Well, I've had a pretty fucking pathetic weekend. I've been mourning the loss of Thierry Henry the whole time. That's right, mourning. It feels like someone has died. This hurts more than any other transfer away from Arsenal that I can remember. I gather Liam Brady's one was tough, but I wasn't around to witness that one. So, these are my thoughts on the whole situation. Not on what Henry has said, nor whose fault it was that he left - as that has been done to death. This is what I think about where we go from here.
Well, there is no escaping the fact that we survived most of last season without Henry in the side. So de jure we shouldn't miss him all that much. However, Henry was more than just a player for us. He was an icon and he was our fear factor. We were not a one man team, but we would look to Henry (we're not on first name terms, if you hadn't already noticed!) to get us out of jail so much - and more often than not, he would deliver. However, more importantly than that, he was a figurehead for Arsene's regime. Players wanted to play for us because they wanted to play with him. 'Fans' (and I use that term loosely) would come just to watch him play. The term "I'd pay money to watch him play" had rarely been more fitting. Now that he is gone, it is a fact that we will find it more difficult to attract players, and many fair weather fans will stay away (now, your average Gooner would argue that this is a good thing, but to the Arsenal board, whose motto is "bums on seats", this will be a huge loss), I can only assume. Therefore, de facto, he will be a huge, huge loss. I cannot remember any player having such an impact, such influence on any team, ever. Therefore, back to my earlier point; just as Henry today described Barcelona as "more than a club", he was more than a player.
For that reason, I disagree with all of these Gooners going on about who will 'replace' Henry. He cannot be replaced, end of story. However, we must look to the future. We will fall apart if we dwell on this too much. So - what does the future hold? If I'm honest, I think we should batten down the hatches and brace ourselves, because I think it's going to get worse before it gets better. Why? Well, because there is clearly an instability in the Club which no one seems to bothered about rectifying. The longer this goes on, the more effect this is going to have on players like Cesc. A clear and perfectly transparent statement needs to be made, and it needs to be made fucking quickly. However, I do not think it is going to come. Not a proper one, anyway. Arsene may or may not stay on after the end of next season, but I'm pretty sure he will not say one way or the other until then (the end of the season), so as far as the board room, management and players (who have a unique bond with Le Boss) are concerned, there will be little stability in the team this season.
In two years time, we will finally cash in on Highbury. From this point onwards, I think the future will be clearer, and in general, much brighter. That is, of course, if we qualify for the Champions League for the next two years in a row. If we don't, then I really don't even want to think about what is going to happen to us. However, I'm going to go on the assumption that we will qualify, which leads me to believe that the next two seasons is all about keeping our heads down and limiting the damage. We need to set our sights a little lower. We're not going to win the league. We're almost definitely not going to win the Champions League. The best we can hope for is a top 4 finish and a few cup runs. Now, I know this sounds depressing, but we need to think about the future, and ours is very unclear. We are going to have to take things slow and rebuild, whilst at the same time maintaining a decent level of success.
Arsene Wenger will not leave before the end of next season. I guarantee you that. As for after it, well I think that given the fact that he's placing so much faith in youngsters and clearly building for the future, I think he'd feel inclined to stay with us until he knew we'd come out of our "transitional phase" and were a stable organisation once again. Therefore, unless something drastic changes (which, in these days of hostile takeovers, it might) my prediction is that Arsene will pack it in at the end of the 2008/09 season. Arsene asked for our trust, and he's got mine. I think he will stick with us through this hard time, and I think he will graciously step down when he feels we're in a healthy situation for someone else to take over.
So there you have it. Arsenal's near future according to me. It boils down to Champions League qualification for the next couple of years. If we achieve that, providing we make a couple of shrewd (as opposed to 'star' because I'm being realistic) signings along the way, and nothing goes drastically wrong (Abramovichesque) I think that for the 2009/10 season, we should be in a pretty strong position. It will take a long time to fully get over the departure of Mr. Henry. But provided we keep our cool and think about things logically, I think we'll be fine.
Never write the Arsenal off.
The Future's Brighter Than You Think...
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GunnerTino
- Posts: 140
- Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 7:20 am
Well Mr.S,I agree with a lot of your points about the
next couple of seasons,and as you said it makes
for a depressing couple of years,but therin lies
the problem.Why should we be facing such a difficult
period on the pitch?It has to be said that since the "Invincible"
season the club has failed to stay ahead of its rivals and
now seems to be struggling to hang to thier coatails.
At the time of that magnificent season it was clear that
we were by far the best team in the country,now as far
as I could tell just 2 or 3 signings (to keep all the
players on their toes and the rest of the league in their
place) would have kept things ticking along nicely.
The fact that we didn't (We only brought in RVP) remains
a mystery to me.The following dismantling of that
side has now left us in this situation.Before the outcry,yes
we do have some very talented youngsters but bring them
in while the side is playing with massive confidence and
not loads of self doubt and watch the difference.
Now I don't hold UEFA badges and have FA certificates
coming out of my arse, but even I know that in football
you keep improving your team regardless of what you've
won the season before.Who's to blame,Wenger,the board?
You are absolutley right to say "Never write the Arsenal off"
We do seem to battle against the odds and usually come
off better than most,but we really could have been in a
position on the field, where the move to the Emirates and
all the subsiquent financial implications that came with
it would not have held us back so much.
next couple of seasons,and as you said it makes
for a depressing couple of years,but therin lies
the problem.Why should we be facing such a difficult
period on the pitch?It has to be said that since the "Invincible"
season the club has failed to stay ahead of its rivals and
now seems to be struggling to hang to thier coatails.
At the time of that magnificent season it was clear that
we were by far the best team in the country,now as far
as I could tell just 2 or 3 signings (to keep all the
players on their toes and the rest of the league in their
place) would have kept things ticking along nicely.
The fact that we didn't (We only brought in RVP) remains
a mystery to me.The following dismantling of that
side has now left us in this situation.Before the outcry,yes
we do have some very talented youngsters but bring them
in while the side is playing with massive confidence and
not loads of self doubt and watch the difference.
Now I don't hold UEFA badges and have FA certificates
coming out of my arse, but even I know that in football
you keep improving your team regardless of what you've
won the season before.Who's to blame,Wenger,the board?
You are absolutley right to say "Never write the Arsenal off"
We do seem to battle against the odds and usually come
off better than most,but we really could have been in a
position on the field, where the move to the Emirates and
all the subsiquent financial implications that came with
it would not have held us back so much.
Tino: I don't think Abramovich helped. I'm almost certain that had Chelsea not received that huge cash injection, they would not have finished 2nd behind us in 2004 and not won the league the year after, meaning we would have won it. Before he came along, we made a commitment to the new stadium. I think we assumed that we'd win a fair bit of silverware between then and now in order to bankroll it, and had Roman not come along, we more than likely would have done. If you look at it that way, it was the worst moment possible for him to come along. We had just taken a huge gamble which would have paid off had a huge Russian spanner not been thrown in to the works ("I'd have gotten away with it too it it wasn't for that pesky Russian!") but unfortunately, what came along? A huge Russian spanner! The rest is history.
As for adding to a successful squad; If you look back to the '98 Double, Wenger came in for some criticism for not adding to the squad in the following summer. I think that's just the way he does it. I guess he operates on the philosophy of "if it ain't broken, don't fix it." Only problem is, because we had such a tight unit in 2004, once on of them leaves, it leads to another one being unsettled, and it goes on from there like a set of dominoes. And because of Abramovich being around, it takes twice as long to adapt as usual. Man Utd have only now just adapted to life with Abramovich (I'll save the foreign investment debate for another time). It is now our turn to take a step back and adjust to the much changed face of English football. I have no doubt that we can do it, but it is imperative that us Gooners keep the faith.
As for adding to a successful squad; If you look back to the '98 Double, Wenger came in for some criticism for not adding to the squad in the following summer. I think that's just the way he does it. I guess he operates on the philosophy of "if it ain't broken, don't fix it." Only problem is, because we had such a tight unit in 2004, once on of them leaves, it leads to another one being unsettled, and it goes on from there like a set of dominoes. And because of Abramovich being around, it takes twice as long to adapt as usual. Man Utd have only now just adapted to life with Abramovich (I'll save the foreign investment debate for another time). It is now our turn to take a step back and adjust to the much changed face of English football. I have no doubt that we can do it, but it is imperative that us Gooners keep the faith.
Well Tony, I know how you feel, my Sunday was absolute shit. I live out in Bedfordshire now, and I was driving up to Swiss Cottage to see my mother. Driving down the A1 I must have been running what the AA call the gaunlet of death cos all I was thinking about was Arsenal. Not so much TH, we've all accepted he's gone and I dont believe the reasons he's given out, Im more with Frank McClintock about he should have been honest and said he wanted one last move and a nice big fat wagepacket before he burnt out. He served Arsenal well so good luck to him. He should have gone last year though instead of kissing the ground I know Im being a bit synical here but he could have been sticking his arse up to us all. All the way down I was thinking why nothing from La Boss and nothing from Arsenal PR. This was really pissing me off as ok The King is Dead but then Long Live the King a new King is crowned. So Im driving up this tight road near Hampstead where its all double parked all the way up the hill, thinking who we gonna crown the new King when fucking bang I take out this door mirror of a Volvo parked half on the pavement half out in the road and it takes out my door mirror unit which scrapes all down the side of my car. Oh fuck, I stopped and just as I was about to get out this shit head stops by me and said you have busted that mirror on that car as if I was gonna drive off so I lost it and told him to fuck off and mind his own business. Anyway I sorted it out with a very nice lady of the car who all most tried to blame herself for parking like that. So I put my bits in the car and carried on not a happy bunny knowing that my nephew and my brother were on the starting blocks to give me shit as they are Chelshite, and they had wanted to know what time I was gonna be at Mums and they would be waiting for me. So I was pretty fucked off yesterday.
I can see us doing well this season, as we were without RSP and TH last season so having a fully fit RSP back in and now without TH hopefully Tommy and Theo and Ces can work into a good unit without him wanting the ball all the time. Lets just hope La Boss has a couple of surprise signings in the next week or two cos he's a sly old fox and he's Arsenal I dont care what anyone says. He got the training ground built which is the best in Europe, he's constantly produced great teams that play fantastic football and he had his hand in the building of the Emirates which is the best stadium in England and probably Europe. Im sure the guy is not gonna walk away from all of what he's done so Im very optimistic for the next few years.
Gone on a bit, but had to get that out of my system or I'll be punching a certain West Ham supporter at work tonight. Ha!
I can see us doing well this season, as we were without RSP and TH last season so having a fully fit RSP back in and now without TH hopefully Tommy and Theo and Ces can work into a good unit without him wanting the ball all the time. Lets just hope La Boss has a couple of surprise signings in the next week or two cos he's a sly old fox and he's Arsenal I dont care what anyone says. He got the training ground built which is the best in Europe, he's constantly produced great teams that play fantastic football and he had his hand in the building of the Emirates which is the best stadium in England and probably Europe. Im sure the guy is not gonna walk away from all of what he's done so Im very optimistic for the next few years.
Gone on a bit, but had to get that out of my system or I'll be punching a certain West Ham supporter at work tonight. Ha!
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GunnerTino
- Posts: 140
- Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 7:20 am
T,(I hope you don't mind the familiarty!)I know that Russian Twat
stuck his Rubbles in and cranked the whole thing up a notch or two,but it still has to be noted that he had to spend somewhere in the region of
£250 mil to get to win their first title,the reason I'm hacked off about it all
is we were already ahead of them and only needed to have spent a fraction of that to remain ahead.I know the club had commited itself to building the most advanced stadium in the Europe,but surely spending
£30 mil at the most wouldn't have made much difference?
Anyway if memory serves me right we were told that building the stadium would have no impact on Wenger's transfer budget.You could be right in Wenger's policy of not tampering too much with what he's got,but even you would agree that our squads have been a little threadbare and we had been(Untill recently)pretty lucky with injuries.
You are spot on about keeping the faith and I truly believe we're still in not too bad a shape,it makes me laugh when I hear dopey "****" going on about breaking into the top 4 seeing as they finnished further behind us than the season before!
So I'll take a leaf out of your book and keep the faith!!
stuck his Rubbles in and cranked the whole thing up a notch or two,but it still has to be noted that he had to spend somewhere in the region of
£250 mil to get to win their first title,the reason I'm hacked off about it all
is we were already ahead of them and only needed to have spent a fraction of that to remain ahead.I know the club had commited itself to building the most advanced stadium in the Europe,but surely spending
£30 mil at the most wouldn't have made much difference?
Anyway if memory serves me right we were told that building the stadium would have no impact on Wenger's transfer budget.You could be right in Wenger's policy of not tampering too much with what he's got,but even you would agree that our squads have been a little threadbare and we had been(Untill recently)pretty lucky with injuries.
You are spot on about keeping the faith and I truly believe we're still in not too bad a shape,it makes me laugh when I hear dopey "****" going on about breaking into the top 4 seeing as they finnished further behind us than the season before!
So I'll take a leaf out of your book and keep the faith!!
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Eboue Can't Defend
- Posts: 637
- Joined: Wed May 16, 2007 3:45 pm
- Location: LONDON
I love the familiarity. My Christian name isn't Tonysaunders. So people can call me 'Tony' or any incarnation of 'Tony' or 'Saunders' they please. Sometimes I wish I'd come up with a more imaginative user name!GunnerTino wrote:T,(I hope you don't mind the familiarty!)
As for the rest of your post, I agree with you completely. Every single summer that has gone past I have been disappointed with our activity in the transfer market (with the exception of the summer when we bought Wright, Jeffers, Gio, Campbell, etc.). I've always thought that our squad needs more investment. As for the board saying that the stadium would not affect Arsene's transfer kitty, I think that's bollocks (not your point, but what the board said) and I have seen no evidence which suggests otherwise. Hopefully this will be the summer I'm proven wrong eh?
I can sympathise with you there del.
I managed to talk my way into visiting the folks, got things in the car switched on the engine tried to put it in gear....nothing. The clutch had gone. Missus gave me a guilt trip and ended up having to go in her battered old metro, i'm a bad enough passenger at the best of times.
Guess it was one of those weekends for us gooners.
I managed to talk my way into visiting the folks, got things in the car switched on the engine tried to put it in gear....nothing. The clutch had gone. Missus gave me a guilt trip and ended up having to go in her battered old metro, i'm a bad enough passenger at the best of times.
Guess it was one of those weekends for us gooners.
