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"i've not been able to play my first 11 since 2004&quot

Fallen_Angel

Active Member
Re: "i've not been able to play my first 11 since 2004&

sabret00the said:
apparently that's what Wenger said, according to some snitch on talksport.

he also said baptista was too fat and that senderos was mentally gone since the cup final.


Riiiight.

Well, the 2nd paragraph is true.

But we could have easily had the first 11 this season.

Shame about RVP and Henry though.
 

number_0

Established Member
well i think the most important thing is keep the team stable, if you look at a certain team, that havent won the league in five years, they sold their best player and havent replaced him, yet they were on top of the table since september.
 

Biggus

Established Member
j'nuh said:
Biggus said:
Wenger can cry all he wants about how injury hit we have been, but the fact remains that the board has said that the money is there if he wants it, And I believe them. But our manager- possibly uniquely in the football world has a economics degree and likes to keep a tight reign on the finances. Indeed we know when Arsène does fork out, the results are mixed at best. So is there a limit on how far a squad assembled for a pittance can go? because the fact is we lack class in several areas.

You cant compensate for losing your two best strikers for an entire season collectively with money. Let alone the other injuries weve had this season.

Striker wise, we've got the best depth in the premiership.

Part of Wengers job is to prepare for injuries & suspensions, its not as if they're not unforeseen. He has tried to build depth and what do we have? Bappytits and Alia-dire :roll: oh and some young players- but he's sent them out on loan....
Best depth in the premiership huh.
 

qs

Established Member
go49oner said:
Spot on. "You'll never win anything with kids."once famous tosser said. But how right was he.

The fact that he got it so completely wrong is why its a famous quote.

You can't have success every year and building teams to compete takes time, especially with limited finances. United and Chelseas teams both cost unholy amounts that we could never pay. Scheva, Rooney, Drogba, Rio, SWP, even Carrick when have ever spent so much on players. Can we afford to, imagine if Wenger had signed Scheva or Veron you lot would lose the rag completely. You'd probably want him sacked.

Football isn't as simple as 1,2,3 championship. I hear all this "if we kept Vieira", "shouldn't have broken that team up" etc Who exactly wanted Bergkamp, Pires, Wiltord, Sol, etc to stay. Vieira was ****e the season he left too, a shadow of his former self.

Take off the rose tinted glasses lads, none of those players left early.
 

Sammer

Established Member
Maybe Arsène should have a closer look at his medical department.

The cumulation of injuries is worrying. The recovery times, too.
 

j'nuh

Well-Known Member
Biggus said:
j'nuh said:
Biggus said:
Wenger can cry all he wants about how injury hit we have been, but the fact remains that the board has said that the money is there if he wants it, And I believe them. But our manager- possibly uniquely in the football world has a economics degree and likes to keep a tight reign on the finances. Indeed we know when Arsène does fork out, the results are mixed at best. So is there a limit on how far a squad assembled for a pittance can go? because the fact is we lack class in several areas.

You cant compensate for losing your two best strikers for an entire season collectively with money. Let alone the other injuries weve had this season.

Striker wise, we've got the best depth in the premiership.

Part of Wengers job is to prepare for injuries & suspensions, its not as if they're not unforeseen. He has tried to build depth and what do we have? Bappytits and Alia-dire :roll: oh and some young players- but he's sent them out on loan....
Best depth in the premiership huh.

How can you be so short sighted? How was Wenger supposed to expect his 4th and 5th choice strikers were going to play so much this season? By rights Aliadiere shouldnt have got near the first team. Its unfathomable. You cant compensate for it. Unless you want us to sign Eto'o as our 5th choice striker?

And yes, we do have the best depth in the premiership striker wise. Unless you want to argue that Solskjaer and Dong Fangzouh, and Fowler and Nabil El Zhar are better stike forces than Baptista and Aliadiere, as bad as they have been.

If Chelsea had the equivalent injuries as us this season, they would often have been playing with the 17 year old Ben Sahar upfront alongside a midfielder because they only have 4 strikers.

Would anyone have critised Mourinho if that happened? Of course not. Just bad luck. But when it happens to Wenger? Its his fault.
 

number_0

Established Member
but why does it happen for us only, as soon as a player gets back 2 more get out, and the cyle continues.
i thought it was something to do with arsenal, but after i saw ljungberg and gilberto get injured for their countries i suspect their are witch doctors involved.
 

Mr. Hotshot

Established Member
When AW said he hasn't been able to play his best 11; what is he actually trying to say? Is it because he let some of his best players go and couldn't find quality replacements? Or is it because of the injuries? Or is it because of the kids? What? Please clarify to us what he's actually trying to say because people are starting to mumble and talk a lot rubbish in this thread.
 

ronitc

Well-Known Member
haven't read this thread but maybe wenger should look inwards towards the players he's buying and our medical staff. it's a farce, and it's not a question of if our players get injured but when.
 

EJub

Active Member
While we are looking back - is there any reason to believe that Bentley couldn't have contributed just as much as Rosicky this season?

Nothing against Rosicky, but it would be nice to have a few more English players.
 

asajoseph

Established Member
Thing is, since joining Dortmund, Rosicky has averaged less than 27 league appearances every season - if we find it frustrating that he can't seem to play 3 games in a row, we at least shouldn't be surprised, as he's been like this his whole career.

If using central midfielders on the wings for most of the season isn't enough of a reason to sign a winger, this has to be.
 

UrbanArts

Active Member
Biggus said:
I think Wengers inflexible policy of only giving 1 year contracts to over 30's has hurt us and must be revisited.
Forget about the move to the Grove, injuries, tactics & formations, they're all secondary things. The simple fact of the matter is the players we have now aren't as good as before.

I agree to some extent but they'res no point in having a policy if we chop and change to suit individuals. Nobodies bigger then the club. If they are committed and good enough, then they should know they will be rewarded with an extension after the year is up. Look at Lehmann for example. If players are willing to leave knowing full well what our policy is and they expect to be given special treatment, then they don't deserve to be at Arsenal.
 

True Gooner

Established Member
Lets be honest, the unbeatables were a class apart. This side cannot come close to them,heck, I cant see any side in the world coming close to the unbeatables.
However that is not an excuse, we should be right up there with Chelsea and Man Utd challenging for honours, in terms of player quality I think we are almost as good as them.

Sometimes its more important to bring out the best in players than buy the best players. Wenger knows that.

Heres what I think we can do to improve -
1) Sell players that offer nothing to the team and bring in replacements
eg. Quaresma for Ljungberg to be rotated with Hleb. That way we can get the best of both players. Selling Hleb would again put us behind by a season or so.
Same would go for a striker that under performs. Obviously Etoo is a rarity but someone like Babel who wont mind being 4th choice (or indeed second fiddle to RVP)

2) Become a team - Fabregas said sometime along these lines a few weeks ago. They may play pretty football but they dont play together as a unit, to cover each others mistakes

3) Fans should be a bit more understanding - our team is full of teenagers or players that have been barely around for more than a couple of seasons

Lehmann - long term member
Eboue - Started continous 1st team action since Feb 06
Toure - Long term
Gallas - Freshman at Arsenal - 1st season
Clichy - 1st uninterrupted season

Hleb - 2nd season - in a way Hleb has to step up next season - more than any other player
Fabregas - 2nd season of uninterrupted apperances - progress - simply Fabulous!
Gilberto - Long Term
Rosicky - Freshman

Henry - Long term
RVP - 1st/2nd season of first team action

As you can see 4 players out of 11 players have been a part of our team since 2004 - that is not enough

Like I said, this summer is important is the team is to become a unit - I dont know what a team does during pre-season but I hope that it brings the players closer together and also brings them to full fitness
 

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