₦airaland Forum

eldee:
Dude, I'm not talking about what we can do . . . I'm talking about what's more realistic.

Yeah, we've don't it before, so?? Does that mean it's more likely to happen??

All I'm saying is, it's more realistic for us to end up in the title challenge through Chelsea and Man Utd dropping point than us being consistent.

Go through the post and where exactly did I say we were going to win the title? as to being in the title challenge or not? I can only say that we are already in it, 6 points off the first position with 12 matches to go and having played all your direct rivals is a title challenge in my opinion (you are well within your rights to hold a contrary opinion with the half full/half empty conundrum) I only estimated our opponents and gave points I thought were winnable, anything wrong with that?  or more exactly, how is that unrealistic?

dayokanu:
How many years ago was it when Arsenal wonthe CL? 1million years and counting

Fiorentina had already qualified and still beat Liverpool at Anfield. so we can say 4th in Serie A is better than 2nd in EPL

Last year when they won the league they were in Europe and eliminated Milan, Pummeled English FA champs

Really? I thot anyone who had any idea about footie in Europe would know that Juve dominated Italy while Milan conquered Europe

Arsenal has not won the UCL with or without Arsene so that says nothing about Arsene, we have a project going on and that is the whole point of this discussion anyway so you aint saying much.
Liverpool already knew they weren't going thru and there was nothing to play for apart from pride, your champions still had every opportunity to go through if they had beaten manure and CSKA lost.
English FA champs who were where on the league table? fighting relegation methinks, sure beating an uber-geriatric Milan should be applauded I guess
And about the Juve/Milan thingy even if it were true, don't we all know why that could have happened now? match fixing remember or is your memory that short?

dayokanu:
Get some perspective dude.
Wolfsburg of this season was different from last years. They lost the major factor that helped them last year which is the coach. They are currently 12th in the Bundesliga. Why not talk about Liverpool second in EPL last year but got kicked home and away by a mid table Fiorentina.
I guess the spending power of Manure and Chelsea also stopped you from winning any European title under Wenger for 14years

Is it really because they've lost their coach or they're finding it hard to compete on all fronts as some other clubs who've always made it to Europe yearly have grown used to doing? okay, so you agree 2nd in the EPL is the equivalent of the bumblesliga champion? even though your team was beaten by a team that had already qualified and sent out a ragtag team  . The latter part of your post explains itself and I wonder why you wrote it, surely the omniscient bumblesliga exponent should know that if 2 clubs are outperforming you at home then its almost a sure banker they would outperform you on the continent? besides how many years ago has it been since Munchies won the UCL again? 9 years and counting, not really the European Heavyweight form you would have us believe you have now is it?

[quote author=A-40 link=topic=362333.msg5502459#msg5502459 date=1265989523]@Duduspace
I won't sit here and say Arsene has not tried for Arsenal he has but sometimes i think y'all give him too much credit so much so that when he makes clear errors in judgement. Y'all give us history lessons and blah blah blah instead of addressing the issue. Lemme give y'all an example[/quote]I'm happy to see you are keeping things in perspective with the part in bold, though I wouldn't exactly call myself a yes man to Arsene but Yorubas say that you should endeavour to look forward while you are crying in pain. I've had my share of disagreements with Arsene's actions but by and large, I do try to understand the man. No man in this life is perfect and I've never made out Arsene to be one but having said all this, I still believe he is the one to take the club forwards all things considered.

dayokanu:
This business model thingy is so overplayed. Bayern is one of the most profitable clubs in Europe where NO coach is God but just employees yet they spend when they should and cant be trophyless for 5 seasons

This point will be valid when you show me a single club in Germany that has spent half or even a quarter as much as Chelsea and Manure in the last 5 years in your bumblesliga league and also if any club from your league has won in Europe during that period. Did you see what Manure did to your League's champion this year with a rag tag team?

eldee:
@duduspace
I don't think your predictions are realistic.
All things being equal, Arsenal doesn't just go from a draw to three straight wins . . . come on.

They are not predictions as I'm not TB Joshua or any of the deluded megalomaniacs back home, just estimates of the opponent we are facing, and why exactly can't we go from a draw to 3 wins when we've done it before? or is it just because you want to let us know we can't win? possibly because you are actually afraid we can 

Happy Birthday HNIC, I hope the lads also give you something more to be happy about this year.
I don't believe in this issue of yes men or what nots that A-40 mentioned, I see a lot of sense in what Arsene is doing and its all credit to the man and the board that they had the foresight to embark on that project. As HNIC said, why is everyone now beginning to see the sense in balancing the books and having a sustainable business model? I tell you this what Arsene has done will outlast him at the club, y'all don't follow the youth setup as well as I do and I know we have a shitload of talent coming through and I believe in this arrangement more than the unsustainable "throw money at it" principle of the noughties that brought initial success to the likes of the money miss road people at Stamford bridge.

@allboyz
Here are our remaining fixtures and if all goes well, we should be able to get these points.

20 Sat Barclays Premier League H Sunderland 15:00    3 (the sunderland team has been fumbling in recent times)
27 Sat Barclays Premier League A Stoke City 17:30           1 (Stoke are a difficult proposition at the Britannia)
06 Sat Barclays Premier League H Burnley                    3 (Burnley are clueless away from home)
13 Sat Barclays Premier League A Hull City                        3 (They don't really have anything to hurt us)
20 Sat Barclays Premier League H West Ham United 17:30   3 (not guaranteed cos its a derby but we should be able to get it)
27 Sat Barclays Premier League A Birmingham 15:00            1 (difficult one, these lads are difficult to beat but recent cracks appearing)
03 Sat Barclays Premier League H Wolverhampton 15:00    3(Wolves don't have anything to hurt us)
10 Sat Barclays Premier League A Tottenham Hotspur 15:00  1(Difficult one, these guys will be up for it but that can play into our hands)
17 Sat Barclays Premier League A Wigan Athletic 15:00    3(Wigan play an open game and we thrive in that)
24 Sat Barclays Premier League H Manchester City 15:00    3(The lads will be up for this one as we owe these guys one)
01 Sat Barclays Premier League A Blackburn Rovers 15:00    3(Blackburn don't have anything to hurt us)
09 Sun Barclays Premier League H Fulham 15:00     3(We beat them before and we can do it again)

this gives us 30 + 52 = 82 points, is this enough to win the premiership? I'm not sure but if we can turn one or 2 of those draws into wins, then we are looking at 84 to 86 points which puts us in the frame for the premiership depending on how Chelsea and ManIOU fare from now on.

Bad news for our direct competitors on the injury front, Ashley Cole out for 3 months and Giggs out for about a month.
I think Chelsea will suffer more, though they do have Zhirkhov to come in for Cole though, and Belleti can also fill in. Not nearly as debilitating as our injuries but lets see how they stand up to it anyway. ManIOU will also miss old man Gigg's experience over the next few matches particularly with Nani's ill advised red.

allboyz:
i so much bliv in this team more than eva even witot the strikers. . .wow!!! 3rd.

same here allboyz, leave Sauron alone as his club is living on borrowed time, a drowning man always struggles and makes the most noise. After they disover that the selling of bonds is unable to save them, they will soon start selling players just siddon dey look. Chelsea is lucky as Mr Abrahamovic has written off their debts, I don't however see him putting in another 250m into the club without any returns, we will definitely get there, the last transfer window has shown us signs of things to come.

I Think everyone is agreed that Diaby has done what Song did last season and stepped up big time, apart from the tackling and all round great MF display, he has added goals to his locker and presently has only 2 less goals as Arshavin and can definitely get to double digits this season, when he opens up those long legs in the last 25 minutes of a match, there is just no stopping him.

Where are those questioning my statistics now? permit me the opportunity to gloat as people live too much in the past and can never see when players are making strides in the right direction. I actually see shoots of improvement in Theo at present, I just wonder if it is too late for him to develop confidence and a footballing brain, that pass back to Reina yesterday just about sums it all up but I'll lay off the boy as he is still young and I do believe that if we play to his strengths on the counter attack the boy can get a reasonable amount of goals, in my opinion he just doesn't fit into our possesion football playing style at present and is struggling to cope.

As to tactical discipline, I still believe it is a work in progress, I still saw both Verminator and Gallas playing as Center forwards yesterday but the other players did provide cover when they did that, and you wouldn't want them to stay back all the time anyway, maybe it was okay as both Song and Diaby are not small guys who can just be easily shrugged off by marauding attackers unlike Denilson. I still point to the fact though that I've reviewed virtually all the counter attacking goals we conceded and we always had more players in defensive positions than the opposition, silly mistakes and wrong decisions were our undoing.

Where are my peeps? how is the match going? working late again today.

Image123:
Na wa for this logic that keeps reoccuring on this thread. Why the certainty/near certainty that you'll go on 100percent victories while other teams will drop points to 'hulls'. Records show that the arsenal are the most suspect to string of draws which they proudly add to some x-matches unbeaten chant. Well, good luck to you tonight sha.

Na yu know wetin you see, I've not seen anyone said such so far, infact I dare say there is more negativity at present on the forum than positivity, the fact remains that our run in is easier than most of our direct competitors simple.

I expect the team to set the tone for the rest of the season with a victory tonite, the boys are hurting and our players are just getting to their best after injury, a bit of a pity we had to play all these tough games back to back but no complaints as it might work out to our benefit later. There are more Hull's looming on the horizon and the only banana peels we need to be careful of are Tottenham and Stoke away.
If the lads are able to keep the chasing pack at bay tonite with a win or loss as a worst case scenario, we can then go on a winning run which I'm sure we can do with the opposition we will be facing, there might just be something still in there for us this season.

Reserve match today about the same time the first team is playing, Barazite might be back from injury, JET gets another go at the striker position and Coquelin is being given the opportunity to try out the right back position in the reserves, I trust the lad will give it a good go.

[Quote]
Francis Coquelin is also set to feature at right back.

The Frenchman first tried out the role in the FA Cup defeat to Stoke City last month, and Banfield told Arsenal.com why the midfielder suddenly finds himself among the backline.

"Arsène Wenger would like to see him have a run at right back," he explained. "He thinks that could be an interesting position for him.

"We're not saying the midfield is a no for him but we are saying 'have a go at full back and see how you do'. At the moment that might be a better option for the future, and then maybe move him back into midfield. We're trying him at full back just to have a look at him.

"It is what the Reserves are for; to develop young players for the first team. If one day Francis ends up having 300 games at right back for Arsenal's first team then we've done our job.

"The manager feels at youth level they should play in different positions to get an eye for the position, an eye for the game and see the game from a different stand point. We try to do that and one or two have played in different positions and it's a good game understanding for them."[/quote]Welcome back Gooner.

debosky:
I did, he was OK but not spectacular. I think he'll learn to work hard with Bolton that's for sure.
That's the point - even a deflection can be prevented by manning the post but no, Clichy was so concerned about Carvalho - a player who has barely scored or made an assist all season, a defender, who was OUTSIDE the box?? Truly it was demons that Clichy was seeing. 

Debo, this is not true, go and watch the replay, Carvalho was left totally free in the box by Arshavin, the replays by Andy Gray showed clearly all the screaming and pointing that was going on between Cesc and Clichy towards Carvalho, even Almunia was pointing at him because he was the only player not being picked up at that time. I'll see if I can get the clip from youtube and paste it here.

Jack Wilshere started for Bolton today, anyone watching the match I'm at work but should catch it on Football first later.

debosky:
You are way off base - If Clichy left things AS THEY WERE there would be NO GOAL. That is the only fact that matters.
Defending OUTSIDE the box should never take precedence over actions in the box. You are simply looking to excuse the inexcusable.
If Clichy simply did HIS JOB and stayed on the post, no goal!

You can say that, but there are a thousand and one ways people have been scoring against us recently with Clichy present or not (Chelsea at home remember? then it was Nasri not covering Ashley Cole well enough) and this will continue until the team defending ethos is sorted. Infact, maybe we should forget about passing for a week and focus on defending in training.
I thot we got it sorted midway through last season and I'm amazed its all gone downhill in recent times again.

debosky:
So you believe he has no money?? Rubbish I say - let me give  you ONE example. We paid £3.5m for Wellington and were bidding for £7m Smalling - that comes to £10.5m. Are you saying we couldn't use that money to buy a quality goalkeeper or striker??
We can comfortably spend £20m and STILL be in the black.

Okay, good idea Debosky, now lets say the striker you bought came on for the first break and encounters a Martin Taylor with the attendant long term injury like Eduardo had? or something else happens, mind you I still repeat it that there is no striker I know better than Bendtner who costs any less than 15million (even when people were making jest of Diaby and Bendtner last season, the likes of Inter had come with offers of about 8m for Bendtner since he was 19) at the least, remember Bordeaux refused to accept 8m for Chamack who they knew they would be losing for free at the end of the season.
Managing is a balancing of priorities, you can look at a single situation in isolation but you neglect all the knock on effects on other things. true enough, the amount used to buy Wellington could have been mixed up with that used to bid for Smalling to buy a striker who may or may not win you the league anyway, but in not buying that striker you have bought Wellington for the future, gotten Smalling (if that had come through) while at the same time left room to bring in Chamack at the end of the season (if that goes through).
I know the typical fan doesn't care about all these and maybe they need not, the season is in no way over yet we are still in with a shout in 2 competitions, and there is still a whole lot to be positive about at Arsenal,  and this is largely due to a manager who has managed our club well.

debosky:
Stop defending the indefensible. How can a player ( a defender for that matter) on the EDGE of the box be more important than staying on the post??

Was he blind to see that Vermaelen wasn't marking anyone? Why didn't he tell Vermaelen to mark the post before going AWOL?

Arshavin had NO FAULT in this - the ball NEVER went to Carvalho, neither did he play any part in the goal. Clichy's unbelievable stupidity cost that goal.

You are placed on the post for a reason - shout all you want, but DON'T LEAVE YOUR POSITION VACANT.

Only a daft defender worries more about marking players not even remotely involved in play. Even if Carvalho got the ball, you have a far better chance of NOT conceding by having men on the post.

Go and review how the event developed first and stop looking at what happened in the end, defending is a team effort. I am not saying Clichy is not culpable for leaving the post he was guarding, his going there in the first instance was because he knew that was the proper thing to do, his leaving there was because Arshavin wasn't doing his job. Clichy and Cesc were only showing their passion for the club in covering for another player after shouting and pointing endlessly without any response from Arshavin.
What you also failed to notice was that Terry got the first header from the position Cesc vacated to go cover for Arshavin, review how situations develop and don't just come to conclusions at what happened in the final seconds. One of the reasons why Manure were that defensively solid last season was due largely to the amount of work the likes of Rooney and Tevez were putting in to help their defence.

debosky:
You've come across what I've been saying for two years now with close scrutiny of the club accounts. Without a doubt there is a LOT of money to spend.
Wenger's motivation is to win purely on his own terms - he objects to anything outside of that. Without a strong character within the club to say enough is enough - buy the players and let us worry about the finances.

You are speaking naively here Debosky, there are differing magnitudes of expenditure we're talking about, Sauron pasted something from Danny Fiszman recently, read between the lines and you will know that whatever is going on between the board and Arsene will never be revealed to you and I.
I remember last season when a board member mentioned something in the scale of 100 million as being available and Arsene had to come out equivocally on it before the board member kept quiet.
Say what you want about Arsene and the board, I don't know anyone who will come out and start telling you he is a church rat when he knows there is nothing you can do about his situation.
Arsene knows the situation he signed up for and he believes he can do it with the limitations he has and I strongly believe that too, I see the positives in our financial stability, youth orientation and enduring competitiveness, anyone else can keep on shouting the trophylessness mantra, they are welcomed to it, I'll still rather support Arsenal than any of the other clubs.

HNIC:
BTW, I haveatched Drogba's first goal against us over and over again.
I believe what Debo said,Clichy must have been seeing demons
he left the post he was guarding and was just running aimlessly around the box.
OR . . . .
Was he paid by Chelski to do that?

As bad as it made Clichy looked, it was all caused by Arshavin refusing to mark Carvalho, both Clichy and Cesc were shouting for him to do it but he was strolling about in front of the penalty area, Cesc then had to leave his post to mark Carvalho and Clichy moved to cover Cesc's position but as luck would have it, that was the very place Terry placed his header. Shoddy, if you ask me and very naive from players who should know better just like Dudu's cheeky backheel against Standard in the UCL that led to the first goal against us.
Andy Gray reviewed it on "The final word" on Sunday after the match, defending is a team effort but I wonder why our lads never learn.

[quote author=A-40 link=topic=362333.msg5480267#msg5480267 date=1265723090]@Duduspace
Even as a Gunner i saw your comparison between us and Barca and i had to laugh in Salawa Abeni! My gee we are not even close!! in fact its like comparing Olumo Rock to the Himalayas

1) Only the very best even from their youth squad make it to the first team. There is a reason Fabregas, Arteta, Pique are/where in England. They didn't just play any Tom, D/i/ck and Ifeanyi in their squad

2) They did not buy duds and used players from their rivals neither did they sell their blossoming stars just when they where breaking out

3) They actually spent pesos i mean grande pesos and bought wisely too. Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Deco, Larsson, Dani Alves, Abidal, Zlatan, Henry, Seydou Keita, Yaya Toure, Chrygynsky e.t.c if we calculate what Barca paid for these players over the last few seasons you would agree that quality does not come cheap anywhere on God's green earth

So if this is what Arsene is trying to copy he is on a long thing at the moment. Also the reason Barca where misfiring in the late 90's and early 2000's had a lot more to do with their players who where either past their prime or where simply not good enough aside Rivaldo and Figo (before he left) you really couldn't point out a consistent performer in that team. Their rejuvenation began with Rijkaard and the signings of Davids & Ronaldinho and then Eto'o[/quote]You are well within your rights to laugh but I will answer your questions one after the other:

1. Neither do we play any Tom, D/i/ck and Harry in our squad, I have already put up a post earlier showing the progression and competition within our youth teams before possible progression into the squad. Your point would be valid if you can explain to me what Barca were doing during their barren 6 year without a trophy.

2. Barca did sell iconic players that developed internally or were bought young and sold at there peak or thereabouts (remember Luis Figo going to RM at the beginning of the Galactico era?)

3.Yes, they are spending now but still no way near RM, and they are definitely in no way indebted like  RM who have had to sell their training center and have it loaned back to them by government too (like what the Glazers want to do to manure's carrington)

It is all well for you to look at Barca now and make these statements, you can also talk about players who fitted or were misfits in the Barca team, and yes maybe some managers (like Luis Van Gaal who also helped develop a youth culture at Ajax) did carry the can for some of the performances cos they didn't even do as well as Arsenal have done during this "lean" period and they werent even saddled with repaying stadium debts.
The principle is what is worth looking at, just like Barca at a stage looked to sign people like Amunike from Nigeria to conserve money while RM were buying the creme of world soccer, Manure at present can spend 30m on a player like Berbatov and 19m on a player like Hargreaves while we choose not to get drawn into that rat race and get bargains like Arshavin for 16m and Vermaelen for 10m, we definitely are close and about to make that transition and I believe we will get there and I'm willing to allow Arsene complete what he started.

A good write up I found on the net to help people keep things in perspective.

[Quote]

They may be Anti-Arsenal, but they’re our Anti-Arsenal

By Simon Bailey

They may be Anti-Arsenal, but they’re our Anti-Arsenal

or

Why they haven’t got a leg to stand on.

I love the Arsenal. No, I mean it, I really love the Arsenal. There are things I love more; my family, my home, and my dearly departed brindle lurcher to name a few. But apart from these, the Arsenal is my all consuming passion.

All of my work buddies and friends support different teams, and of all my family only my eldest son and father-in-law are fellow gooners. My missus worships the ground that Torres walks on, and her brother is a spud.

This past year I have had supporters of United, City, Villa, West Ham, the spuds, Liverpool and Pompey join me to watch games either in HD or via the internet. There is always plenty of banter and mirth making, but we are all bound together by our love for our respective teams.

Not many of us actually get to see our teams play in the flesh, and indeed if I get to come over twice a year to see us play, then that’s a good year. But we are all dedicated footie supporters.

I have often heard cries of anguish when their teams lose but not once have I heard any of them complain about off field issues. My wife never complains about Rafa or Hicks or Gillette or the Europa cup. My buddy Shocky doesn’t care that United are wallowing in debt. John, my brother-in-law doesn’t give a hoot that the spuds never amount to anything. And Arlo and Stan (Villa & WHU) are eternal optimists. I could go on but it’s the same story for all concerned.

I am not saying that all fans of other teams love every aspect of how their team is run, let’s face it United and Liverpool fans have plenty to complain about. However Ferguson, Benitez, and Zola are not the targets. Sure the press may occasionally have a half hearted pop at them but it isn’t sustained and the next issue will generally have a different target or theme.

So what’s up with Arsenal and Arsene? Why have the the press and the anti-Arsenal painted a great big bulls-eye on them?

It can’t be silverware, because in the last 10 years only three EPL clubs have more than us.

It can’t be league position because in the last 10 years we have never finished lower than fourth. We have been in the Top flight longer than any other English team, indeed it’s almost a century since we were promoted from the second division and we haven’t looked back.

It can’t be lack of European football because for the last 10 years we have had it every year.

It can’t be our financial situation, because ours is currently the best in the EPL. I know Chelsea and City have sugar daddies but they still can’t manage to post a profit in their respective end of year accounts, and we all know about the situation at OT and Anfield.

It can’t be our lack of youth training and recruitment, because ours is the best in the EPL if not the world. For instance, the whole of the Ivory Coast national team were recruited and trained by one of our worldwide soccer schools. Our youth and reserves teams are playing exceptionally well and have been for a few years now.

In fact we are doing so well on this front that it makes it almost impossible for Arsene to find better players in the transfer windows. Last year we signed two first team players, Arshavin and Vermaelen. Both of these deals went to the wire because Arsene will not pay over the odds for anyone.

It can’t be because our manager and most of our players are not British, because its 2010. Britain is truly a multi-cultural society, the French own and supply many of our utilities: power, water etc. and there is a great big tube linking us to the continent.

Most of our hospitals are staffed by immigrants, who also do most of the jobs that are ‘beneath’ us. Our national dish is Chicken Tikka Massalla, most of us drive to the match in cars made by non British companies or watch it on TVs or PCs manufactured abroad. Sky Tv is owned by an Australian, ESPN is American and Setanta is Irish (yes, I still get to see 3pm Saturday kick offs every week on Setanta).

It can’t be our lack of training and playing facilities. Our state of the art training ground in Hertfordshire, funded from the profit from selling Anelka, is the envy of all EPL teams and we play at the newest and best ground in the country.

It can’t be because our players continually exhibit anti-social behaviour in public because, driving offences aside, the most recent scandal was a photo of Bendtner with his trousers round his ankles looking bewildered as he left a night club, and we all know that the photographer paid his mate to pull them down at just the right moment, hence the bewildered look.

In short, they’ve got nothing, nil, nada. Not a leg to stand on. Every argument thrown up (literally) has been countered very eloquently by the Pro Wenger / Arsenal crowd.

In this lead up to the world cup, in which many of our players will be going to South Africa, the English press, as is to be expected, are whipping up a pro-English furore. Unfortunately for us (or fortunately) not many of our players will be sporting the 3-lions crest and so negativity towards the opposition (us) wrapped up in fervent nationalism is the order of the day.

This doesn’t bother me a great deal because English press = Engand squad = no brainer. The beauty of the internet is that anyone with an opinion can voice it quite anonymously.

This is where Anti-Arsenal has exploded. Any two bit scrote with a hangover and a bad attitude can vent their frustration free from the normal restrictions of truth, clarity and news-worthiness. To tell you the truth, I read Legrove every day, normally for the hilarity factor of the ‘bboooommmm’ first comments. Although I heartily disagree with most of their content, I have to admit that, as a diatribe, most of it is well written. Unlike many blogs with the word ‘Arsenal’ in the title.

The question still remains; why so negative about the team they love? I think it’s just  another facet of the modern society we live in. Impatience is the new patience. As I pointed out earlier, over the last 10 years we have been very successful, but 10 years is 2/3 of a lifetime for a lot of bloggers and so the five-trophyless-years stick which they beat their keyboards with is pertinent to them.

We all know that if Arsene left, two things would happen. Firstly he would be able to walk into just about any team in the world. Secondly, we would struggle, probably for years, to replace him.

We also know that if Arsenal reverted to football 2.0, things wouldn’t change for the better. We might be able to buy our way to a trophy or two a-la United or Chelsea, but there’s no guarantee. We could always do a Harry and bankrupt our team for one bus-top parade. Or we could do a City, get a sugar daddy and still fail to play inspiring football or fill our stadium.

Personally I wouldn’t change a thing. Not the manager, not the team, not the press or even the anti-Arsenal. They are all now inextricably linked and are what make The Arsenal what it is today.

Simon Bailey.[/quote]

debosky:
Note: My support of Arsenal FC remains stronger than ever – it will be hypocritical on my part to ignore the blatant failings of the manager all in the name of blind support.

Whenever they take to the field, I’ll support them 100% as long as they wear the Red and White. That will never change.

While the season isn’t ‘over’ – it is only an absolute MIRACLE of Moses proportions that will see the Pharaohs of Chelski and Man Utd drown in the Red Sea, despite they having Chariots (better players and tactics) and we walking on foot (lacking players in crucial areas and deficient tactics) make it to the other side.  

It is never about your support for Arsenal, I actually believe people have the right to be plastic fans for all I care. I only ask that people keep perspective in whatever they say. Show me one manager who has done what Arsene has done with the resources he had, only 3 clubs have made it consistently into the UCL over a 12 year period in Europe and we are one of them. All this noise about trophies is bunkum, and that is why I took Dr Kit to task when he mentioned Tottenham in his last post (as if any plastic Tottenham fan wouldn't jump ship to Arsenal). In the PL, only 2 teams have been better than Arsenal in the past 5 years and you can never compare what they spent to what we have spent, that is fact and not innuendo.
That doesn't make Arsene Wenger a god, he is man and subject to his own foibles but I don't believe any coach around could have done a better job than that man has done with all the pressure that go with the job and that is why he has my unflinching support. He might no longer have yours and I do respect that, but it is wrong to trivialise what he has achieved or the structures he has helped in putting in place for the club just because some people are making noise about Arsenal not having trophies.

[quote author=~Sauron~ link=topic=362333.msg5476781#msg5476781 date=1265676607]So Arsenal are Barcelona?
Have you actually examined the kinda talents Barca have produced @ La Masia?
Don't make me laugh, abeg. . . . . It's the FOOTBALL TALENT CAPITAL of the Solar System.[/quote]And where were all these talents in the 90s and early 2000 when RM was winning all those Chamipions leagues and LaLiga titles? 
y'all expect Rome to be built in a day when history tells us this is never the case. I have told you (correct me if I'm wrong that Barca did not win anything for 6 good years when they were putting those structures in place)
One team went with the belief they could always buy success while the other focused on developing talent, of course one had a lot of initial success but finally became embroiled in a galactico culture where they can now have any pretentions of success only if they spend 150m in a single season while the other has a factory which will guarantee a decent return of trophies in the next 10 years no matter which manager handles the team.
If the internet was what it is now at the time Barca had their barren spell, I'm sure it would have been worse for Barca supporters than it is now for us.

presido1:
Dudespace quit defending the indefensible. AW himself has acknowledged that his embryo recruits can't win him anything.
http://www.thesun.co.UK/sol/homepage/sport/football/2845228/Ill-win-nothing-with-my-kids.HTML

The Chaves Nazi also tauted him in several of today's newspapers.

Ballack get mouth to talk so make him dey talk dey go, I remain so unafraid of this Chelsea team and pray we meet them in the UCL so we can do to them what they did to the Invincibles in 2004, but your link is broken and Arsene can never say such a thing except in the imagination of a creative writer looking to draw people like yourself who only read the headlines. The season is not over yet, yu people are rejoicing too early.

Dr Kitaun:
That will be the day !

Barcelona who are now everyone's darling team didn't win the la Liga between 1999 and 2005 (six years)
didn't win the Copa Del Ray between 1998 and 2009 (11 years)
They spent that time setting up the structures for their present sustained success in terms of a good academy and a specific system of play, it is a pity people don't learn from history.

[quote author=~Sauron~ link=topic=362333.msg5476614#msg5476614 date=1265674709]There's a certain [b]Johnny Evans who is better than all Arsenal defenders cloned together.
He only turned 22 last month and he is leading the poll of PFA Young Player Award as we speak.[/b]The likes of Gibson, Welbeck, Cleverley and Macheda are not too far behind so there are yung'uns coming through.[/quote]Congratulations to Evans if he goes ahead to win it but he is 2 years late, Cesc who is the same age as he is has already won it 2 seasons ago, the others aren't even in your first team yet.

[quote author=~Sauron~ link=topic=362333.msg5476553#msg5476553 date=1265673962]Citeh are no threat to y'all and the scoreline this season in the 2 matches they have played against Arsenal is 7-2.
U must be having a laugh!!!!

Your conveyor belt churns out rubbish every season.
United have a better youth system and that does not stop Ferguson from adding experienced players to his bloated squad.
Winning is the name of the game. . . . . .Arsenal players don't even know how to win the league. . . .They lack the experience needed at this level.[/quote]Point of correction, Manure "had" a good youth system that produced the likes of Giggs/scholes/Becks et al, since that golden generation how many other players of note have come into your team as teenagers and come thru into the first team? grafters like Fletcher maybe, but real quality players I think not.

City can win all they want against, we are still looking down at them in the table, the league results last season was 2-1 Arsenal against manure but history tells us who won the league.

Dr Kitaun:
Oga, stop getting it twisted . . .Tottenham won something recently, when last did we win a trophy ?

City are no pretenders, didnt we also lose stupidly to Hull City last season ?

what do u mean AV have regressed since last season ? they won the PEACE Cup and u can say they have not been at their best but they have games against the at least 3 of the big 4 this season, yes or no ?  

Arsene knows ? U ARE SURELY SICK !!!  

Dr Kit, I understand your frustrations but this is now getting absurd, I never for once envied Tottenham's Carling cup they can play around with a cup we consider so unimportant as to always play our youth players in it for all I care. Are you in anyway sayin you would trade winning carling cup in a season for 12 years of continuous UCL participation just so that you would have something to say to Sauron and co who make fun of our lack of trophies?
Why stop at that, why not let us start envying Portsmouth's FA cup too.

[quote author=~Sauron~ link=topic=362333.msg5476516#msg5476516 date=1265673460]Tottenham have a mental block and it's only a matter of time before they demote Arsenal.

Man City are a growing force. U have to be naive to discredit what is about to happen in the blue half of Manchester.
The league is gradually becoming a level-playing field and i worry for Arsenal fans because Arsenal have regressed massively.
I cannot for the life of me believe the absence of Van Persie is enough excuse to be so pathetic on the pitch.

Those kids are not good enough and the type of players Wenger shops for are too brittle.[/quote]City is not a threat to us but to Chelsea and Manure, we've never been about competing with anybody in making big name or big money signings, will leave that to y'all to outbid yourselves on getting the big name players while we go quitely with our system of building largely from within. I have said it and will continue to say it, when our conveyor belt goes into full scale production and the lads mature and continue queueing up una no go get mouth to talk again. Just make sure you don't change your nairaland ID by then.