NAMING RIGHTS THREAD: Liverpool really won't win the Premiership 2010-2011

lol cesc

http://www.soccer24seven.com/wp-content/gallery/cesc-fabregas/cesc-fabregas24.jpg

did he forget to take the cardboard out his new shirt before putting it on?

was that an og from djourou btw?

Quick, how many goals have Arsenal conceded from corners and free-kicks this season?

Anyone?

Okay I've criticized wenger in the past but this is madness

From Dan from London, via text: "Not being funny but any other manager would've been sacked by now. I think Arsene is a good manager but surely enough is enough? Look at what happened with Mark Hughes, and Roy Hodgson. Six years without a trophy is not exactly confidence boosting, for players, managers or fans."

Hughes! Hodgson! Fucking hell.

circa the carling cup final arsenal had conceded 52% of their goals to set pieces but don't know how many that is.

a million?

Hang on, until today Arsenal were unbeaten this year?

52%? Any idea how that compares with Utd and Chelsea?

I've gone through the chalkboards and the corner/set-piece

I'm pretty sure it's the most Chris but can't find the data on Utd/Chelsea. In 2009/10 no Prem team conceded more than 38% of their goals from set plays apparently.

Argh, pressed 'submit' by accident.

Thanks for that pandemic (sorry, I don't know your real name!)

I've looked at the chalkboards and it's 8 headed goals from corners and free-kicks in the league:

Newcastle, Carroll, set-piece
Everton, Cahill, corner
Spurs, Kaboul, set-piece
Villa, Clark, corner
Chelsea, Ivanovic, set-piece
WBA, Reid, corner
Bolton, Sturride & Cohen, corners

There were a few headers from open-play as well but I didn't note those down.

Just trying to see how accurate Allardyce and Merson are re. school boy defending from corners has cost them the title.

^ unusual rigour from the lad, it'll never catch on round here

There was a piece in The Guardian yesterday arguing that Torres has cost Chelsea the title, which just cannot be right.

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/09XT1dNcHcdDY/x610.jpg

There was a piece in The Guardian yesterday arguing that Torres has cost Chelsea the title, which just cannot be right.

Not even close to right. Chelsea have got 23/30 pts since his debut. They chucked the title away in December by only winning 2 games in Nov/Dec.

Well yes it seems to be a football journalist you have to be stupid as balls.

The only way it could work is if the piece was about his two goals at Anfield back in October (it wasn't)

Six years without a trophy

The thing is, it's not really been a *bad* six years for Arsenal. Obviously they've fallen from the heights of 2002-04, but during the last six seasons they've never finished lower than fourth and have had a couple of decent stabs at winning the league, several decent runs in the Champions League (including getting to the final), Carling Cup finals, etc. If your average season involves your team playing mostly attractive football, winning much more often than losing, advancing in Europe, handing out a few thrashings, and still being in the running for winning something past February than you've got to be quite happy with that.

all of that's true and sensible, obviously

but the faults that have stopped this arsenal team from kicking on have been the same faults throughout. i'm not even sure wenger sees them as problems that can be addressed as opposed to unfortunate similar occurrences that just seem to happen to him- injuries to biscuits, other teams playing unfairly physically past a pretty unphysical midfield/backline, other teams playing long ball when he can't/won't coach against that kind of underhand tactical system

stuff that he struggles to address while maintaining his admirable principles

The thing is, it's not really been a *bad* six years for Arsenal. Obviously they've fallen from the heights of 2002-04, but during the last six seasons they've never finished lower than fourth and have had a couple of decent stabs at winning the league, several decent runs in the Champions League (including getting to the final), Carling Cup finals, etc. If your average season involves your team playing mostly attractive football, winning much more often than losing, advancing in Europe, handing out a few thrashings, and still being in the running for winning something past February than you've got to be quite happy with that.

― in a wonderful balloon! (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Sunday, 24 April 2011 20:22 (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

And this is forgetting the one thing we did gain in those six years that our competitors, many who have tried like Spurs and Liverpool, have tried to get.

Plus financial stability and, ya know, actually having a club to support in the long run!

Yeah but we are a team who has only won a handful of different trophies in the past ten years and made a bunch of finals as well. Bad, bad manager who doesn't know what he's doing with his defenders who can't defend if ever i saw one.

yr over-reacting to the over-reaction

also, i'm pretty sure you've had a few one-line solutions to the things that are stopping arsenal running away with the league so y'know, there's valid criticisms to be made of wenger that have stood as fair comment for a couple years now- he is living off past glories, which is something you probably shouldn't get to for 5 years at 3m a year

I personally don't think he's living off past glories considering, you know, how good a season it has been.*

Compared to Man City or Liverpool or Chelsea.

two coaches will probably lose their jobs there, and the other took over and has done fairly well considering

go on

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13182718.stm

NO SHIT SHERLOCK

This Arsenal bleating is somehow both tiresome and incredibly amusing. You won't win the title when you're still playing liabilities like Koscielny.

think i said after the first Spurs game of the season that they will never win another Prem under Wenger and I stand by that theory

Think we've been saying that since 2006 tbh.

If Man City win the FA Cup Final and finish 3rd or 4th then they've had a better season than Arsenal surely. Arsenal may have achieved more vs money spent but City's season will have been better I think.

yeah i moaned a while ago about big club fans moaning about anything less than total success but tbh being an organic wholefood collective can only keep yr fans satisfied for so long and then they will want you to win stuff occasionally.

The organic wholefood thing is kinda lol but also playing into their underdog small-club myth - Arsenal are still a team of acquired international footballers, albeit one who consisently aren't quite good enough. With a couple of exceptions, it's not like they're hand-reared from birth or anything.

As long as Arsenal are finishing in the CL places I wouldn't whine too much..a fit Vermaelen (and no Koscielny) would put them maybe just one player away from being realistic title candidates.

pandemic- i'd disagree, i just can't negate the amount of money spent like that.

Well yeah there is that. I meant more in the way of FA Cup win and top 4 would meet the requirements of both the owners and 90% of the fans for this season imo. Whether they should expect more is another matter. Whereas Arsenal - top 4, Champs Lge knockout stages (didn't make last 8 but c'mon Barca what do you expect etc) Carling Cup Final, FA Cup Quarters very probably meets the requirements of the board but not sure 90% of the fans would agree(whether they should expect more or not is another matter)

xpost (by the time I'd finished typing this pandemic made it irrelevant, but never mind):

It depends whose point of view you're looking at it from. If City finish fourth and win the FA Cup their supporters will be over the (blue) moon - that will be better than anything they've done for more than 40 years. It hardly represents value for money considering the hundreds of millions they've spent over the last few years to reach this point (compared to Chelsea rapidly becoming all-conquering following their similar outlay), but that's of no concern to most of the supporters. Arsenal, despite winning nothing (bar a near impossible simultaneous collapse by United AND Chelsea), have had a better league season than City, better European campaign, and nearly won the Rumbelows Cup, all on a budget a fraction the size of City's. And Wenger is a better manager than Mancini. But I don't think any Arsenal fan will be feeling happier than a City fan.

Of course, if City finish fifth and lose the cup final to Stoke, City fans will be much less satisfied than Arsenal fans.

(Please, please, please make this happen)

Well that is because most Arsenal fans are ghastly people.

But for what City spent, their season is in reality, a horrible mess. Ok so they may win the FA Cup, my bad.

Koscielny is one of the ten best centre halves in the league (and in his first season too - imagine what he can do next to Vermaelan instead of Squaillici), where did the hate suddenly spring from?

Well that is because most Arsenal fans are ghastly people

can we have a complete list of clubs that make fans say this btw?

arsenal fans, millwall fans, i guess parts of the rangers-celtic divide, often chelsea fans, leeds fans are dicks ime...

So i see Darron Gibson joined twitter this morning but quit a couple of hours later cos of all the abuse.

King, Terry, Gallas, Cahill, Ferdinand, Vidic, Vermaelan, Kompany, Luiz, Distin, Hangeland, Roger Johnson, Djourou all better than Koscielny imo. But hey 2 of them are Arsenal players so you should be okay;)

lolz king. also distin? or gallas for that matter?

Oh and forgot about Dawson.

So i see Darron Gibson joined twitter this morning but quit a couple of hours later cos of all the abuse.

― Number None, Monday, April 25, 2011 11:50 AM (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Ouch

Distin, Jagielka, Kolo Touré, the list is endless rilly