Topic: Arsenal

[Xabi Gerrard]

See they've released a DVD of the 89 victory at Anfield.

I was driving back home with the radio on, Arsenal winning 1-0 and the title was ours. Pulled up the house just as Thomas scored the winner.

I've never been able to listen to the match on the radio since then.

Still the biggest moment in the history of the English league (all due respect to Aguero etc but this was even bigger).  It never upset me as much as it probably should. Back then we used to win the league most years so it didn't feel as important as a league win/loss would to me now. Plus, of course, it paled in significance to the events of the previous month. Arsenal are alright too, it's not like it was Man Utd or Everton.

[Buggy Eyes Alfredo]

Remarkable we're 1 point behind Spurs with them billed as the next peak Barcelona, whilst we've been unbalanced and quite crap for most of the season.

Spotted at the Mugabe protests.   

[The North Bank]

Spotted at the Mugabe protests.   

  brilliant

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Wenger Out has become a fucking movement hahah. I have seen those at the most random places in the world.

[ScottishGoon]

I think I'm right in saying that that's the first time this season we've managed to put out what I would say is out first choice XI.
Not that I believe that to be the main reason for the victory, that for me was the desire and attitude.

Think the media did us a favour hyping up Spurs the past few weeks, I was hoping that the players would use it to get extra motivation yesterday.

However, desire and attitude are the things I'll always question us on. We're just as likely to be lacking those next game at Burnley.

[Dim Glas]

I think I'm right in saying that that's the first time this season we've managed to put out what I would say is out first choice XI.
Not that I believe that to be the main reason for the victory, that for me was the desire and attitude.

Think the media did us a favour hyping up Spurs the past few weeks, I was hoping that the players would use it to get extra motivation yesterday.

However, desire and attitude are the things I'll always question us on. We're just as likely to be lacking those next game at Burnley.

one of the most noticable things yesterday too was that it wasn't just that Arsenal where the better team playing the better football (they where), but also Arsenal just outworked the hell out of Spurs, which would annoy me more than anything as an opposing fan.

Maybe it was partly hype getting to theirs and Pochetinns heads, but they also where coming off the back of a league game vs Palace where they played poorly and frankly they where very lucky to win. Beating a Real Madrid side who are 10 points off the top of their league I guess also got to their heads, it certainly did the medias!  And yeah, I know, impressive result regardless of Reals league position, but come on, English teams do sometimes get these great results in Europe, it's not that unusual (I won't make any jokes about Arsenal here....promise).

[ScottishGoon]

one of the most noticable things yesterday too was that it wasn't just that Arsenal where the better team playing the better football (they where), but also Arsenal just outworked the hell out of Spurs, which would annoy me more than anything as an opposing fan.

Maybe it was partly hype getting to theirs and Pochetinns heads, but they also where coming off the back of a league game vs Palace where they played poorly and frankly they where very lucky to win. Beating a Real Madrid side who are 10 points off the top of their league I guess also got to their heads, it certainly did the medias!  And yeah, I know, impressive result regardless of Reals league position, but come on, English teams do sometimes get these great results in Europe, it's not that unusual (I won't make any jokes about Arsenal here....promise).

Mate, we've managed to get good 1 off results in Europe as well, we've beaten Bayern, Barcelona, Dortmund, Napoli etc in recent years. They just mostly accompany a thrashing in the away game haha!

[ScottishGoon]

looks like Borussia Dortmund head scout Sven Mislintat could soon be on his way to arsenal according to Kicker, with talks at an advanced stage.

So the move did happen in the end then. Hopefully a step in the right direction, he seems to have a good reputation in Germany. We seem to be starting to shake things up behind Wenger now, hopefully preparing us better for when he's no longer there.

[Gerry Attrick]

Good move from Arsenal I'd say, but I'll be interested to see if Minslitat was just part of a very well functioning team and whether he can replicate the success at Arsenal.

[Dim Glas]

Good move from Arsenal I'd say, but I'll be interested to see if Minslitat was just part of a very well functioning team and whether he can replicate the success at Arsenal.

yep. I am sure he's very good, but last 3 or 4 years, Dortmund's signings haven't been quite as on point.  A lot of very good signings, but also ones that simply didn't work, and a few where you thought 'is he really good enough'?

The irony I guess, is that since they have had money to spend, they've not built quite as well as those teams created steadily from 2008 to 2014.

The problems at Dortmund at the moment seem to be partly because they aren't pulling together. BVB's strength since they got their shit together following the near bankruptcy, was a real harmony. But that sort of came crashing down the last 18 months or so. And Mislintat was part of that core group that made them work so well, without a doubt.

But this can only be a good thing for Arsenal, certainly isn't going harm 'em for sure! He had a strong record over the years.

[ScottishGoon]

Good move from Arsenal I'd say, but I'll be interested to see if Minslitat was just part of a very well functioning team and whether he can replicate the success at Arsenal.

yep. I am sure he's very good, but last 3 or 4 years, Dortmund's signings haven't been quite as on point.  A lot of very good signings, but also ones that simply didn't work, and a few where you thought 'is he really good enough'?

The irony I guess, is that since they have had money to spend, they've not built quite as well as those teams created steadily from 2008 to 2014.

The problems at Dortmund at the moment seem to be partly because they aren't pulling together. BVB's strength since they got their shit together following the near bankruptcy, was a real harmony. But that sort of came crashing down the last 18 months or so. And Mislintat was part of that core group that made them work so well, without a doubt.

But this can only be a good thing for Arsenal, certainly isn't going harm 'em for sure! He had a strong record over the years.

I certainly won't be expecting miracles from the man. It's hopefully just another step forward of having a proper infrastructure in place, which has partly been neglected due to Wenger being in total control. Certain things have been seen as stale, or even weaknesses at Arsenal, things like contract negotiations, fitness, scouting, transfer negotiations etc, so it's good that the club is finally seeking out good individuals for each department, it's certainly been long overdue.

[sinnermichael]

Losing to bottom of the Bundesliga Cologne.

Wenger out! 

[sinnermichael]

Gotta love Wenger. Defending Ramsey to the hilt for making a meal of a slight push yesterday yet had the audacity to call Sterling "a diver" for what was a clear penalty a few weeks back. Biggest hypocrite going.

[ScottishGoon]

Gotta love Wenger. Defending Ramsey to the hilt for making a meal of a slight push yesterday yet had the audacity to call Sterling "a diver" for what was a clear penalty a few weeks back. Biggest hypocrite going.

Manager backing his own player shocker. We all know what Wenger is like (the same with most managers actually). They agree with decisions going for their team & moan about decisions against them. He's been that way for 20+ years, so he certainly isn't going to change now.

Tough (& lucky) 3 points yesterday. Was an important game after the Spurs win. We are in a decent position now. I seen a stat on here yesterday that Liverpool had now played all the top 8, while Utd had only played 3 out the top 8. We've played 6 out the top 8, with 5 of them being away from home. So while it's certainly not perfect, the season isn't rolling on too badly just now.

[Phil M]

http://www.football365.com/video/wengers-hilarious-team-talk/279108

Top acting there by Arsene.

[ScottishGoon]

So we have confirmed Barcelona Director of football Raul Sanhelli is joining as "Head of Football Relation" (what a ridiculous title).

I know little about him, wonder if Xxavi has any knowledge?

[Crosby Nick]

So we have confirmed Barcelona Director of football Raul Sanhelli is joining as "Head of Football Relation" (what a ridiculous title).

I know little about him, wonder if Xxavi has any knowledge?

You’d better hope he was an ally of Guardiola’s.

[ScottishGoon]

You’d better hope he was an ally of Guardiola’s.

Why's that, could do with him here!   

[Gerry Attrick]

You’d better hope he was an ally of Guardiola’s.

 

[Ashburton]

Laying the ground work for the long game of Messi and Guardiola both joining in 2022...

Strange title, but perhaps this comes from Wenger digging his feet in and being adamant he doesn't want a Director of Football behind the scenes signing players for him.  If he was instrumental in bringing Suarez and Neymar to the Nou Camp and has the contacts he is rumoured as having, he could be key for us rebuilding the side over the next few years - as we're on the cusp of a few very big transfer windows.

[The North Bank]

I'd like a job at Arsenal, something with a fancy title "senior advisor to football projects" . Basically doing fuck all and getting paid a lot of money for it, actually that could get me on the board.

[El Lobo]

Laying the ground work for the long game of Messi and Guardiola both joining in 2022...

Strange title, but perhaps this comes from Wenger digging his feet in and being adamant he doesn't want a Director of Football behind the scenes signing players for him.  If he was instrumental in bringing Suarez and Neymar to the Nou Camp and has the contacts he is rumoured as having, he could be key for us rebuilding the side over the next few years - as we're on the cusp of a few very big transfer windows.

Is that particularly impressive....?

Isnt that a bit like walking into Tesco with a ten pound note and then celebrating that you were able to buy a mars bar?

[Chris~]

If he was instrumental in bringing in Neymar I'd be a bit wary given how dodgy that was.

[Ashburton]

Is that particularly impressive....?

Isnt that a bit like walking into Tesco with a ten pound note and then celebrating that you were able to buy a mars bar?

Well, the £198m fee isn't impressive, that is for sure, but considering how tight the rest of the club is, having somebody who (presumably?) can push some transfers through wouldn't be a bad thing.

I do wonder what he's going to be doing until Wenger actually leaves the club though.  Wenger has repeatedly said he's behind the StatDNA (player analytics) project so maybe he can help to get a few of those transfers off the ground and actually wearing the shirt would be a start, before taking a more advanced role when Wenger moves on.

edit: grammar

[please, I have my reasons for it but...]

This guy plus Dortmund's Chief scout being signed within the same week, seems that they are setting up the scene when Wenger retires.

[Ashburton]

This guy plus Dortmund's Chief scout being signed within the same week, seems that they are setting up the scene when Wenger retires.

Seems there have been quite a reshuffle behind the scenes over the last few months.  The club also signed Darren Burgess as director of high performance, the same guy who worked for Liverpool as head of fitness during Brendan Rodgers stint.  There were some superb posts on here a while back covering the Rodgers fitness style in detail at the time, which I'll have to re-read at some point.  Huss Fahmy has also arrived from Team Sky, a player contracts legal expert, presumably in the response to the Ozil and Sanchez mess.

It does seem like we're finally looking to replace David Dein and Dick Law, who has been part time for a while now, and to be fair we've lost out on some absolute gems who went to other clubs lately.   The firesale this summer was indicative of a need to smarten up, the only diamond in lot of mediocre sales was somehow getting £40m for the Ox with a year on his contract

In the past 12 months alone:

Raül Sanllehí - Head of Football Relations
Sven Mislintat - Chief Scout & Head of Player Recruitment
Darren Burgess - Head of High Performance
David Priestley - Head Of Psychology and Personal Development
Huss Fahmy - Head of Contract Negotiations
Shad Forsythe - Head of Athletic Performance Enhancement
Richard Allison - Performance Nutritionist
Per Mertesacker - Head of Academy (Next season)
Jens Lehmann - First-Team Coach

[ScottishGoon]

This guy plus Dortmund's Chief scout being signed within the same week, seems that they are setting up the scene when Wenger retires.

Think this is it exactly. Setting up a proper infrastructure at the club behind Wenger to modernise it but also in the hope that when he finally does depart the hole left behind isn't as gaping.

Perhaps it is more sensible looking at what's happening that Wenger got his new contract, to allow all this to happen with minimal impact on performances on the field.

[Lush is the best medicine...]

Clearly learnt from how man united fucked up the Ferguson successor, if they do it properly they’ll get someone decent in first time out

[So… Howard Philips]

Clearly learnt from how man united fucked up the Ferguson successor, if they do it properly they’ll get someone decent in first time out

Maybe Everton could take some lessons on how to manage change and successfully plan succession?

[classycarra]

In the past 12 months alone:

Raül Sanllehí - Head of Football Relations
Sven Mislintat - Chief Scout & Head of Player Recruitment
Darren Burgess - Head of High Performance
David Priestley - Head Of Psychology and Personal Development
Huss Fahmy - Head of Contract Negotiations
Shad Forsythe - Head of Athletic Performance Enhancement
Richard Allison - Performance Nutritionist
Per Mertesacker - Head of Academy (Next season)
Jens Lehmann - First-Team Coach

It would be hard for the back room not to improve, but I'd be a little wary of hiring so many 'heads'

They'll have to hope that Darren and David work in the same way, that Richard and Shad subscribe to the same beliefs, and that Raul Sven and Huss want the same players.

Will the recruiters need to agree everything, will they vote? And will they be clear who's in charge when the Chief Execs away, or might there be a power play?

I dunno, I think I'd be weary of that much upheaval. Reeks of trying very hard to be proactive, but not necessarily considering unintended consequences

[PhaseOfPlay]

Per Mertesacker, with that world-famous reputation for developing players

[The North Bank]

Per Mertesacker, with that world-famous reputation for developing players

Id sack the lot of them and hire the famous POP 

You are used to coaching girls anyway!!!.

Welcome back sir!!

In your absence the robots have taken over, its all bar charts now

[PhaseOfPlay]

Id sack the lot of them and hire the famous POP 

You are used to coaching girls anyway!!!.

Welcome back sir!!

In your absence the robots have taken over, its all bar charts now

What do you, as an Arsenal fan, think of Mertesacker going more or less straight into the academy role? It was different when Brady was in that position, because he had many years of coaching under his belt at that point. But I'm not sure Mertesacker is doing any more coaching than the hours he needs for his badges. Do you reckon he'll change things for the better?

[The North Bank]

What do you, as an Arsenal fan, think of Mertesacker going more or less straight into the academy role? It was different when Brady was in that position, because he had many years of coaching under his belt at that point. But I'm not sure Mertesacker is doing any more coaching than the hours he needs for his badges. Do you reckon he'll change things for the better?

I dont think he will make the difference, but maybe he can be part of a new system that takes our youth set up/scouting network in the right direction. Its an odd appointment, unless it ties into a bigger plan where other personnel are involved.

[Groundskeeper Willie]

Just seen the penalty incident. You can trust Lee Mason to call a penalty for that in that part of the game, can't you. That's never a penalty. Dyche was livid post match and rightly so.

[PaulF]

There were some superb posts on here a while back covering the Rodgers fitness style in detail at the time, which I'll have to re-read at some point. 

I was going to suggest you'd be better off PMing PoP and asking for his dossier, but it seems Pop is ominpresent and is in this thread too.
(Which isn't really a surprise , because despite the moaners , there's a lot to be said tactically for how Wenger's teams go about things).

[El Lobo]

Just seen the penalty incident. You can trust Lee Mason to call a penalty for that in that part of the game, can't you. That's never a penalty. Dyche was livid post match and rightly so.

It was a penalty, it was ridiculous defending.

[Ashburton]

Just seen the penalty incident. You can trust Lee Mason to call a penalty for that in that part of the game, can't you. That's never a penalty. Dyche was livid post match and rightly so.

Dyche said in his Monday press conference that it was "highly unlikely it wasn't going to be given".  I don't think you can puts your arms on someone like that in the box and expect to always get away with it. 

https://streamable.com/ea733

I was going to suggest you'd be better off PMing PoP and asking for his dossier, but it seems Pop is ominpresent and is in this thread too.
(Which isn't really a surprise , because despite the moaners , there's a lot to be said tactically for how Wenger's teams go about things).

Good to see the man back, always enjoyed the contributions from PoP.  I don't remember who wrote the original post about Rodgers fitness training, but there has been an interesting swing in fortunes between Arsenal and Liverpool which has been due to the 'most important' period in the season moving from December to August with the Champions' League qualifier. It was theorised for many years that Arsenal's fitness regimen was designed to focus on getting the squad to high fitness for a highly competitive CL qualifier due to how lucrative it was, both to keep players/sign new ones and the huge amount of income you get for (likely) qualifying from a group (£40-50m at current rates I believe).

Now that the club is in the Europa (and playing an entirely different second string) you don't need to be in peak physical fitness for August, and instead can focus on achieving this for the most important stage of the season when the games are most frequent, the Christmas period.  We'll see where we end up by January after the flurry of Xmas games, but it will be interesting to see if Liverpool & Tottenham's energy levels recover or whether the intensity of travel and playing twice a week will prove a handicap unless the squad is rotated more than either manager may be comfortable with. 

What do you, as an Arsenal fan, think of Mertesacker going more or less straight into the academy role? It was different when Brady was in that position, because he had many years of coaching under his belt at that point. But I'm not sure Mertesacker is doing any more coaching than the hours he needs for his badges. Do you reckon he'll change things for the better?

It's a very strange appointment, Brady has been a coach for years at the club and was replaced with Jonker, the former assistant manager of VfL Wolfsburg, which as far as I'm aware has been considered a failure.  City and Chelsea's academy setup has several years (and many millions) head-start, and Jonker was intended to 'turn it around' and make the u17s more competitive as a way to bring some of the highly touted talent in to the first team.  The problem with Jonker is he was too strict, direct and borderline rude, fundamentally not grasping that the players and parents (even at 15 years old) have the power, and by not massaging their egos a little and insisting on strict 'achievement based' contracts in the youth squad, he was giving the most talented of them an easy route out of the club.

With Jonker now gone, perhaps Mertesacker is seen as someone who has the blessing of the club, both as a hugely experienced international and as club captain.  How he will be in the day-to-day administration is yet to be seen, but perhaps Jonker's failure was a reminder that even highly touted individuals aren't guaranteed to succeed, especially when they don't fit with the culture of the club.

[Xabi Gerrard]

Cazorla has achilles surgery and abandons ambition to play in January

I know it's good for Liverpool that our rival's best player is going to be out for even longer but can't help but feel sorry for the guy. Starting to get the feeling that's it for him.

[Dubred]

Cazorla has achilles surgery and abandons ambition to play in January

I know it's good for Liverpool that our rival's best player is going to be out for even longer but can't help but feel sorry for the guy. Starting to get the feeling that's it for him.

I didn't realise his injury was so bad.  To be honest, as hard as it is for him, maybe he would be better off retiring because by the sounds of that article, it could make things very difficult for him in the future in terms of even walking around.  Only have to read the Agger interviews to realise its not always the best thing to keep on playing when your body isn't up to it. 

There is a life after football these guys still have to lead.