Mails: Would Arsenal be better out of Europe entirely?
Keep those thoughts on the weekend’s football coming to theeditor@football365.com…
The revolution will be televised
There’s is not enough popcorn in all the world…
TGWolf (lie back and think of arsenal)THFC
Yeah, our bad
A pox on you F365 – Wenger an early loser?
How was he supposed to know Pulis would set up his team to let us have the ball and get crosses in the box at every opportunity?!
He’s not psychic you know!
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London
This is the truth
Which bloody idiots think flying a banner over a stadium is a good idea? And why?
Pathetic.
Stu, Southampton
Life is too short to be angry (so be sad?)
Surely it’s over for Arsene Wenger, surely by now most if not all Arsenal fans have finally realised his time is up. Their play is so predictable & some fresh ideas(and better players) are needed.
Struggling to defend set-pieces has been a constant issue for years at Arsenal & still hasn’t been rectified, & so has defending against counter-attacks. And Arsene being a stubborn man doesn’t address these issues.
Fellow Arsenal fans, try not to fear change, what Wenger has done in the past is exactly that, in the past, time to move forward.
Jay (All I can do is laugh at my team, life is too short to be angry)
Leaving with dignity
So…. now 3-1 loss to West Brom. All the Arsenal fans saying they want Wenger to leave but only on his own terms with dignity, who’s dignity? How much dignity have Arsenal FC lost with huge score line defeats to the Man United, City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona and Beyern in recent years. And that not even going through all the David and Goliath defeats. When is the image of the club going to become more important to these people than a ceremonial departure for Wenger?
If Wenger wanted to leave with in a nice rounded fairytale way he could have done so after either of the two F.A cup wins. He has chosen to continue with the protracted zombification of the team. He has chosen to hang on against considerable pressure from the fans . He has chosen to dismiss and at times insult the fans concerns. He is significantly responsible for the toxic atmosphere at the club turning fans against each other. He needs to go.
And of course, “Be careful what you wish for”. If the club aren’t confident they can replace him at the end of this season, why would that change in 2/3/4 years time. Going into the future, the club will make some bad managerial appointments and they will make some good ones. Like every other club. Whats the difference between now and 2/3/4 years time?
The club/Wenger should announce he will be replaced at the end of this season ASAP. Firstly it’ll give them longer to look for a replacement but also it will lift the mood at the club. All the supporters will be united in Wenger positivity and even if he finishes out of the top4 and crashes out of the FA cup with a heavy defeat there will be a hopeful atmosphere instead of the current animosity.
Shaz, N19
Arsenal would be better missing Europe altogether
We’re very clearly out of the champions league race. There is absolutely no way we will catch Liverpool at this point, if we had an easier run in then maybe but our run in is as hard as it gets.
It’s very unlikely but you could see us finishing the season without another win. Obviously you’d expect us to beat Boro and Palace away, West ham at home, but if Arsenal play like we did today against those teams I’d be shocked if we came away with the three points. Then of course we still have to play United, City, Spurs and Everton, all games I have no doubt we’ll lose.
So realistically “best case” scenario is United continue to be a bit crap, we finish 5th and qualify for the Europa League next season. But is that really the best case scenario? Personally, i’d much rather we had no European football next season, so that the new manager could completely focus the team on performing well in the league and maybe, just maybe challenge for the league title again.
We’ve all seen how Chelsea have done without the distraction of European football, who’s to say we couldn’t do that? Obviously this hypothetical situation would be a complete disaster if an incompetent tactical dinosaur like Wenger was still in charge, but surely after the past 2 months there’s no way he signs a new contract. Right?
I digress, I’m sure any new manager would prefer if we could focus on the league and didn’t have to travel here, there and everywhere every Thursday night to compete in a relatively pointless competition.
Matt, Arsenal fan
But one man is sitting smugly
Before the inevitable Wenger-bashing goes on, there’s a few caveats and “special circumstances” to consider here:
* Rotherham shipped 5 at QPR, why is nobody talking about that? Arsenal wasn’t the worst performing English team over the weekend.
* It’s impossible to compete with WBA’s oil money
* Pulis used illegal means by engaging in “pre-match tactical preparation”. That isn’t allowed.
* Arsenal had 750 passes and almost 80% possession. Not even Barca could boast this.
* How was Arsene to know Pulis would seek to hurt Arsenal with set-pieces?
* Even the WBA fans realise what a class act Wenger is. They even chanted “Arsene Wenger, we want you to stay”! The Chelski and Spurs fans sing this also. Proof the opposition realises how awesome Arsene is.
* It’s all on the players! Their fault! Of course, the Invincibles was all down to Papa Arsene though.
Stewie Griffin
Some calmer thoughts
Really fantastic match from West Brom. James McClean played the Matt Phillips role to perfection. Nacer Chadli, after a poor first half, did the job at both ends of the pitch. The deep defence denied Arsenal space, which limited the Gunners to two shots on target. In the latter part of the game, the counter looked much more dangerous than anything Arsenal could muster.
And, of course, Craig Dawson did his set-piece thing. But, and for obvious reasons I hesitate to say this, you really have to question Arsenal’s mental strength (sorry). Coming into the match, they had given up only one corner kick goal all season, and surely they knew that Dawson was one of West Brom’s biggest threats in that situation. Yet he was completely unmarked twice?
Predictions are a mug’s game, and my football prediction record is comfortably below 50%. But with Arsenal, it’s not prediction, it’s just common sense. With Mourinho moving to Manchester United, plus new boys Conte and Guardiola, the competition is simply too strong. Early this season I wrote in saying that Arsenal would finish outside the top four this season, and although they still may sneak it, it’s looking less and less likely. The plane truth (see what I did there?) is that they’re just not good enough.
Peter G, Pennsylvania, USA (still would be happy to be proved wrong)
Seriously impressed by Chelsea
Was just watching the bruising match between Stoke and Chelsea and came away being very impressed by Chelsea. Stoke looked like they had a clear game plan – get physical, rile up Diego Costa, play for set-pieces when attacking, and using direct passing to look for the runs of Arnautovic and Walters. The plan worked, with Stoke seemingly having Chelsea figured out, stifling their attacks, and holding on to a 1-1 with some comfort. That allowed Stoke to wait for Chelsea to make a mistake, and then hopefully, Stoke could deliver the sucker punch.
Hughes got most of the tactical calls right – energetic wide-men to keep a close watch on the wing-backs, robust marking on Costa, niggling fouls all over the pitch (Pedro seemed targeted as well). Stoke also kept pressure on Matic, while seeming to allow Kante more time and space when receiving the ball in wide areas. This was a calculated gamble, but one that paid off – by giving Kante some space, Stoke was able to block off most of his passing options, and admirably limiting Chelsea’s attacking threat.
What happened next was a managerial masterclass by Conte. There was the first formation switch by taking off Moses to bring on Fabregas. This shifted the team to a 4-3-3, with Matic, Kante balancing between attack and defence, and Fabregas free to float to find space and passing options. Shortly after, Loftus-Cheek came on for Matic. This kept the formation in a 4-3-3, but the middle three had a slight shift in tactics. Kante sat more, prowling the space in front of Stoke’s midfield defensive line to snuff out counter attacks, thus giving Fabregas and Loftus-Cheek the freedom to roam and try to cause damage.
While the goal did not come from the substitutes, the change in shape and personnel disrupted Stoke’s defensive plans and suddenly, after a brief moment of uncertainty that Stoke was not able to capitalize on, Chelsea were swarming all over, with Stoke stuck in their half. The goal was slightly fortunate – had the defence let Luiz’s header go to the keeper, they would still have been in the game. Nonetheless, a slice of luck, a weak clearance, and Chelsea are 2-1 up.
Conte then made his next decision to bring on Zouma for Willian, thus going back to the 5-3-2 that Chelsea started with. The ability to manage how much risk to take, the shift in formation/tactics in-game, and the team’s flexibility to execute the changes is impressive, and much credit goes to Conte and Chelsea. And Costa managed to keep his temper under control. The celebrations after the final whistle showed how much Chelsea fought, and wanted to win the match.
On a side-note, is this the first time consecutive Premier Leagues have been won by different managers of the same nationality?
QX, Singapore
Oh goodness, he really did
Degsy had one helluva Saturday!
Adam C