“Why Spain and not elsewhere? This is my championship, my home. I’m happy here and Atletico is a great club. The [champions] were willing to pay €30 million [£23.8m] for me,” he told France Football.
"I had the boss on the phone. He motivated me and said the club really wanted me. I knew that I was coming here to learn.
"Was it weird when PSG and Arsenal were also interested? [Atletico are] still the champions of Spain!
“I needed a club like that and a coach like Diego Simeone to progress. I always demands intensity in training. That’s my style and I like it.”
I take it from these quotes that were posted in the usual English low quality papers some years ago. If we would have signed both, I don’t know but I think it’s pretty safe to say that we did at least show interest at the time.
This is why I can’t understand it when people say he stayed with us rather than go elsewhere, it doesn’t make sense.
The reason he stayed with us is because if he had have gone to Real Madrid, or where ever he was wanted, he would never been given so many seasons to sort the situation out.
Imagine him at Real Madrid not buying a striker for four seasons, or persisting with inadequate players in every game, or treating fourth place as a virtual trophy.
Like you say, he gets paid a fortune here with very little pressure, and can do almost what he likes, with hardly any criticism from the board or the supporters.
He was our best ever manager and we have seen some of the most entertaining football in Europe by his teams, but the sides he puts out now can be described in a few words, stagnant, predictable, light weight, mentally and physically and going nowhere.
If this carries on, not only aren’t we going to win anything, we are going to be overtaken by spurs, which I already think has happened.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow. I love the man but he does need to go, I just don’t see any way back for him.
If he signs a new contract he has big balls and I see even bigger problems from the fans than we have now.
What’s normal for him in terms of how long does he sign a new contract before his current one ends? Does he normally leave it this late? I don’t normally follow this sort of thing but for someone who likes harmony in his squads if he was staying surely he would have signed it by now? Especially with the Özil and Sanchez contracts still an on gong thing.
I remember being on this forum in its previous incarnation only 2 (?) years ago and the pro/anti-Wenger vibe was at best a 50:50 split. Amazing how the change has accelerated in such a relatively short period of time.
There will of course people who swing back the other way if we were to win our next 3 or 4 games in a row, but it has that sense to me of having reached a tipping point.
Players are too well protected at the club by Wenger. If he had shown some killer instinct and cutting some of the consistently poor players. It will stop making the players being so complacent. He’s a great manager and turned most mediocre or decent group of players into an exciting attacking team. But he can’t or wouldn’t take that genuine step to sign the real big players because of the price tags. Admirable philosophy but top four consistent success or title challenge failure every season is not the thing we want. It’s like watching Netherlands play great football but can never win the World Cup.
I guess people are tired of seeing money clubs win things and want arsenal to win as well; but the interest thing is when things go wrong obviously it’s the manager not the players not completing their objectives.
Yesterdays game was fascinating and very intriguing, there was clearly a game plan but after the first goal and the sub the team stop functioning as a unit; our left back was to high up the pitch to many times so many counters came down the left side, where at the first 10mins he was not high the pitch unless we were in possession moneral was on the half applying pressure.
Le Coq has been over compensating for some odd reason, the second goal all he need to do was either foul eden or keep on him so the time can organise that was it two things failed at both. Our attack much to slow as of late no quick transition from back to front, we allow to organise themselves an repel our attacks; when transited quickly Chelsea fouled us or we had a meaningful attack, we’ve this penetrative aspect of our since santi got injured; Chelsea played the same way they played at the second half at the emirates organised and tried to counter but we had answer then, but yesterday we played worse.
For the players are at fault, the watford match players being lazy and entitled; yesterday not doing what was required to win the game although the setup was there. And yes the manager was pretty angry you could see it every time the camera went to him, same at the watford game, unlike mourino, wenger and Ferguson never throw their players under buses hence why wenger gloses over things in the media but we aren’t in team meetings or changing rooms to know what he really thinks.
But hey ho most on here sit here like no other club is having trouble; look at klopp with liverpool, mourino with Man u, Pep at city, poch with flip flop nature of the scum; this isn’t unique to Arsenal, OA has just become either you hate your players or you the manager or both; but its quiet when we win games consecutively.
personal i feel some players need to go and we need stronger characters in the team at the minute everyone to precious with each other and nobody takes responsibility for their shit serving.
Can imagine you being 90 in an old folk’s home still spouting this nonsense “But Wenger is dead sir” “Nah he’ll win us the league again, I just know it.”
I actually don’t know if you’re joking or not. I don’t know how anyone can believe we’re moving forward as a club when the evidence that we’re not is right in front of you.
Oh and can people stop with that 4th place trophy bs in the last 10yrs we’ve been 4th 5 times 3rd 4 times and 2nd once.
I am starting think people want us to spend money like city and man u do…
Oh no when the manager doesn’t drop that aren’t playing well Sanchez Ozick etc I am like yeah why isn’t dropping them, but on here players aren’t held culpable for their actions on the field hmm Cech passing cesc mangers fault… coquelin not marshalling Eden rather doing stupid atttemp at a tackle managers fault…players slowing down play rather moving the ball quickly like they did earlier in the season managers fault…players being selfish arrogant and entitled yep that’s right it’s the managers fault.
Spare me this crap there is also human and culpability on both sides, for people sit here yep wenger his fault; sorry I am not one to to sweep in by crowd hysteria I see with my own eyes unfortunately.
[quote=“mhappy, post:3386, topic:125”]
I guess people are tired of seeing money clubs win things and want arsenal to win as well;
[/quote]Bingo.
[quote=“mhappy, post:3386, topic:125”]
when things go wrong obviously it’s the manager not the players not completing their objectives.
[/quote]Wenger buys the players, coaches the players, decides the tactics and picks the team.
Wenger is in control of almost every aspect of the running of the first team and the squad.
He rightly took the credit for when he was successful, so you can’t start blaming the players.[quote=“mhappy, post:3386, topic:125”]
But hey ho most on here sit here like no other club is having trouble; look at klopp with liverpool, mourino with Man u, Pep at city, poch with flip flop nature of the scum;
[/quote]That’s right.
Just look at those clubs.
Things weren’t going right, so what did they do?
Tried to change things buy getting different managers and different players.
What do we do?
Persist with the same players and tactics, repeating the same mistakes every season, and watching the club stagnate.
We are predictable, but who wants that?
[quote=“mhappy, post:3386, topic:125”]
we need stronger characters in the team
[/quote]Exactly.
This is what we have been lacking for ages, and who is responsible for that?[quote=“mhappy, post:3388, topic:125, full:true”]
Oh and can people stop with that 4th place trophy bs in the last 10yrs we’ve been 4th 5 times 3rd 4 times and 2nd once.I am starting think people want us to spend money like city and man u do…
[/quote]To be fair, no other club is going to take that fourth place trophy away from Wenger.
He invented it, and he’s going to keep it.
As for you starting think people want us to spend money like Man City and Man U do, you sound exactly like Wenger.
No one suggests that but what we do expect is not to wait more than four seasons for a striker, almost the same for a decent DM, or even longer for a proper GK.[quote=“mhappy, post:3394, topic:125”]
I am not one to to sweep in by crowd hysteria I see with my own eyes unfortunately.
[/quote]You talk as if this is some sort of crowd knee jerk reaction.
This has been happening for ages, how long are you willing to tolerate this?
You do realise that we had a club before Wenger came here?
How many managers have united had since ferguson? How many mangers has Liverpool had? How many mangers has scum gone through and still have the same flip flop nature?
A lot of these clubs have yielded either short term succes or none at all, so what point exactly are trying make saying look they changed their managers?
At some point thingswill have to change that’s a given, players move managers move on.
And yes people do talk a lot about spending on OA, I am not like wenger I am aware that spending 90m on two shit defenders then changing them the next season, or like Man U having a new team every season is not sustainable for us at all.
For a long time mate it’s gone we don’t spend now we don’t spend enough; from we don’t win anything to the fa cup isn’t a real trophy so no people move the goal post as they feel and knee jeekers have been doing the thing since 2006.
I think majority of the fans actually want him to do well. Even those who keep shafting up the backside remember the good time when we were winning. It’s just sad that it has to come to this, but then again I think it’s the same at every club. For example, Leicester fans have been ripping into Ranieiri for the bad season, when the man had just won them the Premiership.
