So...

[AKBapologist]

For some, sun shines out of his ass and for the Wenger out brigade, he can literally say no wrong so I suppose this interview from him should pose a conundrum to most of your talking points and long held positions about AW and Arsenal... well it would if they where based on reason.


Sir Alex Ferguson defends Arsène Wenger against Arsenal critics
• 'Who could replace Wenger?' Ferguson asks Gunners fans
• Manchester United likely to stick with youthful XI


reddit this
Press Association
guardian.co.uk, Friday 26 August 2011 13.22 BST
Article history

Arsène Wenger has come in for criticism this season. Photograph: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images
The Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has warned Arsenal's unhappy fans to be careful what they wish for.

Although the Gunners eased some of the immediate pressure on Arsène Wenger by reaching the Champions League group stage this week, the north London club head to Old Trafford on Sunday having collected just one point from their opening two Premier League games.

That meagre return, the loss of Cesc Fábregas and Samir Nasri, Wenger's transfer policy which has left many supporters distinctly underwhelmed and six seasons without a trophy have led many to start thinking the previously unthinkable and wonder whether a change at the top is required.

But Ferguson wonders exactly who those hard-to-please fans have in mind as a potential replacement.

"I would like to know who is going to replace him," said the United manager. "The work he has done in the 15 years he has been at the club is the best in Arsenal's history. Yes, he has not won a trophy for six years but what does that mean? The quality of his side has not been reduced."

Rather, as Ferguson points out, the standard of opposition has improved, first through the vast riches lavished on Chelsea by Roman Abramovich, and now the even deeper pockets of Sheikh Mansour at Manchester City.

"Chelsea's involvement has created a lot of the problem in terms of trophies to win because they and ourselves have been dominating the Premier League," said Ferguson. "Now Manchester City have come on the scene. When Arsenal and ourselves were going head-to-head, it went on for about eight years. The competition is far greater now."

Not that Ferguson expects supporters of any club, including his own, to adopt a reasoned view of proceedings. As he is fond of saying, the world is different now compared to the one that existed before Wenger replaced Bruce Rioch at Highbury in the autumn of 1996.

"It is a bit unfair of course. But who understands fairness and unfairness today?" he said. "It is quite a cynical world. Supporters are far less easy to please than they were 20 years ago. It is disappointing.

"But [Arsenal] answered everybody back on Wednesday. They got a great result and the game on Sunday will be another stepping stone for them."

Ferguson certainly will not be taking Arsenal lightly, even though his own youthful side have started the season with a bang, firing three second-half goals past Tottenham on Monday after an opening weekend win at West Brom.

The question United's manager is faced with is whether to stick with the likes of Tom Cleverley now Darren Fletcher is available to beef up his midfield, or if he should leave out either Jonny Evans or Phil Jones in favour of Rio Ferdinand if the England veteran recovers from a hamstring strain.

Even more eyecatching is the battle between Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez for the right to partner Wayne Rooney in attack. It seems Ferguson is leaning towards his kids.

"I have a tremendous problem when it comes to picking a side but it is the kind of problem I want," he said. "They [the younger players] have only played a couple of games. We are very enthusiastic about their potential but the name of the game is what they achieve.

"Maybe some of their form will taper off. That is when the squad comes into play. At the moment they are doing very well. So I have to let it carry on."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/aug/26/sir-alex-ferguson-arsene-wenger

So, has the competition increased or has AW just gone mad.

[Syn]

Competition has obviously increased.

Doesn't excuse the fact that Wenger (and possibly the board) has let things go very, very wrong with the club.

Shit thread.

[Sirjackofwilshere]

Good point, well made. Excellent thread. F the haters. Wenger 4 life.

[Niall_Quinn]

Fergie just taking the piss and rubbing it in, he can now talk about the guy who used to wind him up from a position of strength. Lots of little digs in there if you read it carefully.

[fakeyank]

Shit thread.

:gp:

[Boss]

Competition has obviously increased.

Doesn't excuse the fact that Wenger (and possibly the board) has let things go very, very wrong with the club.

Shit thread.

Pretty much.

Also, Fergie's only been sucking Wenger's cock since we stopped being competitive.

Says it all, I'm afraid.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

:lol: course he's gonna back wenger, we've won fuck all for 6 years :lol:

he knows as long as arsene's here we are not legitimate challengers for the title or any trophy, so less competition and worry for him.

notice how fergie started being nice to wenger from a few years back, he knew what we were doing was pointless and not a threat.

[Özim]

Pretty much.

Also, Fergie's only been sucking Wenger's cock since we stopped being competitive.

Says it all, I'm afraid.
Pretty much, he use to hate him when we were their rivals.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I'm not sure how relevant that is, unless you're suggesting when we were competitive Fergie actively wanted Wenger sacked. However there is no evidence for that.

[AKBapologist]

Competition has obviously increased.

Doesn't excuse the fact that Wenger (and possibly the board) has let things go very, very wrong with the club.

Shit thread.
Theres been a lot of "Ohhh, if only we had stayed at highbury." bollocks going around, as if we would have somehow been in a better position at a smaller stadium (we wouldn't be) or that the board lied to us about how the stadium would garrentee trophies or something (no one could have predicted billionaries pissing away hundreds of millions on clubs, without which happening us and united would be stupidly far ahead of the rest of the pack financially, and thus on the pitch.)

There's also this annoying attitude that any dick and harry could do better then AW, (even though despite all of his deficiencies, only SAF has been more successful/consistent during his AW's reign.)

Obviously, the narrative is now that AW has gone mad, or that his early success was do to GG, or something else and when the SAF himself puts out some pretty reasonable points, there roundly dismissed by those already invested in AW failing.

[Syn]

Theres been a lot of "Ohhh, if only we had stayed at highbury." bollocks going around, as if we would have somehow been in a better position at a smaller station (we wouldn't be) or that the board lied to us about how the stadium would garrentee trophies or something (no one could have predicted billionaries pissing away hundreds of millions on clubs, without which happening us and united would be stupidly far ahead of the rest of the pack financially, and thus on the pitch.)

The anger is about: 1) Charging the highest ticket prices and not making clear what is happening to all the money that is being gained from transfer profits from selling established first-team members. We are not seeing a return on the pitch....if we haven't got the money, fine, but we need to know where it is going. 2) Wenger not recognising (or at least, not fixing) the most basic and obvious problems - losing key players through injuries every year; conceding the same type of goals and basically losing track at the business end of the season when the going gets tough. I don't care much about transfers or even winning at the moment - the thing I most don't like about what Wenger has done is he has allowed a culture at the club where there only zombies who are using the club as career progression. The only player I can currently identify with and can call a gooner is Wilshere. Playing for Arsenal and wearing the Arsenal shirt doesn't mean as much as it used to. I'm not suggesting that it is not the case at other clubs (particularly clubs who no longer have any old guards at the club), but with the philosophical stance that Wenger has always taken about club spirit and respect, there is absolutely none visible right now. I am very disappointed that Wenger hasn't done more to combat that.

And about the other point - Not everyone could do better than Wenger, but a lot of managers wouldn't have allowed players to piss all over them and maintained the identity and link to the fans. Dalgleish and Liverpool seems to be a good example right now.

[AKBapologist]

Dalgleish has been aloud to completely rebuild his side over a season spending more than wenger has on players over the last 14 years. Ticket prices? Players treating all but the richest clubs with distain? High wages? Most of your gripes can be said of almost every other club in the league.

If he fails to strengthen the club this season I doubt even I can defend him, but a lot of his faults are just so pathetically overblown.

[Cripps_orig]

Yay another Wenger thread.They have been missed:coffee: