Tosker
Does Not Hate Foreigners
it reads very much to me as a club statement, and I think he has tried hard to distance himself from it
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Arsène Wenger: Same Old Class
- Thread starter Makingtrax
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Toast
Established Member
Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger says he "hesitated" over signing a new contract last season because he doubted whether he was "capable of leading the club".
On French TV programme Telefoot, he said there were "personal reasons" behind the decision to delay extending his 21-year reign at the Gunners.
But he added: "I've been there for so long that you always wonder, can you still take the team to the next level?"
"I've been at Arsenal many years and last season we struggled a lot," the 67-year-old Frenchman said.
"This year we won our first game, we weren't as good in the second match and then we had a catastrophic performance.
"But now we have to recover and, as always in a time of crisis, you have to win your next game."
Asked if he planned to return with another attempt to sign the France international, Wenger said: "Yes. I think he's a player who has great quality."
Yes or no?
Wenger was also asked several questions to which he could only reply 'yes' or 'no'.
Q: Could you ever coach another club?
Wenger: Yes.
Q: Have you had contact with PSG?
Wenger: Yes.
Q: Would you swap all your trophies for one Champions League?
Wenger: No.
Q: But not having won it really bothers you?
Wenger: No.
Q: Can you win league this year?
Wenger: Yes.
Q: Are you disappointed with your transfer window?
Wenger: No.
On French TV programme Telefoot, he said there were "personal reasons" behind the decision to delay extending his 21-year reign at the Gunners.
But he added: "I've been there for so long that you always wonder, can you still take the team to the next level?"
"I've been at Arsenal many years and last season we struggled a lot," the 67-year-old Frenchman said.
"This year we won our first game, we weren't as good in the second match and then we had a catastrophic performance.
"But now we have to recover and, as always in a time of crisis, you have to win your next game."
Asked if he planned to return with another attempt to sign the France international, Wenger said: "Yes. I think he's a player who has great quality."
Yes or no?
Wenger was also asked several questions to which he could only reply 'yes' or 'no'.
Q: Could you ever coach another club?
Wenger: Yes.
Q: Have you had contact with PSG?
Wenger: Yes.
Q: Would you swap all your trophies for one Champions League?
Wenger: No.
Q: But not having won it really bothers you?
Wenger: No.
Q: Can you win league this year?
Wenger: Yes.
Q: Are you disappointed with your transfer window?
Wenger: No.
Lookin' for a new Baby
New name pending...
I can't read that tweet from Ornstein when I click on it.
Tosker
Does Not Hate Foreigners
Lookin' for a new Baby
New name pending...
Thanks.
FinnGooner
Established Member
Because it makes you physically so sick or for some technological reason?
Bergkamp a Dutch Master
Active Member
OMG. it reads worse than I had thought.
Lookin' for a new Baby
New name pending...
The latter first, the first latterly!
Country: England
Wenger's contract situation must have caused such a big issue last season. Multiple players asking to leave or refusing new contracts. No one playing for the shirt this season, everyones heads are down. Lineups are being picked with agendas rather than for the good of our performance. Utter mess really.
Bergkamp a Dutch Master
Active Member
but we can still win the PL.
Interesting stuff in the Times:
Grimandi gave Kante the old fabo 6/10 and that's why Wenger didn't go for him. Should be binned immediately.
We will get to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but first a story about the player who could have made everything so different for Arsenal: N’Golo Kante. A friend in France told Arsène Wenger all about Kante when he was in Ligue 2 with Caen.
Wenger dispatched Gilles Grimandi, his chief scout in France, to watch the little dynamo but Grimandi was not wowed. Six out of 10. Wenger’s friend persisted and Grimandi was sent to look again, but came back with another sceptical report. The manager kept monitoring Kante, but having just brought Mathieu Flamini back, and with Mikel Arteta, Tomas Rosicky, Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere, Francis Coquelin and Aaron Ramsey already on his roster, he felt there was little point recruiting another central midfielder unless they were outstanding. After he joined Leicester, Wenger realised Kante was outstanding. He went for him at the end of 2015-16 but was this time put off by people around the player whose interest appeared to surround personally cashing in from a deal.
“Arsène is old school. He knew N’Golo was a good person but it’s important to him the company someone keeps,” said the friend. With Wenger unsure, in steamed Chelsea to snatch Kante in what now looks a larcenous £32m deal.
You can take the case of Kante in several ways. Many reflect honourably on Wenger. He places trust in lieutenants, like Grimandi, and he backs the players he already has; wouldn’t football be a better place with more old-school values, and less moneymaking around players? The alternative take is that you have to live in the world you live in. Recruitment is so competitive a game that you have to take chances, move fast. Isn’t the bottom line that Kante is a fine professional and individual, and would have been perfect for them? Is cynical, overheated football in 2017 no country for old-school men?
Wenger’s near-misses with Kante came to mind during this summer’s transfer window, with Arsenal fans beating on the glass and the rest of us puzzled once again about what goes on at a once pre-eminent club. On paper, when you look at it, Arsenal actually did OK. They kept Alexis Sanchez, strengthened very well, and even turned a profit.
Yet the reality seems different. In what mood is the Sanchez they are keeping? What use is another profit? Why so last-minute again? Why can’t Wenger stick to a line: Sanchez was staying, then being sold on deadline day, then staying again? How in touch is Wenger with players these days? What needs to change for Arsenal to become a club that gets business done? The PR from inside the Emirates is that criticism of Arsenal’s transfer dealings is unfounded and slanted, but the trouble with that argument is that much of it originates from their own well-researched supporters-base and, more damningly, from within the football industry. “Arsenal? Wouldn’t go there in a million years,” said an important agent on Friday. “That place is nuts.”
The Oxlade-Chamberlain situation influenced perceptions of Arsenal’s health, but rightly so. He is a young player Wenger loved, both as a footballer and character. Somebody Wenger nurtured and backed through injuries. But someone who grew into an intelligent young man, with ambition and a strong sense of his own career development, who came to feel he just had to get out. And here’s his story. Allowed to reach the final 18 months of his contract — as so often somehow happens at Arsenal — Oxlade-Chamberlain was made aware Liverpool wanted him. He was on £57,000 per week and Arsenal offered a wage rise to £80,000 per week. He told them that whatever decision he came to wouldn’t be about the money.
Arsenal offered more. His stance was the same. They came back with more again and he didn’t change. Two weeks ago, an incredible contract, worth close to £180,000 per week, was put in front of him. He couldn’t believe the largesse but hadn’t they been listening? It’s not the money. Only after a heart-to-heart with Wenger did the message finally get through and on Monday he abandoned the summer-long stance that the player was “100%” not for sale. Liverpool opened negotiations, which concluded quickly, with a £35m fee agreed and Oxlade-Chamberlain accepting £120,000 a week. He will earn £15m less than he could have by staying at Arsenal and yet is “super buzzing” according to an associate. He has gone for Jurgen Klopp and to be at a club that offers the best chance, he feels, of fulfilling his potential. Players would once choose Wenger and Arsenal for those reasons.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was not Wenger’s only flip-flop. A similar stance with Sanchez was abandoned at the end of the window. In May, Ferran Soriano, Manchester City’s chief executive, asked his Arsenal counterpart Ivan Gazidis about Sanchez and Gazidis said Arsenal weren’t selling. Soriano and Gazidis talk regularly, and Soriano asked again in July, only to get the same response. But they remained in dialogue and when an apparent abdominal injury left Sanchez unable to play Arsenal’s first two league matches of the season, things changed. On Tuesday, the conversation turned to price.
The idea of including Raheem Sterling in a deal was mooted then abandoned and by Wednesday City had verbal acceptance of a £60m bid for a player in the final year of his contract. However a transfer was conditional on Arsenal recruiting a replacement. At 10am on deadline day it is claimed Gazidis let Soriano know Arsenal had an agreement with another club over that replacement. Soon it emerged Monaco had accepted a £92m offer for the promising Thomas Lemar. City readied themselves. They did not fly an official out to Chile, where Sanchez was playing a World Cup qualifier, but there would have been no hitches on their side. And then, all went quiet. Lemar had not agreed to come to Arsenal, and is said to be more interested in going to Liverpool next summer. The attacking midfielder is the one emerging French talent — save Kylian Mbappe — Wenger rates above all others. He pursued him earlier in the window. Again, he used to attract such players; he once would have signed Kante; once would have retained the Ox.
There are further problems. Arsenal are disillusioned by Shkodran Mustafi’s application and Wenger wanted to sell, but a deal with Inter Milan collapsed. Arsenal seem to find selling players as difficult as buying them: Mathieu Debuchy still on the books, Joel Campbell out on yet another loan. This is significant because a factor complicating Arsenal’s ability to recruit is their wage bill. Premier League rules mean clubs can only increase their wage bills by £7m in 2017-18, unless external revenue increases too, and external revenue is dropping for Arsenal because they are out of the Champions League.
Another strange position to be in for a club whose acumen was once envied. Next? Ramsey has been allowed to enter the final two years of his deal. Somebody at that club, if not Wenger, needs to be a catalyst for change.
Wenger dispatched Gilles Grimandi, his chief scout in France, to watch the little dynamo but Grimandi was not wowed. Six out of 10. Wenger’s friend persisted and Grimandi was sent to look again, but came back with another sceptical report. The manager kept monitoring Kante, but having just brought Mathieu Flamini back, and with Mikel Arteta, Tomas Rosicky, Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere, Francis Coquelin and Aaron Ramsey already on his roster, he felt there was little point recruiting another central midfielder unless they were outstanding. After he joined Leicester, Wenger realised Kante was outstanding. He went for him at the end of 2015-16 but was this time put off by people around the player whose interest appeared to surround personally cashing in from a deal.
“Arsène is old school. He knew N’Golo was a good person but it’s important to him the company someone keeps,” said the friend. With Wenger unsure, in steamed Chelsea to snatch Kante in what now looks a larcenous £32m deal.
You can take the case of Kante in several ways. Many reflect honourably on Wenger. He places trust in lieutenants, like Grimandi, and he backs the players he already has; wouldn’t football be a better place with more old-school values, and less moneymaking around players? The alternative take is that you have to live in the world you live in. Recruitment is so competitive a game that you have to take chances, move fast. Isn’t the bottom line that Kante is a fine professional and individual, and would have been perfect for them? Is cynical, overheated football in 2017 no country for old-school men?
Wenger’s near-misses with Kante came to mind during this summer’s transfer window, with Arsenal fans beating on the glass and the rest of us puzzled once again about what goes on at a once pre-eminent club. On paper, when you look at it, Arsenal actually did OK. They kept Alexis Sanchez, strengthened very well, and even turned a profit.
Yet the reality seems different. In what mood is the Sanchez they are keeping? What use is another profit? Why so last-minute again? Why can’t Wenger stick to a line: Sanchez was staying, then being sold on deadline day, then staying again? How in touch is Wenger with players these days? What needs to change for Arsenal to become a club that gets business done? The PR from inside the Emirates is that criticism of Arsenal’s transfer dealings is unfounded and slanted, but the trouble with that argument is that much of it originates from their own well-researched supporters-base and, more damningly, from within the football industry. “Arsenal? Wouldn’t go there in a million years,” said an important agent on Friday. “That place is nuts.”
The Oxlade-Chamberlain situation influenced perceptions of Arsenal’s health, but rightly so. He is a young player Wenger loved, both as a footballer and character. Somebody Wenger nurtured and backed through injuries. But someone who grew into an intelligent young man, with ambition and a strong sense of his own career development, who came to feel he just had to get out. And here’s his story. Allowed to reach the final 18 months of his contract — as so often somehow happens at Arsenal — Oxlade-Chamberlain was made aware Liverpool wanted him. He was on £57,000 per week and Arsenal offered a wage rise to £80,000 per week. He told them that whatever decision he came to wouldn’t be about the money.
Arsenal offered more. His stance was the same. They came back with more again and he didn’t change. Two weeks ago, an incredible contract, worth close to £180,000 per week, was put in front of him. He couldn’t believe the largesse but hadn’t they been listening? It’s not the money. Only after a heart-to-heart with Wenger did the message finally get through and on Monday he abandoned the summer-long stance that the player was “100%” not for sale. Liverpool opened negotiations, which concluded quickly, with a £35m fee agreed and Oxlade-Chamberlain accepting £120,000 a week. He will earn £15m less than he could have by staying at Arsenal and yet is “super buzzing” according to an associate. He has gone for Jurgen Klopp and to be at a club that offers the best chance, he feels, of fulfilling his potential. Players would once choose Wenger and Arsenal for those reasons.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was not Wenger’s only flip-flop. A similar stance with Sanchez was abandoned at the end of the window. In May, Ferran Soriano, Manchester City’s chief executive, asked his Arsenal counterpart Ivan Gazidis about Sanchez and Gazidis said Arsenal weren’t selling. Soriano and Gazidis talk regularly, and Soriano asked again in July, only to get the same response. But they remained in dialogue and when an apparent abdominal injury left Sanchez unable to play Arsenal’s first two league matches of the season, things changed. On Tuesday, the conversation turned to price.
The idea of including Raheem Sterling in a deal was mooted then abandoned and by Wednesday City had verbal acceptance of a £60m bid for a player in the final year of his contract. However a transfer was conditional on Arsenal recruiting a replacement. At 10am on deadline day it is claimed Gazidis let Soriano know Arsenal had an agreement with another club over that replacement. Soon it emerged Monaco had accepted a £92m offer for the promising Thomas Lemar. City readied themselves. They did not fly an official out to Chile, where Sanchez was playing a World Cup qualifier, but there would have been no hitches on their side. And then, all went quiet. Lemar had not agreed to come to Arsenal, and is said to be more interested in going to Liverpool next summer. The attacking midfielder is the one emerging French talent — save Kylian Mbappe — Wenger rates above all others. He pursued him earlier in the window. Again, he used to attract such players; he once would have signed Kante; once would have retained the Ox.
There are further problems. Arsenal are disillusioned by Shkodran Mustafi’s application and Wenger wanted to sell, but a deal with Inter Milan collapsed. Arsenal seem to find selling players as difficult as buying them: Mathieu Debuchy still on the books, Joel Campbell out on yet another loan. This is significant because a factor complicating Arsenal’s ability to recruit is their wage bill. Premier League rules mean clubs can only increase their wage bills by £7m in 2017-18, unless external revenue increases too, and external revenue is dropping for Arsenal because they are out of the Champions League.
Another strange position to be in for a club whose acumen was once envied. Next? Ramsey has been allowed to enter the final two years of his deal. Somebody at that club, if not Wenger, needs to be a catalyst for change.
tap-in
Nothing Wrong With Me
I think its a case of we have money ie the cash mountain but its not available to spend on players. This has been the case ever since Kroneke took over, he's squirreling money away for something and one day we will find out.
say yes
forum master baiter
Leicester were a relegation side. Kudos for the incredible achievement but we're one of the biggest (and richest) clubs in the world ffs.
Can't put it any better than this:
So Wenger thinks we only have three fit midfielders that are up to standard?
What happened to him talking up Elneny all summer.
And we should never have considered offers for Giroud, woeful.
What happened to him talking up Elneny all summer.
And we should never have considered offers for Giroud, woeful.
Last edited:
say yes
forum master baiter
Almost made a thread about him yesterday but posted it in 'worst run club' instead.
Worst scout in world football.
Gegen Pressing
Well-Known Member
Not "same old" .
Wenger used to be respected .
Not anymore.
He went from "one of the best young talent promoter" to the total fiasco.
Everybody knows he is going to retire soon and that just encourages everybody to start looking elsewhere.
Sell the club to the Russian and bundle ArsenalTV in the deal because he likes a good laugh.
Start from scratch.
Wenger used to be respected .
Not anymore.
He went from "one of the best young talent promoter" to the total fiasco.
Everybody knows he is going to retire soon and that just encourages everybody to start looking elsewhere.
Sell the club to the Russian and bundle ArsenalTV in the deal because he likes a good laugh.
Start from scratch.
lamby22
It's Not Lupus
Country: Scotland
That Leicester thing is laughable. It's like the time David Moyes told Ferdinand and Vidic to study Phil Jagielka. Plus I'd love to know what Wenger said to Chamberlain when he said he was leaving. I hope it started "listen here you ungrateful little s**t"
Country: England
Grimandi is a joke. Some of the best young French talent in years and we've missed them all.
isop
Active Member
They already wanted a DoF, I think Gazidis was serious about the 'catalyst for change' stuff, he wanted structures put in place to be ready before and after wenger goes but Wenger resisted most of the changes including a DoF, and as wenger has Kroenke's support Gazidis had to get by with minimal stuff like the contracts guy and the extra scouts, and fall in line.
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