The Football Thread 2017-18

[Miguel007]

Wenger, enjoyed watching Arsenal under him over the years (coming from a Newcastle fan - mainly to my detriment; x2 Cup losses and Bergkamp spinning round our defence to score one of the most iconic goals).

I hope the Arsenal fans who wanted him out are happy and ready for some dark dark days ahead. Footballers can't even cope psychologically with moving to a better football stadium, let alone their manager of 20 years (ingrained in the DNA of everything the club does) leaving.

The summer should be interesting, I think Benitez will end up there (not that I want him to leave Newcastle), but he's rebuilt his reputation sticking with us, getting us promotion and nearly has us qualifying for European Football on peanuts (I would of been happy with staying in the league). With Fat Mike Ashley keeping his billions to himself and messing him about for so long, who can blame him if he leaves the clup.

[Moggy]

As a neutral, it is going to be fascinating to see what happens with Arsenal now. After Fergie left Man U, they went into a decline and are still nowhere near the team they were.

Arsenal are in a slightly different position as their standing has been slipping over the last few years whereas Fergie was still at the top, so will a new Arsenal man push them up or knock them further down?

[Oblomov Boblomov]

Arsene RIP In Peace, sweet prince.

[Photek]

As a neutral, it is going to be fascinating to see what happens with Arsenal now. After Fergie left Man U, they went into a decline and are still nowhere near the team they were.

Arsenal are in a slightly different position as their standing has been slipping over the last few years whereas Fergie was still at the top, so will a new Arsenal man push them up or knock them further down?

Arsenal need a squad overhaul to get near the top 4 so it's a big job for the next manager.

[Moggy]

As a neutral, it is going to be fascinating to see what happens with Arsenal now. After Fergie left Man U, they went into a decline and are still nowhere near the team they were.

Arsenal are in a slightly different position as their standing has been slipping over the last few years whereas Fergie was still at the top, so will a new Arsenal man push them up or knock them further down?

Arsenal need a squad overhaul to get near the top 4 so it's a big job for the next manager.

It’s not always that simple. Man U have spent a fortune since Fergie left and (other than this season) have struggled to make the top 4. Just overhauling a squad and spending big doesn’t mean you’ll make it to the top 4.

That’s why getting the right manager is essential, get the wrong guy in and you will just be wasting hundreds of millions of pounds.*

*or knowing Arsenal, wasting £10million.

[TigaSefi]

Who made him leave??

[Preezy]

The haphazard use of capital letters in the thread title makes me uncomfortable.

[SandyCoin]

The haphazard use of capital letters in the thread title makes me uncomfortable.

Proving again that thread title changes are a disaster.

[Photek]

As a neutral, it is going to be fascinating to see what happens with Arsenal now. After Fergie left Man U, they went into a decline and are still nowhere near the team they were.

Arsenal are in a slightly different position as their standing has been slipping over the last few years whereas Fergie was still at the top, so will a new Arsenal man push them up or knock them further down?

Arsenal need a squad overhaul to get near the top 4 so it's a big job for the next manager.

It’s not always that simple. Man U have spent a fortune since Fergie left and (other than this season) have struggled to make the top 4. Just overhauling a squad and spending big doesn’t mean you’ll make it to the top 4.

That’s why getting the right manager is essential, get the wrong guy in and you will just be wasting hundreds of millions of pounds.*

*or knowing Arsenal, wasting £10million.

So we agree...??

[Moggy]

As a neutral, it is going to be fascinating to see what happens with Arsenal now. After Fergie left Man U, they went into a decline and are still nowhere near the team they were.

Arsenal are in a slightly different position as their standing has been slipping over the last few years whereas Fergie was still at the top, so will a new Arsenal man push them up or knock them further down?

Arsenal need a squad overhaul to get near the top 4 so it's a big job for the next manager.

It’s not always that simple. Man U have spent a fortune since Fergie left and (other than this season) have struggled to make the top 4. Just overhauling a squad and spending big doesn’t mean you’ll make it to the top 4.

That’s why getting the right manager is essential, get the wrong guy in and you will just be wasting hundreds of millions of pounds.*

*or knowing Arsenal, wasting £10million.

So we agree...??

Sort of.

[7256930752]

As a neutral, it is going to be fascinating to see what happens with Arsenal now. After Fergie left Man U, they went into a decline and are still nowhere near the team they were.

Arsenal are in a slightly different position as their standing has been slipping over the last few years whereas Fergie was still at the top, so will a new Arsenal man push them up or knock them further down?

Arsenal need a squad overhaul to get near the top 4 so it's a big job for the next manager.

They need a few players but a squad overhaul is a bit over the top.

[Tomous]

As a neutral, it is going to be fascinating to see what happens with Arsenal now. After Fergie left Man U, they went into a decline and are still nowhere near the team they were.

Arsenal are in a slightly different position as their standing has been slipping over the last few years whereas Fergie was still at the top, so will a new Arsenal man push them up or knock them further down?

Arsenal need a squad overhaul to get near the top 4 so it's a big job for the next manager.

They need a few players but a squad overhaul is a bit over the top.

To compete for the league they need a squad overhaul I think. To get back to top 4, 3-4 solid signings would probably do it.

[SMPL]

End of an era but Wenger's partly responsible for a lot of Arsenal's problems. Yeah, the players aren't quite good enough, but he was never ruthless enough, always had a weird paternal thing going on. Arsenal's training methods are meant to be antiquated as well, so I'd be surprised if a good coach couldn;t get more out of this squad.

[DML]

Arsene Wenger thought that Financial Fair Play was going to be fully enforced and shaped Arsenal to compete in such a way. Unfortunately there was two flaws to the plan.

1) It wasn't enforced

2) Wenger himself became a bit of a dinosaur tactically and therefore couldn't capitalise even if he things had gone his way.

The building of the Emirates has so much to do with Arsenal's new place in football, but he still should have left before now.

[PES Fan]

Rodgers and Vieira are the favourites.

Tuchel seems to be off to PSG. Enrique seems to be the favourite for the Chelsea job.

[DML]

I do think Joachim Low is pretty damn likely. Kinda makes sense.

[PES Fan]

I do think Joachim Low is pretty damn likely. Kinda makes sense.

Does it? A guy who hasn’t been a club manager for over a decade. Even then his club management CV wasn’t really impressive. Was a journeyman before Klinnsmann made him assistant.

[jawafour]

I do kinda understand certain aspects behind the idea that "Wenger should have gone before now". But three FA Cup trophies in the past four seasons, a record of Champions League qualification nineteen years running and top-five Premier League finishes every year he has managed the club seems more than reasonable. Very few managers have achieved such a high level of consistency over such a period of time.

[PES Fan]

Also regarding Lowe, I don’t think he’d be ideal with a World Cup year. Arsenal need a manager who can plan ahead for next season and identify transfer targets as quick as possible.

We had the same issue with Van Gaal. The club had signed Herrera and Shaw before he came. I don’t think he was ever keen on signing both of them. He rushed out bought Di Maria and Falcao without any plans on how to use them.

[Moggy]

I do kinda understand certain aspects behind the idea that "Wenger should have gone before now". But three FA Cup trophies in the past four seasons, a record of Champions League qualification nineteen years running and top-five Premier League finishes every year he has managed the club seems more than reasonable. Very few managers have achieved such a high level of consistency over such a period of time.

ISWYDT

The three FA Cups have obviously been decent, but there was a 9 year barren run before that. And they haven’t looked like challenging for the title in well over a decade.

But I still think his overall record is excellent. It’s just a shame the lack of league/European success over the last 10 years has led to his memory being tarnished in the eyes of some of the fans.