Will Arsene leave the Arsenal?

AW won’t leave the Arsenal for 3 reasons: 1) He probably will never be given the freedom and flexibility at another club that he has been given at Arsenal to completely restructure an entire club from the youth level to the first team. He’s spent years cultivating a club identity that reaches all levels, and Arsenal has really given him free reign to do so. 2) He has unfinished business at Arsenal. To walk away before the youth that he has so carefully groomed are able to win anything equals failure on his part. He has been talking about the potential of this team for a while now and how they are young and need development, but when they mature they will be unstoppable. The ball is in his court now and he MUST deliver. And, 3) Pride. He loves the game and he loves this team. I truly think that he wants to prove that he is THAT good of a manager, and leaving this team in the state it is currently in is not acceptable.  He will only leave when he is back on top.

I think that Arsene’s biggest problems are money to buy a few big players so that he can stop relying so much on youth and instead add youth to experience, depth of squad, keeping players healthy, and in doing all of this he will have the tactical flexibility to he desperately needs to win big games and bring home trophies.

Read:   http://www.skysports.com/opinion/story/0,25212,15196_5333480,00.html

More focus on the Baby Gunners

Arsene is once again focusing on the youth team and their potential in the future with the first team squad.  

http://footytweets.com/arsenal/news/78478

Man. Utd. – Arsenal Match report

http://footytweets.com/arsenal/news/76939

Arsene’s hopes for the future?

I hope this is no indication of where the club is headed…Otherwise, we are in a heap of trouble.  Read:  

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_5327167,00.html

Slight redemption at Old Trafford

So, we’ve finally gone an entire game without conceding a goal for a while, and actually put on a decent performance today.  We were a bit unlucky with a few calls, and half the team was carded, but that’s playing at Old Trafford for you!

I’m still not quite sure what Arsene’s tactics and game-plan are with the team.  I know I am and have been for quite some time, extremely hard on this aspect of his coaching ability, but I just don’t understand it lately.  I don’t understand going into that game with a 4-5-1 when you’ve got absolutely nothing to lose.  I think you go in 4-4-2, play them straight up, and you create a wide-open game and see what happens.  Why not?

All in all, it was a decent game.  We had some good chances that we couldn’t capitalize on, and gave a much better showing today than we have in quite a few games.  There isn’t a whole lot to say about today that hasn’t been said in the past few weeks already.  Luckily for us, we can (hopefully) end on a higher note with Stoke at the Emirates next week.

Arsene has a change of heart…hopefully

Arsene Wenger has spoken out earlier today regarding his plans for the future of the club, and, FINALLY, it includes adding players with experience! “We don’t need more players without experience, if we get people it will be players with experience,” he said.  THANK GOD!!!  If we are lucky, he will follow through with this, if not, we may be in for yet another trophy-less season.

He has also finally come to terms with the fact that our defense needs some work as well.  I’m not willing to put us on par with Man. United just yet, as he claims we are, but that should be the standard that we strive for and eventually surpass.  We can be that good, but only with a heavy dose of realism.  I hate that I am even comparing us to United, and not to say that I even remotely like them, but at the end of the day, a true football fan must have the utmost respect for Sir Alex and what he has done and continues to do with his club.  

Arsene Wenger’s biggest task this summer and for next season will definitely be to restore the faith of Gunners fans in his ability to field a cup-worthy squad that is able to truly step up, deliver, and make good on all of the unfulfilled potential that we have all been waiting to see.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_5323461,00.html

You’ve got to love Cesc Fabregas

I absolutely love him!  

http://footytweets.com/arsenal/news/74293

Viera: The Missing Link

I couldn’t have said it better myself.  But, actually, I have said it – we have not been the same since Patrick Viera left.  Likewise, he has not been the same at Inter either.  I would dare say I might even take a Claude Makalele at this point as well.  Alexandre Song just doesn’t quite cut it, huh?  Neither does Denilson, nor Diaby.  In fact, we actually have about 3 or 4 players that would fill that attacking central midfield role.  We’ve got to do better than this.

 

Read:   http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/8043557.stm

Thank God for Kolo Toure

Kolo Toure, a true clubsman, expresses his desire to stay with the Gunners.  I love him, personally.  He’s strong, experienced, and consistent in the back four – something we desperately need to hang on to and build from.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_5316980,00.html

Arsenal v. Chelsea

So, I’ve finally crept out of the cave I’ve been hiding in after the shameful, abysmal loss over the weekend to Chelsea.  There is not much to say here I’m afraid.  We can talk about Drogba and diving (which is old news because I almost feel like that’s a part of his style of play at this point), or Arsene playing Arshavin at left midfield (I’m as “baffled” as he is, quite frankly), but you just can’t get around yet another 4-1 defeat.  The bottom line is that, right now, we are just not good enough, consistent enough, or deep enough as a squad to adequately compete for Championships.  Granted, we couldn’t have been dealt a worse schedule over the past couple of weeks than we’ve had, and with Man. United AGAIN this weekend, I think everyone will be glad to see this year finally come to an end.

Sorry to be so pessimistic, but I’m still feeling quite gutted.  Perhaps this weekend will pull our morale back up before we officially end our season.