Six Reasons Why Arsenal Can Dominate English Football Next Season by FD
Recent years have been frustrating for followers of Arsenal. The trophy drought has been bad enough, but we've also had to endure the regular exodus of our best players and the apparent reluctance of the powers-that-be to compete with the other top clubs on an equal footing.
There is an interesting bit of news from Germany this morning concerning Arsenal, as Uli Hoenness has decided to tell the world that Bayern Munich often tried to lure Arsene Wenger to the Allianz Arena over the years.
"We did try to get him at Bayern Munich a few times," The Bayern President said.
Arsene Wenger will be the last long reigned Arsenal manager.
The current manager of our football club has been in charge since 1996. 17 years is a long time in football but that's how long Wenger has been with us in the same capacity. Alex Ferguson is the only one in the Premier League era to have lasted longer than Wenger with David Moyes a little behind in the list.
Arsene Wenger has been charged with getting Arsenal into the Champions League places every season, and the position has now been renamed as "The Wenger Cup". Last season the Gunners just scraped into the Champions League, but now for the first time in 16 years it looks like this position could be in serious danger of slipping away from him.
There is no doubt, unless you are the ultimate optimist, that Arsenal FC is in a downward spiral.
This decline started with the sale of Thierry Henry, for a pittance, and the failure of the manager and Board to replace him with another first class striker.
Arsenal have sacrificed our football legacy for a financial one. by GP
Let me be very clear. Arsene Wenger is the best manager we have ever had. Because of the contribution he has made to not only the English but the world game, I have him up there with the very best. Not winning the champions League maybe be a blot on his Arsenal CV to some but his record as a coach developing players into great players cannot be equalled by anyone else.
Mikel Arteta had been an Arsenal player for just a year when his leadership skills were rewarded by Arsene Wenger with vice-captaincy of the Gunners. His new deeper lying position in midfield allows him to control the game, and he is keen to continue to do so when his playing career is over. The main down side, according to the Spaniard, is the pressure that managers are under in the modern game.
Tony Adams MBE, or Mister Arsenal as he is known to many Gooners who remember his incredible 22 years at the club, has been criticizing Wenger's recent record of selling Arsenal's best players every year, but despite that he is still very keen to return to "his club" as manager one day, and couldn't even consider any other club in England in the meantime.
Well, home wins don't come much easier than that. The Premier League new boys were hit for six by a rampant Arsenal and perhaps the best thing about the performance and the result was that you always felt we were capable of more.
The manager sprang something of a surprise, deploying Gervinho down the middle rather than Podolski or Giroud, and to his credit the Ivorian rewarded the manager with two goals and a performance which was so far removed from his usual fare it was almost like he was a new signing, or something.
A recent statement from our esteemed manager got me thinking, should he be treated any differently from the once 'hero-like' ex-players who left the club for 'trophies' and are now regarded as the spawn of the devil himself, or is he in a different position!?
What possible statement could make Slim compare the club's greatest ever manager to these money grabbing heathens, I hear you cry!
Does Wenger get Henry on loan this winter? Last January, Wenger did something extraordinary for
Arsenal by bringing back one of his finest pieces of work in Thierry Henry. It was a mesmeric
return for the Frenchman who netted in his first appearance of his loan spell against Leeds in
typical fashion.
I can't quite understand it myself and most Arsenal fans are feeling pretty good this week with
the news that Harry Redknapp has been sacked by Spurs. This is credit to a manager who has made our
neighbours a genuine threat for the first time in what feels like forever. And yet, most Spurs fans
are happy too!
Chelsea has been up and down over the last few years. In 2011 Carlo Ancelotti was fired as the club "only" made it to second place in the Premier League (the previous year he had led them to their first "Double"). For the start of the 2011-12 season Andre Villas-Boas became manager, and under him team performance dipped with a string of defeats.
I have to admit, at the start of the season I was a doubter of our recently appointed Italian manager, mainly because of his team selections in the first few games; the whole "square pegs, round holes" scenario. But full credit where credit is due, our Champions League and FA Cup winning manager saw what was going wrong and changed the starting line-up accordingly!
As more and more time begins to pass and Walcott is still yet to sign, transfer rumours keep picking up pace.
I thought I'd go through some of the proposed targets.
Danny Sturridge:
Sturridge was a player who looked to have a bright future amongst a batch of youngsters looking to lead the next generation at Chelsea under new manager Andre Villas Boas.
Sir Alex Ferguson has announced his retirement as manager of Manchester United after 27 years at the end of this season. He took over in 1986 after a brief stint as Scottish national coach at a time when the club had not taken the English title since 1967. In the first years Manchester United didn't win the title, but steadily improving, Ferguson held on, taking the FA Cup in 1990, and the UEFA
Talks of officials favoring Manchester United have seemed to reach new heights this season, with Wigan manager Roberto Martinez the latest to be charged by the FA for openly questioning the decisions made during his side's 4-0 defeat at Old Trafford 11 days ago.
United have been awarded penalty kicks in three of their four wins this season and despite sealing 12 out of 15 points thus far in the campaign, they have looked unconvincing.
Another game and another argument between Roberto Mancini and another manager. The Manchester City managed has had touchline clashes with Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson as well as with Everton coach David Moyes and Mark Hughes when he was Fulham manager. Last night it was Paul Lambert's turn to clash with Mancini.
Breaking is a podcast brought to you by KingEPL and TrulyReds.com. The show features all the latest
transfer specualtion and Manchester United news . All for your entertainment!
"There can be only one Nelly" It was a week ago when news broke that Ryan Nelsen would be joining Toronto FC as their eighth manager in a series of forty-two. Since last Tuesday's strange introductory press conference, opinion on the hire has been split between optimists and pessimists with the latter stressing Nelsen's lack of experience - and worse, his lack of availability.
"No worries mate, when I'm not here - this ball is in charge." Maybe the Australians were right all along. "Never trust a motherfilippn' New Zealander" they will tell you. They will also tell you a lot of things about scampi, Paul Hogan and Foster's Lager though - so who can you trust?
"So you want a manager? I've got a deal for ya" It seems like just yesterday we were gathered round the old wireless to meet the fearless new leader of our hometown Eff Cee's. Comforting and inspiring words like "change" "winning culture" and "positive atmosphere" still waft on the breeze between the BMO Field Press Room and the chip butty stand.
You think you're beaten up now Ryan? Just wait. When the Ryan Nelsen to Toronto FC rumours began floating around last week, the direction it would take was unclear. Potential player acquisition turned into player/coach turned into assistant coach turned into the downright shocking.
Harry Redknapp told the press a few days ago that his defender Nelsen was going to return to "America" because he wants to be a manager - most thought it was just 'Arry at his self-proclaimed illiterate best.
Does Paul Lambert have a sustainable transfer policy? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Norwich City overachieved last season. Without patronising the team, the players and their manager did extremely well to finish in 12th place straight off the back of two successive promotions.
With a team built up largely of players that had not played Premier League football before, Paul Lambert brought forth a side with an insatiable appetite for success much in the same way he is attempting to replicate at Aston Villa now.
Head Coach Vicente del Bosque of Spain (Photo by Carmelo Rubio Sanchez/RFEF via Getty Images)
On Nov. 29 a shortlist of three coaches will be revealed and the best Coach of the Year will be announced. Although who will make No. 3 is not obvious, No. 1 and 2 should be.
In a European Cup year, the coach of the current European champion's, Spain, must be one of the two.
Toby Alderweireld of AFC Ajax( Photo by Anoek de Groot/EuroFootball/Getty Images)
Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas made sure to complete the move for Belgian international and former Ajax Amsterdam captain Jan Vertonghen this summer when he took over the squad. The ground work that had been laid by Harry Redknapp and Daniel Levy was seen to fruition by the club's young manager.
Manchester City have denied Roberto Mancini's job is under threat from Pep Guardiola after the club hired Barcelona's former technical director Txiki Begiristain as there new director of football.
Begiristain's arrival, combined with that of recently appointed chief executive Ferran Soriano, another to have worked at the Nou Camp, had led to speculation that the stage is being set for Pep Guardiola to become Man City manager as he would be surrounded by familiar faces at the Ethiad.
But we have bigger fish to fry today and they come in blue and white hoops and they're managed by a man who looks like a Punch and Judy doll who has been injected with a serum made from the jism of the world's most evil men.
From our point view there's little concrete in the way of team news.
Former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez says that he was surprised that he was not approached about the vacant manager's position at Anfield this summer. Launching a new book called Champions League Dreams, which recalls how Liverpool challenged for European honours during his time there, Benitez, who is currently without a club, said it was ‘strange' [.
Da laufen lauter Micky Mäuse hinter der Außenlinie herum und gucken dumm zu. Das Geld kann sich die Uefa sparen.
Fredi Bobic, Manager beim VfB Stuttgart, ist nach dem 0:0 in der Europa-Leage gegen Kopenhagen sauer auf Schiedsrichter Artur Soares und den Rest der Welt.
Warum wird nicht endlich einmal akzeptiert, dass wir uns nicht permanent mit Bayern München vergleichen? Das haben wir in der vergangenen Saison nicht getan, als wir acht Punkte vor dem FC Bayern standen und wir machen es auch jetzt nicht. Wir spielen unsere eigene Saison.
Michael Zorc, Manager von Borussia Dortmund, ist genervt von den ewigen Bayern München vs.
Scottish First Division side Dumbarton have revealed that three-quarters of applicants for their vacant manager's job have no experience beyond playing football video games. The club sacked Alan Adamson on Monday and have since been inundated by applications, mainly from people who have spent more time on the Xbox or Playstation than the training pitch.
Although Arsene Wenger says he wants to maintain the 'continuity' of his team, tonight gives him a chance to juggle his squad around, sit back and see what Steve Bould does with it.
The manager is, of course, suspended by UEFA for 'improper conduct' during the Milan game in last season's competition.
In Hoffenheim war über Ostern einiges los. Marco Kurz und Andreas Müller dürfen sich jetzt Ex-Trainer bzw. Ex-Manager nennen, denn man strebt einen "umfassenden Neuaufbau" an und will aber gleichzeitig auch noch um den Verbleib in der 1. Bundesliga kämpfen. Wir nennen so etwas ja human ausgedrückt "stetiges Personalkarussell", andere dagegen sprechen von einer bescheidenen [.
Vor ein paar Tagen wurde der Frittenmeister mal gefragt, ob er es sich vorstellen könnte, einen Fussballverein zu managen. Mh, meine Antwort darauf war ganz klar NEIN. Ich habe zwar mit der Fussball Managerserie von EA Sports meine Erfahrungen gesammelt aber es wäre ja verdammt doof, wenn ich jetzt sagen würde, dass mich das qualifiziert [.
Former Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has responded to reports linking him with the vacant manager's position at Blackburn Rovers. Blackburn have found life difficult after being relegated from the Premiership, and Redknapp has moved quickly to distance himself from the vacancy.
"It's not something I would look to do or look to do in the future.
France play Spain tonight in Madrid in a World Cup qualifying game, and Spain's manager Vicente del Bosque has paid Newcastle's Yohan Cabaye the ultimate compliment. We always knew Cabaye had become a much betterplayersincehe arrived onTyneside but the Spanish manager thinks he's France's best player now.
Bolton has endured a painful drop from the English Premier League to the League Championship, and a terrible start to the season has the club's chance of returning to the top flight looking non-existent. Those facts have led to Bolton firing Owen Coyle as the club's manager after almost three seasons at the helm.
The Good Ship TFC: "We're not sinking... we're resting" When Canadian Soccer News reported yesterday that Paul Mariner and Earl Cochrane would be the go-ahead guys at TFC in 2013, the news was met with a resounding "meh". Overall, little will change on the outside with likely tweaks to job titles which will reportedly see Mariner in more of an old-school "manager" role - responsible for player acquisitions and football decisions - while Cochrane will be a "general manager" but only in a contract, salary cap and MLS Miscellany vein.
I think I've seen the next great football manager. He didn't stop moving, gesticulating or
encouraging from the first whistle to the last. He had a strange semi-crouch, as if he was watching
just the legs and the feet and ... Continue reading →
