Pretty Football? What's The Point?

Cheers Ginge, now tell us something we don't know. Berk.

Man's a genius.

It may have been a while but pretty football did enable us to win a title at your ground didn't it ginger nut! Not to mention winning titles didn't stop your best player from packing his bags to join Real did it!

Spot on Jaelle, it clearly bothers them a little as all their praise seems to be begrudging.

Tenner says he sat next to Evra on the team bus, pair of moaning joyless flaps.

Nail.Hit.Head.

I would disagree Shewore. Wenger inherited an under performing mid table team with ordinary (all be it full of British grit) players. They were certainly not winners until Wenger turned up. As good as Adams had been for us for many years before, he was a one dimensional defender, although a very good one. Wenger added new dimensions to his game, such as technique. Bergkamp was a genius playing in a defensive uncreative team, he would never of had served Arsenal for all those years if Wenger hadn't taken over when he did, he blossomed playing under wenger. It is hard to judge a manager in the modern game when managers move more then a jack russel on heat. If say, a manager has been with a club for 15, 20 years plus, the law of averages will tell you at some point you will have average seasons such as Wenger and even Fergy. A modern day manager can move from club to club with a ready made team full of world class players, win a few trophies then move to the next ready made club. Modern managers are just like modern footballers, its all about personal gain, their ego and their bank balance....someone like Mourinho for example. I would love to see the successful "modern" manager like mourinho take charge of a mid table club with average players and mould them into winners and leave a legacy. You just wont see it anymore.....fergy and Wenger will be the last. Yes both clubs will try to find long term replacements to keep the legacy, but in a football world run by short term gains, it just wont happen.

It has been reported that Wenger had a hand in Bergkamp's signing as he had known he would be coming to Arsenal a year before he did. I am sure I heard that in a documentary about the flying Dutchman. Of course, there may be nothing in it. And, it is true that Wenger did inherit a middle table side and turned them into winners.

shewore, Wenger's work in rejuvenating and giving a fresh lease of life to our back 5 in 1998 is hugely under rated. I remember our famous defence floundering and stuttering when faced with pacy forwards and their positioning and motivation were getting to sub standard levels before they were forced to change the way they trained, ate and behaved. Lets agree to disagree.

It doesn't matter that the team members had trophies when AW came in. The point to note is when the inherited team last won the Championship before AW arrived. We won it last in 1991, a 7 year hiatus which ended in 1998.

When Rioch left there was a high degree of uncertainty surrounding the club and its players. The club was moving backwards at the time of that there was no question. It was re-engineering that was required at the time and it was done in fine style. Lets not discuss this any further as its clear we hold divergent views on the matter.

After a fantastic start to the 90's we tailed off terribly, and yes we were a mid table team, I remember us finishing 10th and 12th in two of those seasons as much as I try to forget, even my QPR and Wimbledon mates goading me that they finished above us! (the less said about the spudds the better) but you get where I'm coming from. Wenger took over a team void of confidence and direction, we were still reeling from the George Graham debacle! I remember our big signing at the time (Stefan Schwarz) leaving after one season when we finished 12th! As much as some people may try to sweep it under the carpet, things were bad! The club was in serious decline considering where we were 87-91. The 2 domestic cups and Cup Winners cup in 93/94 just covered up the cracks, we finished 10th in the league when we won the FA and League cup! God knows what would have happend during that lean spell if we didnt have Wrighty. In under 2 seasons wenger added some flair to the British grit we already had, as well as revolutioning the way the club was run, he won us the league and cup double, quite remarkable when you think where we were just 3 years earlier.....languishing in 12th place! To put that into perspective, Newcastle finished 12 last season.

Well said Gunnerman76. I like the 12th place perspective too (shudders) :-)

I beg to differ nordkap. Arsenal haven't just started playing "pretty" football over the last 6 years..... "pretty" football has won us 3 Premiership titles and 4 FA cups, not forgetting those astonishing 38 games unbeaten! A colleague of mine told me about an article they had read about "the team of the decade".....I thought that is a no brainer, it has to be the invincibles.....for anyone who's interested it was Man utd....cant even remember what year, I lost interest by then. Its funny how people have selective memories. I am as frustrated with Wenger as most Arsenal fans, don't get me wrong, but at the same time I am a realist who tries not to be fickle, if that is at all possible in the world of a football fan. When people say to me "sack wenger" I say to them "and who should we replace him with?" Its not a hard question, although nobody has given me a solid answer. It pains me to say that people will only REALLY appreciate wenger when he has gone, which is a shame. If wenger was forced out of Arsenal because of fickle fans with selective memories he would be the hottest property on the market. EVERY top team in Europe would be knocking on his door. To the Arsenal "fans" that are calling for his head.....let me put it to you like this. How would you feel if he left, then joined another club....say Man City, as they seem to have a fascination about everything Arsenal at the moment, how would you feel then?