Merci Arsène

[KROENKE SUCKS]

I don't blame our lack of success on Wenger. He performed miracles with the team, financial situation and inept board, between 2005-2013. I can only imagine Fergie doing as good a job during that period.

I am and still continue to be #WengerOut but not because I believe he's a terrible manager now...But I recognise that the team needs change and more importantly, with the ineptness of the board, we need the best manager and not just a great manager anymore...

On a sidenote, did you hear, apparently our transfer budget is only £50M (without sales) this summer? I'm sure the failure to buy an outfield player in 2015 was a Board decision, but Wenger took the flack for it.

**** the board and the owners. How can our transfer budget be only £50M? They are trying to blame the fact that they spent £100M on 2 strikers and handed a new contract to Özil. The problem is that the fanbase are not ****ing stupid and we know that they MADE a £20M profit from the transfer window because they made over £120M in player sales and saved a TON on the wage budget. They are taking us for mugs, pretending we're poor, when we made a nice profit. Those ****ers.

Wenger is the best manager out there. The board's cheapness has been holding him back. The sad thing is had we shown a little ambition with him we might have won a couple of league titles maybe even the CL. Without him we are going to have to spend big money just to remain a yoyo top 4 club. Kroenke's cheapness and stupidity have screwed us over.

 

[MustOezil]

We've gone through this enough times, and truth is we don't know anything until either Wenger releases a book or enough time passes so we can look back and see how the club performs without him.

Anyways, not the thread for this kind of discord, lads.

 

[Baki]

Wenger is the best manager out there. The board's cheapness has been holding him back. The sad thing is had we shown a little ambition with him we might have won a couple of league titles maybe even the CL. Without him we are going to have to spend big money just to remain a yoyo top 4 club. Kroenke's cheapness and stupidity have screwed us over.

I definitely think that between 2013-2017, we would have won atleast PL title had the board invested proper

That said, I would no longer call Wenger one of the bests. I do believe that he's past it and you can see it from some of his decision making and tactics. He's definitely top-tier and would probably win the treble with an oil club and/or Real Madrid/Barca.

However, I do think Klopp, Simeone, (maybe even) Mou and possibly Allegri are better managers now. I don't rate Pep yet, as I haven't seen him perform without a checkbook.

 

[Ricardinho]

Gonna throw the 5-1 at the san siro, win in Madrid, and the 5-4 at Sp**s into the mix.

 

[SingmeasongSong]

1. Henry scoring that volley after laying it up for him self.
2. Henry's comback goal obviously
3. There's no good footage but basically everything about Wenger after winning the cup - his relief, his joy - the man deserves it all

 

[DasBootist]

I was @ Highbury for the Arsenal 4 - Liverpool 2 match back in 2004. I feared that I was an unlucky omen when the team had fallen behind @ half-time. I was sitting at the Clock End when Henry scored that wonder goal, where he made fools of a couple of Liverpool defenders (Jamie Carragher being one of them).

My second favourite memory has to be when I went to White Hart Lane with some school friends in late 2002 to watch Arsenal vs. Tottenham on the big screen. It was incredibly difficult suppressing the overwhelming levels of joy, after Henry (again) picked the ball up in his own half and proceeded to slalom past several (admittedly not great) Tottenham players to slot it past the goalie.

Good lawd, Henry was magnificent!

 

[Sanchez11]

I was @ Highbury for the Arsenal 4 - Liverpool 2 match back in 2004. I feared that I was an unlucky omen when the team had fallen behind @ half-time. I was sitting at the Clock End when Henry scored that wonder goal, where he made fools of a couple of Liverpool defenders (Jamie Carragher being one of them).

My second favourite memory has to be when I went to White Hart Lane with some school friends in late 2002 to watch Arsenal vs. Tottenham on the big screen. It was incredibly difficult suppressing the overwhelming levels of joy, after Henry (again) picked the ball up in his own half and proceeded to slalom past several (admittedly not great) Tottenham players to slot it past the goalie.

Good lawd, Henry was magnificent!

This game exactly

 

[SuperGoon]

Tonnes of other places on the forum to have this discussion. Lets try keep things respectful in the "Merci, Arsène" thread. It's not just titles this man is responsible for.

 

[AL the gooner]

Wenger averaged a trophy every 2 seasons, playing wonderful football, and had a positive net spent in the 8 years after moving stadia, because we could not afford to spend money, not because he didnt like spending.
For the resources we had, he worked miracles. Only 3 titles? against the greatest manager ever in Ferguson and his limitless funds, as well as the bottomless pit of abramovich and the UAE. To win one title would have been overachieving. To win 10 trophies in this period of time, no one else could have done it with the money available, not Mourinho, Pep, or Ferguson.
Bringing a new manager will make zero difference if we cant compete for the best players, the game is still about the players you have, and can afford to bring in.
He had to go, simply because he was no longer capable of performing miracles, and at our financial limitations, we need a miracle worker, if we want to win another title.

 

[krengon]

One of my favourite comebacks is the 5-3 vs middlesbrough after being 3-1 down.. Legit thought we were going to go another season unbeaten


""Oh, here they come again, it's Reyes! Stand up for the Champions!"

 

[Ricardinho]

 

[TriniGunner]

Wenger doing tactics with the invincibles. WHAT? I though he lucked that team and they did all the work while he just sat there enjoying the show.

We had better, more athletic and smarter players. The players these days are a shadow of what those players were.

 

[Slartibartfast]

@Özillionaire Did I strike a nerve?
When judging someone's legacy, accomplishments will always be judged first. At the end of the day Wenger has only won 3 league titles in 22 years yet he's being described as our best and most successful manager of all time. If we were in such a good position during his tenure, why didn't we win much more?
Go figure.

Hold on. If Arsène Wenger isn't Arsenal's best and most successful manager of all time, who is? He won three league titles and seven FA Cups. Arsenal's previous all-time best manager, Herbert Chapman, won two league titles and one FA Cup. Arsène's winning percentage of 57.38 is far and away ahead of any other Arsenal manager who was in charge of the club for more than 23 games. Chapman, George Allison, Tom Whittaker, Bertie Mee, Terry Neill and George Graham (Arsenal's other long-serving managers) were all under 50 percent.

Damn, I knew I shouldn't come back into this thread. There should be a separate "Let's Keep Bashing Arsène Wenger" thread for those who just can't let it go.

 

[c00lguy]

Well that's exactly my point. Only 3 titles and no champions league to show for it all is abysmal, even if one of them was unbeaten.
Throughout our history we've never had the kind of sustained periods of success such as Liverpool and Manu have had in the past.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Well that's exactly my point. Only 3 titles and no champions league to show for it all is abysmal, even if one of them was unbeaten.
Throughout our history we've never had the kind of sustained periods of success such as Liverpool and Manu have had in the past.

There are hundreds of other clubs who would sell their souls to be that abysmal. Basically all but two clubs in the Premier League and every club in all the leagues below that. But if you want to say Arsenal has been an abysmal club through its history, then fine. It's all relative. But when Arsène Wenger has clearly been far more successful than any of his predecessors, how can you claim he's not Arsenal's greatest manager? You didn't answer my question. If Wenger is not Arsenal's greatest manager, then who is? Give me a name and tell me what they accomplished that was more than Wenger did.

 

[xinu]

Well that's exactly my point. Only 3 titles and no champions league to show for it all is abysmal, even if one of them was unbeaten.
Throughout our history we've never had the kind of sustained periods of success such as Liverpool and Manu have had in the past.

Wenger sacrificed his own personal achievements to build the stadium as knew they wouldn't compete for years but put the long term future of the club first. That is the mark of the man, name me another manager who would have done that.

 

[c00lguy]

There are hundreds of other clubs who would sell their souls to be that abysmal. Basically all but two clubs in the Premier League and every club in all the leagues below that. But if you want to say Arsenal has been an abysmal club through its history, then fine. It's all relative. But when Arséne Wenger has clearly been far more successful than any of his predecessors, how can you claim he's not Arsenal's greatest manager? You didn't answer my question. If Wenger is not Arsenal's greatest manager, then who is? Give me a name and tell me what they accomplished that was more than Wenger did.

You're not getting me. I didn't say he isn't. He is but the accomplishments are still abysmal and the fact that he is our greatest ever manager despite the lack of accomplishments over 22 years (or even over his first 10 years) is what speaks negatively of the clubs' history.
We aim to be the best but 2 clubs in the league have had it much better. Whilst many would love to be in our position, our club's not big enough and has never been big enough for fans to demand a title challenge every single year as many do. Why is my opinion so unreasonable? I'm simply stating the obvious.

 

[Beast Incarnate]

When you think about it, Wenger only underperformed by the standards he set himself.

In the early and mid 90s, we were a team that would scrap a top 8 position and maybe pick up the odd domestic cup here and there. We were in a similar position we are today. I don't remember a fans revolt and calling for George Graham's head. We were pretty dull to watch back then as well.

Wenger was a victim of his own success. Due to all that early success he made our fans think they had some divine right to win everything every season, despite not having the spending power of other clubs. He set the bar very high in those early years.

I think 10-20 years from now, some fans will be embarrassed in the way they heckled Wenger. At least for most it won't be on YouTube viewed thousands of times like DT, Claude etc.

 

[Juan Matas Beard]

Amazing Ferguson vs Wenger feud documentary that was on Channel 5 last night.

Link is here.

 

[Mark Tobias]

Well that's exactly my point. Only 3 titles and no champions league to show for it all is abysmal, even if one of them was unbeaten.
Throughout our history we've never had the kind of sustained periods of success such as Liverpool and Manu have had in the past.

The football landscape has changed since then though. It is not the same to compare Pool of the 80s to the current league. Who in the league is dominating for years at a time????