gunnör

He's back again

I'm surprised by how many people voted that they wouldn't want him, he's still a good player, knows how to read the game and well and would work his socks off for somebody like Mourinho. Although I do think it was a total waste of time waiting him out during the summer, never felt like he was ever going to leave. Mourinho should have gone for Mario Gomez last summer. In the next one, Mandzukic from Bayern is a good signing, he has to make way for Lewandowski, I very much doubt he will stay at Bayern knowing what Guardiola does with those type of strikers.

Then I suggest you stop talking to yourself ;)

Don't point the finger at others for your own writings, take responsibility for your ridiculously authoritarian (and laughably childish) views.

Whatever you say darling ;)

Now we've heard it all. You know, there are people who see the world like yourself in pretty much every sphere of life, in politics for example, they are the people who defend the Prime Minister regardless of what he does, because supporting him is obviously supporting the country, and anybody who opposes him is obviously being disloyal and unpatriotic. Could you kindly transport yourself back to the the pre-magna carta era please "Englishman". You clearly are in the wrong century my friend.

Yes, because supporting the representatives of your country is like supporting a privately owned football club (!)

You're right, I clearly have "no idea what it means to be a supporter". Hang in there for a second while I rip up all my tickets and merchandise, cancel my membership and desist from going to any more games because somebody on the internet told me I just ain't good enough. :) Hahaha

1. I have actually discussed on here why Barca struggle to beat Chelsea, in fact I have praised Chelsea specifically for their ability to counter Barca. 2. Jumping ship hasn't crossed my mind no. 3. Only team in London with a European cup is Chelsea yes, I had hoped it would be when I was watching your CL final against Bayern despite knowing us gunners would get stick from your likes, so go right ahead. I enjoyed watching Chelsea win, I'm not going to lie or sugarcoat it or downplay how big of an achievement it was. It was amazing. 4. About Wayne Bridge, c'mon you're placing too much emphasis on that.

Grow up seriously.

I specifically said that Mourinho's style wasn't boring, I even mentioned his name, so why are you attributing the exact opposite to me? And what do trophies even have to do with anything I've said? lol

Are you sure you've thought this through? If this was just about winning and trophies then I could have easily jumped ship to supporting Barca and been able to come in here and brag about how much superior my team is compared to Chelsea, not just in terms of trophies either ;)

Even when watching the team has become unbearable for you? You would still sit through it, and for what? I would need to be paid quite a lot of money to watch a team playing pre-historic football on a weekly basis.

It's the same thing, the club is the brand and vice versa. Obviously there is more to my reasons for supporting Arsenal than simply the brand of football, but it is a factor without question and yes, it has the potential to make-or-break my support for the club.

It depends on your definition of "boring", I never watched Graham's Arsenal so I wouldn't know exactly how they played. If it's anything like Pulis' football then I wouldn't be able to watch it. Mourinho was described as "boring" in his early Chelsea years and yet I wouldn't necessarily say the same thing.

That's all totally irrelevant though. The club's brand image changed under Wenger. Every organization/brand has a back story, the important thing is to be able to support what it currently stands for, not what it used to stand for. Hugo Boss for example, supplied the Nazis with the infamous SS uniform, are people going to let that influence their shopping habits? Most wouldn't, only a tiny minority would I guess.

I've met all kinds of different fans. I've met a liverpool fan who supported all the clubs in their home city so that's Liverpool, Everton, Tranmere Rovers etc. another guy who supports only Mourinho-managed teams which I found really weird but there you go. Ultimately, it makes no difference if you support a team that is not your locality, especially if you are helping your club financially in any way (buying their shirt and merchandise, paying for tickets and going to games, taking out an annual membership etc). People can support clubs for any reason really. I can imagine that there are a lot of Arsenal fans who support the club partly or wholly because of our playing style, if Wenger was sacked and Tony Pulis was appointed manager and Arsenal turned into Stoke-lite playing rugby games week-in week-out, I have to admit, I would be the first to stop funding the club in any way, let alone paying for tickets and going to games. Why? Because appointing Tony Pulis and playing that kind of football quite literally destroys Arsenal as an identity and a brand, it makes no difference if I live in North London. I can't watch that kind of football or give it financial backing.

You're absolutely correct, winning the title with Madrid was in my opinion, one of his greatest achievements, people tend to forget exactly how dominant and imposing Barca were during that period, to take the title away from them, even if it's just one season, was outstanding. He did have to adapt his style slightly to play a far more intensive pressing game and he got the players' stamina and fitness up, he done very well. The two games I would point to this season which really shows Mourinho's standing as a masterful tactician is firstly the game against Bayern Munich when Chelsea lost to them in penalties. I was in awe at what I was seeing, I was very very impressed, that was beautiful football. He knew exactly what Bayern would do right down to the last man and he set up his team to play from behind the ball, whenever they saw a gap in the play the pace at which they got forward was incredible, even Guardiola didn't see it coming. It took a sending off for Chelsea and a last gasp Martinez goal to get anything from the game for Bayern. If it was Wenger, we would have gone there and played an open game of football and shipped in 4 or 5 goals. The other game is the Schalke CL game away from home or even the one at home for that matter. Need I say more? Masterclass in counter attacking football once more. You're right about the fact that Barca always struggled against Chelsea, my theory is that because Chelsea's long term set up was to always focus on closing the space between the lines, it has frustrated Messi yes and also teams that weave their way in field playing intricate football (which also explains why Arsenal always struggled to beat Chelsea too). Messi's form undoubtedly contributed to Barca's immense success, but if you stick Messi in Arsenal, I'm not sure we would win a lot of things. Barca had a certain technical prowess that Arsenal will not achieve anytime soon. It isn't a coincidence that much of the same players won a couple of Euros and a World Cup to boot. They had a style of play that I consider to be the best that world football has ever offered us. That 2011 Barca team in particular is what I consider and many managers also consider to be the pinnacle of world football so far.

I am a big fan of Mourinho, make no mistake about that, and yes, there is a certain attractiveness in his playing style I agree, he has mastered the art of the counter-attack and building teams from the defence up. That's why he is suited to teams that build around their organization and defensive discipline peppered with some creativity up front. I like his work, in fact I love it, it is very efficient and he knows what to do to get the results he wants pretty much every game. It is also however, easy to see why players like Xavi say what they say and why many people agree with them. He has a different outlook on the game. EDIT: I frequently compare Mourinho's attitude and coaching style to Wenger, the manager of my club Arsenal, there's an awful lot of things that Wenger could learn from Jose which unfortunately he isn't doing. I do prefer Wenger's outlook on how the game is played overall (or as Klopp puts it "Wenger-ball" haha) but the fact is there are many things he could take from Mourinho including but not limited to: 1. Not putting up with players in mediocre form or ability. 2. Quickly making tactical or player changes in reaction to how the game is going. 3. Playing to reflect the opposition's strengths and abilities when facing very tough opponents. These are some of the 3 things that Wenger is unfortunately and stubbornly refusing to do which would improve Arsenal's chances of gaining silverware.

Well...he's right in the sense that Mourinho is in the results business, doesn't necessarily prioritize style or even impose a legacy but he is capable of getting his teams to play lovely stuff, that Inter vs Barca first leg when Inter won 3-1 was very impressive. Real Madrid played some lovely football in quite a lot of games under Mourinho, but when push came to shove, ultimately his lack of ambition in terms of playing style has cost Mourinho successive CL finals with Madrid. He's playing very good counter-attacking football in many PL games this season. Chelsea under Di Matteo played with ruthless efficiency, it wasn't pretty watching the overall playing style since the focus was on defensive discipline and being difficult to break down, but it sure was amazing to see Drogba up front, he was superb that season. Everyone has different tastes when it comes to the game, I share Xavi's opinions but I also appreciate the need for adaptations in order to get the one-off results a team needs, especially in a competition like the CL. If you look at it from Xavi's perspective, he's used to winning things playing champagne football, but what he needs to realise is that not every coach has the same mindset of playing a certain way and not every team is even capable with the training facilities/training methods and players at their disposal. That style of play is also not immune to defeat as Xavi well knows. One thing is for sure though, Xavi is a winner, not a "loser" as a poster stated above me. The guy has won everything he could win and more, and yes, he did it playing brilliant football. He is one of the few footballers who can criticise pretty much any team and any manager and still be respected.

He is a brilliant signing. It was a real pity for Chelsea that they couldn't get hold of Mario Gomez in the summer as well, he would have made Chelsea the undisputed best Premier League XI in my opinion. You guys would be scoring for fun.

Fully expect Chelsea to win. The difference in squad quality is laughable. You guys have the luxury of rotating the likes of Oscar, Willian, Hazard, Mata etc. while they are juggling around Young, Cleverley, Valencia, Welbeck.

It isn't stupid to dismiss Arsenal's chances of winning something, I am a supporter and I genuinely do not think we will win anything this season. It's just unnecessary expectation and hopeless optimism. Like Wenger said, all he is looking forward to doing (and by extension AFC) is putting in the "maximum effort" until the season is over and be able to look back and say we have done "all we could".

Good win for us today, Spurs just aren't really that good, they're on a similar level to Liverpool and United. They also shot themselves in the foot playing two strikers. I can't remember the last time we lost at home to a team playing 4-4-2. Having said that, we won't win the FA Cup, or in fact any competition this season and possibly next season. Still, it's always nice to beat the rivals.

It will be a two-horse race between City and Chelsea. For all the talk about Arsenal's title ambitions, it is quite clear from Wenger's press conferences that he doesn't expect the premier league trophy at the Emirates. He also has no confidence or belief in himself to deliver it due to his unwillingness to spend the full allocation of the transfer funds. With only 40 mill spent, he has successfully relieved himself from any pressure to win the title as everybody knows what City and Chelsea had spent. I don't believe for a second that we will win the title, 2nd place would be a good achievement considering we have Arteta as a holding player and Jenkinson as a back up for Sagna, and Bendtner as a back up for Giroud. Even Arsenal fans know deep down, this isn't a title winning squad.