Arsene Wenger; The Myth, The Legend, The Man

Arsene Wenger is a man that has his finger in more pies than Jim (Jason Biggs) in American Pie. If you can refrain from any sexual images that would be nice…. He has been described in some quarters as a purist, a genius, a professor of the game, a master tactician and so on. The plaudits that he has received have been more earth shattering than a scene from a Mass Effect game ( If you don’t know what that is, the earth shatters). Obviously these quotes come from people that are close to him or in his pocket obviously by that I mean that in the most literal sense not actually in his pocket that would be ridiculous. There wouldn’t be room what with the small children he has buried down his pants.He is all about nurturing don’t you know? 

 

A more fitting name for Wenger would be the Accountant, he has probably fiddled more finances than Rogue trader Nick Leeson. Im not too sure he knows his way round a football pitch but give him a balance sheet and he could be all yours ladies. 

 

Wenger is a candidate for the Paedophile Pimp of the modern game, watch out kids Wenger’s about. “He will scout you at your school, he will get in to your head, make you promises he cannot keep, he will steal you from your bed”. Wenger isn’t interested in players that make immediate impacts who is? who is in the game to be successful? what would be the point in that? As long as they have a good time that’s all that counts isn’t it?… sorry I lost myself there since the club only seems to have kids on the books these days I slipped into a coma, woke up in a different dimension thought I had a son and was watching his hopes and dreams completely shattered in front of my own eyes.  

 

As some of you will know by now I am huge admirer of what Wenger has achieved, his recent achievements at Arsenal are impressive. They can only be compared to the amazing catastrophe that was banking Giant Goldman Sachs, that is right they are the bank that kickstarted the global economic meltdown. He has managed to take a thriving club and turn it on its head. The club is now heading into the the proverbial rabbit hole.

 

Wenger is a man that defines success not by how many trophies he has one, but evidently how the annual turnover looks. Wenger also manages to find himself being more powerful that Ivan Gazidis or anyone else at the club for that matter. He is cleverly manufactured a position where he can dictate what fees he is willing to pay for certain players. His power resembles something similar to genocidal maniac Muammar al-Gaddafi (that is the colonel to you). 

 

I would like to summarise this by saying that having Arsene Wenger in charge of your football club is a bit like Anal Sex, if on the receiving end it is undoubtedly painful, but if you are not directly effected it is just a sick joke.

 

 

Goonerscribe Out.

Gunners in Arms support #BoycottBuyingTheArsenalKit

Over the last week we have had an interview from Wenger stating that there is a distinct possibility that he won’t spend this transfer window as well as insisting that Arsenal are strong enough to compete for the title without any signings. As well as Arsene’s delusional speeches we have heard a lot of other people saying that there is a divide at Arsenal with Arsene refusing to spend and the board are growing increasingly impatient at having to deal with a manager who refuses to spend and possibly admit that he is wrong. Amy Lawrence a journalist from the Guardian spoke quite frankly on the situation at Arsenal last night and you can hear a clip of what she had to say on the link below.

https://soundcloud.com/arseblog/amy-lawrence-5live?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=Twitter&utm_content=https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Farseblog%2Famy-lawrence-5live

We are tired of watching the financial views of certain people bring our club down, we are sitting on a small fortune with a depleted squad and no action has been taken to buy any players this summer! Every club asides from Man United have all bought players this season and strengthened up their squads and we are left wondering what do our board and manager do every summer? It is time for this to end, it is time for us to take action and make them sit up and notice how unhappy the fans really are.

We have united with Arsenal Action this week  and fully support their boycott of buying the Arsenal kit this season. It is simple just don’t buy the kit, if we all refuse to buy a new kit then it is a start. Wear an old shirt to games, they are much nicer than the new ones anyway. If Arsenal refuse to spend money then why should we? Let’s unite and show them we are serious in our view on their socialist transfer policy.

Time to take a stand Gooners

#BoycottBuyingTheArsenalKit

Wenger irks fans with latest interview

Arsenal fans are used to the infamous quotes that Wenger gives every year in interviews and often we find them amusing, we especially like the way he can wind up other people with the things he says but when it is the fans on the receiving end of another one of his delusional speeches you have consider whether he has lost all consideration for the people that support the team?

Gooners are used to frustrating summers, we’ve spent the last 4 watching our best talent being sold from under our feet and replaced with players of a diminished ability in comparison but this summer was meant to be different. The last few months of the season were full of bragging by Wenger and Gazidis of the funds we had to spend and there was insistence that there would be additions to the team, so why are we sitting here approaching August with a few young ones banked in the future player fund, no new first team players and Wenger giving the same interview yesterday, you know-the one he gives every year saying that he is ‘no closer to signing anyone’ and ‘the team can compete for the title with or without new signings’.

We have been linked to many players throughout the summer and there have been so many signings and medicals that I’m sure Diaby has made great friends with Higuain and Jovetic during the summer whilst also renewing his friendship with Cesc. but the pursuit of Suarez is the strangest attempt I have ever seen from Wenger mainly because of his lack of man management skills, if he can’t handle the likes of Song, Arsharvin and Bendnter who are angels in comparison how does he ever expect to coach the player with the worst behaviour in the Premiership.

Bad behaviour aside Suarez is a great player and in terms of talent he is better than anything we have, there is no denying that but he is a huge risk and I just don’t see Liverpool selling to us when they know that could make all the difference to where both teams will finish in the Premiership next year. Suarez has indicated that he despises the English press and wants to move away from England altogether and all these factors point to him either staying at Anfield or going Real Madrid and I think Wenger knows this and used this situation to his advantage and attempted to appease some fans by making a bid that they won’t follow through.

Wenger is currently standing in a sweetshop full of the best quality sweets to buy and his theory is to go for the penny sweets and save the rest of the money for the piggy bank at home! I think there are many fans who are growing tired of his nonsense excuses and justification all the time. How can we believe this man when all he does is insist a team who scraped 4th last season will finish above all of those teams around us who are strengthening every week. He is either an extreme optimist bordering on delusion or he is desperately trying to not to expose himself as the tactically inept and weak manager he has become, either way his shortcomings will be laid bare for us all to see this season should we sign no-one.

I know Wenger’s fans will still describe him as the greatest manager in the world but that is simply not true. I can agree what he achieved at Arsenal a few years back was amazing but I’m starting to think that was the team and the people he had behind him because if he was the greatest manager in the world he’d be able to coach ANY team to victory and he has failed to do that.

We are 20 days away from starting the new Premiership season and 36 days away from the end of the transfer window and I foresee another year where we will have to fight another season out. I honestly can’t see Wenger keeping his job much longer without new squad members, I for one will be taking an ‘I’ll spend when you do stance if this happens’.

Thank you as always for reading and feel free to comment!

All Cashed up and No-one to buy?

Yet another week has passed and still the only addition The club has to show for their “efforts” is a Free transfer for an Injury prone French Under 21 International, Yaya Sanogo who in all honesty should have been a no go. It tells you a lot about a player especially one as young as Sanogo that Ligue 2 club Auxerre didnt even offer him a new deal that lack of persistence on their part speaks volumes.

 

There have been a few Wenger quotes this week while on a tour of Asia my favourite one is “We are not close to any signings” De ja vu anybody? a lot of the time he is known for trying to keep deals on the quiet until things are officially stamped and approved. This time I believe him, the club has been linked with endless names already this summer, the majority of which It would seem that not even interest was shown.

 

All the while Arsenal are being linked with everyone and their dog, there are good players available being snapped up by “lesser” clubs. Adil Rami is said to be available for just under £8 million from cash strapped Valencia, which is peanuts for such a good International centre back. Then there is Etienne Capoue who now looks Cardiff bound… that is right Cardiff. Victor Wanyama finalised his move to Southampton last week for £10 million. Maarten Stekelenburg to Fulham for around £3 Million. Where are Arsenal on any of these deals. 

 

It is so frustrating to see players that would have been worthy additions to the squad not even being bid for. You have to ask yourself what is going on in Wenger’s head? not much it would seem. Unfortunately we know that he has previous for taking youngsters on tours of poor footballing countries, seeing Arsenal bag a hat full of goals and think they can win the league. 

 

Do not get me wrong I believe that so far Arsenal have had a very productive pre season and the youngsters that I have seen have looked very good indeed, but with 99% of these surely to be farmed out to the glorious Championship where they will more than likely be Benchwarmers the squad will be thinner than your standard LED screen.  If Wenger is not going to buy and buy big at least give them a shot. Zelalem and Akpom have specifically stood out for me on this tour, along with the rejuvenated Rosicky. 

 

Once again it would appear the writing is on the wall, The club seems to have been caught up with all the media hype surrounded the transfer window, instead of chasing Suarez which is a lost cause in my opinion look at Lewandowski, Fellaini and Gustavo for starters. These are players that there is at least a chance in reached agreements with. I have also seen various reports regarding interest in Konstantinos Mitroglou the Olympiakos Centre forward would be the kind of player I would expect Wenger to be looking at. I have already seen the predictable ” I have not heard of him so he must be s***” to all the people that use this constantly, maybe you should go and get a football education, or at least learn to read so you can do some research. 

 

That is all for now, I hope I am completley wrong about the clubs Transfer policy but when you have A Manager that can dictate to the Chief executive about how much he is willing to pay for a player you will have very big problems ahead, for all intents and purposes I really hope Gazidis stands his ground and takes it upon himself to make things happen in this window because it does not seem like Wenger will be.

 

 

Goonerscribe out.

Do Arsenal Lack Bite?

It has been confirmed this morning that Arsenal have had a renewed bid of £40 million rejected from Liverpool for Luis Suarez, it is also reported that a further bid is expected in the next few days. there have been a few conflicting reports recently regarding the release clause in Suarez’s contract. The fact is that the clause in his contract merely states that any bid over £40 million is made clear to Suarez although the club does not have to accept it. 

 

I can not see Liverpool selling him to a rival Premier league club as they do not have to, It would be more sensible for the club to stop wasting time on this deal and look elsewhere. There are several players that would be available for that kind of money or even less, so Wenger should give up on Suarez and move on to the next.

 

I am still astounded No-one has managed to capture Robert Lewandowski from Dortmund this summer…. yet. It had originally been thought that he was Bayern bound but he recently quashed those rumours and did not want to go. But for around £30 million you would think Dortmund would find that bid very hard to resist. 

 

You would also have to ask were Arsenal ever that interested in Gonzalo Higuain or Wayne Rooney both would be available for a similar kind of price but no firm bids seem to have been made. 

 

While we are on the topic of “bids” being made. There are conflicting reports claiming there has been no bid for Bernard. It was reported earlier this week via ESPN Brazil that a deal for the Brazilian starlet had been reached with Atletico Miniero and he would have his medical on Friday after their final game of the season. This could mean one of two things. the deal has fallen flat on its face a bit like Paul Gascoigne on a regular night out. Or which is quite likely Atletico Miniero have requested Arsenal to keep the deal tight lipped.

 

Finally, this nonsense of still not having a recognised and reliably fit Defensive Midfielder on our books. You would think this would be priority number one this summer as the club had been heavily exposed last season due to a lack of options in this position. Any team that has serious title aspirations can surely not be relying on Mikel Arteta in there for yet another season, He was originally signed as a temporary measure for this position and surprise surprise nothing else has happened. It would appear Fellaini to Arsenal is dead in the water. Luis Gustavo is continuing to be linked with a move to the Emirates. With money according to Gazidis being “No Problem” why not make an audacious bid for one of the best midfielders in European football, Juventus’s Arturo Vidal. The Chilean Midfielder would be available for around £35 million only Real Madrid have shown interest this summer without making any offer for him. 

 

 

Feedback always welcome.

Wenger Goes For A Brazilian

It was reported a couple of days ago that Arsenal have agreed a deal with Atletico Mineiro worth £21 Million for their Brazilian Starlet Bernard. The story was allegedly broke by an ESPN Brazil reporter. A few untrustworthy sites had picked this up Sulia and caughtoffside.com to start off with. Most of their stories resemble something you would normally scrape of the bottom of your shoe but it seems to have gathered pace within a few other media forums so watch this space?… possibly Don’t think anyone can be too sure when it comes to dithering Arsene and the transfer market. he would be an amazing signing for the club if it was to happen but I have my doubts although he does fit the bill for a typical Wenger signing. He is technically good, quick and young.

Moving on.. Brazilian No.2 Luis Gustavo who has recently been a regular in the current Brazil squad. it is being reported that Wenger is weighing up a bid of £8 Million for the Bayern Defensive Midfielder who can also operate within the back four very effectively. it is claimed in Germany that Gustavo maybe surplus to requirements at the Allianz arena. He was not first choice last season and with the arrival of Thiago Alcantara it would seem Gustavo’s days are numbered at Bayern. Gustavo would be a very good signing for Arsenal as he would give more than adequate cover defensively and the club has been crying out for a solid Defensive Midfield for years.

Last but not least Brazilian No.3 one Julio Cesar, it is reported in the Metro this morning that Wenger has told him he would need to take a pay cut. Baring in mind that he is the Brazilian No.1 and QPR will accept anything in the region of £3 million why all the posturing you may ask… that is what I did. So we have released numerous fringe players so we can compete with the top clubs in respect of wage demands yet we are not willing to even negotiate. This seems preposterous especially when Wenger was quoted last week saying the club can meet Wayne Rooney‘s £250,000 a week demands. Something seems a bit suspicious here. Admittedly this is only reported in the Metro who also claimed Arsenal signed him several weeks back. I personally would like to see Cesar get what he wants he is still a top class keeper and if Wenger is looking for an experienced Goalkeeper to push Szczesny and Fabianski then Cesar is your man he has a wealth of experience. I wish he would really stop stalling over every penny he is willing to spend and just compete.

The transfer window is a big money making period for various media outlets so it does become quite difficult sifting through the rubbish, unfortunately it is just a case of bring patient which is something Arsenal fans have understandably lost in the past few seasons. many phantom bids have been placed in the past not to mention Arsenal agreeing deals only to decide they want to pay less for a player for example Juan Mata. Arsene Wenger is known to continually shift the goalposts on the kind of issues. Only time will tell.

Feedback welcome as always

Follow me on Twitter @goonerscribe

Are Arsenal victims of Their own Philosophy?

In the wake of the Bankrolled sides of European football splashing the cash I have to ask myself was the FFP (Financial Fair Play) league all just a dream, a hoax or something more sinister? Earlier today Manchester City confirmed they have signed Alvaro Negredo with Stevan Joveticsure to follow this would bring their summer spending up to £100 million. Other clubs have also spent excessively such as As Monaco who have only just been promoted to Ligue 1 and have spent a staggering £125 million already on the likes of Radamel Falcao, Joao Moutinho and James Rodrigues as well as others. 

 

It would appear only a select few clubs are adhering to these rules. last season it was confirmed that Malaga who had relatively small financial irregularities compared to Europe’s elite were sanctioned and banned from competing in the Champions League for the upcoming 2013-14 season. In some quarters this has been seen to be just the tip of the iceberg regarding football’s finances which leaves quite a sour taste in the mouth. 

 

Arsenal are one of the clubs that had almost religiously chosen keep stringent stock of their finances and not abandon the financial security that they had created for themselves many season ago. It would definitely need to be questioned now if that is the correct course of action as the club is in a state of decline. 

 

With more and more Sugardaddy playboys looking to own a piece of the Premier League pie it is very easy to just follow suit in the means of survival. Until these rules are firmly implemented this will unfortunately continue. 

 

There are few teams that would seem to operate a club in the right manor, it is no secret that everyone from Ivan Gazidis to Stewart Robson’s dog knows the club needs to spend big to keep in touching distance of the top four with all of the club’s rivals spending sufficiently to claw their way onto the cash cow that is Champions League Football.

 

It is a very important Summer as always at the Emirates this could be more important than the previous ones. A big Marquee name is needed to increase the clubs reputation which has been damaged over recent seasons.

 

FFP is due to meet its inception from next summer but I have heard this one before from FIFA this was meant to have been implemented a few seasons back. As FIFA have a reputation for moving the goalposts to suit their conflicting interests do NOT be surprised to see this delayed once more. Everyone that has the future of the sport in their interests I’m sure would prefer this to be introduced sooner rather than later to keep the spirit of the game pure as it has no doubt been tarnished by certain questionable FIFA and UEFA decisions in the past few years. 

 

Feedback as always is welcome

Another Frustrating Summer

It seems to be a very familiar story for Arsenal fans this summer, since the club qualified for the Champions League  for another season it had been widely reported that there was going to be vast investment in the squad. This was followed by very positive words from one Ivan Gazidis who claimed that the club can now compete with the likes of Bayern Munich no less. The club has been linked with Gonzalo Higuain,Wayne Rooney,Luis Suarez, Victor Wanyama,Marouane Fellaini, Julio Cesar and Tim Krul to name just a few in recent weeks, This seems to be a very familiar story for supporters who have seen this kind of thing before, being linked with various big names without the desired outcome.

 

Fans have been crying out for a change in philosophy within the clubs transfer policy but early indications suggest this will not be the case. Recent signings Yaya Sonogo, Dan Crowley, Julio Selva and jamaal Raage all signed for a combined total of £1.9m. This will surely fall short of fans expectation for the coming season.

 

I am sure the main frustrations from the Arsenal faithful will be the lack of movement for a big marquee signing. Gooners have been looking on while the likes of Fernandinho, Jesus Navas, Paulinho, Andre Schurrle and Victor Wanyama have all agreed deals with other premier league clubs while we are led to believe a huge percentage of these players were on Wenger’s radar, It would only be natural to question his desire and ambition for the club at this stage.

 

The club reportedly now has something in the region of £125 million to spend but there is no real sign that Wenger will be parting with much of that this summer. This is sure to incur the wrath of Stan kroenke and Ivan Gazidis who have grown very impatient with Wenger’s policy as Gazidis tries to push Wenger to invest heavily in the squad and push for honours next season.

 

If it is the case that Arsenal do not invest well then It will be a very tough season ahead. 

 

 

Thanks for Reading, Feedback is always welcome.

Arsenal have 99 problems but Money isn’t one

We are almost 7 weeks into the transfer window (not 11 days as some Gooners think*) and we have signed 1 player on a free contract meanwhile other clubs including our rivals are making signings all around us. In a summer where Wenger and the board were meant to be making moves to strengthen up the squad and enable us to compete for a trophy it is simply not good enough that we fly out to Vietnam on pre-season with no new additions to the first team other than an injury prone postie.

For a team who have made it clear that they have a £70m transfer budget available they are really taking their time in getting players signed when we are in desperate need of squad members at least. Since the end of the season players like Navas, Falcao, Tevez, Gomez, Wayanama etc have all been signed within a week of negotiating deals and instead we have to settle for the realisation that when it comes to transfers we are absolutely inept at tying up a deal and it normally comes down to finances. Whether you blame Wenger, Gazidis or Kroenke it still doesn’t make it easier to endure the embarrassment that our transfer policy emits and there is no excuse whatsoever if we haven’t signed anyone in the next 53 days and with Kroenke and Gazidis both insisting funds need to be spent that only leaves Wenger to blame and rightly so in my opinion.

Wenger is a very clever man, that economics degree has worked wonders for the club in the past and the money genius does deserve praise for the fact that our club is financially stable and will be for a while. Although I can agree this bodes well for the future it is clear we have sacrificed the present moment to plan for a future that doesn’t exist yet and this worries me, if we wanted an amazing accountant as our team manager then this was a great success but I think we all wanted a manager whose sole focus was football and Wenger hasn’t managed that. It has become clear that despite his immense intelligence Arsene can’t do both jobs, he has to choose between finance and football and then focus on that.

I personally think that when it comes down to the end of this transfer window people will really start to see that Wenger is likely to be at fault if we have lost out on players like Fellaini and Rooney for the sake of a couple of million pounds, it will be the Mata story repeated. I think Le boss has forgotten that it isn’t actually his money, it is the club’s and the fans money, we deserve to have a say on how it is spent and opinion on why we aren’t signing world class players.

Wenger gets £7.5 million a year for the (dis)pleasure of being our manager, that is wages of £150k a week. How on earth can he justify not breaking his wage structure of 100k a week to bring in good players when he accepts wages that are higher than any of our players. In this modern day football is more money based and as a result you have to pay more in wages and fees and as with any business you have to speculate to accumulate.

Another frustrating summer pans out and everyone else in the league continue to strengthen their teams and we sit and wait in the hope for a miracle but they don’t seem to come our way much at the moment. I am hoping that Arsenal sign some players by September or we really will be in trouble.

As always thanks for reading 🙂

*http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/fans/faqs/when-does-transfer-window-open-close/

New Contract for Wenger?

It is being reported this morning in the Sunday Mirror that Arsenal have entered into contract negotiations with Arsene Wenger talks are at a very early stage but the initial talks have been described as “positive” I suppose that would depend on your point of view and where you want to see the club in the near future.

 

It has also been mentioned that no contract will be signed while the club prepares for the upcoming season. This decision to offer Wenger a new three year deal will no doubt be with major financial incentives and is sure to be greeted with very mixed opinions indeed. There are certain fans that will no doubt say that it is imperative that the club keeps hold of Wenger. As with most situations there is a flip side which will no doubt consist of fans that would suggest this couldn’t come at a more important time for the club. With yet another important Summer window and a new season looming you would have to admit there are a lot more pressing issues for the club to be concerned about. 

 

There still has not been any improvements made to the first team squad, all the while the likes of Man City, Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool have all made improvements to their respective squads. The cynic within me may suggest that these recent transfer speculations involving the likes of Higuain, Fellaini, Rooney and Suarez to name a few could well be a smokescreen to try and convince the board to renew Wenger’s contract. If there is one thing Wenger is good at it is posturing without much substance behind it.

 

One thing has always been certain, Wenger does not break his contract he is very loyal to club he serves and has been in the past. But I would hope that any contract would be put on ice at least until after the January transfer window so the club can see where they are and that the club has progressed. 

 

 

In summarising many of you that follow my articles would know by now I am not Arsene’s Number one fan but I would not necessarily begrudge him a new deal if he is able to invest in the squad substantially and Arsenal regain some pride and start challenging for trophies again. Unfortunately I have serious doubts that he can fulfill these targets. many fans will no doubt harp back to where the club was before 1996 if this is continually the case then Arsenal F.C  will never be able to move on. Swansea City are a prime example of how change can be positive. They were completely changed by Roberto Martinez then when he moved on he was replaced and this has happened time after time and they have improved year after year I do not see why this would be impossible for Arsenal to do the same.

 

 

Goonerscribe