Wigan 3 - 2 Arsenal ; Wigan end Arsenal title hopes

dragg SG

Sigh sigh sigh

The only manager in the top 4 team, that has won Nothing…

its a miracle he issnt sacked

but he helped the board to save a fortune.

the Bear SG

Sigh sigh sigh

The only manager in the top 4 team, that has won Nothing…

its a miracle he issnt sacked

you've got a short memory... he's won quite a lot.. he's the only manager who went through a season without a loss...

his insistence on financial prudence is his strength and his weakness..

JusStatic SG

Bye arsenal, see you next season in the title race :)

Anyway, now is Chelsea and Manchester United though

Nvm.. next season surely surely will be our season liao.. surely surely.. they grow up liao.. surely liao next season.. Lol...

And to point out that Arsene lamblasted the La Liga for being a two horse race. lol... Only Liverpool and Chelsea (and a good couple of years ago Arsenal and Man Utd were invovled in 2 horse races themselves with Man Utd) frequently swap places with each other in a two horse race with Man Utd.. The same old 4 bloodly teams qualify for the CL every season for the past decade...*Yawn* Some Man City or Tottenham or Everton for a change perhaps this season? : )

dragg SG

next season will be even tougher.

man city and spurs will be the team to watch.

CKeer SG

you've got a short memory... he's won quite a lot.. he's the only manager who went through a season without a loss...

his insistence on financial prudence is his strength and his weakness..

I think you have been mistaken. I think the reason Wenger was retained is because of his ability to generate income. He has a master's degree in Economics from Strasbourg University.

I think why Wenger refused to spend big is because whenever he spent big : Francis Jeffers (2001 from Everton for £8 million - making him one of the club's most expensive signings at that point), Jose Antonio Reyes (2003 from Sevilla for £10.5 million negotiated with top ups, depending on the success of Arsenal, which could have risen to £17 million.) they all turn up to be big time failures.

In his 14 years of tenture, these are the trophies he won:

He did win the 2003-04 Premier League title in 2004 without a single loss but this is it. That is probably the climax of his career as you all can see that it's going downhill ever since then. This is the 5th straight season Arsenal is going home empty handed.

the Bear SG

that's financial prudence isn't it?

when he decides to splash, the gamble usually flops.. if like that, better not spend unlike a few other managers who decide to splash even more for even worse...

actually, Reyes was good.. but he was unhappy and wanted to go.. Wenger never tries to keep unhappy players coz in the long run, they'll cause dissent in the locker room and losing the whole squad is worse than losing 1 player...

zocoss SG

In the end, all that pretty football get you nothing if your team doesn't have the steel to stomach the tough moments... Every year, Arsenal shoot out of the box very well when there isn't any pressure. The young guns does fantastic playing some nice football... But when the moment comes... (Normally from Feb onwards) They cracked up like a team who doesn't know what to do or how to play during difficult times... And I put this down to experienced...

Arsenal don't have enough of it in their squad. Wenger's policy of selling those reaching 30 or buying younger and less experienced players is the main course of it... Cos it has been so obvious for the last few seasons already... Experienced players gives you that stability during pressured moments, while lots of young players could go missing when the going gets tough...

So i think Arsenal's problem is down to their transfer policy... Not sure who is at fault, the board or the manager but I think Wenger also plays a big part of it... Cos he have won it before so i belief he isn't as desperate to win it again but for his ego purpose, he wants to do it with a young side that plays pretty football... Cos if he manage to do so, he could always be remembered as an amazing coach / manager long after he retires.

redDUST SG

let's face it, the risks n net return(winning trophies) for buying (expensive) players for the so-called top 4 clubs in the epl is high and it is going to attract a lot of scrutiny. how much more they can improve by getting in players of caliber is a fine line between success and failure because they are in that apex of the league already.

arsene chose to groom from within, but we will never know if his hands are tied or that he's so stubborn to want to look outside and believe in his own youth talent pool and capability. for all the attractive football arsenal churns out, 5 years trophyless is a damn long time for a club with a history of achievements that george graham ignited in the mid-80s which arsene continued to a large extent until 5 years ago. arsene also realizes that a lot of the good players are priced out of the market due to the lavishness of teams like chelsea, man u n real madrid. arsene is luckier because he has a longer tenure @ arsenal to be able to put in place a youth academy to plug some of the gaps.

arsenal is still servicing a 200m pound debts, although they are the only club in epl that's actively reducing it. yanks in liverpool and man u are of the different breed and that's why they are a house build on a stack of cards that could easily blown over if something bad financially happens.

sad to say, arsenal will continue to be a nearly team in the days of modern football today where money talks.

-Wanderer- SG

Arsenal needs to change the whole central defense, buy a new goalkeeper and get a holding midfielder to back up Alex Song.

CKeer SG

when he decides to splash, the gamble usually flops.. if like that, better not spend unlike a few other managers who decide to splash even more for even worse...

So does it mean that Wenger is not reallty that good at signing good players afterall?

Yes, never keep an unhappy player that will disrupt the harmony of the team. A good manager will seek to replace the unhappy player. I think this is where Wenger failed. He failed to acknowledge his team's weakness (Weak (Physically) in the striking department and lousy goalkeepers, incompetent backups for 1st team players) and do fine-tuning.

Arsenal's ability to hit the self-destruct button seems to quite occasional nowadays. The players seem to lose faith in their goalkeepers.

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