So we have lots of pretty passing by some skilful players in front of the opposition penalty box, but there is a reluctance to try and beat anybody with the ball or shoot and we're just horribly non clinical in front of goal. Often it works out when we have a plethora of chances and a few go in but it's completely unreliable.
Then we have the defence, which after the players left that Wenger inherited became permanently weak. Atletico had so few chances and were just hoofing the ball away but nontheless Wenger's defence as usual over the second part of his reign found a way to concede
The goal is a perfect example of how poor our defence is. It's basically another hoofball from the Atletico defence, Griezmann has got goalside of Koscielny and should be offside but he's not because Monreal is dawdling for goodness knows what reason and plays him on. Then Koscielny gets ahead of Griezmann but instead of muscling him out or if necessary sticking it in row Z he tries a stupid weak lunging kick back over his head - of course it hits Griezmann and now he is one on one with Ospina. Ospina spreads himself and makes a decent save but it is not enough because the hapless Mustafi (who was jogging back initially as he has no nose for danger) in sprinting mode manages to slip at the vital moment giving Griezmann the easy opportunity to poke the rebound in.
We have seen wasteful finishing by our players followed by cock-ups at the back year after year after year with a whole host of players - the only common denominator is Wenger - the man who thinks the fans are to blame because they cannot appreciate how great he is and how many other clubs he has turned down and how many sacrifices he has made on his £160,000 a week...
That sums up Wenger Part 2....
posted on 27/4/18
comment by Ace (U18814)
posted 6 minutes ago
Then we have the defence, which after the players left that Wenger inherited became permanently weak.
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Pretty sure Wenger assembled a defence of Cole, Toure, Campbell & Lauren with the likes of Viera, Edu, Gilberto in midfield ahead of them and won the league unbeaten. Do you really need a Spurs fan to point that out?
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Those 4 players were very very fast and covered mistakes made by a lack of positional coaching. Its not a surprise that Wenger lack of coaching was shown up as soon as Wenger (without Dein's input) started buying players with a lack of 'natural physical' attributes.
posted on 27/4/18
comment by Clog Wearing Donkey (U1250)
posted 1 hour, 57 minutes ago
What's this got to do with Wenger?
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posted on 27/4/18
comment by Jenius99 (U4918)
posted 19 minutes ago
comment by Clog Wearing Donkey (U1250)
posted 1 hour, 36 minutes ago
What's this got to do with Wenger?
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Lack of positional knowledge and lack of drilling on the training pitch. Mustafi was too far away Kos. Kos and Monreal were marking space with only one attacker for Atlethico. Pathetic defenders and even more pathetic coaching.
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posted on 1/5/18
comment by Ace (U18814)
posted 4 days, 14 hours ago
Then we have the defence, which after the players left that Wenger inherited became permanently weak.
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Pretty sure Wenger assembled a defence of Cole, Toure, Campbell & Lauren with the likes of Viera, Edu, Gilberto in midfield ahead of them and won the league unbeaten. Do you really need a Spurs fan to point that out?
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No I don't need you to point it out because it isn't relevant, the point was that those players were there early enough that they bought in to the Arsenal pre-Wenger culture of defence. Some of them overlapped with Adams and they all overlapped with Keown - we were also very lucky to have Sol Campbell join us from you $puds - a high quality experienced defender who knew exactly how to defend.
Sol Campbell just like Adams has now come out and said that Wenger basically did no coaching on the art of defending and Alan Smith has gone on the record as saying Steve Bould is wasted at Arsenal because Wenger actively blocks him from working with the defence.
Of course as personnel kept changing that pre-Wenger culture of working at being solid at the back was eventually extinguished by Wenger and we saw the real Wenger defence - or rather the lack of it...
The Arsenal defence is basically second rate and has been ever since those early Wenger years and it's ALL Wenger's fault because not only does he do nothing about it, he stops other coaches from fixing it too !
posted on 2/5/18
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 2/5/18
So Wenger signed a high quality, experienced defender on a free. Sounds like shrew business to me.
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It would be if he did the buying in those days. Wenger did not before 2007. It was David Dein. So if you want to give credit for persuading Sol Campbell to sign for Arsenal then Dein should get the credit. Keep in mind Edelman (our CEO at the time) said in an interview 10 years ago that Wenger actually wanted to drop the deal after all the fuss in the press but Dein pushed it through. Wenger of course cowered out of the Suarez deal so it adds a lot of credibility to Edelman's theory.
posted on 2/5/18
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 2/5/18
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 2/5/18
comment by Ace (U18814)
posted 27 minutes ago
Yes, it was all Dein. Maybe you should employ him to take Wenger's job.
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I didn't say that. However before 2007 we had a director of football. That left Wenger to coach. And he was very good at it. Buying players was NOT in Wenger's remit in those days. After 2007 Wenger got that power.
Now Wenger had to control the dressing room whilst also having to sell, buy players and decide how much to pay them after 2007. This presented huge conflicts of interest. Whilst Wenger did not have the money to buy/sell 2007-2012, that did not manifest as a major problem. But after 2012 when Wenger was give a large budget that became a problem. For example Wenger sold RVP to Man Utd and did not at all consider it an issue with the fans. Any director of football would have said at the time that it was shear lunacy to do that. But Wenger wanted to stay on the good side of RVP so he let him go to where he wanted.
This is why Gazidis has said that any future manager will never have such complete power.
posted on 2/5/18
Before fans from other clubs criticize gooners have the humbleness to admit you don't know the complete story.