Arsenal's Stagnation: What Went Wrong?

[zhaggy]

Wilshere is extremely hot headed and lets emotion get the better of him sometimes. Being vocal and aggressive are good traits but as a captain you also have to be wilier than that.

I thought that was a thing of the past with jack, but if he's still hot headed i fully agree.

 

[SA Gunner]

We no longer stagnating, we’re going backwards.

Squad cost or not, you cannot blame money for performances like the one against Watford. That was just so so poor.

The fact that we don’t prevent a repeat of that is due to the manager. And that means for change he needs to go.

 

[krackpot]

We no longer stagnating, we’re going backwards.

Squad cost or not, you cannot blame money for performances like the one against Watford. That was just so so poor.

The fact that we don’t prevent a repeat of that is due to the manager. And that means for change he needs to go.

yeah, stubborn-ness and a refusal to learn from mistakes.

 

[OSBK]

For me it was the english core. We went from young french and spanish to young british and it killed our progress and development. That summer we sold rvp and song, I believe had both those players stayed we would have won the league. Instead we went with british and also brought giroud,podolski and santi. We all know santi has been a success but the other 2 couldnt tie rvp's boots.

In 2012 ramsey,gibbs,jenks,Wilshere,ox all signed long term contracts and our future was all on these guys. Big pressure on them, the likes of theo were already here and underperforming.

At the time these players up and coming were available
Lucas moura, daniel sturridge, christian eriksen, dries mertens, thiago, javi martinez, eden hazard, cavani, goetze, jan vertonghen, pjanic the list goes on.

My overall point is were used to sit there as arsenal fans and watch the best young talent from europe play for us. Now we look at the same young talent playing for rival teams and thinking to ourselves why is he not a arsenal player. Wenger gambled on british and it failed and is still failing this club.

Our answer is a change, someone like allegri or simone. A change in personnel and get the best young talent back in and making arsenal the place to come and play football.

 

[bingobob]

Wilshere is extremely hot headed and lets emotion get the better of him sometimes. Being vocal and aggressive are good traits but as a captain you also have to be wilier than that.

One of the best football players and leaders I've ever seen was Roy Keane. He got hot headed and aggressive, ended Alf-Inge Haaland's career because he badly injured him and told him to get up. Imagine Ramsey or Eduardo or Debuchy or anyone else for that matter seeking revenge in that manner. It's the nasty side of the game and while Wilshere should learn the difference between a u23 and senior game he seems like one of the few who will get his own back.

He need more characters who take no ****. Heck doing so may have stopped the continual spat of injuries that derail us because teams will realise they kick and injure us we will come back and take revenge.

Football is a physical game and it requires people to get physical when it's required. Another stellar failure of Wenger is to have players that are hot headed and aggressive and I don't mean Gabriel with his pathetic flick on Costa.

 

[DanDare]

There's nothing exciting at Arsenal bar Reiss Nelson.

We need so much freshening up. I'd bin: Cech, Mustafi, Xhaka, El-Neny, Coquelin, Walcott and replace them all with other players. Promote Nelson and only play him on the wing only.

Of course only way changes like that occur is with a new manager

 

[House MD]

I have always wondered why did Wenger go from having vieiras and gilbertos in midfield who were technically good but also hard as hell to players like xhaka and elneny who with all due respect look neither. Diaby aside can’t think of another midfielder of that ilk that he went for after vieira left.

I have always felt that his wish was to have a class of 92 kind of team at arsenal for his legacy. With wilshere and Ramsey as CM, Gibbs as LB, Walcott as RW, sanogo as CF, Jenkinson as RB etc. which is why he still keeps a lot of them around.

In addition Wenger used to be great in finding gems in France so not sure why he stopped suddenly when France have great players yet martial dembele Mbappe Coman rabiot etc are there but he didn’t go for them. 20 years back Wenger would have bought dembele to arsenal like anelka before the rest of the world knew him.

 

[Trilly]

We’re in a twilight zone that could end at any point between now and a few years time.

You can still see we can turn up on occasion and get a big result but our base level is dropping – and fast. We need to stop the rot (Wenger) before results like the draw at Chelsea become the highlight of our season, that’s the path we’re heading down.

Get rid of Wenger, start signing promising young players in the 30-40M bracket and let’s get back to being a competitive side again. Once we’re there we can worry about the bigger issue which is Kroenke.

 

[Gooner n Proud]

For me it was the english core. We went from young french and spanish to young british and it killed our progress and development. That summer we sold rvp and song, I believe had both those players stayed we would have won the league. Instead we went with british and also brought giroud,podolski and santi. We all know santi has been a success but the other 2 couldnt tie rvp's boots.

In 2012 ramsey,gibbs,jenks,Wilshere (not Wilshere ffs),ox all signed long term contracts and our future was all on these guys. Big pressure on them, the likes of theo were already here and underperforming.

At the time these players up and coming were available
Lucas moura, daniel sturridge, christian eriksen, dries mertens, thiago, javi martinez, eden hazard, cavani, goetze, jan vertonghen, pjanic the list goes on.

My overall point is were used to sit there as arsenal fans and watch the best young talent from europe play for us. Now we look at the same young talent playing for rival teams and thinking to ourselves why is he not a arsenal player. Wenger gambled on british and it failed and is still failing this club.


Our answer is a change, someone like allegri or simone. A change in personnel and get the best young talent back in and making arsenal the place to come and play football.

The young French & Spanish players left the club and were very ungrateful to Wenger who basically made their careers!

Those years when our team had all these talented youngsters from different countries but lacked a domestic core of players that all previous successful teams comprised hence this is the reason Arsène opted for Wilshere and Co.

Of course it hasn't been a fully successful project and Wenger had made mistakes with most of that group but you also have to consider they all had injuries which stifled their development.

 

[Trilly]

Where to even start...

I've never cared about an arsenal season so little in my life before.

Don’t even feel anything we lose and while that sounds nice it’s not. It’s really not.

They say football is cyclical, I hope it is because we’re probably witnessing the fall of Arsenal.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Get rid of Wenger, start signing promising young players in the 30-40M bracket and let’s get back to being a competitive side again. Once we’re there we can worry about the bigger issue which is Kroenke.

We can sign one-two 40 M players per summer, most times it is just one. The problem is the owner.

 

[Trilly]

We can sign one-two 40 M players per summer, most times it is just one. The problem is the owner.

I disagree sorry.

 

[Trilly]

Also I think it’s become clear that Wenger isn’t the selfless martyr that many make him out to be.

I wouldn’t say he’s a bad person either but he’s clealrly just another guy who would happily keep a high paying job he knows he’s not good enough for. Not many would turn that down.

 

[blaze_of_glory]

We're stagnant/regressing in the league while also on our best trophy run in a long time. Weird how that happens but there it is. Back in 2008 or 2009 I wonder how many on here would have traded progress in the league for three FA Cups in four years. I dont know what my answer would be, but I do remember how much we all lamented not winning anything.

I do know that the Cups make me over look a lot of things after going a decade barren. Maybe too much, but I genuinely view last year as a success even though it was the worst league campaign I ever witnessed. Its a funny game.

 

[Godwin1]

One of the best football players and leaders I've ever seen was Roy Keane. He got hot headed and aggressive, ended Alf-Inge Haaland's career because he badly injured him and told him to get up. Imagine Ramsey or Eduardo or Debuchy or anyone else for that matter seeking revenge in that manner. It's the nasty side of the game and while Wilshere should learn the difference between a u23 and senior game he seems like one of the few who will get his own back.

He need more characters who take no ****. Heck doing so may have stopped the continual spat of injuries that derail us because teams will realise they kick and injure us we will come back and take revenge.

Football is a physical game and it requires people to get physical when it's required. Another stellar failure of Wenger is to have players that are hot headed and aggressive and I don't mean Gabriel with his pathetic flick on Costa.

Careful you'll get hit with the hurr durr English media, passun etc stuff for that.

 

[Godwin1]

Also I think it’s become clear that Wenger isn’t the selfless martyr that many make him out to be.

I wouldn’t say he’s a bad person either but he’s clealrly just another guy who would happily keep a high paying job he knows he’s not good enough for. Not many would turn that down.

People complain about the owners or the board, which I do largely agree with, but fail to realise Wenger is part of that, he's one of the boys. Just watching him at the begging of the stadium transition era, when he wasn't past it, is a dead give away. When a reporter asks him why he didn't try to sign xyz and Wenger with stupid 'please stop asking me these questions' look on his face and pretends he didn't know they were available.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Like Trilly said. Wenger is just hanging on a job he can't give away. It is his project or it is to well paid, take your pick. But he ain't leaving without a fight.

This was in the owners hand in the summer but he failed at his job.

The problem is the owner.

 

[Penn_]

Wouldn’t put all the blame on Kroenke.

Although Tottenham are somewhat inflated by Kane, if they can do so should we. There’s enough attacking talent in the side to be competitive, or at the very least entertaining.

 

[nick gould]

For me the worst thing is that they don't even entertain anymore. The Arsenal team with Denilson in it dominated possession and created a lot of chances. I would spend hours before falling asleep at night visualising the game and thinking about how beautiful Arsenal played. They won no trophies during that time but they surely played the best football in the premier league.

The current team though, without Özil and Sanchez produce some flat and depressing performances. Our last premier league wins in the premier league left me depressed. Lucky wins with very few chances created. It was inevitable that Watford would happen soon rather than later. Zero chances created for Arsenal strikers in all 90 minutes. Wenger does not like arsenal as much as most think. He likes and care for himself in almost the same manner as great dictators do. They reward loyalty at the expense of quality hence the huge sums of money paid to average players like Walcott. He is continuing to give Giroud some minutes at the expense of Lacazette because maybe he promised him not because it's good for the team of fans for that particular match.

 

[Fallout]

the underlying problem at arsenal is that our lack of preparation (in both tactics and training) is finally getting exposed.

i am of the belief that, especially in the last 5 years, the level of preparation and attention to detail at other clubs has simply eclipsed what we are doing.

just look at the evidence:
* highly erratic form on match days, blowing hot and then cold for extended periods
* slow-down in the rate at which players are improving, with more failures than ever before
* consistent criticism of our training methods from former players
* highly abnormal injury frequency and severity
* wenger planting himself on the bench for 90 minutes while other managers give continuous instruction
* etc etc

i think what worked for us in the past is no longer enough to yield results in the modern era. the attention to detail has been surpassed. new manager and training staff needed.