Why's Everyone Hatin' on Bottles?

First, Wenger when Tottenham scored the winner against the Gunners in the league.

And now, Pep Guardiola when Barca allow Internacional to get an equalizer (It was a friendly, and Barca still won). Someone needs anger management.

Why's everyone hatin' on bottles?

Yes, Arsenal IS in a Crisis

This was going to be a post of hope for Arsenal. But now, that's all changed. Just weeks ago, everything seemed great. A huge amount of players were linked with a transfer to the Gunners, Fabregas seemed to be staying, and the same was for Nasri. Now? Manchester City are on the verge of signing both Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri, while Fabregas is almost destined to join his boyhood club, Barcelona. Oh to be a Gooner.

What's happened to this club? Just a few years ago, players like Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, and Patrick Vieira were world beaters, winning just about every competition, bar the Champions' League. And they even got to a final for that. In 2011 however, players like Denilson and Almunia are given free rides on the Arsenal bandwagon and are getting paid wages that other top clubs would laugh at. And instead of selling deadwood like Denilson, Rosicky, Squilacci, Bendtner, and Almunia, teams are picking off Arsenal's top players one by one. This brings me to my point, does the executive board even care about winning? At this point, players who come to Arsenal just use the club as a stepping stone to greener pastures. It's happened in the past with Petit, Overmars, and Henry, and it looks to now be happening with Fabregas and Nasri. Clichy I don't care that much about, he's been utter crap for the last 2 years. As a huge Arsenal fan, I cringe every time I enter a footballing news website. 9 out of 10 times the main headlines are either about Fabregas leaving or another unknown "talent" being linked. Why still buy young talent? Really? What Arsenal needs is established players, not some 16 year old from Sweden. I want a 25 year old Englishman *cough* GARY CAHILL*cough*.

Yes, it's very easy to pin all of the blame on Arsene Wenger. He's the one who's in charge of transfers and players, right? No, while other teams who have billionaire owners, like City and Chelsea, can spend huge sums of cash, Arsenal's new owner, Stan Kroenke, has given Wenger just 35 million pounds to spend. In today's transfer market, that's nothing if he would want to buy truly established players. I mean go look at Liverpool, Andy Carrol for 35 million and Jordan Henderson for 20 million. If Arsene Wenger would want to purchase Premier League players, who's he going to get on the cheap? While it looks like Gary Cahill is about to sign for the Gunners, he supposedly is going to cost 17 million pounds. That's half of the transfer money gone right there. Add the purchase of Gervinho for 12 million and thats almost 30 million already spent. Yes Arsenal might get money from the sales of other players, it's still not enough depending on who is sold. I mean, look at it this way. Fernando Torres cost Chelsea 50 million pounds in January. Arsenal's most expensive player purchased was Andrei Arshavin. Around 15 million. Quite the difference.

Eh, I'm going to end my rant there. It's not like I can do anything about it. I'm just another disillusioned fan. Plus, there are some positives in this whole thing. Arsenal are looking at Christopher Samba, Gary Cahill, and Phil Jagielka for center backs. Gervinho has confirmed that he will sign for Arsenal, and the only reason that Phil Jones chose United over Arsenal is because of location. So not all bad. But then again, to me it's not enough to soothe my anger with the fact that 2 of our top players are most likely leaving. It could only be worse if Robin Van Persie or Jack Wilshere handed in a transfer request. 

Knowing Arsenal's luck, that's what's gonna happen tomorrow in the papers.

Picture of the Day: Arsene Wenger

Now that all of the major football leagues in Europe are over for the summer, I, to be quite honest, won't have that much to write about. Other than transfer rumors, I'll probably be writing some opinion articles and little fillers like this, my new segment, Picture of the Day. In POTD (I'm too lazy to type it out every time), I'll be finding pictures from the past Premier League, FA Cup, or Champions' League season that I find entertaining. In addition to that, I'll explain why it explains the past season greatly, and why it's funny. 

So, with that said, first up is Arsenal's manager, Arsene Wenger, seemingly yelling at the ground. Yeah yeah, most people say he's lost the plot... maybe he has actually. After another tremendous collapse in form late in the season, images of Wenger that were similar to these were seen far too often. Despite being a HUGE Arsenal fan (I can't stress that enough), I think this picture sums up the whole 2010/2011 season. Yes, we did manage to beat Barcelona, Manchester United, and Chelsea, but we never managed to beat Tottenham, West Brom, and even lost to Aston Villa on the final home match of the season. The "Lap of Appreciation" after the match was cringe-worthy to say the least.

Here's hoping that Wenger manages to buy the correct players *cough*CENTER BACKS*cough* that will be needed to finally lift a trophy for Arsenal for the first time in 6 years. Seriously, I'm tired of getting crap from my friends, who just happen to be Manchester United fans.

Is Arsenal in a Crisis?

Just a few years ago, Arsenal was a huge club, one of the biggest in the world. While that still may be true on the financial basis, it isn't so based on footballing terms. Back when the like of Henry, Adams, Bergkamp, and Vieira were still at the club, young players from lower leagues and teams strived to earn a transfer to join Arsenal. The players who wore the Arsenal shirt played with a passion, fueled with love for the club. Stars such as Tony Adams would never, ever even think of talking up a move to one of Arsenal's rivals. Now? Samir Nasri said about Manchester United's supposed interest; "Do I want to go to Man United? First, we should see if it's real and if it is concrete." This is only the start of Arsenal players beginning to crave moves away from the Emirates. Just before, Nicklas Bendtner and Denilson both stated that they will leave Arsenal this summer. Then again, it wouldn't be that tragic if any of those players left. Bendtner and Denilson haven't contributed in months, while Nasri had three good months of football, and then went back to his usual, wasteful self. 

But the thing that worries me is buying replacements for the players who are ready to leave. It seems impossible for Arsene Wenger to secure players, with their rivals, including United, City, and even Liverpool snapping up some of Arsenal's targets. A perfect example of this is Phil Jones, who was signed by the Red Devils for 16 million pound. Arsene Wenger offered the same price to Blackburn, and even higher wages than Manchester, only to see Jones pick United. This looks like a trend in recent times. Arsenal are linked with players in tabloids, only to see other teams come in interested. Even if the Gunners have a deal in the bag, they can almost never seal the deal. There's always some kind of bickering involving the price of the player, or the wages. To be honest, it's quite a bit annoying to be a fan of Arsenal in the transfer windows. The frustration of hearing the Christopher Samba almost joined Arsenal to heal the ailing defnese was immense for me He revealed that, “I think a move to Arsenal was very close in January but that is life." Why was it that Arsenal couldn't seal the deal? Who knows, but it's most likely something hugely stupid.

Now, I want to talk about the club's current captain, Francesc Fabregas. For the past few seasons, he has been constantly linked in papers and on the internet with a move back to his boyhood club, Barcelona. Despite nearly every Barca player tapping him up, he hasn't come out publicly stating his desire to stay at Arsenal, and hasn't condemned the actions of his Spanish colleagues. That's quite a problem. A captain of such a club as Arsenal should be proud of his team. He should rubbish any claims of him going to Barcelona. But he hasn't. Is is heart even at Arsenal anymore? Sure doesn't seem like it. During matches, he's looked disinterested, and not caring of what happens on the field. Then again, during the Everton match, where the Gunners came back to win, he did launch a tirade against the referee at half-time. So it is possible that he's committed to his current club. The thing is however, that he isn't really the captain type. He makes his impact by how he plays, not his character. I personally believe that the only reason he was given the captain's armband was to keep him at Arsenal last summer. Players like Robin Van Persie, Thomas Vermaelen, and even Jack Wilshere would be more suited to be the captain. They're often seen criticizing the referee, and even their colleagues on the pitch. 

So, will the 2011-2012 season be a tragedy for the Gunners. I certainly don't believe so. If the aspects of the squad that need to be addressed are fixed, then it could possibly be one of the Arsenal's best seasons in recent times. One can only hope.

A New Era for Arsenal?

6 years. It's been 6 years since Arsenal has won a meaningful trophy, the 2005 FA Cup. Now, in recent times, all that the Gunners have won is the insignificant Emirates Cup. This season, that looked to change, as they entered the League Cup Final against Birmingham City, full of confidence after beating Barcelona with a comeback. Then, disappointingly, frustratingly, and humiliatingly, Arsenal lost to the Blues, with an absolutely horrible mix-up between Wojciech Szczesny and Laurent Koscielny being the catalyst for another trophy-less season. After that day, Arsenal dropped out of the Champions' League, the FA Cup, and on April 24th, all but guaranteed that they were out of the title race with a 2-1 loss to Bolton.
 

Since February 23rd, their 1-0 home victory against Stoke City, Arsenal have had only one league win, and that came against a relegation battling Blackpool. They passed up numerous chances to close the gap to Manchester United, only to draw against the likes of Sunderland, West Brom, and Blackburn. Not exactly teams that would frighten a team who is supposedly one of the world's best. But, with Arsenal, now every game is one where the supporters grow frightened, thanks to the fragility of Arsenal's defense. Yes, many will point to referee's mistakes, or just bad luck, but it's really only the squad to blame. So, this makes many ask the question, is Arsene Wenger really still capable of winning the league with his current side?

Will the stubborn Frenchman change his frugal ways? I can only hope so. Yes, he has been great at spotting and raising young talent, with the likes of Jack Wilshere, Cesc Fabregas, and Aaron Ramsey regularly being important parts of the Gunners' squad. But, what the team lacks is a leader on the field. Ever since the "Invincibles" era, there hasn't been anyone who will get up and shout into someone's face after they make an Almunia-like mistake. The quiet Cesc Fabregas has been the captain of the club since the 2008-2009 season, and he hasn't been the best driving force behind the club. Even Robin Van Persie has been more vocal, criticizing the way that other clubs play and act, and, along with Jack Wilshere, has openly supported and pledged his allegiance to Arsene Wenger and his club.

Despite being captain, even Fabregas has commented on Wenger's tactics and philosophy. Like many supporters and pundits, he believed that Arsenal can't win trophies with just kids out on the field, and that they need experienced and committed players. So, what will Wenger do this summer? The players that I believe  the Gunners need to purchase are obviously a central defender or two, an experienced 30-something midfielder, and a clinical striker who can provide great cover when Robin Van Persie is injured. Per Mertesacker, Gary Cahill, Phillipe Mexes, Diego Milito, Eden Hazard, and Karim Benzema have all been linked to Arsenal constantly. Will the adamant Arsenal manager change his ways and buy a few players with the 40 million pounds now at his disposal?

Finally, I just have one more thought on my mind about Wenger's managerial ways. He absolutely needs to sell the under-performing players. Diaby and Denilson started their Arsenal careers strongly, but recently, have been totally ineffective. Along with those two, Tomas Rosicky, Manuel Almunia, and Sebastien Squillaci should be put on the transfer market in the summer. Along with being ineffective, they constantly make mistakes that continually cost Arsenal important points in the title race.

So, that's all that I have to say about the current Arsenal "crisis". After six years of trophy-less, but wonderful football, it seems that Arsene Wenger has been thinking about purchasing a few experienced players who should help the Gunners finally win a title again. In a recent interview with the Guardian, Wenger said, "We have to strengthen the squad where it needs and make the right decision on that front (transfers)." So, the outlook looks good. This will be an interesting summer for Arsenal fans. But, if next year Arsenal comes out empty-handed, then it will surely be time for Wenger to leave his post.