Arsene Wenger spoke to Sky Sports after today’s dismal 4-0 hammering by Liverpool. Here’s what he had to say.
On the result and performance
The result was a consequence of our performance, it wasn’t good enough. We were beaten everywhere physically, and after they scored we made it easier for them. We made unneeded mistakes and when we came back into the second half we started to dominate the game, and the third goal killed us after that.
Mentally it was difficult. It was a very disappointing performance.
On Liverpool only being 2-0 up and if he was shocked by the performance.
Of course it was shocking. Our performance on the day was absolutely disastrous.
If there was a lack of effort and desire.
It’s not to become too emotional directly after the game, the disappointment is big enough. We have to take some distance from that. There are some reasons behind that we have to analyse but the players go now on international break, and we have to take the consequence of the performance.
Was he happy with the players’ effort?
If you find a manager who is happy after a performance like that I wish you good luck. The emotions are very big and very negative, but it’s not the right moment to talk about that.
Lack of fight in a big game the key issue?
We have done well recently in the big games, that’s why today is an even more disappointing performance.
What are the consequences of a performance like this?
It’s that the confidence level drops, that we have lost two away games, and that we need everybody to keep belief and focus.
On sections of the crowd shouting “Wenger out”
Well, I don’t want to answer that. That’s part of the crowd’s feeling, and of some people yes. If I am the problem, I’m the problem and I’m sorry because I want our fans to be with us when we lose with a performance like that. The only thing we can do is come back and give them a different level of performance.
On transfers, who stays and who goes.
We think a lot about that, but I don’t think after a performance like that that’s the right moment to talk about that.
Sad.
What’s sad is starting welbeck ahead of Giroud and Lacazette.
What’s shocking are fans who try to justify it by giving excuses about running and whatever the fuck he does
I don’t know what is more shocking . The fact that some feels like we’ve played poorly this weekend out of ordinary unlike last matches or the fact that Wenger himself finds this result as shocking. I for one saw this one coming miles away . And I say this every single time in this blog that we are becoming poorer every season despite spending millions every single transfer window . Wenger is right now one of the worst manager in the league . He spend 100 million and couldn’t even get in to top four . Now we added… Read more »
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“We have one of the best squad”???
I DISAGREE!!!…..Our defence as in CB are some of the worst.
Where is the requisite height at CB?……take out the BFG, and we lack the aggressive tall CB for a top team ala Vidic/Terry/Sol/Adams………that this overpaid fool of a manager can’t see this is beyond a joke!!!
Ditto
Welbeck was the only player who gave anything.
What’s clear is Sanchez and Ox need to leave now! and Today made up Wengers mind for him.
Pathetic. If he’s surprised and thinks we’ve done well away from home recently and in big games then he’s flat out deluded. I’m sick of hearing that the players let the manager down. That’s BS. Why the fuck is bellerin playing as a left back when we have stupid Monreal at CB and kolasinac on the bench. Why did Holding get dropped last week for Mustafi only to replace Mustafi this week? If Welbeck had a bad game last week when Lacazette played well, why is lacazzette on the bench and bamby on ice playing up front? Stupid, naive, and… Read more »
“Wenger speaks to Sky, calls defeat shocking and disastrous” –
https://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/tehmeme/images/5/59/2acc5a8841f8752904d37f90a8014829.png/revision/latest?cb=20120512014424
Bambi on ice is the perfect description for welbz.
Well, he learnt from the(o) master.
Don’t take it out on Welbz. He is who he is. He has the talent to bring real value to Arsenal. This result is nothing to do with the players. It’s all about the preparation, organization and leadership from Wenger. Or lack of all those.
Agreed.
Honestly even with the same players a new manager would probably do better.
Even Leicester is not afraid to sack Ranieri (who won the season before, not 10+ years ago) when results don’t go their way. Why is Arsene bigger than Arsenal?
To be fair, his energy and effort can’t be faulted. But there’s something not right about him when he’s in the box. Still wouldn’t sell him, and it’s not his fault he got selected. I’d take him over Walcott and Ox easily.
Sorry but why is Welbz getting a hard time more than the others. He was out only player that gave a damn! ALL others were truely pathetic!
I’d take Walcott anyday – I’ve always been critical of Theo but he at least scores goals, which is what you want from your forward. By running around you don’t get any points, if he had managed to finish the one big chance we had, we would have been a diff team. If theo screws up the team with his lack of build-up contribution then this guy screws by not finishing. There’s a reason why ManU was ready to sell a young player to direct rivals, this guy is never going to become a goal scorer, maybe wenger should put… Read more »
Gooooners seen the light at last. After defending the indefensible. Welcome.
Dangote please come and rescue this sinking ship
When is the right moment to talk about all those things?
Exactly, who shouldn’t be sold after that game?
No shit sherlock. Please turn out the lights and close the door on ya way out wenger.
The lights are already out.
and we are getting fucked in the dark…
When you can remove emotion and think logically and analytically, I imagine.
Can’t see much evidence of that happening
Wenger not the Maureen type who criticises his players in public. Something I agree with.
Tell me which of the managers have been most successful? You may not like his style and I don’t either but you can’t argue with the results Maureen gets!!!
Maureen would get 20 points a season more than AW with these players.
In light of this shower of shit, don’t be dazzled into forgetting Mourinho’s 3 yearly meltdowns. His three phases are: He arrives and does what he can with what’s there. Then he picks his team and does well. Finally he falls out with everyone, goes into destructive mode and gets pushed. Throughout his tenure he also picks on one or two players, ruins their confidence and keeps them out of the squad citing “disciplinary problems” or similar. Players who then magically bounce back after he’s gone. And he’s a classless cunt. As bad as things are, and they are dire,… Read more »
He SHOULD criticise HIMSELF though but he never does ! The team has no balance no cohesion and he wonders why they struggle? ???
True…we were tactically destroyed and did nothing about it!
I would remind you that in his 2nd stint at Chelsea, the players laid down on the MOUth in order to get rid of him. It worked. Come to think of it, maybe our guys were doing that today?
Not this moment, apparently
When he’s signing a new contract in 2019
Here comes the end of window trolley dash.
Better now than never. Last dash we found Arteta and Mertesacker who were great servants for the club and gave the side a real spirit and togetherness that it was lacking.
and we didn’t win the league with them…God help us…
That’s the point tho. We are not winning the league any time soon. Not with these players, Wenger or the board. There is something going on behind the scenes.
With our stadium etc, we should be, at least challenging but we are not. There’s no accountibility for Wenger or the players.
I’ve a ticket for the Bournemouth game, and flights booked, and I’m considering either not using them, or doing something else in London that day. If the players can’t be arsed why should I?
You can vent!!
Spend the day in Philomena’s Bar, Covent Garden with an Ulster Fry and a few jars…enjoy the sights.
There are countless players with whom we didn’t win the league. Leicester won the league with shittier players than we have. And no matter who the hell we sign, we’ll still not be guaranteed to win the league. This isn’t about players, this is about the manager, our tactics, our team spirit, our will to win.
Good, frankly. Get rid of players who don’t want to play for us, decide how we actually want to play and fucking recruit. Some players Wenger has been so loyal too have flipped him the bird, once again. I know this won’t happen but man, I’m not even thinking about the league anymore we just need to desperately do something decisive and rebuild.
Ox didn’t exactly seem to be trying, suggest he can go first
Hector might do better in the right position, and we have Kolasinac
Absolutely! Sell him and make it quick. He can try his luck at Chelsea while we pocket 35 mil.
I’d be tempted to bench Sanchez for the remainder of the season for that smile from the bench today. What a bell end!
Sell Sanchez and Chamberlain. The dressing room will be like a snake pit with those two inside it. Go get Draxler and let’s all move on.
I wasnt even surprised by his replies. Sad days indeed.
His team selection was worse than that of a 8 year old’s playing FIFA on the console
Yeah, I’m left gobsmacked every game these days. I wonder how they choose the team and where people play? Darts? Bingo? A sorting hat?
Dominated the start of the second half?
Oh. My. God.
I think we had the ball for kick-off…..
?????????
We did. We had 100% possession during second half kick-off.
Haha yes. How delusional can he be?
FFS.
Pathetic team selection. Pathetic manager. Wenger out.
Wenger and Gazidis disliked that comment…
Is it too soon to wish that the season is over?
Can’t beat teams who want to park the bus, can’t beat teams who want to play football.
Genuinely, name me a worse Arsenal midfield than this one? I’m struggling
No shit, is Alex Song available? I long for the days of Song and Denilson.
Good on ya. That was exactly the example I thought of. I needed a laugh today.
A lot of the problems seem to stem from the fact that we are expecting Xhaka to play midfield on his own with Ramsey as an extra striker.
Not shocking unfortunately, as that implies an element of surprise.
So sad. Arsène, why didn’t you just go after winning the cup?
In 2014….he should have gone after the Hull final.
Just curious. Why would you thumb this down? You think the last three years have been good and we have good prospects for next two years?
He who the gods want to kill.. they 1st make them mad
Where would he find a job like he has now? With so much power, so little accountability, such a wage, same old colleague’s training the first team. He has the best job he can possibly get, why would he quit? Obviously he cares little for his legacy
Retire Wenger. Do us one last favour though, tell Özil he could have been a great player but will go down as a wasted talent.
Until Wenger leaves, I will not watch another game.
Ozil is overrated.
He was good, but no longer. If anything Ramsey is a better player and is wasted on Arsenal. Ramsey carries Wales. Ozil got carried by talented and hardworking Germans and Real Madrid Galacticos.
Ozil will be great in World Cup. It’s not about him or any of the players. All about the shit manager.
At this point all he has is his previous reputation. Right now he’s just cruising using his previous reputation without putting any effort. I predict his worth to the German team is going to be less than Emre Can, Goretzka, Muller, Kroos, Gundogan, Draxler, Sane, or every other midfielder that might play. Heck, even Gnabry probably contributes more, at least he doesn’t run away from tackles like a 5 yr old girl. At least other players can finish, or take on players, or you know, actually put on effort to track back when someone run past you. Heck Low would… Read more »
Why ozil? Do u think with several player under perfom and out of position in defence like that we have a chance to win that match? This is mismanagement to the core, it has nothing to do with individual player
There are some games where Xhaka carried the team.
There are some games where Ramsey carried the team.
There are some games where Ox carried the team.
When has Ozil last turned up a 9/10 performance? Vs ludogorets a long long time ago. He has been utterly shite for a long time.
Ozil is not that good. There is a reason no big club wants him.
Eh, Ozil is that good, but like everyone else he’s been thrown into Wenger’s position-selecting washing machine. No one can operate functionally out there. It’s bizarre.
He is technically gifted, but he is mentally weak and is lazy. He is a pessimist with low confidence and needs to be carried, he is not a self-starter or going to put in effort on a losing match. Players like Ozil should play in PSG, China, or places where his team is guaranteed to win most of the time.
Sanchez is a winner, that’s why clubs are after him.
Oh mate, why didn’t you just leave in the sunny glow of an FA cup victory…. We would have all wished you well and could have started the next chapter. But no, now we have two more years of misery and the same old shit
I’ve rarely seen this man look sadder than today.
Terrible tactics and management from Wenger, but absolutely disgraceful performances from the players.
You can have us play 3-4-3, 4-5-1, or 10-0-0 and nothing would change with that performance. Be the blame on Wenger or the players he himself buys I leave that to conjecture.
Why are we still thinking about who comes? And goes?
There 4 days left of the window FFS…
Loan out Holding.
Sell Ozil to Dortmund or whoevers willing to give us a few quid.
Keep Mustafi.
Buy another centre half.
And a midfielder who’ll add balance to our team.
Xhaka, Rambo and Ozil just won’t work.
Three v talented players.
But it’s the wrong mix.
Sorry but Rambo is overrated, as are all UK based players.
I meant British players.
Wow!
Rambo played well sometimes.
Ozil has been utter trash ever since that Ludogorets hattrick.
Ramsey is still good when there is a balance in the team. Ozil hasn’t had a good game in 9 months.
What is happening to this club? Wenger started it off with a piss poor team selection.
But what were the ones on the pitch doing? Do they even care anymore ?
They start off being handicapped by their own manager. I think most of them do care but it must be hard to be at your best when your best teammates are left on the bench, when you’re trying to carry Ox and Ramsey, when half of you are out of position, and you’re afraid to fail because the fans will be on your back again. There is panic setting in again with our players and it’s all down to our fucking useless excuse for a manager.
Not good enough. Top to bottom. Change!
The only positive is that a few myths put forward by the ‘everything is ok’ brigade were proved utterly ridiculous today. The move to 3 at the back has not solved any problems & you will not come even close to challenging for a title with Xhaka/Ramsey as your midfield.
While never the biggest fan of three at the back, it might have worked, or at least had a chance of working, if Wenger actually chose proper CBs back there. I can’t believe how poorly he’s handled it all.
IF you are the problem?!?
‘Then i’m a problem’, well thats exactly the thing, you are and noone will do anything about it
“WENGER SPEAKS TO SKY, CALLS DEFEAT SHOCKING AND DISASTROUS”
The rest of us just call it standard.
was searching for a translation of the french “pénible”…. I think it’s close to be between Arsène and distressing
?????
This guy needs to go. He is just messing up his supposed legacy now. Tactically inept performance
I feel so sad 🙁
The manager is unable to finalize transfers (in and out), is unable to motivate the team and unable to formulate any sort of plan A, B, C or Z. Which begs the question as to what the manager has been doing all week?
you stupid cunt, YOU bought the the players YOU picked the team it was YOUR formation, so don’t go blaming the players you,ve fucking had it, just fuck off your a fucking idiot, and your making arsenal a laughing stock, so thanks and fuck off, fucking clown…
are you in or out Ronaldo? Gotta laugh…:-)
Blogs: So its bad to call people on the board a cunt that obviously are a cunt, but ok to call the coach of the team we support a cunt?
In this scenario I would say so,He’s as culpable as Kronke and co.Last time I checked Silent Stan and Ivan didn’t employ left backs at centre half and a right back at left wing back.Alll three of them are bringing the club down.
Sorry Fosterkid, I kind of meant this board. As in ronaldo.
Thats even more confusing
It’s so unbelievably disappointing. I can’t even be angry, it’s the same problems continuously. Why leave your 50m striker on the bench and why play Bellerin on the left, again. Can he not see the problem with playing two players with no defensive capabilities in centre mid? Smh.
The problem is that wenger always put his favorites rather than selecting lineup based on performance.
That’s why Lucas Perez is thrown out even when he plays much better than Walcott, or why Ozil always play 90 minutes even when he is being utter shite.
By the way, as much as I love AW the man, I’m not one to deny criticisms of his performance (as long as that criticism is specifically of his performance, not some of the vitriol against his character that we’ve heard in the past). There’s far too much to analyse this season alone for this post. But on an entirely separate note and purely out of interest…what the hell does Bould do? Take off your ‘but he’s an a Arsenal legend’ cap or your ‘but it’s Wenger’s way or the highway’ coat. If he’s not partly responsible for the (lack… Read more »
He gets paid for putting out the cones
Listen to the gooner girls ramble with lee Dixon and you would get an answer to thAt question
Well said. I love Arsene but that doesn’t mean i won’t criticize him. I don’t know why he played Bellerin on the left. Apart from that the line up wasn’t so outlandish. With regards to Bould, I’ve been asking myself the same question. I wonder what people like Bould and Primorac do. I wonder if guys like Bould, Primorac are able to get along well with the current generation of players because for example whenever i see Mikel Arteta in the City bench he seems very involved and he is so animated when City score or concede. We need someone… Read more »
I once heard that he tried to take charge of the defense but Wenger warned him off. As Wenger is a micro-manager who can’t seem to delegate any authority, that probably explains why Bould’s only job is to sit there, listen to Wenger and nod his head.
Predictable not shocking. 1) Selection again. Welbeck starting ahead of Lacazette or Giroud. Holding in a game that needs more experience (Mustafi). Kolasinac again out of the team. 2) Dependancy on 3-4-3. Lack of tactical choice and ability to switch effectively. This all stems from midfield reliant on only Ramsey and Granit. Mediocre otions thereafter. 3) Faults not addressed. Again Ramsey shockingly too high up leaving Granit exposed and we know tackling is not the Swiss’s forte Bellerin making simple mistake in full knowledge Liverpool (like Stoke) are set to counter. 4) Lack of focus. Ramsey and Ox chatting when… Read more »
“If I am the problem”. You’re not the ONLY problem Arsene in fairness, but you never should have been allowed to sign your contract extension. Another humiliating defeat to a so called rival. Bizarre team selections. Abject effort from the team, and zero quality of football. We have seen this repeated multiple times over the last 5-6 years especially. How people continue to defend Wenger is beyond me. He needs to go, and we need a huge f#cking review of the club from top to bottom. Serious change is needed. We need ideas and new systems in place. We need… Read more »
I’ve been supporting arsenal from as far back as I can remember, about a year before Wenger joined. He is synonymous with the rise and now sadly, the fall of this club. No future under Arsène.
Wenger was shocking and disastrous
Think I have to retire my name…
Sad day for the club, sad day for the team, sad day for the manager, sad day for me. Writing was on the wall the second I saw the lineup. Don’t know if I can take 8 months of this, transfer window/exodus looms large.
1st interlull I’ve ever been happy about?
I don’t want to be angry at Wenger, I respect the man so much. This is just depressing.
I wish Arsenal had a board with more brains than a board.
“Shocking” lol herein lies the problem at Arsenal, everyone else saw this result and performance coming a mile away. The fact the only person who didn’t see it and was “shocked” by the performance was the manager is why nothing ever changes.
It’s just soundbite from him. Saying what he believes the press want to hear
The team that wins the league are a unit with a shared purpose, togetherness, energy and team spirit all willing to give everything to the team.
I think we are fucked and Wenger should be sacked for letting it get to this stage if I am honest.
Useless and spineless were the only positives I can find. What does Ozil give to the team?
Wenger needs to quit. Forget top 4, we will struggle to make top 7. Thus guy has lost it. Line up was horrible to begin with. I’m tired. #wengerout. Worst Arsenal game I’ve watched in years
If the first three matches of the season are a yardstick to measure the rest of the campaign on, I think we’ll struggle to make top half in the PL.
It only makes sense to keep Alexis if we actually have a real chance competing for top four. The way the team is set and perform right now that’s not going to happen.
What a shambles. What an absolute shambles. Arsene, I respect what you’ve done for the club in the past, but it’s time to part ways. It’s not you, it’s me.
*wait a second……*
In a league this top-heavy you cannot come out of the gate experimenting with rotation and appeasing players and testing lineups. Points are dropped that won’t be recovered and no longer can you assume some magical rise into the top four (assuming that is the only realistic goal) based on inherent quality. Our best 11 is relatively obvious to most except re Xhaka’s partner, where I’d argue Elneny (while not amazing) at least gives workrate and tempo to allows Xhaka to do his thing. At a minimum, that’s some chemistry that was developed during preseason, so what’s the point otherwise?… Read more »
About sead, he preferred Belerin over him because of the extreme speed of Mohamed Salah which was a bad decision
El neny is still developing and AW is bunishing him for his good performance in the last two matches, he also treated his best two players badly , laca & Alexis both were benched for no good reason . I think something behind the scenes we don’t know about.
Well, when I saw the line up I was about to skip watching the match. Why try to bend in Ox when it’s like 100 % that he wants to leave and will leave in a few days? And to pick him before Bellerin on the right which would have meant the Hulk on the left (best left wing back in Bundesliga last year)? Ox is not, and will never be a fucking wing back! And I could go on and on from there about the rest of the team selection and transfer policy etc. I have never written here… Read more »
It would cost £16m to terminate Wenger’s £8m/year contract tonight. To put that in context, it’s the same price we paid for our last panic buy, Lucas Perez, something that will probably happen again this week. This season is a write off, so let’s write it off. Sack Wenger, sell Ozil, Alexis and Ox (we won’t get CL with them this year so we may as well have the money to do it next year) and spend the next 9 months with a caretaker boss while replacements are found
What’s shocking is that our summer signings were on the bench. That no matter how bad we’ve been since our last title, at least we had good midfielders. I mean, our midfield was dominated by a team starting Henderson. That the ox, monreal and bellerinn are being played out of position. That xhaka has turned the ball over resulting in 4 goals against and he still starts as a holding mid. That we have a German international cb on the bench. That we have three players, starters, who by January might be starting for us despite having signed for other… Read more »
Did anyone else notice how many times Alexis gave the ball away? It was 13 at four minutes into the second half when I stopped counting!
Bllerin at Lback instead of Kolasinac so he cn play Ox.
Welbeck instead of Lacazette or Giroud..is Welbeck’s contract up?
Inexperienced Holding instead of Mustafi whom he tries to sell.
Don’t remind Ramsey to stay close to Granit who can’t tackle to save his life.
All the recipe for a great stew.
Of our 4 record signings: 2 won’t renew, 2 on the bench.
What the fuck is going on?
This is exactly what I was thinking, head in hands. And Xhaka, who must then be #5 on that list, set up to fail and having a nightmare in midfield. I think Wenger didn’t go I. 2014 because he thought he had finally turned the corner with the squad after years of austerity, and i thought he had earned the right to try to kick on. Last year was tough, but it did end well, and anyway the club was (is?) not ready as an organization to lose Wenger. And the new recruits at least look the business and also… Read more »
This. Anyone who suggests the current state of affairs is just Arsene think again. Whilst Arsene has to take his share of the blame its wrong to apply 100% of it to him, the owner and the board are as much a part of the problem as Arsene and the players are, even the toxic nature of the fanbase is a contributing factor. And Gazidis, what a toss. He couldnt give a fuck if Arsene takes the blame. This club, to move forward, has to change its operating model and has to get owners with a desire to win things.… Read more »
Wenger is why we can’t have nice things. He has genuinely turned into Arsenal’s biggest rival. Can’t believe that we’re going to have to endure at least 2 more seasons of no leadership, lack of motivation, annual disasters and being the laughing stock of the entire fucking world!
Win an fa cup and get another 2yrs. So buckle up for at least 4yrs
Shocking? I’m sorry, but no, it is not shocking at all. This team has been broken for over an year, has been in lymbo for longer and over the last few months each piece of news I read about this club is merited by the number of “what the fuck”-s in my mind. Appalling, annoying are more accurate. The last few seasons are giving “boring, boring Arsenal” a whole new meaning. We are in for at least two more very difficult to bear seasons. COYG
How can a manager of Wenger’s experience go to Anfield without a holding midfielder and needing 45 minutes to realise he needed one? How could he keep his best striker on the bench in a game he needed to draw the first blood? How could a team that’s serious about the title put up such a performance on the back of a defeat?
https://www.change.org/p/arsenal-shareholders-wenger-should-leave-arsenal/share_for_starters?just_created=true
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