#alcntara

discourse or discussion because it’s lost in the back and forthbetween the much more vocal camps. I’m curious to know what it’s like overthere where discussion is more likely to happen, as I don’t see/hear much whereI am. (2/2)

> Youmake a very good point, and I 100% agree that, generally, the ones who use thehashtags #WengerOut or #WengerIn are set in their one “camp” and will not,or cannot, find it in their souls to be anything other than impassioned aboutthat one opinion. Which is fine, but it does make for very difficultdiscussion, and is often hard to tolerate.

I think in itself the whole concept of “Wenger In”or “Wenger Out” really does ruin any discussion, because it divides ourgroup of fans and heavily so. I’ve seen many conversations, particularly onTwitter, which may have started about an Arsenal topic but escalated intoinsults/slurs/abuse and so forth - hardly helps the reputation of the footballfan, does it? And more to the point, it’s needless. I would prefer if theseterms had never been created, because it does create conflict that goes beyondfootball - it makes people spiteful towards others with a differing opinion.

However, the terms do exist, which is also evidence that, oneway or another, Arsène Wenger does many things, right or wrong, that manypeople feel strongly about. Which is unsurprising when he’s been here as longas he has, it would be bizarre if people felt indifferent. I, personally,am very fond of him, but can also understand how some of the rational people,who are able to look at both sides, might still want a change in the managerialrole.

Unfortunately, even though Arsène and the team are morediscussed in the UK, it doesn’t always mean clarity, or better discussion.Whether you’re “for” or “against” AW, there is one remaining factor that willhave distorted truth from fact on either side, and that’s the media. Newspapers, radio, Twitter, Facebook, punditshows on sports channels etc. It’s frequently about “right”and “wrong”, rarely “This has happened, but this has also happened, bothare valid factors.” I have always found it odd that people seek to put theblame on a singular man, he does share a large proportion of responsibility,yes, but he is not the only factor in the game, whether that be off or onpitch. (Something I could easily go off on a tangent about in another post.)

 But toget to your question(s)…which criticisms are perhaps getting lost in the etherbecause of this fan division? I have a few mind.

 Something that has peaked my interest is the training regimethat goes on at London Colney. I have no doubts in my mind that the squad arereceiving the best treatment they possibly could. Speaking in terms offacilities, Arsène ensured that the team hada state of the art base of operations, meticulously planned diet, gym, pool,physio technology, fitness data and so forth – that part does not worry me. Butperhaps the regime itself does need updating. I think it was Martin Keown whosaid a few years ago that the drills and such had not really changed since he wasthere, and while there might not be a great deal to change, I believe somealterations or experimentation could influence overall squad communication andability.

Another issue is the frequency in which players are injured,it seems to be an abnormal count for our team in particular. I have severaltheories on this, one is because we do not have winter break, I feel that does contributeto the wearing down of the squad – how well is that managed behind the scenes? Anothertheory is slightly related my first point, perhaps the regime is not suitablefor the demands of today’s game?

But what makes me doubt some of what I say or suggest is thatthere is so much information available to the team’s staff now, surely thiswould have been picked up on?

 I think in some instances rotation has come too late here andthere, for example Alexis choosing whether he plays or not is something thathas bothered me. I know he says he is fine, but I feel like he could have twobroken legs and he’d try to fool everyone into letting him play. I feel thatNacho has been suffering lately, given his immense and superb run at being soeffective at left back, that the need to change things up has gone amiss, Ibelieve Gibbs to be very capable if he were given more opportunities. The sameis slightly true for the right back position, but given Debuchy’s injurytroubles, and Jenkinson’s lay off, I dare say it was much harder to alter onthat side.

 I hateto say the word because it is banded around so often, but “mentality”. I don’tmean the “they’re bottlers, what a load of wankers” kind of comment, I mean I really want to know why some gameseverything clicks, and others it looks like they’re learning how to play togetherfor the first time. As with everything to discuss with Arsenal there are somany factors, but there has to be a way for this to be solved? I believe in theboys so much, every single one of them, but sometimes the communication isshockingly bad. They are told a game plan, and whether it works or not, whenthey’re out there without Arsène being able to direct every second, they mustshow their initiative as a unit. And more importantly, discipline themselves. Atmy time of writing, the Bournemouth game (4.1.17) couldn’t be more appropriate,Xhaka pushing someone in the box to concede a penalty, and both Ramsey andBellerin (Bellerin mostly) going awol to leave an atrocious amount of space forBournemouth to capitalise. Those are really poor mistakes and decisions thatneed to be stamped out.

I really could write so much about this and many other topics,but I don’t want to make this too long, but those are some things that nigglein my mind. They’re things that should be remedied in the background withpractice and attention to detail. I certainly don’t expect everything to beperfect all the time, but I know this club is capable of so much but don’talways push it to fruition.

 There are also lots of things that people want to criticise, I’m sure, but I think people need to keep in mind that hindsight is a wonderful thing, and all we can do is try to remain objective.

I hope I’ve made some sense for you, and if you want to knowanything else, please feel free to ask! I would also like to make it clear thatis just from my perspective, and I’m sure what I find important might not be themost important to others.

Thank you so much for your kind words, I love to write about this stuff, it’s therapeutic, heh.

I’m not exactly sure, but I’d take a stab around 09-11, but it’s a curious one to me since we’ve finished 3rd nearly as many times, with a handful of 2nd places too. I suppose it’s because we make top four a priority because the prestige and appeal of playing in Europe is important to clubs in all the top flight leagues. 

But what makes me laugh is that those that make the jokes have recently been praying to make it into the top four because of the reasons I mentioned above. I think the reason the “joke” has carried on for so long is probably more to do with the fact that rival fans know that some Gooners find it irritating, so it eggs them on to keep saying it, you know?

I use an app called fotmob that saves all my favorite teams and tells me when they're playing, gives me game alerts, etc.

u water it