Arsène Wenger: Same Old Class

[hydrofluoric acid]

I guess we are different.

I view the first thirty minutes as us being out tacticed. I view that as thirty minutes wasted where we could have been scoring goals. Like I said I don't blame Wenger for the result it's just something I noticed.

With Liverpool I'm not saying they're outright better than us. I just haven't had that feeling from us in years. They're blowing everyone away right now and might crash and burn later, meanwhile we trundle along saying 'slow and steady wins the race'.

Even when we're completely dominant I can't see us ever scoring six against any PL side.

I fail to see how they out tacticed us. It was a 1-1 game. They did nothing more than we did this game. It was a game between two good teams.

The first 30 minutes was Tottenham defending and us trying them out and figure out what to do. As soon as we figured them out at 30 minute every time we went over midfield we were doing something.

I don't feel it was the tactics that let us down, I think teams were even in that front. I think the players was very close, we just didn't finish our chances, gave away stupid penalty, and at 80 minute it seems like we were over mentally, we didn't press or up the tempo. It felt like the game was done by then.

 

[Trilly]

I fail to see how they out tacticed us. It was a 1-1 game. They did nothing more than we did this game. It was a game between two good teams.

The first 30 minutes was Tottenham defending and us trying them out and figure out what to do. As soon as we figured them out at 30 minute every time we went over midfield we were doing something.

I don't feel it was the tactics that let us down, I think teams were even in that front. I think the players was very close, we just didn't finish our chances, gave away stupid penalty, and at 80 minute it seems like we were over mentally, we didn't press or up the tempo. It felt like the game was done by then.

They outtacticed us because they took points despite being considerably worse than us on paper.

Apart from that I agree with you.

 

[marting]

Just a note on this, I felt Wenger changed his subs policy a bit this game, they seemed alot earlier and a lot more offensive then usual. Trying to force the issue.

 

[Jury]

Wenger vs:
Koeman- 2W 5D 4L
Mourinho- 1W 6D 8L
Pochettino- 2W 5D 1L

Overall 5 wins in 34 matches, one of them coming in the Community Shield. Failed to score in 14 of them and scored just once in another 14.

Now that is no coincidence.

 

[Makingtrax]

People like to talk up manager on manager stats but football is far more complicated than that sort of simplistic stuff.

I keep saying this and it's true;when two teams are very close in standard it's often chance that decides a match . . . a sending off, a penalty, a key injury, a ball that hits the post and bounces out instead of in. Referees in particular decide the outcome in many games.

To actually know if one manager is better than another is almost impossible to judge as so many other variables come into play. It's like devising a fair science experiment, all variables have to be kept constant to make a valid conclusion.

 

[Jury]

People like to talk up manager on manager stats but football is far more complicated than that sort of simplistic stuff.

I keep saying this and it's true;when two teams are very close in standard it's often chance that decides a match . . . a sending off, a penalty, a key injury, a ball that hits the post and bounces out instead of in. Referees in particular decide the outcome in many games.

To actually know if one manager is better than another is almost impossible to judge as so many other variables come into play. It's like devising a fair science experiment, all variables have to be kept constant to make a valid conclusion.

This is all just convenient stuff and even goes as far as to contradict yourself at the end there. Wenger is supposed to be the greatest manager in the league, yet you're saying it's impossible to tell if one manager is better than another...

All this, because someone posts some pretty damning and, I'd say, conclusive evidence that Wenger struggles against managers that are known to be pretty good at setting their stall out.

Sounds like a lot of stuff flies when it suits you lad!

 

[OSBK]

If we win the league this year then I believe its the best time for wenger to go upstairs.

Our squad is as good as anything in the league and primed to compete over the next few seasons.

When fergie left man utd he left a old team with average players, wenger has the chance to leave the next manager the strongest squad in the league.

The players however could change my mind, win the treble and wenger stays

 

[Makingtrax]

This is all just convenient stuff and even goes as far as to contradict yourself at the end there. Wenger is supposed to be the greatest manager in the league, yet you're saying it's impossible to tell if one manager is better than another...

All this, because someone posts some pretty damning and, I'd say, conclusive evidence that Wenger struggles against managers that are known to be pretty good at setting their stall out.

Sounds like a lot of stuff flies when it suits you lad!

No contradiction. You confuse two separate issues.

Wenger is undoubtedly one of the best managers ever by looking at his win rate over a twenty year period.

Comparing two specific managers over a small data set is at best opinion.

 

[Jury]

No contradiction. You confuse two separate issues.

Wenger is undoubtedly one of the best managers ever by looking at his win rate over a twenty year period.

Comparing two specific managers over a small data set is at best opinion.

I'm not confusing anything. You didn't mention anything about small data or win percentages going back 20 years in your initial reply. Then you had a think about it and realised what you did

When something comes to light that doesn't exactly cover Wenger in glory, it's all bad luck, refs, injuries etc, but when he manages to lose 1 game in a 31 stretch over two seasons, he's a genius. No luck required there!

 

[Sir Bump]

We're going to find out soon enough if he's staying on. An announcement will be made before Xmas.
The decision will be made already.
I see him staying on.........

I have wanted fresh blood in for years now although I was heartened to see him spend money, change style/tactics, he even took the aggressive approach with his subs on the weekend.

If he can continue along that pass, I can take another 2 years.
Still need another striker.

 

[Mrs Bergkamp]

We haven't had a run like Liverpool's since The Invincibles who were true greats. We haven't had a run like theirs because we've always had Champions League.

 

[Makingtrax]

I'm not confusing anything. You didn't mention anything anything about small data or win percentages going back 20 years in your initial reply. Then you had a think about it and realised what you did

When something comes to light that doesn't exactly cover Wenger in glory, it's all bad luck, refs, injuries etc, but when he manages to lose 1 game in a 31 stretch over two seasons, he's a genius. No luck required there!

Yeah OK twist what I'm saying . . . I'm out

 

[GoonerJeeves]

I'd be very surprised if he does not sign on for another two years or so. Clearly that is the wish of the board, and he seems as motivated as ever. In addition there is no clear cut candidate to take over as I see it.

The question is how long they can drag it out. Does the uncertainty pertaining to Wenger's future, influence the contract situation of Özil and Sanchez?

 

[GDeep™]

Hoping he extends, couple of years left in him still.

A two year extension allows us to try and persuade Sanchez and Özil to follow Wenger, plus push for other big deals now that we got the dough, while that period also gives Wenger the chance to further steer great young talents like Bellerin, Holding and Iwobi.

 

[Godwin1]

Yeah OK twist what I'm saying . . . I'm out

I'd say he got you spot on.

 

[Makingtrax]

I'd say he got you spot on.

Why am I not surprised.

 

[redanddread]

David Dein on Arsène’s life away from Arsenal

By Alex Fynn and Kevin Whitcher

Extract from updated version of ‘Arsènal: The Making of a Modern Superclub’

A new expanded and updated version of the classic Arsenal book, ‘Arsènal: The Making of a Modern Superclub’, by Alex Fynn and Kevin Whitcher, published by Vision Sports has been released. Here is an extract from one of four new chapters, in which Arsène’s great friend David Dein talks about Arsène’s life away from Arsenal…

Cover of the new edition

Putting great store on loyalty – behind his infamous ‘I did not see it’ comment was a reluctance to rebuke his players in public; a self-deprecating line which he has trotted out to good effect over the years to shield them from criticism and take the brickbats on their behalf. Yet he suffers agonies in private. David Dein observes that, “Arsène doesn’t go out when we (Arsenal) lose. When we book reservations up the road, the restaurant knows that if we’ve lost the game, it’s cancelled automatically. So they look at the results and cancel the table. Because (as Dein has learned from past experience) it’s not a dialogue, it’s a monologue. When we speak to him he doesn’t answer, because he’s in his own world. It hurts and it does still hurt, and that’s why he’s a good manager.”

For Wenger tomorrow is another day. For retrospective analysis with Boro and a heart to heart with David and another opponent on the horizon to prepare for. However, had the 2014 FA Cup Final been lost the intensification of the cutting words and recriminations that would undoubtedly have poured down in torrents, may have persuaded him, ca suffit, enough is enough. With upheaval on the domestic front, Arsenal, always the centerpiece of his life, had come to dominate it as never before in the last year or two. Alone for the most part in a high gated residence 300 yards from the old family home in Totteridge, he leads a Spartan and for the most part solitary existence. Waking up at 6.30 he will work out in his gym for 45 minutes and in the evening go for a run or a bike ride. In between he will do what he loves best. The first piece of kit he puts on is his stopwatch, then it’s out onto the training pitch with his charges. As David Dein says, “Arsène is captive to football. He’s a prisoner of his own making. He’s the most professional, most dedicated, most intelligent manager I have ever met.”

Dein also points out that the best second hand car to buy, if you can afford a top of the range Merc or Lexus, would be Arsène Wenger’s because it hasn’t been anywhere. More precisely, apart from the occasional trip to the Emirates, it goes to London Colney and back. 20 minutes there in the morning and 30 minutes back with the rush hour traffic and then the driver is home for the rest of the day, with hours of televised football to look forward to. He is more likely to be seen in the local supermarket than in a West End nightspot and when spotted will cheerfully chat, sign an autograph and pose for a photo. Nights out are not a priority, once a month – invariably to fulfil a charity or sponsors' request – would probably be his limit, David Dein having long since given up trying to persuade his friend to accompany him to the theatre, Dein's other great passion in life.

When he first met Arsène Wenger, David Dein was immediately struck by the thought, 'Arsène for Arsenal'. The club's future was written in the stars. It was destiny. But even he could not have envisaged that his beloved Arsenal would turn out to be Arsène's life work. Indeed, it may not have happened at all.

http://www.onlinegooner.com/article.php?section=exclusive&id=3546#.WCRN3vkrKUk

 

[GDeep™]

Frank De Bo...

Oh, wait.

 

[Jury]

Why am I not surprised.

Because you know you're in my pocket

 

[Makingtrax]

Because you know you're in my pocket

The only thing you do with your pocket is poke a hole in it and play billiards under the table