From David
Myles,
Obaid is sort of right.
We have a nucleus. But he forgets that we’ve had a nucleus the last 5 years and Wenger has not been able to make that final step.
Whilst each year the fans hope this will happen, it does not. Until Wenger changes, Arsenal can’t.
Can Wenger change? Will he throw out the trash and those past their sell by date, and bring in some quality and steel?
Many of us fear not.
PS I’m a season ticket holder and a committed gooner for nearly 20 years. Or so I thought.
I’ve basically stopped going the last few months.
I felt like I cared more than the players seemed to.
Everyone says it great football. But I find it repetitive. Possession. No bite. Narrow ‘lucky’ wins if even that. An embarrassing defence. Everyone passing to feet. Very stationary. No pace. Not enough winners.
For 5 years, no change. Yes we’ve had some great wins, moments and performances, but we’ve had many disasters too.
I am upset that I probably need to lower my expectations. But then the club says we can and they want to win stuff. The disconnect is turning me off.
Myles says :
Yes, David, the disconnect is huge.
In the last years at Highbury the players went to the staff Xmas party in alternate years.
Think about that for a moment. Think about how absurd that is.
If you accept that spoiled millionaire footballers going to the staff party every other year is ridiculous, then Arsene Wenger is ridiculous.
The Arsenal you knew at Highbury has gone. That club does not exist any more. They moved the warehouse to Leeds and they get female matchday staff from an agency these days.
It’s a French club with French values, as it was when Ashley Cole walked, saying the team was run by a French clique.
And now it’s become an American corporation.
The good news : You’re young enough to see the Arsenal team regain a British core again under a manager who can teach defence and make the players accountable. A manager who will give you players you can identify with.
You’re demoralised, David, because you can’t identify with Eboue, Almunia, Diaby, Denilson, Bendtner, or even, perhaps, Clichy, who isn’t half the footballer Ashley Cole was.
Did you see how competitive Spurs were at Anfield? They had desire. Their record at Liverpool is pitiful, they were out of the Top Four, but Van Der Vaart scored early, and Tottenham grafted and grafted and big Sandro ran his guts out. Without Bale, without Gallas or Assou-Ekotto, they got another goal in 56 with a Modric penalty and won 2-0.
Spurs battled and dug out a victory.
They kept a clean sheet.
Why can’t Arsenal do that?
You know the answer.
It’s one word.
Begins with W.
He can’t change and can’t delegate and doesn’t get out enough.
Also, he’s lost the moral authority he once seemed to have.
The good news, David, is that you’re young.
You stopped going this year because this team makes you sick.
But further down the line you can support Arsenal again.
After Wenger has left the new business he made possible and the flawed team he assembed as a vehicle for his flawed ideas.
