They’ve been squabbling like fury on Twitter for some time now…so I asked Harry Hill and there is only one way to sort out their disputes…FIGHT! That would seem the obvious conclusion for Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong and celebrity Gooner Piers Morgan and the heated tweets between the pair would appear to back this up.

The Twitter feud came after our shocking defeats to AC MIlan in the CL and then Sunderland in the FA Cup. Morgan, a trappy soul at the best of times, slated the team and the manager and, of course, he has every right to do so. But Frimpers, not short of an opinion himself let it be said, took exception somewhere along the line and an undefying spat ensued.

Suffice to say that the latest cyber exchange has hinted at the pair meeting up in the ring to settle their differences and while it must be said that most of the fighting talk is tongue in cheek, here at Arsenalinsider we quite like the idea.

Morgan, currently hosting his own show on CNN, tweeted that he was off training and would imagine pounding Frimpers during a session with his trainer and the gloves on. The young Gunner responded with: “Well done y don’t we meet and do it properly instead of pretending.”

Morgan, remember, is hated amongst large sections of Gooners. He was editor of the Mirror when the Battle of Copenhagen took place and the paper’s subsequent reporting of the trouble is said to have led to the banning and arrests of 30-odd Arsenal fans. Morgan later apologised for the paper’s action under his stewardship.

So we can imagine that there would be a fair few Arsenal supporters who would pay good money to see the young, fit professional athlete hailing from Ghana and who grew up on the mean streets of N17 up against the public school educated middle aged TV star.

Surely, a bout can be organised by an aspiring production company somewhere with a deserving charity in receipt of any money made? Or are we living in dreamland? Whatever, Morgan has already asked Jack Wilshere to referee the clash! And as a warning to Frimpers he posted this video of him squaring up to boxing champ Manny Pacquiao.

See his tweets below and make up your own mind…

 
piersmorgan Piers Morgan
I’d watch this before you start giving it the large one @Frimpong26AFC: http://bit.ly/vWdLhX #Morganator
15 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply
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piersmorgan Piers Morgan
@
@JackWilshere @Frimpong26AFC may need you to ref the fight first, Jack. old Deench-y boy obviously hasn’t seen my Morgan jab.
16 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply
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piersmorgan Piers Morgan
Right, off to the gym. Going to pretend my trainer is @Frimpong26AFC and give him a good hammering with the gloves. #Arsenal
17 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply
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piersmorgan Piers Morgan
@
@Frimpong26AFC You were shockingly rude the other night. To a fan that pays your wages. I suggest you learn some humility. And how to spell.

CARL ELDRIDGE – On to Ticketmaster now on Twitter @eldomedia

It says a lot that after only two first legs in the last 16 of the Champions League, it looks likely that for the first time since 1996, there will be no English teams in the quarter-finals of Europe’s top club competition. It says even more that no one is really that surprised.

Chelsea’s task might not be as mountainous as Arsenal’s, but there is a glaring lack of confidence in Andre Villas-Boas’ side. It just doesn’t seem at all feasible that they could, even at Stamford Bridge, beat Napoli convincingly enough to progress. Like Arsenal, their defence has become unreliable and erorr-ridden. The know-how to kill off games from Mourinho’s reign is long gone.

Interestingly, the culture at Chelsea is almost the opposite to that at Arsenal, and yet the end result is the same. While we cry out in difficult times for a change in management, or, at least, more pressure from the board, we’d be wise to look over at our London rivals and see that too much of a move in that direction would see us in largely the same predicament.

Unlike Arsenal, Chelsea have stuck with almost entirely the same core players since the Mourinho era. Cech, Terry, Cole, Lampard, Essien, Malouda and Drogba remain and have remained for many years. Arsenal have chopped and changed the playing staff a lot more in the last couple of seasons alone, but it is at management level that things have gone stale.

Chelsea, on the other hand, have gone through many managerial changes. Even when Carlo Ancelotti won the double in his first season in charge, an early exit from the Champions League cast some doubt over his future. When his side hit a tough spell in the middle of the next campaign, it became all too clear he had no future with the Blues. One trophyless season out of two was all it took for Abramovich to wield the axe.

The Russian oligarch owner is a big part of the problem. He wanted more entertaining football than Mourinho was willing to serve up. In the end he meddled too much, signing an over-the-hill Andriy Shevchenko (looks like great business now when compared with Torres) and forcing Mourinho out after one season of missing out on the league title – despite still winning both domestic cups.

Although Wenger needs to be taken off his pedestal at Arsenal and have more demanded of him from our board, we don’t want Abramovich-level interference. And even if it is Wenger’s time to go, the next manager needs to be given time to rebuild the team. Chelsea’s recent bosses have had to deal with Mourinho’s team, and players who would probably still rather be playing under Jose. It can’t ever get to that situation here: where the players decide which manager they like and which they don’t.

I sympathise with AVB. He had an exceptional season with Porto last year and perhaps felt he was ready for a job as big as this. Perhaps he hadn’t anticipated the media pressure that exists in English football, but it seems like if you wanted your first big job in England Chelsea would be the last place you’d want to go, given Abramovich’s track record.

For the sake of a talented young manager, I hope he is given time. However, as an Arsenal fan, anything that sees Chelsea continue to spiral downward is always welcome.

The lesson here is that continuity is crucial in football. Manchester United stuck with Ferguson during some difficult times, and Fergie realises the importance of keeping old heads around for as long as possible. Whether it’s managers or players, the mistake Arsenal and Chelsea are making is: too much change, too often.

For more of my thoughts on Arsenal and general football, follow me on Twitter @markbrus

The club’s financial position has been well documented and picked over ad nauseum of late.  Restrictions imposed by the pay structure and limited transfer budget have apparently prevented  the manager from making the significant signings most of us are calling for.  One other limiting factor is the number of players on the books who seem to be surplus to requirements but are not attracting any interest from other clubs.  Without the income from sales and the concomitant reduction in the wage bill the kitty is further reduced.

There have been a few hints, of late, that Wenger is ready for a wholesale clearout and that the club may be willing to break it’s self imposed wage ceiling in order to both keep it’s most valuable players and attract some high class talent.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

 Stan net worth $3.2 billion

 The one thing that does seem clear is that the owner, Silent Stan Kroenke, is either unwilling or unable to inject funds into the club, one reason for this could be that he had to spend more than expected to purchase his majority shareholding.  If this is the case it is odd that he would allow the value of his holding to fall alongside the clubs status.

It is intriguing to note that Alisher Usmanov has been active in the share market, during the past week, having bought two small parcels of Arsenal stock, one of ten shares at £15,000 each and one of seven shares at £15,750 each.  It is understood that he is still in the market but reluctant to pay more than £14,000 per share.

Image via Wikipedia

Alisher net worth $17.7 billion

Usmanov’s current holding is now getting close to the thirty percent that would entitle him to see important financial data which would prove vital if he were to consider making a takeover bid for the club.  Could it be that the Uzbek billionaire is making ready to challenge Kroenke over the club’s ownership?  He certainly has the financial clout to do so and  clear the outstanding debts as well as pump in some much needed cash.

It is intriguing to note that the manager of Stevenage, Gary Smith, was previously a scout at Arsenal before moving to Silent Stan’s Major League Soccer side, Colorado Rapids as head coach, in his two seasons there he won the MLS title the club’s only trophy in it’s history so far.

Despite his success, Smith says that he only met the owner once or twice and never had any meaningful contact with him.  He also said that Kroenke is the same with all his sports franchises, he appoints a Chief Executive Officer  and the CEO runs all aspects of the club.  It was due to a falling out with the CEO that Smith left the club and took over at Stevenage.  So from that it seems Ivan Gazidis is the man to blame for the financial restrictions, on Wenger, and maybe should at least take a share of the blame for the teams current tribulations.

Stan Kroenke will make his regular monthly visit to London this week in order to attend the regular monthly board meeting.  Despite popular belief Kroenke has yet to miss a single board meeting since he became the majority share holder last April.

Kroenke is expected to reaffirm  support for  his somewhat beleaguered manager and will be announcing profits in the region of £55 million for the past year, all of which will be available for Wenger to overhaul or augment the squad over the summer.

The Arsenal Supporters Trust (AST) is to hold a meeting tonight at which as many as a hundred small share holders will discuss the teams uneven form and to make pans for an end of season survey on Wenger’s performance.

So, do you think Kroenke, $3.2 Billion, should sell out to Usmanov, £17.7 billion?  Or should Usmanov give up his fight for ownership?  Should Gazidis be forced to undo the purse strings? Or should Wenger accept responsibility and suffer the consequences?   Is the wage ceiling reasonable or should players get what they and their agents can screw out of the club?

John in Norfolk

Hanging on just for the sake of it, be it his stubbornness, his ego, or just for self satisfaction is wrong and is hurting everybody involved with the club from the fans, to players, to owners. Like a marriage, if he truly loved Arsenal he would leave so the club could enjoy better days in the future. This is how people deal with problems in the real world.

When things are beyond repair in marriages it’s possible to attend therapy and try to fix them, but if the problems are still there seven years later it’s time to show how much you care for the other party and move on with your life.

Since 1996, Wenger’s done more for Arsenal than anybody has in the past, but hanging onto the past basically means you’re living in it, not the present. All Gunner fans appreciate everything he’s done for the club and he’ll likely go down in history as one of the best managers ever. But once you start saying things such as a fourth place finish in the league is like winning a trophy, then you’ve lost all ambition and are out of touch with reality.

Sure, Wenger wants to win, who doesn’t? But he’s been eliminated from every single competition he’s been in over the past seven years, with this year’s Champions League hopes hanging on by the proverbial thread.

The fact is, for whatever reason, the players aren’t playing for him and he’s no longer able to do a good job because of this. Different players could produce different results, but this is his team. He put the squad together and has to take the blame for the constant underachieving. In what other profession could you be unproductive in your job for seven straight years and still be employed?

Most other experts see the problem with Arsenal, except those who matter the most, who are Wenger and the board. Ex-Gunner players like Paul Merson and current television commentators such as Roy Keane have all chipped in with their opinions and for the most part they’re spot on. Wenger’s had money to spend over the years but he hasn’t spent it wisely. He’s rivalling Rafael Benitez when it comes to wasting good money on mediocre talent.

When a professional football club has approximately 78 male players of various ages on the books, loans 18 of them out, and then has a manger complain that his squad isn’t strong enough, there’s a serious problem. There are too many players under contract that don’t deserve to be and too many of these are way overpaid. Wenger had the Midas touch years ago when signing the likes of  Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira, and Thierry Henry, but his signings over the past few years leave a lot to be desired and it’s frankly just wasted money.

The current team could make the Champions League next season, but it’s going to be a struggle. If Arsenal fans are happy with this situation, that’s fine they have nothing to complain about. However, if they want more than this you can’t blame them for asking questions and becoming a little agitated after seven years. The undeniable fact is that the club is going backwards, not moving forward. Being beaten by an aggregate of 6-0 last week in two of the biggest games of the year is an indication of this.

Against the league’s best teams, Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Newcastle, the Gunners have won once (5-3 over Chelsea) lost five and drawn one. Beating up on a hapless Blackburn team 7-1 at home just doesn’t cut it for one of Europe’s top teams, especially considering they beat you 4-3 earlier in the season.

Wenger should stay on until the end of the season and then resign his post because of his love for the team, not because he’s been offered a better contract somewhere else. Arsenal is closer to a revolution at the moment than any evolution. Supporters groups are starting to revolt because of poor results and no clear solution on the horizon.

Wenger would be better off leaving the club than eventually getting sacked. There comes a time when you must do what’s best for the majority not yourself and this is why so many Arsenal fans realize it’s time for Wenger to say goodbye and are finally speaking up about it.

As the great Martin Luther King once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Arsene Wenger must admit he has made a mistake about his vision for Arsenal to convince Robin Van Persie to stay with the Gunners. Reports today suggest Ivan Gazidis has told our Dutch ace that he is going nowhere in the summer even if he doesn’t extend his contract which has just one year remaining at the Emirates. Gazidis is supposed to have “personally intervened” in the club’s negotiations with the captain.

Van Persie will be 29 by the start of the next season, and 30 when his contract ends which could mean that would-be suitors such Real Madrid and Manchester City would only pay around £20 million for his services and it is said that Arsenal won’t consider selling at such a price.

Now Gunners legend Nigel Winterburn reckons AW must own up to his plans being flawed given that we look poised to end a seventh season without a trophy. Fourth spot in the Premier League looks like the only realistic goal we can achieve after disastrous results against AC Milan in the Champions League and Sunderland in the FA Cup.

And Winterburn says if AW can be big enough to concede he got it massively wrong with his recruitment for this campaign, he could yet get RVP to stay. He said: “I can see there has been frustration over the last few weeks. When you look at van Persie it’s as if he’s looking and saying ‘oh no, not again – we’ve thrown another game away’.

“I think what Arsene Wenger is do is he’ll sit down with Robin van Persie at the end of the season. He will want him to sign and he may talk to him about his vision for the football club and possibly say, ‘I’ve made a mistake, I’ve backed the team but it hasn’t produced as I expected it to. I’m now going to change it with three or four new players’.

“That will then make us significantly stronger and I believe then we can come back next season and at least challenge for the title again.”

CARL ELDRIDGE – Twittering from (not far from) West Wittering @eldomedia

The numbers simply don’t lie: Seven long years without a trophy. Comments regarding the team’s demise have been loaded with vitriol: “The worst Arsenal team in ten years,” for instance. Arsenal as a team appears to be in a state of crisis, but there are yet more questions than answers concerning any resolution. Arsenal fans are rightly demanding to know whether Arsene had access to the fat reserve account, whether he should be the target of blame and villified or else forgiven. Within the next couple of days, we will all know if Arsene is still all the hero we once knew him to be or else a piece of waterlogged deadwood weighing the team down.

I have long been an ardent Arsene supporter, an outspoken critic of his critics. I have wanted to team to do well, and I have trusted Arsene’s judgment and perception that the team will improve. I take much of what he says at face value, without the proverbial grain of salt. He’s the boss, and if he didn’t know what he was doing, he wouldn’t still be in that position, trusted as he is by Arsenal’s owner. Nevertheless, a case is being built against Arsene. It won’t be long now before the angry mob shows up with pitchforks and torches, so we need to know whether we stand with him or the mob.

In the past couple of days, the community of Arsenal fans has finally reached a breaking point. A long season of dramatic inconsistencies has created a level of barely-contained frustration that can be difficult to properly articulate. Naturally, fans are looking for someone to blame, and it’s virtually a sure-fire bet the target of the angst will be Arsene Wenger. Making Arsene a scapegoat week to week was a fun past-time for the past couple of months, but most fans have grown weary of this game. Enough is enough. Most of us just aren’t willing to spend any more time in Arsene’s little fantasy world. We’re tired of being placated, sick of being told that each loss was just another minor setback or speed bump. Most of us know the difficulty telling someone that “Everything is going to be all right” when we know they are actually in the midst of a horrible tragedy from which there will be no return to the good life, and with this unfortunate experience under our belts, we can smell an Arsene lie from a mile away. Those of us that continued to demonstrate our loyalty to the veteran manager despite the copious evidence to the contrary now feel like court jesters.

For what it’s worth, Arsene is loathe to admit defeat. Calls for his immediate resignation have been met with typical Arsene cockiness, the expected cheeky comments that demand analysis and criticism. “There has been a lot of conversation about whether I will remain with Arsenal or leave, But I will tell you that I am still committed to this project. So committed that I will continue to manage Arsenal until the day Theo Walcott wins the Ballon d’Or or the day Andrei Arshavin scores four goals in a Premier League match again. Whichever comes first. Or at all. Only then will my work here be complete.”

Basically, Arsene is committed to staying around from now until infinity. But Arsenal fans, represented by the Arsental Supporters Trust, is ready to help Arsene start packing.

Arsenal fans have had little to celebrate recently. The season of disappointments was made only slightly bearable by glimmers of former glory suggesting barely reaslized potential. Thierry Henry energized the team, but even his morale boost in the locker room couldn’t translate into a winning season.

Week after week, Robin van Persie did everything he could to stimulate the offense, and when he scored, he did so in true style, exemplifying all that one could want in a superstar. He remained calm and focused when it mattered most, and ironically, the only glimmer of unbridaled emotion we saw was when he screamed “No!” at Arsene when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was pulled from the field. Van Persie later down-played the strife between Arsene and himself, but one can reasonably assume that the emotion Van Persie was displaying was shared by Gunners fans all over. Due to the miserable season, many Arsenal fans were convinced Van Persie would jump ship as soon as his contract expired this coming summer. Though he’s currently making 80,000 pounds per week, the club is offering him a significant pay raise, increasing his salary to 100,000 pounds per week in addition to a sizable (but undisclosed) renewal fee. The Arsenal club is sure to change dramatically during the summer months and experience a significant makeover, but it’s comforting to know Rob will most likely still be around next year.

The Arsenal Supporters Trust is taking action. They are going to be polling the membership, attempting to gain a consensus regarding Arsene’s future with Arsenal. Seven consecutive seasons without a championship seems to be the golden number. The support that Arsene accumulated over multiple years has dwindled considerably, and his cache of nostalgia-based goodwill has all but evaporated. Arsene has essentially lived off his past accomplishments, but the capital just isn’t there anymore.

Arsene has chosen to spend less money than some of Arsenal’s rival clubs, and the money he has spent was invested in continuing an ongoing experiment that has been primarily a dismal failure. Investing in promising youth, expecting future dividends once the players gain some experience and maturity, makes sense from a purely theoretical perspective, but what works in theory does not necessarily translate to the pitch. Clubs like Manchester City and Manchester United are more immediate-results-oriented, spending their funds on experienced veterans that translate into…Well, winning seaons. Without the wait.

The AST wants to know whether or not Arsene was authorized to spend all of the club’s cash reserves (fifty million pounds at last count.) Did Arsene have the prerogative to spend all of the money, and if so, why didn’t he engage in more transfer activity during the periods encompassing the summer of 2011 and January of 2012 during the windows? If the money was held back, why wasn’t Arsene given the opportunity to spend it? These questions are well worth asking, and the answers will tell us much about the current state of Arsenal and Arsene’s status as well. Arsene has supposedly been given £55 million for this coming summer, what many sites refer to as hardly enought to reconstruct the team into a winning endeavor once again. That £55 million has to cover not just the cost of signings but the wages of the new signees, so we must hope Arsene chooses wisely.

The Arsenal directors have a regularly-scheduled board meeting this week, and the team’s profits will be under close scrutiny. The Arsenal owner, billionaire Stan Kroenke, is expected to fly into town to loudly and vocally express his sincere support for Arsene Wenger, which will do little to boost the confidence of Arsenal fans at this exact point in time. In a sure sign that he’s floundering, Arsene has attempted to bolster support by restating his belief that Arsenal will finish in the top four, thus qualifying for next year’s Champions League–something he equates with winning a cup. Nice to know he’s bold enough to keep expectations low.

Wenger’s contract with Arsenal doesn’t officially expire until 2014, but considering he’s still a top candidate to replace Mourinho at Real Madrid, a lot of Arsenal fans may be happy to help him pack.

Many of you will now be aware of the Twitter row between cocky celebrity Arsenal fan Piers Morgan and outspoken fringe player Emmanuel Frimpong that took place last night in the wake of our 2-0 FA Cup exit to Sunderland.

Let me make this clear very early: I detest Piers Morgan. I think he’s a vile attention-seeker. But there are probably many Arsenal fans in the world I wouldn’t get along with. The one thing we all have in common, however, is that we want Arsenal to win. That’s how I feel it should be, anyway.

Piers, like me and an increasing number of gooners, think it’s time Arsene Wenger stepped down as Arsenal manager. That’s our opinion and we’re entitled to it, it’s not exactly unreasonable to start asking questions after six or seven years without a trophy at a club of our size, not to mention the manner in which we have let success slip away at crucial moments so many times.

Emmanuel Frimpong, a player who has achieved precisely zilch in the game, has come out in defence of the manager, and does not welcome the views of fans like us.

What a surprise. A player who would never have played as much or earned as much money if not for Wenger comes out and tells us we don’t know what we’re talking about, and that we can keep quiet.

The sheer arrogance, firstly, that Frimpong even thinks his opinion is at all interesting. The guy seems like a decent prospect, but nothing special. He has made only a handful of appearances in the first-team and is far more famous for being a bit of a ‘character’ on Twitter. Achieve something in the game before you decide spread your wisdom, Emmanuel.

This is exactly what Wenger has been trying to do for years: give chances to players who don’t really deserve it, so they owe their careers to him. Except it hasn’t exactly worked, has it? When they get fed up they can all leave, as I have no doubt Frimpong would if he had a better offer. As fans, we are attached to our club for life and cannot simply walk away. Nor are we required to be loyal to players or managers or any other staff if we feel that they are letting down the club we love.

Wenger was a great manager, there is no doubting that. But the ‘was’ is the key word there. Seven years of dismantling good teams, failed youth projects, shocking defending, unproffessional behaviour, falling apart in February and no trophies is a long time.

Isn’t anyone else sick of being treated like they don’t matter by Arsene FC?

Follow me on Twitter @markbrus

I started this post before our loss to Sunderland 2-0 at the Stadium of light.

I am now sat here nervously waiting for our fifth round FA Cup tie away to Sunderland to kick off, and to be quite honest I don’t know what to think.

Before Wednesdays first leg Champions League match away to AC Milan, I was feeling good, and fancied our chances to come away with a win, and if not that at least a point.
How wrong could I have been the night, turned into a nightmare for us, as we were totally outclassed buy a Milan side that meant business.

Yet again it was obvious that our players could not defend, and from what I could see it looks as though they don’t even practice defending on the training field.

Where is Tony Adams when you need him?

Give him a job as defensive coach, and see what he can do for out team.

It is all well, and good this sharp quick passing of the ball, but it is not good at all when five minutes of passing the ball between yourselves, you lose it to the opposition, and they score not just once but four times!!!

It is time for a re-think, and I have come to the conclusion that either Wenger has lost the plot, or he needs to get rid of players, and re-build the team.

This is what former Arsenal player Emmanuel Petit said after calling our performance in the San Siro a disgrace.

“I wondered what had become of the team that I knew. It’s worse than I thought – and what is perhaps the most worrying thing is to say that the club will not do anything this summer to stop the machine”.

“Some young players are doing nothing to justify the confidence that Arsene gives them. In behaviour, in body language, you can see they are gone.

“Do not hesitate to talk about end of cycle. Regardless of age. It must be said to Arshavin, to Rosicky – ‘Gentlemen, thank you, but goodbye.’ And quickly. I wonder about the future of the club. Arsene must quickly regain balance. Arsenal were a contender, now they are mere participants.”

As we all know now, we lost to a team that played like they wanted to win.

Closing, and chasing us down every chance they got.

Considering we had only just played them seven days ago, we should have known what to expect from the rejuvenated Martin O’Neil managed Black Cats.

Here we were playing the only game we know, passing the ball back and forward to each other in mid-field.

If games were won, and lost on time of possession we would have that vital Champions League spot locked up.

Let’s face it the team looked tired and clueless when it came to ideas. We could have picked up a couple of players during the January transfer window but we did not.

Whose fault is that Mr.Wenger yours, or the people who pay your wages?

The fans are beginning to say enough is enough! When you are paying £3,000 for a season ticket you rightly expect to be watching a team that is winning trophies.

Wenger can rejoice a little in that all the pressure seems to be on the Chelsea manager Andres Villas-Boas at the moment, which helps keep the spotlight off him.

In fact I don’t think there is any pressure on Wenger except from the fans.

He is doing exactly what the American owners want, and that is to make money for them without having to spend anything.

The only way things are going to change is when they are no longer making money.

Could you imagine Jose Mourinho coming to the Emirates?

It will never happen because, he would say in order for me to take the job I want x amount of money to go out, and buy the players I need in order for us to win the Premiership, and the Champions League.

I am listening to Gooner fans calling in after the match on Talksport, and they are making very valuable points, and one that I find striking is that the Premiership, and the world of professional football has changed, and yet we refuse to offer the wages to attract the top players.

It looks as though we could very well not be in the Champions League next season, and that being the case we can say goodbye to Robin van Persie.

No matter how much he likes playing for the Gunners the big money, and the chance to play on a winning team such as Barcelona, or Real Madrid will force him to leave.

The one player I feel bad for was Oxlade-Chamberlain who came charging back to defend the goal only to have the ball hit the post, and bounce off him, and in for an own goal.

Kind of ironic that a striker had to try, and defend the goal-line.

Mr. Wenger had his excuses ready for the press conference about a match that one of the National newspaper’s called “Gunn to Pot”.

In case you have not heard it here is what Wenger had to say:

“I believe we had a spirited and committed performance. Sometimes you want to give credit to the players even when you lose a game and I think today is one of them,”

“We had a difficult week. We had three away games on three very difficult pitches. At the end we go home tonight with many injuries and out of the cup.

“We had to chase the game with already not fresh legs; the schedule was just too difficult for us.

“It is always easier to defend than to attack. If you look at the amount of possession we had today it would certainly be massive. I felt that we were a bit unlucky today.”

To this my question would be “why with all our injury problems did you not at least sign some players on loan when you had a chance”?

This is the future for the Gooner fans, and unless we stop going to matches and buying the shirts I do not think anything will change.

The return leg takes place in the friendly confines of Emirates Stadium on Tuesday March 6th and Chelsea’s Portuguese manager said Arsenal is capable of wiping out the 4-0 deficit in the round-of-16 tie. However, history says it’s not going to happen. No team has ever advanced in the money-grabbing Champions League tournament after falling behind by four goals to nil.

But while Villas-Boas is showing an optimistic attitude, Arsene Wenger is being defeatist and providing a complete lack of leadership by saying his team’s finished in the Champions League this year. His statement is realistic and likely going to be proven true, but it sure as hell isn’t any way to motivate players and fans for the second leg.

According to Bettor.com, Wenger was quoted after the Milan humiliation saying that there’s no possible way his team can turn around the 4-0 score line and keep going on the way to the Champions League Final. Well if Milan was able to win 4-0 at home, it’s surely not impossible for Arsenal to equal it and do the same at home is it? These are the types of questions Wenger should be asking the press and his players leading up to the second leg.

Football teams have come from behind when trailing by four goals in the past, perhaps not in the Champions League, but in other leagues. Wenger should know this first hand since his team blew a four goal lead to Newcastle just last season and had to settle for a 4-4 draw. You’d think that Wenger would be finding as many examples as he can to at least give his players some hope to hang onto.

Why should fans spend their money on tickets if Wenger’s already given up? Leadership comes from the top and when players see their manager being so pessimistic it’s easy for them to adopt the same poor attitude. Anyway, Villas-Boas told reporters that Arsenal can achieve the impossible if they score early in the next game. But it doesn’t really matter if they score early, late, or in the middle of the match, the fact is they need four goals.

He said that anything can happen in football and the impossible often takes place when you least expect it. Villas-Boas said an early goal could get the emotions running high and the fans will get behind the team. This could result in the unexpected happening. He didn’t really give a good example, but Villas-Boas said when he was managing Porto they took a 5-1 lead into the second leg of a Europa League tie against Valencia and ended up losing the game 3-2. That’s still a 7-4 win on aggregate though. He said his side was lucky in that game however and could have lost by a bigger margin,

Neutral football fans will tune into the game to see if Arsenal can indeed pull off a historical Champions League comeback and most Arsenal supporters will be cheering their team on regardless of what Wenger said. Love him or hate him, comments like, “Let’s be realistic, we don’t play in a dream world. There may be two per cent or five per cent chance statistically, but realistically we’re out of this competition,” should be kept private and not broadcast for the world to hear, no matter how accurate they may be.

It’s doubtful that Arsenal can come back and dig themselves out of their hole, but if there’s anybody out there who should be encouraging players not to give up hope, it should be the club’s manager. There’s no reason or need to admit defeat to the rest of the world until you’re officially out of it.