i'm equally jealous since i only get to watch it the summaries, gameday analysis and discussions etc. on german free TV
for live league coverage i only get to see the austrian league every sunday.. which, by all means, is an alternative to valium on it's _better_ days
i still remember the 90ties as a teenager when i followed the italian (easy to guess which team i supported during that time in italy) and spanish leagues .. as i grew older i appriciated the german league more and more: it's simply more interesting as a fan and over the last few years youth-based all-out-attacking football has become a major trend with coaches: Klopp, Tuchel, Dutt, Rangnick all favour such offensive approaches .. and i like it
Haha, I can imagine the Austrian league isn't overflowing with fantastic football...
I want to get to a game in Germany sometime soon, see what it's like in person. It's such a shame realistically there's no way English football can ever follow that model now, the path we have gone down. Fans have such a heavier say in what goes on, and if that means a lack of competitiveness in terms of spending power compared to, say, England, then in my opinion it's a worthwhile compromise.
As for Arsenal, Wenger doesn't necessarily need to spend big smart purchases in key positions would probably serve him well. We all know the positions that need strengthening, it's been debated to death but Wenger can be stubborn where recruitment is concerned.
For me and I don't watch Arsenal as much as others here, I'll freely admit one of the big problems that Wenger really needs to address is the mentality of his players. It seems that too many of his charges have developed a losing mentality, despite his recent claims that his side were mentally stronger than ever. They can be motivated to pick up wins against the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Barcelona, but for some reason choke against the 'smaller' teams. Turn a loss or two against the likes of Stoke into wins and suddenly they're right up there but for whatever reason they just don't seem as up for these games, and for another season it's cost them.
Look at those big wins and it's plain to see. A victory over Barcelona was followed up with an unlikely draw against Leyton Orient and shortly after defeat to Birmingham in the League Cup Final. Chelsea were vanquished but Arsenal couldn't get the win against Wigan days later. And Manchester United may have been humbled but that was followed up with yesterday's loss to Stoke. I don't know if it's fear of failure, complacency, a lack of motivation or what something is clearly very wrong.
So, while Wenger does need to make changes so far as his playing staff are concerned, I'd argue that there are deeper problems to be addressed with his team.
I would change pretty much nothing of this analysis, I think you sum it up very well. The reason there is a stirring about "Wenger out" amongst Arsenal supporters for the first time really is due to this underlying issue you mention... why are we throwing away a 4 goal lead at half time to Newcastle?... a 2 goal lead to Spurs, of all people, twice in a season? And as you outline, why can we beat Barcelona, and play incredibly incredibly well, and then the same players be so disappointing against West Brom, Newcastle, Sunderland, Blackburn etc. at home?
..generally high level of discussion and paucity of gloating and mudslinging, odd piles of "Manure" dropped by a certain elephantine figure aside..
Booya.
Speaking of Vieira, I still maintain Arsenal never properly replaced him in terms of the leadership, fire and toughness on the pitch he brought to the squad. One could say United never really replaced Keano, either, but now they have so much leadership and self-belief at virtually every position. Arsenal can't get to that point overnight, and I'm not sure who on their current squad looks like a natural leader, if anyone. Talent-wise they don't need to make a lot of additions to the squad - a solid center half would do wonders - but a lot will depend on whether Cesc leaves this summer.
Hopefully Cesc stays, anyone who wants him to leave must be quite blind... he is clearly the best player in our team. As for leadership, yes, we need it, but it is too simple to look back at Viera. He was surrounded by winners and leaders, and didn't have to do too much. Behind him he had Adams and Seaman first, then Campbell, Lehmann.. alongside him Gilberto, and in front of him Bergkamp and Henry. I don't think it's as simple as adding a "leader"... but I don't know what else it is we need either. Adding a new centre half is tempting, but Arsene will say - Vermaelen. And to be fair, he is our best centre half, and he's made 1 appearance all season.
Arsenal have the best defensive record in the league in terms of conceding from open play - a statistic you won't see banded around much in the mainstream press! However, we have an appalling record from set pieces... 56% of goals conceded or something last time I was quoted it. Maybe some kind of new defensive coach or organisation is needed - because in open play, these defenders are clearly quite good, as anyone who watched Koscielny and Djourou defend against Messi and co. will agree. Perhaps that's why we played better against Barcelona - no threat from the set plays!
Liverpool 5-2 Fulham, and a great attacking display from the Reds, who absolutely ambushed Fulham for the first half hour of the match with slick passing and possession football. We faded a little towards the half and were somewhat flat after the break, but slowly built momentum and dominated again towards the end.
Luis Suarez absolutely tore Fulham's defense apart and his goal was reminiscent of Torres in better days, and Maxi Rodriquez continues his hot streak of form. The fluidity of the passing moves were at times world-class.
Dalglish has turned Liverpool into a dangerous attacking team again, and he has also improved the defense - but I think we still need more quality and depth in defense to mount a credible league challenge. Still, to see a performance like this is more than any Liverpool fan could have hoped for a few months back.
Liverpool were very good.
Blue Velvet supports Chelsea, though she doesn't post here often.
I was going to suggest BV too.
