(The not-so-temporary quite-official) Gooner Thread

Ancelotti's comments show that he is quite keen on the job I reckon.

I have a lot of respect for him, very good coach. I would happy with him to take the reins for 1-2 seasons while we prepare for an Arsenal legend to take the reins, like Henry, Vieira or Arteta, if that's the way we wanted to go. Or even until Low is ready if the rumours about him are true. 

The Rodgers talk scares me, I feel it would be a poor appointment for the fans. I mean his record is very good, he plays attractive football, just about won the title with a Liverpool side that wasn't really good enough to do so on paper, but it's the David Brentisms and the general feelings of the Liverpool fans at the time that holds me back. He just talked so much crap, if the results weren't going well it would be hard to stomach. Could see it ending in tears fairly quickly if he didn't start well.

An experienced manager from Europe, or someone with an Arsenal history, would be given more leash, and a bit of time to stabilise in the role. 

There does seem to be a bit of talk around that Wenger himself has strongly recommended Vieira, which is interesting. 

Reading Luis Enrique is the man....tabloid trash or legit  - thoughts ? 

Also..got "The Feud" (Fergie v Wenger/Man Utd v Asenal) to watch on 23 April (CH5 ) if you can get it. 

Those were the days....Keane & Viera, Keown v Van Nistleroy, Fabregas chucking Pizza ;-)

Thanks for not mentioning that the Man Utd U23s got relegated.....oops.

Rumour has it that Enrique is Raul Sanllehi's preferred choice. 

I am guessing the board must be a bit divided on this, given the different rumours.

Gonna be interesting to see what plays out. 

A comment in a Tim Stillman tweet really struck me as quite insightful

"AW still had a lot of the fanbase when the football was good but there were no trophies (05-13), but lost them when we won trophies but the football wasn't great (14-18), which is, in a weird way, pretty apt."

Interesting if true

Interesting if true.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-...

I'm not even an Arsenal fan but I feel like I've just lost a part of my footballing furniture 

Arsenal without Wenger is just a totally weird concept!

Still, it had to happen one day.

Whats next for Arsenal I wonder?

Tomorrow will be interesting. I think the emotions will either see us punish West Ham or falter considerably. Hopefully it's the former.

Seems legit :)

My money is on Nagelsmann as his replacement.

- We are splitting responsibilities now between Sanllehi,Sven, Gazidis and the new manager

- If we bring in an Allegri or similar, they will demand full control; similar to Wenger. 

- Sven knows of Nagelsmann already and will be able to work well with him.

- He's a young, up and coming, exciting manager who prioritises youth

- He will be given more leeway by supporters

I almost don't care who it is - unless it's Brendan Rogers; which will make me burn every piece of Arsenal merch and mem I own, quit my job, sell my home, and move into a Motueka caravan park*.

*after consultation with Mrs Surge of course.

Watched the game overnight with a sense of optimism that the future will bring change and I can look forward to watching the Arsenal even if it means we aren't winning the league every year with the new manager. Quite happy to say that the resentment I held towards Wenger has now gone and replaced with appreciation for his earlier years. 

Allegri, Simeone and Enrique the pick of the names mentioned for me, Vieira as an assistant too. I think it's great news Wenger isn't hanging around in any management role though hoping we win the Europa for him to go out on a high. 

Oh yea and bad news with Elneny. Can play in many roles, in many different game situations, he's key to our squad at times. Hopefully we don't miss him greatly over the next week or two, and I hope his injury isn't too serious. 

Interesting to note that players we sold this year could be fronting up in Cup Finals. Sanchez and Giroud opposing eachother in the FA Cup Final and a good chance The Ox could be in a Champions League final.

As could players we kept ;-)

Such is my lack of faith that this thought never crossed my mind..............but yes, you're right

No Elneny or Mkhi for Atletico is huge. That means we're playing Wilshere, who has been in terrible form and is recovering from an injury, or Iwobi who has been very poor.

I was really hoping Mkhi would be fit, and Elneny would've been a starter imo.

Atletico haven't won in 5 games in the La Liga; but I'd still be very surprised to see us win at this point. Atletico are perfectly set up to play on the counter and survive with low possession. 

Personally, I'd be tempted to go to 3 at the back.

Hopefully Diego Costa won't be fit.

Costa has been ruled out.

We are missing Mkhi, Elneny and possibly Wilshere. Ozil still a maybe too, but I think he'll be ok.

Our midfield is going to be shieeeeeeeeet

....what midfield....?

If Wilshere passes fit then our midfield will be unaffected by these absences. Elneny wouldn't be starting anyway, and Mkhitaryan has played on the the flank for us so far. Iwobi probably won't start either. 

I would imagine Wilshere will slot in and we'll play a 4-3-3, exactly like we have in our last 3 Europa League games. Wenger's been fairly consistent with it. I am 100% expecting;

                       Cech

Bellerin Mustafi Koscielny Monreal

        Ramsey Xhaka Wilshere

         Ozil Lacazette Welbeck

If Ozil doesn't make it Iwobi will start. If Wilshere doesn't make it Wenger might go with Maitland-Niles and keep the same formation, or he might play Iwobi and change the set-up. 

3 at the back would probably be a decent option, but I don't think Wenger will do that. 

Personally I think Elneny would be starting over Wilshere, who has been quite easily our worst performing player when he has been fit.

Personally I'd agree given recent form, but I don't think Wenger would have done that.

Really? I think Wenger has shown a hell of a lot more trust in Mo recently. I would've fully expected him to start, especially with Wilshere carrying an injury.

Personally I think he's just been rotating to keep them fresh. Wilshere has started all the big games in 2018 when fit, regardless of his form the game or two before. 

You might well be right though, Wenger might've drawn a line at the last one, and Elneny's form and commitment would've made the decision easier, guess we'll never know. 

Either way, I hope Jack steps up. I just don't think he has it in him anymore. He looks like a 35 year old, he is really struggling at the moment.

Squires cartoon on Wenger

https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactiv...

The Luis Enrique drums seem to be beating loudest right now. 

He's 3/1 favourite with the bookies too. 

If I had to guess right now, I'd say it would be him. 

Yea its looking more and more like him isn't it. Carlo looks like hes taking over italy, Tuchel doesn't get on with our head of recruiting and looks likely to take over at PSG. Rodgers is... Rodgers...

I don't really know enough about his managerial style or approach, but i did here that he is a careful man manager, who breaks games and roles down clearly for players. 

They've also started on the "Enrique wants to sign player X for Arsenal" rumours which is always a sign that he's a solid favourite.

For the record, Roma's Naingollan appears to be the main target of those rumours. 

I tell you what, I'm not expecting much from the ManU game this weekend. It's basically irrelevant considering our position in the league, and the game being sandwiched between the 2 Atletico matches. 

Sanchez will be out to prove something and he'll be playing against our second stringers. Might be a painful watch. 

I am a wee bit nervous

The Man Utd game comes at the absolute worst time - we won't focus on it, we'll probably get smashed and our confidence will shatter

Good start and got to make the most of this now. The guy can have no complaints about either yellow card really.

This is full on drama. 

We've nearly scored a couple of times, Laca hitting the post then forcing a save, now their defender Vrsaljko has been sent off! 2 yellows in the first 10 mins! Insane!

This is the boost we needed, we have to take advantage here. 

Simeone sent to the stands now, loving it. He's lost his rag big time, the yellows were totally legit for me. 

Haha. Simeone sent to the stands now. What a nutter.

shiit, missed the first 13mins and Athleti are a man down and Simeone has been sent to the stands. wow. We better drive home this advantage