Barclays Premier League - Round 14 - Page 30

quote Johnny Boi

Even now he's making a profit in the transfer market every season(?), as it's what he sees is best for the club in the long term, and maintaining the clubs top four status. If he was spending was Rafa has done I have no doubt that Arsenal would be a stronger team, the man is a genius.

I can see Im clearly not going to win. So I'll leave everyone to believe that doing consistently okay in the league & other competitions is acceptable for Arsenal because he doesnt spend money.

The bolded bit though, will inevitably see Arsenal's demise. In this day & age you cannot keep selling your top players and get away with it.

quote Euphoric

Take Rafa out of Liverpool and what are you left with?

An absolute mess.

Another point. I dont wanna take away what Wenger has done for Arsenal. Cos he has worked wonders there. But he never had a billionairre club to compete with when he took over did he!

Behave. We were only reknowned worldwide because of former glorys. Not gunna take anything away from Houllier, he briefly brought back great European nights & took us back to the CL. But Rafa has brought us on leaps and bounds. Taking us to the #1 club in Europe last season highlights that. And Arsenal was not nobodies at all. It was only 5 years earlier you had last won the league. You have to admit, Wenger never inhereted the worst team did he!

quote DjedwardSmith

Again, Wenger's history DOES explain why he doesn't get slated to the same extent.

Thats the difference. Wenger, is rightly allowed to be given some slack because of his history. Whereas Rafa's history has only heightened expectation and gone against him.

Benitez has only been here 5 years. Give him another 10, and then we can see how much he has brought us on. Im not so sure about not inheriting a team that could challenge for the title. I mean, look at who he inherited: Seaman, Dixon, Adams, Keown, Winterburn, Bould, Wright, Bergkamp. Thats some very strong foundations set right there. If you wanna see a team thats really not capeable of challenging for the league, check out what Rafa had to deal with.

You can say we've always been expected to win things, but the main thing that keeps getting thrown in Rafa's face is that he hasnt won the league. Yet, we hadnt won the league for about 15 years before he joined. So we had long not expected to do that. Im 21, and do not have a clue what winning the league feels like.

I dont wanna get into an endless arguement. Because its a daft one, Im a strong advocate of Wenger. I was just curious as to why he gets away with so much compared to Rafa. You and a lot of other people keep saying how much he has done for Arsenal. I dont dissagree, but I do think they have been exaggerated some what. I mean he is no Bill Shankly. Now he truely dragged a club from nothingness and made it what it become.

Anyway, Ive been half rambling and joking and what not - I guess my whole point is that Wenger did build a team capeable of winning the league, hell, destroying the league, he has brought on Arsenal so much. Yet, he has let it all slip away.

The main core of the squad was poor though, you just have to look at the number of players he brought in who went straight into the team to see this.

And it's because the league thing has become such a huge buzz word for Liverpool, and doing well last year only intensifies this pressure. Benitez has been anything but a failure at Liverpool, yet if he doesn't win the league, the one title you're 'expected' to win by fans/media, then he won't be remembered in such glittering terms.

I don't even think Wenger has let it slip, I just think he took us on a different approach, he was given a free reign in terms of utilising his philosophy, and he implemeneted at a time when the other clubs are strengthening. Dare I say it though, although Arsenal would be nothing without Wenger, Wenger would be nothing without Arsenal. I don't think he'd walk into, say, Madrid's dressing room and make them a winning machine, he's not that type of manager. He's the guy that will build up a relationship from an early age with the player, almost like a father figure, and works more along the "I'm disappointed in you" ideaolgy rather than "YOU'RE *bleep*ING SHITE PAL" approach.

I think sooner or later we will have investment/stability. The Yanks wont be here much longer. In the mean time, continued CL qualification is what we need to focus on in order to try and stay up there until the investment/stability.

quote jimbo_bwfc

Wenger took a mid-table Arsenal team

They finished 5th the season before he took over..

quote DjedwardSmith

And it's because the league thing has become such a huge buzz word for Liverpool, and doing well last year only intensifies this pressure. Benitez has been anything but a failure at Liverpool, yet if he doesn't win the league, the one title you're 'expected' to win by fans/media, then he won't be remembered in such glittering terms.

I suppose your right. Only by the media though. Not the fans. Nobody expects to win the league. Nobody with a brain anyway. Even this season, when we thought we had Alonso and plenty of money to strengthen, we still only expected to challenge. But things changed, promises were broken, poor form, bad luck & its turned into a small disaster.

I think we can call this to an end now anyway. Media like to obsess about us not winning titles etc. Wenger has truely done wonders for Arsenal over the years. And there lies the difference.

quote Irish Gamer

Out of interest, how many times have Liverpool seriously challenged in the past 20 years? 3, 4 times?

Since Souness took over (91) I think we have only ever had 2 proper challenges. Once with Houllier & once last season.

Evans had a team that I feel probably should of won the league, but for several reasons never fulfilled their potential.

Whilst its a great achievement, he did have 10 months in the job before his first full season... Also during a time of no transfer windows.

Thats a good topic actually. Who likes or disslikes the transfer window policy?