Thinking of a way how to save the season (without sacking Wenger)....?

TomasCR

Is there any actually? With the board pretty much unwilling to spend the money (or more than 20m for a player anyway), the players being exhausted having just played 15 games so far in the league, the only midfielder who could strengthen us and give us some presence being constantly injured?

We're about as bad defensively as we were last year, the only hope is that both Sagna and Vermaelen hit the form in the right time, get the defence together and Szczesny will be as solid as he was yesterday.

The midfield we all wanted to see seem to be way too light, slow, lacking understanding, three similar players, need time to settle in, whatever, it's just not working. The solution? In Rosicky, Diaby and Ramsey - two crocked losers and one young promising player with difficult times behind and with all the fans bitching perhaps still ahead of him.

The front three looks good on the paper whoever we're going to play with, just until the game starts and first ball is played. Once again, too many "almost strikers and almost killers", nobody who can lead the attack and score 15 a season in the PL alone. Podolski who is pretty much fighting with the physical game the league offers and is yet to play the full game because his legs and mind are gone after 60 mins of every game. Chamberlain has still a few years to go to become at least as productive as Walcott who wants to hit the door and Gervinho, who I'm pretty much starting to dislike like hardly anyone over the last 7 years as an Arsenal fan. Those are the options we have, all of them world class 3 times a season, average the rest of the time.

The squad depth means fuck all when you have players in Squillaci, Djourou, Arshavin and Chamakh who all have played 3 games among them together this season so far and all of them are either shit or just not the ones Wenger would like to play.

All we can do is hope we'll pick up as many points as possible this month, sell three of those four mentioned above, buy 2 top class players and hope there is still something to fight for after the Christmas. Frustrating times.

invisibleman18

Indeed. The only way from here is down unless the manager changes. If the manger changes then there's at least a chance.

TomasCR

Well it won't change unless the new manager is given 60mil to buy quality. That's something Wenger could do too, I still believe? It's just not the way this club works, the club, the manager and whoever else who's going to come.

asajoseph

I was thinking about starting this thread - assuming for a moment we don't all get what we want & Wenger stays in his role, what else is there that can happen to save the season?

Remain patient with Giroud through the middle until January, then sign a different type of striker to replace / rotate with him.
Fnd some creativity in January - another central midfielder who can pass between the lines without giving the ball away every 10 minutes, or a wide forward who can play with his head up & cut in.
be prepared to be brutal in January - it's not just a quality thing with our squad, mentally there's clearly something wrong as well, and changing the dressing room dynamic needs to happen somehow. I don't just mean flogging Squillaci & Arshavin either - I'd listen to offers for most of the squad, so long a they're replaced.

Looking at the above, there's nothing there we can achieve until the transfer window. So until then:

consider an alternative formation. Not necessarily change the primary way we set up, but we need to find a midfield dynamic that we've clearly lost this year. I don't buy 4-4-2 being a silver bullet, but what we're doing now isn't working, so we need to start thinking about something else.

asajoseph

TomasCR wrote:
Well it won't change unless the new manager is given 60mil to buy quality.

That's only true if you think the current group are playing at maximum potential.

Captain

Changing the manager is no solution at all.

Only two managers in the world can be more or less guaranteed to come in and do better than Wenger and one is seeing his last days out in Spain while the other just had a statue erected in Manchester.

lorddulaarsenal

Very tricky. There's no hope for the time being

I'd certainly rest cazorla and arteta for a couple of games. Atleast try to get them fresh going into Xmas

I'd give eisfeld some game time

Try theo centrally

Try a formation change

TomasCR

That's true enough, Asa a Lagos. However the other explanation would only be that the manager isn't good enough to be able to get the maximum out of his players anymore and that's something I'd hardly believe in. Wenger has worked with worse players and still got more out of them. "He's been in the game for 30 years", I find it hard to believe he's just lost his magic over night and don't see some things other managers do. I think it's down to the quality of players we have and of course, Wenger is the one to be blamed here because he's responsible for bringing the players who will suit our current system. There's January for him to sort it out.

asajoseph

I don't think anyone's saying he lost the magic overnight. I think it's been slowly evaporating, more or less, over the last 7-8 years.

Captain

TomasCR wrote:
That's true enough, Asa a Lagos. However the other explanation would only be that the manager isn't good enough to be able to get the maximum out of his players anymore and that's something I'd hardly believe in. Wenger has worked with worse players and still got more out of them. "He's been in the game for 30 years", I find it hard to believe he's just lost his magic over night and don't see some things other managers do. I think it's down to the quality of players we have and of course, Wenger is the one to be blamed here because he's responsible for bringing the players who will suit our current system. There's January for him to sort it out.

They're better than they have shown in the last few weeks, but not much better.

Definitely good enough to have at least another 4 points.

Clrnc

Sack Wenger now might not bring us a longterm solution for a manager. Top managers like Klopp, would he want to come in mid-way through?

Back Wenger with all the cash, let him see out the season then replace him.

asajoseph

ON course for 53 points and 13 wins all season. That'd put us 7th last season, smack bang between Everton above us & Liverpool below us.

Mirth

asajoseph wrote:
I don't think anyone's saying he lost the magic overnight. I think it's been slowly evaporating, more or less, over the last 7-8 years.

He lost it last summer. Losing Fabregas must have been a pretty big kick in the nads. Remember his press conference before the Newcastle game? He was shaken up. He didn't seem nearly as upset a year later when we lost van Persie.

asajoseph

General Mirth wrote:
asajoseph wrote:
I don't think anyone's saying he lost the magic overnight. I think it's been slowly evaporating, more or less, over the last 7-8 years.

He lost it last summer. Losing Fabregas must have been a pretty big kick in the nads. Remember his press conference before the Newcastle game? He was shaken up. He didn't seem nearly as upset a year later when we lost van Persie.

I think that was when he lost his direction. Given what he was doing in the first half of the noughties, I think the 'magic' has been fading away for years.

Someone else said it, but I don't think he has any real direction now - he just seems to be raking over the ashes of what's left after years of pillage by bigger clubs, trying to find what little life may be left

Doc

No resting players, our jan fixture list is messed up. No guarantee we will get results then even if we bring top players in.
For me the front line is the main problem, our wing play is devoid of any ideas.
I would play Caz out wide & push Jack up to AM, will hopefully speed up the play & bring variation to the side. said in another thread it semi worked last season when Ben was brought into the team...

Either that or play Giroud & Chamakh in a 442 & Stoke it up.

Ray

We sold song and replaced him with diaby, who is going to take responsibility for that gamble. Wenger has to fall based on some of the ridiculous decisions he has made, cant see him ever spending over 16m, the pl clubs are improving whilst we are declining.

goon

Bit boring to just say Wenger out in every thread.

We need two world class forwards in Jan, two players who are capable of making things happen in the final third several times a game with real consistancy. Doing this will bring more out of the lesser players in the side like Giroud, Walcott and Podolski.

But, I think that incredibly unlikely to happen, in which case I would like to see a change in formation to a 3-5-2. Our wide forwards at the moment are utterly pointless and only really look a threat when they drift into the middle. Our full backs bomb forward loads already but constantly get caught up the pitch so having the extra centre back to cover sounds like an ideal solution. It would also allow Theo and Podoslki to play up front which probably suits them better.

Doc

SamDaGooner wrote:
We sold song and replaced him with diaby, who is going to take responsibility for that gamble. Wenger has to fall based on some of the ridiculous decisions he has made, cant see him ever spending over 16m, the pl clubs are improving whilst we are declining.

Song sale was fucking criminal

asajoseph

otfgoon wrote:
Bit boring to just say Wenger out in every thread.

I've changed the title (hope you don't mind Tomas)

Timbob

Start winning games.