Barclays Premier League 13/14 Thread

[GSC]

First topic message reminder :

It was always going to be hard for Hughton.

The Norwich family never really took to him as one of their own

[NickisBHAFC]

Well that's the end of that. He got the assist though lol

Great header by Caulker!!!

[Hammersmith harrier]

Seems like only a season ago when Utd fans were saying Arsenal-Utd games where no longer a big deal. How prophetic.

Arsenal getting off to a good start doesn't change that, we're still more concerned with City, Liverpool and Chelsea, the moment they win something we might start to care again. Chelsea and City were the teams to stop us winning 7 titles in a row not Arsenal.

[NickisBHAFC]

I would love to see a classic united v arsenal game next week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1dfphE6jOs

[CFCNick]

Great result.

A Chelsea fan worried about a top 4!!!

We're still 2nd. 4 teams had the chance to jump over us after we lost.

[westisbest]

Cardiff are pretty poor in fairness.

Swansea like ourselves are just a bit better.

I will be very dissapointed if we lose to them next saturday.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Jesus christ Marshall that was lucky

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Just goes from awful, to f*cking dreadful for Swansea

[NickisBHAFC]

Vorm rightfully dismissed.

Marshall making some good saves up the other end, keeper i have always rated highly.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

OUTFIELD PLAYER IN GOAL KLAXON

[NickisBHAFC]

Love it when an outfielder goes in goal  

[Champagne_Socialist]

I would love to see a classic united v arsenal game next week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1dfphE6jOs

One of the best rivalries there has been in the epl. The two teams hated each other and it was great to watch.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

I love how commentators talk about outfield players in goal. Its like these players would never have even watched a keeper play before "WHY ARE THESE PADDED THINGS ON MY HANDS?!"

[kingraf]

Just saw Ronnie in that melee. Looks like he is on a hiding to nothing in a fight with the likes of Keane and Vieira.

[Breadvan]

Poor 2nd half from Swans. You cannot pass thru 10 players all game. Subs should've come on sooner too. Fair play to CC but your gonna struggle to stay up playing every game with 2 banks of 4 in the box and relying on corners...

[socal1976]

Are you people nuts rating Carroll better than Giroud? I guess a goal every other game in the Champion's league and EPL or being a regular French international does not convince people either. Not to mention that Giroud is also at or near the top of the charts for assists as well. Sorry, every one is entitled to their own opinion, I mean I am sure if you searched far and wide you could find someone who would rather bang Roseanne Barr than Scarlett Johanson or that Carroll is a better striker than Giroud. Both of these opinions are equally untenable in my opinion. People forget that Giroud lead a tiny club in League 1 in France to the title while leading the league in goals.

People keep talking about how ARsenal lack depth and their defense is poor, i honestly don't know what league they are watching. They have like 5 internationals out injured and have a five point lead at the top of the league. Till Cazorla came back we had 3 of our top 4 scorers from last year not playing and still were top of the table. How would City play if they didn't have Aguero, Dzeko, and Negredo out injured at the same time? How would united play minus Rooney and Van Persie at the same time? And as for our defense being poor that is right we have that terrible Per Mertesacker who only has like 80 or so caps for that backwater national team known as Germany. Thank god none of you guys are managing Arsenal and smug Frenchie is.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Different clubs different needs, I've said it near on a thousand times now.

Olly, don't feel too disheartened, you'll definitely keep a clean sheet next weekend

[kingraf]

Great to see SoCal back... I missed him a tad.

[socal1976]

Great to see SoCal back... I missed him a tad.

Kingraf, I missed you to without getting too romantic or anything. I know this a football thread but your boy plays like Poopie indoors.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Different clubs different needs, I've said it near on a thousand times now.

Olly, don't feel too disheartened, you'll definitely keep a clean sheet next weekend

0-0 written all over it Dolph! I won't be there, got work, which quite frankly I'd rather do than watch us at the minute

[kingraf]

To be fair - It's hard to keep playing well when you've won so much already. A bit like Djokovic after USO 2011.

[socal1976]

To be fair - It's hard to keep playing well when you've won so much already. A bit like Djokovic after USO 2011.

Fair enough, but he never seems to play well indoors but who cares he wins slams is a fair response. As for football, I know your blancos scored 7 against Sevilla but I want them in the champion's league. Arsenal get to the knock out round and then we have the Ozil Derby the gunners v. Madrid. Get ready for the beat down of your Galacticos and their 80 million pound ex fullback, now Aaron Ramsey that is a real Welshman.

[Liam]

Bale's starting to to find his feet it seems which is great to see as a Welshman. Also great to see Rambo continuing his incredible form. I kept saying last year to my mates who slagged him off that it takes more than a season to recover from that sort of injury. This is the sort of form, albeit to a lesser extent, the form he was showing before his injury.

Very happy with Utd, seem to be turning a corner. Always going to take Moyes time to settle in. Confidence up and RVP back in the goals, its a huge game vs Arsenal next week. Its the type of game which for me, will decide if we can challenge for the title this season and will give Moyes a huge boost to beat a top four club in Arsenal. Big ask though.

[kingraf]

ahem... That is, our £73m ex-fullback. Could see Arsenal beating Real to be honest. Bale's come along better than I thought he would, and Ronaldo is playing as good as he looks, but. The Gunners midfield is on a different plane really, to anyone in ours. Reals current midfield is hardly a Galactico-esque midfield. Could see them running us of the park.

[Liam]

I rate Modric, especially this season and back end of last, Alonso, Illaramendi and Khedira quite highly so doubt you'd play them off the park. It would be a very good game but you should be worrying about Dortmund before you start basically calling out Real.

[socal1976]

Well Arsenal still got some work to do to get out of their group, but I really would like to see that matchup in the knockout stages. For one thing I don't think you would see the disgusting snoozefest like the Spurs v. Everton match tonight. I am think you need at least 5 goals on aggregate to get through. I will say this though I never doubted that Bale has quality and would eventually make a success of himself in la liga, but how long till Flo Perez sells him because he has a hard on for the next flavor of the month?

[socal1976]

I rate Modric, especially this season and back end of last, Alonso, Illaramendi and Khedira quite highly so doubt you'd play them off the park. It would be a very good game but you should be worrying about Dortmund before you start basically calling out Real.

I agree it is still no lock that Arsenal gets out of this tough group especially with all the injury woes. But modric, come on he is Ozil's understudy. I can see Mesut sticking it to them like as if they are an ex-south American beauty queen. Don't forget he is french, he is free, and he will break your f--ing knee, Flamini!!!!!

[Duty281]

Are you people nuts rating Carroll better than Giroud? I guess a goal every other game in the Champion's league and EPL or being a regular French international does not convince people either. Not to mention that Giroud is also at or near the top of the charts for assists as well. Sorry, every one is entitled to their own opinion, I mean I am sure if you searched far and wide you could find someone who would rather bang Roseanne Barr than Scarlett Johanson or that Carroll is a better striker than Giroud. Both of these opinions are equally untenable in my opinion. People forget that Giroud lead a tiny club in League 1 in France to the title while leading the league in goals.

People keep talking about how ARsenal lack depth and their defense is poor,  i honestly don't know what league they are watching. They have like 5 internationals out injured and have a five point lead at the top of the league. Till Cazorla came back we had 3 of our top 4 scorers from last year not playing and still were top of the table. How would City play if they didn't have Aguero, Dzeko, and Negredo out injured at the same time? How would united play minus Rooney and Van Persie at the same time? And as for our defense being poor that is right we have that terrible Per Mertesacker who only has like 80 or so caps for that backwater national team known as Germany. Thank god none of you guys are managing Arsenal and smug Frenchie is.

Dodgy keeper, Koscielny always has an error in him, and the full-backs aren't that great. Main back-up at the minute for Giroud is Bendtner - says it all. Overly-reliant on Flamini.

2 big games so far this season have been against Dortmund and Chelsea - Arsenal have lost them both..at home.

[socal1976]

Are you people nuts rating Carroll better than Giroud? I guess a goal every other game in the Champion's league and EPL or being a regular French international does not convince people either. Not to mention that Giroud is also at or near the top of the charts for assists as well. Sorry, every one is entitled to their own opinion, I mean I am sure if you searched far and wide you could find someone who would rather bang Roseanne Barr than Scarlett Johanson or that Carroll is a better striker than Giroud. Both of these opinions are equally untenable in my opinion. People forget that Giroud lead a tiny club in League 1 in France to the title while leading the league in goals.

People keep talking about how ARsenal lack depth and their defense is poor,  i honestly don't know what league they are watching. They have like 5 internationals out injured and have a five point lead at the top of the league. Till Cazorla came back we had 3 of our top 4 scorers from last year not playing and still were top of the table. How would City play if they didn't have Aguero, Dzeko, and Negredo out injured at the same time? How would united play minus Rooney and Van Persie at the same time? And as for our defense being poor that is right we have that terrible Per Mertesacker who only has like 80 or so caps for that backwater national team known as Germany. Thank god none of you guys are managing Arsenal and smug Frenchie is.

Dodgy keeper, Koscielny always has an error in him, and the full-backs aren't that great. Main back-up at the minute for Giroud is Bendtner - says it all. Overly-reliant on Flamini.

2 big games so far this season have been against Dortmund and Chelsea - Arsenal have lost them both..at home.

The league cup match is never the biggest match of the year unless you are Norwich or West Brom. Do wins against Napoli, Spurs, and liverpool not count as big games because they happened to win them. I agree Chelsea's B team is better than our B team, especially since we have a huge number of injuries at the time of that match. An over reliance on Flame thrower no way, Arteta is a very good holding mid, along with Ramsey and wilshere that gives us 4 pretty damn good footballers that can play that position. As for Kos, the guy is really one of the best defenders in the premiership since last year, not just this year. There was talk this year that Munich wanted to buy him and the guy was our best defender last year. Show me a player who is not prone for an error here and there.

[socal1976]

PS you should ask Suarez and Sturridge if they are comfortable sitting there in Kos' pocket, last time I checked those two were tearing up the scoring charts.

[Liam]

I rate Modric, especially this season and back end of last, Alonso, Illaramendi and Khedira quite highly so doubt you'd play them off the park. It would be a very good game but you should be worrying about Dortmund before you start basically calling out Real.

I agree it is still no lock that Arsenal gets out of this tough group especially with all the injury woes. But modric, come on he is Ozil's understudy. I can see Mesut sticking it to them like as if they are an ex-south American beauty queen. Don't forget he is french, he is free, and he will break your f--ing knee, Flamini!!!!!

Modric and Ozil play different positions. Modric plays deeper in midfield and has done excellent there. Would absolutely love him at Utd, exactly what our midfield is crying out for!

I've been impressed by Flamini's return. Seems to have picked up where he left off and if not injured would probably be starting alongside Ramsey

[Duty281]

Are you people nuts rating Carroll better than Giroud? I guess a goal every other game in the Champion's league and EPL or being a regular French international does not convince people either. Not to mention that Giroud is also at or near the top of the charts for assists as well. Sorry, every one is entitled to their own opinion, I mean I am sure if you searched far and wide you could find someone who would rather bang Roseanne Barr than Scarlett Johanson or that Carroll is a better striker than Giroud. Both of these opinions are equally untenable in my opinion. People forget that Giroud lead a tiny club in League 1 in France to the title while leading the league in goals.

People keep talking about how ARsenal lack depth and their defense is poor,  i honestly don't know what league they are watching. They have like 5 internationals out injured and have a five point lead at the top of the league. Till Cazorla came back we had 3 of our top 4 scorers from last year not playing and still were top of the table. How would City play if they didn't have Aguero, Dzeko, and Negredo out injured at the same time? How would united play minus Rooney and Van Persie at the same time? And as for our defense being poor that is right we have that terrible Per Mertesacker who only has like 80 or so caps for that backwater national team known as Germany. Thank god none of you guys are managing Arsenal and smug Frenchie is.

Dodgy keeper, Koscielny always has an error in him, and the full-backs aren't that great. Main back-up at the minute for Giroud is Bendtner - says it all. Overly-reliant on Flamini.

2 big games so far this season have been against Dortmund and Chelsea - Arsenal have lost them both..at home.

The league cup match is never the biggest match of the year unless you are Norwich or West Brom. Do wins against Napoli, Spurs, and liverpool not count as big games because they happened to win them. I agree Chelsea's B team is better than our B team, especially since we have a huge number of injuries at the time of that match. An over reliance on Flame thrower no way, Arteta is a very good holding mid, along with Ramsey and wilshere that gives us 4 pretty damn good footballers that can play that position. As for Kos, the guy is really one of the best defenders in the premiership since last year, not just this year. There was talk this year that Munich wanted to buy him and the guy was our best defender last year. Show me a player who is not prone for an error here and there.

Meh. Arsenal haven't played any of the big 3 in the league yet - Citeh, United, and Chelsea.

If Arsenal can beat United next Sunday, then sure they're title contenders. But I don't think they will.

Napoli...perhaps a big game.
Tottenham and Liverpool not big games, unless of course Arsenal's aim is 4th, in which case fair enough.

[socal1976]

I rate Modric, especially this season and back end of last, Alonso, Illaramendi and Khedira quite highly so doubt you'd play them off the park. It would be a very good game but you should be worrying about Dortmund before you start basically calling out Real.

I agree it is still no lock that Arsenal gets out of this tough group especially with all the injury woes. But modric, come on he is Ozil's understudy. I can see Mesut sticking it to them like as if they are an ex-south American beauty queen. Don't forget he is french, he is free, and he will break your f--ing knee, Flamini!!!!!

Modric and Ozil play different positions. Modric plays deeper in midfield and has done excellent there. Would absolutely love him at Utd, exactly what our midfield is crying out for!

I've been impressed by Flamini's return. Seems to have picked up where he left off and if not injured would probably be starting alongside Ramsey

Yes that is what drives me crazy, before the year when we signed Flamini everyone was saying he was recycled sshite, now people are saying we can't live without him. Don't get me wrong I know it is early to talk up a madrid matchup with the group we are sitting in. But actually, I think we got quite unlucky against dortmund that second goal came against the run of play and Arsenal had a shot hit the post and a ball that beat the keeper cleared off the line. And Dortmund just trounced Stuttgart 6-1 and is leading the bundesliga. I just think we could match up well against them in a tie, as opposed to Munich or Barca who I think would be pretty unwinable. But like you said way too early to count those chickens.

[socal1976]

Are you people nuts rating Carroll better than Giroud? I guess a goal every other game in the Champion's league and EPL or being a regular French international does not convince people either. Not to mention that Giroud is also at or near the top of the charts for assists as well. Sorry, every one is entitled to their own opinion, I mean I am sure if you searched far and wide you could find someone who would rather bang Roseanne Barr than Scarlett Johanson or that Carroll is a better striker than Giroud. Both of these opinions are equally untenable in my opinion. People forget that Giroud lead a tiny club in League 1 in France to the title while leading the league in goals.

People keep talking about how ARsenal lack depth and their defense is poor,  i honestly don't know what league they are watching. They have like 5 internationals out injured and have a five point lead at the top of the league. Till Cazorla came back we had 3 of our top 4 scorers from last year not playing and still were top of the table. How would City play if they didn't have Aguero, Dzeko, and Negredo out injured at the same time? How would united play minus Rooney and Van Persie at the same time? And as for our defense being poor that is right we have that terrible Per Mertesacker who only has like 80 or so caps for that backwater national team known as Germany. Thank god none of you guys are managing Arsenal and smug Frenchie is.

Dodgy keeper, Koscielny always has an error in him, and the full-backs aren't that great. Main back-up at the minute for Giroud is Bendtner - says it all. Overly-reliant on Flamini.

2 big games so far this season have been against Dortmund and Chelsea - Arsenal have lost them both..at home.

The league cup match is never the biggest match of the year unless you are Norwich or West Brom. Do wins against Napoli, Spurs, and liverpool not count as big games because they happened to win them. I agree Chelsea's B team is better than our B team, especially since we have a huge number of injuries at the time of that match. An over reliance on Flame thrower no way, Arteta is a very good holding mid, along with Ramsey and wilshere that gives us 4 pretty damn good footballers that can play that position. As for Kos, the guy is really one of the best defenders in the premiership since last year, not just this year. There was talk this year that Munich wanted to buy him and the guy was our best defender last year. Show me a player who is not prone for an error here and there.

Meh. Arsenal haven't played any of the big 3 in the league yet - Citeh, United, and Chelsea.

If Arsenal can beat United next Sunday, then sure they're title contenders. But I don't think they will.

Napoli...perhaps a big game.
Tottenham and Liverpool not big games, unless of course Arsenal's aim is 4th, in which case fair enough.

Liverpool was second in the table when we beat them and we beat Spurs minus Ozil. To me United have to prove they are part of the big 3, they have exactly one point from their 3 biggest matches of the year so far (city, chelsea, and Liverpool). United are the home team anything but a full three points from next weeks match and they are pretty much eliminated from the title hunt in November. I think City and Chelsea are our real competition at this point.

[Guest]

We`re 10 games in, that's it. So far, so good for Arsenal. Signs are there though that coming up against the top teams in Europe & away from home in the EPL that they are likely to get found out. I have no problem or issue with Arsenal, I`m enjoying their football & taking it to the Manchester`s, my only issue is if they want to win the league or challenge in Europe, they need a striker. You can bang on about Giroud`s stats all you want, the guy is not going to lead that Arsenal side over an entire campaign to trophies. Currently, he is an adequate link up man working in front of a very, very effective & creative midfield on top of their game. Problem is, when that midfield is not playing well or comes up against a quality defense, then Giroud is completely non effective. Giroud against Liverpool was terrible but again the midfield won Arsenal that game. I`m not going to go on about Giroud, just saying that is the only area in the summer that needs sorting. As for Koscielny, he`s vastly impoved. Remember him being slated at Ewood Park after a horror show & being bamboozled by Nile Ranger & got sent off. He's come along way since then & his partnership with Per has surprised me.

Still early days & big games to come for Arsenal as everyone says.

[Liam]

I agree, Utd must win next weekend. Just to keep within touching distance till january where hopefully we can sign a few players. Never easy to sign top players in the January transfer window but I think we'll sign a couple which can hopefully help us mount a challenge for the title.

[socal1976]

We`re 10 games in, that's it. So far, so good for Arsenal. Signs are there though that coming up against the top teams in Europe & away from home in the EPL that they are likely to get found out. I have no problem or issue with Arsenal, I`m enjoying their football & taking it to the Manchester`s, my only issue is if they want to win the league or challenge in Europe, they need a striker. You can bang on about Giroud`s stats all you want, the guy is not going to lead that Arsenal side over an entire campaign to trophies. Currently, he is an adequate link up man working in front of a very, very effective & creative midfield on top of their game. Problem is, when that midfield is not playing well or comes up against a quality defense, then Giroud is completely non effective. Giroud against Liverpool was terrible but again the midfield won Arsenal that game. I`m not going to go on about Giroud, just saying that is the only area in the summer that needs sorting. As for Koscielny, he`s vastly impoved. Remember him being slated at Ewood Park after a horror show & being bamboozled by Nile Ranger & got sent off. He's come along way since then & his partnership with Per has surprised me.

Still early days & big games to come for Arsenal as everyone says.

To an extent I agree with you except I think you are underrating Giroud a bit. Yes it is 10 games, I am making no prediction that we are a lock or a heavy favorite for league. I think anyone of three teams can win it Arsenal, Chelsea, and City. And the Gunners are very much in the thick of it, which is a far throw away from where we were after the villa match when people were saying we are a sixth place side.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

To be fair, Arsenal fans were the worst to react. The Wenger out brigade (and the many who werent vocal but understood) look foolish as hell. Which I find funny. That wasnt a quiet rumbling, that was loud, but everyone forgets when they win.

I do see City and Chelsea as teams that will beat Arsenal, thats why I'm not getting carried away with it. If they dont, Arsenal will probably win the league. I'd make them joint second favourites with Chelsea, City first. And who knows, if the fixture list had been kinder to Man United then maybe they would have come in hard and not been the shadow they had been/maybe still are.

Funnily enough, I don't think Arsenal will be able to keep United's supply line to Rooney and RVP as quiet as they did Liverpool's to Suarez and Sturridge. But they are in such a good flow up front and United are so shaky in defence, so it may not matter.

[NickisBHAFC]

To be fair, Arsenal fans were the worst to react. The Wenger out brigade (and the many who werent vocal but understood) look foolish as hell. Which I find funny. That wasnt a quiet rumbling, that was loud, but everyone forgets when they win.

I do see City and Chelsea as teams that will beat Arsenal, thats why I'm not getting carried away with it. If they dont, Arsenal will probably win the league. I'd make them joint second favourites with Chelsea, City first. And who knows, if the fixture list had been kinder to Man United then maybe they would have come in hard and not been the shadow they had been/maybe still are.

Funnily enough, I don't think Arsenal will be able to keep United's supply line to Rooney and RVP as quiet as they did Liverpool's to Suarez and Sturridge. But they are in such a good flow up front and United are so shaky in defence, so it may not matter.

This.

[Champagne_Socialist]

To be fair, Arsenal fans were the worst to react. The Wenger out brigade (and the many who werent vocal but understood) look foolish as hell. Which I find funny. That wasnt a quiet rumbling, that was loud, but everyone forgets when they win.

I do see City and Chelsea as teams that will beat Arsenal, thats why I'm not getting carried away with it. If they dont, Arsenal will probably win the league. I'd make them joint second favourites with Chelsea, City first. And who knows, if the fixture list had been kinder to Man United then maybe they would have come in hard and not been the shadow they had been/maybe still are.

Funnily enough, I don't think Arsenal will be able to keep United's supply line to Rooney and RVP as quiet as they did Liverpool's to Suarez and Sturridge. But they are in such a good flow up front and United are so shaky in defence, so it may not matter.

Tey look foolish because Wenger opened his cheque book and spent big on proven quality, something arsenal fans had been wanting for years.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

They look foolish because a man who made them into a team better than they had ever seen before and kept them in the European Elite even without financial masses flowing from their accounts was suddenly disrespected by a core who dont deserve to have such a man of class at the helm

[Champagne_Socialist]

They look foolish because a man who made them into a team better than they had ever seen before and kept them in the European Elite even without financial masses flowing from their accounts was suddenly disrespected by a core who dont deserve to have such a man of class at the helm

He hasn't won anything for nearly 10 years, fans have a right to vent their frustrations if the team is not sucessful. Yes we are 5 points clear in 2013 but that is because the fans forced him to go against his morals and to spend a massive sum on 1 proven player in Ozil.

Alex ferguson has been the greatest manager to ever grace the modern game. If he was still manager of United and he went 10 years without winning a trophy (2013-2023) and the team spent 5 years not even challenging for the title and instead battling teams such as Aston Villa and Tottenham for 4th place I would expect the Man U fans to vent their frustrations.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

If Arsenal were the absolute titans that United are then maybe, but that wasnt the case even at their peak. They had spells, not continued absolute success like United and then a Liverpool before them.

But then along came Chelsea with 100s of millions, along came Manchester City with even more. And Arsenal were producing beautiful football, wonderful players and standing strong in the most important competition in commercial football.

As a manager who has never feared spending before, I think he played a PR game for the club by making himself seem desperate to win just by producing his own. He never produced them when they were at their peak, and he spent on players for fun when it was a picture not dominant by oil riches. What kind of mark-up would you consider Jeffers to be at now?

All that with a team that could never keep their best players, not mentioning how important we are seeing figures like Gill and Dein can be in the markets. He consistently kept his team one of the most exciting in the Premier League and importantly above their biggest rivals who are the best they have been in modern history.

Considering just how badly a managerial change can affect a club when its such a legend, I wonder what on earth might have happened to Arsenal had he gone. Nothing good, I'd wager heavily

[Champagne_Socialist]

If Arsenal were the absolute titans that United are then maybe, but that wasnt the case even at their peak. They had spells, not continued absolute success like United and then a Liverpool before them.

But then along came Chelsea with 100s of millions, along came Manchester City with even more. And Arsenal were producing beautiful football, wonderful players and standing strong in the most important competition in commercial football.

As a manager who has never feared spending before, I think he played a PR game for the club by making himself seem desperate to win just by producing his own. He never produced them when they were at their peak, and he spent on players for fun when it was a picture not dominant by oil riches. What kind of mark-up would you consider Jeffers to be at now?

All that with a team that could never keep their best players, not mentioning how important we are seeing figures like Gill and Dein can be in the markets. He consistently kept his team one of the most exciting in the Premier League and importantly above their biggest rivals who are the best they have been in modern history.

Considering just how badly a managerial change can affect a club when its such a legend, I wonder what on earth might have happened to Arsenal had he gone. Nothing good, I'd wager heavily

I think Wenger will retire in a few years time as he is approaching 70 and he will be replaced with Klopp from Dortmund.

Arsenal were not this rubbish team before Wenger joined tho. Only a few seasons before he joined we had won the league twice and had won the fa cup the league cup and the european cup winners cup. I put the praise of turning Arsenal into a modern successful team at the feet of Graham taylor.

Wenger took us to that next level and we were at our highest peak in the 03-04 season when we went unbeaten. but when you go 10 years without winning anything the fans rightly complain and question what is going wrong. We were making record profits yet spending peanuts and what made it worse was that Arsenal charged the highest ticket prices in Europe. The fans felt like Arsenal didn't care about winning and only cared about making money at the fans expense.

[Champagne_Socialist]

I also think this spell of 9 years without winning a trophy is the longest in our history.

[Hammersmith harrier]

Erm don't you mean George Graham.

[Hero]

Do I not like that.

[Champagne_Socialist]

Are you people nuts rating Carroll better than Giroud? I guess a goal every other game in the Champion's league and EPL or being a regular French international does not convince people either. Not to mention that Giroud is also at or near the top of the charts for assists as well. Sorry, every one is entitled to their own opinion, I mean I am sure if you searched far and wide you could find someone who would rather bang Roseanne Barr than Scarlett Johanson or that Carroll is a better striker than Giroud. Both of these opinions are equally untenable in my opinion. People forget that Giroud lead a tiny club in League 1 in France to the title while leading the league in goals.

People keep talking about how ARsenal lack depth and their defense is poor,  i honestly don't know what league they are watching. They have like 5 internationals out injured and have a five point lead at the top of the league. Till Cazorla came back we had 3 of our top 4 scorers from last year not playing and still were top of the table. How would City play if they didn't have Aguero, Dzeko, and Negredo out injured at the same time? How would united play minus Rooney and Van Persie at the same time? And as for our defense being poor that is right we have that terrible Per Mertesacker who only has like 80 or so caps for that backwater national team known as Germany. Thank god none of you guys are managing Arsenal and smug Frenchie is.

Dodgy keeper, Koscielny always has an error in him, and the full-backs aren't that great. Main back-up at the minute for Giroud is Bendtner - says it all. Overly-reliant on Flamini.

2 big games so far this season have been against Dortmund and Chelsea - Arsenal have lost them both..at home.

The league cup match is never the biggest match of the year unless you are Norwich or West Brom. Do wins against Napoli, Spurs, and liverpool not count as big games because they happened to win them. I agree Chelsea's B team is better than our B team, especially since we have a huge number of injuries at the time of that match. An over reliance on Flame thrower no way, Arteta is a very good holding mid, along with Ramsey and wilshere that gives us 4 pretty damn good footballers that can play that position. As for Kos, the guy is really one of the best defenders in the premiership since last year, not just this year. There was talk this year that Munich wanted to buy him and the guy was our best defender last year. Show me a player who is not prone for an error here and there.

I agree with you, no way a carling cup game using our b team against chelsea's b team is the biggest game of the season. We beat tottenham and liverpool who are two teams competing for top 4.

If Arsenal beat man U next week then I hope people start giving us the credit we deserve.

[Duty281]

And if Arsenal lose next week, I fully hope that the hype machine will be dissolved.

[LastDamnation]

Are people really still debating whether arsenal can win the league this season?

[Champagne_Socialist]

And if Arsenal lose next week, I fully hope that the hype machine will be dissolved.

There is no shame in losing to mancester united at old trafford and losing to manchester united at old trafford does not mean arsenal are a hype machine.

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