Arsene Wenger was asked for his assessment of 2016 at his press conference today, and the Arsenal manager said, ‘David Bowie died in January, it’s all gone to shit since then.
“There’s no denying it. The Thin White Duke was the glue holding the fabric of society together and when he died there’s been nobody to stop the mayhem. I mean, look at it all, WTF!!”
Ok, he didn’t say that, but I he probably wanted to. Instead, he boringly talked about football, Arsenal, and the Premier League in general.
On the Gunners calendar year, he said, “I assess it in two parts. We finished second in the league, that was last year. It was the Leicester year – 2016.
“Overall, for us it was disappointing not to win the league. After that the second half of 2016, this season, we have moved our level up.”
Before touching on the Premier League in general, saying the quality of the football hasn’t been as good as he’d expected considering the managerial and playing talent in England.
“We’re in the middle of the championship now and overall it was a very promising with the best managers in the world all in the Premier League competing,” he said.
“It promised to be an exceptional year. Until now I think it was disappointing on all levels because we, the Premier League, have not produced the games that are remembered.
“I’m convinced that the second half of the season, the level and the spectacularity of our league, will go up. We have some responsibility to do that and to achieve that.
“I think everybody is first under pressure not to lose. Every game has become so important.
“Maybe as well, the difference between the favourite teams and the smaller teams…some teams just defend, you know. I just feel there is more in the league than has been produced. I include myself in that.
“You always think that a Premier League year is remembered by the two or three games that were absolutely spectacular. At the moment we have not produced that as a league. I include myself. We have the best managers in the world in this league.
“I’m sure in the second part of the season, when everybody has really to go for it…when it’s not ‘wait and see’ but ‘go and take’…I’m confident you’ll see spectacular games. We’ve not completely produced that. It’s a very good league.
“Every game is absolutely super difficult but the spectacular side that everybody expected until now has not come out of this league yet.”
Let’s hope that spectacularity, as he puts it, includes a massive unbeaten run from his team. We could get behind that in 2017, no question.
I for one look forward to more mirror-like reflections in the premier league.
Spectacularity or specularity? I need to know.
spectacularity – my mistake in the previous headline!
We’re aiming for less spectacularity in our mistakes in 2017
Better leave Mertesacker out then…
Oh, you mean the blog don’t you ;)?
Wenger, just give us trophy(es) please…
Do you support Arsenal? Or do you only support Arsenal with trophies?
Anyone thumbing this down, these are the words of Dennis Bergkamp…
Whenever I read a Arsene Wenger interview my mind allways read his parts with the Wenger accent, and then back to normal for the questions.
Weird
That Arsene he’s embiggened his role with his cromulent automatisms of spectacularity
If we continue our odd numbered year form, we win the league with points to spare this time, right?
Bournemouth 4-3 Liverpool was specular, i mean, spectacular.
He didn’t see it ?
“You always think that a Premier League year is remembered by the two or three games that were absolutely spectacular. At the moment we have not produced that as a league.”
I wonder how many other top-flight managers, in England and anywhere else–maybe even in any sport– would judge a season this way? A few, like Pep (and his forerunner, Cruyff), probably share some idea of playing the perfect game, of having some ideal of football, even if that perfect game is different from Wenger’s; I think Klopp loves the game that way as well, but not many others.
Yes, that’s true, and those are managers I can respect even if I don’t particularly like them much. How sad that there are so few of them, and so many whores like Moronho whose only desire is to win by sucking so much life out of the game that his ultimate victory is over a corpse.
In that respect how is pep any different to Mourinho? Pass it sideways till the other team falls asleep. Great! Cream in my pants watching pep teams I do. Both egotistical bellends to be honest. Just different philosophies and am not sure you understand Jose’s. Pep gets his team’s to keep the ball by playing safe passes in the main. Kind of like LvG but he was hounded out by the press even though he has a pretty similar style of play to Pep, he was labelled as boring. Mourinho parks the bus in some of the big games but… Read more »
1000 men behind the ball is how most epl managers see the game.
Knobs they are. In my sport of hockey I have always encouraged the team to have a go, rather go down 5-0 then try and hold on for a 0-0. In saying that… we dont have gazzillions of money riding on survival in the epl.
Don’t worry about the rest of the league.
Lets just be spectacular ourselves.
If you need a spectacular then you send out teams with flaws.. All managers do it but this year it hasnt worked to well.. It seems the flaws have been cancelling each other out.. Thats why the team that stays injury free and has a back five/six and offers some quick counter with some decent finishing is gonna win the league.. Chelscum
Add one more to the Book of Wengerisms.
Can’t wait for us to mount a long unbeaten run in 2017. Happy New Year everyone.
Repetition, superstition, spectacularity
Though every cell in the body has changed
The walls move in well-accustomed hilarity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kZJ91RWAxQ
I know nothing of the miles of the marathon
I hear nothing of the football behind
I search for rhythm and I find that I find that I haven’t one
“the glue holding the fabric of society together”…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=002Qh_BnC08
Bournemouth Liverpool was pretty spectacular as was Palace vs Swansea. Can’t think of others but there has been a few. I seem to remember Chelsea V Liverpool was pretty good?