Unacceptable.

won't win the league with such defending,

Tough luck Rocky, but if you are going to keep employing has-been CB's what do you seriously expect? Wenger has completely lost the plot, but suspect thta if he stays he will still say give me another 5 yrs to let the kids grow up!

that must have hurt

2-0 up with 10 minutes to go is arguably the hardest thing to defend, Rocky7. Examples from this season alone would beEverton fighting back in the last ten minutes to draw 2-2 with us, and that was an injury-hit Everton side. Basically, if you let in a goal, and it does become two-one, the opposition will fight tooth and nail to get the equaliser, and the defence will lose the confidence they had at 2-0. At that point, with a nervous young keeper and an old central defensive pairing which should never have been out there at all, what can you expect? So what I suggest is stop wallowing in your self-despair, realise that wih your first team out, you wouldn't have let that hsppen, and get on with the next game.

Make em walk the plank off Wigan pier. When the tide's out.

Blue and white army Blue and white army Blue and white army Blue and white army Unlucky arsenal

I think Wenger honestly believed we could have a shot at the title after Chelsea's loss so he decided not to gamble with RVP. Personally I would have played him wiht 20 mins remaining but I don't blame him after what happened with Gallas and Cesc. Truth be told Wigan deserved to win the game, we never really bossed the game and we didn't create many chances. The biggest worry now is that we are looking down instead of up. Second was a very realistic target before this game now fourth is even more realistic. City at home, Blackburn away, and Fulham at home. Three tough fixtures considering the players we have available.

All season we've been complaining that Almunia isn't good enough and we've known since January that 2 games in a week is too much for Sol and playing a rookie DM was always going to carry risks. That's the choice you make at this time of the season. The title had probably gone away but would it have made more sense to stick with what we know of Almunia and perhaps Diaby at centre back or do you take the risk of blooding players in the hope that the experience will serve them well in the future?

Am I the only one thinking the only positive is that this must have forced Wenger's hands in the transfer market at long last?

I was really looking forward to next Saturdays game about six weeks ago but I dread the thought. Even against Hull I am not so sure. Never since I have been following our team have I been so disappointed two weeks in a row. I've been giving my brother in law a Pool supporter stick nearly all season. His evil smiling is now really starting to get to me. A loss to the Spuds is bad enough and now a loss to Wigan FFS. But I have an awful feeling we wont make the CL next year. That will really be unacceptable Rocky.

We all feel a bit sick Rocky... poor in goal, weak at the back, no authority further up the field - all our weaknesses summed up (again) in one match... we can put this into as much context as we want (other teams struggled at Wigan etc) but there's no escaping the fact that good parts of our first team are a bit feeble mentally... its like a cancer that spreads to team-mates and before you know it everyone's wobbling... we need at least one or two meaner older heads in there. I dont even blame the players - much as I stand by Wenger, this is down to him. It'll be interesting seeing how he goes about improving things over the summer.

We wanted it more than you and got what we deserved in the end the 3 points...when Walcott went off it allowed both Figueroa and Moses a lot more freedom down our left, that was a turning point for me

Lou, we have had disappointing seasons before. What will happen is this. Wenger might want to buy players now, however he will assess things in the summer and decide that his players need to be given another chance given that they are young and that next year we will have more luck with injuries. He will then come out and say that his targets were overpriced or that buying experienced players would kill young players he has nurtured for 5 years. Arshavin spoke his mind and said we needed character and 3 world class players, he was right. The pain of defeat will hurt AW today but in the summer it will all be forgotten. Chamack cost between £7-10m last year and we refused to pay and got hit by Bendtner and RvP injuries early on and had to play with liliputian Arshavin upfront. I am not saying Chamack would have been a great signing or uninjured, it is just an example of our lack of cover, luck or money.

Spuddies consoling gooners? has the world gone mad? i need to wake up...

TGB, if we get proven players, we will kill the youngsters... and that is not what AFC is about.

Lou, i agree. I just don't see the hunger in Nasri and Diaby these days. I am not sure the pros these days are interested in trophies. They just want the pig paychecks and nice lifestyles. I remember that Diaby's best mate Lass Diarra already had his aston martin while he was a reserve player at Chelski. Where are you gonna get the motivation from if you have it all? We have given new extended contracts to most of our players this year and yet we persist with the 1 year deals for over 30s like Billy G. I wouldn't blame Gallas to move elsewhere. He is a brilliant fighter and deserve a bit more. I think that policy needs to be reviewed on a case per case basis.

GF, I take your point but whilst we are waiting for the youngsters to develop and realise their full potential, we are going to need someone to lead our line, someone who can give the team the right kick just enough to make us more competitive in the league and the Champions League. The youngsters could also benefit more as they will have role models to look up to and aspire to be. A successful team needs a combination of experience and youth.

Agree with you Gael Force about Gallas. Its good to retain our younger players on longer contracts but not all of them. Performance should be the criteria for lengthening of contracts not youth alone or the fact that the club has already spent lot of time and money in developing them.

Those two players were properly playing to try and get into the France squad and they admitted as much, fair enough, that's the motivation they needed. Where has that desire gone? We talk about leaders. It's a disgrace that these guys just don't play the same game without their captain who's just around their age. Granted, the combined leadership of Cesc, Arshavin, Gallas and Vermaelen was good. Today Sol's the probably sole leader on the pitch and couldn't get them going despite showing his passion and leading by example. The likes of Diaby and Rosicky should have led/helped Eastmond, who ironically showed more desire as the youngest kid on show. I hope they look at themselves in the mirror in summer and see how the improved contracts came their way without their having to earn them.

On the contract extensions without the players earning them, I blame the wage inflation ignited by the likes of Chelsea, Real and Barca, I blame the transfer rules that force the managers' hands into renewing contracts to keep their players' worth, I blame the agents, in short, I blame the general greed in the sport. Oh well.

Exactly Gael, you just beat me to the contract thing. What a bad day this has been - I went to the wrong place for lunch, dropped my iphone in the toilet and now this. Better go to bed to cut this day short. :S

Where is this spurs' schadenfreude coming from? Am i missing a wind up somewhere?

I dont know what the hell happened to Rosicky. Dont know if its just injuries that messed him up but he is a shadow of the player he was when he first joined. Remember his thunderbolt against Hamburg in the C/L in 2006/2007 season and his brace at Anfield the same season in the F.A cup. Saw him against the Spuds on Wednesday and he wouldnt shoot, kept losing the ball cheaply and was largely ineffective much like today. Such a shame cause he really could have been a great, but I suppose a large part isnt his fault with the injuries and all...

looks like the pair of us are intent on handing Fergie the title!

At least Chelsea shoot when they can see the goal.

Isnt it obvious.. the second team dont have the mentality of winners. A bunch of pathetic also rans -who by themselves will never win anything - not because they dont have the talent but because they dont have the attitude. Our backups during the unbeaten run was the likes of Parlour, Keown etc - all men who would die for the club and here we have a bunch of morons. Diaby, - I dont ******** care what a season he has had, he needs to go.. and also a whole lot of our second team. No pride. No place in the arsenal team.

You really are the laughing stock of London right now. From all at Vital Spurs.

Its just classic Arsenal this season. Every opportunity in which other teams have failed we've messed up (other than the Bolton game). Earlier in the season, we had the opportunity and lost to Sunderland. This team needs to learn how to win, and as a fan I'm slightly fed up of waiting for this grit and determination to shine through. Admittedly, before the Spurs game I was quite content. We'd improved on last year, and, considering the injuries 3rd is a good effort, especially VP (who is as important to us as Rooney is to United, and I would have loved to see how they would have done if he got injured). But after today, this team hashown they just cannot take the opportunities, and what does this hold for next season? Will it just be a repeat? We need to grow up, and grow up fast. Unless big changes are made in the next 3 years, I would end Wenger's project and sack him.

I really wish I hadn't gone to the game today. It was a disgraceful performance in such a big game. I really can't see us picking up another win this season,and can anyone tell me the last time that we won a really BIG game ?

im not here clown on anyone but man that game winning goal what a rocket i do feel bad for you as you CB pairing is worse then sticking needles in your eyes!

i love arry lol, I'll give that tw@.nker 12 months max before he's utterly embarrassed by that username.

Unless it's her boyfriends name in which case as you were.

Unaceptable !! how dare the mighty arse concede a 2 0 lead !!!! how dare the mighty arse come a p,,, poor 2nd to their masterly neighbours !!!!!! how dare they ? get real and get used to it, it hurts when you lose,,,dont it !!!!!!!!!! I wonder how many rats will jump ship now that the wheels have fell off your cannon ?

After what I HAVE SEEN OVER THE WEEK FINAL POSITIONS MANURE CHAVS SPUDS MANCITY ARSENAL FINAL RESULTS CITY 4 ARSENAL 0 HULL 1 ARSENAL 1 BLACKBURN 2 ARSENAL 0 FULHAM 3 ARSENAL 1. I hope I'm wrong but after this week.

DF was not here to gloat, just cant believe how quick some of you are to start screaming for your money back when it dont go your way.

Yeah Borninbredspur, VS is such a rose garden when you guys lose ie every other week. You tear each other apart with snarling insults abuse and bile about whatever player Jenas'd it up, so do spare us the sanctimonious piffle and get your own house in order first.

What like Carrick? like Berbatov? like Keane? like ad infinitum for the thousands of players that have trod the stepping stone of WHL

Oh dear the playground insults have started !!! thanks for the chat DF at least some of you have a clue bye bye Nikolarse xx

since you guys hate eduardo we will take him off your hands and give you jenas? deal?

You can't blame what happened there on Abramovich's financial doping or clubs with vaster resources. That was all about a lack of the right mental attitude, organisation and just plain coasting through, thinking we'd won. Credit to Wigan, they deserved what they got and deserved what we did. That would never happen to United and Chelsea, never. For me, this team isn't organised defensively enough to play 4-3-3.

We don't want Eduardo, we don't need another Croat, we've got the best three. Besides, he'd never get through the medical with his fold-away leg.

I was addressing my compatriots who are trawling this site making you offers like 'Eduardo for Jenas'. Like i said, we goaded you for a bit after the NLD, but to continue now would just be inhuman, you're that terrrible.

The same medical that got King and Anderton their gig? Yeah I wouldn't put too much faith in that.

Continue as much as you like wembley horror show, all you're doing is reinforcing the stereotype that sp*rs have the mouthiest, ugliest braggards as fans. The whole network knows you lot are always stinking up the place, with a galaxy sized inferiority complex and the stunningly misplaced misconception you are a big club that the world gives a dribbly sh11te about.

lol iceman, woodgate lives? does he still have that tragic haircut thinking hhe's still mr madrid galactico? instead of a dead end has been in a futile joke toilet of a club in the boggy wasteland of outer london.

niko, love the spuds retort of yours, we've had them on VC, world cup winners and UEFA CL winners as well!!!watched your game and I still cannot believe what I saw. how the feck did that happen?? Feel genuine sympathy for Fabianski. Poor bloke looked devastated. a crappy weeked all round!!

Micko - Happy L'Arsewinf@ckallagainday, cheers!

speaking of halfwits, hello hatethegooners, wow this is a real get together for all the over confident gloating little lilysh11te gibbons

Tut tut Nikolarse, you really are a bad loser, are,nt you !!!!

Dont move a muscle nikolarse,,,,,just off to get me fishing rod, seems you keep rising to the bait,pmsl at you, the WUM that WUMS him self up Lets all larf at Niko lets all larf at Niko la la la la la la

I shall be smiling all week .....again!

I can take both of you weak arsed spud beeyatchs with both arms behind my back. I slap my cock in your squealing girly faces. I tag team your engorged mothers then tie them to my chariot and whip them up and down tottyscum high rd whilst humming the theme to Ben Hur very loudly. I've run round your dosshole of a 'locale' with my willy hanging out so many times it's been given the key to the city. I've laughed enough at sp*rs to last me an eternity, til I thought it wasn't possible to laugh any further, but I always involuntarily chuckle out a little more. Whatever happens in the centurys ahead between the little and large of the footballing world nothing and I mean nothing will ever touch the last day of the '06 season, we left our beloved Highbury and you lot? well you shhat yourself didn't you. Folklore, pure and simple, you'll never live it down. Bye bye panty fillers.

What I've dished out? What are you burbling on about inbred? I laugh long and hard at you on our forum for sure, always have always will. I have been over to vital fifth place and posted the grand sum of twice this season and one of those wasn't even a wind up. Get back in the attic you clump, you're scaring the guests.

i drive my colonial Jack boot into your gibbering face, before hoisting you into the air as you quiver and convulse. I drop you to the floor and watch you tremble at my feet, before urinating all over your frothing gums. I grab you again by the weasly throat and whipser softly in your grubby lug holes "THERE'S A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN"! I then leave you to world of agony, a nexus of Woolwich pain, and simpering, pathetic, supine defeat and annhilation. I've deficated on *****ebury, unleashed my grubby load all over the tacky, fake, art deco frontage. You....you're my obliging rent-boy, my F>U>C>K muse,whom i whip into a state of abject humilation on a near daily basis.

Who ever monitors these forums could you sort this ***** out please!

I lost a big chunk of respect for this team today. They've worked so hard to build up some good will and defy some negative vibes and they've blown it all again. This is the only time in my life I have ever wanted a full refund for attending a game. Football has many variables and ***** sometimes happens, but this was utterly unacceptable. If the club has any PR sense they will make it public that the 13 players prominently involved are having their wages recycled for the week and distributed either to those of us that left our houses at 4.30am to watch or to a charitable cause. The only consolation I can give other Gooners is that the M6 was an absolute bitch and it took six hours to get home. Notmuch fun for us, but I found a little consolation in the fact that the players couldn't take their usual route offlying to the game, so they will have been caught up in the motorway problems too.

Then read my 2nd post, it was you who spouted the name calling and as for the rest of your bile well !! ladys and gentlemen I rest my case

Got got a hearty taste of your own medicine?_you sad, sad individual. I'm the only one laughing because i whipped you yet again.

I don't have to read your backtracking second post I saw your first post borninbred, that set the scene for your sorry cameo in this thread. Now back in the attic clumpy!

You cant grasp what I was saying so I wont waste my breath with you any more mr big behind the computer ! sorry to the rest of you for having such an unhinged person in your ranks

C 'mon, i'm gonna give you something to shake...here it comes.

Oh what a way to wake up on a Monday morning, top result for Wigan, they are just about safe, start looking over your shoulders Gooners you may lose third spot. HAHAHAHA.

How Fabianski got near the Arsenal teamsheet after a) his feck up in the FA cup semi v chelsea and again b) after his Porto debacle, I do not know. What exactly did Mannone do wrong to never get another game after his heroic start to the season?

Will you missed out his diabolical showing in the cup vs Stoke.

Jesus timewarp, get a grip man, you're rapidly frothing into a rabid freak, the only sad sad individuals here are you chimps - you have both been on here ALL day, neither of you have had anything of note to say and you're both utterly unwitty and slow in your execution of it, you're very poor trolls, your level of banter has been weaker than watered fosters. Vital Bolton offered a greater challenge not to mention command of the English language and you sought to irritate but I've had more annoying clinkers tbf ;) You're both obviously p1ssed like the pikey ferrets you are and your standard will doubtless slip further and quicker than sp*rs title hopes in September so I'll bid you subbies goodnight.

I think Andy that far too many of our club is in the comfort zone with Arsene, there's none of the fear factor there that there is with Ferguson, they need to see a few shippings out in the summer. Really want Wenger to show the same ruthlessness he had in disbanding the invincibles, not that this squad needs that but it needs an almighty arsekicking.

I get the feeling we'er going to see some shippings alright... Wenger gave this squad longer than he wuold have normally because they were almost entirely his own baby unlike the part-inherited invincibles. He can be angry with his team but he'll maybe be a bit angry with himself too. Fingers crossed he makes the right calls this summer and we can get back to more winning ways as well as titles gained at the ground of our cack-stained neighbours.

Make an example of someone - Vela, Diaby, Rosicky, Nasri even - say that some these players aren't hungry enough for Arsenal. Let them stew for a month, then sell them to Madrid for 15 m. I hate this viewpoint because the D&Gers use it all the time, but either are players are too comfortable, not hungry or not good enough.

Well, It's the morning after the Lunch-time b4! I watched the match in my local which has some Very Happy Spuds and Unhappy Hammers in it. So you can imagine the banter flying about! 0v2 up after not playing that well, suited me fine, then with 10 mins to go. The Arsenal team Fell Totally Apart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How does a Top 3 team, manage to let in 3, Yes F**king 3 goals in 10 mins?! My only thought is that We hate Hull so Much, that we are Happy to Help Wigan out with gifting them 3pts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enough is enough! There can be no more excuses for Wenger! He is the one responsible for motivating the players! He is the one who has created the squad! He is the one who is responsible for Arsenal not winning a single trophy in 5 years! He has been given 100% licence to do it ‘his way’ by the directors of the club without having to fear for his job. Would he have been sacked by Chelsea, Barca, Madrid or United if he won Fack all in 5 seasons? Of course! He would have been gone 2 seasons ago! WENGER OUT!!!

Thanks Val, you have managed to cheer me up, if only slightly ! I live in the North West, so Wigan was about a 12 mile journey for me. I feel sorry for the boys, like LD who got up at an ungodly hour and suffered the misery of the M1 and M6. Unlike LD, I dont mind the players keeping their wages. All I want is for AW to watch that game back, and recognise how or why we capitulated against a very average team. Then I would like him to name and shame the guilty players, and NEVER choose them again.

I think the 'Wenger out' brigade is still delusional and misguided but it is high time AW gave us the truth. I am tired of hearing the same lies year on year. If he says the stadium was costly, we don't have money, we can't buy great players and all we can hope for at best is 3rd or 4th place, then i'd gladly accept and support the team. What grates me is when he says garbage like he can't find better players than what we have already.. thats a load of rubbish. These players may be talented but talent without professionalism or mental strength is nothing. We won't win anything until we resolve the goalkeeping situation. At least Lehman for all his failings kept the defence on its toes because they were scared of him.

Gael Force it seems quite clear that our earnings in the last 3 years have been largely used to decrease our stadium debt and highbury square debt from something like 350 million pounds to the current 150 odd million pounds. That is a reduction of 200 million pounds - part of which was from the sales of higbury square apartments and the other part from the footballing side. I guess Amos can clear up the exact numbers for us.

In my view if AW had seen an emergency need to strenghten the squad last year, money was available but he thought that there was no urgent need to do so. Now hopefully he has realised that this squad is capable of finishing 3rd/4th but not as champions. AW needs his expert transfer market skill again this summer. If he dips into the market, we are not far from success.

Was anyone shocked in the first half when Theo was through and chose to cut back instead of shooting? The cut back was aimed at nobody and we lost the opportunity. Shooting was his best option there. I kept asking asking myself why would he do that. The answer i got to is this squad shuns responsibility. The attitude of this squad is 'i will pass so i won't be blamed if i miss'. I say we need more guts out there.

What do you mean nikolaijns who am i im sumone reading this forum you idiot. Don;t tell me to ***** off you fool

The players who I'd definitely get rid of this summer would be Silvestre, Fabianski, and Traore. I'd probably also get rid of Sol as we need someone younger and fitter. Almunia might be worth keeping as a back up as I have more confidence in him than Fabianski. If we sign Chamakh we should probably move Eduardo out as he is too old to be sitting on the bench most of time. Even if Gallas stays we need to sign another CB, DM and a striker at least. We need to be able to rotate our squad and rest players otherwise we will suffer from too many injuries and tiredness again.

Traore is never going to be good enough defensively, both Clichy and Gibbs are much better than him. We'd be better off promoting someone from the youth team if we need a third choice left back.

According to Vital Birmingham, we have been strongly linked with signing Joe Hart and the figure quoted is about £8 million which would be a very shrewd signing. I am not getting too excited though because it is probably usual BS from the Sun or Daily Star or one of these other rags...

It's not up to Birmingham, it's for Man City to decide. I really can't see them willing to part with Joe Hart, even if they only see him as a back-up to Given. The only way the deal has a chance of going through is if Hart wants to come, and has an offer from AW, then he needs to hand in a transfer request.

Oh yes, I forgot he was out on loan from Citeh. Duh!! Well then as CR said it is probably unlikely to happen although I cant imagine he will be too happy being a 2nd choice keeper at Mercenary City. Lets hope that the chance of being 1st choice for Arsenal is too much to pass up and he does hand in a transfer request.

But taking into account Given turning 34 soon, he may be considering retirement, not now but maybe in 1-2 seasons. Another thing which may convince Hart to stay at Citeh if he is willing to bide his time.

City are in the strongest possible position re Hart agreed, gutting really as he's the business & there's no way we'll pay over the odds for someone young & English, Wenger's been burnt doing that in the past.

I was playing FIFA this weekend, and i pulled almunia out as a guy was running at me, he chipped almunia, but from miles away, so alumina goes running back towards goal and instead of catching the ball just bundles it over the line...at first i was furious thinking 'what horrible programming', then i saw fabianski bounce the ball off of a guys head into his own goal and thought...EA are genius..they have every eventuality available in that game...

ok - still reeling from yesterday's debacle. I get frustrated with this constant talk of who to offload, who to bring in, yadayadayada. We all know what we need. For me, it really isn't the primary issue. The PRIMARY issue for me is how these players are being trained and developed. What they're learning and not learning, how their egos are being nurtured or not nurtured, who they're learning alongside, what the manager's approach is to big games (which doesn't necessarily mean big teams - Wigan was a "big" game if we were to pressure Utd and Chelsea for the title), his decisions for substitutions, his policy re resting first choice players to keep them fresh for the end of the season, his use of squad players, his use of mature players like AA in their best position, and MOST OF ALL: DEFENSIVE TRAINING. Those are things that, for me, matter the most. What good does it do to bring in players if none of those issue are addressed?

Like everyone here, I detest Pyles Ego, I hate his anti-AW rants. His insistence that AW does not teach defense has always struck me as silly but frankly I'm starting to take his claim seriously. I am sick to death of watching the once great boring defensive Arsenal concede really REALLY stupid goals. Almost none of the many goals we've conceded this season were brilliant wonderstrikes impossible to defend. Danny Rose's volley was an exception. Nearly all of them were due to pathetically amateurish errors that title winning teams simply do not commit, at least not as frequently as we do. The issue of injuries is irrelevant -- a squad well drilled in disciplined, coordinated defending doesn't need to be world class. Midtable teams defend better than we do. What is striking is the appalling lack of understanding and communication among our players. What is also striking is that we see the same problems every season go unaddressed, regardless of whatever players we have brought in. So yes, condemn the players for yesterday's farce. But AW trained these kids, nurtured their egos, and failed to build their defensive awareness and cohesiveness. This is his team.

Club for sale - French Muppets, judas syle traitors, Barca trainees all included but bring your own golaie. All at a very attractive knock down price! I laughed my *****king ass off....thanks Goons for being you! so special!!!!!

AW looked shattered in his post-match interview. He's put his heart and soul into this project and taken so much criticism. I really do feel for him, I so want him to succeed. But I really do think he's set up these kids for failure. He's brought them along with no veterans alongside them to guide them. Then he tells them the only 2 competitions that matter are the PL and CL. They never focus on the FA cup or CC. Yet a young, developing squad should first start with smaller competitions. Mourinho when he first came to England started out by winning the CC and used that trophy to build momentum. During Ferguson's 3-yr rebuilding phase, he won the CC in 2006 and used that to build momentum. Yet our young squad has never been told to focus on smaller cups that might be within their reach as part of their development. Ignore all the trolling, what AW has tried is courageous, risky, even noble. But I think his own flaws in training, targets, use of squad players, coddling young egos, has hurt project a great deal.

Hardley the same is it nikolaijns i am not writing long detailed paragraphs like only a sad person would do

Jaelle, you have the gall to call me a bad loser !!!! er in case you did not notice, its your team that are on a losing streak, and as you have pointed out on here, I wont watch the city game, its gonna be to painful ?? typical plastic supporter aintcha ! only sing when your winning, tut tut tut.

"you only sing when your winning?" That is the sole reason you are on here BBS. If Spurs were on a losing run you would be firmly wedged under that rock you've had a 50 year lease on.

michael.thfc you sure must be adept at laughing at your own club looking at its premier league history. Comedy fans for a comedy club. The league table does not lie.

It's exactly the same saint_gunnax. So you're OK to do it because your abuse is kept to one sentence and as dull as the proverbial dishwater is that it?? I would suspect your phobia of long paragraphs isn't confined to that of banter. If you need more pictures just ask the admin.

BBS, you just proved the stereotype of the stupid, illiterate spuddie. You can't even read a post that calls your team WINNERS! Graceless, tho, very graceless.

I just don't agree with that bowie, our squad size is not much smaller than either of the teams above us, you can argue over the quality of the squad we have - specifically the b team that is getting way too much pitch time out of injury neccessity instead of merit, but not the size of the squad. I do blame Wenger in prioritizing the two most difficult prizes, it's a terrible idea and one that's unlikely to ever pay off without winning one of the 'lesser' cups. I think it's got to the stage now where we just can't be that choosy, these players have to win a trophy and the CC/FA are great starting points to build confidence and a winning mentality.

The issue of why the trophies have dried up for the gooners is a very complex one: it's the subject of a thesis no less. I suspect if one were to really look at the data, you'd find a multiplicity of varying factors. To say, "it's Wenger, or it's the players, or it's the coaching, or the stadium overheads" is probably simplistic. What's really going on? Fact is noone really knows, although every single pundit has their own pet theory. For our part, our failure to compete at the highest level is pretty easliy explained by the fact that we sack our managers far, far, too quickly, and are always starting from scratch. The way forward is for a football academic at Liverpool University to get hold of the data and conduct a root and branch review of the club. Then you can plot your next move.