Arsene Wenger's Failed Project

Removing the dead wood at Arsenal is something that basically every supporter has been calling for since about March of this year. I’ve talked to several of you on twitter and the list is long and varied as to who should be shipped out, but the general consensus is that we want most everyone gone. Denilson and Bendtner I think will both be on their way, and I don’t think anyone will be saddened if Rosicky, Denilson, Diaby, Vela, Arshavin, Almunia, and Squillaci follow them. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out fellas. Some people would add Clichy to that list as well, but I’ve always been a bit of a Clichy fan so it’s hard for me to put him on there, although if he and Nasri don’t sign new deals then they will be gone too.

Now that we’ve got the list together of who to ship out, let’s analyze the problem a little bit more. I think if you look at that list of players that aren’t up to scratch, it shows a problem with Arsene’s transfer dealings as a whole over the past couple of years. All of those signings, with the exception of Almunia, have been in the past 4 years. Wenger expected them to develop and build the foundation of a squad that would compete for the top honors in football, and it never materialized. Is it a case of poor scouting, poor transfer decisions, or just poor coaching? Sure, they have all had moments of greatness, Vela in the Carling Cup, Arshavin’s 4 goals at Anfield, etc…but the problem has been that none of them can be consistent enough to hold down a regular place in the team, much less compete for trophies.

The Invincibles, in my mind, was the culmination of Arsene Wenger’s first “project” at Arsenal. He had brought in the players, molded them into a team, coached them up, and reaped the rewards. He had taken players with a lot of talent and supplemented that with a lot of experience. For every young stud like Henry when he first arrived and Anelka, we had a Bergkamp and a Tony Adams. The problem with the current squad is there has never been that balance between youthful talent and energy to go with experienced players who have been through the wars. He sold off Vieira, Henry, Campbell, Lauren, and Gilberto, to replace them with the likes of Denilson, Diaby, Bendtner, and Eboue. When you look at it like that, this plan was destined for failure from the very start.

Arsene is coming to the close of his career, and much like most of the current squad, I believe his talents are waning. He has not shown the foresight and knowledge of the transfer market that we all assumed he had. We thought the genius would eventually show through and that his master plan would somehow come to fruition. It hasn’t, and it’s time for an overhaul. If Arsene Wenger is unwilling to change his ideas on how to put a team together, then it will require someone else making that change. He’s been a brilliant manager for us over the years but being stubborn year after year is absolutely mental. He’s so stuck on his ideas being correct that he is unwilling to branch out and accept that this time he might have been wrong.

I hope Arsene makes the right moves this summer and shakes up a lot of the current squad. Part of me is hopeful, thinking that it can’t get much worse than this and surely now Arsene has seen the error of his ways. Mostly though, I worry that almost nothing will change, that we’ll trot out a lineup on opening day next season with almost the exact same squad that collapsed this season. Maybe nothing will ever change while Arsene is in charge. But for now, we can all hope. Up the Gunners.

Thierry Henry Reaction, World Cup Better Off With France In It

Long, long ago, when the world was still new, there was once an Arsenal blog, written by an American. It was updated daily with all the latest news, transfer stories, and thoughts on Arsenal. It was called The ArseNole. And now, The ArseNole is back. That's right, after a shocking absence of over a month, I've made a return to the blogging realm, since there is finally a lot to talk about. Sure, I could have written a lot the past month of how well we have played and how I think we're going to win the league this season, but that would probably have just jinxed us and I'm very superstitious about Arsenal. But as I said, today I have quite a lot of things to burn on, so we'll start with what seems to be one of the most controversial topics in quite some time, and that is Thierry Henry's hand ball that put Ireland out of the World Cup and France in it.

Let me first clarify, that I am not Irish, and I am not French, and if this had happened to the USA I would have been pissed, but I would still not show the hate to Thierry that he has been getting from every corner of the globe. My loyalties lie with Arsenal first and foremost, so in that game I was hoping for a France win due to this simple math:

French:
Arsene Wenger
William Gallas
Gael Clichy
Thierry Henry
Bacary Sagna
Patrick Vieira
Robert Pires

Irish:
Robbie Keane

Yes, I know there have been other Arsenal players that were Irish, but the one that stands out is captain cunttastic, Robbie Keane, the cartwheeling cunt himself. Keeping him as far away from the World Cup as possible is just fine with me. And personally, I'd rather watch the French play all summer next summer than have to watch just one Ireland match. So yeah, it was a hand ball by Thierry, but I think it was mostly instinctual. The play happened so fast that I don't think he thought, "Oh shite I better stick out my hand here to keep this ball in play." I think he just had it as a natural reaction in the spur of the moment. It's the referee's job to make the call, not Thierry's, so why should he have to be the one taking the heat for it? Did you all expect Eboue to tell the ref he dove for that free kick in the Champions League Final? No, because it was Arsenal. And you shouldn't expect Thierry to do it either because at the end of the day, he got his country into the World Cup, and all the Irish can do about it is bitch for four years while they watch.

To me, the fans that say Henry is no longer thought of as a good person, or as an Arsenal legend, or they see him as a cheater now, are ridiculous and stupid. That one millisecond play made you forget about all the things he did for Arsenal, all 226 goals, countless moments of magic, and some of the best teams this club has ever had? Bollocks I say. Thierry Henry is the greatest Arsenal player of all time, and if you want to bitch about him and say his legacy is tarnished because of that one hand ball, then you're full of shit. He didn't launch a terrorist attack, he didn't molest his daughter, or set his ex-wife's house on fire. He fucking hand balled. Get over it. Do I feel bad for the Irish as a whole? Sure I do. Just not for the ones that act like Thierry Henry is no longer an Arsenal legend and instead is the scum of the earth.

Right, so that's about covered, so it's on to other matters.

Eduardo signed a new long-term deal with the club. Solid move. He's going to have to start quite a lot while Bendtner and more importantly RvP are out injured, so we need him to stay fit and start pounding in the goals. I think he's perfectly capable of doing everything that RvP has done for us this season, in terms of goal scoring and making assists. Arshavin, Theo, Nasri, Rosicky, and Cesc are going to all have to step up their games though to make it through this period. First big test for us is this weekend when we play away to Sunderland, who are a tricky opponent. They're playing well this year under Steve Bruce, and Darren Bent has been banging in the goals. We'll probably have Silvestre in at left back, which is a worry, but hopefully our attacking play will be able to put a few past them. This is the type of game you have to win to be Champions. No slip ups allowed just because we have some injuries. Let's get it done boys.

We also have good news on the injury front. Fabianski, Carlos Vela, Armand Traore, and Denilson are all back, and Denilson will definitely be making the trip up to Sunderland this weekend, which is great news. I'd expect he may have to start right away with Diaby being out, although Arsene could opt to use Rosicky next to Cesc in the midfield. Traore could possibly slot in at left back with Clichy and Gibbs out, and honestly I'd prefer that to having Silvestre in there, but I reckon the boss will pick the experience over the youth.

I'm really quite happy to have Denilson back, even though he seems to not get much love from the majority of Arsenal fans. He's clearly better than Diaby, that is for certain. He can pick out a pass almost as well as Cesc, can hit the long shots, and is solid defensively. I think he'll be a real boost to the squad over the next few months.

Ok, that's about it for the day. Leave your reactions about Thierry and Ireland, or Arsenal, or whatever you want to in the comments. I'm expecting a lot of angry Irish folk mostly. Also, if anyone plays Football Manager Live, let me know so we can play a match on there. My keeper is Fabianski, woohoo! That's about all I've got. Vive Les Bleus, hehe.

Reaction to the Loss Versus Chelsea And More

Morning all. Yesterday was tough wasn't it? I felt like we had been building up to that match for quite awhile, and I was so excited for it just to be let down. A promising start gave way to a pretty miserable ending. There aren't many things worse than watching your team lose in a cup semi-final, but one of the things that is worse is watching the Chelsea cunts celebrate after beating your team.

When I saw the team selection yesterday, I have to say I was a little bit disturbed. Why Arshavin wouldn't play when he hasn't been able to play in the Champions League was really something I questioned. He's brought a lot to the team since his arrival and I think he could have done the same yesterday. Alex Song has been playing the best football of his life in the past few weeks yet he was left on the bench in favor of Diaby, who hasn't been playing much and I don't think many people would argue the point that he is superior to Song anyway. I didn't like the selection, I have to say. I expected to see Song in the lone holding role, with Arshy, Walcott, and Cesc as the attacking mids and RvP and Ade up front together.

I think the formation we decided to use caused us more problems than it was worth. Diaby and Denilson weren't very good with their distribution and while I thought Denilson did ok shadowing Lampard in the first half, I think Arshavin would have proved a better option instead, by creating space and helping out Adebayor up top. I thought Diaby had a pretty terrible game and Song, for me, would have proved a much better option.

The overriding feeling I guess is just disappointment and bewilderment. I just can't understand why he decided to play the players he did, but mostly I feel bad for the team, especially Lukasz Fabianski. He played a dreadful game, and for someone on that huge stage for the first time, it might affect his confidence for a long time. Unfortunately, we don't have any other options at keeper right now so he is going to have to rebound right away. He's definitely had some problems though thinking he needs to come out of his box for balls that he can't win. Sometimes you have to just trust your defenders to do their jobs adequately enough so that you can do yours, and he just doesn't seem to have the right mentality on those balls right now. Adebayor didn't have a great game, but I think a lot of that had to do with the lack of service he receieved. Theo's crosses often found nobody and van Persie didn't have close to his best game either. It must also be said that Sylvestre was just awful on the second goal and when he stopped chasing the ball it showed a real lack of passion for the team and the game.

Arsene Wenger was complaining about the pitch after the game, but I really didn't want to hear about it. Yeah the pitch was pretty bad but everyone plays on the same one so that can't be used as an excuse, and the fact is we were just outplayed on the day. So we're out of the FA Cup and we've only got one chance left at a trophy, and that's the Champions League. We've got a league match against Liverpool this week too, so there's still a lot of crucial games coming up, but in reality the big ones are the ones against United in the Champions League. Villa have been awful in the league lately and 4th spot seems pretty well secure.

I don't really have much else to talk about today because it's just so hard to take, so I'll get something up tomorrow to preview the Liverpool match. Leave your thoughts on the match, the team selection, or whatever else you feel like talking about. I'll talk to you all tomorrow. Cheers.

Arsenal-FC Twente Preview

Doomsday has arrived. At least that's what a lot of you seem to think, that the start of the season is a horrible time because Arsenal haven't strengthened enough and we'll never win another trophy. Personally though I'm really happy the real matches start tomorrow evening. We've got the 3rd round Champions League match versus FC Twente of the Dutch league, who are managed by Steve Mcclaren. And you know what? We'll probably win. Even if we don't, it isn't the end of the world. A draw on the road in your first match of the season wouldn't be a bad result at all. I have a feeling if that does happen though that everyone will come out and act like it's the worst result in the history of Arsenal Football Club.

A quick look at the injury situation and we've got Kolo Toure, Phillippe Senderos, Samir Nasri, Abou Diaby, Cesc Fabregas, and of course Rosicky and Eduardo all out of this match. It does leave us a bit short-handed for this match, but we'll make do.

Let's look at the probable lineup for Arsenal:

Almunia
Sagna-Djourou-Gallas-Clichy
Walcott-Denilson-Ramsey-Vela
RvP-Adebayor.

It's a very young midfield to be sure but Ramsey and Denilson have looked a decent pairing so far and I think Vela and Walcott will do a good job on the wings. Of course our two strikers are world class so that will help out the youngsters in the midfield. Djourou has looked decent in preseason, but not great. We'll get to see what he's made of in this match, but it's always good when you have full backs like Clichy and Sagna helping you out. The main thing with Johann is going to be his communication with Bill Gallas. When they played together in preseason the communication wasn't there and they didn't work well together. They need to talk and be on the same page and they are both capable of doing well.

I think Denilson will prove his doubters wrong tomorrow. A couple days ago I said he should be the one starting next to Cesc and got blasted for it of course because "he's not strong in the tackle." He'll show that he can tackle I think, and not only that but I wouldn't be surprised to see him lay on an assist as well. We bought Aaron Ramsey because Arsene intended to play him, and now he's getting his chance. You don't spend 5 million pounds on someone you don't think can play, so if Arsene thinks he can play then who are we to say he isn't ready to start?

Robin van Persie talks about how important this match is and how we must get into the Champions League. He's absolutely right, but it doesn't all have to be done this match. There are two legs to this fixture.

I think the final score will be 2-1 to Arsenal, and I think Adebayor and van Persie will both get one. We'll probably go down a goal but we'll fight back. I'm sure you will all be sure to tell me how wrong I am though if that isn't correct. You love doing that so much.

So that's about it. I'm really looking forward to the match and like I said, if we don't have a blinding performance, please remember it's on the road in the first match of the season against a team we hardly ever face. It's going to be fairly difficult. Keep the faith fans.

Oh to be a Gooner!

Arsenal.com got a makeover, it looks nice I have to say.

Denilson Should Start In Midfield

Morning all. I'm taking a break from watching the Olympics because they are showing rowing right now. Is that even a sport? Rowing. Some of these sports are just awful...beach volleyball, handball, synchronized diving/swimming, fencing...I love the Olympics but some things just should not have medals given for them.

So what happened over the weekend? Well we won the Amsterdam Cup, so that was good. I've honestly only seen highlights and read match reports so I can't go into detail over the performances, but I can tell a few things. Both of Ajax's goals were bloody outstanding. I know we should have closed down better but how can you stop shots like those two? Adebayor looked fantastic in his two goals and with his assist. He's going to be great again this year and everyone will forget what a wanker he was during this summer. In the second match we got a draw with Sevilla with Carlos Vela on the score sheet for Arsenal. He's looked good every time I've seen him this preseason and I'm looking forward to seeing him get into some real games.

So those are our last preseason games for the first teamers, as we start Champions League football on Wednesday and the Premiership on Saturday. Isn't that exciting? We pretty much know what we have to work with for this week's matches because I think even if we made a new signing they probably wouldn't be ready to play right away. Besides, Arsene Wenger says he is much too busy to sign a midfielder. So who's starting then? If you're Arsene Wenger to you try to go full strength on Wednesday and on Saturday? And what is the full strength lineup anyway? If I had to pick a lineup Wednesday I think I try to leave Cesc out until Saturday. Mine would look like this:

Almunia
Sagna-Toure-Gallas-Clichy
Walcott-Denilson-Ramsey-Nasri
Adebayor-Vela

I can explain leaving out Cesc and RvP, so don't bite my head off just yet. Cesc has been in training the least out of anyone that is healthy, as he came back just over a week ago. I think we should (should) be a far superior team to FC Twente and should wait to have Cesc ready to go for Saturday. Ramsey has looked capable next to Denilson and I don't see why that partnership couldn't make it through the away leg of this tie with a good result. A scoring draw or a win almost certainly sees us through to the group stages. RvP I think could be another player who could wait until Saturday and wouldn't cause us too much trouble. I'd rather have him fit for the league opener than risk him against a team we should be able to beat without him. Vela has looked very capable as well as Bendtner and I think either of them with Adebayor should be more than enough to score a goal or two.

But now it's getting a bit late in the transfer window and it hasn't looked like we're bringing in a new partner for Cesc, so if not, then who's it going to be? Has Denilson won himself the job with Diaby being out injured (as always)? I know not a lot of people have faith in him to do the job but he's looked good so far and maybe it's his time to shine. I really thought Diaby would be the guy but he just can't stay healthy and we can't rely on any more of those type of players. I'm not sure what will happen but if we don't sign anyone else, Denilson gets my vote.

Piers Morgan actually writes an article about how much he hates Alex Ferguson, and I actually kind of liked it. I didn't even know he was a Gooner.

I don't really know what else to write, I'm just looking forward to the matches this week. Almost time for the start of the season so you better sign up for the Fantasy Football League now. Go USA in the Olympics and I'll see you all tomorrow. Cheers.

Arsenal Need A New Defender - Eduardo Returns

Hola. I'm writing this during half time of the Arsenal-Real Madrid match and it's still 0-0. Yesterday we lost 1-0 to Juventus on a goal that was CLEARLY offside by David Trezeguet. Referee is clearly in preseason form as well. I'm not going to bother with a match report but if you want to read one I'm sure you can find one somewhere.

What I am going to talk about is the defense, which has looked shaky at best against Stuttgart, Juve, and Madrid at times. Going forward we have looked fairly strong. I think Denilson, Wilshere, and Ramsey have all had exceptional preseasons along with Vela and Bendtner. Adebayor and RvP don't have their full match sharpness yet so we haven't put goals in yet in this tournament but they will come with more games. The chances we have created will be put in the back of the net during the real season. Offensively is not where my concerns lie, however.

There have been several cases this preseason where the defensive marking has been questionable. I realize that several of the center back pairings haven't played with each other much and it is only preseason, but they are mistakes that you don't often see from solid defenses at this level. Too much space has been given to opposing strikers, and I remember especially against Stuttgart they had several good chances with strikers getting free behind the defense because of poor marking. Our problem last year was our inability to cope with long balls and pick up the strikers when the ball was on the way in, and that vulnerability seems to remain. I don't know if it is a communication error or just not having the familiarity, but it is something that needs to be remedied as soon as possible.

At the start of the transfer season Arsene Wenger was asked about his targets for the summer and his answer was that we would sign "A playmaker and a powerful defender." Well we have our playmaker in Samir Nasri but it appears that Wenger has forgotten about the defender. Djourou and Senderos have never been convincing over an extended period of time and the Gallas/Toure partnership hasn't ever been as successful as it should be with two players of their caliber. We need a new defender. It's as simple as that. More than we need any holding midfielder, our first priority HAS to be a defender. There are loads of good ones, who have been solid consistently, that can play at high levels, and one of them needs to be brought in. Another season of leaking long balls that turn into goals is unacceptable. If it happens again than Wenger has to be blamed. He said himself that we need a defender and he has failed to bring one in. I'm a Wenger guy 100% but after watching the defense in these matches and having the same problems as we had all last year, I realize that a change has to be made.

Some other observations...As I said earlier, I think Denilson has been great this preseason. He has looked strong in the tackle, comfortable on the ball and with his distribution, and not afraid to take a shot when he has a sight of goal. We haven't gotten to see a whole lot of Diaby, but I think Denilson has made the most of his run in the team. Do you think he could be up to the job of playing beside Cesc? Judging by his play so far I'd say he can.

Last, I wanna talk about Eduardo, who returned today to a massive reception. It was great to see him walking around and they interviewed him as well. Great to hear from him and especially great to hear the roaring of the crowd when they saw him. Big ups from myself to all the fans who showed him how much we are all rooting for him. Get well soon mate, we're all praying for you.

Let me know what you think about everything. Hope Arsenal go out and win in this 2nd half. Cheers.