Sharing Our Questions For Arsene...
Posted 14/05/09 12:51EmailPrintSave
Arsene Wenger is facing an interrogation on Thursday evening when he addresses Arsenal shareholders at a question-and-answer session. F365 suggest some questions...
* What matters more to you: style or substance, trophies or aesthetics?
* Do you agree with the Arsenal chief executive that fourth place constitutes failure?
* How much are you willing to spend on a defensive midfielder and central defender?
* Can you ever see a situation where you would buy an established Premier League player in his prime?
* Do you think that spending is cheating?
* If you were given Manchester City's budget, would you still sign unknown Frenchmen?
* Has the success of Andrei Arshavin altered your view about spending money?
* Do you accept that Arsenal's most regular problem over the past three years has been an appalling injury record? Is there an explanation? Are you looking for an explanation? And if you accept it is a major problem, why did you sign Mikael Silvestre last summer even when he was injured? And why sign Amaury Bischoff when he had barely kicked a ball in the previous two years?
* Are we correct in presuming that it's because you believed Tomas Rosicky would return in September that you didn't seek to sign Andrei Arshavin last summer? Do you think Arsenal would have challenged for the title if Arshavin had been signed before the start of the season? If so, are you again willing to run the risk of factoring injury-prone players such as Rosicky, Eduardo, Abou Diaby and Silvestre into your plans for next season?
* Incidentally, does it surprise you as much as it does us that the press have never properly interrogated you over Arsenal's injury record?
* What's your assessment of how Arsenal have dealt with Rosicky's injury problems over the past 18 months? In September, you said: "Nobody at the club can tell me whether he will be back on November 10, December 10 or December 31." Why couldn't they? What are they telling you now?
* Why did you give the 31-year-old Silvestre a two-year deal when Robert Pires and co were denied on grounds of age?
* Last year, you announced at the annual meeting of the shareholders that you would try to sign a defender to deal with 'route one' football. Instead, you signed Manchester United's second-choice left-back. What happened? Do you understand our use of the word 'instead'?
* Do you now accept that your team selection for the FA Cup semi-final team was a mistake? What was the thinking behind the selection?
* In the last ten-and-a-bit ten years, Sir Alex Ferguson has employed Brian Kidd, Steve McClaren, Carlos Queiroz and Mike Phelan as his assistants. Have you considered freshening up your own coaching staff?
*It was claimed in The Guardian last week that you 'spend comparatively little time on the training ground drilling [your] defence and practising such minor details as corners and free-kicks'. Is this true? Just how much time do you devote on the training ground to these minor details along with other insignificants such as shooting and crossing? Have you considered a change of approach given your side's repeated failings in these areas?
* When Aston Villa equalised in the 92nd minute on Boxing Day, three Arsenal defenders were in the penaltyn area marking four attackers. Did you point this out to your team afterwards? If so, how did you feel when four Arsenal players were in the penalty-area attempting to mark five attackers when Yossi Benayoun scored Liverpool's 92nd-minute equaliser last month?
* Out of ten, how would you rate Arsenal's defending this season?
* Ashley Cole demonstrated on Sunday that Theo Walcott is still oblivious to the importance of tracking back after 18 months. How do you explain the continued existence of this shortcoming?
* Lukasz Fabianski's costly rush of blood in the the FA Cup semi-final came a week after Kieran Gibbs had to clear the ball off the line against Wigan following a similar aberration by the youngster. He then committed precisely the same mistake in the first half against Chelsea. Did anyone on the coaching staff advise caution at half-time at Wembley or after the game at Wigan? If not, why not?
* What is it that you see in Abou Diaby that nobody else can?
* Kolo Toure and William Gallas only played well this season when separated from each other. Do you now accept that they cannot dovetail as a partnership? Are you sure it's only one new centre-half that you need to buy?
* What was the thinking in deploying Cesc Fabregas as a support striker? Do you now accept that Fabregas isn't suited to the role?
* What was your view of Emmanuel Adebayor's performances in the Champions League semi-finals?
* Were the quotes of Andrei Arshavin in which he complained about playing on the left wing genuine? If so, given the recent experiment with Samir Nasri in a central role and the doubts about Rosicky's return, who do you see playing on the left next season?
* It's been five years since Arsenal won a trophy. Do you still believe that Arsenal are in a position of such arrogance to treat the Carling Cup as a training school?
* Do you ever worry that you might be wrong?
