My thoughts on 1st October article by John Silton
http://arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/wp/aspects-of-management-the-anatomy-of-wengers-failures/
By Ian Tanner
“Arsene Wenger does not possess sufficient management skills to be successful at the top level.”
Response: but he’s already been very successful. Invincibles in 2004 and all that. So does the author think he’s “lost it” or that the skills previously required to be successful (that Wenger obviously had) are no longer relevant and that new skills are now needed?
We also need to define “success”, as the author notes. I’d count 18 years of continuous Champions League football as successful, especially as the financial doping at Chelsea and Man Citeh have virtually guaranteed two of the four spots are taken every season, leaving just two from 18, one of which is almost always for the 800lb gorilla that is Manchester United. It is also important to realise where we came from, so think back to George Graham’s final home games in 1994/95 prior to his sacking: Played 14, Won 3, Drawn 7, Lost 4. Btw, those included victories v Chelsea and Citeh, when both were sh*t.
As for what fans want; of course everyone wants more success, no matter what was achieved previously. That’s why Charlton Athletic sacked Alan Curbishley after 15 years. And we all know what happened to them. The Valley was not greener on the other side (geddit?).
As for “only” beating Hull City and Aston Villa in the last two FA Cup final victories. What lack of respect. And you can only beat what’s put in front of you. Btw, Villa outplayed Liverpool in their semi-final, which I attended. I wonder if the author would have regarded Liverpool a more appropriate “Final” opponent? Please. And what happened to the other “big teams”? Chelsea 2, Bradford City 4 (from 2-0)! At home! Imagine the slating AW would have received had that happened to us.
As you should know, Arsenal under Arsene have only been knocked out of FA Cup once by a team from outside the Premier League, a 1-0 home defeat to Blackburn Rovers where we murdered them but could not score (these things happen in football, but the records show it’s happened less to AW sides than to others). Bradford, by contrast, outplayed Chelsea for long patches. You may score one “lucky” goal, not four! And what happened to Citeh? Lost at home to Wigan Athletic (twice!).
Btw, how well have Citeh done in Champions League, despite all their grillions of funny money? Finally, despite being accused of not taking the FA Cup seriously (yet another ridiculous assertion, though not one repeated in this article, I concede), AW has won it more often than any other manager in modern times, and is equal highest overall on six.
Means of Achieving Target section
And here we come to the nostalgia. Time to go back to the famed George Graham parsimonious defence, the one which won 3 of 14 home games (see above). But why let a few inconvenient facts get in the way of a good story? Perhaps by 1995, GG also no longer possessed “sufficient management skills to be successful at the top level.” I’d really like to know the author’s opinion.
“Also we need scoring midfielders … Pires and Ljungberg were always good for at least 15 goals between the two of them”, the article states, before moving on to Sanchez. He’s just scored six times in nine days, so I’d suggest that he may, just like last season, end up being more potent than either Robert or Freddie, or indeed both combined. I’m really not sure what the author is trying to say here; and neither, I suspect, is he.
But where the goals come from is immaterial. We just need to score, and we have a pretty good record in recent times. And it’s interesting and encouraging to note that we are creating more chances than other teams, despite teams supposedly now knowing “how to play us …”, as the article states. There was a lot of rubbish talked recently about Sanchez. Goalless this season, despite 31 attempts. Obviously his successful Copa America exploits had done for him! Suddenly, six goals in 3 matches and everyone shuts up, which is exactly how I like them.
Strong Management Team
It’s a great theory that the Board accept a lower level of success than the fans want. Why is it a great theory? Because it can neither be proven not disproven. Even if Silent Stan is in love with money, as I think he is (and this is one area where I think we can all agree!), surely he still wants PL and CL success, if for no other reason than greater revenues (TV, box office, commercial) will enhance the value of his 66% stake. Call me a cynic.
Forward Planning section
We cannot possibly know of all the complications of the Ozil or any other deal. But if Real had not paid circa £80m to the Spuds for Bale, they may not have needed the Ozil monies and may also have wanted / needed to keep him. This is a tired criticism. As AW always says – stating the obvious that really should not need stating ad nauseam – there are three parties to any transfer: player, buying club, selling club. And all three have to agree.
I’ll concede that the time of the 8-2 defeat etc. was harrowing but, again, we cannot (from outside the club) know all that went on. Possibly there were some panic buys, and some definitely didn’t turn out right. But wasn’t Chris Kiwomya a panic and failure? £1.25m from Ipswich just before GG was fired. 3 goals in 14 appearances during three years at the club. So let’s have some balance, please. As for what PV4 said, tone and context are important, please note. And we simply didn’t have the money for a long period to compete for new players, or even keep our best talent.
Between 2013 and 2014, I read about three different questionnaires. The numerically-challenged Great British Public were asked, and I paraphrase: “Over the course of this Parliament [2010-2015], what will happen to the level of government debt? They were given either three or four choices, depending on the survey. Will debt increase by £300 billion (or whatever was the projection at the time), decrease by £300 billion (same number as in previous choice), or remain the same (or don’t know was a fourth choice at least once)?
Now you’d think a group of monkeys with blindfolds and pins would get 25% or 33% correct, depending on the number of choices. But the percentage of the “informed” British public that got the correct answer varied between 9% to 16% over the three surveys! People are dim, you see. They cannot, or at least do not, think for themselves. They hear of cuts and austerity – I’ve absolutely no idea how spending more year-on-year can be described as austerity – and they believe it. It becomes a “fact”. So the groundswell against Arsene by Arsenal fans does not sway me; in fact, exactly the opposite.
Back to footie and I’d like to finish with an irony. In the late 1980s, I used to live two stones’ throws from Maine Road, which I sometimes visited on a Saturday. It was grim. The fans took pride in not being Manchester United. Now look at them.
Due to football inflation that has been stoked by non-market practices at Chelsea and their precious Man City, clubs like Arsenal have had to hike ticket prices in order to even have a chance of competing. The response of Citeh fans: it’s not fair!, away games are so expensive to attend at Emirates. I want to be subsidised (yet again)! You really could not make it up.
And that’s why, whenever the Spuds play Chelsea or Man City, I want them to win.