Arsène Wenger: Same Old Class

[thierrytheking14]

Not at all. Player for player... We have been superior for the past 2 years. Kane and Alder are the only outfield players of recent times that outshine us.

I'd take Lloris over Cech in a fraction of a heartbeat.

Trippier has been far superior to Hector for a long time.

I'd take Eric Dier over Xhaka. I'd even take Wanyama over him and I'm not even a fan.

Eriksen has outperformed Özil this last couple of seasons .

Alli whilst incredible last year has struggled this year but hes still a talent.

Sanchez looks like he's going to be a great CB.

You've already mentioned Kane & Alderweireld.

I'm not saying any of the above with any form of pride. In fact it depresses the life out of me. But to sit and say we have a superior team to Sp**s is questionable now. Wenger has let this happen incrementally over a number of years and it needs sorting by someone else.

 

[GoonerJeeves]

Wenger taking over France after the World Cup. It's written.

 

[Sammy1887]

Wenger taking over France after the World Cup. It's written.

He would ruin them too.

 

[BobP]

Keown said something fascinating a while ago, about the time he was doing his coaching badges at Arsenal. He said that he noticed one of the defenders making the same mistake in multiple games, so he asked Wenger if he could sit down with the player and go over some video clips with him to show him how to improve. Wenger said no and told Keown that if you show/tell a player their mistakes, they'll start thinking about it on the pitch and it'll make them more nervous.

Small anecdote but it provides an interesting insight into Wenger's coaching philosophy.

I know it sounds like pseudo-psychology on his part but I think Wenger is concerned with reaction times here.

Football is such a fast paced game, a game which can turn in a matter of seconds. If you were to teach a defender something new midweek, or adjust a particular aspect of their game, there's always the chance that at a critical moment in the upcoming game they may end up being caught in two minds i.e. a clash between what counts as a natural reflex and this new element management is attempting to integrate into said players game.

 

[bingobob]

I know it sounds like pseudo-psychology on his part but I think Wenger is concerned with reaction times here.

Football is such a fast paced game, a game which can turn in a matter of seconds. If you were to teach a defender something new midweek, or adjust a particular aspect of their game, there's always the chance that at a critical moment in the upcoming game they may end up being caught in two minds i.e. a clash between what counts as a natural reflex and this new element management is attempting to integrate into said players game.

Surely the purpose of a coach is to coach. If someone is making the same mistake, let's take Xhaka for instance, at some point a coach has to intervene. Even if it takes a week or more to embed as you say due to natural reflexes you still have to intervene.

 

[Kobi]

Wenger taking over France after the World Cup. It's written.

 

[BobP]

Surely the purpose of a coach is to coach. If someone is making the same mistake, let's take Xhaka for instance, at some point a coach has to intervene. Even if it takes a week or more to embed as you say due to natural reflexes you still have to intervene.

You're right.

It's a precarious balance.

It's important to never attempt wholesale changes though, need to split the desired movement into smaller components before implementing the correction over an extended period of time. I feel like that would be Wenger's approach.

 

[Kobi]

I know it sounds like pseudo-psychology on his part but I think Wenger is concerned with reaction times here.

Football is such a fast paced game, a game which can turn in a matter of seconds. If you were to teach a defender something new midweek, or adjust a particular aspect of their game, there's always the chance that at a critical moment in the upcoming game they may end up being caught in two minds i.e. a clash between what counts as a natural reflex and this new element management is attempting to integrate into said players game.

In the short term quite possibly but it's like anything you keep repeating it until it comes natural.
Besides which if , lets say a defender, is constantly doing something incorrectly costing the side goals I fail to see the logic in not addressing it for the fear that it might cost the team while he adapts to the correct technique.
1) He's costing the team anyway
2) Nobody would ever learn anything

 

[A_G]

This. Explains. Everything.

It's also one of the stupidest things I've ever read, doesn't this go against the exact definition of coaching?

Must be tough to find the balance between critiquing the players like that and bombarding them with information. One of the alleged complaints that United players had for LVG was that he overloaded them with instructions during the week, so they felt they couldn't play naturally during the game.

 

[Rimaal]

Must be tough to find the balance between critiquing the players like that and bombarding them with information. One of the alleged complaints that United players had for LVG was that he overloaded them with instructions during the week, so they felt they couldn't play naturally during the game.

There's a huuuuuge difference between overloading them with info and not saying anything, a veritable ocean of leeway - smart middle ground of sound coaching - in that chasm.

 

[Trilly]

Perfect summer for him to go, looking at the teams below us this might be the biggest safety net we'll ever have.

 

[Jasard]

Must be tough to find the balance between critiquing the players like that and bombarding them with information. One of the alleged complaints that United players had for LVG was that he overloaded them with instructions during the week, so they felt they couldn't play naturally during the game.

I almost pity Wenger. Hes running the same cycles hoping for the next invincibles side but we just dint have those players and never will again.

Those sides had heaps of experience, a brilliant balance that we again dont have. Not interfering with the famous back 4 and letting Henry and co blossom was brilliant so I can see why he hopes for the same. Makes me a bit sad but also so so so fed up.

 

[Gooner Zig]

There's currently a 9 point gap between us and 7th (Burnley), the two clubs below them are Leicester and Everton. There is no way in hell we could get worse from a league position perspective unless Everton are going to spend Man City type money in successive windows.

We're basically as low as we can go unless the entire squad went on strike and didn't rock up to games.

 

[dashsnow17]

There's currently a 9 point gap between us and 7th (Burnley), the two clubs below them are Leicester and Everton. There is no way in hell we could get worse from a league position perspective unless Everton are going to spend Man City type money in successive windows.

We're basically as low as we can go unless the entire squad went on strike and didn't rock up to games.

Chelsea finished 10th two years ago.

 

[dashsnow17]

I'd take Lloris over Cech in a fraction of a heartbeat.

Trippier has been far superior to Hector for a long time.

I'd take Eric Dier over Xhaka. I'd even take Wanyama over him and I'm not even a fan.

Eriksen has outperformed Özil this last couple of seasons .

Alli whilst incredible last year has struggled this year but hes still a talent.

Sanchez looks like he's going to be a great CB.

You've already mentioned Kane & Alderweireld.

I'm not saying any of the above with any form of pride. In fact it depresses the life out of me. But to sit and say we have a superior team to Sp**s is questionable now. Wenger has let this happen incrementally over a number of years and it needs sorting by someone else.

You don't always realise you're in trouble until it's too late, especially if you've been in the same comfort zone for a while. That applies to many aspects of life such as economics, and it has happened to us too.

For a long time when we were finishing 4th I would fear that our inability to change would see us drop down and become truly mediocre, but because it never happened it always seemed too far-fetched. The idea that we could have a worse team than Sp*rs was just ludicrous.

Then Poch comes and Sp*rs get a bit good. You obviously take notice and you think well they've got some good players but their squad depth is still Sp*rsy so nothing to worry about, if we just wake ourselves up we'll be fine.

Then all of a sudden it occurs they don't just have a few players better than ours, they have many players better than ours. Their depth at full-back and centre-back, their depth and physicality at defensive midfield, even their attacking players are comparable. Not to mention their striker is f*cking superman.

It's whenever they bring Wanyama on that it hits home what's happened. To bring on someone like that who can physically boss a game is depth that we couldn't dream of right now.

No idea what'll happen to them; they might struggle in the new stadium or Poch & Kane might leave. That's not the point. The point is we've actually brought ourselves to a point where Sp*rs are better than us in every footballing department. For Arsenal Football Club that should be considered a disgrace and a sackable offence.

What alarms me is that Wenger & the board might not be alarmed about this. Hopefully a very definite 6th place finish will ensure they are alarmed. I'm not usually one to wish the team to fail for other motives, but it really wouldn't do us any favours to come close to finishing in the top 4. At this point the club needs to clearly know how far we've fallen.

 

[dashsnow17]

We are a lesson from the fable of the boiling frog, in other words.

 

[Gooner Zig]

Chelsea finished 10th two years ago.

My last line has a caveat which said "unless the whole squad goes on strike and doesn't rock up to games" which is pretty much what the Chelsea squad did to Mourinho, downed tools.

 

[Rimaal]

 

[Mark Tobias]

He would ruin them too.

Maybe not. He's got a brilliant cup record

 

[Gooner Zig]

Maybe not. He's got a brilliant cup record

Domestically.