Arsenal Banter Archive February 12 2018

12 Feb 2018 22:23:03
I will be careful how i word this as not to upset anyone, but is Jamie Carragher correct in calling us cowards and saying we are going backwards? Not very respectful i think.

12 Feb 2018 23:57:29
The cowards bit is bit strong but going backwards? Hard to argue with that.

13 Feb 2018 00:06:29
Steve
Not sure about cowards. We certainly don’t want to compete financially with the big boys so will never truly compete. If we can’t afford Evans then we should give up now.
We are certainly standing still. The squad has weaknesses that need addressing. We either attack and leave our defence exposed or try to poorly defend with a blunt attack
Balance is all wrong.

13 Feb 2018 00:23:42
Gunner, while i accept we have regressed, to call fellow professionals cowards is lower than low. S##t but not cowards.

13 Feb 2018 06:28:44
Firstly Carragher should be removed from his position until he learns to speak. Even my scouse mates think his accent is absurd!
I do not think our players are cowards. I believe that Wenger post 2006 changed from a fluid 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 with tall CB's and DM's into a team with shorter CB's (except Mertesacker! ) and utilising technical players as DM's, which hasn't worked and offers little protection to the back four. I don't believe we have gone backwards as much as people think. At the start of Wenger's time at the club, the only competition was from Man U. Since then clubs have emerged wifi has are financially doped; such as Chellsea and Man City. Liverpool and the Toot haven't won anything for many seasons, whilst Leicseter was a one 0ff. Over the last 4 seasons, only 2 or 3 clubs have won more than us and even this season we have a cup final. The frustrating thing is that Wenger has chosen not to spend and improve the team, with two windows running with a net spend of zero. If we changed manager and brought in a couple of DM's and CB's, there is no reason whey we can't compete again.

13 Feb 2018 07:50:58
The thing is RG caras voice is his tv voice. I’ve seen people on tv that are from my way and they have somehow lost the accent. It’s a bit like a telephone voice.

13 Feb 2018 09:18:30
Not having heard what he said it's difficult to say but reading in between the lines it sounds like poor terminology more than anything else.
Cowards is to strong by far but if he means lack of fight effort determination and commitment then he's only repeating what many of us and most of the rest of football have been saying for years.
For many years under Arsene the first thing peole thought of when talking of Arsenal was beautiful exiting fantastic to watch football, but the last few years when people think of Arsenal they now think lack of ambition money grabbing by the club and a team that lacks commitment on a regular basis.
Our image as a club is one of 4th place champions league money ambition that we are now having real problems meeting.
Which leaves everyone at Arsenal with a choice between accept a lowering of our ambition levels yet again to Europe league qualification so that the current set up can still get over the bar or accept a change of management so the bar can be reset to where realistically a club the size of Arsenals should be, competing for titles most seasons.

13 Feb 2018 11:00:36
You haven't gone backwards from invincibles to not being even a top 4 club anymore classic R. G. statement. You are the third biggest spenders in the league and are falling further away from spurs, I'm in Amsterdam R. G. looking forward to watching the match against juventus in a seedy pub later.

13 Feb 2018 11:28:23
Spurs and Liverpool both over took us without the need to spend a fortune last season Raver mate and although Liverpool have spent more heavily this season they have balanced the books with the courtinho money and along with Spurs Chelsea City Utd have left us in their dust.
We used to be about fighting for titles then we became all about finishing top 4 (4th more often than not) now we are all about Europa league qualification and possibly winning of the competition in the hope of making the champions league by this route because the premier league top 4 is getting to hot for us to handle.
I'd say that's steady but sure decline in anyone's books.
We can spend all we want but little will change as the arrival of Sanchez and Ozil proved simply because the mentality at the club is and has been poor for years.
Getting to the top is very difficult and staying at the top for a prolonged period is extremely difficult but if your ambition never stretches beyond finishing top 4 in the first place you've little room to ride out a down turn in fortune's.
Shoot for the stars and you might land on the moon but If you only ever aim at the clouds gravity is going to take its corse sooner or later.

13 Feb 2018 13:51:59
Personally, i think the guy should be sacked. To allow him to get away on tv with phrases like that for me shows a lack of intelligence. If i was a fellow professional, i would refuse to work with the idiot.

13 Feb 2018 14:08:42
raver61 - The problem is that the toot haven't won any trophies and have only finished above Arsenal once in three decades. This is the toot at their best and Arsenal at their worst! The top clubs are clearly Man C, Man U and Chelsea who have won many trophies in recent seasons, then comes Arsenal, then Leicester and Blackburn, and then Liverpool and the toot. Both Liverpool and the toot have never won the Premier League! Last season we won the FA Cup and that will go down in the history books, whereas nobody remembers teams that fail to win a trophy. If by some miracle we win the League Cup, even if the toot finish above us, it means absolutely nothing unless the toot actually win a trophy. Don't forget the toot are also outside the top four this season!

13 Feb 2018 14:13:54
I fully agree Steve, Carragher is a halfwit and should be replaced. I like very few of the pundits. Gary Neville talks sense, but learnt first hand how difficult management is. I cannot stand Carragher and Michael Owen and I find Rooney an embarrassment, with his thatch died auburn and he is barely literate.

13 Feb 2018 14:31:28
It's funny RG that you find it perfectly acceptable for to make a very very personal attack on Wayne Rooney but not for a tv pundit to collectively attack our players about the way their represent our club on a football pitch?
Strange what some people find perfectly acceptable from themselves but totally unacceptable from others.

13 Feb 2018 14:48:03
R. G. not having a pop but what you pay ozil we are paying Kane, Ali and eriksen, yes we haven't won nothing but we are a very well run club giving what we spend on players, wages etc and are punching well above our weight. For us being in the mix with Arsenal, Chelsea, Utd, Liverpool etc is a achievement in itself, I think we are doing alright this season considering we are playing every game away from whl.

13 Feb 2018 15:09:14
Gunner, with respect, i agree but what carragher said was on worldwide tv and is a type of celebrity ( very loosely ) talking about his fellow professionals, which he was one. He would take criticism, i'm sure but he wouldn't take that, i also think he is a role model on tv. Calling someone a coward is not constructive in his way of anaysis. Sky should make him go into the arsenal dressing room with the door shut and let him say the same thing, in his analysis of their performance.

13 Feb 2018 15:14:27
G62 - I am of course permitted to voice my opinion and it is that Carragher was wrong to call our players cowards. In fact I cannot offhand think of any Premier League players that one could call a coward, which is an odd word to use in terms of top professional players. As for pundits they often critisce players, managers, etc and therefore cannot escape critiscism themselves.

13 Feb 2018 15:23:23
Raver61 - I didn't agree with paying Ozil £300,000+ a week, but also it's evident that the toot players are underpaid in PL terms, hence why Walker left and Rose kicked off. As I know Toby, I already told you that he is not happy with his salary at the club and that goes for many toot players.
Yes, the toot are punching above their weight, being more of an Everton or Newcastle, clubs that have the potential to compete with the top sides. However, an off season for Arsenal was an FA Cup and a Charity Shiled, whereas a good season for the toot is finishing top four and winning nothing. At the end of the day football is all about winning trophies. Nobody recalls who finished second to Leicester, but we all remenber the League Champiosn, the FA Cup winner, The Champions League winners etc. Yes, you are doing 'alright' this season, but that sums it up. delivering trophies is what it is all about and you have a manager that has won nothing and a team that have won nothing. How long can that go on before the team breaks up players move on. Redknapp had a fabulous team at the toot, but Modric, Bale etc left. Perhaps as an Arsenal fan our expectations are simply much higher than yours.

13 Feb 2018 15:37:21
R. G. we are a lot bigger Than Newcastle and Everton mate, I don't think Everton or Newcastle have a history of ours and would never pull crowds of 85000.

13 Feb 2018 15:49:29
League Titles:
Arsenal 13
Everton 9
Newcastle 4
Toot 2

Good luck tonigh raver61, I like English teams beating foreign teams so I hope you win and have a feeling you will do so over two legs. A draw away and a home win is my prediction, but don't put money on it!

13 Feb 2018 15:56:28
RG you may be permitted a voice but I don't see why you dragged Wayne Rooney into this and needed to use your permitted voice to personally insult him? The only connection is can see between Pundits Carragher and Owner and Wayne Rooney is Liverpool it's self and why that's a problem only you know mate?
I think maybe a little like Jamie Carragher you too have got a bit carried away with your emotions on this occasion RG.

13 Feb 2018 16:26:39
G62 - I stand by my comments, which are truthful and honest. I have nothing against Liverpool and being similar in age to you I recall the great Liverpool teams of yesteryear. I do find English players such as Rooney, Beckham, Carragher, etc, embarrassing. Yes, they were great footballers, but the moment they open thier mouths I cringe. Indeed Rooney has been a disgrace, using a granny at a brothel, cheating on his wife, smoking, eating greasy kebabs, etc. As far as pundits go, I want to hear intelligent, well thought out comments. Gary Neville is good and I like Jermaine Jenas, Martin Keown and their like. Rooney greatest comment was during his wedding in Italy, he didn't want foreign food, so he ordered pizza! I stayed at a hotel in Germany, Brenners Park and to this day the staff recall the behaviour of the wags staying at the hotel. It's embarrassing. Oh yes, another Liverpool player, Rush, failed learn Italian whilst at Juventus and came back as quickly as he struggled with the foreign food!

13 Feb 2018 17:07:20
R. G. we have won more European, fa cups and league cups than Everton and Newcastle.

13 Feb 2018 17:25:50
RG we are all different and for me personally I find some of what you come out with repetitive and cringe worthy. The whole Walter Mitty thing you chose to share with us i find strange but if that's what makes you happy then Hey ho who you hurting so it's your choice, but some of the personal anger towards certain individuals you don't even know I do find a bit bizarre to say the least.

13 Feb 2018 17:26:31
Hold on, let me get this right:

RG61, you take umbrage at Cara's remarks BUT, you stand by calling him a halfwit and the disparaging things you said about Rooney?

Consider my mind blown!

12 Feb 2018 15:20:35
We want you to stay, we want you to stay mourinho we want you to stay 😂.

12 Feb 2018 16:14:21
Three years ago sano, give me maureen over any top four manager, now apart from our guy, i would have them all over him. i'm happy for utd, i hope he stays as long as fergie and wenger. Give him a 20 year contract, that's what i say.

12 Feb 2018 16:31:30
We want him to stay aswell, got our team ahead of Lpool Spurs Chelsea and your lot despite us being so crap, one dimensional boring and playing 'hoofball' imagine when he actually gets us going😁😄😃 enjoy your battle with Burnley for Europa league football👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻.

12 Feb 2018 17:47:11
At least you’re not bitter about it Scholesy. 🙄.

12 Feb 2018 17:53:17
Well that’s something we can agree on. 20 years contract for me. 😂.

12 Feb 2018 18:17:55
18 if your happy and not bitter, i'm happy for you. The difference between us and you, we will hopefully get a manager that is current before your 20 years of maureens exciting brand of expansive football. You might then realise what we are trying to say.

12 Feb 2018 18:25:46
Yeh i'm bitter that you're behind us, in the Europa league and have no hope of getting into CL next season aswell🤝.

12 Feb 2018 18:27:34
God forbid someone posts about a topic and people debate about it. Pretty soon turns into nothing about the topic and becomes a game of our right backs better than yours. Nice objective debate 🤣.

12 Feb 2018 18:56:01
Sano, he is obviously young and full of it. He even had a dig about myki, not very respectful.

12 Feb 2018 18:49:42
Scholesy has it still to sink in that we know all of that, we are not discussing that, we are debating your OP and what your opinion of what you think YOUR club and manager need to do.

No one disagrees Mourinho was a top top manager but since his demise at Chelsea he’s done nothing to prove he still has what it takes added to that he is an odious individual who blames anyone or anything but himself. The drivel he came out with after the Toon beat you just the latest pile of tosh.

Winning the Europa Dopa and pretty much robbing Southampton of the Carabonga Cup with a 7th place League finish is not the stuff of legends.

There is every chance after, as I previously said, the easiest start to a season ever, it to me is highly likely, if not a banker that you won’t make the top four.

That you are now all bitter and twisted sums the majority of you up. You’ve done nothing but winge and whine since Fergie left, constantly having to blow others candles out to make yours shine brighter.

12 Feb 2018 18:51:10
18, you really have your head buried well and truly in the sand. Manchester utd has nothing to do with arsenal fooball club. Your fans just like ours are having their sights lowered because of your manager. He isn't going to get you back to where you think you should be, you have the wrong manager. So please keep him.

12 Feb 2018 19:08:48
Right boys, the lad is not listening, he has obviously developed a thick skin like his manager. His head is in the clouds, let's move on. We have our own job to sort out. He is obviously parking the bus and that's it.

12 Feb 2018 19:17:17
I had a dig on miki, weren't you guys saying its good Sanchez the 'troublemaker' has left? You left little sly digs on Sanchez throughout the entire time his move to United was happening. And yes we won the 'Europa Dopa', the one you thought you'd definitely win until Napoli Dortmund and Atletico dropped into it 😂😂.

And yes sorry, let's talk about United. Excuse me for having some kind of hope under an accomplished manager like Mourinho who can hopefully drag us out of this awful period we've gone through under Moyes and LVG. We'll just ahh Jose's not good enough, we're going nowhere under him, we're crap and we'll whinge even more. Kill me for having a bit of optimism.

12 Feb 2018 19:27:37
Ok 18 good luck in the future.

12 Feb 2018 19:52:46
Goodluck Stevoooo, ending on good terms i see👀.

12 Feb 2018 19:57:14
Yep good luck 18.

12 Feb 2018 20:15:13
Ive got no problem with you defending your corner.

12 Feb 2018 14:00:28
Wenger " aubamayang signing has affected Lacazettes confidence "
It would be comical, if it wasnt so serious, the fact he has made another ludicrous statement about a problem he caused.

12 Feb 2018 14:21:29
Solah has to be the best signing of the season While Lacasette has to in conteion for biggest disappointment signing of the season as Xhaka was last season.
What links these two players and their poor return on investment?
Just wondering did Arsene shed any light on this subject :-)

12 Feb 2018 14:59:26
I don't Lacazette has been that bad so far ok the goals have dried up a bit but he has suffered because the team have struggled as whole to create enough chances. He did very nearly nick a point for us on Saturday afterall. I think Wenger should try and get him in team to play a deeper role behind Auba. For god sake please drop Iowbi.

12 Feb 2018 15:12:44
My problem gunner as well, for me xhaka has never performed since day one, so for me he was a bad buy and has never improved. Laca was a great buy and showed what he could do and has been dismantled.

12 Feb 2018 15:55:16
Steve, Lacazettes confidence has taken a bigger hit by being subbed every game and then benched. Definitely a Wenger caused problem.

12 Feb 2018 16:26:36
These "opinions" are verging on the ridiculous now. And yes, they are just opinions, conveniently stated as fact.

I get that there are more than a few people who would like to see the back of Wenger, but blaming him for everything, including your car breaking down, your wife leaving you, your dog eating it's own poo, and Lacazette not scoring is preposterous.

Laca is an adult, earning at least a 100K per week. So he's subbed before 90 minutes, big deal. Isn't that an opportunity for him to work harder and make himself more indispensable? Or are you guys suggesting that he's so weak willed and fragile that he can't find a 100K per week reason to try harder?

12 Feb 2018 16:47:39
No sharpe, i think we are saying, he has been badly managed by a bloke who has lost his touch with reality and allows crap players with no ability to play every week and are, like wenger, not accountable for being crap. Auba was not the reason for lacas loss of form, what a rediculous thing to say in the circumstances. I did say earlier laca may not be mentally the strongest but again, that should have been managed better.

12 Feb 2018 17:31:03
What Wenger ACTUALLY said:

“For him, one against one with the keeper, he is a good goalscorer, ” Wenger said. “He has gone through difficult periods before. He works hard in training, works on his finishing. I don’t know what happened, did he not touch the ball well? It can happen, it is a fraction of a second. Maybe the confidence is not at its highest because he has seen a competitor coming in for him. ”

Wenger did point out that Lacazette’s other work was productive, as he asked people to give him a chance.

“He created two chances today. That is a quality as well. He will score goals. He is a goalscorer, he scored goals in his whole career. He will score again. ”

The above was copied from a newspaper where the headlines read:
"Arsene Wenger admits Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette short of confidence after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang arrival"

So a "maybe" becomes an admission according to that newspaper and apparently the rest of you too. All of you do enough moaning about click-bait so forgive me if I find your quote to be self serving and ludicrous.

12 Feb 2018 18:23:07
Sharpe, its not what wenger says, its what he has done or not done with laca. I initially made a post back in October about wengers treatment of laca and what i thought. I don't think he has handled him well and for him to blame a player coming in is typical wenger. He is doing the same with kolasinac but we are yet to see his excuse for his loss of form.

12 Feb 2018 18:29:53
Sharpe i have said enough times, i don't like wenger or what he say because he is never responsible for anything. I personally hold him responsible for Lacazettes form and i am far from alone on that one. If you think he has done a good job with him, then i respect that.

12 Feb 2018 19:45:50
Steve, most things need to have some basis in fact. And I don't mean facts according to Steve.

"It's not what Wenger says"? Really? So why quote something out of context entirely? You did it with the express intention of letting us all know, yet again, that you don't like Wenger. Regardless (or oblivious) to the fact that you were using the quote out of context.

"And for him to blame the player" - I didn't read ANY WHERE that he "blamed" the player. The only person responsible for Laca's form is Laca. Top players perform regardless of what their manager says, allegedly says, does, or allegedly does. They perform because they respect their craft and because they respect the fans who make it possible for them to earn millions a year. They perform because they have a sense of self worth and above all else, pride.

I don't have any issues with you disliking Wenger, but I take offence when you decide that anyone who doesn't think like you, "has their head in the sand".

You guys go entire transfer windows talking about click-bait, and here you are quoting a headline from one such click-bait article.

On the one hand you insinuate that Wenger never holds himself accountable for anything, and on the other, you want everyone, who will listen, to know that Wenger runs the club from top to bottom. Read that again and let it sink in how ridiculous that sounds.

If you're going to say that he's always blaming the ref, or divers or off-side decisions, then every manager in the league does this - even the ones that have a commanding 16 point lead. This isn't a trait exclusive to Wenger.

12 Feb 2018 20:17:35
While wenger mever mentioned his name, it was obvious that it was auba and for meche is making smoke screens.

12 Feb 2018 20:32:59
I respect what you are saying, i don't agree but that's what it is all about. I don't care about other managers, some actually do take some of the blame themselves as well. Its the smokescreens wenger puts up all of the time which is tiresome. Probably one of the reasons he is so stubborn and has got himself into the position he is now. He used to have a lot of backers outside arsenal but they are slowly diminishing, they probably have a more neutral view than us. I can't help it i'm afraid if i'm at the point where i despise him for srltill being our manager. I don't apologies for that.

12 Feb 2018 07:40:05
{Ed's Note - Tris Burke has posted a new article entitled, Review Of The Day 12th February 2018