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HOIST BY HIS OWN PETARD

 
 
 
 
For 'tis the sport to have the enginer
Hoist with his own petar; 
© Bill Shakespeare

Be assured dear reader that I am striving for positivity. Also be in no doubt that I am foremostly interested in the Arsenal; I have no axe to grind with our manager other than wanting the best for the club. In this light I had to do a double take when I read Wenger's comments in the Independent 17th sept. These are his own words and therefore this is not an opinion piece but a factual account of what I manager believes

"We were a team on the up and that was not rewarded last year because we were a bit hungry to go for all four trophies"
Correct me if I'm wrong but a team on the up is not a team who goes into decline as the season progresses.

"But the basic quality was there and we were certainly very close to winning last year."
I would argue that if the basic quality was there then 'close to winning' would have been 'winning'

"We were suddenly hit by major departures that were not planned"
Not planned? do me a favour.

"But we have invested as well, our highest investment has been in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlaine, a young player"
Now AOC may become the next Rooney but, investing in a Snjeider or Mata or Samba would have been more useful right now I would have thought.

"The most difficult thing is to show consistency in any sport..."
agreed

"..and we have managed to do that above expectations and nobody else has done better than us on the consistency level"
At this point you have to question the core beliefs and values in a statement like that!

So there you have it; Wenger in his own words. Need I say more? probably not, but you know I will.

talking loud...
..saying nothing
A petard was a small bomb used to blow up gates and walls when breaching fortifications.
The term has a French origin and dates back to the sixteenth century

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