Arsenal Banter Archive May 17 2016

 

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17 May 2016 21:21:29
Just going to throw my hat in the ring regarding earlier post by Welsh, G62 and Steve.

Unless we actually won the league, we were always going to be divided as to whether this was a good or bad season and whether we want Arsene in or out.

This page, more than any other page on this site, is probably the most argumentative and split page going.

That's not meant as an insult BTW, its great, love it.

My opinion, I think we have had a good season. Yes, I know we didn't win the league, but let's give credit to Leicester for their achievement, as opposed to slagging Arsene for our non achievement and 'failure' in finishing 2nd.

Spurs have been applauded by all and sundry all season. The rise of Alli, the goals of Kane, least goals conceded, but we still finished above them.

You could argue they chased Leicester until the end, but we were only one or two games behind when we couldn't catch Leicester, all that bearing in mind our injuries, and it wasn't a bad effort.

City spent £150m in summer, finished below us.

Chelsea, much much richer than us, finished below us.

Man Utd, despite spending £300m in two seasons, finished below us.

West Ham, winning rave reviews all season, finished below us.

We are all disappointed we didn't win the league, but let's stop blaming other teams failing and start praising Wenger for putting us in a position that 19 out of 20 managers would swap in a heartbeat.

Believable3 Unbelievable3

17 May 2016 21:40:38
71 points is Arsene achievement Dags not getting more than that is very much Chelsea city and even utds failure.
71 isn't a good return for a top club and Chelsea utd and City fans won't be trying to big up their own failures this season for more than there worth they be looking to put them right asap and that is what does and what has separated them and us for years.
The more we celebrate failure the further we push away real success.

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17 May 2016 21:54:25
62
18 other teams would have taken 71 points .

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17 May 2016 21:58:06
Chelsea city and man u may well have new managers next season because of just that, accountability.

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17 May 2016 21:59:16
G62,
I don't think you can compare points this season to other seasons.

Football changes every year, teams change every year, players change every year, finances change every year.

How many points did we get when we won the league in 1996 or 2002 or 2004?
Nobody knows off the top of their head, it makes no difference, we still won the League.

I have known Manchester United to win the league scoring over 100 goals, Chelsea too.
Does that make Leicester, who scored 69 goals (i think) , not worthy as being called Champions?

We got 71 points and finished 2nd, but i bet you (and all of us) , would take 70 points and win the league next season and regard it as a successful campaign?

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17 May 2016 22:39:00
I'd take 80 pts next season Dags no matter where we finished and see it as improvement, 82 points is the average it take to win the premier league and Leicester walked the walk and talked the talk like champions do.
How long since we got 80 pts?

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17 May 2016 22:50:54
I agree with the gun slinger.

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17 May 2016 22:59:57
Dags re your original post, honestly do you think we have improved as a team this year from what you have seen. Were we unlucky not to win the league or did we lose it fair and square. Was the decision not to buy an outfield player last season correct. Did our season effectively regardless of second end in march, again.

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17 May 2016 23:31:21
Steve your right our season did end in March as it always does when talking in champions league and premier league terms, for Chelsea Utd and City this would be failure by no other name but for us? Well 50% of us continue to somehow dress it up as success each and every season, Dynamo the Magician is still trying to work out how this trick it's done.

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18 May 2016 00:11:08
I'm sorry but I see it as an abject failure, Arsenal were the only club in all of the top European league's not to sign an outfield player, Arsene was directly asked why at the very beginning and his reasoning was the squad didn't need any to win the league, this was a team who had come 3rd not a team whom has walked away in 1st place without breaking a sweat so quite how he came to his obviously wrong conclusion (and a lot of us said it then so it's not a matter of hindsight) is beyond me.
I'm very happy for Leicester they deserved it, but we could and should have put up a lot more of a fight.

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18 May 2016 00:22:30
G62 :-)

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18 May 2016 08:42:53
Ok, have we improved as a team from last year. Yes. Why? Proofs in the pudding. We were 3rd last season. We are 2nd this season. No brainer, argument over.

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18 May 2016 10:12:08
No FA cup this year daywalker! It's impossible to draw any conclusion on wether we have improved or not and not one person can give a strong enough argument to convince the other. I look at it like this we finished 2nd so that's a good season but I'm disappointed and that's how it goes.

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18 May 2016 11:04:35
This season was a failure, doesn't matter if u r Wenger in or wenger out. Much was expected of players like oxlade, theo, giroud and Gabriel and to that the injuries. A few tweaks r needed.

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18 May 2016 11:23:29
If we had bought an outfield player then it would of had to have been a rw or cb as i don't think there were any other started positions available. A rw probably wouldn't have won us the league ( maybe a few more goals? ) But a cb probably would have. swap merts for hummells and it becomes a very good team.

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18 May 2016 14:01:16
Many people said Cech was worth 15 points, if that's the case the rest have massively under performed.

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18 May 2016 09:34:39
I do know off the top of my head that we got 78, 87 and 90 pts in years 98, 02 and 04 and that Man United have not scored 100 league goals since I started following football in 1971. Only Chelsea, Liverpool (coming 2nd) and Man City have.
71 pts is regression from last year even if we came 2nd. And the way we played this year backs this up, I feel.

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17 May 2016 21:01:31
A few here blame Wenger for what some call a disappointing season.
I wonder how people feel about the protest during games,
1= Do you think that it affected the team, For my opinion I think it could have cost us points.
Not enough to think we could have won it, but it could have been a lot close. IMO.

Believable3 Unbelievable7

17 May 2016 21:24:39
Dont think it made too much difference mate.

I've known Mrs Dags to put up more of a protest when it comes to sex.

Just wish she would put the banners away. What must the neighbours think?

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17 May 2016 21:50:31
Welsh if was Arsenes press spokesman even he would cringe :-)

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17 May 2016 21:53:04
lol
Dags She never puts up much of a struggle when I call, well she not to keen on her sheep skin coat I got her,

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17 May 2016 22:00:06
Not in the slightest, it was all very well behaved when the game was on and to use that as an excuse is just clutching at straws.

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17 May 2016 22:03:07
62
I could be the great man himself.

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17 May 2016 22:50:57
Welsh,
I wondered where that sheepskin came from :-)

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17 May 2016 23:10:51
Na way Welsh mate your way to exaggerated, you need to tame your impression a little to pass your self off as Arsene as his logic is merely bizarre :-)

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18 May 2016 00:13:15
Ah Dags I'm in the dog house now, just woke my other half up laughing at that one!

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18 May 2016 07:16:30
Sorry JPSA :-)

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17 May 2016 20:46:20
For starters I am of course not happy with this season, no matter where we have finished. I'm also not content with only putting up a title bid for half a season and then just finishing in the champions league every season. And I know Wenger has committed some glaring mistakes in recent times such as not investing in the squad and especially on a striker.

But still what he has achieved at the club is mightily impressive. 19 consecutive seasons in the champions league is masterful imo considering the transition period we had when moving to the emirates. And Comparing it to Chelsea, Liverpool, man city and Manchester United who have all dropped in and out of the champions league. To be that consistent for so long, even if he wasn't quite able to make that extra step to winning a title, is still a great achievement in my eyes.

I know we need something to change, some fresh ideas, some signings and maybe a new perspective. But all I'm saying is that personally Wenger deserves more respect than he's been given, not necessarily by some on here, but in general. And in my opinion deserves full backing for one more season which will most likely be his last at the club.

But hey ho that's just me. Still agree with main aspects of spending big on the squad and getting rid of the excess etc.

Believable4 Unbelievable5

17 May 2016 20:54:40
Top post and i echo your sentiments.

One good transfer window, address the issues at hand and we have a very good chance, as good as anybody, of winning the league.

One more season under wenger, what's the worse that could happen?

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17 May 2016 20:54:40
Top post and i echo your sentiments.

One good transfer window, address the issues at hand and we have a very good chance, as good as anybody, of winning the league.

One more season under wenger, what's the worse that could happen?

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17 May 2016 21:00:11
Henry if the club were to announce this was Arsene last season I think almost all would fall in behind him 100% win lose or draw next season, the problem is that's unlikely to happen so the Arsene split will continue until we either compete seriously again or such an announcement is made.

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17 May 2016 21:05:10
It was so good Dags said it twice, lol
I agree with it, and hope we can move forward as a united army.

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17 May 2016 21:25:46
Blimey, i know I said I echo your sentiments, but come on Ed :-)

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17 May 2016 22:06:49
Welsh we aren't united that is obviously, we are in fact very well divided and that won't change under wenger.

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17 May 2016 14:09:57
So 3 players is the statement. Which positions those are in is up for debate but it's safe to assume it's 3 from CB, CM, Winger and CF. Just listing some of the players we've looked at over the past couple of seasons. One of the Eds can probably eliminate some of these as unrealistic targets.

CB: With Per being somewhat less mobile than the titanic (after it sank) and Gabriel failing to settle, or even attempt to learn English, a new first choice CB will be acquired.

Aleksandar Dragovic (kyiv are tough to negotiate with so maybe unlikely)
Eric Bailly (injured during liverpool game, anyone know how long he's out for/ how serious it is? )
Mateo Musacchio (has had some injury problems over last 2 seasons)
Stefan De Vrij
Kalidou Koulibaly
Kostas Manolas (didn't sign him when the price was 10m, doubtful we'd now sign him for double that now)
Niklas Sule

Any of those would be great signings IMO.

CM: With Arteta, Flamini and Rosicky all leaving it's highly likely we'll also sign a CM.

Granit Xhaka
Jorginho
Kante
Mkhitarayn (can easily play wide or as a CM/ CAM)
Ilkay Gundogan (probably Man City bound)
Gotze (again can cover wide or central areas)
Kroos

Winger: Only if Theo and Joel leave. We've already got Theo, Joel, Alexis, Ox, Iwobi fighting for 2 spots. Add in that Adeilade and Gnabry could be challenging for starting places too then unless we move players on it's rather unlikely this would be a priority area.

Julian Brandt
Nabil Fekir ( anyone know what he's been like since returning from injury? I really have not watched a lot of French football this season so haven't seen him play )
Marco Reus
Lorenzo Insigne

CF: We simply have to sign one if we want to compete. Giroud is good, but he's not consistent enough and therefore doesn't make the most of the mass chances we create.

Higuain (would we pay the huge fee it would take, and can we compete with Chelsea for him? )
Benzema (been a naughty boy recently so unlikely)
Lucas Perez (apparently available for under 10m Euros)
Bakambu
Lacazette (again haven't seen enough of him this season so would anyone like to offer insight into him? Does he really warrant the attention he gets? )
Batsuayi (see: lacazette)

Seems the most likely options would be Sule, Xhaka and Lucas Perez. All 3 are within our budget and are likely to move on this year.

Believable0 Unbelievable0

17 May 2016 19:05:03
Good post but always dangerous to guess who we will get.

Im guessing Scott Parker, John Terry and Jermaine Defoe.

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18 May 2016 00:21:34
We would more than likely have won the league with Defoe in front of Ozil this season.

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17 May 2016 10:43:10
Too many blogs about Wenger's most recent Giroud comments.

Wenger always protects his players and does not want to distrupt their confidence and mentality.

The season is over and Giroud is heading to play for France at the Euros.

Wenger has admitted he needs a new striker. What possible benefit could their be to Wenger saying: "Giroud is not good enough and we need a new strting striker".

Believable2 Unbelievable0

17 May 2016 06:18:11
I keep hearing people say that the big players slipped up and we should have capitalised on that, am confused because are we not of those "big players " who underperformed grossly? This season has been poor all round and one of the worst I've seen for us, does that mean people don't see us as one of the big boys?

Believable7 Unbelievable4

17 May 2016 06:35:47
I believe your comments are a bit harsh, as we finished top of the 'big boys'. The frustration from us Gooners possibly comes from the fact that we beat champions Leicester twice, that we went out of the League Cup to Sheffield Wednesday and in the FA Cup to Watford, who we beat home and away in the League. The CL exit to Barcalona was no disgrace.
We suffered many injuries, as usual, to top players, which if suffered by any team, would hinder them.
The positive is that overall we probably did better than any of the top teams this season and if we buy 3 players (top quality) , as mentioned by Arsene Wenger, then assuming we don't suffer too may injuries, we could make a serious challenge next season. The squad already looks better without the three players, that stayed at least a season too long. Iwobi has emerged as a genuine talent and will only improve as he matures, watch out for Reinne-Adelaide, who if given the opportunity won't disappoint.

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17 May 2016 07:26:12
The difference is all the other big boys had A non competitive season where they were not in the title race, very unusual for city and Chelsea and it's been 3 years now since utd challenged for us it was how many seasons?
We are not and haven't been for a very long time an 80 pts a season team utd city Chelsea have so that's why people don't include us in the big boys go missing scenario, when was the last time we were either realistically or even mathematically in the race in May?
You can make all the excuses in the world for us but it won't change the fact City Chelsea Utd have been regular challengers and Leicester Liverpool (twice) and even Spurs have all been competive more recently than us.

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17 May 2016 08:07:46
This is all assuming autocratic content doesn't ruffle to many feathers, van gaals doesn't have a breakdown and pepper does a football club rebuild in 2 weeks.

Solid addition in xhaka. Please football gods make higuan fall in love with a north London mansion. Hi last overhead for napoli was a worldy for me.

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17 May 2016 17:10:08
62
Mate, Spurs have been more competitive than us. Mate I know your truly a Wenger out but that is some fine B**LS**** your spinning now.
Everybody plays 38 games, So please don't think spurs had taken their foot off. We finished above them on merit Not luck or other teams having a bad run.
The FACTS and FIGURES show we where the second best team .

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{Ed025's Note - hard to argue with that welsh..

17 May 2016 17:19:49
Ed another well written piece by me
I'm turning into an auther, i might wright a book.

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{Ed025's Note - well i wud like to reed it welsh.. :)

17 May 2016 19:11:46
Lets hope our recent points trend doesn't continue welsh, there are some more facts and figures that are telling too. i'm really worried by that and quite rightly so.

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17 May 2016 19:40:01
Welsh I know you like your GGs so I will put it like this, when leader's Leicester crossed the line Spurs where in the photo a, couple of lenghts behind but our self's and ciy were so far back the photo you need to superimpose it several million times to get a blured image for us.
Spurs were contenders in the run for home mate while we dropped out long before the people in the grandstand could see without their binoculars.

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17 May 2016 20:50:02
Gunner or just plain english, spuds could have actually caught leicester but didnt, we never could.

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17 May 2016 20:56:05
62
So far back my old mate that we passed them before the end.
Sounds like a team that finished at top speed, Maybe a good sign for the future
Steve if points concern you I understand, we have gone backwards, but for me I will take first on 78, than second on 79.
I'm sure 99.9% of gooner would.

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17 May 2016 20:56:05
62
So far back my old mate that we passed them before the end.
Sounds like a team that finished at top speed, Maybe a good sign for the future
Steve if points concern you I understand, we have gone backwards, but for me I will take first on 78, than second on 79.
I'm sure 99.9% of gooner would.

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17 May 2016 22:04:30
But you don't get 1st on 78 even if we could get 78 which for the last two seasons we haven't even managed that. Like gunner says 80+ just to give yourself a glimmer and we are miles from achieving that, miles.

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17 May 2016 22:08:21
What Spurs Welsh? Oh I understand now we talking about different trophy's! I was talking about being premier league trophy contenders and you were thinking of North London trophy contenders.

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