Man City Vs Arsenal | Carling Cup QF 02/12/09

[gzagee]

I could've sworn Wenger said the CC was not a priority???

[Inchpräctice]

Yeah he did Gza.
I always thought this tournament was a training exercise for the kids but maybe I was wrong....?
Maybe it is the end of the world after all?
Maybe the CC is the reason we bought Arshavin...? If so why didn't we play him?

[StLGooner]

*sigh* whats the now? Three loss'es on the bounce now?

And no goals scored if memory serves me right.

Didn't we win a CL game in between there, and score goals?

[thebish]

*sigh* whats the now? Three loss'es on the bounce now?

And no goals scored if memory serves me right.

Didn't we win a CL game in between there, and score goals?

indeed - GG was telling me it was 3 losses in a row today too! it wasn't - it was a loss - a win - and two losses...

just to cheer you up..

here's Bolton's sequence... (in all competitions)

LLWLWDWWDLWLLLLD
and in the process we shipped 31 goals..

incidentally - if you hadn't been wasting your time fannying about not wanting to beat Citeh - you could have been playing us in your game in hand last night - I guess Wenger is running scared...

[TheLittleMozart]

I could've sworn Wenger said the CC was not a priority???

Even if he did, its a pretty terrible attitude to have towards winning a trophy seeing as we havn't won one in over 4 years.

[Inchpräctice]

I could've sworn Wenger said the CC was not a priority???

Even if he did, its a pretty terrible attitude to have towards winning a trophy seeing as we havn't won one in over 4 years.

You see, this is what all those twats on the radio are saying but personally I couldn't disagree more (not calling you a t**t TLM).
People who think that we should win ANY trophy at ANY cost have missed the point here.
Firstly if we threw everything into the Carling Cup last season and then managed to win it (but won nothing else) would AW be off the hook? Would the fans that were calling for his head suddenly stop? Would we all be delighted to have finally won some silverware?
The answer is no, no and no.
AW would be under as much pressure as ever from the fans because the CC is still a very inferior trophy to win. In terms of prestige it aint worth much more than the Emirates Cup.
The fans who want AW out because he hasn't won anything for several years wouldn't suddenly say 'Oh we've won the CC that's alright I'll shut up now. Come back Wenger all is forgiven.'
If we won it we wouldn't parade through Islington on an open top bus, let's get real here.

Why should we ask the boss to suddenly do a u-turn and go against his youth policy after all these years just because we haven't won any silverware for a while? That just seems daft to me.
Perhaps some people have forgotten one of the main reasons why AW decided to play the kids in this tournament in the first place?
Anyone remember that season a few years ago when we crashed out of 3 competitions in a week?
Wenger came to the conclusion that any team that tries to win all four competitions is guaranteed to fail at at least one of them (no-one's ever won the quadruple).
You just can't play your best 11 in four comps at once, it isn't physically possible. The fixture congestion will just burn the players out and cause a pile-up of injuries.
Even when Chelscum used to try it they always got knocked out of at least one other comp than the CC.

Would you want to win the CC at the expense of the FA Cup or the CL? No neither would I.
The best plan is to put all your energy into the 3 comps that are really worth winning, and the main priority is the Prem and the CL.
Fans need to mentally write off the CC because it's a training exercise for the reserve players and the B team.
Think of it as a fun way to see what the future holds.

The fact that we've had no silverware for a while doesn't mean we should abandon all our principles and throw everything into the CC. What if we did that, picked up a load of injuries and then didn't win it anyway?
Those injuries could then cost us the FA Cup and the CL as well, you happy now?

In fact the opposite should be the case. The lack of silverware means we should put even LESS first team players out for the CC to keep them fresh for the Prem.
What the hell was Song doing playing against Man City? Where's Senderos?
Song should've been rested for Stoke and so should Rosicky.

/rant.

[Goose]

Exactly, if we were still in the CC we would have to play two CC matches in January, when we have enough massive games in Jan and Feb to play.

The CC is not worth it

[TheLittleMozart]

Jeeze Inchy mate chillax

I understand though, the fact that its no priority and it would be a waste of sqaud to go for it but my main point was that we shouldnt just simply overlook it totally. We could have feilded a slightly stronger sqaud than the one on wednesday night and given it a bit of a go.

I just think; even though the carling cup isn't much, that some silverware is better than none and after four years we shouldnt be turining our noses down to any chance we have of winning it.
I'd be annoyed if we went in all guns blazing for it, but I was expecting us to give it a bit of a go!

And to be honest I think if we did win the carling cup it'd be good for us becuase sure its only a shitty cup but it gives the lads a bit of beliefe that we can actually win silverware and could be a motivation building block to mount a challeneg for more trophys.

[Inchpräctice]

Jeeze Inchy mate chillax

I understand though, the fact that its no priority and it would be a waste of sqaud to go for it but my main point was that we shouldnt just simply overlook it totally. We could have feilded a slightly stronger sqaud than the one on wednesday night and given it a bit of a go.

I just think; even though the carling cup isn't much, that some silverware is better than none and after four years we shouldnt be turining our noses down to any chance we have of winning it.
I'd be annoyed if we went in all guns blazing for it, but I was expecting us to give it a bit of a go!

And to be honest I think if we did win the carling cup it'd be good for us becuase sure its only a shitty cup but it gives the lads a bit of beliefe that we can actually win silverware and could be a motivation building block to mount a challeneg for more trophys.

Sorry dude. I can't stand it when 'fans' call into radio stations and say that AW is being 'disre-fucking-spectful' to the CC.


Fair enough if you wanted us to go for it a bit more but if so how would we have done that?
Which players would you have wanted to start instead of the kids?
Bear in mind that we didn't beat them with our full strength team so even if you took.... I dunno.... Eastmond and Merida off and replaced them with first teamers it's still no guarantee.
To beat City at home you need your full strength team and you need them to be mentally focussed unlike last time.

And what if we did take those two kids off and replace them with first teamers what happens if one of them gets injured and then they're out for the Stoke game?
We'd then have to play the kids for the Stoke game!
Plus people like Silvestre and Eboue would then be moaning because if they can't even get a game in the CC then when will they play?

[Yorkyblue]

What's all this 'injured for the Stoke game' crap. We didn't worry about injuries and have Chelsea.

You best not play your first teamers against Stoke incase they get injured for your mid-week game.

[Inchpräctice]

What's all this 'injured for the Stoke game' crap. We didn't worry about injuries and have Chelsea.

You best not play your first teamers against Stoke incase they get injured for your mid-week game.

Yeah but you can do what you like before a Prem game, might as well go on a skiing trip because you're not a part of the title race so it doesn't matter.

The CC is something you can actually win.

[Yorkyblue]

What's all this 'injured for the Stoke game' crap. We didn't worry about injuries and have Chelsea.

You best not play your first teamers against Stoke incase they get injured for your mid-week game.

Yeah but you can do what you like before a Prem game, might as well go on a skiing trip because you're not a part of the title race so it doesn't matter.

The CC is something you can actually win.

You say it like you have a chance of winning it.

We do need to work on our league form, though. Finish 10th an a CC trophy isn't going to keep the big boys at the club happy. 5th in the prem and no CC, they would be pleased. Finish 5th and win the CC, it will be more than expected for the season.

[Inchpräctice]

What's all this 'injured for the Stoke game' crap. We didn't worry about injuries and have Chelsea.

You best not play your first teamers against Stoke incase they get injured for your mid-week game.

Yeah but you can do what you like before a Prem game, might as well go on a skiing trip because you're not a part of the title race so it doesn't matter.

The CC is something you can actually win.

You say it like you have a chance of winning it.

We do need to work on our league form, though. Finish 10th an a CC trophy isn't going to keep the big boys at the club happy. 5th in the prem and no CC, they would be pleased. Finish 5th and win the CC, it will be more than expected for the season.

We do have a chance of winning it, however small and it's worth protecting that chance.
It's a shame that City have such a quality youth side but couldn't play them in the CC because the boss is under too much pressure to win a pot, even a plastic pot.
Maybe when he's won the Prem and the CL a couple of times you can play your kids!

[Yorkyblue]

I'd still want us to try and win it no matter what.

[Inchpräctice]

The CC?