[quote author=Rosco link=topic=35632.msg989249#msg989249 date=1258313111]
If we had a manager as good as Arsene we'd have stayed in the top four.
[/quote]
Managers that are as good as Arsene and his team at scouting talent: 0.
And that's a system that has matured over many years, rather than being neglected, worked around, and recent changed.
I've always been a real admirer of the way Wenger has been seeing his team through this period, however it's interesting to see how things have changed on this forum, now that we are temporarily struggling in the league, and they are succeeding, compared to when they were scraping 4th.
There's far more patience for their long term planning than there is for ours.
The fact is that we stupidly weren't allowed investment in the team this summer, not so we could prioritize long term plans, but because our owners don't seem to have consensus on their long term plans, and they were predicated on a gamble.
If this is a long U shaped recession, and we don't see investment, we're fucked.