Then we may be still fighting for a Champions League place this year, our club would not have won the league for over 50 years and we would see spending millions while not even genuinely challenging for the league title as a work of genius. Of course you all know I'm yanking your chains to a degree but there is a very serious point here.
That point is that the English media are not consistent in their applause and criticism, to put it mildly. At the moment if you were an alien reading the English papers you would think that Arsene has been deliberately trying to run Arsenal FC aground, while 'Arry Redknapp is some kind of footballing (not tax accountancy) magician. This was translated into the other night's away draw at the Lane being seen as a victory for Tottenham and a disaster for Arsenal. It's strange that the media concentrates so much on this six years without a trophy, I haven't seen Tottenham's 50 years without the league title mentioned half as much and it's a far more damning statistic.
Take this article from John Cross, allegedly an Arsenal friendly journalist at the Mirror. It typifies the way in which our own media so often struggle to see anything with any perspective, on one hand the article puts the media at the centre of the Universe, but on the other it refuses to acknowledge the role in the media in the breakdown of its relationship with Arsene Wenger. Arsene has quite rightly and justifiably run out patience with the gutter press, he has consistently given a lot more than most managers and what he has given has been repeatedly distorted and used against him, strangely there is no mention of this from John Cross.
A lot of garbage has been spewed forth in recent weeks on all matters Arsenal related in the mainstream media, luckily these days there are plenty of amateurs producing a lot of more insightful and interesting reading material. A lot of aggression and arrogance displayed by professional journalists towards bloggers is because they are scared for their livelihoods, it is a defensive reaction, they are afraid.
Everyone has their vested interests. Professional journalists need to sell papers and generate hits, this means they are driven towards producing sensationalist drivel, and after a while they start to believe their own dross. The beauty of amateur blogging is that there are very few vested interests at work, especially if there is no advertising carrot coming into play, and hopefully this can help reverse the trend towards reactionary nonsense.
Every Gooner will have an opinion on where they want the club to go in the summer and every one's slant will be slightly different. One man I respect and trust a great deal is Lee Dixon, this excellent and thought provoking interview points towards a few areas that must be worked on.
Having been chatting to many family, friends and fellow Gooners in recent days I think that many of us are thinking similar things. As Le Grove pointed out today, there will be money to spend and if we can cull some of the dead wood then there will be a lot of money available. I don't agree with all the names they have listed, certainly I would like to see Denilson, Almunia, Vela, Rosicky and Squillaci shipped out, but this is part of the solution.
Another part will be bringing in a small handful of the right experienced players. The other key parts are sorting out the defensive coaching, we need to be better set up and better organised as a team defensively, we need to work harder and be more organised when we do not have the ball. Apparently we do not even have a defensive coach, why not get the legendary Martin Keown into this role? We also need to adjust our tactics for different opposition, our away record is excellent, but modifying our tactics at home when we play against sides that like to park the team bus in front of the goal is also key. I would simply love to see Arsene prove his critics wrong. Come on you Gunners.
That point is that the English media are not consistent in their applause and criticism, to put it mildly. At the moment if you were an alien reading the English papers you would think that Arsene has been deliberately trying to run Arsenal FC aground, while 'Arry Redknapp is some kind of footballing (not tax accountancy) magician. This was translated into the other night's away draw at the Lane being seen as a victory for Tottenham and a disaster for Arsenal. It's strange that the media concentrates so much on this six years without a trophy, I haven't seen Tottenham's 50 years without the league title mentioned half as much and it's a far more damning statistic.
Take this article from John Cross, allegedly an Arsenal friendly journalist at the Mirror. It typifies the way in which our own media so often struggle to see anything with any perspective, on one hand the article puts the media at the centre of the Universe, but on the other it refuses to acknowledge the role in the media in the breakdown of its relationship with Arsene Wenger. Arsene has quite rightly and justifiably run out patience with the gutter press, he has consistently given a lot more than most managers and what he has given has been repeatedly distorted and used against him, strangely there is no mention of this from John Cross.
A lot of garbage has been spewed forth in recent weeks on all matters Arsenal related in the mainstream media, luckily these days there are plenty of amateurs producing a lot of more insightful and interesting reading material. A lot of aggression and arrogance displayed by professional journalists towards bloggers is because they are scared for their livelihoods, it is a defensive reaction, they are afraid.
Everyone has their vested interests. Professional journalists need to sell papers and generate hits, this means they are driven towards producing sensationalist drivel, and after a while they start to believe their own dross. The beauty of amateur blogging is that there are very few vested interests at work, especially if there is no advertising carrot coming into play, and hopefully this can help reverse the trend towards reactionary nonsense.
Every Gooner will have an opinion on where they want the club to go in the summer and every one's slant will be slightly different. One man I respect and trust a great deal is Lee Dixon, this excellent and thought provoking interview points towards a few areas that must be worked on.
Having been chatting to many family, friends and fellow Gooners in recent days I think that many of us are thinking similar things. As Le Grove pointed out today, there will be money to spend and if we can cull some of the dead wood then there will be a lot of money available. I don't agree with all the names they have listed, certainly I would like to see Denilson, Almunia, Vela, Rosicky and Squillaci shipped out, but this is part of the solution.
Another part will be bringing in a small handful of the right experienced players. The other key parts are sorting out the defensive coaching, we need to be better set up and better organised as a team defensively, we need to work harder and be more organised when we do not have the ball. Apparently we do not even have a defensive coach, why not get the legendary Martin Keown into this role? We also need to adjust our tactics for different opposition, our away record is excellent, but modifying our tactics at home when we play against sides that like to park the team bus in front of the goal is also key. I would simply love to see Arsene prove his critics wrong. Come on you Gunners.
26 comments:
At last !! A few words of sanity. You would think we were fighting relegation to read the press. WE are a very good side, almost a great side. Yes, we might have done better this year but we are not far away. Keep mthe faith.
I'm getting fed up hearing keep the faith ( thats old hat now ). Something seriously needs to be done next season.
Arthur..
wheres your quad gone........ up wengers arse paedo scum.
with the money
quality of squad including bendtner eboue squallici
crap man utd squad
you shud be winning this league.
wenger out.. in wenger we rust
first anon 1603
it's not 'keep the faith' as you ignorantly put it, it's change but in moderation as explained, massive changes very rarely do any good, often more badness
anon 1604
your comments are a disgrace and merit no response, i shall leave them up as they simply make you appear the retard that you are
Well said and at lat a post that is worth reading. Yes we have lost a few points unneccesarily and we definately have areas that Arsene needs to address in the summer. Despite some of the drivel coming out, I think in the cold light of day if you look at Arsenal, we are in good shape and yes we can do much better, and please give Arsene the credit he deserves or else we will end up with the Twitchy Saggy Cheeks from the lane who will run us to the ground.
Look at Redknapp's legacy at West Ham and Portsmouth and you know what will happen at Spurs when he leaves.
The Redknapp revolution will start to unfold once they fail to get Champions League football.
You wanker, Harry Redknapp as manager? What the fuck?
You make me sick.
Great Article 1979gooner.
I watched the Lee Dixon interview and I've gotta say I disagree with a lot of what he said. For me he epitomizes what most of the mainstream english media think of arsenals current plight minus the Wenger bashing.
I whole heartedly agree with your point about a defensive coach though. Not necessarily Martin Keown or even a defensive coach just someone with a little more tactical awareness than Wenger because for me that is where he has really started to disappoint. Someone more capable of reactive tactical decision making instead of Wengers one size fits all approach.
If you Haven't aleady seen it and want to know the truth about 'Arry Redknapp check out the website SWISS RAMBLE and see the article HARRYS GAME. It's absolutely brilliant!
anon 1703
do you not get it? :)
1979gooner
brilliant argument, most of ur points are points i've been saying for a while...but no1 listens to a 16 yr old boy unfortunatly
but why compare ourselves to spuds..why compare wenger to redknapp..wat has redknapp done to deserve such comparison..after da invincibles we were supposed to be right up der among the very best...der can be no excuse for six years wid out the premier league let alone no trophy at all..if you are content with that and wouldnt mind a year more like that then you should support tottenham cos champions league qualification is one hell of an achievement for them ...for me it has been absolutely unbearable watchin all those seasons promising the world and then settling for champions league spot reveling in our mediocrity like we had actually won something..even ferguson wouldnt have lasted this long because even he is not bigger then manchester united..
Well said fella ..... a great post ! what have the spuds done ? how much have Chelsea, Liverpool, Manu and Man city spent ? We are third in the table and the media bash us and Wenger constantly, why ? also, how many times on MOTD have Arsenal been on first, I can tell you, virtually none !! (it might have something to do with a big eared spud presenting it mind you .... ). But why do the media love to hate Arsenal ... I really don't get it, it's like the ugly sisters v Cinderella and they don't like the fact that we are the beautiful ones :0)
From a supporters point of view, we have had nothing to get passionate about for 6 years (even in a relegation battle you get a sense of victory when you beat the drop). We need something to become passionate about and that is tough when it doesn't happen year after year ...... We all (or true supporters) love the club and want success.
Why not have Adams come in as Wengers No2 and coach the defence (as they are not bad, just green at times)and buy some experience, as we do need a leader .... I think Arsene just needs to dig a bit deeper and buy one or two quality players, think about tactics and defence and we will be there !! I still trust in him, but when he hears critics slagging him off, he just digs his heels in further and becomes so stubborn that he will bite his nose off to spite his face ....
Big Ernie
That'll be 'Arry "One trophy" Redknapp father of the witless "expert" anbd the man about tpo go to court in July on tax charges....the man who has taken the Spuds to three places short of ending their 50 year wait for a title...it just makes us seem all tghe luckier to have Arsene....
I couldn't give a monkeys about redknapp, Wenger's still a twat who refuses to buy the 2 or 3 quality players that would see us dominate the PL. Most expensive signing arshavin for £15 mil and that nearly didn't happen coz wenger didn't wanna pay.so sick of the garbage about mental strength and constant excuses too. What a wanker
Excellent article '79! John Cross is daft as arseholes and twice as nasty. What makes me really sick about him is he masquerades as a Gooner. He is in a perfect position to put the other side of the story across. Instead he sticks the knife in with the rest of the perverse media. He is a very sad man.
Also, the comments on here calling Arsenal people (Wenger) things like paedo, twat, wanker etc make me ashamed. I hate the fact that these mentally deficient people have such big mouths and can be viewed as representative of the Gooner nation. They are really stupid and childish, perhaps as you say, retarded. If so then they deserve pity I guess. It is difficult to feel pity for such nasty scum though.
I would suggest that the reason why the shortcomings of arsenal is highlighted more in the media is simply because more is expected from them. You should recognise it as a compliment Spurs have won virtually nothing in the past 25 years. We are quite rightly judged by higher standards. Chelsea until recently were going through a poor spell and their problems were subjected to exstensive scrutiny and criticism. The same would apply to manure in the same situation. This blog and a large number of its contributors seems to suffer from a persecution complex,continually blaming officials, the media,,opposing managers,cheating players,conspiracy theories for our failings instead of looking closer to home. On the whole the media has been fulsome in their praise of arsenal, acknowledging that we play the best football. Some however have also pointed our shortcomings of which most of us are painfully aware apart from AW and the AKBs . The fact that you do not agree with what they are saying does not make their criticism any less valid. The fact that we have failed to win anything in six years lends credence to their arguments. Wenger says "we do need to make any signings in the transfer window" (yes we did) 'I believe the squad is strong enough" (no it isn't) . I respect what wenger has achieved but I believe his arrogance makes him incapable of making the changes needed to make us successful again. His statements seems designed to irritate supporters. He has proved himself tactically inept and has been out thought by so many premiership managers. I note from wengers latest statement he "does not expect a busy summer", Apparently, "the team is 23 years old,so why should we expect to have a huge turnover at the end of the season". So no change there then. Next season it will be deja vu. One side pleading for experience players, goalkeeper, CB,defensive midfielder, natural leader,a plan b ,etc. The other side retaliating with, "we would be nothing without wenger", "not true supporters"," f... off and support another club" etc. Last year Guadiola won the treble, this year he will win the league and maybe the CL. If he goes the next 4 years without winning a trophy he will be dismissed. If in the next 4 years under wenger we fail to win anything will the AKBs be coming out with the same old excuses. The answer would be YES. As long as wenger can get us 4th place and CL football some supporters and also the board will be happy. We will always be behind manure as long as Ferguson is there. Chelsea and City will no doubt splash the cash and as yet spurs are no danger and Pool will still be building under Kenny, so 4th is a gimme for the next few years. Of course CESC,VP,NASRI,WALCOTT wont be around, not sharing wengers defintion of success. But I have a feeling Denilson, Rosicky,Bendtner will. I cant wait.
The reason why spurs are not reminded of their 50 years drought is because they are no title challengers. When an underdog team performs well, media will appreciate but Arsenal are expected to compete and win the title and the champions league. That is the reason a lot of criticism is directed towards Arsenal club and Arsen Wenger.
The point about hypocrisy is because numerous people in the media have been saying that spurs would overtake us for years.
These same people then such the knife in to arsenal when they relatively overachieve but let spurs off.
1979gooner
If Redknapp managed Arsenal you guys might have won a trophy in the past 6 years.
While more is surely expected out of Arsenal, I don't think that's the reason why they are criticised so much. They are criticised because in the past few years they haven't been upto the mark. Plain and simple.
http://www.wherehasourarsenalgone.webeden.co.uk/#
Time to be heard....
I think Arsenal need to win more than United cuz if we lose, 2nd place will be gone and we might even finish 4th. But a win would certainly improve our chances of finishing 2nd which btw we haven't in many years.
I would suggest you to think about my latest article(especially if are going to the Emirates on Sunday)
http://delhigunner.wordpress.com/
I note that that the owner of this blog has not updated it since 22nd Apr. I hope you are well and your health has not been the reason for your lack of input. The only other reason apart from holidays is that you are trying to recover from the Bolton game and as an avid AKB you have been struggling to come up with some valid excuse for our continually failings. I appreciate that this must be extremely difficult, no matter how deluded you are there must come a time when even the most ardent AKBs starts to exhibit a glimmer of doubt,begin to question long held views. All the doom merchants who were saying that our title aspiration was just a pipedream and our past failings and obvious weaknesses would come back to bite us, have been proven to be right on the mark. Doesn't make it any better to be proved right.The last 2 months has been horrible and I dread having to go into work to suffer the ridicule. If you are unwell, I wish you a quick recovery.
So is the squad inexperienced or not??(Wenger excuses Volume 33)
I qoute AW from todays press conference: "they are 23 on average but football wise they are 26 or 27"
So which one is it? When AW needs an an excuse he says its a young squad, when he gets criticized for having a young squad, he says as footballers they are 26 or 27.
Same excuses different year.Its not the squad, its the manager wielding the squad who has failed, the general behind the lines who doesnt know how to use these players to win.
Look at Rafa at Inter, the european champions for goodness sake -- dont tell me the team wasn't experienced or talented enough -- his first act was to have them lose the super cup, and he made that squad losers thereafter.
Talking about the squad takes the focus off the guy responsible: Wenger. Adding a player here or there, is rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic. The captain -- AW -- is sinking the ship my freinds.
Here, I do not actually imagine it may work.
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