Arsenal: Ou Revoir, Liverpool: Bonjour (Football in General)

Name: devday

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Product:	Football in General
Date:	18/04/01 (21 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Vieira

Disadvantages: The team

Arsenal, league and cup double and finishing second in the the league for the third year running... what an acheivement.

Compared to the rest of the league, any other manager would be proud of that statistic (apart from you know).

But I'm sure most Arsenal fans are disappointed. Is it because they lost to Valencia - a team who can be beaten - with a 2-1 advantage...? Or is it because Manchester United are totally dominating the domestic scene?

Arsene Wenger said he will probably bring in two or three new players maximum in Summer.

Surely he will be replacing the Old Guard, which means is the squad going to get better? Where is our strength in depth.

Can Arsenal compete with United and Europe with their first team. Lauren still needs time to become the standard that Petit set. Pires will never be Overmars - different touch and lack of pace... Silvinho is not Roberto Carlos. Wiltord will never be Ian Wright.

Arsene Weneger, if you wish to make your Arsenal truly great, then I suggest you fight for the cause.

The old guard lost in Europe. No excuses, Arsenal need to search for defenders - why not use Matthew Upson? Ashley Cole has shown all that there is life in the AFC youth academy.

Dixon is 37. I'm sorry but if you are looking to be the best team in the world, or even somewhere there you need more pace and strength.

Have you ever watched an Arsenal match without seeing Tony Adams clench his back about twenty times during the game? I'm sure Adams will soon retire due to this injury anyway. And can Martin Keown foul any more people? The Old Guard are excellent - against Man City... When Arsenal play the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid, can Keown stop Figo and Rivaldo?

Arsenal need to take a serious look at their ageing defence. They need a Jaap Stam. Silvinho, Cole and Upson are coming along and they should be featuring more next season. But are they the calibre o
f a league winning Arsenal first XI?

Vieira - he is my player of the year without a doubt - but where is the help and support around him? Arsenal need to invest in a player to compliment his style. They need to build their midfield around Vieira - that does not mean buying french players. A player like Davids or Barcelona's U21 international Gerrard would be excellent.

Pires left one underachieving side for another. He is simply not Marc Overmars. Why didn't Arsene Wenger spend the money on Jesper Gronkjaer? He was tracked for three years and ready to replace Overmars. Yet somehow he ended up on the other side of London at Stamford Bridge. He is going to be a powerful weapon for the Blues next season.

Parlour, Ljungberg, Lauren? Good solid players - but are they the XI of a trophy winning side? I do think that these three players are more of big-match players, but they need to produce the goods.

Our strikers...

Henry, where is the skill, passion and dedication you should when Arsene Wenger splashed out £10 million on you? This season you have been a shadow of yourself - are you looking for a move away from the Capital?

Wiltord - £13 million - I don't think so. He is not the finished article, he has not finished in the big games, maybe he can knock a few past QPR. Oh yes, he has...

Hasselbaink would have been a better purchase in every aspect - but yet again he ended up with the Blues.

Kanu - is he world class or not? No one will ever know. Form and consistency has gone down this season. But I think he has the skill to bounce back.

Dennis Bergkamp.

A wonderful genius of football. If Dennis had been playing in the Champions League, we would be at the final. How could be let him be injured? He is 31, the spearhead of the Arsenal side.

Who could ever replace him?

Jari Littamen? Never mind, if he could (p.s. he was on a free transfer) he won't now h
e's with the cop.

Rivaldo, Ronaldo... Arsenal can't compete.

David Seaman - he has helped Arsenal so much this season - he has been their saviour. Will Dudek do such a good job when he replaces Seaman in 2002? I don't think so.

Hold on wait a minute, listen to the namess of Owen, Heskey, Fowler, Littamen, Smicer, Gerrard, Hamaan, Hypia, Babbel, Barmby, Berger and more...

The new Liverpool squad. Being assembled at a cost, but how well are they doing? We will see next season when they have spent another £30 million and are ready to take on United and Europe.

Meanwhile at Highbury, I ask Arsene Weneger: Where is your team going? Second in the league again next season? Or are you going to make the Wenger difference count?

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