pick to try to get a point across. When you take into consideration wages of players Falcao obviously would’ve cost less than all of his bad signings put together. Arsenal offered £23m. He signed for Napoli for £30m. That’s a £7m away from signing a brilliant striker who fits Arsenal style of play so much… Read more »
– Cherry picking works both ways and that’s why all these what could have been discussions are pointless. – You can have your opinion and think that Higuain would’ve been a good fit. I got no Problem with that. But I don’t think so. For a striker to play alone unfront in the premier league is a different task to Italy and even to Spain. You could see how Alexis has struggeld when he was asked to play that role and he has everything Higuain can offer. Hazard, as I said, has chosen Chelsea for footballing reasons in my opinion… Read more »
As a reply to Berlingoon: Well it was you that cherry picked names to show how dumb Arsenal fans were. I was just showing how pointless your argument was. Alexis isn’t a number 9. He’s barely played as a lone striker in his career. He didn’t play it for Barca or Udinese. He doesn’t play it for Chile. He doesn’t have the finishing skills or hold up play ability of Higuain. The difference between leagues for the loan striker role isn’t all that different. Higuain’s got decent pace. Holds the ball up very well and is a great finisher. I’d… Read more »
I didn’t see wenger get brick and mortar constructing the Emirates stadium. Why do you attribute the construction of the stadium to him? There’s a Board and Management. He is part of management. He is not indispensable.
Without Wenger we would still owe an enormous amount of money and wouldn’t be able to buy players like Ozil and Alexis. His management at Highbury saw us reach heights we hadn’t seen since the days of Chapman and since the move he’s kept us in the CL positions (with the resultant CL money) when we had a squad which really shouldn’t have been as high as the Europa League level.
That’s why he’s been such a cornerstone of the new stadium construction.
Would a different manager in similar conditions do differently ?
The other issue however is some how people seem to confuse the current glass ceiling Wenger is facing with his achievements. Make no mistake, this man has built this club up. We were never particularly strong in Europe our only win under the Graham era was a minor cup for the continent. We’ve had sporadic success over many decades. Wenger’s 20 year reign has brought about a platform to build on his early success in several doubles and an unbeaten season but also the continuous ability to always finish on a MINIMUM high of 4th or better and CL dining… Read more »
Yes Wenger did build up Arsenal but he had huge amount of help along the way. It irritates me the way Arsenal fans try to whitewash history and make our previous 20 years of success all about the manager. Just a couple of examples of the help he had. Wenger inherited a great back 5 and Bergkamp. He had executives that backed him massively financially. We’re not particularly strong in Europe now. That one minor cup George Graham won is one more European trophy than Wenger’s got. Wenger over the past 10 years has finished on average 4th with the… Read more »
He inherited a back 5 which had initial success but then had to rebuild the back 5 as they were too old.
The salary budget (4th) is only relevant when you can buy at the same level as the competition, whereas we’ve usually had to raise money by selling players, so our total spend is much less as it had to be during the years of new stadium austerity.
There is no doubt Arsene cares deeply about Arsenal.
He is giving us a message here and a plea for help.
It wouldn’t kill us to fully support him and the players until the end of the season would it?
It’s not so much about supporting him as it is that we should support the team!
Fuckin hell. Great win against Everton .great run of games. Norwich and villa at home. West ham and Sunderland away. Man City could be an absolute cunt of a game. Still think we’re in for a chance. Watford might fuck us up.
Wenger still in.
Wash, rinse, repeat. Next.
I think that’s the problem you self profeesed “logical” fans seem to miss. No ome doubts his commitment or achievement (debatable at a club with our resources – out of group 16 in CL and 1 final appearance in 20yrs).
what frustrates fans is the sameness of the situtation. the stagnation… the statisis… The obvious predictability…..
The wash, rinse, repeat that with a little bit of objectiveness can almost be predicted….
Would you rather we came 2nd, then 8th, then 4th, then 14th, then etc etc…
That’s not the same.