EPL 16/17
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@canefan Yeah, the CL record at Wembley was poor. West Ham struggled too at London Stadium.
I heard one of the comms mention the surface was a lot softer than WHL. The pitch is a bit bigger too. Better get the groundsman to mark out a smaller pitch. When we move into the new digs we will need to get used to a bigger pitch anyway. Part of Wenger's problem is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get value in the players' market. You either have to spend like crazy (The Russian and the Sheik) or you build from within and look to buy up and comers (Spurs).
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@canefan Yeah, the CL record at Wembley was poor. West Ham struggled too at London Stadium.
I heard one of the comms mention the surface was a lot softer than WHL. The pitch is a bit bigger too. Better get the groundsman to mark out a smaller pitch. When we move into the new digs we will need to get used to a bigger pitch anyway. Part of Wenger's problem is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get value in the players' market. You either have to spend like crazy (The Russian and the Sheik) or you build from within and look to buy up and comers (Spurs).
It looked ridiculously soft today, lots of slipping and sliding going on. Not sure whether they were watering it to make sure it will last the long weekend with 2 playoff games to come but it would be wearing to play a whole season on it.
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@canefan They leaked nine against Fulham in two games FFS
Glad it was them not Reading but it could be a short sojourn for the Terriers
Still Jean-Luc will doubtless be very happy
It's quite an achievement to reach the EPL via the play-offs without scoring a goal in open play. And yes, raging favourites to come straight down but then again so were Bournemouth and they survived well.
Just saw that Wenger has 2 more years at the Arse .... any Arsenal fans pleased with that?
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@canefan They leaked nine against Fulham in two games FFS
Just saw that Wenger has 2 more years at the Arse .... any Arsenal fans pleased with that?
I'm indifferent. I think it is time for a change but sometimes a dour season is often followed by a good one.
Been a few in a row but...
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@KiwiPie Not even. I saw they won the FA cup but the big trophies are the league title and the Champions League. We need a change. Too many 4th place finishes.
The FAC was a distraction away from thje fact that Arsene seems to have become increasingly inneffective building a squad that can compete. Those of us on the other side of North London would be happy with any pot at the moment....
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I thought Wenger should have gone 2 years ago after winning a second consecutive FA Cup but the boards inaction since then means that some quality managers are now not available to replace him.
Max Allegri expressed some interest but would he leave Juve?
Thomas Tuchel has been mentioned as a possibility and is now available, but is he an improvement?
Eddie Howe?
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If I were a Gunners fan I'd be wary of replacing Wenger.
I do think he needs to put some spine into the team but ditch him and there's no guarantee the results improve. Look at Man Utd....
I think he's done a fantastic job with Arsenal - not just in the first few years but for that long period where the focus was on reducing debt on Emirates Stadium and year after year they still qualified for CL.
He's tried to build a team rather than buy one but it's now time for Plan B. If he can convince a marquee player to sign.
Therein lies the problem. For a long period faced with financial constraints Arsenal had limited ambition which prevented them signing the players they really needed to kick on. Now I feel they are perceived as a team aiming for 4th and the CL quarters.
Not good enough for the super stars or the fans.
Greedy fuckers
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The interesting thing with Arsenal is how every season seems to follow the same pattern. They are competing for the title in the first few months, qualify for the last 16 of the UCL. Sometime around Christmas and Jan/Feb they reach crisis point, drop enough points to stand no chance of the title, crash out of the UCL and then finish with a run of wins at the end.
But this time, they left themselves too much to do and missed out on the top 4. And also this season, there were problems in the dressing room, obviously with Sanchez but possibly with others too.
I think Arsenal should be planning to get rid of Arsene mainly because he isn't young and they will have to face life without him soon.
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Kroenke and Gazidis have 2 years to work on a succession plan. Finding that replacement manager might be harder than they think.
It also looks like Ozil and Sanchez will be gone within 12 months, if not sooner. Sanchez would be a huge loss but at least he wouldn't be going to another EPL team. I'd cash in now.
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@KiwiPie Can anyone remember the Gunner's previous manager(s)? Wenger appears to have settled aiming at the FA Cup once he realised he wasn't going to win another title.
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@antipodean said in EPL 16/17:
@KiwiPie Can anyone remember the Gunner's previous manager(s)? Wenger appears to have settled aiming at the FA Cup once he realised he wasn't going to win another title.
Bruce Rioch
George Graham
Don Howe
Off top of my head -
@dogmeat Showing your age.
I only remember Rioch (a failure but he signed Bergkamp) and Graham (1-0 to the Arsenal).
Liverpool and Spurs haven't won a title since the Premier League began in 1992 so we Gunners fans haven't got it so bad if we compare the big clubs. Outside of Leicester, all the other champions spent heaps of money to stack their squad, and that didn't always guarantee success. Arsene will need to buy some quality players to strengthen the team if he wants to win over his critics.
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@antipodean said in EPL 16/17:
@KiwiPie Can anyone remember the Gunner's previous manager(s)? Wenger appears to have settled aiming at the FA Cup once he realised he wasn't going to win another title.
Bruce Rioch
George Graham
Don Howe
Off top of my headNice memory. I'd forgotten about Rioch. For some reason, I'd put him away as another caretaker.
