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Number 1
As a supporter of a team whose last major silverware came one month before Apollo 11 left Earth for the moon, I'd love to be in a position where regular top 4 placings is "specialising in failure".
I think Wenger is harshly picked on to a degree, even if his stubbornness on transfers has often been a problem for the Gunners.
Poe
I think Wenger is a good manager just not one of the worlds elite anymore.
.verse
It's getting to the point where if Wenger and Arsenal aren't careful the likes of Spurs and Everton will overtake them in the coming years. We've already seen the gap close over the last couple, particularly with Spurs, who will continue to spend.
Based Jorge
His stubbornness is his downfall. Spent too long dwelling on the 'youth project' that the best players in that period left for greener pastures. He plays the same tactics every game, regardless of opposition. He's quoted as saying that the last time he changed tactics because of opposition was against United in the FA Cup final in 2005. We won that match, but he said it went against his philosophies so he's refused to do it ever since.
You just can't do that at the top level, especially when you have teams that are much better than you above you.
Jamieandhisego
In fairness to him, it's because it really didn't work. United had 20 shots on target in that game, Arsenal had none and they won on penalties. Wenger, to his credit, recognised that if he'd played that way 9/10 they would have been spanked, and he's beaten United since on multiple occasions playing some (unfortunately for us) cracking stuff.
Telegram Sam
The biggest downfall for Wenger was that he didn't account for Chelsea and City being bought out by billionaires. He knew that during the time that Ashburton was being built that we would have to tighten the pursestrings, but in the early noughties you could get by with £10m signings with potential. Chelsea changed the game and City had a similar effect a few years later. He's made plenty of mistakes and we certainly could have been more adventurous with our spending but I think Wenger's work is hugely under-appreciated. People love to bang on about going nine years without a trophy, which is obviously pretty shit, but you musn't forget that he took us to a Champions League final in 2006, two domestic cup finals and we've mounted a few title challenges in that time. It's frustrating that we've fallen away so often but we have been more competitive than people like to think.
It's funny how this thing about Spurs catching us warning keeps coming up, yet despite being in incredible positions to finally finish ahead of us in 2011/12 and 2012/13 they blew it both times. Those were their best chances. We're now in a position where we can spend more than we have in recent seasons and Spurs blew all of their Bale money last summer. The gap between ourselves and Spurs is bigger than it was a season ago and it will only grow bigger. Everton have done well this season but don't have the resources to challenge for the top four year after year.
.verse
Naturally a fair point regarding Chelsea and Man City being taken over. That's hard to counter when you're aware of it. In saying that though, once it did happen and the sort of money that was being spent, it should have made Wenger more aware of what was to come and that he would need to be more aggressive in the transfer market to maintain the level Arsenal were already at.
While he's done well in remaining competitive and putting together a few runs deep into a competition or title race, his stubbornness in replacing the loss of some crucial and experienced players, like Adams and Vieira, with players who had already developed and established themselves was a novice mistake. This set Arsenal back a number of years while Wenger plugged away with his little project players for a few years before he eventually cast them aside. You could also argue that it also cost the club some silverware during that period because they lacked that experience to ultimately finish the job. And I think you raised the biggest key point; While Arsenal have remained competitive, it hasn't lead to anything more than that. Which is where the issue lies. Given the statue of the club simply being competitive isn't enough, you need to win something at least once every 2-3 years minimum to keep that winning mentality. You certainly could't see other top clubs being content to allow a manager 8 unsuccessful years.
Carroll.
Shedender
'mon Cristiano and co.
Telegram Sam
Crane
Sam
King Luis
Telegram Sam
Eric Portapotty
Sam
Oh Casillas.
Crane
Jason
"I told you so..."
Telegram Sam
I don't get it.
Crane
Eric Portapotty
Eric Portapotty
Jason
Eric Portapotty
Sam
Heartbreak for Atletico.
Telegram Sam
I would have felt cheated if it had ended 1-0. Would have been such an anti-climax.
King Luis
George14brfc
Jason
I'm now supporting Real Madrid, not Athletico, unless it goes to pens in which case i want Athletico to win
Sam
About time Bale, you had enough chances.