ARSENAL’S implosion on the pitch is one thing, but the club is apparently in crisis mode, from the protesters on the streets to the laughing Chilean on the bench, if you believe everything you see and read, there is an emergency on planet Gooner. But are Arsenal REALLY in crisis? Do they know what crisis […]
Tag: Arsene Wenger
The Wenger files open again
EACH SEASON, TV pundits sit and chin-stroke over another failed Arsenal title challenge. It has been happening for the past 13 years and the script is familiar beyond belief. Certainly for the last five years, Arsenal have been pursuing what Albert Einstein warned us about a long time ago: “Insanity: Doing the same thing over […]
Is it fair to blame Arsene and his kind for England’s decline?
THIS weekend, Arsenal and Chelsea meet in what is sure to be another chapter in the simmering rivalry between the two London giants. Thankfully, there will be no tiresome Wenger v Mourinho debate to dominate the headlines, but Arsenal are celebrating 20 years of Le Professeur – the man that brought the club great success […]
Call for a Frenchman
WHEN Roy Hodgson was appointed England manager in 2012 there were many who questioned his credentials for the job. A nice guy, yes, a safe pair of hands, certainly, but lacking in dynamism and perhaps an average track record. But there was more to Roy Hodgson than a softly-spoken manner and an avuncular appearance. A […]
Wenger has most staying power among big five leagues
DESPITE the ongoing debate about Arsene Wenger’s future as Arsenal manager, the Frenchman stands out across the premier European football leagues for his durability. According to the latest report from CIES Football Observatory, Wenger has been in charge at Arsenal for 233 months. Nobody gets close to this figure – Wenger’s length of service is […]
The principle of good enough: Wenger and Arsenal
THERE is something slightly undignified about a man of Arsene Wenger’s stature having to defend himself in the media. As he rightly suggests, his record speaks for itself. Not only has Wenger outperformed Arsenal’s recent managerial incumbents such as George Graham, but he has also achieved more than the legendary Herbert Chapman. He’s won more titles than […]
Mourinho and Wenger are back in the sandpit
Sometimes I think that football managers and players think we are all stupid. Why else would they all behave like they do, posture as they do and make stupid statements like they do? We all know it’s a game of cliché and jargon (always has been, always will be), but it is also a sport […]
March to the arch: Don Quixotic and the modern Hammers
They were at it again. I watched Arsenal lose at home to Swansea, another game where the Gunners dominated, passing the opposition to death. They lost to a late goal. A little murmur went up, just a faint anti-Wenger comment or two. At the Emirates, freedom of speech is not encouraged when it comes to […]
Cup defeat a reminder of United’s long way back….
It was once the clash of the titans, two footballing supertankers. Great minds battling against each other. A high-octane clash, never more graphically captured than when Martin Keown screamed his delight at Ruud van Nistelrooy after the Dutchman had missed a late penalty. Schadenfreude at its best, or a scene from Planet of the Apes. […]