This has become more of an agenda against Liverpool and an ideology of victimisation as opposed to genuine loss and grief for those unforurtunate 'actual' victims of the tragedy.

Total media circus.

The fans were internationally vilified, so I can understand why they are so upset. Thatcher used them as international propaganda showing how tough she is about hooligans.

I agree that it's perhaps not so much grief for those who were killed per se, but it is a deep sense of indignation.

Imagine if it happened with Chelsea and reading and hearing for a decade what low lifes we Chelsea fans are, having the prime minister say that in internationally broadcast speeches, then when you try to defend yourself and let the truth be known, you're shut down by a lying corrupt bureaucracy.

If they've been waiting and preparing for this verdict for 27 years then I don't understand why you want them to wait for another arbitrary period of time before submitting compensation claims. You don't justify it at all and it appears to me that you (and others) are using this as an excuse to have a dig at rival football fans. That's not very classy, is it?

If I wanted to dig at Liverpool fans, I'd bring up much worse about them!

Anyway it has its own thread now.

^ I appreciate you're responding to a specific post offside and therefore replying in the other thread would be pointless but for future posts could it be kept to the dedicated thread please. Cheers.

Haha Arsene Wenger, the gift that keeps on giving.

Please Arsenal let Wenger keep on giving.

Haha Arsene Wenger, the gift that keeps on giving.

Please Arsenal let Wenger keep on giving.

I had a chat with a colleague today about next season and the teams that might be in the frame for the title. We discussed the likely form of Utd, City, CFC, Leicester, Liverpool and Spurs and then realised that neither of us had thought of Arsenal. That may be Arsene's legacy - the Gooners being an afterthought when it comes to trophies.

Where's Spuddy? Potch has signed for another five, good news for them, challenging for us, but under our new man who knows!

Good news as even if, in a worse case scenario, he goes to Utd, they'll have to pay his worth. I hope he stays however.

I had a chat with a colleague today about next season and the teams that might be in the frame for the title. We discussed the likely form of Utd, City, CFC, Leicester, Liverpool and Spurs and then realised that neither of us had thought of Arsenal. That may be Arsene's legacy - the Gooners being an afterthought when it comes to trophies.

Which is unfortunate for him because if he had retired a decade ago he would be celebrated as one of the all time greats. It's kind of like picking the stock market, really difficult to know when you should lock in your gains rather than continue to hold the stock hoping that it'll get even better. And when there's a downward slide, you have to decide whether to accept the losses or keep holding the stock in the hopes that it will rise again.

Do you reckon he'll coach the French national team after Arsenal? It seems like a natural way to end his career. On the other hand he's clearly bad when the stakes are high. I'm the same way and can relate to him. If he hasn't conquered that psychological obstacle at his age, he never will. International tournaments condense all the pressure into a few weeks which may be too much for him to handle.

In addition the French national team is and has been for a while a dysfunctional mess. I thought Zidane would start his managerial career as the French national coach, and I have a feeling he would have gotten the job if he wanted it. I previously thought that he didn't want it because the team was so dysfunctional, but now I conclude that it was the opposite, that the team wasn't dysfunctional enough. Hence his taking the role at Real Madrid

Edited April 29, 201610 yr by offside

Which is unfortunate for him because if he had retired a decade ago he would be celebrated as one of the all time greats. It's kind of like picking the stock market, really difficult to know when you should lock in your gains rather than continue to hold the stock hoping that it'll get even better. And when there's a downward slide, you have to decide whether to accept the losses or keep holding the stock in the hopes that it will rise again.

Do you reckon he'll coach the French national team after Arsenal? It seems like a natural way to end his career. On the other hand he's clearly bad when the stakes are high. I'm the same way and can relate to him. If he hasn't conquered that psychological obstacle at his age, he never will. International tournaments condense all the pressure into a few weeks which may be too much for him to handle.

In addition the French national team is and has been for a while a dysfunctional mess. I thought Zidane would start his managerial career as the French national coach, and I have a feeling he would have gotten the job if he wanted it. I previously thought that he didn't want it because the team was so dysfunctional, but now I conclude that it was the opposite, that the team wasn't dysfunctional enough. Hence his taking the role at Real Madrid

That's a good point about chasing your losses. You can't keep doing that, as you say.

The French national team sounds a logical progression but I wonder if there's a danger that Wenger is seeming inflexible - he's doing the same stuff time after time and it's not working. Could he adapt to using a pool of players he hadn't chosen (in the sense of having to fit gifted 'non-Arsenal' types into a team)?

Wenger telling them they are only annoyed because people are telling them they are annoyed.

 

That's a good point about chasing your losses. You can't keep doing that, as you say.

The French national team sounds a logical progression but I wonder if there's a danger that Wenger is seeming inflexible - he's doing the same stuff time after time and it's not working. Could he adapt to using a pool of players he hadn't chosen (in the sense of having to fit gifted 'non-Arsenal' types into a team)?

I think a ton of coaches are inflexible. Jose, Pulis, van Gaal, and the list goes on. They have been successful relative to the teams' goals whether that means winning titles or making it far in a tournament or avoiding relegation. Plus he could choose to play the ones that fit his style and not the ones that don't fit his style.

His bigger challenge will be the pressure of having every single game be important. I'd love to spy on him for a week during a crucial part of the season. I bet he's a flustered indecisive wreck the way I get, and his anxiety spreads to his players. I wouldn't be surprised if he tells players one thing one minute and another thing the next, or if he changes tactics at the last minute out of panic, so the players are confused.

I still think it would be a mistake for Arsenal to get rid of him now. If there were ever a group of fans whose sentiments deserve to be ignored, it's Arsenal.

Let him finish out his three year contract and during that time plan carefully for the transition. I totally see a David Moyes Man United scenario if he leaves now.

Edited April 29, 201610 yr by offside

I think a ton of coaches are inflexible. Jose, Pulis, van Gaal, and the list goes on. They have been successful relative to the teams' goals whether that means winning titles or making it far in a tournament or avoiding relegation. Plus he could choose to play the ones that fit his style and not the ones that don't fit his style.

His bigger challenge will be the pressure of having every single game be important. I'd love to spy on him for a week during a crucial part of the season. I bet he's a flustered indecisive wreck the way I get, and his anxiety spreads to his players. I wouldn't be surprised if he tells players one thing one minute and another thing the next, or if he changes tactics at the last minute out of panic, so the players are confused.

I still think it would be a mistake for Arsenal to get rid of him now. If there were ever a group of fans whose sentiments deserve to be ignored, it's Arsenal.

Let him finish out his three year contract and during that time plan carefully for the transition. I totally see a David Moyes Man United scenario if he leaves now.

I agree there'd be chaos without a managed change. Wenger can have success but his recent teams lack an attacking edge and 'fight'. I suppose what I mean about inflexibility is might Wenger create a French national side that had the same flaws as the present Arsenal team?

It'd be fascinating to see a Wenger team talk; is he as quiet and bookish as he appears on post-match interviews? How does he fire players up?

I personally hope Wenger stays at Arsenal

Edited April 29, 201610 yr by Bobbywoodhogan

I personally hope Wenger stays at Arsenal

For what reasons please?

For what reasons please?

(I'm not the one this question is addressed to)

From a principle perspective, I'll be sad to see him go because it'll truly be the end of an era when clubs valued long term stability, were willing to give managers time to adapt, and cared about carving out a stable club identity. When a multi year contract was signed with the intention of the person actually staying for the contracted number of years.

After Wenger departs, Arsenal will most likely be like Man United after Ferguson. That is, they'll be like every other club in terms of how they treat managers and the unforgiving demand for upward results every single season.

For all intents and purposes that era of football management has already been dead for over a decade, but it'll still be sad to lose the last remaining link.

For what reasons please?

So they stay totally irrelevant.

Arsene accepts failure, let that deluded support embrace him for years to come.

Just seen the worst offside call ever in a professinal football match in this Middlesbrough game. Linesman needs to be sacked. 

Whelp, Middlesbrough just got robbed. 

For what reasons please?

Cause they're failures with him, I actually kind of like to hate him aswell. It's like United since Fergie left beating them doesn't feel the same, like it's less exciting.

Whelp, Middlesbrough just got robbed.

This could cost them promotion! The three top teams are incredibly close. Even worse this was against Brighton which is now only 1 point behind with a game in hand. If Brighton had lost this one they would have a tough time getting automatic promotion but now they have a great shot at it.

EDIT: I was mistaken, it was against Birmingham not Brighton.

Edited April 29, 201610 yr by offside

An article on the guardian's website says Wenger turned down City, Real and Barca to stay at Arsenal. The thought of him at Barca is actually terrifying

Yeah if your a Barca fan

good interview with pogba , says he wants to be like lampard but better 

 

 

 

Paul Pogba says 'four Scudetti with Juventus are not enough, I'll be the greatest midfielder ever'.

The 'gold nugget of French football', as former UEFA President Michel Platini once referred to him, is an openly ambitious footballer.

In an extensive interview, he explained that he doesn't consider his personal desire to grow to be at odds with playing for the team.

“If [barcelona's Leo] Messi scores, does that make him selfish?” he told La Repubblica. “No, being strong lets you help the team. Take Cristiano Ronaldo. He sets himself some incredibly high objectives, he's ambitious, he wants to beat every record, he wants the Ballon D'Or. That's not selfishness.

“Sometimes I play well, and sometimes I don't. That's why I get angry. I hate making mistakes. I made even more mistakes back when I played in the street, and I used to react exactly the same way. Improving, and reducing mistakes – that's what I call experience.

“I've only won four Scudetti. They're not enough for me. I've always been like this, people called me crazy but I want to make history and become the strongest midfielder ever.

“I'd like to surpass [Frank] Lampard. I want to be the midfielder who can do everything, and at the highest levels. Shooting, dribbling, scoring, defending. I want to be like Lampard, but better.

“As for money, I know it comes and goes. I'd be lying if I said it makes no difference not having it, but I see it as a consequence of hard work. The stronger you are, the more you make. Ronaldo deserves the pay he gets, it's not like he steals it.

“As for my future, I want to beat Carpi, then I want the Coppa Italia, and then Euro 2016 in France. After that, I have a contract with Juventus, I can't just get up one morning and take a plane to England. Ask the people who work in the transfer department.”

Pogba was also questioned about the different competitions he takes part in, from the Champions League and Serie A to the international tournaments.

“Four years ago, when we drew Bayern, we thought it was over. This year we thought we could beat them.

“The Italian championship is the hardest, it's all tactics and you have no space at all. In Europe they allow you time to play, although the winners are those with the best defence, like Atletico Madrid.

“As for the Euros, I don't feel the pressure of playing at home. Football is instinct, Messi is instinct, and I play by instinct. If I see an opening, I go for it, without thinking.”

Edited April 29, 201610 yr by DidierDrogbalala

Nice words but he will never be better than Frankie Lampard! He was the complete midfielder

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

haha nice! 

 

Pogba - "I want to be like Lampard, but better" 

 

http://www.football-italia.net/83550/pogba-four-scudetti-not-enough

An article on the guardian's website says Wenger turned down City, Real and Barca to stay at Arsenal. The thought of him at Barca is actually terrifying

That article is interesting in that he says the banks made it a condition of the stadium loans that Wenger stay for at least 5 years. He says he turned down lots of offers in that time.

I love the line - i did commit and i stayed, under very difficult circumstances.

Difficult circumstances? He has been paid several millions a year for all those years and not had to worry about actually winning anything. It's a joke.