From Ben Portner : Irrelevant who we sign
Hi Myles
Hope you’re well and enjoying this farce of a transfer window that is becoming all too familiar for us Arsenal fans.
Why am I not surprised that the Mata deal now seems to have hit a snagging point given that we seem to be incapable of moving swiftly and concluding our transfers in a methodical, efficient, organised businesslike manner.
Man United seem to have it sussed: identify your targets, sign them early and bed them in during the summer in readiness for the new season.
Who knows what’s going on with the Mata deal but it took us so long to sign Gervinho that I don’t expect any transfers to go through quickly or smoothly, especially given the uncertainties of the futures of Fabregas and Nasri.
However, my fundamental concern is that I honestly believe it is irrelevant who we sign as there is an inbuilt psyche at the club at the moment that is doomed to fail.
We are too deeply entrenched in a culture where the manager protects his players so that they are not accountable for their mistakes, they certainly are not allowed to apportion blame, or voice their concerns or opinions.
Wenger has instilled a dressing room of no conflict where everyone is supposed to quietly get on with their job. Unfortunately, that model does not work at the top level and you need outspoken players to motivate and ruck the underachievers.
The fact we have been linked with Joey Barton since his release from NUFC makes me laugh. Whilst I think he is exactly the type of player we need, Monsieur Wenger would never sign such a character for fear of unsettling the apple cart.
We might sign Jagielka and Cahill but we will still be subjected to the likes of Eboue and Diaby and a one-dimensional approach to the game that will see us sweep aside lesser opposition but come unstuck against the top teams.
Jagielka and Cahill might be decent players now but how long will they maintain that level in a team that don’t practice defending and a defensive unit that doesn’t shout or organise itself. Gervinho looks good now but how long until he is played out of position for so long that his form and confidence nose dive.
We have seen these patterns too many times before and without wholesale changes to the approach (and if this means that Wenger has to go then so be it) I do not see anything different this season.
Myles replies:
I’m very well, Ben.
I’m fine and happy and I’m really looking forward to the new football season.
Tonight I’ll watch Marseilles v Manchester United and that will sharpen my appetite even more.
Let’s sack the serial loser now and hire Carlo Ancelotti and install Martin Keown as his No.2.
Flog Nasri and Fabregas, reverse the Colney Creche culture, give the shirts to footballers who care and like each other.
That’s the only way to get your Arsenal back.
Historically, Arsenal was a gentlemans club run by the Secretary. Who was mostly an administrator. So there was an executive vacuum which held the club back.
Now Arsene FC is run by Wenger, who thinks like an accountant but wants to be regarded as a world leader.
The club is in steep decline and the players are miserable because they don’t believe in this manager any more. So there is a good chance that the team will start this season as badly as it finished last season – or even worse.
It’s hilarious but embarrassing.
Wenger’s indecision is final : he wants to bank the Fabregas money but doesn’t want to sell Fabregas.
The executive vacuum remains. Arsenal badly miss Danny. He was the strong one.
There is now an executive vacuum because Wenger is the executive. That’s the fundamental problem.