Written by Mean Lean on Wednesday, 27 April 2011 14:34

Good afternoon,

Is it safe to come out now? The negativity swarming around makes for rather uncomfortable reading to be honest but that is not the reason why I have been away for the last few days. Amongst all the anger and frustration there have been several calm heads from bloggers which has been very therapeutic and timely.

I can only speak for myself and judging by the comments section over the last week a number of people disagree with my point of view but I find talk of a pre match march before the Aston Villa game to show their disappointment a little embarrassing to be honest. Shouldn't most other clubs be organising marches because they are trophyless?

I heard a great comment recently, cannot remember who I heard it from but it went along the lines of 'The reaction of some Arsenal fans are like someone winning a brand new Bentley only to have a fit about the colour of the spray paint'

This whole trophyless thing is very funny. Type in the word 'trophyless' into google and 9 out of the 10 articles are to do with Arsenal. Thanks to the media it appears that Arsenal are the only club to go without trophies every year. Strange stuff.

Arsene Wenger has raised the bar for Arsenal football club. Even the most critical fan would find it difficult to argue against that and the foundations laid by our manager is now almost an irrelevance, it no longer exists. The fact that no other manager in the Premier League is achieving what our manager is currently doing given the same resources is now almost immaterial due to the failure of Arsene Wenger's players to take the all important final step over the last few seasons.

Even the most supportive fans of our manager (including myself) feel that some form of change is needed for Arsenal to make that next step in search of silverware.

I am pleased that we have not had injuries as an excuse to fall back on this season to wipe away the what if's and what would have been's.

Pretty much our strongest available squad let the manager down at the crucial time of the season and the management team will have to look deep and hard at those reasons.

It is abundantly clear that changes will be made in the squad. The likes of Frimpong, Ryo and perhaps Lansbury could be promoted as second string options and we all have a decent idea as to which squad members may either be forced elsewhere or push for a move in search of regular football but it is not the squad that has cost us the league this season.

Vermaelen and Fabianski apart Arsene has had the full use of his squad to select from and it is those players that have let him down. Not all of them mind you, the likes of Van Persie, Sagna and perhaps Koscielny have done their bit in recent weeks but others have not been able to lift themselves when the points where on the table,

I look at the first team and wonder where and how Arsene can improve. Which player(s) will be demoted to a squad role in place of whatever new quality the boss thinks we need.

Szczesny

Sagna Djourou/Koscielny Vermaelen Clichy

Song Wilshere

Cesc

Walcott Van Persie Nasri

Our youngest and most inexperienced players Jack Wilshere and Wojciech Szczesny are two of the brightest prospects at the club and Arsene knows more than anyone that young players need games to improve and fulfil that potential. That is why calls of a new goalkeeper seem somewhat off the mark to me.

It is Koscielny's first year in the country and league so I see him only improving. Johan Djourou has only looked shaky in two spells this season. Once when he just returned back from long term football at Manchester City at the Eastlands and then again when returning back from his shoulder problem against Liverpool. Apart from that he has been up there as our most consistent performer.

Alex Song has been off his game in the latter part of the season but when he is on form he gives us that stability in midfield.

While new squad personnel will be needed in some capacity, I generally feel that at least 75% of what we need can be achieved on the training ground. We have the best midfield in the country and pretty much dictate every game we play, at least in our domestic league. We consistently dominate possession but it is at both ends of the pitch that we often let ourselves down.

Our shots to goals against ratio is pretty good. We do not often allow the opposition to test our goalkeeper with shots but it is set pieces that have been our weakness time and time again. Offensively we do not always score the goals that our possession deserves. We need to find other ways of scoring goals when the opposition park the bus.

The mental side of our game is much more difficult to address and to be honest I am not going to start claming that I know more than the management team we have in place today. It will be down to them to solve those problems and I can only hope as a supporter that those issues get addressed when the season is over and done with.

I watched most of the Manchester United game last night and was very envious. I just cannot imagine that we would not have won that game last night. Schalke played just the way we like teams to play and we would have enjoyed that game. Unless of course we missed all our chances and let in a set piece. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't say it.

Apologies if I am sounding like a broken record today, this is stuff that I have spoken about before and have also asked the question to the Twitter world but it is very much on my mind, pretty much every day.

I am looking forward to the Real Madrid vs Barcelona game tonight which should be another intense battle of Barca's expansive game vs Mourinho's pragmatism.

As much as I want Barcelona to lose every time they play, I just want Manchester United to get embarrassed in the Champions League final and I just don't see Real Madrid doing that to them. So I want Barcelona to get through this round.

Right, off to enjoy the sunshine. Keep you heads up Gooners, life is not as bad as many think it is.

Back tomorrow.

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Comments (18)

• 27-Apr-2011 15:50 | | roger
  

  I think we need a striker (hate to say it but a hernandez type) and a centre back..was dubious about whether we needed one as Verm + JD with Kos as back up would be fine but am now of the thinking someone like Cahill and Verm with Kos and JD as back up

• 27-Apr-2011 16:04 | | Zama
  

  @ roger we actually had a Hernandez type who could score goals at will a cool finisher with ice in his veins. They broke his leg but could not break his spirit, he came back with a bang. They then labelled him a diver that took its toll, but ironically the change in formation was the proverbial stick that broke the camel/donkey's back.

• 27-Apr-2011 16:22 | | Vuja De
  

  Hey now. Hi Mean Lean.
  
  The so called pre-match protest march before the game against Aston Villa is deeply embarassing, and a measure of just how bad and spoilt some so called Arsenal "fans" are.
  
  It's also a reflection of the extremely hostile & hysterical climate of footballing opinion about Arsenal generally & Arsene in particular that a spectrum of influential sportscasters & commentators & insight-free pundits & bloggers have created over many seasons - not just this one coming to a close.
  
  There is not, in my view, a great deal wrong with Arsenal, and plenty of other clubs up and down the Country would love to be in their shoes season after season.
  
  I think the problems that we do have are less to do with personnel, and more to do with systemic weaknessess in two areas...what we do in the final attacking third, and how we defend - particularly against set pieces - when we don't have the ball.
  
  The first systemic weakness for me is our chances created to goals scored ratio. With the amount of possession that we have in most games and the amount of chances that we tend to create, we should simply be blowing most teams away with the goals that we should be scoring.
  
  The reason why we're not scoring those goals, and converting a higher percentage of the chances that we create into goals, is simply because we are not efficient & ruthless enough in front of goal.
  
  This has been an issue for the team for some time, and was masked when we had Henry, Pires & others scoring goals at the peak of their powers.
  
  Just reflect for a while on how efficient & ruthless Man Utd generally are in front of goal with the chances that they create...and that's despite their current players not having no where near the quality or technical ability that ours do.
  
  Is this lack of efficiency & ruthlessness from Arsenal in the final third something that can be addressed on the training ground? Possibly, although I suspect that it would involve a subtle change to what the players are taught to practise in their various training sessions, as well as a possible refinement of "Wengerball" itself.
  
  The second systemic weakness for me is to do with how we defend as a team when we don't have the ball, our work rate, and what we should be doing when defending against set pieces.
  
  Arsene identified last season and at the beginning of this the need to defend better generally, and I believe that, to some degree, at certain moments, that has happened.
  
  But clearly it hasn't happened as well as it should have done, and as consistently as it should have done, for we can all think of occasions when we needed to hold onto a lead and then, for whatever reason, didn't.
  
  Is our defending as a team and particularly against set pieces something that can be effectively addressed on the training pitch?
  Absolutely!
  
  But it is going to require much more attention to detail, will need to be given a much higher priority in each training session and may even require the hiring of a new specialist defence coach. Again, this may require a possible refinement of "Wengerball" as we know it.
  
  The other area where I think things could improve is in the mental sphere. I really think the team/squad need to work on their self belief and confidence in their ability to make things happen on the pitch at any given moment.
  
  They have to believe that they are winners in their heads first and foremost, then go out and make it happen.

• 27-Apr-2011 16:53 | | highaimer
  

  @ zama
  
  Totally agree with you mate 100%. I really believe if eduardo came back into a 4-4-2 formation with a strike partner we would have been finishing teams off every weak by now.
  
  I so hate that man u will go into their third champs league final in the last 6 years having won 3 league titles(probably 4 come end of this season) along the way. Thanks a bunch Wenger. Thanks a bunch...

• 27-Apr-2011 16:59 | | alf15
  

  I agree with you ML, we just need some tweaking. Like:
  
  1) Slight change in playing style - players need to shoot alot more instead of trying to walk it into the net. Even if the shots dont go in, the keeper most likely will spill it in the box or push it out for a corner! Plus shooting from far out will draw out the defence and will allow us to get behind them and slip someone in.
  
  2) Defending set pieces and our attacking setpieces need to be addressed!
  
  3) Wenger needs to get tough with these players and give them a bollocking if they make a mistake. If i make a mistake in work, my boss lets me know about it, so i learn from it!!! U just get the feeling this doesnt happen at Arsenal!
  
  4) Teach them the pride of wearing the Arsenal shirt!! Out of the current players I can only say Wilshere and Sagna, Vermaelen(when fit) shows pride and determination!

• 27-Apr-2011 18:00 | | Mike mcd  - To mean lean
  

  Wengers press conference suggested (unsurprisingly) that he believes his principles are correct.
  I do not.
  Don’t be lured into thinking that his principles are as simple as ‘ pass and move’ because I strongly believe that the list below are part of the principles that we see fail week after week and will continue to do so…
  1) not having players attack six yard box, so not spreading their defenders
  2) very rarely seeing pro active movement in box
  3) playing 1-3 vs 8 in their box, with no movement, no use of 6 yard box.
  4) having clichy ( and to lesser extent sagna) cross majority of balls to players who are static, playing 2 vs 8 and receiving poor cross followed by poor cross
  5) having your players play ‘ collectively’ in the final third with little variety. This puts a cap on two of the best dribblers in the league, nasri and wilshire, and does not maximise their potential.
  By the way…. Has anyone out there ever wondered why jack was such a dribbling threat under steve bould and not under wenger?
  He was told that it was high risk, to stop the individualism and play collectively. HE WAS “ARSENEalized!”
  Like West Upper said… what’s the point of signing better players if this is what is gonna happen?
  I hear cries for Miyachi to play. Miyachi needs to leave before he arrives if he wants to be the top class player he could be. He will be ARSENEalized.
  He will start by attacking and beating his full back but over time he will be instructed to drop it so we can swing it across the field!
  What has become so clear to us fans who are tactically limited in our thoughts compared to Arsene, is that he won’t change. If he was going to change…. why would he wait until the season is over when he could tell them in February that the crossing and finishing ‘prinicple’ needs fixing?
  This is a short list that is substantially longer in my mind and I haven’t even mentioned defending!
  If wenger won’t change his instructions to players then we could sign Cahill, hazard, Baines etc… and they will end up playing in the same manner!
  If I was the AFC board I would ask wenger to resign.
  Why?
  Because it’s pointless asking/telling someone to change what wasn’t working almost EVERY WEEK if he wouldn’t change it when it could have made a difference.

• 27-Apr-2011 18:55 | | aj
  

  Hi, I think most fans would agree that there is alot right about the team and the addition of 2 or 3 players would make all the difference.However much could be said after the last three seasons and for whatever reason the right players have not arrived. Frankly there is no evidence to suggest the manager will suddenly change tack. He says after every year that we will buy if the right player comes along but that player never arrives or more often than not goes elsewhere.He desperately needs to be relieved of transfer management and someone else given the role, as he seems to be a poor dealmaker.
  
  The arguement that most other teams would swop with us is true but don't forget we are the third biggest team in the country and always have been.We are also the biggest in Europe's largest city.Therefore we shouldn't compare ourselves to most clubs. We have to set the bar higher than that.
  
  I really think that most fans of football clubs are happy as long as their team moves forward.You honestly can't say that we have progressed at all in the last 3 or 4 years.At best we have stagnated, just look at the total points we've made each season.
  
  I can't blame people for starting to protest.For me the manager or Board refuse to adapt and that means we will only go backwards.

• 28-Apr-2011 00:01 | | MeanLean
  

  Great comments VD.
  
  Agree with pretty much all of that. Nice to have you back

• 28-Apr-2011 01:00 | | Jekyll  - Spot on
  

  Well said, the perfect response to the 'most other teams would love to be where we are' argument. We are the 3rd bigggest club in the country, historically. We are the biggest club in one of the world's major capitals - one of the most expensive places to live and where going to see this team is the most expensive ticket in the whole wide world.
  
  Therefore the criteria is and must be different, or you're playing into board member's hands who just wanted to raise the share price and sell out (as they now have done). No more excuses for Wenger or those running the club as a whole. Invest where required or tipping point will be reached next season if/when there is yet another spring collapse.

• 28-Apr-2011 09:29 | | Subir Kumar Roy
  

  yeah mike, very valid points, we could get better players, but what is the point if they are rendered non clinical or ineffective, due to a certain playing style.
  
  BEAUTIFUL FOOTBALL by Arsenal has some missing ingredients:
  
  i) shooting from range
  
  ii) no arsenal player attacking crosses in the 6 yard box, maybe some of the so called poor crosses could become good ones
  
  iii) playing smart: few Arsenal players are very good dribblers, dribbling and passing have the same objective, to beat the opposition player, many a times what a simple pass can do, dribbling may not, why not be more judicious??
  
  iv) free kicks: my two pence is that quality of free kicks has suffered, possible side effect of negligible shooting from range
  
  v) taking corners: more often than not, one of the tallest players takes corner, when he should be heading in the box, secondly the other taller players are more or less a crowded stagnant bunch in the box, when they should be moving, thereby getting a more powerful jump and effective header.
  
  vi) defending corners/setpieces: lot has been written and said
  
  vii) high line defence: if this has to be effective, the back four have to push forth and back as a unit in a single line. more often than not we are caught out with a long ball because one of the back four is not in sync with the other.
  
  vii) conceding penalties: it may not always be effective, but if the goalkeeper simply narrows the angle, forces the attacker wide and get the vital 2-3 seconds for the defenders to block the shot on goal
  or pass to another player, rather than giving the opposition an excuse for a contact ?

• 28-Apr-2011 12:09 | | podge
  

  Vela is pretty much identical to hernandez and we have seen that type of player just doesnt suit Arsenal's current tactics. I dont think Cahill is anywhere near as good as Djouruo right now.

• 28-Apr-2011 12:42 | | Rambo  - podge
  

  the similarities stop at being mexican and small. hernandez never stops running and is always involved in the game
  
  vela only runs if he can get the ball and is barely ever in the game

• 28-Apr-2011 12:45 | | podge
  

  dont agree with the lack of indiviualism. How arsenal play depends on who playes in centre of midfield more dribbling with nasri, more passing with fabregas. With Walcott and Nasri on the wings there is a lot more direct running but 1 tends to be injured and then arshavin plays and sometimes rosicky neither of these 2 contribute much anymore and really hurt the team. The midfielders do need to shoot from distance more often but there is a problem with that most teams get 10 men behind the ball against arsenal so shooting options are limited. At the start of the season Arsenal defended well from set pieces that was back when TV5 was playin. There have been many complaints about Arsenals defense when statistically its not much worse than ManUs( whos is amazing apparently). RVP has 15 league goals in 21(6) games. He is the 30 goal a season striker we have been missing and im now confident his injury hell is behind him and we will get 40+ games from him next season. I might sound like a Liverppol fan but next season will be our season( we actually have a basis for that young team improving).

• 28-Apr-2011 17:29 | | jack  - from Arsenalvision
  

  Wenger: The Case for the Prosecution
  By Emmanuel Fyle
  
  Evidence for a change at the top is overwhelming
  
  Everyone knows what Arsene Wenger has achieved for this club, but it is time for Arsenal fans to stop talking about the past, and to stop believing in the ‘bright future’ continuously promised every year since 2006 but which never actually arrives.
  
  
  Merci for the memories
  I hear an awful lot of different theories on Arsenal players and Arsene Wenger. One thing that is undeniable is that this Arsenal team is subject to serious mental deficiency, and is psychologically brittle. The evidence is overwhelming and well documented – from repeated frittering of leads against Spurs, Newcastle and Wigan to the infamous recent Liverpool fiasco.
  
  While the players tend to bear the brunt of the criticism, there comes a time when Arsenal fans need to stop blaming individuals for their crass stupidity and patent inability to learn, and start looking at the methodology behind the coaching and continuous selection of these players. Although the names of the players complained about keep changing – Hleb, Silvestre, Squillaci, Denilson, Bendtner – to name but a few - there has been one constant, common denominator - Arsene Wenger. The ingrained loser’s mentality that is now prent in the club has been fostered by Wenger’s culture of over-permissiveness, and his refusal to apportion blame where it is due. I have lost count of the number of times I have seen unacceptable behaviour by an Arsenal player, rewarded by the said player walking straight back into the team. As an example: Abou Diaby’s insanity at St James Park. Had Diaby cost any other big club in the manner he cost Arsenal, be sure that he would have been reprimanded in such a manner that he would have been afraid ever to transgress again. Instead, imagine my horror to see Diaby booting the ball away completely needlessly at Blackpool, in a match Arsenal were in total control of.
  
  We subsequently found out that it was Robin van Persie who had to administer some semblance of dressing room discipline to Diaby. We are also informed by Arshavin that after becoming the first team in history to throw away a 4 goal lead at Newcastle, the manager said ‘nothing’ to the players. This constant lack of discipline has been encouraged by Wenger, who is only too willing to blame anyone and everything but his own flawed management and methodology.
  
  I honestly fail to see how anyone can present a fact-based case, based on recent evidence, as to how Arsene Wenger can remain as Arsenal manager. He is the root cause of our malaise. A manager who insists that he would ‘sign up for twenty years’ to second place, has no business calling himself the manager of a club of Arsenal’s standing, and the fans should certainly not accept such a climate of complacency.
  
  The dwindling amount of AKBs who sit on the fence and claim that: ‘I want Arsene to stay, I just want him to change’ are effectively and unwittingly providing a vote of no confidence. This is tantamount to a husband claiming that ‘I want to stay with my wife, I just want her to completely change who she is’. Alternatively, it would be like demanding an entire government cabinet be fired, but for the Prime Minister to remain in situ, despite being the central figure of that cabinet.
  
  Arsene Wenger is incapable of change. He has been indulged for far too long, and Arsenal fans now need to ask themselves whether we can allow ourselves to consider Arsenal a ‘big club’ if the greater concerns of the club are now secondary to the whims of one man. Is Wenger bigger than the club? If we are a small club who would implode under the weight of Wenger’s departure, then yes, Arsenal are a small club whose future depends on one individual.
  
  This is clearly a fictitious notion. Arsenal are a big club, who were in possession of ten league titles long before Arsene Wenger had arrived at this club. There are a number of occurrences that take place at this club that are in my view, patently unacceptable.
  
  We are (mis)informed that Wenger does an excellent job ‘despite the financial constraints he is under’. This is not a fact-based argument and appears rather weak when one considers that Arsenal have a wage bill of over £110 million. Spurs have a reported wage bill of just £67 million. There is a massive financial disparity right there, but this is never mentioned when Wenger’s so-called financial prudence is uttered. The insistence on renewing the contracts of undeserving individuals has created a false economy, and a system that is the polar opposite of a meritocracy. The manager has assured a mediocre group of players that irrespective of performance, they will not be subjected to competition for places as this may ‘kill’ them.
  
  Could you imagine applying such an absurd notion to a real-life working environment?
  
  Wenger’s other faults have little or nothing to do with finances. Coaching a defence to defend set-pieces costs little, and when Alex McLeish is tactically outthinking you in a cup final, you know there is a major issue. Appointing a number 2 to challenge your authority costs very little, yet Jack Wilshere claims that Jens Lehmann at half-time against Blackpool was ‘like an assistant manager’. Oh is that so? So what is Pat Rice?
  
  The most grating problem, and the reason Arsene Wenger in my opinion needs to be thanked and then shown the door, is that the ‘six years no trophies’ is not the main issue. The main issue is that Arsene Wenger has the resources at his disposal to rectify glaring deficiencies in the team, but he continues to show a complete disregard for this, and seems more concerned about bringing his pet ‘project’ to fruition. Wenger makes derisory comments about the fans, yet, these people who ‘have not worked even half a day in football’ seemed to know their stuff about Manuel Almunia, about Denilson’s suitability as a holding midfielder and about playing Van Persie (a number 10) as the focal point of an attack without a number 9 to run the line.
  
  Arsene Wenger cannot, and will not change. It is a forlorn fantasy to expect him to do so. The more Wenger is challenged, the more entrenched he becomes, and this is evidenced by his outrageous comments in press conferences, followed up by the dim-witted Hill-Wood’s ill-advised, crass commentary.
  
  Those that witter on about money fail to note for instance, that despite Laurent Koscielny having cost more than Nemanja Vidic, Vincent Kompany, Patrice Evra and Ivanovic, he has yet to learn that as a defender you simply do not go to ground inside the penalty area. This proves the lack of attention to tactical detail that takes place at Arsenal and this is a managerial issue that has not been rectified.
  
  A further and more grave issue that has disheartened many Arsenal fans is the leadership issue. Again, Wenger has shown a patent disregard for the fans when he claimed that ‘in England you like to focus on fighting qualities a little too much’. He went on to extol the virtues of the ‘collective expression’ they so treasure in France. May I please be reminded at this juncture which country Wenger manages in please?
  
  The leadership issue dovetails nicely with the Cesc Fabregas scenario. It has become apparent, through his increasingly vocal and acerbic public outbursts, that Cesc Fabregas is angling for a move away from Arsenal. Fabregas is a superb footballer, who has been badly let down by his manager, who failed to surround him with the requisite quality to make Cesc believe in this team. His desire to leave is understandable. However I, like many others, was extremely disappointed with his shena****ns in the Nou Camp prior to the Barca game when he was canoodling and giggling with his future team-mates.
  
  The past three Arsenal captains have all presented us with evidence of the lack of foresight that has gone into the Arsenal captaincy. The captaincy of Arsenal is important, it is an honour to be bestowed and not a leverage tool to appease want-away star players. Arsene Wenger first did this with Patrick Vieira whom, despite being a superb captain and leader, was desperate to leave Arsenal in our Invincible season. Real Madrid made an official bid of £31 million that was turned down after a protracted saga. After a season of going through the motions, visible through Vieira’s body language, he was sold at a knockdown £14 million to Juventus. So the next time someone mentions Wenger’s ‘constrained finances’, any manager willing to lose out £17 million on a transfer whilst increasing the unhappy player’s contract cannot be in dire straits.
  
  The Cesc situation is a mirror of the Vieira scenario. Now we are hearing the usual howls from some Gooners claiming ‘Sell Cesc for £50 million and use the money to sign such and such’.
  
  As long as Arsene Wenger is in charge, that money will never be used. I am still to this day, waiting with bated breath to see what will happen to the £41 million we received from Manchester City for Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor.
  
  Arsene Wenger is not doing the Arsenal job out of love and charity. He is remunerated to the tune of £6.5 million per year. He has not won a single trophy in six years and attempts to persuade the world that finishing top four – whilst managing the team with the third/fourth highest wage bill in the league – is an achievement. It is not an achievement. And when a manager is being paid more than Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola, you really need to begin to ask yourself what fact-based justification there can be for keeping him in his role. We are often asked by the AKBs ‘who would you replace him with?’
  
  Big clubs do not rely on the strength of one man, they evolve and never fear change. They show adaptability. Better managers than Arsene Wenger, who have won more trophies than him have been moved on from big clubs. At Bayern Munich, Louis van Gaal won a domestic double, and came within a whisker of winning the Treble last season. Bayern were in the Champions League qualification places when van Gaal was handed his P45 for unacceptable performances.
  
  Wenger has been demonstrating four years of unacceptable performances, and not once in this time has he ever demonstrated the humility and grace to apologise to fans of the club for some of these displays. Think back to all the travelling Gooners that went to Old Trafford for the FA Cup in 2008, when he threw the game, fielding a weak team that was hammered 4-0. Think back to Newcastle this season, a new unwanted Premier League record as a 4-0 lead was tossed away.
  
  Another oft-quoted myth is that of Arsenal’s ‘beautiful football’ . This needs only slight investigation to disprove as nothing but a subjective theory. Going 360 minutes in the league without a single goal from open play is not ‘beautiful football’. Going to the Nou Camp and producing zero shots on or off target throughout 90 minutes; when even lowly teams like Almeria and Hercules manage this, is quite simply unacceptable (another unwanted record), no matter how good Barcelona are. Beautiful football, as Evra so cruelly and correctly highlighted, is the kind that succeeds and wins trophies; which is the reason Barcelona are rightly lauded as the master exponents of the art.
  
  Next season will be an action replay of this one unless drastic changes are made, and these need to begin at the top. Wenger has done great things for the club in the past but has now morphed into an autocrat, unchallenged upon his throne and this needs to change. Perhaps Ivan Gazidis, whose appointment was comically ratified by Wenger (a bit like a prisoner choosing his own parole officer), could actually perform duties beyond his spouted ‘Arsenalisation’. The Arsenal board are just as complicit in our lack of success as Wenger is, and this should never be forgotten.
  
  Arsene Wenger can, and should be replaced. He has been given more than sufficient chances. A new manager coming in to this Arsenal squad would have the job of instilling a new mentality, based on a meritocracy, and not who he likes best, or who he sees as the future of French football. There are managers out there: Villas Boas at Porto is young, hungry and served his tutelage under Mourinho.
  
  ‘Oh but he is unproven’, I hear the cries.
  
  Is winning the Portuguese league less of an achievement than winning the J-League in Japan then? Besides is ‘the Arsenal way’ not to do with giving youth a chance? Villas Boas is just 34 years of age. The fact that he is unproven strikes an ironic chord, since unproven players seem to be order of the day at Arsenal, and the club has no problem playing and paying a bunch of unproven players. Failing this, Pep Guardiola leaves Barcelona in 2012. So Wenger can be given his final season to prove that he cannot win the league by making a profit, and Guardiola can take the reins in 2012.
  
  Even Wenger’s signings these days are underwhelming: you have a striker on £80k a week filing his nails on the bench, even when the team are desperately chasing a goal with 20 minutes to go. What does that indicate to you about Chamakh’s quality when the much-maligned Bendtner is consistently trusted ahead of him? The less said about Squillaci the better.
  
  Merci pour les memoires Arsene, but I think it’s time we started seeing other people. You have taken us as far as you can – now we need someone else to push us to the next level.
  
  28th April 2011

• 28-Apr-2011 23:11 | | CHGooner  - Training
  

  ML, as you know I'm not a recent convert to the AMG camp, I'm a founder member! However, I respect the views of ALL Arsenal fans - even Richie - and I think you touched on a very important point. That is that when Arsenal are training what actually happens? Well, you don't have to be present to KNOW that they can only play against other Arsenal players. Therefore it is fairly obvious that we will be deficient in defending corners against the likes of Cahill, because we don't have those sort of players ourselves so we can't cope so well when we come up against them. no practice you see. Likewise, we don't attack against well drilled, rugged and aggressive defenders because we don't have them. This is important. It is unfair on players to prepare them all week in a certain way, yet come the weekend they are facing unfamiliar challenges. Of course they will fail. It comes back to a word I have used so often - balance. We just don't have it and AW is responsible for that, don't you agree that this may be at least part of our problem?

• 29-Apr-2011 00:25 | | richie
  

  Even I (Richie) will admit you are at least (at last) trying to make a valid point. I argued years ago on this blog that we at the Arse were incapable of producing a proper center half, from within our own ranks. A central defender we might produce but how could we possibly manufactor an old style centre half? To do that a defender needs to be raised in aerial combat (we play on the ground) so how would they get the practise to defend? Likewise I said we wouldn't develope a (safe hands stylle GK). Again from within where would a GK get to practise claiming crosses of the head of a CF? To practise defending set pieces we would need amoungts our ranks players capable of scoring from set pieceses. This ain't new stuff CHG.

• 29-Apr-2011 00:46 | | CHGooner
  

  Richie, you admit and I qoute ' this a'int new stuff CHG' . Well if you agree that this is a problem, and it clearly is, whose issue is it? Who has been responsible for examining our training, who has had more time than you, me, ML and Pat Rice to put things right? Honestly, Richie who?

• 30-Apr-2011 02:00 | | richie
  

  Its not I who needs to admit that this isn't new its you. All I see is re hashing of the same complaints about our team that the pundits have been making since Arsene arrived. No British spine came up before we went 49 games unbeaten. The same time that the foreigners ain't got the fight needed to win the prem. When Bolton engaged in mainly aerial football did anyone suggest they weren't all that playing with the ball on the floor? Of course we ain't as good at defending set pieces as a team who scores mainly from set pieces. Surely thats obvious. Then again are other teams as good at passing as us? Its swings and round abouts. That we need to improve defensively goes without saying, but I still see the glass as being half full and not half empty. I say our defense is good enough. Its in our attack that lays the problem. If we had converted our chances this season we would already be champions. I think too many people are looking at the wrong end of the pitch, because some people would want to return to an older style of play when we had the famed back 4/5 of the Graham years.

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